Sun Lakes Mesa

Last Summer we rolled out to the desert and camped at Sun Lakes. It was a blast with plenty of sun, swimming and even a ferocious late night windstorm to make things interesting. One night my 5 year old and I went out in the dark to take some moonlight photos. It was fun to be out there on a hot evening until some coyotes howled at the moon breaking the absolute silence and scaring the crap out of my son. He said "Daddy, do coyotes eat people? Are they going to eat us right now?" So I told him if a coyote came around I would eat it instead and that he was always safe with Daddy!

If you look at the upper right you can see Orion.

Reverse S Crack

This photo was also taken in Eastern Washington near Frenchman's Coulee. Just a curved crack in the basalt with amazing color and dotted with beautiful lichens. I suppose only a nature photographer would use the terms "beautiful" and "lichens" together.

Ancient Lakes

We used to have a tradition of doing a Winter camping trip to Eastern Washington back in the pre-children days. It was very cold so we had to bring a little extra gear to stay warm and, of course, I had to pack in a few cameras. I overestimated my strength this year and barely made it in (and it wasn't far). I packed my huge Pentax 6x7 but was rewarded with scenes like this reflection of the basalt cliffs at sunrise. This photo was taken at Dusty Lake.

Green Crab

Same place, different crustacean.

Orange Shell

During a very low tide in Oregon I found a huge rock on the beach which was covered in shiny black mussels and barnacles but the little orange shell made me want to take the picture.

Another from Cannon Beach

Finally another post- I've been working to exhaustion the last couple of weeks (and I got my taxes in on time).

This is a little creek/slough just north of the town of Cannon Beach. I took this photo from the bridge. Lots of moss in Oregon.

Waterfall

Three shots from the Cannon Beach area in Oregon. This small creek is an example of the stunning beauty one can find just a few feet from the highway. Oregon is also a great place for wildlife photographers because there are so many Ducks and Beavers. I hear that most of the "wildlife" is concentrated in the Eugene area near the wild mushroom farms.....

Zion 2

I liked the silhouette of this old tree against the red rock cliffs just after sunrise. And yes, the sky really was that blue....

Zion

I was able to visit Zion National Park briefly on a trip from Tucson to Seattle in 1997. I was up early enough to photograph the dusting of snow that fell on the upper elevations. I would love to go back someday, Southern Utah is otherworldly!

Prickly Pear

A dead Prickly Pear cactus lying flat on the ground....