Reflections

My partner Chris and I spent the last week of June driving up the California coastline from Los Angeles to San Francisco. I ended up snapping over 1,000 photos. As you might imagine, collating and editing this number of photos is a time-consuming process. These stood out to me this evening, and I'll share them below. They're shots of the indoor pool at Hearst Castle in San Simeon. The day was overcast, but the soft light made for wonderfully clear reflections. Click on any photo to see it full-size.

I'll post more California photos as I edit them. Hope you enjoy.

Abandoned Immigrant Hospital at Ellis Island

Chris and I took a hardhat tour of the long-abandoned Immigrant Hospital on Ellis Island. It was a moving experience.

I chose to concentrate on empty spaces and images that evoked a sense of loneliness. I shot it all digitally and in color, but going through the RAW files, I noticed a fine graininess to the images (probably the result of dust everywhere). Black and white just felt right. I have color images, too. Still deciding what to do with them.

Anyway, enjoy this look at a neglected bit of American history. (Click any image to enlarge.)

Sutro Baths

June 2012 was my first trip to California. Chris and I wandered San Francisco for several days, hitting many of the usual tourist sites: Lombard Street, Coit Tower, Chinatown, Japantown, Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate Park, the Mission District, Delores Park... It was glorious, but overwhelming. After a few days, we both craved solitude -- or at least a reprieve from the constant crowds.

I'd wanted to visit Sutro Baths for years. The concrete ruins are all that remains of what was for decades a thriving center of entertainment and society. The Baths, which opened in 1896, comprised seven swimming pools (mostly saltwater pools) with the combined capacity for 10,000 people to swim at one time. Can you imagine? They also housed an amphitheater, art galleries, restaurants, an ice skating rink, arcades, shops, and in later years, even amusement park rides. The Baths burned down in the 1960s, and were never rebuilt.

We arrived on a dark, misty day. Winds chopped the water into whitecaps. Hardly anyone else was there -- a strange thing, considering it's a National Historic Site and listed among the National Parks -- leaving us to wander alone the ruins.

For me, it was the highlight of the trip. I can't wait to return, preferably on a similarly ethereal day.

Jackson Hole, Wyoming - Part 3: Water

The glacial lakes in Jackson Hole are stunning. Clear and reflective, with a perfect blue cast. I'm not sure I've ever seen such pure water in nature. I grew up on Lake Erie, and I've been to the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the Aegean Sea. I've seen the Pacific Ocean from near San Francisco and of course, I live on Long Island, with the Atlantic Ocean half an hour from my door. In my experience, nothing compares to the glacial lakes for clarity and reflectivity.

Lake Jenny, at the foot of Cascade Canyon.

Not all of the water in Jackson Hole is the result of glacial melting. The Snake River is the main water feature. Below is a view of the Snake from the Oxbow Bend.

Probably my favorite glacial lake is the one we encountered on Mount Glory. Surrounded on three sides by mountain, this (as far as I know) nameless crystal lake feels secret and special. It took a two-hour uphill hike to get to it. We spent an hour walking the perimeter, taking photos, and basking in the quiet.

There's very little distortion from the water. You can see the rocks below the surface in great detail from far away.

Try as I might, I couldn't fit the whole lake into the scope of my 210mm lens. That little blue speck on the shore on the right? That's Chris. It's that big.

It wasn't all clear. There was some algae or something clouding the water here.

from a technical point of view, not one of my best photos. The lake was more blue than green. Still, amazing to look at.

In my next installment, we'll wrap up with some close-up flora and a few people. I hope you're enjoying this little travelogue as much as I am.

Jackson Hole, Wyoming - Part 2: Mountains

Buildings in the Mormon Row Historic District

Jackson Hole is big. Really, really big. The buildings in the photo above are big ones, but they're dwarfed by the mountains in the distance and swallowed up by the open prairie. We didn't get to approach the houses and barn -- this shot uses a telephoto lens -- but we saw enough to be impressed by the isolation here.

The Tetons are technically taller than the Rockies. Though the Rockies have higher altitude, their base is much higher than their younger neighbors. The Tetons are significantly larger, measured from base to peak(s). Being younger, less erosion has taken place on the Tetons, allowing them to retain the inverted-triangle shape that most of us imagine when we think of mountains.

I used a telephoto lens for most of these photos. Photographing mountains up close is a lot like trying to take a picture of the Empire State Building from Fifth Avenue and 34th Street; all you see is a tiny portion of the base, with no sense of scale to see how big it actually is.

The mountains are literally miles away. — The mountains are literally *miles* away.

More next time. For now, I'll leave you with my attempt at recreating the famous Ansel Adams photo of the Snake River. I'm no Ansel Adams, but I think it came out okay.

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Chris and I traveled to Jackson, Wyoming in September to visit Grand Teton National Park and to ramble around Jackson Hole. We arrived at the perfect time: the air was crisp and clean, the skies were huge, and the summer tourists had left. It just couldn't get any better.

View from the Chapel of the Transfiguration, Grand Teton National Park.

In just under three days, we visited national historic sites like the Chapel of the Transfiguration (pictured above) and Cunningham's Cabin (below), rested by glacial lakes, came face to face with wild bison, and climbed Mount Glory (sounds more arduous than it was -- a six-mile hike).

Cunningham Cabin, the site of a notorious turn-of-the-century massacre.

Later this week, I'll post more photos. It was a deeply moving experience, and one that might be best in small doses. Enjoy.