*** Explored on 8/22/2023! ***

One of the nice things about photographing sunset in the winter is that there's plenty of time to get home and *not* be late for dinner! On this particular night the forecast was calling for a beautiful sunset and I took a work meeting in the car while I drove over to the coast to photograph this beach.

I had visited here a week or two previously when the tide was much lower so I knew we'd have to explore different compositions this time. Previously I had gotten down, closer to the seastacks but this time I wanted to stay further back and capture the tunnel in the photo.

I waited for a big wave to come in and splash against the rocks, creating a "waterfall" like effect along the cliffside. The draining water creates a sense of motion. And of course the sky provides that nice warm sunset mood, which is picked up and reflected in the rocks and cliffs. I used a less wide lens this time so I could really focus in on the tunnel and the seastack, so here's a non-super wide photo for you!

Nikon D850 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8:
28mm, f/11, 1.3 sec, ISO 64

Viewed best nice and large

Find me on My Website | Facebook

Tags:   2020 Aaron Meyers Photography California D850 Nikon Nikon D850 Pacific State Park beach clouds escaype landscape nature ocean pacific ocean seascape seastack sunset water waves

© All Rights Reserved

Foothills Park in Palo Alto has, for many many years, been exclusive to residents of the city of Palo Alto. Visitors were only allowed if accompanied by a Palo Alto resident, or if a Palo Alto resident was having a party at the parks picnic grounds and put your name on "the list". As such, I had been to the park 2 or 3 times but never really explored. Recently the city opened the park up to non-residents and Willie and I ventured here to catch reflections in the sunrise.

On our first visit 2 friends arrived just as we were packing up. They popped their trunks, got out some blankets, and then 2 coolers, some snacks, and coffees. They walked out onto the pier, put their blankets down 10 feet apart, and proceeded to have a wonderful morning picnic. I can imagine this is a peaceful place to enjoy the morning.

Escaype was predicting a nice sunrise but Willie and I didn't want to drive far, so we ventured here. We had hoped for a brighter sunrise but just enough of the clouds caught light that we were able to enjoy a nice sunrise. To the south (the left of the photo), the clouds caught more color but lacked texture. To the east, in this direction, the clouds were more interesting but didn't quite glow pink and red and orange. None-the-less, it was still a quick and nice morning.

Nikon D850 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8:
14mm, f/13, 1/3 sec, ISO 64

Viewed best nice and large

Find me on My Website | Facebook

Tags:   2021 Aaron Meyers Photography California D850 Foothills Foothills Park January Nikon Nikon D850 Palo Alto docks escaype lake landscape nature reflection sunrise winter

© All Rights Reserved

*** Explored on 1/5/2023! ***

I'm often asked why I take pictures? The answer is two-fold: for myself, to remember the places I've been, and for others, to inspire them to see the world. Every day for 6 years I would walk by a photo of this scene in the Lofoton Islands of Norway. SmugMug had a giant panorama print of Reine -- it took over the whole wall -- and it was hung in one of the main hallways. Every day I'd walk by it and say "one day I'm going to go there."

After 3 trips to Iceland, Rebecca finally said to me "damnit, we're going to Norway. I'll plan the trip. You can come along if you'd like." So we booked flights, invited Andy along ... and then promptly kicked Rebecca out of planning the trip. Andy and I did most of the planning and a 7 day photo trip turned into a 5 day trip with 2 days of backcountry skiing. I'll cut to the chase and skip the long story about how we nearly didn't make it here and just leave it at this: We stopped in Iceland on the way, photographed some ice-caves, beat the largest snowstorm in Reykjavik's history and caught our flight with 5 minutes to spare. Everything was easy after that.

This is probably the most photographed scene in all of the Lofoton Islands, with a similar photo from Hamnoy coming in a close second, but I don't care. This inspired me to travel halfway across the world and see and do something different. So here's my own take, taken at 6:30am on a cold morning, when the wind died down long enough for the unnamed mountain peak to reflect in the water. Reine (pronounced Ray-nuh), is a gorgeous fishing village, now turned into tourist attraction. We stayed in some of those red huts on the right. I find it interesting that the tallest peak here is, as far as I can tell, unnamed. All the other peaks are named except for the main peak. Strange.

Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8:
38mm, f/11, 4 sec, ISO 400

Viewed best nice and large

Find me on My Website | Facebook

Tags:   Aaron Meyers Photography Airplane Austervasstinden Breidflogtind D800 Europe February Fjord Fjords Klokketinden Lamlia Lofoton Islands Lofton March Marklitinden Moltbærtinden Mountain Mountains Narvtinden Nikon Nikon D800 Norse Norway Reine Reine Rorbuer Rostadtindan Smeden Stamprevtinden arctic arctic circle clouds fishing fishing village friends fun landscape lights mountain peaks nature photo trip reflection snow sunrise travel vacation winter Åsen

© All Rights Reserved

There's something about these sunflower fields that make me imagine they're all about to speak to us. I don't quite know what they'd say, but it really looks like there's faces on here, ready to sing their hearts out. Or maybe their seeds out?

Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8:
14mm, f/11, 1/3 sec, ISO 500

Viewed best nice and large

Find me on My Website | Facebook

Tags:   Aaron Meyers Photography August California D800 Nikon Nikon D800 Sunflower Sunflowers barn bee bees clouds escaype farm fields floret florets flowers landscape leaves mall nature outlet mall ray floret ray florets seed seeds sky sunflower seed sunset

© All Rights Reserved

Willie, David, Miles and I spent a long weekend exploring the Redwood National and State Parks while trying to avoid getting COVID. We weren't sure if the trip would happen but it turned out things were looking better and we were able to escape our homes and safely play in nature (we took as many precautions as we could. Thankfully none of us contracted COVID during the trip).

There's one particular grove that photographers flock to due to the rhododendron blooms that happen in the forest. Willie and I scouted it in the afternoon and we returned a few times. On one particular morning I saw Willie searching for his typical abstract photo of ferns overlapping each other. So of course I had to copy him and look for something similar.

I spotted this patch of sorrel (not 4-leaf clover) and liked how the ferns were popping out of them. It wasn't until I got home that I realized there was a teeny flower that was making its way out of the sorrel. I just loved how it adds a splash of color to the scene.

Nikon D850 w/Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8:
29mm, f/16, 1.3 sec, ISO 200

Viewed best nice and large

Find me on My Website | Facebook

Tags:   2020 Aaron Meyers Photography California D850 Del Norte Del Norte Coast Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park Del Norte Park National National Park Nikon Nikon D850 Park Redwood National Park Redwood State Park Redwoods State Park coast coastal fog foggy landscape mist nature spring sunrise trees

© All Rights Reserved