One of the more under appreciated aspects of Monument Valley are the red sandstone dunes.  The winds that sculpted the valley produce intricate patterns, often assisted by random paths left behind by birds, snakes and lizards.  The red color contrasts beautifully with the bright blue skies and green vegetation.  It’s easy to become mesmerized by the iconic rock formations that draw visitors from all over the world.  But if you go, don’t forget to look at the more subtle beauty beneath your feet.

I’ve been to Edinburgh three times, but only on the last trip did I make the hike up Calton Hill to see the grand view of the city.  It is well worth a bit of huffing and puffing to get there.  The expansive views included this image of Edinburgh Castle in the distance with the Balmoral Hotel clock tower in the foreground.  It helps to have a zoom lens to bring in the distant views.  This shot was at 280mm, f/5.6, 1/180th of a second with the lens resting on a railing to steady the shot.  Blue sky and puffy clouds would have been nice, but it is Scotland after all!

Melanie rolled her eyes and pretended that she didn’t know me, but c’mon.  Who wouldn’t snap this shot if they had the chance?

I waited about half an hour for other visitors to clear out of the chapel so that I could get an unimpeded shot of this stained glass window.

I couldn’t resist this photo op on Queen Street in Lancaster.  A lot of people were out this morning ahead of whatever hurricane Irene has in store for us!

Not scenic, and a bit discomfiting for someone who tries to eliminate the “hand of man” from most photographs.  This is Kennecott’s Bingham Canyon copper mine — the largest open pit copper mine in the world.  To give you an idea of scale, that little white dot to the right and above the green “lake” of water is a fairly large building.  The trucks that haul copper ore out of the pit are about the size of a two-story house.  Difficult to comprehend.  An entire mountain . . . vanished.

Fog, rain, and beauty while driving through the Cascade Mountains in Oregon.  The soft light really saturated the colors, and the fog made it all slightly surreal.

We didn’t cover a lot of miles because we were pulling over every half mile or so to take pictures.  But then again, the journey was more important than the destination.

Three columns of windows on each side with a fire escape cutting down the middle.  Taken from an area called “the grassy knoll” on the roof of the Pittsburgh convention center.

From the rooftop of a parking garage, waiting for the fireworks to start.  Tripod mounted, 0.5 seconds at f/11.

I had attended a game there the evening before.  It’s a beautiful place to watch a ball game — even if you’re a Phillies fan, like me!

Another monochrome image on a bleak morning along the Oregon coast.  October 2010.

Like the slightly abnormal travelers that we are, Melanie and I arose somewhere around 5:00 a.m. in Newport, Oregon last October for the short drive up US Route 101 to visit Yaquina Head Lighthouse.  It was dark, it was raining sideways thanks to the gale blowing in off the Pacific, and there was absolutely zero chance of the sun making any kind of appearance.

I was, in short, cranky as hell.  So much so that I petulantly sat in the car after Melanie got out, watching the radio auto-seek for a station — any station — with no success whatsoever.

The rain finally relented (and so did I), so I got out of the car and walked up a small hill to take a couple handheld shots at ISO 1600.  I was not optimistic.  ISO 1600 is practically unusable for anything other than creating faux old-time grainy photo effects.  And thanks to some processing with Topaz Adjust and Adobe Lightroom 3 software, I must admit to really liking the shot.  Worth getting up at 5 a.m. for?  I don’t know.  You be the judge.

Lancaster City has a program called “Music for Everyone” which places pianos at various spots around the city for anyone to play.  This one is located under the overhang at the Hotel Brunswick on Queen Street.  The guy at the keyboard and the guy with the mohawk were playing some pretty nice classical-tinged tunes as I was passing by.  I asked them if I could take a few shots and they kindly obliged.  This is the best of a dozen or so photos that I took.

Even on bright and contrasty days there are photos to be taken.  This is a reflection in a the large window of Spring House Brewing Company’s Taproom (micro brewery), next to Lancaster’s Central Market.

A junked Chevy in Cape May, New Jersey.  Just for kicks.

 

 

Taken this morning in Lancaster City.  The brick walls along Central Market make a great, gritty backdrop for people photos.  Her boots and his intense gaze caught my eye.

A shot that I’ve kept around for years but never published.  I was not happy with it until now — thanks to Adobe Lightroom 3 and Topaz software.  It now looks how I envisioned when I captured the image.