Acadia National Park

As I have previously mentioned, the national parks of the American West feature scenery that is more dramatic than that the parks in the East.

Those East of theMississippi feature no less beauty, but a scenic charm that is perhaps more subtle. This is only partially true of the compact jewel that is Acadia National Park which has its very own form of excitement. Lying mostly onMt. Desert Island on the central coast of Maine on land largely donated by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., this meeting of land and sea provides more than enough drama for almost any photographer or tourist.                    Surf crashing against yellow granite cliffs and colorful lakes as flat as glass are just two of the many highlights.

Easily the best time to visit is the first half of October.                    The autumn color is at its peak and the road-clogging traffic of summer is gone. The town of Bar Harbor, while only one of several options, offers the widest choice of lodgings and eateries.  

Acadia offers several opportunities for stunning sunrise photography. Make sure to bring your alarm clock and resist that over-powering urge to roll over and go back to sleep when it rings. You will need to drive to your chosen sunrise location and get your tripod set up at least fifteen minutes before the rising sun actually cracks that horizon.                                                                              Some of the best sunrise spots are: the summit of Cadillac Mountain, Otter Cliffs, its small area of Bowling Ball beach and the ever-popular Bass Head lighthouse. Each of these can offer some stunning photography in the right light and deserve your full attention from pre-dawn until the sun gets too high to make good images. In addition to a sturdy tripod (always required), your photography will benefit by bringing along the widest angle lens that you have.                                                                                            Smooth rocks that become slippery when wet, as they often are, can cause you to lose your footing so make sure to wear solid footwear with rugged soles.                                                                                  Once the light of early morning has run its course and you have earned that welcome sense of accomplishment that comes with some adrenaline-filled photography in the cool, crisp sea air, it’s high time for a hearty breakfast punctuated by lots of hot coffee. My personal favorite for this treat is the venerable Jordan’s in downtown Bar Harbor, but I’m sure that you will quickly discover your own eatery of choice.                                                                                                  After using the bulk of the day for a combination of some all- important scouting, downloading images, resting and perhaps lunch, it quickly becomes time to head out again for late afternoon light through sunset.  Among the most productive and enjoyable locations for this part of the day are some of the lovely lakes that stud Acadia like so many shiny jewels. Your scouting should give you a pretty good idea where these are, but just in case, the best of them include Bubble Pond,Eagle Lake and Jordan Pond. All of these lakes feature ample parking just steps from their quiet edges as well as easy trails along their shores.

Acadia offers more photo opportunities than you can cover effectively in an entire week, but take your time and don’t rush. Coming home with fewer images of better quality is always better than thousands of un-exciting shots.     

                                                   Enjoy!

Photographing our National Parks in Winter

The National Parks concept is one of America’s best and oldest gifts 

to the world. Millions of tourists flock to these gems of conservation 

each year. Many are overjoyed to catch just a glimpse of an animal in 

its habitat or a great sunset, but we photographers want more- a lot 

more. As  nature photographers, it isn’t always easy to enjoy and 

maximize the photographic possibilities when we arrive in a National 

Park for the first time.

Having photographed each and every one of our 58 National Parks in a 

variety of seasons over the last twelve years, perhaps I can help you 

avoid some of the mistakes that I have made. While our parks are 

spread across the nation and protect a wide variety of stunning 

natural and historic features, their climates are still controlled by 

the usual factors of latitude and altitude. There is a peak season to 

visit each park. Likewise, there are certain parks that are much 

better, or at least very different in some seasons than others.

 

If you have a yen to escape harsh northern winters, then the tropical 

parks of Florida and the US Virgin Islands may be just the ticket to 

help warm you up. Winter is prime time to explore Everglades and 

Biscayne National Parks on Florida’s southern tip. With water levels 

low during the dry season, wildlife such as alligators and  many 

spectacular bird species are more concentrated and a bit easier to 

find and photograph than at other times of the year.

The sunrises and sunsets are not to be missed! Some of my favorite spots for these are 

Paurotis Pond in the evening andWestLakefor sunrise. Their calm 

waters make for great reflections.

