Tales of a Travel Photographer

Rattlesnake Ledge: The best eastside hike

An afternoon well spent. A 20 mile drive on I90, a 0.1 mile walk to the trailhead. A 2 mile gentle climb for the most satisfying view of the turquoise lake.

Seattle Super Moon

I reached a full hour before the alleged moonrise time. The car park was already packed, I had to park semi-legally. A dozen cameras stood on tripod with foot long lenses pointing ominously at downtown Seattle. The appointed hour came and went. A theory quickly circulated that the hill behind the space needle was the culprit.

Then at 8:51pm, tersely, an orange scar was carved in the dark sky. Conversations stopped midsentence. Half eaten tacos were abandoned. Photographers melded into their cameras. The curve turned into an orange globe. It ruled over the downtown sky for what seemed like a few seconds and quickly darted behind a conveniently waiting cloud.

It happened so quickly that I had time to grab three meager frames with the moon full. A few minutes later when it emerged from the cloud, it had changed out of the orange cocktail dress into satin white pajamas.  

The biggest and brightest moon of the year rose over Seattle today and I was at the Ursula Judkins viewpoint with the l’il girl in tow.

A Photography Itinerary for Arches and Canyonlands National Park, Utah

“Keep shooting. Bad weather may break. Still be at you locations. Best things come to those who wait it out.” wrote back Keith Kapple, an excellent Southwest photographer and an email pal,  when I reached out to him, worried about the weather. I took his words seriously and it paid me rich dividends. The weather in the Moab region was muggy the two days I was there. But like clockwork, I got up at 4:00am, grabbed a quick breakfast at the 24 hour open Dennys and was in situ at 5:00am. On both days, the clouds parted just for some precious few minutes, on both sides of the days for me to take hope a memorable photo. Keith, a big thank you!