Cascades in Washington State

Daily Photo:

After visiting Snoqualmie Falls east of Seattle, Washington, I headed into the hills to get lost. I was in search of waterfalls big or small heading up toward Fall City. There was a slight drizzle in the air, perfect for waterfalls shots. I found many that day just along the side of the road. This particular cascade was interesting with a walking bridge to accent the shot. Washington is a very beautiful state with incredible waterfalls everywhere. Best run-offs of course are in the spring, but this shot was taken late summer. Still a fair amount of water running down through the hills.

Cascades near Fall City, Washington
Creative Commons-Dave Morgan

 

Green River Overlook, Canyonlands, Utah

Daily Photo:

The vast Canyonland National Park stretched out forever into the horizon. As I sat there in the calm morning stillness, I studied how different it was the evening before when the wind was whipping over these canyons so violently it was almost impossible to stand, and the cold was ripping right through you. The green Colorado River in the distance was barely visible because of dust. Now clear for a 100 miles I just sat there for the longest time not wanting to leave. No one around, a great place to feel total peace. A self-portrait taken with 3 exposures, then processed in Photomatix, Topaz Adjust and PS cs5 to get the HDR effect.

Green River Overlook
Creative Commons-Dave Morgan

Neptune Guards Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

I’m not sure what Neptune was reaching for..but what a beautiful statue. Along the ocean in the downtown area of Puerto Vallarta, a boardwalk welcomes you to a varierty of statues as you walk the plaza. I happen to peer this one as the sunset was quickly approaching. We happen to pick a great time to be here in late February. The weather was mild in the 80’s and sunsets were a great time to explore the beaches and and climb along the hills to the south.

Neptune Guarding Puetrto Vallarta
Creative Commons- Dave Morgan

“The Dells”-Watson Lake, Prescott, Arizona

A peculiar kind of place. Looks like somewhere you would expect to see “The Flintstones”. Granite boulders just piled up everywhere. It’s a blast just hiking and climbing and jumping around them, though my new wide angle Canon 16-35mm lens took a hit when I did a body ram into a wall on one of my crazy jumps. Good thing they’re built tough, because it hit pretty hard. This was an after dusk shot when shadows were faded and winds had calmed down. Done with 3 exposures using Photomatix, Photoshopcs5 and Topaz Adjust. Any questions on my photography leave a comment. See all my photos in the “Gallery” above.

"The Dells" Watson Lake, Prescott, Arizona
Creative Commons-Dave Morgan

Goldfield Ghost Town, Arizona

The Superstition Mountains hang majestically over Goldfield’s Ghost Town in Apache Junction, Arizona. One of the rare days last month where the cloud cover created some dramatic results for HDR photography. When clouds come in Arizona I go looking for a photo “op” somewhere. Goldfield’s offer alot of opportunities to grab texture in the old rusty cars, trains, western-style distressed wood buildings and old mining equipment. If you’re  ever in Arizona, it’s worth checking out. They have a great steak house I am told.

Goldfield's Ghost Town, Arizona

“Frozen In Time”-Amish Couple-Lancaster County, Pa.

This photo looks like it was taken a 100 years ago, but it was done recently. What a facinating couple! We probably spent 20 minutes talking with this couple about the Amish way of life. They were very friendly asking us about our families and we were curious about their chosen way of life. Afterwords we ask if we could take their picture and they obliged. The horse never moved a muscle, and then they drove off through the covered bridge we were photographing.

Amish Couple, Lancaster, Pa.
Creative Commons- Dave Morgan

This HDR photo was done in Topaz Adjust. I used one of their black and white presets. Black and White seemed to fit the retro feeling of this frozen in time lifestyle. See all my daily photographs at the “Gallery” above. Please leave a comment. Would love to hear from you.

Full Moon Over Tuscany, Italy

We had spent the day driving all over Tuscany and in our usual driving pattern, had no particular destination in mind. We would keep driving until the evening and then start looking for accommodations. Tuscany is mostly rolling hills and the castles most of the time sit on a high point overlooking the valley. From this vantage point we were able to catch this evening photo of the moon rising. The sun had long set, so I used a long exposure to catch this soft wide angle shot.

Moonlight Over Tuscany-Creative Commons
Dave Morgan

Red Covered Bridge in Lancaster County, Pa

We planned an extra couple days in Venice, but the town was booked solid. So we changed our plans and decided to fly into Philadelphia and surprise my sister who lives in York, Pa. The surprise was on us..she was in Atlantic City on vacation, so we changed our plans again. We spent the next few days exploring Lancaster County, Pa. What a beautiful place!

I’ve always loved the by-gone days of covered bridges. I would imagine driving a convertible Model A Ford through the covered bridges blowing the aooga horn as I went. I’m happy that many areas I’ve traveled from the extreme northwest to the New Englands, folks have tried to preserve this American heritage. As much as I’ve traveled, I don’t remember seeing these bridges in to many other countries. So to me, they are something special.

Covered Bridge, Lancaster County, Pa
Creative Commons-Dave Morgan

 

Little Toy Train-Goldfields Ghost Town, Arizona

Well it’s not really a toy train, but a train ride for tourist at Goldfield’s Ghost Town out in Apache Junction, Arizona. I remember as a kid being crazy enough to try and hop on a real moving train. Sounds all to crazy now, but it was all in a days thrill as a 10 year old.  Won’t be trying that any time soon. Age makes you wiser and little more sore in morning.

All photos are Creative Commons-Non-Commercial. Use for fun, blogs or whatever but you must link to: http://www.travelbugster.com and give credit to Dave Morgan

HDR: 3 photos merged in Photo Matix and fine tuned in Topaz Adjust

Somewhere in the Islands

Daily Photo:

I always teach folks to take advantage of photographing and practicing in your own backyard. We all have this wanderlust to travel the globe and take pictures in far off places. But sometimes you just need to go outside no matter where you live and wait for the “golden hour” at sunset. For some that hour is around sunrise. More power to ya’. I’m not a morning person, so that’s a stretch. This photo was taken just down the street. As sunset approaches each evening I watch the skies to see if any magic is possible. If it is, I grab the gear and take a 5 minute walk down the road  and setup at water’s edge. This photo can be anywhere. I imagine it’s Florida, California, New Orleans, North Carolina, Hawaii, the Caribbean, the south Pacific, just about anywhere that has palm trees. Try it sometime. Let your imagination take you away.

All photos are Creative Commons-Non-Commercial. Use for fun, blogs or whatever but you must link to: http://www.travelbugster.com and give credit to Dave Morgan

My photos are also posted on Pinterest if you’re interested in following me there. You can also hit the “follow” button above. The gallery has all the daily photos if you would like to see them all in one place. Thanks for stopping by.