Tag Archives: mountain

My Road Trip To Lake Tahoe: An Unforgettable Adventure in Photographs

Hello Friends,

In early November of last year, I found myself having to take some time off from the work duties and not being able to spend time on any golden shores (i.e., Hawaii). So I decided that I should just get in the car and head somewhere that I haven’t been. I thought, if I head east towards the Rockies I would probably quickly face winter weather, North I’d end up in Canada (which I didn’t want to do), West would quickly put me into the Pacific Ocean, so south it was. I had always wanted to see Lake Tahoe. It was one of those places that I had always dreamed of visiting but never had the chance. This was now my chance.

So some quick booking for accommodations, a tune-up for the car, camera gear packed up, off I went.

The first portion of my drive was in driving rain and wind with snow in the mountains. The weather cleared up a bit as I made my way through the Yakima Valley and drove down towards the Sam Hill Memorial Bridge to cross the Columbia River. I stopped at the Maryhill Stonehenge War Memorial to take some pictures and fly the drone around, but the wind was relentless and not safe to fly.

After that brief stop, I crossed the Columbia River and drove into Oregon. From there it was a straight shot to overnight in Bend, and up early the next day to make the final push into California and Nevada.

The drive was long but it was so worth it. The scenery through southeastern Oregon was incredible even though the views of Crater Lake were obscured by clouds. And driving through some of the northern California minor highways brought me through Modoc National Forest, Adin, Susanville, and finally through Reno and up into the Sierra-Nevada’s towards the condo I was staying in. It was quite the drive, but I made it in one piece and was all set to enjoy the views of the snow-capped mountains from the comfort of my temporary home and the day trips I planned to take.

The next day, I woke up early and went for a drive around the lake. It was a beautiful day and the scenery was incredible. I stopped at a few different spots to take some pictures and just enjoy the views. One of my stops was at a place called Eagle Falls. I was looking forward to this stop since I love to photograph waterfalls and get in a little hike while I was at it. Turns out, the falls were dry so not much to look at. The stop was a disappointment but I met a few interesting people along the way and enjoyed the conversations I had with them so it wasn’t a complete waste.

Returning to my drive, I found my next stop at Sand Harbor Beach on the opposite side of the lake. I found that this was much more picturesque than the dry waterfalls I visited earlier, but the weather was taking a turn for the worse and it started to cloud up and snow a little. And with that snow came a drop in the temperature so my stop here was only long enough to snap a few photographs.

Following the full day of navigating around the lake, I returned to my condo to relax for the evening, catch up on some football, and prepare for upcoming adventures. However, unbeknownst to me, Mother Nature had different intentions; an early winter storm was supposed to roll in and possibly blanket the area in light snow.

As anticipated, the storm arrived in full force overnight and hung around for the next 3 days. Snow was strewn all around and I found myself unable to leave the condo. Unfortunately, I had not prepared to be cooped up like I was so it was an effort to keep myself fed and entertained until the storm broke and I could get leave.

After 3 days of being stuck inside, the storm finally subsided and the roads were cleared. With a more attentive ear to weather forecasts, I became aware of another storm brewing that was anticipated to bring even more snow. In response, I made the decision to pack up, depart, and just return home rather than try to salvage anything on this trip.

Since most of the mountain passes through California were still not very good to drive on I followed almost the exact same route I drove to get to Lake Tahoe on the return. I overnighted again in Bend, Oregon and took another day to complete the final leg going around Mt. Hood and down the Columbia River, making some stops along the way to snap some photographs.

Regardless of how my trip unfolded and the disappointment I felt as my plans fell apart, I believe I still managed to get a few good photographs. I am hopeful that you will enjoy what I am sharing with you now and come to the same conclusion: even busted plans can yield some good photo opportunities if you allow them to.

Blessings to you all.

Chris

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Photos of Mt. St. Helens in Summer

Hi Friends,

So in one of my last posts, I shared about a road trip I recently completed to Mt. St. Helens, specifically to Windy Ridge. Of course I brought my camera and drone and got some photographs but unfortunately they are not ready to share yet.

So as an alternative, I thought that I would share a few photos from a trip I took to the other side of the mountain a couple of years ago. These pics are from the Johnson Ridge side of the mountain. Looking right down into the crater is an amazing sight and one that everyone should take the trip to witness.

Anyway, I hope that you enjoy these pictures.

Blessings to you.

Chris.

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Some of my Aerial Drone Photographs Around Kona, Hawaii

Aloha e na makamaka (Aloha my friends),

Last month I finally made it back to the big island of Hawaii. We have been trying to get back there for two years, but something called Covid kept getting in the way (you know, travel restrictions, testing, quarantines, etc.). But thanks be to God we got back for a week of diving and some relaxation. Ok, well not much relaxation but definitely some diving.

One of the things that I was able to do this time was bring the drone with me and get out flying a little bit. I managed to get it into the air more than once or twice and flew a little bit outside downtown Kona, on a lava field east of the airport (with FAA permission and all safety precautions taken, of course) and another close to South Point, around the Kona Small Boat Harbor, around Puako, and more sites along the south end of the island. And yes, the blobs are old lava fields.

I have to say that I am really enjoying the challenge of aerial photography. It is providing me some things to learn, new places to photograph, and new perspectives to see. It is not easy but it is something that I really enjoyed on this trip.

