This post is a work in progress.  I will add photo guides as I learn of them.  Check back periodically for coverage of new locations.

These days I think most of us plan photo trips in pretty much the same way: we scour the internet for every little morsel of information we can find.  Sure, there are photo guidebooks and newsletters, and of course there’s my iFotoGuide apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch, but just about everything we need is just hangin’ out in cyberspace waiting to be found.  With this blog post I aim to make that process a little less time consuming.  Here I’ll list links to the best free, and only free, “how and where to photograph” guides on the ‘net.  I hope you find this information useful.  May the sweet light be with you.

Arizona

Sabino Canyon – Sam Rua via Rocky Mountain Nature Photographers Forum

Saguaro National Park – Stacy Egan via Rocky Mountain Nature Photographers Forum

White Pocket, Paria Canyon – Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness Area – Mac Danzig

California

Death Valley National Park – G. Dan Mitchell

Death Valley National Park – Mac Danzig

Colorado

Colorado Fall Colors – Darren Kilgore

Garden of the Gods – Ken Wyatt via Rocky Mountain Nature Photographers Forum

Holy Cross Wilderness – Martin Beebee via Rocky Mountain Nature Photographers Forum

Pawnee National Grassland – Rick Dunn via Rocky Mountain Nature Photographers Forum

Rocky Mountain National Park in Winter – Tom Mangan via Rocky Mountain Nature Photographers Forum

Yankee Boy Basin – Dave Rodenbaugh via Rocky Mountain Nature Photographers Forum

A Tour of Mesa Verde National Park – Joshua Hardin

Florida

Photography in the Southern Everglades – Paul Marcellini

Montana

Beartooth Mountains – Rick Dunn via Rocky Mountain Nature Photographers Forum

Utah

Arches National Park – Les Barstow via Rocky Mountain Nature Photographers Forum

Cathedral Valley/Capitol Reef National Park – Les Barstow via Rocky Mountain Nature Photographers Forum

Wyoming

Grand Teton National Park Photomap – WyoFOTO LLC

Grand Teton National Park – Mike Cavaroc

Global & USA

Open Source Photography Guides

Another week, another batch of awesomeness all over the web.  Let’s get started…

Click This – Carl Donohue
Here’s Carl’s first compilation of 2011 filled with useful, fun, interesting and not-all-photo-related content from around the world wide web.  My favorite?  An interview with Doug Peacock, one of my favorite authors and a staunch advocate of my favorite animal, the grizzly bear.

Canon Announces EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x Lens
This new lens from Canon has an integrated 1.4x extender – something never before seen in a lens.  Could it be a game changer?

Building a Better Online Portfolio (Video) – Photoshelter
Very insightful webinar with Stella Kramer, a Pulitzer prize-winning photo editor, speaking about how to make your online portfolio a success.  I’ve listened to this three times now and I get something new out of it each time.

Why Fitness Matters to Outdoor Photographers – Robert Rodriguez Jr.
Excellent post on a topic not often discussed with regard to photography. Robert offers a compelling argument for getting out from behind your desk to get some exercise a few days a week.

Loktah – Organic Packaging Materials for Photographers
I haven’t yet figured out how to use these amazingly cool products but I’ve got a few marketing ideas floating around in my head. Check ‘em out and see what you can come up with.

Photography Tips: Merging Two Exposures in Photoshop – Jay Goodrich
Just what it says. Throw away your GND’s and learn how to manually combine exposures to increase dynamic range.

North Cascades Disappearing Grizzlies – Backpacker
Didn’t know there are still a few grizzly bears in Washington, huh? Yep, there are – but not many and not for long if support for a reintroduction plan doesn’t materialize.

A Couple of My Older Images on Flickr

Aspens at Sunset in Winter, Utah

Smokies Spring Foliage, Tennessee

By now you’re all aware that the iPhone has landed at Verizon.  Finally, iPhone devotees can choose between two carriers!  Choices are always a good thing, right?

