Yosemite - Raw Wilderness

Yosemite National Park in California holds an incredible attraction for landscape photographers so this was very much one of the key highlights of our trip around California. For a photographer, however, it is most frustrating as there is so much beauty in this stunning wilderness you really do not know where to start. You could easily spend many weeks here and still be scratching the surface as regards great shooting locations. Ansel Adams spent a lifetime here documenting the momentous landscapes and I'm sure he felt the same way. In this respect you have to be very selective and focused in your approach and with only about 2 and a half days in the park there was a limit to what I could capture. 

Reviewing all my images during post-processing I began to see a need to present the final images in black and white rather than full colour. The color images were so full of information including colours, saturation, texture, structure, composition, shape, etc I felt that by displaying the images in black and white would restrict the viewers eye to the raw beauty of the wilderness without the added distraction of colours and saturation. Likewise I have used only limited text annotations below each image to focus attention on the image rather than large sections of text.

Small river on the Tioga Pass Road

Lembert Dome

Lembert Dome with climbers on the summit

Tenaya Lake

View from Olmsted Point with Half Dome in the distance

Stunted and weathered tree at Olmsted Point

El Capitan is a giant granite monolith in Yosemite Valley

Cathedral Rocks East, Yosemite Valley

El Capitan, Yosemite Valley from the north side

Eagle Peak, Yosemite Valley

Looking south down Yosemite Valley with the north side of El Capitan to the right  and Cathedral Rocks East to the left

Yosemite Valley looking south toads Cathedral Rocks East

Yosemite Creek with Half Dome in the distance 

Sequoia Redwood Forest, Yosemite Valley

Mirror Lake - completely dry due to recent drought

Sequoia Redwood tree, Yosemite Valley

Half Dome, Yosemite Valley

Merced River, Yosemite Valley leading up to Vernal Fall

Vernal Fall, Yosemite Valley

The steep path of Mist Trail leading up to Vernal Fall, Yosemite Valley

El Capitan, Yosemite Vallley

Rocky escarpment close to El Capitan, Yosemite Valley

Lone pine trees stand out on the rocky escarpment close to El Capitan, Yosemite Valley

Looking north up Yosemite Valley with an eagle flying high above the valley

The Long & Winding Road to The Lakes

This is the undulating and winding road from that runs down from the Kirkstone Pass to Ambleside in the Lake District.

The Lake District, or The Lakes, is a mountainous region in Cumbria, North West England and is a popular holiday destination in UK. The majority of the area was designated as the Lake District National Park in 1951. It is the largest of the thirteen National Parks in England and Wales, and the second largest in the UK (after the Cairngorms). It lies entirely within the modern county of Cumbria, shared historically by the counties of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire. All the land in England higher than three thousand feet above sea level lies within the National Park, including Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England. It also contains the deepest and longest lakes in England, Wastwater and Windermere, respectively.

Thirlmere

Only one of the lakes in the Lake District is called by that name, Bassenthwaite Lake. All the others such as Windermere, Coniston Water, Ullswater and Buttermere are meres, tarns and waters, with mere being the least common and water being the most common. The major lakes and reservoirs in the National Park are given below.

• Bassenthwaite Lake
• Brotherswater
• Buttermere
• Coniston Water
• Crummock Water
• Derwent Water
• Devoke Water
• Elter Water
• Ennerdale Water
• Esthwaite Water
• Grasmere
• Haweswater Reservoir
• Hayeswater
• Loweswater
• Rydal Water
• Thirlmere
• Ullswater
• Wast Water
• Windermere

Buttermere

Conniston Water

Steamer on Ullswater

Windermere

Leopard - Panthera pardus

The leopard, Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its range of distribution has decreased radically because of hunting and loss of habitat. It is now chiefly found in sub-Saharan Africa; there are also fragmented populations in the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka, Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China. Because of its declining range and population, it is listed as a "Near Threatened" species on the IUCN Red List.

Compared to other members of the Felidae family, the leopard has relatively short legs and a long body with a large skull. It is similar in appearance to the jaguar, but is smaller and more slightly built. Its fur is marked with rosettes similar to those of the jaguar, but the leopard's rosettes are smaller and more densely packed, and do not usually have central spots as the jaguars do. Both leopards and jaguars that are melanistic (completely black or very dark) are known as black panthers.

The species' success in the wild is in part due to its opportunistic hunting behavior, its adaptability to habitats, its ability to run at speeds approaching 58 kilometres per hour (36 mph), its unequaled ability to climb trees even when carrying a heavy carcass, and its notorious ability for stealth. The leopard consumes virtually any animal that it can hunt down and catch. Its habitat ranges from rainforest to desert terrains.

These photos were taken in 2002 at the Ngala Private Game Reserve which is adjacent to the famous Kruger National Park in South Africa. Having arrived at the reserve only a couple of hours before we immediately left on the early evening safari in an open land rover and this one one of the first sights we saw - this magnificent leopard in a tree with a kill of a young impala (African antelope) in the next tree. As we sat directly below the tree it allowed me a wonderful opportunity to capture multiple images of this beautiful cat as she lounged, yawned and then casually leapt to the other tree to gnaw away at the impala.

Tasman Valley, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park

This is the view back down Tasman Valley on the walk up to the Tasman glacier in the Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand. What you don't see from this photo is just how strong the wind was blowing.

The National Park is a harsh land of ice and rock. Glaciers cover 40% of it. There are 19 peaks over 3000 metres including New Zealand’s highest mountain, Aoraki/Mt Cook. The park is also part of Te Wahipounamu – South Westland World Heritage Area in recognition of its outstanding natural values. There is virtually no forest in the park. Instead, the park is alive with the most wonderful alpine plants. In summer, look for the striking giant buttercup, the large mountain daisies and watch out for the fearsome spear grass/taramea. Birdlife includes species such as kea, kärearea/falcon and the elusive rock wren/pïwauwau. The braided riverbed of the Tasman is home to the black stilt/kakï, one of New Zealand’s rarest birds.