Posted on February 13, 2019, 5:42 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Unlike all other national parks that are open 24 hours a day, Petrified Forest National Park’s gates close at night, an extraordinary measure necessary to prevent theft of petrified wood – a serious problem. Petrified Forest National Park, despite his sizeable area (146 square miles, 38th largest national park) is also one of a handful […]
Posted on February 6, 2019, 9:18 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Petrified Forest National Park at first doesn’t appear to be prime hiking territory since the park features relatively short trails that lead to areas of concentrated petrified wood. Because of the open terrain in many of them, it can be difficult to exclude other people from your photos. However, if you are willing to venture […]
Posted on January 16, 2019, 8:21 pm, by QT Luong, under
Recollections.
Back to the beginning of the year 1993, I knew almost nothing about the U.S. national parks. However, I knew that Yosemite was home to a 3,000 feet high cliff called El Capitan, the tallest in North America. Although El Capitan was my reason for moving to California, finding a partner for the climb proved […]
Posted on January 8, 2019, 7:06 pm, by QT Luong, under
Resources.
What have we learned from the fate of the national parks during the government shutdown, should you visit them, and how do you prepare yourself for an enjoyable visit that doesn’t have negative impacts on the parks? The government shutdown A U.S. government shutdown first affects unpaid federal workers, but beyond them, the most visible […]
Posted on November 12, 2018, 12:00 am, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Wetherill Mesa is the quieter side of Mesa Verde National Park, but a few other cliff houses see even less visitation, even though they are some of the most visible structures in the park, like Square Tower House. Find out in this post about the most special tours in the park, which started only in […]
Posted on November 4, 2018, 3:00 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Wetherill Mesa, located on the west side of Mesa Verde National Park, is a long and narrow peninsula of land rising above deep canyons. Its rock alcoves are home to structures as impressive as those found on Chapin Mesa, however the experience of visiting is quite different. Many visitors rush through the landscape of the […]
Posted on October 29, 2018, 5:33 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
A few weeks ago, when I drove out of Montrose, Colorado, on the way to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, a sign warned of winter conditions. I wondered what that meant, but quickly found out as the nighttime temperatures dropped to the upper tens. The next day turned out cold and mostly cloudy. […]
Posted on October 15, 2018, 1:08 pm, by QT Luong, under
Announcements.
The Treasured Lands 2019 Calendar was released just a month ago. For this edition of the namesake calendar, we chose to include in the calendar only images that have appeared in the book. Since I strive to visit the national parks in various seasons to capture their changing mood, it was easy to find seasonal […]
Posted on September 10, 2018, 10:15 am, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Observing natural changes is a rewarding aspect of revisiting a place, as I did for the Tinkers Creek Gorge of Cuyahoga National Park – obscure and far from California. The water flow fluctuated, and you can see in this post which conditions worked best for each scene and how I adjusted my composition in response […]
Posted on September 3, 2018, 10:54 am, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Mammoth Cave National Park is generally a dry place. I explore a few out-of-the-way watery places within the park, while discussing some of the compositional strategies I used in those relatively plain scenes. Sloan’s Crossing Pond Water has made the longest cave in the world. The karst landscape of Mammoth Cave National Park is characterized […]