I’ve received several emails from folks asking if my iPhone app, iFotoGuide, will work on the new Verizon iPhones.  The answer: oh yeah they will!  So, those of you who have been monitoring the rumors for years and waiting patiently to pick up an iPhone can now do so and will have full access to iFotoGuide: Arches NP, iFotoGuide: Grand Canyon NP and iFotoGuide: Yosemite NP.  All are currently available for download in the Apple iTunes App Store for only $4.99 each.

If you’re not already familiar with it, iFotoGuide is the first and only guide to photographing the national parks currently available on the iTunes App Store.  Each app contains everything you’ll need to plan a successful photo trip to the national park of your choice.  You’ll learn what to photograph, when to be there for the best light, what lens and filters to use and concise directions to each spectacular location.  Search for locations in three unique ways and find inspiration in galleries filled with stunning photography.  iFotoGuide delivers fresh and accurate content that fits easily in your pocket.  iFotoGuide – it’s all you need.

Great Geyser Abstract, Wyoming

Here it is, folks – number ten of my ten favorite images of the decade from 2000 – 2010.  I made this image in Yellowstone National Park a day or two before Melissa and I were married.  We took her family on a tour of Yellowstone since they had never been and probably would never go back.  We hit all the usual tourist spots: Old Faithful, Hayden Valley, Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and the little loop that passes Great Geyser.  In truth, I’d never been to Great Geyser and of course, my camera was along just in case. As we walked out on the boardwalk I noticed that clouds were reflecting in the top terrace while brightly colored bacterial mats inhabited the lower terraces.  I was just starting to settle into a groove of making intimate landscape photos and this little scene grabbed my attention right away.  I excused myself to return to the truck where my faithful camera was patiently waiting.

Using my 100-400mm lens I was able to extract a small slice of the overall scene.  I didn’t have a lot of time to work as there were several people waiting for me to finish so we could continue their tour of the park.  Fortunately, the composition came quick and there were no exposure challenges.  I made the image, we all crammed back into the truck and were back on the road doing more touristy things.

Often, we as photographers connect with one of our images because of the adventure involved in making the image.  Obviously, that isn’t the case here.  I don’t know what it is about the image that keeps me coming back to it.  It isn’t my strongest image.  There was no adventure involved in making it.  Nothing momentous happened while I was creating the image, although perhaps tying the knot a couple days later has something to do with my affinity for the photo!  It’s just a simple image of a simple scene.  I hope you enjoy it.

Read “My Favorite Photos of the Decade – Part Nine” here

Storm Clouds Over Green River Overlook, Utah

I find the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park to be quite difficult to photograph well.  It’s easy to make compelling photographs in Arches National Park on a cloudless, blue sky day but those same conditions at the Island usually result in rather bland images.  The one exception is Mesa Arch at sunrise which relies on warm, reflected light for dynamic image making conditions – easy to do even without a cloud in the sky.  Optimal conditions exist when storms are developing or dispersing during the golden hour after sunrise or before sunset.  Ominous clouds overhead with storm light strafing the canyon below creates conditions most any landscape photographer would be thrilled to photograph.  Unfortunately, it just isn’t all that common.

I’ve lived in Moab for almost five years.  In that time I’ve visited Green River Overlook countless times when it seemed conditions might be just right to make the image I’d visualized.  Each and every time I got skunked.  The clouds would either dissipate too early or they would form a blanket of gray overcast that left the light boring and flat.  However, as in most things in life, persistence does eventually pay off.

On the evening I made this photograph I was assisting at a photo workshop.  My job consisted mainly of helping the leader select the right locations for each shoot, leaving me free to run around and photograph once we were on site.  The day had been stormy and our sunrise shoot was a complete bust.  When I started seeing shafts of light breaking through the clouds as our afternoon session drew closer I decided that we should head up to the Island.  The workshop leader agreed and off we went.