A word of caution, however. As warm, sunny and inviting as the weather may be,

you should avoid wearing shorts. On my first winter trip to photograph the Everglades, 

I waited patiently one evening as hundreds of white ibis returned to a 

large mangrove to roost at sunset. As the ibis gathered en masse, so 

did a lot of very thirsty mosquitos; right on my bare legs!

I could swear that they had e mailed each other. Something like, “Hey 

fellas, he’s over here. Come and get it!”  Since then, I never leave 

home without lots of Benadryl. Lesson: we humans are not as high on 

the food chain as previously believed.

 When staying in one of the many motels lining both sides of US Route 1 

in FloridaCity, it’s an easy matter to visit both of these parks in a 

single trip.

If you’re up for a really unique experience, keep driving south on US 

1 to its end in Key West and hop the day boat to Fort Jefferson on 

Garden Key in Dry TortugasNational Park. You’ll want to bring your swimsuit

and snorkel along with your camera. 

Day tours will get you there just in time for the worst mid-day light. 

If you want to shoot this lightly visited National Park in the warm 

light of sunrise and sunset, the park service has inexpensive camping 

permits. Take your sleeping bag and don’t forget the insect 

repellant….industrial strength!

 For an even more exotic tropical getaway, consider Virgin Islands 

National Park on St. John in the USVirgin Islands. With no airport, 

you’ll need to fly to St. Thomas and catch either of the two passenger 

ferries to Cruz Bay on St. John. Most of this small island is within 

the park, so you really cannot miss it. Rent a small Jeep-type vehicle 

and start exploring. You’ll find the dramatic meetings of land, sea 

and sky that you expect punctuated by the photogenic crumbling ruins  

of 18th century sugar mills built by the former Danish planters.

 If it’s fresh snow and crisp (spelled C-O-L-D) air that you crave,

Yellowstone National Park in northwestern Wyoming could be the winter

destination for you. The hotels in Gardiner, MT as well as Mammoth and the Old Faithful Snow 

Lodge inside the park boundary provide winter lodging with the best 

access to the interior of this vast and varied national treasure.

Whether you travel by snow coach or on a more rugged snowmobile (daily 

quota strictly enforced), you’ll need to dress warmly and reserve early.

Be sure to carry at least one extra camera battery so that you can 

keep a spare warm and ready for use at all times. Most of the world’s 

geysers are right here along with other thermal features like hot 

springs and fumaroles. Shooting these with the contrasts between them 

and their snowy surroundings is what we’re after.

 Yellowstone’s harsh winters often stress the bison and most of the 

other animals who are just trying to survive, so bring your biggest 

glass and give them plenty of room. But when winter tightens its grip 

on America’s Serenghetti, the often elusive wolves of the Madison 

River and other areas of the park seem to thrive. When they make their 

presence known it can make for some terrific images. While Yellowstone 

can be depended upon to provide fresh snow pretty much all winter, 

Moab, Utah is the place for you if you want to photograph fantastic 

redrock arches and formations capped with fluffy snow. You’ll have to 

trust to luck that your visit will co-incide with just the right 

dusting of the white stuff.Moabis the gateway to both the cofluence 

of the Colorado and Green Rivers and the meeting of Arches and 

Canyonlands National Parks and scenic Dead Horse Point. This is prime 

redrock country so bring more cards than you think you’ll need. The few days from Feb. 12 – 20

are best devoted to Yosemite Valley in the Sierras of CA. That’s when the light can be

just right to put a golden glow on Horsetail Falls for a very few minutes right before and at sunset.

Some other national parks easily accessible and featuring prime photo 

opportunities during the winter months areDeath Valley in CA and the 

two parks in Hawaii, but more on those a little later.

Nestled between Las Vegas and Los Angeles is the enormous tract of 

desert christened Death Valley by some frustrated fortune seekers 

headed for the CA gold rush of the mid-19th century. With the lowest 

spot on Earth at 282 feet below sea level at Badwater,

Death Valley National Park offers a wide array of scenic wonders that both

amaze and inspire. Dramatic mountains, sensouusly curving sand dunes

and crazily cracked mud flats abound here.

