Nara Dreamland is an abandoned theme park in Japan, which opened in 1961 and was inspired by Disneyland. Actually, inspired by is generous: it was a Disneyland rip-off. From Main Street to the Matterhorn to Sleeping Beauty Castle to the Jungle Cruise, it borrowed heavily from Disneyland. It was like a photo copy 100 times removed from […]
Due to an abnormally rainy fall, Death Valley National Park is in the midst of a rare Super Bloom with millions of wildflowers coloring miles of the park that are otherwise barren. This is due to a confluence of events: an El Niño-fueled October brought more rain to the park than it sees in an […]
In the previous post, we had just finishing photographing a gorgeous sunset at Crater Lake National Park. The next morning, we were up bright and early (which actually is a misnomer: it was early, but most definitely dark) for sunrise. This time, the plan was to hike out for a better view, either to Watchman […]
Crater Lake National Park is a beautiful place, and it’s even more beautiful in the winter with a fresh blanket of snow. I added it to my photography bucket list a while ago, when I started seeing a number of brilliant shots of it. Like most photographers, I prefer my mountains covered in snow, and […]
My parents and I are on our way up the coast of California from Laguna Beach to Los Angeles to San Francisco, with a lot of stops along the way. Join us the next few days as I share live photos from the road at our stops from our journey from Southern California, along the […]
This Yoho National Park Trip Report, or rather the trip to the Canadian Rockies that led to this report, is my latest excuse for lack of posts on this blog. Sorry. You can read Part 1 of this Trip Report here. (Unlike this installment, that one is more than just a wall of text–there are […]
Thunder Over Louisville is an airshow and fireworks display that starts the week of festivities leading up to the Kentucky Derby. In this post, I’ll share some thoughts on the event, plus photos and tips if you’re thinking about visiting. For starters, Thunder Over Louisville is purportedly the largest annual fireworks show in North America–given […]
Yesterday, Jenny and Adam Burke came down to visit us, and we took them around some of our favorite spots in Laguna Beach. We had a great rooftop meal at our favorite restaurant in Laguna Beach, Mozambique. We went to Pearl Street Beach to see Arch Rock. We checked out the scene at Crescent Bay, […]
We left off Part 1 of the Cathedral Lakes Hike Report with our heroes faced with a dilemma that could* have a ripple effect that would impact the fate of mankind: scramble up the mountain for a higher sunset vantage, or stay at ground level to run around like chickens with their heads cut off, […]
John Muir Trail is a popular hike in Yosemite National Park, and the trail actually runs from Yosemite Valley all the way to Mount Whitney. My photo trekking buddy Bill and I hadn’t done anything crazy in a while, so when he emailed me suggesting we make the hike to Upper Cathedral Lake in Yosemite […]