The entire group was awed by the view at Green River Overlook even before the light show began.  It’s difficult not to be when you stand at the edge of the canyon rim, gazing at the White Rim below, the Green River snaking through the mid-ground and the Henry Mountains far off in the distance by Capitol Reef National Park.  Minutes before sunset, the conditions I’d hoped for quickly appeared.  I had already framed a composition and left my camera mounted on the tripod just in case, because I suspected the light wouldn’t last long.  We had only a couple minutes to work with these amazing conditions before the sun disappeared below the horizon.  After four years and dozens of failed efforts, I’d finally realized my vision.

I’ve got a few more local spots I’ll keep visiting until all the right conditions come together to bless me with a crazy dynamic image.  Some are well known (False Kiva, anyone?) and others are rarely visited.  Who knows, maybe in 2021 one of them will be on my “Best of the Decade” list right here on the ol’ blog.  Be sure to check back.

Check out “My Favorite Photos of the Decade – Part Seven” here

Melissa and Jackson Hiking in Glacier NP, Montana

Last Friday’s post was a bit heavy so I thought I’d lighten up today with a cute photo and it’s sweet backstory.  Melissa and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary in Glacier National Park in July, 2010.  We hiked to Virginia Falls with Jackson comfortably seated in a backpack carrier for most of the trail.  Toward the end he began to fuss, which is usually our cue that he’s done hitching a ride and is ready to strike out on his own.  We freed him from the pack and he immediately started running down the trail between the tall, vibrant green foliage.  Melissa caught up and as she sidled up next to him, he reached up with his little hand and grabbed her hand.

I already had my camera out as I wanted to photograph Jackson exploring  the trail on his own.  This sweet moment lasted but a few seconds.  Fortunately, I was able to fire off a few properly exposed frames before he let go and took off at top speed, excited to be experiencing the wilderness under his own power, not from the plush seat of his carrier.  Melissa and I are both great lovers of wilderness and we’re hopeful that by taking Jackson out to the mountains and deserts early and often, he’ll share our passion for the outdoors.  If the pure joy he exhibits now every time we go for a hike is any indication of what’s to come, I believe he’s well on his way to being a big-time nature lover.

I hope this photograph brings a smile to your face.  It always does and always will for me.

North Window and Turret Arch in Snowstorm, Utah

I don’t think there is a landscape photographer alive who doesn’t recognize this iconic scene in Arches National Park.  Most photographers arrive before sunrise to scramble up to the tiny, mildly exposed perch that affords this perspective.  When the sandstone is dry, it’s a relatively easy task.  When it’s covered in snow and ice, it becomes a formidable obstacle.  At sunrise on a bluebird day you’ll have to wage battle with several other photographers for this spot.  You’ll vie with no one during an active snowstorm.

I made this photo in early March, 2007 while recovering from a broken back.  Six weeks earlier I was involved in a violent, high speed car crash.  At 80 MPH I’d swerved to avoid a deer (stupid) and lost control of my vehicle.  The car slid sideways into a metal pole, spun around and collided with a boulder while traveling backwards, then flipped end over end into a culvert.  The car came to rest on it’s rear bumper, upside down, with the front of the vehicle supported by the limbs of a sturdy cottonwood tree.  I wasn’t wearing a seat belt (even more stupid).  The force of the crash broke the drivers seat completely off of it’s mounts and I was lying under it in the back seat when my friend T.J. and his extrication crew arrived and cut me out of the crumpled mess.  An ambulance arrived, morphine was administered, I was taken to one hospital and then another in a different state.  I’d later discover that I had fractured two vertebrae – T10 and T12.  I spent two days in the hospital before I was discharged and allowed to go home with strict orders to spend the first four weeks lying on the couch.  After that, my doctor said I could start doing short walks around the block.

