Arctic Norway; Feb 25 - March 12A visit to northern latitudes in hope of encountering the Northern Lights. We flew to Tromso via Oslo, and there rented a car (our first experience with an electric vehicle, in a country where 95% on new car sales are electric). driving first to Senja island, and then via Narvik to the Lofoten Islands. Lofoten IslandsOur last auroras in Norway
Flagstad beach sand patterns
Reine - we stayed in a rorbuer at the tip of the villageNarvik Driving from Senja to Lofoten we stopped for a night in Narvik - an opportunity to vsit the War Museum, and eatat the best fish restaurant we found in Norway (Fiskekroken)
The Trinigon Monument outside the War Museum in Narvik National Monument for Peace, Narvik. Also known as "Trinigon." Erected by the Norwegian government on the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Norway. By the artist Espen Gangvik.
Playing with distorted reflections from the Trinigon monument.
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Senja Island
Two evenings the aurora failed to fully materialize
 View from Bergsbotn utsiktsplattform; Senja Island, Arctic Norway |
 Lighthouse at the tip of Tungeneset; Senja Island, Arctic Norway |
 Driving into a snowstorm; Senja Island, Arctic Norway |
Minimalist photography of trees in a white-out at the top of Skaland pass before the tunnel.
Skrolsvik Fort
Skrolsvik Fort at the southwest tip of Senjawas built by the occupying Germans in 1941 during World War II. After the war, the Norwegian Navy took over the fort, and it became part of the fortifications under the Coastal Artillery . In 1989, the fort was closed down, along with many other forts in the same area. Large parts of the fort are still intact, both with bunkers and prepared/established permanent positions. In addition, the four German 15 cm guns are still intact.
After the closure, the Senjehesten Coastal Defence Museum took over the facilities, and the properties were put up for sale. The site has variously functioned as a campsite, hotel, and museum but now is open to wander in its decaying state.
We visited on a cold, grey and very windy day. A monochrome presentation seemmed most appropriate to capture the atmosphere.
Rust patterns needed to be in color!
Across the bridge to Senja Island, and our lighthouse home for 5 days
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 Boat prow; Senja Island, Norway |
Lyngen Alps, Nordkjosbotn
After navigating the confusing intersections in tunnels under Tromso we drove a short 100km to the small town of Nordkjosbotn, siuated at the end of a long fjord extending to the sea. We stayed for two nights at Vollan Gjestestue, a cozy lodge with excellent food. Our first night was clouded in, but the second brought clear skies, so we drove out to the Signaldal valley for a clear view of Otertind, a stunning mountain peak that rises over 4000 feet above the river with dual peaks that look as if cleaved by the giant axe of a Norse god. For about two hours before clouds rolled in we were treated to a spectacular, ever changing display of auroral acrobatics.
To best (but still not fully) encompass the extent of the aurora I used my widest lens, an 11mm f4 Irix lens on a full frame Canom R5. The camera settings were a matter of compromise. Most published photos of auroras appear rather blurred, as the light changes rapidly. Aided here by relatively intense displays I was able to keep shutter speeds down to 4 or 8 seconds to maintain sharpness in the serrrations of the light fans. That necessitated a high ISO of 3200 but the R5 hendles these settings well, and processing with Topaz de-noise handled remaining noise.
Faces of India; February 1 - 13
We traveled to India on a trip orgainized by Joe van Os Photo Safaris. The primary objective was to photograph the Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj (the largest religious gathering in the World). Beforehand, we visited Delhi and Varanasi, and finally spent a few days photographing tribespeople inthe Ran of Kutch. [PDF of Itinerary is HERE]
One of the members of our group, an accomplished portrait photographer, had set his camera to display in black and white and was showing us some impressive images. In processing my images I decided to convert many to monochrome.
Last studio portraits of local tribespeople visiting our resort
Vagadia Rabari Tribe
Dhaneta Jat Tribe
An early morning visit to a tribal camp
A visit to Nirona village
Rogan art, an ancient skill with its origins in Persia, came down to the Kutch around 400 years ago.
