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I think the best time to visit Yosemite is February. There is still some snow around the valley. The trees and the snow shine mystically because of the sun rays through the patchy clouds. Certainly a sight to behold.

USA 2011 - Monument Valley

Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan, New York

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Shot from Dr. Jose Rizal Bridge, a very popular vantage point.

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Death Valley National Park

Half Dome is a granite dome at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park, California. It is a well-known rock formation in the park, named for its distinct shape. One side is a sheer face while the other three sides are smooth and round, making it appear like a dome cut in half.The granite crest rises more than 1,444 m above the valley floor.

Tioga Pass Yosemite National Park, California, USA September 2016

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“You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It’s just a matter of paying attention to this miracle.” – Paulo Coelho

Skyline of Lower Manhattan at night from Brooklyn Bridge Park.

USA 2011 - Death Valley

I found myself trekking through the dunes in the middle of 33MPH winds. It was early in the morning when the winds were less violent, but when the sunrise hit the winds took a drastic change for the worse.

• Augustus Hare.

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One more shot from Pfeiffer State Beach. Took this one as I reached the beach when I got about 2 minutes to shoot the bridge head on without anyone walking through the frame. I like this shot a little better than the one where the sun is setting through the arch.

Thanks for visiting. Hope you all have a good day..

Finally get my self around to finish editing this shot. Between the initial shot and the final edit it took me around 5 months. I went to this location 6 times while trying to figure out what to do with it. Shooting at nigh wasn't an option cause there is just to many light sources all around coming from many directions. I wasn't fortunate enough to catch the rainy day also. Since there is so many cars parked in the street I had to do something different to be able to hide them and make everything seamless in the final edit. While shooting in the city, I like to do that with this long exposure technique and use the car trails as leading lines as much as the cover for the distracting area. What do you think?

San Francisco celebrates the Giants in the World Series. 12 images using a 400mm lens on a 5D mk2. Taken from twin peaks. This image is 2.6G of data. 24 inches by 72 inches at 300 DPI. I printed one and it looks amazing!

Espectáculo de música y agua en el lago del Hotel Bellagio.

Nikon D810 + AF-S Nikkor 24-120mm @ 24mm F/16, 30 sec, ISO-100. pano blended with 3 horizontal shots. (taken on 05-14-2016)

After an overcast day, late afternoon sky started to clear on the west, which resulted in a phenomenal sunset.

• Sam Levenson.

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My wife and I lived in the Bay Area for about 6 months immediately after our marriage before finally settling in SoCal. During the six months stay we never ventured or explored any of San Francisco’s beautiful sights. We did Trips to wine country, San Diego, and Yosemite but no trips were made to explore the city where we lived.

We always thought we will be living in the bay area so there was no real urgency in the plans, but we got jobs in LA. So last Thursday was my birthday and we decided to head to San Francisco and give the new D850 some workout. This view is of the San Francisco skyline as seen from the Treasure Island view point. The wind was pummeling us during the shoot and I had to hold down my gitzo traveler lightweight tripod to get a steady shot.

Tele: 180mm

Before sunrise, water was clam and dark sky color gradually got brighter with warm colors. Those warm colors were reflected onto calm water. The entire scene told me that it would be a beautiful and relaxing day. It did!

Another interior shot, only this time in color. This basilica is one of my latest accidental discoveries. It is located just outside the downtown area and it is a perfect place for taking some interior shot for those who like doing that. Since the temperatures are sky high I like taking some indoors location a killing time time during the day. What do you think?

USA 2011 - Colorado River

Sculpture by Anish Kapoor

USA 2011 - Arches

Dead Horse Point State Park is a state park of Utah in the United States, featuring a dramatic overlook of the Colorado River and Canyonlands National Park.

• Pablo Picasso.

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One of my favorite locations in all of California is the Valley view outlook point at Yosemite National Park. I have posted many photos of this location which provides a stunning view of the majestic El Capitan to the left, the stunning Sentinels with Bridal Veil Falls to the right and the serene Merced River as foreground interest. It’s pretty tough to beat a view as spectacular as this but the real reason I fell in love with this location is the fact that I always got amazing light whenever I was at this spot. This was my go-to spot when the weather was bad or if we are providing a quick drive-by for our relatives or friends who are visiting.

This photo was taken in the past summer when we did a quick tour of Yosemite, As usual, the golden hour kind of coincided with our stop and I managed to get some good shots.