No shortage of subjects to keep you busy…and amazed…for 

several days.

If you have the time and the wherewithal to travel all the way to 

Hawaii, Haleakala National Park on Maui and Hawaii Volcanoes National 

Park on the Big Island of Hawaii offer scenic wonders that can truly 

be found nowhere else on the planet. Kiluea has been erupting pretty 

much continuously since 1983.  As its red amd yellow molten lava 

tumbles into the blue Pacific, the color contrast is tailor made for 

stunning photos. With fiery hot lava shooting out of the ground and 

looking like fireworks on the Fourth of July, evening shoots against a 

deep blue sky offer super opportunities. Bring your biggest glass, 

strongest hiking boots and a small umbrella for this one.

The classic shot up on Haleakala is sunrise at the summit. It’s a slow 

and tedious drive to reach the summit. Most mornings, it seems that 

every tourist on Maui has the same idea, so leave plenty of extra time 

to allow for traffic.

You might want to start planning now for a winter of exciting photo 

opportunities in our National Parks. 

Resources: www.nps.gov 

Jerry Ginsberg is a freelance nature and travel photographer based in 

South Florida.

His images have appeared in hundreds of catalogs, books, magazines and galleries

all over North and South America including Arizona Highways, Outdoor Photographer,

Sierra, National Parks, Backpacker and Smithsonian Travel.

More of his work can be seen at www.JerryGinsberg.com

 

 

I’ve done it! I’ve actually done it!

Well folks, I am delighted to tell you that I now the only person of whom I am aware to have photographed all 58 U.S. National Parks with medium format cameras. It has taken me 19 years since this bright idea first dawned on me.           It has been one heck of an adventure!                                                                                       It started with a modest beginning a-way back in 1992 with just two 35mm camera bodies and about five lenses when I went to Moab, Utah to photograph in Arches National Park and culmonated last month hiking across the sand dunes in Kobuk Valley National Park north of the Arctic Circle with an assortment of 645, 6×9 and 617 gear. During this quest I have not only hiked innumerable hills, valleys and deserts, but also rafted the Colorado River through the heart of the Grand Canyon, paddled a sea kayak through the Channel Islands, dangled from small planes and helicopters over hundreds of mountains, glaciers and volcanoes and ridden a few horses to the best scenery in America and the world. Stretching across 26 states and 2 territories, our National Parks preserve and protect the very best scenic gems of the continent. It has been the pleasure of a lifetime to see them all. But one can never see everything within every park. So for the next few years, I will be re-visiting some selected spots to photograph a few nuggets: a waterfall here, a mountain or a lake there.                                                                                            To see some of the great images from these 58 National Parks, please go to my website at www.JerryGinsberg.com and go to the Gallery named National Parks OR just type the name of your favorite park in Image Search.                                  Enjoy!

Photographing ALL 58 U.S. National Parks!

The United States has 58 National Parks. They stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific; from Maine to California; from Washington to Florida. These natural wonders of preservation are found in 30 of our 50 states as well as 2 territories. Indeed, three of them are actually in the Pacific – Haleakala and Hawaii Volcanoes inHawaii and the National Park of American Samoa in – you guessed it! –American Samoa. One of them is out in the Atlantic –Virgin IslandsNational Park in – Wow! You got it again! – the U.S. Virgin Islands.

I am happy to share that I am now in the process of packing for my June trip to American Samoa and my 58^th of these 58 scenic gems! That’s right; once I leave American Samoa in late June,       I will have photographed ALL 58 U.S. National Parks and will become the first person of whom I am aware to have done so with medium format cameras. While I originally started on this quest with a 35mm system, after I had been to approximately 25 parks, I graduated to medium format equipment in an effort to obtain more compelling images with greater detail. Since moving up to medium format, I have photographed 57 National Parks with an assortment of 645, 6×6, 6×9 6×12 and 617 cameras. Fortunately, my strategy worked and, although I have many fine images in my files that were made on 35mm film, the size increase to 2 ¼ inch wide film has been a big boon to image quality, yielding more detail as well as far more flexibility and control over the final image. 

