Category: Nature

Nature / Off-the-beaten-path / USA

Saguaro Cactus are EVERYWHERE!

Ask any eight-year-old kid — or I guess really just about anyone — to draw a cactus and they’re almost certain to draw a saguaro. Well, they really do exist. Not in all desert areas. But in southwestern Arizona and southeastern California, around the area near Quartzsite, they are all...

Active / Activities / Adventure / Nature / Off-the-beaten-path / USA / Wandering

Visiting my Childhood Home for my Birthday

For my birthday recently, I decided to take a weekend trip back to my childhood home. I had not been there since I was 12 years old.

Nature / USA

Portland Rose Garden

Portland is known as the Rose City. In keeping with its name, it has a very large and extensive rose garden. I visited there recently and was able to get some lovely photos of some of the roses in bloom.

Active / Nature / USA

My first visit to Mount Hood, just outside Portland, Oregon

I climb partway up Mount Hood and get above the alpine tree line. Photos from on the mountain, while approaching the mountain and even of some surrounding peaks.

Facts & Trivia / Nature / USA

Columbia River Gorge and some of America’s Tallest Waterfalls

The Columbia River separates Oregon and Washington. It has repeatedly been called western America’s most important river. Along the river are a number of impressive waterfalls. Several of these are quite readily accessible just off Interstate 84 and US Highway 30. And of course some high quality photos.

History / Nature / USA

A visit to Mount St. Helens, 38 years after it erupted

Twenty-two years after my first visit to Mount St. Helens, and 38 years after its famous 1981 eruption, I return to what might be America’s most famous volcano. Here is a selection of photos taken from my day on the mountain.

Culture / Nature / Sedate / USA

Portland Japanese Gardens

I filmed a recent visit to the Portland Japanese Gardens. These are widely proclaimed to be the best such gardens outside of Japan. And here are some photos from the gardens.

Nature / USA

Say Hello to my Little Friend

Hummingbirds are beautiful but skittish and difficult to photograph because they move to fast. That hasn’t stopped me from trying. Here, I got a handful of really beautiful shots. Plus I show my setup.

Nature / Off-the-beaten-path / USA

Starry, Starry Night

For the last several nights I have been out well past midnight taking photos of the night sky. It’s very dark in this remote corner of Oregon and there are million stars out. It’s quite magnificent, really. Here are some of my favorite photos from those excursions.

Nature / Off-the-beaten-path / Strenuous / USA / Wandering

One of the Best Mountain Ranges You’ve Never Heard Of

Right in the back yard of the place where I’m housesitting sits the Wallowa Mountains. Literally. The entrance to a state park is four houses away. I go walking in there almost daily. I have hiked 9,000 feet up into the mountains, ending up well above the snow line. They...