The Emerald Pools in Zion National Park aren’t really all that impressive, in my opinion, but the overhanging stone amphitheatre that sits above Lower Emerald Pool is very impressive. A number of small waterfalls cascade over its lip; I expect that in high water in the spring or after a thunderstorm, those small waterfalls become one giant curtain. Not so in late autumn, however, when water levels are typically near [...]
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Although sunny weather can really make autumn colors pop, don’t pack up your gear when cloudy skies and rain come your way. Overcast light is great for fall scenes too, especially after a soaking rain. When foliage is dripping with moisture, colors can be intense! But here’s the key to making it work: use a polarizer filter. A polarizer is designed to remove glare and reflections from shiny surfaces. Rocks, foliage, [...]
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Getting back to my series of Mt. Rainier photos, here’s one of Carter Falls, one of the park’s “smaller” waterfalls. It’s actually a fairly decent-sized falls, but it pales in comparison to the thundering cascades of Comet and Spray Falls. What it lacks in stature, however, it makes up for in adventure—that is, if you want to get to the base of the falls and photograph it from below. Finding the falls is the easy part. [...]
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Spray Falls in Mt. Rainier National Park is located on the popular trail to Spray Park, a high alpine meadow filled with ponds and wildflowers. I made two visits to Spray Falls during my recent Mt. Rainier trip, once on a sunny day on my way up to Spray Park, and once on a rainy day a few days later (Spray Park turned out to be past peak for wildflowers but at [...]
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“What would the world be, once bereft Of wet and of wilderness? Let them be left, O let them be left, wildness and wet; Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.” —Gerard Manley Hopkins With rain in the forecast, I made a four hour drive yesterday to Ricketts Glen in Pennsylvania. Ricketts is a wonderful place, with 21 named waterfalls (and countless other smaller cascades and drops) along a four-mile trail. Although each waterfall is [...]
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