"Rising forest fire smoke through Tunnel View" Home to one of the largest groves of sequoias in the world, mariposa grove holds thousands of years worth of nature and biodiversity. Perhaps one of the most emotional photographs for me during my travels would have been this one. The damage we create for wealth, greed and power has an ever lasting impact on our nature. Iconic views such as these are left to expose what us as humans have done to our local environment. Sequoia groves across California are endangered by climate change. These trees are incredibly important to our historical research as well as slowing down carbon emissions. From forest fires to droughts we aren't giving this incredible species of tree or its local environment the chance it deserves to continue growing for thousands of years to come. Slightly different photo to the last tunnel view featured post, with a slight more dramatic look. If we don't help encourage change now, these iconic views will be a token of the past and never a possibility for the future.
"Passing sunset on Mesquite Flat sand dunes, Death Valley" Watching as the sun slowly goes down on these sand dunes was perhaps one of the most amazing spectacles from the window of a car. After travelling from Yosemite through to Death Valley national park it was insane to see the change of scenery. Driving up winding roads to some of the many 7000ft peaks before going down to below sea level was a captivating sight. After travelling for a couple of hours the winding roads came to a halt, and across one of the many valley floors the Mesquite Flats stuck out like a sore thumb. The juxtaposition between hard Mars like rock in the background and the soft and ever changing sand dunes in the foreground came out as an interesting composition to take advantage of. These dunes rise to only 100 feet, their constantly changing forms contrasting the some 1.7 billion year old rocks in many of the Death Valley mountain ranges.
"Life on the road" PT1 to a series focused on urban wildlife found in suburbia. This series mainly focuses on much of the photography I did whilst visiting my home, Arizona. The Arizonan Blond Tarantula (Aphonopelma chalcodes) was set on a mission to climb onto my camera in the pitch black on one of my nightly walks. Shining a small LED torch I was able to compose and take a couple of shots with my macro lens. I slowly became fascinated by the effort these small spiders had in trying to do the smallest of things. To humans crossing a road would take seconds, but to these spiders it would be life or death. Having multiple encounters with these spiders either whether they are living or sadly roadkill gave me massive respect for them, but also pity for what type of life they had been put in. For such a small and non-violent creature to be placed in such challenging conditions on blisteringly hot tarmac it made me question our impact to even the smallest of ecosystems in the deep-South desert. Using an upright light source gives a unique angle for a creature which was scurrying as fast as he could to the nearest crack in the pavement. Having this gradient effect of tarmac being illuminated and the background fading off into the dark abyss to some may seem unnatural and fake, but that is how us as humans have changed their ecosystem. This unnatural, dangerous and rough environment has now become a way of life for such a beautiful piece of nature.
"A peering Black-chinned hummingbird and its surrounding native environment" "Archilochus alexandri" - female One of my favourite pass times as a photographer is going on hikes to new places, searching for new opportunities and incredible spectacles. Walking through Zion National Park, Utah on one of the many valley trails I noticed a slight humming noise on a steep path. I turned around and much to my surprise there was a hummingbird going through thick nettles in search for flowers buried deep along the cliffside. I quickly (and very awkwardly) swapped to my macro lens and managed to get a couple of shots without a flash. Getting to 1/8000s I tried my best to keep up with this small bird. Resting this species of hummingbirds heart beats an average of 480 beats per minute. On cold nights they go into torpor, and the heart rate drops to 45–180 beats per minute. When resting their breathing rate is 245 breaths per minute at 91 degrees Fahrenheit - and for this particular species breathing is actually sporadic!
"Three Brother Peaks by night in Yosemite Valley" Travelling through Yosemite Valley at night gave some incredible spectacles, the colour of the sky pierced through the pitch black undergrowth as me and my dad tried to find a perfect spot to start some astrophotography. The previous weeks had been incredibly bad visibility, with forest fires spreading further into the valley. Luckily there was a small break in conditions for 2 days before worsening, luckily this is when we visited! This meant I had a incredible opportunity to start some astrophotography, even if I was way to jet lagged. This was the first Astro image I have taken outside of the UK and it was a very special moment for me, the silhouette of pine trees with the Three Brother Peaks off in the distance created the perfect composition for a classic astrophotography shot. I am still obsessed with changing style of star trails, going for shorter exposures as I've figured out can give a much more subtle effect to the image, and a lot less punchy than the longer ones I've completed.
