I am now scrambling to restore content from private backups, but it is Sisyphus effort and not a permanent solution. Besides uncertainty what might happen in the future, there is also very sour taste left when someone invalidates work you have been building for a long time, and I simply don't enjoy creating or maintaining it anymore.
All this is to say this Site might not be around for much longer. I am evaluating various options; Photos are easy to migrate, but Hiking Trip Reports are not as source HTML/Java Script is coupled with Zenfolio specifics and not portable. While Site is still around, if you see something in Hiking Portion (specially GPS tracks) you'd like to access but can't - please let me know, and I will send it to you directly.
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Mysterious Girl with captivating eyes emerging from the Tide and focusing on something distant. It is just common street Art one can see on many popular beaches around the World, yet it did something for me I could not explain. Who is she? Where is she coming from? What is she looking at? I took a photo (many) and in my mind kept coming back to this moment; This was even wallpaper on my Mac for a long time.
I was back wintering in San Diego in early 2024. La Jolla Shores Beach is very special place and I was naturally curious about this drawing I dubbed "Queen of the Ocean". Would she still be there or someone painted something over? But yes - Queen was still there, perhaps a bit worn out wood surface but still the same Look that burned in my mind for couple of years. I absolutely love this shot of Incoming Tide washing out Queen Wall.
Sedona, Arizona is famous for it's Energy Vortexes. Scripps Queen is like that for me. This view just speaks to me on so many levels I can not rationally explain why Perhaps it is subconscious consequence of "I Origins" Netflix movie. But whatever the case, I hope she will still be here next time around I'm in San Diego. La Jolla Shores wouldn't be the same without.
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I got lucky.
Panorama below with iconic Half Dome in the Middle taken on spectacular highline traverse linking Glacier Point and John Muir Trail above Nevada Falls explains best why
Setting a base in West Yosemite, no more than 25min drive from the Valley on Wavona Road, worked really well. AirBnB Condo, while still not cheap, was reasonable. Weather was outstanding and I had full week of extensive hiking I always wanted to do. Tioga Road was the biggest gamble; it gets closed after first big Pacific Snow Storm, but it remained open. Cathedral lakes were spectacular, but view from Clouds Rest I hiked on last day stole the show. Rarely seen angle of Half Dome and Yosemite Valley filled with haze from Prescribed Burn was surreal. This was magical spot and one of best viewpoints I've ever seen:
Sometimes famous places are overhyped, but Yosemite lived up to the billing. I could have easily spent a month, not a week, and as I was driving away after checking out next trip was already on my mind. If you want to see more photos please visit Yosemite Gallery on Travel portion of the Site. It is not too big at the moment but it will only grow when I find time to properly process all the photos.
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Some links are already functional and I anticipate entire work to be completed by mid July '23. In the meantime if you need certain GPS Track right away you can contact me directly. And also, if you find any other error in Hiking Portion of the Site, please let me know.
Edit: This work has now been completed and all GPS Tracks are successfully migrated to Zenfolio. If you find them useful for your own trips, I kindly ask to disable Ad Blocker to support this site; for small portion of remote areas - such as Cataract Pass or Devon Lakes - I've made this mandatory
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Extensive gallery and write-up at Travel section of the website should be enough to provide logistic and visual incentive to start planning your own journey. Should you have more questions, contact me using main site menu. Happy Travels!
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Toying with idea of putting my condo on the market, I finally hired realtor I was in touch with for several years. She seemed like a nice person so I thought "go with a flow, at least you won't throw your money away to some jerk". Listing was supposed to happen while I was away; that way I hoped to avoid all the stress and come back to "fait acompli". We met in person, green light was given in regard to saleability and overall appearance of the property. But as soon as I was out, emails started coming about need for various fixes for which some of realtor friends would be hired, draining additional 1000's out of my pocket. Recognizing what was going on I immediately pulled the plug, but whole experience further enhanced my overall opinion about this parasitic profession that lacks even basic ethics.
I generally try to focus these blogs to photography and hiking. But in this case I made an exception and hope someone will find it useful. Stay away from realtors if you can. DIY. Not so much because of financial aspect, but because of knowledge you won't help feeding human parasites. The sooner everyone realizes that, the better.