To accomplish this trek, I have not only worn out several pairs of pretty tough hiking boots requiring plenty of foot power, but have also used many small planes, helicopters, horses, mules, rafts and, I confess, a sherpa or two along the way to maneuver both me and an often insane amount of gear into position to get what I hoped would be a good photograph. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not so much. You are the ultimate judge. 

Throughout these years when I was visiting each National Park for the very first time, I would study the published information on the particular park well in advance and try to imagine what it must look like. That has been one of the biggest thrills. Once in that park though, I would almost always find the physical and visual reality a bit different from what I had imagined. Once I explore the National Park of American Samoa, that thrill will be no more, as I can now instantly visualize the look of each of the 57 parks that I have already explored. Sitting here now, I am able to call to mind both the photographic and logistical features of each and every one of our National Parks along with the time of day, time of year and angle of the light for each and every shot. Hey, I can neither draw a straight line, nor sing a single note. Everyone has to have some semblance of a gift. Right? 

“Which one is your favorite park?”, is the question that I am asked more often than any other. It is an impossible question to answer. Each one is different; having originally been established to preserve some unique feature or group of features that someone had the foresight to realize could not be replaced and could not be allowed to simply disappear, consumed in the headlong rush to “progress”.  Many of the National Parks in the West up to and including Alaska feature immense and stunning landscapes that simply take your breath away. Many of those in the East display a more subtle beauty often contained in a much smaller area.     In the Western Parks it is certainly possible to rush from one iconic landmark to the next on a constant adrenalin high.             In the East, however, one often gets to see and appreciate the beauty of these very special places only by slowing down and looking for it. 

Generally speaking, I probably look forward more to visiting the parks that feature variety – a bigger variety of both nature and subjects – a bit more than those based on a single theme. Which parks are those?  Stay tuned for future posts to find out.

Thanks for visiting,

Jerry Ginsberg

Bryce Canyon National Park + a Bonus!

I had intended to stick to a natural progression on these blog entries. That meant starting with the 50,000 foot view of photographing the American landscape and eventually drilling down very gradually to discussing individual parks and even specific scenes. However, while participating in a software training webinar yesterday, the conversation turned to the specifics of photographing in Bryce Canyon National Park. The webinar leader related that he had had the opportunities of shooting in both Cedar Breaks National Monument a bit west of Bryce as well as Zion National Park just south of Bryce Canyon, but had never quite been able to get to Bryce itself.

Both Cedar Breaks and Zion are spectacular and very different places. Zion especially offers an almost endless variety of areas in which to hike, shoot and just behold. It has often been called Yosemite in Technicolor ® and for good reason. For such a relatively small park, it offers an impressive variety of scenery. But more on Zion another time.

For now, let’s focus on Bryce Canyon. First, we need to agree on two basic rules of landscape photography. While most rules were made to be broken, these do hold up pretty well.
* First, simplify your composition. As a wise man once taught me about compositional elements, “If it ain’t helping, it’s hurting!” Eloquent, isn’t he? And true. It’s the KISS principle. Don’t clutter your compositions with too many elements. This often creates a confusing image for the viewer to see. The viewer’s eye doesn’t know where to go or how to travel through the image. On the other hand, if you compose a frame that is simple, organized, balanced and has impact, you will get to enjoy the “Wow!” factor far more often.
* Next, try to shoot with the sun closer to the horizon. Whether at or around sunrise or sunset, this ensures that it is the longest
(spelled W-A-R-M-E-S-T) rays of light that reach your sensor or film (yes, film!) first and in a greater quantity. This is because that, because of elliptical rather than perfectly round orbits (sorry, Galileo), the sun is further from the Earth when on the horizon that at midday. Since the warm portion of the spectrum has longer rays and the cooler or bluish portion has shorter rays, the light gets progressively cooler as the morning wears on and conversely warmer when getting close to sunset.