"Starry skies over Bryce Canyon" Hoodoos are quite a unique spectacle when lit up by the night sky. The colour which shines off from the starry Night Skies is such a unique spectacle to watch late at night. After exploring the canyon floor trail I found an ideal spot for astro in the evening. Having a view of this many Hoodoos lit up by night was a bucket list shot of mine, to get a daytime like photo in the pitch black. Going back through my archives I decided that this photo needed a good edit, when it was last posted it was a stock photograph and I felt that going through and taking the time (at the time I was travelling) to create a much more colourful and interesting image would be fun. Those satellites look quite cool as well!
"A Black-chinned hummingbird exploring the desert" Hearing the slight hum of a hummingbird in the desert is an unusual phenomenon which commonly occurs in Utah, Nevada and Arizona. The harsh weather with the never ending beating sun is something you have to get used to when exploring the landscape for new wildlife. The juxtaposition between this harsh environment and this incredibly innocent species of bird never fails to surprise me. The resilience to keep searching for nectar gave me an opportunity to set up and wait for the photo to be handed to me.
"Life on the road" PT2 The Red Spotted Toad (Bufo punctatus) was another interesting subject to focus on, on one of my many nightly walks exploring Tucson suburbia. Seeing countless numbers of these guys hopping across the boiling hot tarmac floor made me sympathise with them as much as I did the many tarantulas who were exploring the desert floor. It was a common sight to see them run over, and being fed on by beetles and cockroaches. By using an upright torch I was able to illuminate the subject to take a picture of them in their habitat. Luckily this particular toad wasn't moving as much as the others. It's not the prettiest of habitats but that is what us as humans have created. The Red Spotted Toad is active during dusk, they hide in rocks and crevasses during day time and feed and mate throughout the night. Their resilience to such a harsh and non forgiving environment again made me fascinated - why go through all this effort of living in suburbia for only a couple more beetles to feed on? These toads can survive on only 40% of their needed water content for days, their bodies have adapted to live through the hottest of days. They also lay their eggs separately, which is very rare for Arizona toads - with tadpoles turning into adults in 6-8 weeks.
"Free to grow" Death Valley had some particular highlights, and seeing a small piece of nature on one of the highest peaks in Death Valley was one of them. Having the smallest critters buzz around this shrub looking proud over an expansive Valley made me in awe for how resilient nature can be. Lining up for this shot was difficult, getting the sun flare spot on in the middle, lining up perfectly with several flying critters with a utterly unique colour tone was a challenge I only had a couple of minutes for 😅 I wish I could have spent more time marvelling at this incredible piece of nature, but unfortunately the heat was too much to bare in the mid-day heat of Death Valley.
"Life on the road" PT1 to a series focused on urban wildlife found in suburbia. This series mainly focuses on much of the photography I did whilst visiting my home, Arizona. The Arizonan Blond Tarantula (Aphonopelma chalcodes) was set on a mission to climb onto my camera in the pitch black on one of my nightly walks. Shining a small LED torch I was able to compose and take a couple of shots with my macro lens. I slowly became fascinated by the effort these small spiders had in trying to do the smallest of things. To humans crossing a road would take seconds, but to these spiders it would be life or death. Having multiple encounters with these spiders either whether they are living or sadly roadkill gave me massive respect for them, but also pity for what type of life they had been put in. For such a small and non-violent creature to be placed in such challenging conditions on blisteringly hot tarmac it made me question our impact to even the smallest of ecosystems in the deep-South desert. Using an upright light source gives a unique angle for a creature which was scurrying as fast as he could to the nearest crack in the pavement. Having this gradient effect of tarmac being illuminated and the background fading off into the dark abyss to some may seem unnatural and fake, but that is how us as humans have changed their ecosystem. This unnatural, dangerous and rough environment has now become a way of life for such a beautiful piece of nature.
