Terra Galleria Photography

Archive for the ‘Locations’ Category

Focus on the Solar Eclipse of April 8, 2024

Since the total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024, would be the last in America until 2044, my main motivation was to witness the event as a family. This called for a different approach than the one I took for the eclipse of 2017. I had traveled with my younger in-laws to Grand Teton National […]

An elusive night photograph inside Wrangell-St Elias

Summary: Last fall, I made an unusual photograph at one of the most iconic locations in Wrangell-St Elias National Park. Read practical details about that location, the challenges of making that particular photograph, and how I processed my files to make the most out of the opportunity. Autumn is my favorite time to visit Alaska […]

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park’s spectacular Bonanza Mine Trail

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park combines spectacular glaciated mountain scenery with well-preserved remnants of mining history. A well-mapped, although strenuous way to experience this unique mix is to hike the Bonanza Mine trail, maybe the best trail in the national park with the most hiking trails in Alaska. Because of their low visitation and the National […]

Gates of the Arctic National Park via Anaktuvuk Pass

Gates of the Arctic National Park attracts two seldom-overlapping categories of visitors: some are on an express trip to tick off their bucket list of national parks, while others seek an extended wilderness adventure. As a result, visits lasting a few days are rare. Last September, my friend Tommy and I made such a visit […]

Photographing the Annular Solar Eclipse of Oct 14, 2023

The solar eclipse of October 14, 2023, was an “annular eclipse”, which happens when the moon passes entirely in front of the sun, but the lunar disk is too far from the earth to cover the entire sun, leaving a “ring of fire” around the moon. When I photographed such an eclipse in 2012, I […]

Denali Uncomplicated: The Savage Alpine Trail

A single road penetrates Denali National Park. While it is 92 miles long, only the first 15 miles are paved and open to personal vehicles. If I was to hike only one trail along that section, the Alpine Savage Trail would be my clear choice. Until the summer of 2026, it is also the best […]

Five Spots for Photographing Lassen Peak

Established in 1916 on this day, Lassen Volcanic National Park is one of the country’s oldest national parks. However, it is one of the least visited, maybe because it is relatively far from major metropolitan areas and other California attractions. This article presents five diverse locations, ranging from roadside to strenuous hikes, from which you […]

Top Ten Less-Crowded National Parks

This article features a supremely diverse mix of ten lesser-visited national parks all around the country. They all offer fantastic scenery and are almost sure to provide you with the quiet experience that you hoped for when you headed to a national park. Having spent more than a quarter century photographing each of the 63 […]

Fort Ord National Monument

Fort Ord National Monument memorializes a former military base and provides an excellent bike recreational trail system. My first visits shortly after its designation in 2012 left me unimpressed, but after multiple return trips, I eventually began to appreciate the subtle but diverse landscape that includes several Central Coast ecosystems. Barack Obama ended up designating […]

Berryessa Snow Mountain Superbloom?

The April trip to Japan and its aftermath made me miss the California wildflower season, which due to the winter’s abundant rains, was a super bloom. In early May, figuring out that Southern California would be long past peak, I went on pursuit of wildflowers in Northern California. The northern part of the state doesn’t […]