Some time around the six week mark a winter storm arrived in Moab.  All that red sandstone was blanketed in snow and the photographic potential was irresistible.  Ever the idiot, I grabbed my Lowepro chest pack and my backpack, loaded up my tripod and headed to Arches.  I drove straight to the Windows area and upon arriving in the parking lot and seeing ground level fog all around, immediately forgot that I was only supposed to be “walking around the block”.  I put on the Topload chest pack and quickly realized that all the weight of my camera was resting where the chest pack straps come together – right on top of T10 and T12.  I hurried up the trail toward North Window.  I scrambled over the slickrock, which was covered in snow and patches of ice, finally arriving at the spot where I set up my tripod and made the image you see below.

The entire experience was a religious one for me.  Only six weeks earlier I was saved from serious injury or death by some unknown and unseen force.  Lying in the back of a cold, upside down car, struggling to breathe through intense pain, I’d never felt more alone.  I used my cell phone to call Melissa and told her that I’d been in an accident.  I told her I’d already called for help and asked her to meet me at the hospital, not knowing if I’d even make it there.  I told her how much I loved her and when I heard the sirens approaching, I hung up the phone.

And now, here I was making photographs in a snowstorm in Arches National Park.  I was filled with love and happiness in a way I’d never known.  I was jubilant.  I was emotional.  I was alive.  Indeed, every day, every hour, every minute is a gift.

Purchase a fine art print of this Arches National Park photograph

Read “My Favorite Photos of the Decade – Part Four” here

Melissa on the Highline Trail, Montana

If you read yesterday’s somewhat sappy but heartfelt post you know that Melissa and I were married in June of 2005.  Our honeymoon consisted of a 4 month road trip throughout the West, living out of a tiny travel trailer we lovingly named “Harvey the RV”.  We started in Denver and headed north, spending a couple days in Yellowstone before pressing on to one of my all-time favorite national parks – Montana’s amazing Glacier NP.  In February of that same year I’d been laid off after 10 years with Charles Schwab.  I was ready for a career change and I felt photography was my way out from under the oppressive thumb of “The Man”.

My good friend and some time workshop co-leader Todd Caudle had recently made a suggestion that would turn out to be the best business advice I’ve ever received.  Todd recommended that I start photographing people doing active things in the outdoors to supplement my small but growing collection of landscape images.  He noted that the market for landscape photography was becoming increasingly saturated and that there were far fewer photographers creating dynamic images of hikers, climbers, mountain bikers and other outdoor athletes.  I took Todd’s advice, and by the time Melissa and I hit the road I was gaining confidence in my adventure photography skills.

The Highline Trail from Glacier’s Logan Pass to Granite Park passes under the dramatic cliffs and peaks of the Garden Wall.  It also traverses colorful wildflower meadows and prime habitat for grizzly bears and mountain goats.  Melissa and I started the hike under perfect weather conditions.  By the time we reached the Granite Park Chalet, a storm had blown in and brought with it freezing rain, strong winds and a 40 degree temperature drop.  About 3/4 of the way to the rustic chalet we paused for a break at an area with a spectacular view of the Garden Wall.  We watched as clouds quickly moved below the ridge, edging ever closer to us.  I noticed a small rock outcrop and asked Melissa to stand facing the ridge and impending storm while I made a few images before we hastily beat feet toward the shelter of the chalet.  The storm caught up with us 20 minutes before our arrival at Granite Park.  Not wanting to stay in the nasty weather any longer than we had to we decided to press on rather than stop to layer on warm clothing.  A very kind soul in the chalet took pity on us and brought over two cups of steaming hot cocoa, which is the type of gesture that seems quite common among the great folks I’ve met on the trail.

It wasn’t until we’d finished the hike and I downloaded the photos that I realized I’d made my first honest-to-God adventure image that was truly magazine worthy.  It stoked a fire in me that burns strong to this day.  Landscape photography is my first love.  Adventure photography is nipping at the heels in a very close second place.  That one image captured so much of what drives over 2 million people each year to visit Glacier NP.  Beargrass plumes dotting the hillsides, dramatic weather blowing in, storm light on the tortured peaks and a lone hiker enjoying the entire grand show.