Abdul Gafur Khatri and his family in Nirona village are the last ones to sustain this rare art form from extinction.
A roadblock while driving to Nirona village
 Portrait of Maldhari herdsman holding staff across shoulders; Rann of Kutch, India |
Rann Riders Eco Lodge, Rann of Kutch, India
An overnight stay at Rann Riders, with opportunity to photograph local tribeswomen
The Kumbh Mela
The Maha Kumbh Mela 2025, a major Hindu pilgrimage festival, took place in Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh, India, from January 13th to February 26th, 2025. The Kumbh Mela is a major Hindu pilgrimage where devotees gather at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati rivers to bathe in the holy waters, believing it purifies the soul and leads to liberation. It was the world's largest gathering, with more than 660 million (66 crores) people taking a dip in the river. My main photographic objective from this overwhelming throng was to isolate vignettes capturing the spirit of small groups and individual devotees and sadhus visiting the Kumbh.
 A small part of the Kumbh Mela, viewed from the bridge across the Ganges |
[High-resolution stitched panorama - click on the image to download full resolution file |
Final B/W portraits from the Kumbh Mela
Posed portraits with studio lighting in a tent with black backdrop
 Bead-draped sadhu with sword on black background; Kumbh Mela, India [He lost an arm in a mining accident when aske to check if a dynamite charge had exploded] |
B/W images from our second and third days at the Kumbh
Street portraits in the Kumbh
A boat ride to the most auspicious bathing site at the confluence of theGanges, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati rivers
Walking back through the Kumbh
Rudraksha beads ar a sadhu akhara
Studio portraits of sadhus at our luxury tented encampment
B/W images from our first day at the Kumbh
Scenes at the Kumbh Mela
Bhandara
Bhandara is a free community feast organized at religious gatherings, temples, ashrams, and social events in India. It is an act of seva (selfless service) where food is served to all, regardless of caste, creed, or social status.
Devotees in the Streets
 Robed man, head tilted, holding staff; Kumbh Mela, Pryagraj, India |
Candid Portraits
B/W images from Varanasi
Harishchandra Ghat; the oldest ghat and one of the two cremations ghats of the city
Life along the ghats
Aarti ceremony on banks of the Ganges
Scenes and portraits along the streets and alleys of Varanasi
Portraits of women waiting in packed line to visit a temple
Some scenes of the ghats (riverbank steps) along the Ganges.
More photos from Varanasi to come soon...
B/W images from Delhi
One of the members of our group, an accomplished portrait photographer, had set his camera to display in black and white and was showing us some impressive images. In processing my images I decided to convert some to monochrome.
Street scenes in Old Delhi
December 16: A brief morning at San Louis NWR
December 8-10: Morro Bay
Sea otters in the nursery by the harbor
Long-billed curlews - regulars on Morro Strand beach
Night herons in the tree opposite the power station
Other birds
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Our visit to Morro Bay was planned for bird photography, but happened to coincide with the World Surfing League
SLO CAL Open competition.
November 17-24; John C. Campbell Folk School
We returned for our usual, twice a year visit to the Folk School. I attended a one week class in portrait photography, and a weekend class on making kalaidoscopes.
Miscellaneous subjects that caught my eye wandering around the Folk School
We were too late in the year for fall colors, but mist and sunrise light made for some nice images during early morning walks around the school grounds.
The balcony ourtside our room had a good view across to Orchard House, the photography studio. I took photos on several mornings under different conditions of mist, cloud and time of sunrise.
Morning scenes around the School grounds
November 5th-7th: Bosque del Apache, New Mexico
Our annual visit to Bosque del Apache was earlier in the season this year. And, the sandhill cranes have been arriving progressively later over the past several years: the aunual Festival of the Cranes used to be held around late November, now it is inthe middle of January. Hence we found that birds were relatively sparce. The Crane Pond next to the highway that was usually a reliable place to find numerous roosting cranes and geese was almost deserted. But, we did have some nice opportunities at sunrise and sunset with the few cranes that settled in the Flight Deck pond (photos coming shortly), and excellent light for landscape photography while the trees were still showing fall colors.