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Moraine Lake. Probably the most iconic Banff National Park landscape - after all it was once featured at Canadian 20 dollar bill. Also incredibly overrun by tour buses and tourist hordes. Small parking lot at end of 16km access road being able to accommodate less than 5% of those interested coming here, creating traffic jams and all other gong show nonsense in summer months. I heard stories of people waking up super early, driving up before 3am and still not being able to find the spot. Finally at beginning of 2023 Parks Canada announced private vehicles will not be allowed on Moraine road anymore (rule does not apply for vehicles with disability stickers) in order to attempt to easy up congestion. Tour buses and taxis are also exempt.
So what are the options? Shuttle is one -similar to places like Zion or Grand Canyon National Parks in US. But even before restrictions it was difficult to book space; now it will become downright impossible. Taxi is two. And finally - cycling. I cycle Moraine Road regularly every spring before opening in late May and find experience superb with no traffic. Photo below was taken at one of these cycling trips couple of years ago - I had entire lake to myself, something that is entirely in realm of science fiction in summer season
As Rockies veteran I find this move by Parks Canada a good thing. Moraine will still be congested in summer, but with far less traffic and cycling option it will also mean seasoned hikers will be able to enjoy this beautiful area again. I stopped hiking here in summer > 5 years ago, but am now looking forward to coming season and at least one or two trips this coming summer.
For anyone out of Alberta or Canada reading this - do visit Moraine Lake. But when you come, please PLEASE treat this beautiful and fragile area with respect. It belongs to all of us and we are all equally responsible of protecting natural heritage human race keeps destroying in ever increasing rate. And if you want to check some of beautiful hiking trails in Valley of Ten Peaks - see Eiffel Lake / Wenkchemna Pass or Consolation Lakes Trip Report on this site.
]]>Unfortunately, not April Fools Day Joke. Starting April 1, 2022 this iconic hike in Zion National Park will require permits. Human onslaught of natural areas continues to skyrocket. In Social Media Era when hordes of unprepared hikers compete for selfie shots just about everywhere, level of non-managed sustainability has reached its limit for Angels Landing. While occasionally exposed class 3 scramble in upper part, presence of fixed chains does not make it particularly difficult for experienced hiker. But swarming crowds with cell phones posing for Instagram shots at cliff edge creating traffic jams is completely different thing - it became downright dangerous (just look at this photo).
I was at Angels Landing twice (trip report and image gallery). After this, although I plan to visit Zion again, I doubt I will go up Angels Landing again. So I will remember it as I saw it first time way back in 2007 from Scouts Landing, when I had ascent almost entirely to myself
Anyone reading this, I do not discourage you to climb Angels Landing; it is still magnificent. But, besides lack of solitude, trip will require careful planning as conditions are much different. More details about Permit Logistics on US NPS page.
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Finally in winter 21/22 I decided to open up dedicated San Diego Hiking Section on Autumn Sky. It already has more entries than Jasper NP back in Canada, and it will only grow with time. Enjoy looking at these great trails through my camera lens and if in San Diego remember not to spend all the time on the beach!
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Picture above taken at Pulsatilla Pass is self portrait with Canon EOS 6D, 24-105L lens at 24mm, F9 with 1/100 exposure, with camera leaning on rock with 10 second delay. It will also be featured in 2022 color edition of Canadian Rockies Trail Guidebook, iconic Rocky Mountains Bible I highly recommend to anyone.
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The image above is taken from Official Trailer on YouTube. Movie is available for streaming on Netflix.
]]>Historic heat wave descended upon Western Canada end of June '21. Daytime temps in the Rockies approached 40 Celsius; what is more worrying though was unprecedented nighttime lows, still wavering in low 20s. BC Coast, with great Pacific ocean equalizer didn't fare any better, with Victoria on Vancouver Island reaching high 30's as well! According to climatologists this is yet another blueprint proof of global warming; it is amazing that some people still deny this fact, directly resulting from global overpopulation and subsequent mismanagement of natural resources we all depend on.
So what does outdoor enthusiast do when it's just too hot to go for a 'normal' hike? Answer is: Go hike by the glacier! Flipping through Daffern Kananaskis Country hiking guidebook, I noticed "Old Goat Glacier" trail that was short enough not to overstretch myself, but with more than enough scenic rewards. It was an awesome hike, classic Kananaskis - creek, lush forest, waterfall, peaks, wildlife, glacier and lake. I've been exploring Kananaskis for almost 30 years now, but old lady still packs a surprise, and quite a pleasant one at that! You can access full trip report, including photo gallery in hiking part of my website here.