It was at that moment that I realized the true power of adventure photography.  More than just a pretty picture, placing a person within the landscape has an undeniable psychological impact on the viewer – they want to be there, in the scene and in the moment.  They want to be the person in the photo.

Thanks to Todd’s sage advice and Melissa’s willingness to model for free (not to mention her never-ending patience), I’ve amassed a respectable collection of images from our adventures over the years.  Photos of Melissa hiking, climbing and canyoneering have appeared in magazines, advertisements and websites around the world.  I feel I owe much of my success with adventure photography to this one image, which is why I’m including it as a top ten favorite photo of my first full decade as a photographer.

I love the internet.  There’s so much invaluable information out there just waiting to be consumed that it’s really quite mind boggling.  There’s even more crap, but here we’re focusing on the excellent stuff.  Here’s my picks for the week.

Presenting Work to Fine Art Community – Mary Virginia Swanson
I’m in the midst of building my first ever fine art print portfolio and this article, which came to me from friend and cool dude Michael Gordon, is loaded with killer information on what to do with your art to get noticed.  Just awesome.

Interview with Photographer Quang-Tuan Luong – John Lund
This very candid interview with QT Luong should be read by anyone aspiring to create an income stream through stock image licensing and fine art photo prints.  It may well open your eyes to the reality of the business – for better or worse.

10 Ways to NOT Become a Successful Photographer – Luke Copping
With so many “how to” books and articles available, why not provide a tutorial on how to fail miserably in the photography business?  That’s what Luke has done & it’s an enjoyable and informative read.  My favorite tip? #1 – Be An Asshole.

5 Ways to Speed Up Your Photography Workflow – Dan Bailey
Just what the title says.  It’s a short, easy read and even if you only implement one or two of Dan’s suggestions, you’ll see results.

Legal Links for Copyright, Trademark and Intellectual Property – Gary Crabbe
Got questions about some of the legal mumbo jumbo involved in running a photography business?  This is a fantastic place to start your search.  Thanks, Gary!

The Subway and The Narrows, Zion NP – Scott Bacon
If you’re not in the mood to do much reading but you’d love to see some serious eye candy, this is the post for you.  Scott’s hikes in the Subway and The Narrows led him to some phenomenal photo opportunities, which he is kind enough to share with the rest of us who are deskbound.  Travel well, folks.

Finally, one of mine from the archives: What Do You See?

That’s it for this week.  Please leave a comment if you’ve got other useful or entertaining mostly photography related blog posts you’d like to share.

Deputy Brian Harris of the Kane County Sheriff’s Office in Utah was shot to death on Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010 while pursuing a burglary suspect.  He is survived by his wife and two children.  Learn more about Deputy Harris and this tragic incident on his Officer Down Memorial Page.

Purchase any iFotoGuide iPhone app during the month of September and I will donate 100% of my half of the sale proceeds to a memorial fund that has been established for Deputy Harris’ family.

iFotoGuide apps provide everything you’ll need to plan a photo trip to Arches, Yosemite or Grand Canyon National Park.  Gorgeous photographs accompany each description of locations within the park that are ideal for photography.  You’ll learn how, where and when to make postcard worthy photographs on your next vacation to these parks.  Each iFotoGuide app also includes an interactive park map, lodging and dining information, park information and more.  At only $4.99 each, iFotoGuide apps are a bargain compared to guidebooks costing $20 or more.

Please keep Deputy Harris’ family, friends and co-workers in your thoughts and prayers.  From the Kane County Sheriff’s Office website: “Anyone wishing to make a donation to the Brian Harris Family fund may do so at any State Bank of Southern Utah location, or at the Kanab branch, 98 W. Center St., Kanab, Utah 84741, 435-644-5828.  Contact Kane County Sheriff’s Office for additional information, 435-644-2349 or 435-644-4916.”

In Valor There Is Hope