Bosque Birds
Bosque Landscapes
November 1st - 4th: Caddo Lake, Texas
We returned again to Caddo Lake in early November, timed for Fall colors.
On foot around Saw Mill Pond at Caddo Lake State Park.
Access to the shoreline at Caddo Lake itself is difficult, as this is almost entirely private property. To photograph the lake thus requires venturing out afloat, by kayak or boat. I had booked morning and evening excursions with Paul Keith on his small speedboad. He would quickly motor out to promising areas on the lake, then shut down the outboard motor and use an electric trolling motor to slowly and silently maneuver around. As he is an expert photographer I generally just followed his lead in finding good compositions. Nevertheless, I did miss the ability to wander arouud on foot to carefully select my own subjects and camera angles.
A visit to Caddo Lake State Park provided this opportunity. Despite its name, he State Park does not actually encompass Caddo Lake, but is set around Saw Mill Pond; a miniature version of Caddo Lake. The shoreline of the pondis is readily accessible, if swampy, and wraps around a dense forest of cypress trees. Sunset gave good lighting, by trees on slopes to the east largely blocked sunrise light.
Out on Caddo Lake in Paul Keith's boat
A nighttime interlude of fluorescent photography at Caddo Lake
After my wife gave me a UV flashlight I have been looking for things that might fluoresce and make interesting pictures. Nighttime wanderings with the flashlight revealed that some lichens and plants fluoresced nicely. I was thus curious to see if the Spanish moss draping the bald cypress trees at Caddo Lake might glow in the dark. . On our first evening I made a preliminary reconnaissance to explore the photographic potential from the pier opposite the cottage where we stayed. A single, pole-mounted light bulb at the end of the pier cast an orange light onto trees out in the lake, but was dim enough to see that my UV flashlight evoked a clear blue fluorescence from the bark of nearby trees and the moss hanging from them. However, I was surprised to find that shining the flashlight onto the lake produced a more strikingr, cerulean blue glow from the water. I don’t know why this is so. Pure water does not fluoresce, so I presume the glow must arise from some tiny plants or organisms suspended in the murky lake. Moreover, the blue was a true fluorescence, as the well-filtered 365nm UV light from the flashliight is invisible to the eye, and is not captured by regular cameras.
The photo below was my first atempt to image the fluorescent lake. I had not brought a tripod with me, and in order to get a long enough exposure3 (30s) to capture the blue light I stabilized my camera on a wooden railing at the edge of the pier while scanning the UV flashlight across the surface of the water. Looking at the camera screen I could see the surrounding trees, and vegetation on the lake lit up in orange by the light on the pier, whereas in shadowed areas cast by the railings and my body the water glowed blue.
The next evening, I returned to the pier equipped with a tripod to make more deliberately composed images. The end of the pier lacked any railings, and from there I could set up my tripod to frame compositions where the pier light uniformly illuminated the surrounding trees and lake without casting any shadows. The two photos below were aquired with a shutter opening of 30 seconds (at f2.8 and ISO 1600) that gave a good exposure for the trees. However, my flashlight was not powerful enough to fully illuminate the lake surface in this time so these images are thus composites of three or four sequential exposures, successively scanning the UV light across more distant parts of the lake.
The weather during our first days at the lake was gloomy and overcast. Unlike the brightly glowing red cedar trees we observed the previous year this prompted a mental shift to focus on muted, tranquil images of the moss-draped trees.
Fisherman, photographers and a heron
October 6th - 10th: Fall Colors in the Eastern Sierras
Drone Photos
Camera Photos
 Extended diagonal reflections' E. Sierras Fall Colors 2024 |
More Fall Colors to come shortly ....
October 14th - Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS after its trip around the sun
Photographed from the Ecological Preserve on the UCI campus.
After looping around the sun the comet displayed an anti-tail, made from dust that has recently been left behind by the comet in its orbital plane around the sun. When the Earth passed through this plane on October 14 this residual debris was illuminated by the sun and reflected back to Earth, giving the impression of a second, fainer tail.
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