If you are curious about Kananaskis Country, please visit the album with photos accumulated during the years here
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Key is to have large overlap, so that stitching software can do better job. After locking exposure I usually move down - right - up - right - down pattern, i.e for photos above:
1 6 7
2 5 8
3 4 9
Additional benefit you achieve with this technique is "super-resolution". It results with larger file size which is understandable, but details are very sharp on pixel level because stitching software has more data to work with. Pros do this with tripod, but I find handheld also works; technique will also help with camera shake in case of low exposure time.
(If you are interested in above images or more Canmore, AB landscapes please visit this gallery)
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Winters in Canadian Rocky Mountains are long and cold. But outdoor activities don't stop; they just shift focus. Many world class ski resorts are here, and for backcountry enthusiast ski touring and snowshoeing opportunities are limitless. In second half of February I did an awesome snowshoe ascent of Dolomite Shoulder along the Icefields Parkway, some 20 min north of Lake Louise; well off the beaten track, with huge scenic rewards. There are inherent risks when venturing into back-country any time of the year, but specially in winter: avalanche risk, slides, windchill etc. Such trips require experience and higher dose of self-reliance, at least for people like me that generally hike alone. But the freedom, far away from "civilization", and even sense of accomplishment make it all worth while!
You can read more about this trip and see many more winter wonderland photos here
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With fall weather limiting outdoor time and COVID-restricted out of country travel, I've decided to put more work into Photo galleries on the site. First one completed is Kananaskis Gallery; after combing through what I consider best images, I also added more info about each photo along with purchasing options. It is still linked only through Hiking section, but after completing full reorg I also plan to stick high end choices on site main menu. After all, this is photography site first, hiking second. Both images on this blog post are from Kananaskis Gallery; for rest, please follow this link - or access through Rockies Hiking section. If you find image you like and would like to make the purchase, contact me using the link on main site menu
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Summit registers in Canadian Rockies are rite of passage; hard fought prize for bragging rights that says "I made it". Usually you find weathered notebook and pencil inside metal canister box, sign your name, read other entries ("What - he was there?") and that's it. When the notebook fills out, someone brings new one and takes the old down; it ends in National or Provincial Park archive. But recently on Bow Peak in Banff National Park I got a surprise when I opened brand new pink canister - looks like guy on the left was having quite a party! It brought big smile on my face & I had to take this photo (I did sign register notebook too).
Just so you don't think main thing about mountains in Canada are summit registers (and their strange contents); amazing views are still what matters most! Below is wide panorama I had to myself for at least 30 minutes, before prying myself off and starting descent. Big lake is Hector Lake and glaciated mountain to far right is Mount Balfour. You can read full trip report with many photos in hiking section here
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2020 has been anything but ordinary year. COVID-19 Pandemic brought many restrictions and the "new normal". Among all this, summer has been the clearest I can remember in Canadian Rocky Mountains. No wildfires that plagued last several years, far less tourists and mostly sunny skies -- ideal hiking conditions, for us that are lucky enough to be living here. It is only August but I already made several outstanding trips to remote parts of Banff National Park very few people ever get to see. Clear air also means superb landscape photography conditions. Photo above was taken hiking by Brazeau river on Cataract Pass Trail near Banff/Jasper National Park boundary while bottom photo is my bivi tent in Wild Goat Wilderness - unregulated camp site far away from anything that resembles civilization. I update my hiking exploits regularly -- for Canadian Rockies check this page.
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COVID-19 Pandemic is changing every aspect of life, including Stock Photography. Online agencies are now full of social distancing and other covid related content. I never really felt like jumping on bandwagon and deliberately stayed away from shooting such content. Just recently, as closure rules in Canada have eased off, I made a trip to Calgary Market Mall for some shopping and snapped few shots with my Sony Rx-100 passing by. These are not 'state-of-the-art" shots, in fact I even consider them sub-standard. Their main purpose is personal stamp of extraordinary times we are going through, that nobody could predict just half a year ago. Stay safe out there and be kind to each other!
