Boardwalk, Morning

Boardwalk, Morning
“Boardwalk, Morning” — The winding boardwalk at Salt Creek in morning light, Death Valley.

We arrived at Salt Creek before sunrise, planning to walk down to the end of the boardwalk and photograph some further areas at dawn. It used to be that you could continue on from there and investigate other interesting terrain, but there is now no obvious way off the boardwalk, likely because the park service is trying to protect those areas. So we photographed from the boardwalk as the sun came up.

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Lake Manly and Telescope Peak, Dawn

Lake Manly and Telescope Peak, Dawn
“Lake Manly and Telescope Peak, Dawn” — Dawn light on Telescope Peak above Hanaupah Canyon and the reflective waters of Lake Manly.

This photograph includes a short list of superlative features. Telescope Peak, at just over 11,000′, is the highest point in Death Valley National park. From the peak one can see the highest point in California, Mt. Whitney (in the Sierra Nevada) and the lowest point (Badwater Basin). In the photograph Badwater Basin is submerged beneath Lake Manly, which forms only in very wet years and generally evaporates quickly. Snow on Telescope Peak and the Panamint Range is not unusual in winter, but in this photograph it has reached a rather low elevation.

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Windows and Yellow Wall, Pena Palace

Windows and Yellow Wall, Pena Palace
“Windows and Yellow Wall, Pena Palace” — Pena Palace windows and yellow walls on a rainy day, Portugal.

The Pena Palace sits on the summit of a ridge above the town of Sintra, a short train ride from Lisbon. From a distance the place seems unreal, given its location, its architecture, and its striking color scheme. Up close the weathering changes the effect a bit, but in a way that only seems to make the place a bit more mysterious.

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Stream and Sandstone Cliff

Stream and Sandstone Cliff
“Stream and Sandstone Cliff” — Sandstone cliffs at the bend in the canyon of a remote Utah river.

This is a photograph from over a decade ago. (More on how it ended up here today below.) A small group of us spent time photographing in Utah, often in remote places. One day we dropped into a canyon and followed this stream. As so often happens in these narrow, winding canyons, “one good turn led to another,” and we kept going as each bend revealed another interesting section. We finally stopped very close to this scene, made some final photographs, and headed back upstream.

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