"Life on the road" PT3 Being face to face with a juvenile male Red-Spotted toad (Anaxyrus punctatus) under my macro lens was a really interesting spectacle. Watching him slowly move across the desert floor I quickly (with no flash) setup my camera and set it to 1:1 MF. After shooting this habitat for a couple of days I got the close up shots I wanted. Now my goal was to get an incredibly close up portrait. If you look closely you can see my camera reflected in this little guys eye, pretty incredible that a camera can every record that :) Getting the eye just in focus, again with just a torch was quite a demanding task, it definitely made my camera work incredibly hard. Moving my camera in and out of focus whilst handheld focus stacking is a process I'm still learning, but you do get some really cool results afterwards! This shot was about 10 stacked shots, even so the depth of field is still lacking which just goes to show how small this little guy is, these are details which haven't really been seen by any of the residents of Tucson suburbia. Perhaps if they saw the beauty these creatures hold they would consider to be more respectful and less damaging to their environment.
"Nature and perseverance in Bryce Canyon" Walking through one of the many canyon trails I was shocked to see these conifers growing deep on the canyon floor. Searching for light these Douglas-Firs grow to incredible lengths to tower above canyon cracks. These trees and not actually a true fur, nor a hemlock even though its Latin name "Pseudotsuga" translates to false hemlock (its actually a separate genus!). They self prune so around 1/2 of their trunk is free of branches, giving them an unusual look. Douglas-fir is a highly treasured form of timber tree, being mainly harvested for structural timber. In some locations across the US the logging has been so aggressive, meaning there are no nutrients left for many forests across the US to regrow. Their slow growing means they can take up to 400 years to fully mature, making it a non sustainable resource. Hopefully in the future there will be better conservation efforts for these trees, with populations being restricted to mainly national parks. These iconic Douglas-firs need to be preserved as much as possible, after all trees are as close to immortality as the rest of us ever come.
"Nature and perseverance in Bryce Canyon" Walking through one of the many canyon trails I was shocked to see these conifers growing deep on the canyon floor. Searching for light these Douglas-Firs grow to incredible lengths to tower above canyon cracks. These trees and not actually a true fur, nor a hemlock even though its Latin name "Pseudotsuga" translates to false hemlock (its actually a separate genus!). They self prune so around 1/2 of their trunk is free of branches, giving them an unusual look. Douglas-fir is a highly treasured form of timber tree, being mainly harvested for structural timber. In some locations across the US the logging has been so aggressive, meaning there are no nutrients left for many forests across the US to regrow. Their slow growing means they can take up to 400 years to fully mature, making it a non sustainable resource. Hopefully in the future there will be better conservation efforts for these trees, with populations being restricted to mainly national parks. These iconic Douglas-firs need to be preserved as much as possible, after all trees are as close to immortality as the rest of us ever come.
"Isolated Bristlecone Pine" "If future generations are to remember us with more gratitude than the past we must achieve more than just miracles of technology. We must also leave them a glimpse of the world as it was created, not just as it looked when we got through with it." - Lyndon Baines Johnson Bristlecone pines are one of the most interesting subjects to be seen at Bryce Canyon. Being one of the oldest variants of trees in the world they can withstand the harshest of weather and conditions given to them. Some Bristlecone pines keep their pine needles for over 40 years, with their incredibly slow grow rate some years these small trees may not grow at all. Their ring density actually signifies only a third of their age due to the slow growth rate of these trees. For some people visiting Bryce the focus is on the landscape, and Bristlecone's are left unappreciated. To me I saw a piece of nature which was determined to grow, whatever the conditions. Walking down one of the many valley trails I noticed this juvenile pine at the top of a 200ft cliff, I quickly ran back up the trail to get a side on shot, showing the exposed roots and pure scale of the small divots in Bryce Canyon.
"A resting Chuckwalla" Exploring the desert was perhaps one of the highlights of the trip to home (Tuscon, Arizona). Seeing the wildlife I used to see as a kid brought back memories of me seeing creatures which you would never believe to exist. This female Chuckwalla was perched on a large boulder basking in the shade. At around 16 inches in length, and 2 pounds in weight their sheer size is quite surprising. Chuckwallas like being in close proximity to safety at all times, and enjoy hiding in cracks and crevasses in large boulders across the desert. Known as the Desert Iguana, Chuckwallas are known for their dinosaur characteristics with wide bellies and long tails and claw like feet. They bathe in the sunlight until their body temperature reaches a blistering 40C, at this time they are ready to hunt for food. No, they don't eat humans or animals - their diets are mainly vegetarian!