Thanks for bearing with me through the preceding sermon. Now, Back to Bryce Canyon.
First of all, it isn’t actually a canyon at all. It’s actually an amphitheatre. You’ll see what I mean if you have the wonderful opportunity to go there. With very few exceptions, it faces East. That means that it is wonderful for early morning photography and not that great for making good images later in the day. We’ll get to the exceptions later. Bryce Canyon was named in honor of the late Ebenezer Bryce who tried to homestead there in the 19th century. It is a complete maze of spires, needles and wildly eroded sandstone forms called hoodoos. I am not making this stuff up.
It is such a labyrinth of confused geology run amok that Mr. Bryce exclaimed,
“It’s a helluva place to lose a cow!” We can all assume that he had exactly that experience and putting his name on the place commemorates the event.
What may have been his bad luck translates into our great photographic opportunity.
These hoodoos display a rainbow of warm colors from yellow to ochre to deep orange. Fantastic! There are several trails that depart from a large parking lot just past the lodge. For the most part, these are easy to moderate unless hike to the bottom and try to ascend to the top too quickly. If you happen to live at or near sea level, you will fight for breath. Since it really can get a bit strenuous, it might be a good idea to ask your doctor about a prescription remedy called diamox well before you leave home. Strolling around these trails will give you a great close-up view of this unique geologic area. Try the Queen’s Garden and Wall Street trails or the Sunrise – Sunset area. For the most part, they intersect here and there to make convenient loops.

Let’s talk about specific shots. If you have the good fortune to be there in late April thru mid-May, you will have a chance to get what many consider to be the iconic Bryce Canyon image; the rising sun bursting around the head of Thor’s Hammer. To get this sunrise shot, you should scout the area thoroughly the day before and get familiar with the terrain so that you’ll know just where to set up your tripod in the dark next morning.
Park at the large parking lot just south of the Bryce Canyon Lodge and find the head of the Sunset Trail. That’s right. We’re going to shoot sunrise from the Sunset Trail. Don’t blame me. I did not name these places. Walk down the Sunset Trail about 250 yards +/-. After about the fifth (?) switchback, you will see on your left perched on the edge of the dropoff a large sheet of rock with two prominent holes in it. This formation is called the Mask for good reason. It’s hard to miss. Just a few steps past and downhill from the Mask and also on your left is the singular hoodoo dubbed Thor’s Hammer.
It’s the lone tall needle with the square top that resembles the head of a hammer.
In early May and a couple of weeks either side of it, the sun will rise just behind that head, so be there early and be ready. The shot only last perhaps 45 seconds before the sun moves out of position. I suggest that you put your camera on auto bracket and continuous drive and shoot like crazy. While locking up your mirror is always better, do this only if you are very quick and experienced with this function. Otherwise, try ‘continuous’ mode.
In order to shoot an effective starburst, it is best to stick to a few simple practices. You will be shooting toward the sun so -
1 – Use a lenshood to minimize glare,
2- Use NO filters since these offer more optical surfaces off which the light can bounce, also creating flare. There is a contradiction here. This particular shot cries out for using a graduated neutral density filter, but we can make up for this by shooting quickly with wide bracketing and either HDR, develop twice or merging with layers in Photoshop. If you catch the shot early though, the contrast ratio will be containable. One great benefit here and the one that helps to make this shot is the nature of reflected light. Even though you are shooting to the east and into the rising sun, the same light is striking the hillside below your position and reflecting lovely soft warm light back at the base of Thor’s Hammer bathing it in a warm glow.
3- Try using a prime, rather than a zoom lens for the very same reason. Zoom lenses tend to have more elements than single focal length lenses. I have been successful here using a high quality multi-coated pro zoom lens set at about the equivalent of 42mm on a camera with a full frame sensor.
4- Use a small aperture. F/22 is good, but don’t let your shutter speeds get too long or your ISO too high. F/16 should suffice.
5- Perhaps the most important rule of capturing that perfect starburst….shoot only a small fraction of the sun against the edge of some other object like a rock or Thor’s Hammer.
A piece as small as 1/8 to even 1/12th of the sun should work best.