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I spent December '19 trekking in Nepal Himalaya Mountains. In (now so distant) 2007 I visited Everest / Gokyo region; now it was time to explore Annapurna range. Annapurna Circuit and Annapurna Sanctuary are two of most famous treks in the world. Most people do one or the other, but I decided to do BOTH with couple days break in Pokhara between the two. Trek was fantastic, and if this is indeed going to be my last time in Nepal, it went with a bang.
9 day journey Dec 16 - 25 to Annapurna Base Camp, together with tons of photos, is now available on Autumn Sky; you can read it here. Full Circuit report is posted on Club Tread and will be transferred to this site as well.
There is also detail Nepal trekking guide available in Travel Section; wish I had something like this available when I went first time to Nepal. Hopefully you will find it useful, and enjoy the story!
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Manuel Antonio National Park is world famous. Sandy beaches, lush rainforest, hiking paths, capuchin monkeys and sloths... just some of things this tropical paradise on west coast of Costa Rica is known for. I spent 2 days here in 2nd part of January '19. From landscape photographer perspective unfortunate thing is that park closes early and you have to be out by 5:30pm! This effectively curtails "golden hour" and sunset shots. Not to be denied, after exiting the park I scrambled some rock bluffs at south end of public Espadilla beach, just outside the park then settled in. Image above was taken ~15min before sunset as golden rays lit deserted south Playa Espadilla inside the park. It sold many times on micro-stock, but yesterday it sold BIG on Alamy - $292 USD gross and my by far largest single sale ever!
What makes things even more interesting is that, although I made several shots with my main camera -- Canon 6D Full Frame --- , image above was taken with little Sony Rx 100, pocket camera I swear by. I used in-camera HDR mode and totally expected it to be a throwaway but it turned out really good (after CS6 enhancement and noise clean-up).
Image was purchased by west USA based magazine (don't know which) and intended for print run up to 5 million! In addition I found the image online at Fodors Travel Guide (with proper credit to Autumn Sky) and several others. Such things are extremely motivating, the least because of financial reward, and keeps me pushing even harder to captivate beauty of natural world around us.
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People often ask "What kind of images sell best ?" While there is no definite answer, in my own experience images of wild animals (taken in natural habitat, not in zoo!) are in demand. And surprisingly - wild animal prints! This image was taken on a spring Howse River flats hike in Banff National Park. Pack of wolves makes the area their permanent home and while I haven't seen the wolf this unusually clear track in soft mud was quite exciting. It gathered many subscription downloads across several stock agencies I contribute to, but today it also fetched extended license on Adobe Stock -- one of largest single price sales I had so far. Incidentally I stumbled on fresh bear print nearby on same day - but that one has yet to sell. Maybe bear print shots are more frequent out there compared to wolves?
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I was never a fan of HDR. Most HDR photos floating around are simply horrible; even ones that aren't always looked superficial to me & felt like cheating. So I tend to stay away from it, although I blend exposures manually on occasion. But sometimes straight HDR toning in Adobe Photoshop CS6 works like magic. Above photo was taken on hiking trip in Banff National Park in July '19 (for more details see this post in hiking section). It is vertical stitch of 4 frames -- a technique I use lately fairly often when trying to capture full scene up-down that does not quite fit into single frame. After stitching the photo I clicked on "HDR toning" just for fun. It worked really well & I consider this photo one of my favorite landscapes on 2019! So the moral of the story is -- keep the open mind and never close the door to anything automatically.
Rest of technical detail: Canon EOS 6D Mk1, 24-105L lens at 24mm, ISO160, F8, 1/100 sec, B&W polarizer, handheld.
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After Canadian Rockies and BC Coast Mountains hiking sections, I opened third one: Vancouver Island. Reason for this is two fold. First, Island is simply phenomenal and offers most varied outdoor experience I have experienced so far in my life. Second, I intend to spend much more time here in the future so its own section was justified. Initially there will be few trips, but this section will have considerate growth over time.
Inaugural trip is iconic Landslide Lake hike at Strathcona Park (Oldest BC Provincial Park) I did in June 2019. It offers everything "Island Alpine" hiking is all about & I am sure to return at some point, probably as overnight trip. Highly recommended!
