12 of 24

 42.1N, 124.3W, the northeast Pacific coast.  It's the start of the year and my first time out with my new Sigma 18-35mm Art Lens.  You can judge the results for yourself, but I'm a fan.  It's a part of the world I visit often, but each time is unique.  This morning certainly was.

North Pacific Sunrise

33.2S, 174,3W, off the tip of Cape Brett,  North Island, New Zealand.  The boat ride was a bit rocky, the sea rougher than what you see here.  This was a quiet moment and a clearing sky.  The colors and the details popped for a moment, which was enough.

south pacific morning

45S, 168.6W, the last light of day on Mt. Cecil, the gathering night already stealing across Lake Wakatipu.  Cecil Peak is named for Cecil Rees, an elder son of  William Rees, an early European explorer of the central Otago portion of New Zealand's South Island.

Nightfall on Mt. cecil

44.8S, 168.1W, the entrance to Fiordland on the west coast of New Zealand's South Island.  Tolkien found his inspiration in the Lauterbrunnen Valley of Switzerland, but Jackson certainly got it right by coming here.  There may have been CGl work done in the movie, but was it needed?

the road to rivendell

43.6S, 170.1W, the Cloud-piercer.
In Maori it is known as Aoraki, named after one of the four sons of Raki, the Sky Father.  In 1851 Captain John Stokes named it Mt. Cook in honor of Captain Cook and his 1770 voyage here.  For you Lord of the Ring fans, I'm standing approximately 2 miles away from Minas Tirth, capital of Gondor.

The cloud-piercer

42N, 122.4W
Irongate reservoir on the upper Klamath River, northern California, photo taken a week before the dam was breached and the reservoir was done.  The re-established river will carry both salmon and a different beauty forward.  Meanwhile, this was a late afternoon to enjoy.

irongate: finis

38.9N, 104.9W
The Garden of the Gods
Walking once again through the near-vertical fins of the Fountain Arkose, the great geologic orogeny that created the garden the overpowering sensation.  Justly famous for its color, I nevertheless also like this black and white image.

in the gods' garden

42.1N, 122.6W
The Cascade Mountains run from northern California to southwestern British Columbia.  It is a volcanic landscape, dotted with some very famous volcanoes.  Yet, this is what much of Cascadia looks like.  The primary colors are shades of green, but there are others as well.

cascadia

The tide is rising and I must be a little careful this morning lest I get caught out on the beach looking the wrong direction.  The sunrise opposite the incoming tide and wavesets; my attention is pulled in different directions.  My location is near that of the first photo in the gallery.

morning tide

49.8N, 119.6W, on the big lake.  Kelowna, British Columbia in the distance, standing just above the shore on Lake Okanagan, watching the day fade to night on my first evening here.  The light and shadow on the vegetation in the foreground seemed to demand taking this photo as a black and white.

the big lake

42.2N, 122.7W
On the flank of the enigmatic Siskiyou Mountains.  Considered a part of the greater Klamath Mountains, the Siskiyous are unusual in that the spine of the mountain range runs E-W, much like the enigmatic Uinta Mountains of Utah.  Peter Jackson was not here, but it is very much of The Shire.

a return to the shire

32.3N, 110.8W, sunrise in the corner.  "Rincon" is Spanish for "corner", or "nook".  It may have an even earlier origin in Arabic, brought first into Spain by the North African Moors.  The sun is rising over the Rincon Mountains, southeast Arizona.  The solitary cottonwood and its detritus were what first caught my eye.

in the corner