Here’s perhaps the best part. You can take advantage of Nature’s two-fer; if you’re very quick. Once the sun rises over the top of Thor’s Hammer, move your tripod carefully, but as rapidly as possible to your left back up to the Mask. The same reflection off the hillside will provide a bright glow on this form as well. You can still capture starbursts at the edges of the eye holes of the Mask if you position your tripod just right. Alas, these too, will disappear quickly as the sun begins its ascent in earnest.

If you have arrived at my blog via my website at www.JerryGinsberg.com I suggest that you try the ‘Search’ button on the top of my home page. In the Keyword box, just type in Bryce. This should bring up examples of some of the things mentioned so far.

For a secondary shot or those for another morning, there are two outstanding choices here. I suggest either strolling the canyon rim just to the north toward Sunrise Point. From here, you can capture easy images of the light beginning to penetrate the lower reaches of the canyon. These fingers of light make the hoodoos seem to come alive while providing depth and dimension to your shots. Just frame for the light and keep on varying your compositions. Try framing tightly with a moderate telephoto or zoom lens.
For those craving a good workout, there is another option. As you walked down the Sunset Trail toward Thor’s Hammer earlier, you passed a small gate where the trail switched back to the left. Go back to that gate and this time, turn right. You can of course do that on the way back up from the Mask without returning to the parking lot.
After a tedious, but safe descent along what seems like a million switchbacks, you will arrive at the base of Wall Street. No sense in looking for Goldman-Sachs here though.
You will see a monolithic and well photographed Douglas fir standing by itself between two redrock walls. Walk about 25 yards past that tree and look back. If there ever were quintessential vertical panoramic shot, this is it! Again, the need is for a strong graduated neutral density filter, but here it is safe since, if you have arrived in time, we are still in shade and the sun should not interfere. I know, I know, most digital shooters avoid such filters and many are unfamiliar with them. Trust me; this is the place for one.
After you have enjoyed this spot for a while, you can stroll the trail to your right and loop around or retrace your steps up that same steep hill from which you came. Just take your time.

On a different morning, try the often overlooked vista called Fairyland Point. The turnoff is actually just before (north) of the park’s entrance point and the viewpoint is only about 25 yards from the parking lot. As another of my friends has been known to opine, “80% of the shots are within one hundred feet of the road.” Since many of his gelatin silver prints have sold for $9.000. and more, he might just have something there.

Earlier, I promised to mention the afternoon and evening shots. There are four that deserve mention. In late afternoon, but while the sun is still well up, drive the park road south toward Rainbow Point at its end. Along the way, you will see stunning Natural Bridge. Since the shot here is another stroll of less than one hundred feet from your car, it’s worth the stop. If the weather is right, you might be able to capture a good image of the bridge and the land below. Vary your vantage spots. Try straight on and then move both left and right. You should be back in you r car in about 15-20 minutes. Continue heading south toward Rainbow Point. When you reach the large parking lot at the very end of the road, take the trail headed west to the bristlecone pines. The easy hike is about a mile each way on level ground. You’re at about 9,000 feet of altitude now, so take it easy especially if you live moist of the year at or near sea level. When you get to these barely-alive bristlecones and after you marvel sufficiently at how they manage to cling to life in the harsh environment, try several compositions in what should by now be some very nice late light. Framing just the trees as well as using the mountains behind as sharp or soft backgrounds will yield some very nice images of subjects not often photographed.
I would love to tell you that you can see these on my website, but my scanner gremlins are about 5,000 images behind and losing ground.