Monochrome anyone? It’s been a while since I posted something in BW and I was craving that feeling all this time. I will use this opportunity to throw a new idea out there. Since I’m working in a background on a group of monochrome edits for a while I’m contemplating on starting another channel on Instagram dedicated only to my BW work. I just want to separate the work so both feeds have a cohesive look and the similar theme. I’m leaving on a month long trip in a few days and I will take that time to think hard on this subject, I would also love to hear your thoughts. I’m excited for so many reasons and I hope that I will manage to come back with some great photography. While away I might not be able to be as active as I want to on social media platforms so hopefully we can continue this journey, with the same excitement and intensity, when I come back. What do you think?

Urban Light is a 2008 large-scale assemblage sculpture by Chris Burden that stands in front of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The installation consists of 202 restored street lamps from the 1920s and 1930s. Most of them once lit the streets of Southern California. The cast iron street lamps are of 17 styles, which vary depending on the municipality that commissioned them. They range from about 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9 meters), are painted a uniform grey and placed, forest-like, in a near grid. The lights are solar powered and switched on at dusk. Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Susan Freudenheim described the restored lamps as displaying "elaborate floral and geometric patterns" at the base, with "fluted shafts and glass globes that cap them...meticulously cleaned, painted and refurbished to create an exuberant glow. (From Wikipedia)

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• Charles R. Swindoll.

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Todays shot is of the wonderful pinnacle tufas of Trona Pinnacles at sunset. This photo was taken just when we reached the location as the light on the hills was just perfect. I originally didn’t plan on a sunset shoot that day and was hoping to just scout for a suitable milky way photo spot. But once I saw the light that was happening in front of us, I forgot all restraint and ran out with my camera and tripod for a nice sunset shot. What I liked about this composition was that the tufa pinnacles were in the shadows while the hills in the background were lit perfectly by the setting sun giving the whole scenes a nice depth.

When I started photography, I had lots of trouble correctly exposing images with dark shadows and bright sunlight. I used to rely heavily on my ND grad filters to balance the light and it was not unusual for me to take images with all three of my ND grad filters in use. This was a habit from my film days when recovering clipped dark tones was not an easy task. But as I spend more time with DSLR cameras, I learned that they are far more forgiving on recovering dark parts than recovering clipped highlights. So now when I meter a scene, I make sure that I am exposing for the brightest part of the image and then use the live histogram along with the exposure compensation dial to avoid any clipping. I would also like to add that the D800 I had earlier didn’t accurately show histograms but the D850 has a perfectly accurate histogram.

So this image which would have otherwise required at least a 3 stop nd grad filter is made without any filters by just exposing for the strengths of the modern digital sensor.

I hadn't been to White Owl Falls for many years before this autumn. That tree trunk left of the falls is the reason why. Fallen from a storm years ago, I found my way down here shortly afterward to find that intact tree occluding the face of the falls, hiding its beauty... but that's not what makes it hidden.

Heading south on North Carolina Highway 281 (Whitewater Road) toward South Carolina, there’s a pulloff on the right that fits perhaps a few cars just past Brewer Road. It’s a short hike from there though not exactly an easy one. The hike gets interesting just beyond the beginning of the guardrail across from the pulloff… there’s no definitive trail from that point. There is a concrete chute, however, that indicates you’re in the right place. Follow that chute down from the road, and be careful, as it can be slippery, and you don’t want to shoot out of the chute! Continue in the same direction paralleling the road, not further down. This seems to confuse a lot of folks, yet the faint trail becomes more evident as you move along it, as does the roar of the falls.

I wore my high Bogs boots on this hike, as I planned to work out every composition I could eke out of White Owl. Fortunately, Thompson River here isn’t quite like the Hudson River, other than the fact it’s wet and it’s a river… I can traipse around the falls in my Bogs without getting my feet wet. It was fascinating to me to be standing amid such beauty while hearing cars whizzing by overhead, with drivers and passengers oblivious to this scene.

The camera got a good workout there and I had other waterfalls to get to in my limited time there in the Blue Ridge. Yet, having packed the camera for the hike out, I just had to sit there and enjoy the reverie of this hidden beauty.

The State Funeral of President George H. W. Bush (41) just ended and the theme of “hidden beauty” throughout it struck me. There are problems here in America, but at times like this, it's evident decency is still the core value of Americans. I teared up along with President George W. Bush (43) as he eulogized his dad… the things he related to his dad spoke volumes about my dad as well, whose funeral I had eulogized a year and a half ago. That was one of the hardest things I have ever done, and I broke down as well… my heart went out immediately to 43 when he choked up, as that’s not weakness... it’s humanity at its best. The issues he stated of note: “He looked for the goodness in others, and he usually found it.” “He put character before pedigree." And, “Hatred corrodes the container it’s carried in.” Would it be too much to ask for Christmas that we all embody these things?

Lens: Sigma 10-20 f/4-5.6 (click to see all my photos with this lens)