Landscape Photography

At McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area in Poolesville, Maryland, giant fields of sunflowers are planted each year to attract game birds.

A blade of grass runs in the wind at the C&O Canal section of Great Falls, Maryland. The abstract quality of the image results from a wide aperture and slow shutter speed.

At McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area in Poolesville, Maryland, giant fields of sunflowers are planted each year to attract game birds.

A large variety of flowers, like this white water lily, dot the 50-acre expanse of Brookside Gardens in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Infrared photograph of palm trees at Myakka River State Park, Florida

Infrared photograph of a tree blowing in the wind at Historic Long Branch in Millwood, Virginia. This image is part of my "Alternative Reality" series. All cameras have an internal filter that blocks most, if not all, infrared light from passing through it. Because the infrared blocking filter in my camera still allows a very small amount of infrared light to trickle through, I am able to do infrared photography by placing a filter on my camera lens that blocks all visible light. Thus, the camera can still make use of the trickle of infrared allowed through. Because so little light enters the camera, I use a tripod and set very long exposures, up to 10 minutes in length. The advantage of working this way is that the long exposures allow me to creatively capture the movement of my subjects such as trees and grass blowing in the wind. I love the resulting effect, as well as the alternative reality of infrared.

In this infrared photograph, at Pa-hay-okee Overlook, visitors see a never-ending stretch of flat land with an occasional tree. Pa-hay okee Overlook lies nearly halfway between the Everglades National Park's Ernest F. Coe and Flamingo Visitor Centers. This image is part of my "Alternative Reality" series. All cameras have an internal filter that blocks most, if not all, infrared light from passing through it. Because the infrared blocking filter in my camera still allows a very small amount of infrared light to trickle through, I am able to do infrared photography by placing a filter on my camera lens that blocks all visible light. Thus, the camera can still make use of the trickle of infrared allowed through. Because so little light enters the camera, I use a tripod and set very long exposures, up to 10 minutes in length. The advantage of working this way is that the long exposures allow me to creatively capture the movement of my subjects such as trees and grass blowing in the wind. I love the resulting effect, as well as the alternative reality of infrared.

Red tree in spring in the Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

Fields of wheat wave in the wind in Cades Cove, at the foot of the Smoky Mountains, Tennessee.

The afternoon sunlight filters through tall trees in Shenandoah National Park's Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. A small aperture (f/20) renders the circular sun into a pointed star.

Cool water quietly streams into a river in the Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee.

The Smoky Mountains are named after the mist that appears at the end of the rainstorms (as seen from Cades Cove, next to the Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee). This image, sepia-tinged, is from my "Landscapes and Dreams" Collection. I pressed the shutter button on my digital SLR camera to capture these fleeting moments at various times, but it was only in the last few months of 2008 that I began to explore a new process of developing these digital photographs. The resulting images form my Landscapes & Dreams collection, made by combining two copies of each single photograph, each copy altered from the original in a certain way. The juxtaposition of these two revised copies results in the final effect.

Silhouetted ducks and snow geese bask in the glow of sunset in the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island, Virginia.

Silhouetted ducks and snow geese bask in the glow of sunset in the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island, Virginia.

Silhouetted ducks and snow geese bask in the glow of sunset in the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island, Virginia.

Silhouetted ducks and snow geese bask in the glow of sunset in the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island, Virginia.

Snow geese fly the skies over the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island, Virginia.

Wet from a recent snowstorm, the peaks of the Zion Mountains glow in fiery colors of orange and yellow in the last sunset light.

Virgin River, Zion National Park, Utah, as viewed from the base of the Emerald Pools trail.

Fantastic rock formations and arches sculpted over thousands of years by wind, rain, and other forces of erosion dot the winter landscape of Arches National Park in southern Utah.

As viewed from Sunset Point, the northern section of Bryce Canyon National Park boasts the largest concentration of hoodoos in the world. Thin, protruding spires of rock, hoodoos have been formed over thousands of years by water, wind, ice, and gravity.

The beautiful Queens Garden trail at Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah meanders above, between, and below thousands of hoodoos. The northern section of Bryce Canyon National Park boasts the largest concentration of hoodoos in the world. Thin, protruding spires of rock, hoodoos have been formed over thousands of years by water, wind, ice, and gravity.

The forces of water, wind, ice, and gravity have sculpted a Natural Bridge from the sandstone of Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.

Turret Arch during a winter sunset in Arches National Park near Moab, Utah. Over many years, the forces of erosion have created many such arches, pinnacles, and spires.

The South Window in Arches National Park, near Moab, Utah, glows a deep orange at dusk.

The clouds part after a winter snowstorm at the Great White Throne in southern Utah's famed Zion National Park.

During a winter sunset, a deep mist floats through the canyons of Canyonlands National Park, Island in the Sky section, near Moab, Utah.

Mist fills the deep canyon during a winter sunset at Canyonlands National Park, Island in the Sky section, near Moab, Utah.

Canyonlands National Park, Island in the Sky section, near Moab, Utah during a winter sunset.

Fantastic rock formations and arches sculpted over thousands of years by wind, rain, and other forces of erosion dot the winter landscape of the Windows Section of Arches National Park in southern Utah.

Turret Arch looms in the distance. Fantastic rock formations and arches sculpted over thousands of years by wind, rain, and other forces of erosion dot the winter landscape of Arches National Park in southern Utah.

Turret Arch looms in the distance. Fantastic rock formations and arches sculpted over thousands of years by wind, rain, and other forces of erosion dot the winter landscape of Arches National Park in southern Utah.

Fantastic rock formations and arches sculpted over thousands of years by wind, rain, and other forces of erosion dot the winter landscape of Arches National Park in southern Utah.

The summer sun sets in glorious colors over Great Falls in Potomac, Maryland.

High dynamic range (HDR) image of Great Falls Park, Maryland in autumn

The summer sun sets in glorious colors over Great Falls in Potomac, Maryland.