For the last stop of the day within the park, I recommend Inspiration Point way back up toward the north of Natural Bridge. If you have a few days here, there is no need to rush and try to cram everything in on the same day. That would probably not yield the best images. Just take your time enjoying the breathtaking scenery and spread these photo stops out over your visit. Inspiration Point is good for any sunset with good light, but unusually spectacular with the rising moon. With either luck or great timing, you might just get to see that. Remember, the full moon rises at about the same time the sun sets. Makes for a great scene.

I promised you four scenes especially good in late light. So far, I’ve mentioned only three. The fourth and last one is nowhere near the park, however. For this, you will need to drive about two hours east. Unless your next stop is to the east anyway, try this while staying at or near Bryce Canyon National Park. For the best light and results, you should start driving at least 5 hours before sunset. You will need a clear day with strong light.
If the clouds are really thick or if it has rained a lot recently, better to go back to your room and watch a movie. What has rain got to do with it? Good question. While a good rain will wash the desert air clean and clear, providing a marvelous sparkling quality to the light, you’re going to be driving down an otherwise good un-paved road that just turns to glue and becomes very unpleasant and difficult after a real soaker.
When it’s obnoxiously dusty, it’s an easy drive, however.
If the conditions are favorable, head north from the park entrance and turn right to the east at the first intersection onto Highway 12. After about an hour, you should come to the town of Escalante, Utah. Drive right on through Escalante and past the gas station/convenience store east of town, making sure that you have plenty of gas.
Shortly after this gas station and about 5 miles from the center of Escalante, turn right at the very first brown and white sign proclaiming Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. This is Hole in the Rock Road. How that name came into being is story for another day. Proceed roughly south (kind of) down Hole in the Rock Road precisely 12 ¼ miles from the pavement’s edge along Route 12.
Look carefully for a small low sign along the right edge of the road that says Devil’s Garden. That’s our destination. Turn right at that small sign and proceed only about 4/10 of a mile to the parking area that the end of the road. See, we’re here already!
If you have been able to arrive no less than 3 hours before sunset, you might try leaving your cameras in the car and just strolling around this fantastic wonderland of preposterous rock formations. It takes a while to take it all in. Devil’s Garden is compact, measuring less than 150-200 yards long (my rough estimate) from north to south, but the formations are clustered tightly together with each one seeming to demand your visual attention at once. My wife, who stands 5 foot 9 inches, says that she felt like Alice in Wonderland there. It’s a very good description. Don’t miss Metate Arch. Enjoy the sights and find your shots, but don’t take too long. When the sun drops behind the form known as the Straight Cliffs to the west about 2 hours prior to official sunset, the show here ends very abruptly.
This shoot can be very exhilarating.

Time to drive back to your motel or lodge for a well earned dinner. Since you might not be able to get all the way back to Bryce Canyon in time for dinner, consider stopping at some intermediate point along Highway 12 in either Escalante or Tropic.

Note: Watch and obey those speed limit signs carefully. The towns in Utah tend to take their speed limits very seriously. No sense in spoiling a great photo trip with an unwanted souvenir.

If you have a few days in the Escalante area, Hole in the Rock Road offers many other sights for the hiker and photographer. Among these are the slot canyons called Peek-aboo which ranks as moderate, but very tight and the one incongruously named Egypt which is more difficult and should only be attempted by the experienced desert hound. Beware of the weather. Heavy rains can turn this desert paradise into a horrible quagmire.

Enjoy and happy shooting!

Photographing in America’s National Parks

Thank you for visiting my blog.
I hope that you will also visit my website www.JerryGinsberg.com where a more complete collection of photographs is displayed.

As I mentioned in my last post, the question that I am asked most often is, “What’s your favorite national park.” I’ll get around to answering that question. I will. I promise. But first, you should know that the national park that might be my favorite might not be your favorite. We all look for different things in our national park experiences and yours might be pretty far removed from mine.
Above all, I am seeking the breathtaking beauty that once pervaded the whole of the North American continent; the unspoiled, untrammeled, uncivilized, un-“progressed” and un-processed natural wonder that the very first European settlers found when they showed up early in the 17th century. There aren’t too many of those spots and those moments left. Instead, what we have inherited in the early 21st century is a remnant; a small shred of the natural wonder that has not yet been crowded out by a burgeoning teeming mass of population pressing our natural resources to their very limit and beyond.