"Summer sunset over Grand Canyon" After a very long and tiring trip through countless National Parks we ended the tour in Grand Canyon, one of the seven wonders of the world. Its incredibly difficult to help people understand the scale of this place, the rolling cliff faces seem to go on for an eternity. Unfortunately at the time there were some incredibly fast growing and dangerous fires on the North ridge, these spreading fires are unfortunately mainly due to climate change. The smoke from these fires can be seen on the right horizon of this image. These fires spread across South-West America, and to hear my thoughts on this go check out my tunnel view post of Yosemite. It's incredible to watch the colours that can be seen when an evening light reflects off of the rock. The slight sun gleaming onto rock faces stretching miles into the distance was a spectacle to be seen. To me I have very little memories of Grand Canyon when I lived in Arizona, I only visited a couple of times when I was a child, and I think it's a place which everyone has to visit when they grow up. People see the Grand Canyon in many different ways, it could be a challenge to overcome for some completing the many challenging walks, or a sightseeing spot for tourism, or a spiritual place for people who have a connection to the land. Depending on your beliefs or mentality this incredible national park changes the mindset of anyone who visits. Hopefully one day I'll get an opportunity to complete the North to South ridge hike!
"Red-tailed hawks soaring through Grand Canyon" Travelling through America this was one of the most special moments I had in any of the national parks. Due to several fires in Grand Canyon at the time the quickly shifting light gave an incredible opportunity to capture the smallest part of one of the biggest national parks in the USA. Observing the awful haze which continues to spread across many of the viewpoints I saw in the distance two birds of prey fighting. Only seeing their silhouettes I overheard (some very loud) Americans saying that they were Red-tailed hawks. Quickly scrolling back through my camera roll I saw in my viewfinder the perfectly positioned image of these two birds of prey. Being right at the apex of their swing back to each other it seemed almost too perfect of a shot 😅 Going back to more serious matters, if you would like to know my thoughts on many of the forest fires which spread across South-West America, go check out my tunnel view post. These fires were incredibly rare only a couple of decades ago and its heartbreaking to see the damage it is doing to some of the most incredible places in the world.
"Details of a Senoran Desert Toad eye" (Bufo alvarius) Being one of the largest toads in North America, these toads certainly make a racket during monsoon season. The key identifier for this type of toad is actually the dark brown patches on its chin and neck, whilst other toads in North America have lighter colours. These toads can be seen through May to September, coming out for the humid evenings to search for a variety of insects (primarily beetles) and even sometimes eating smaller toads. They are extremely potent creatures which can be dangerous for some pets, such as dogs. Unfortunately this means there is a common hatred for them in deep South US as they are seen as a threat to pet owners.
"Free to grow" Death Valley had some particular highlights, and seeing a small piece of nature on one of the highest peaks in Death Valley was one of them. Having the smallest critters buzz around this shrub looking proud over an expansive Valley made me in awe for how resilient nature can be. Lining up for this shot was difficult, getting the sun flare spot on in the middle, lining up perfectly with several flying critters with a utterly unique colour tone was a challenge I only had a couple of minutes for 😅 I wish I could have spent more time marvelling at this incredible piece of nature, but unfortunately the heat was too much to bare in the mid-day heat of Death Valley.
"Free to grow" Death Valley had some particular highlights, and seeing a small piece of nature on one of the highest peaks in Death Valley was one of them. Having the smallest critters buzz around this shrub looking proud over an expansive Valley made me in awe for how resilient nature can be. Lining up for this shot was difficult, getting the sun flare spot on in the middle, lining up perfectly with several flying critters with a utterly unique colour tone was a challenge I only had a couple of minutes for 😅 I wish I could have spent more time marvelling at this incredible piece of nature, but unfortunately the heat was too much to bare in the mid-day heat of Death Valley.