Lana koʻu manaʻo e hauʻoli ʻoe i kēia mau kiʻi paʻi e like me ka hauʻoli i ka hana ʻana iā lākou (I hope that you enjoy these photographs as much as enjoyed working on them).

Mahalo.

Chris

P.S. Want to see more of my aerial photography content. Click on the portfolio to see more. Thanks.

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Oahu 2021

Greetings friends.

Well after a year of lockdowns and quarantine for me (seriously a year), we managed to get away from the house and work for a few days last month and visit Oahu. We’ve only been one other time, so being the least restrictive of all the islands in terms of travel from across the Pacific we decided to go back and chill for a bit. So negative tests in hand, masks on the face, off we went.

We met Lynette’s cousin and his wife there for a week of fun and relaxation. We got in a few a sunsets, toured the island a bit, managed a few dives, and just turned off the brain for a bit.

And of course, I drug my cameras with me and snapped some photographs., both above the water and below. Landscapes, shipwrecks, mountains, sunsets, fish, and of course Diamondhead. Couldn’t ask for a better time.

I hope that you enjoy the photographs as much as I did taking them.

Blessings,

Chris.

Posted in Landscape and Nature Photography, Travel Photography, Underwater Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , |

Shot of the Day, April 2, 2021

Oh my goodness, do you know how long it’s been since I’ve done one of these posts? Maybe 5 years. Holy Cow!!! Time sure flies when you’re having fun. Or is it time’s sure fun when you’re having flies. Whatever. Haha.

Anyway, I have taken so many photographs of round-the-house stuff while stuck in quarantine during this pandemic. This particular photograph is of Mt. Rainier that I took a few months ago while sitting round waiting to start my day. It was a foggy kind of day and the mountain was in complete silhouette during the sunrise and the top of the it had a hint of the sunshine to come.

Enjoy and Blessings,

Chris.

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Iceland 2017

Hi Everyone,

Back in late September, 2017, I traveled to Iceland for a few days with some friends after they completed teaching at one of their workshops on the island. We traveled to the Snæfellsnes peninsula for 3 days of intense shooting from the famous Budir Black Church, to the crashing coastlines, and ending up at the famous Kirkjufell mountain and waterfall.  We ended our last day at the lavafields at Hraunfossar and the Þingvellir National Park.

Iceland is a special place for me and even though I’ve been there only 2 times. As a landscape photographer I find myself longing to spend more and more time there and capture the beauty of the place before its gone forever or access to various places is restricted (which is a real possibility-thanks Justin Beiber).  As a human, I find God’s hand everywhere and I find my inner peace.

I look forward to my next trip, where this time I will spend up to 2 weeks traveling around the entire country.

I hope that you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Blessings,

Chris.

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Mt. Rainier Panoramic

Hi Friends,

The image below is an 8 photo panoramic I shot of Mt. Rainier taken yesterday. WAIT! You can’t see Rainier? Well neither could we (it should be in the upper right corner of this photo). But if you look closely you may see Mt. Adams off in the distance.

We got a real late start in the day and were hoping to get some sunset shots from Crystal Mountain, but it didn’t look like the clouds were going to break so we made the trek over to Sunrise in the hopes that getting closer might yield a shot or two. Well, it wasn’t to be. Perhaps next time (I will post a few others later on).

Blessings until next time,

Chris.

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Maui in May

Hello Friends,

We just arrived home from a fantastic week in Maui. Of course, we were there for both business and pleasure, with the pleasure being a celebration of our silver wedding anniversary (that is 25 years for all the newbs out there). 25 years is a long time to be with someone, but we are both completely dedicated to each other and never expected not to reach this point.

Anyway, enough with the mushy soap-box stuff. So while we were there, we managed to get out a couple of times to enjoy some of what Maui had to offer. We drove the Road to Hana and went on a few small hikes to see some waterfalls and other scenery, went Snuba diving and snorkeling, enjoyed a traditional luau and hula show, and enjoyed some fabulous sunsets.

The pictures below are but a sample of some of the wonderful things that Maui had to offer.

Thank you Maui for hosting us and we look forward to our return visit.

Blessings,

Chris

Posted in Landscape and Nature Photography, Travel Photography Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Iceland, Day 4

Short post today.

Started the day at midnight photographing the Northern Lights. Got back to the hotel at 2:30 am, then up again at 5:30 to hit the beach for more ice shots. After which, we traveled to Vik, stopping along the way for various shots, including some of the Vatnajökull glacier.

There are some abstract shots in here, shot intentionally as various art personal pieces. I have a few other great pieces to share from this day, but need to do some more work on them so I’ll wait for a later post.

Enjoy day 4.

Chris.

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Iceland, Day 3

Today began very early at the beach for some shots of ice on the beach. There are so many pictures out there of this spot, so I was looking to capture one of those. However, two things were working against me: the tide was heading out, the waves weren’t coming at and exiting the beach at the right direction (not 90 degrees), and I didn’t have my rubber boots so I was constantly battling to keep myself from getting wet. I guess that’s three things.

After which, we spent part of the day resting, part of the day looking around the immediate area, and finally ending us at Jökulsárlón for some sunset pictures.

Enjoy.

Chris.

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