Even after 57 out of 58 national parks, I find such places and such moments rarely. One such snapshot of memory that I recall often was walking in the forest of Sequoia National Park in the Sierras of California. It was in the spring and the Earth was alive with the promise of new life springing out of the ground after another harsh mountain winter. As a photographer to whom light is everything, I am out early. Very early. Before coffee early. As I strolled the level forest floor at least a half hour before dawn, all was still. Among the towering Giant Sequoia trees surrounding me, the air was dead calm and there was nary a sound to be heard. As I reveled in the beauty and the stillness, I heard a sudden sharp Crack! This was followed by an urgent scratching sound high above my head. “What could that be?”, I wondered. As a quickly moving squirrel came into view at about eye level, the mystery was solved. The little genius had dropped a redwood seed pod (remarkably tiny for things able to give birth to trees towering well over 300 feet tall) from a high branch and was scampering down a tree trunk in a perfect spiral path in order to retrieve it and its precious contents. All I could do was just stand there and smile. I had been privileged to witness one miniscule episode of the struggle for life that has been going on all across our nation, our continent and our planet lo these several billion years.
These little dramas are being played out in every corner of every national park every day of the year whether we are there to witness them or not.

So whatever your goal in enjoying our national parks and our national world, take a moment out of your agenda and look for these little miracles.

So what is my favorite park? Well, it all depends on what I want to enjoy.
More specifics and less preaching next time. I promise.
Thanks again for visiting.

Which is your favorite National Park?

Thank you for visiting my blog.
I hope that you will also visit my website www.JerryGinsberg.com where a more complete collection of photographs is displayed.

As a veteran of 57 U.S. National Parks with only one left to go in American Samoa, my most frequently asked question is, “What is your favorite national park?”

This question is impossible to answer. So many are favorites because they are all different. Each of our national parks has its own personality. Taken on the whole, the parks offer so many unique sights and features. Individually, many parks possess a variety of widely differing things that appeal to visitors who arrive with varying interests and expectations. Some parks are completely wilderness with few, if any, facilities while others have resorts and family friendly play within their borders. Some are crowded in summer while others are best visited in spring, fall and winter.

Beginning below, I shall try to guide you through the parks as a means of both encouraging as many people as possible to get out and enjoy these national treasures
and helping to maximize your experience once you get there.

Let’s begin by dividing up the whole list of 58 national parks and many national monuments and other treasures as well. Trying to swallow the whole country in one gulp is too daunting a task for anyone and should not be attempted.

We can group the parks in several different ways. Geographically and by season are probably the best ways in which to begin. Both have their strong & weak points.
Let’s examine some of these in a general discussion. The Eastern sides of California’s Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks along the Eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada Mountains are easily visited from about Memorial Day through the end of October. These are both close to the Northern end of Death Valley National Park which is best avoided during the summer due to its status as the lowest point on Earth and the resulting extreme and often dangerously high temperatures prevalent there at that time of year. My favorite time to visit Death Valley is from Feb. through April when temperatures are more tolerable and we might be lucky enough to behold a lush bloom of spring wildflowers carpeting an otherwise bleak and barren landscape. But access to close-by Yosemite National Park can be difficult during that period because Tioga Pass, its Eastern entrance, typically does not become passable until Memorial Day or June 1 due to snow accumulation at its elevation of almost 10,000 feet. So you see that geographic convenience must often give way to the realities of weather and climate. Another criteria, more important to the photographer than the typical family, is seasonal color. Most folks will enjoy Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming all summer and well into the fall. It’s really beautiful during this long season. However, the photographer will wait until the very last week of Sept. when the quaking aspen trees turn to shimmering gold and throw their glorious reflections into the calm Snake River as it meanders all through this breathtaking park.

So you see, there is both an art and a science to maximizing one’s enjoyment of the various bounties that these very special places have to offer.

Stay tuned for our next post.