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There are 2 schools of photographers out there. First, more traditional one, prefers to use image as it comes out of camera with minimal post-processing. Second on the contrary treats RAW image files just as blueprint for further manipulation in Adobe Photoshop or similar image editing software tools. I belong somewhere in the middle, but believe at least learning what can be done with digital post-processing can only benefit you. In this post I am sharing 2 techniques that opened new doors for my photography:
- Sky Replacement - sometimes you have great landscape image, but sky is just not "right". My Ocean Beach Pier image in San Diego, was originally shot with dreary, grey sky that simply ruined the scene. I had several nice sky shots in my library and following this tutorial ended up with image above that looks much more interesting and dramatic.
- Split toning - refers to technique of having both warm and cold tones alternatively present in the image. In landscape photography for instance, you can decide to use warm colors for shadows and cold tones for highlights. These are two tutorials I found very interesting: YouTube Video and Alamy Blog
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I finally started sorting photos taken during 7-week overland trek through Central America. Journey took me from Mexico over Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica to Panama from where I flew to Havana and spent further 3 weeks trekking in Cuba for total 10-week winter trip. Needless to say, there is insane amount of photos to process and it will take several months to finish the task. If you are interested to follow the progress, bookmark the top gallery link (Travel -> Central America on site main menu)
Above image is one of favorites. It is an early morning shot in Unesco World Heritage site Antigua, Guatemala. It shows famous Santa Catalina arch with backdrop of Agua Volcano. Morning is best time for this kind of photo as later there are simply too many people on the streets. I was probably 10 minutes too late for optimal light, but it is still very good.
Image Link on Alamy site.
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For years I've been lacking zoom lens in my gear. While I shoot mostly wide angle landscapes, more than once I wished I had decent zoom lens - mostly for wildlife, but also for zooming to distant peaks from hard attained summit in Canadian Rockies. Finally in September utilizing Canon sale I decided to open the piggy bank and got me the heavy weapon -- 70-300mm-f/4-5-6L. I spent fair amount of time doing the research -- lens has been around for a long time (>8 years) and I could not find anything bad. Price has not dropped since it came out first time. Internet is full of various reviews -- for a good one click here
Now that I took it for few shoot sections I can say it does not disappoint. Images are VERY sharp. Consider the above -- 300m focal length shot taken from Mount McDonald above Canmore. Mountain to the right in foreground is Little Sister -- anyone familiar with Bow Valley can probably exclaim "wow" now - feels like you can extend your arm and touch it. But real winner is distant Mount Sir Douglas -- you can barely see it with naked eye and it looks so close. For reference consider this wide landscape taken from the same spot with 24mm focal length of my 24-105L lens:
My only complaint is that it is heavy - about 1kg! If you are a hiker and climb peaks or go on multi-day backpacks, this is an issue. Other than that I am very happy with my purchase!
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Summer of 2018 was by far the worst in 20+ years I've been exploring Canadian Rockies. Horrible smoke from wide-spread wildfires that persisted throughout the August has been replaced by early September snowfall. But just as season went from smoke to snow, I managed to take advantage of brief window and did 3 day backpack into Red Deer Lakes -- remote back-country of eastern Banff National Park, still not visited that often. Fall colors just began to emerge and it was every bit as magical as I know it can be. Click the above image to view images and read full report.
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Last day of August did a hike to rarely visited Kananaskis lake, following old trail up south branch of Galatea creek. Along the way passed ruins of Alvin Guinn cabin -- relic of bygone days. Image was taken point-and-click with my hiking Sony Rx100 camera, so technical side could be better - but I believe it is still good enough for stock; I intend to upload it to Shutterstock and others in few days.
Click on image above for full report of this hike.
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August is usually best time for outdoor adventures in Canadian Rockies. I had several multi-day backpacks planned, but they all burned in smoke (literally) due to horrible wildfires all over Western Canada. On August 14 I did short day hike to Memorial Lakes in Kananaskis, beautiful area I visited before, and it was barely recognizable. Click on above Image to read full report in hiking section
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On April 19 I hiked to Taylor Lake near Lake Louise. There is unreal amount of snow everywhere due to record winter 17/18 snowfall in Canadian Rockies. Back-country campground at the lake was completely buried. After lunch break I crossed frozen lake on snowshoes and immensely enjoyed sublime experience in total solitude. Click on above Image for full hiking guide page to this beautiful area in Banff National Park.
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