Tag: Jerry Ginsberg

Fresh Approaches to Photographing Familiar Places

by
Photo of a range of mountains with the top lit by the orange light of sunrise. The foreground and base of the mountains are in shadow, except for some trees with yellow leaves. The first rays of sunrise strike the sandstone face of enormous West Temple in Zion Canyon. Rather than darkening the upper portion of the frame with a gradiated N.D. filter, I chose to invert the filter, darkening the foreground still further and then apply a local adjustment to lighten the trees. To my surprise, it worked. © Jerry Ginsberg
The first rays of sunrise strike the sandstone face of enormous West Temple in Zion Canyon. Rather than darkening the upper portion of the frame with a gradiated N.D. filter, I chose to invert the filter, darkening the foreground still further and then apply a local adjustment to lighten the trees. To my surprise, it worked. © Jerry Ginsberg

By Jerry Ginsberg

Yosemite, Yellowstone, Arches, Monument Valley. The names alone bring glorious and exciting images to mind. They’ve been published and printed for many decades. The classic shots of Half Dome, Old Faithful, Delicate Arch, and the Mittens; we’ve seen them all. Yet we continue to make pilgrimages to these scenic meccas of America in the hope of capturing the quintessential photograph of some already over exposed mountain or canyon that will distinguish our work from the pack; some fresh perspective that will set our images apart from the cliché.

Is this still possible? With all of the iconic photographs of our premier wilderness areas that have been made and circulated since the days of William Henry Jackson and Ansel Adams pioneered the craft, can we, with our hi-tech zillion megapixel cameras and the compressed schedules of our fast-lane lifestyles, persist in the creation of original interpretations of these well-known places? Clearly, the answer is still “Yes!”

Continue reading →

Blackwater National Wildlife Reserve

by
Brilliant peach-colored sunrise over water. There are grasses in the foregroun and trees in the distance. Clouds streak across the sky. Sunrise in Blackwater National Wildlife Reserve, Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake, Delmarva, Dorchester County, MD. © Jerry Ginsberg
Sunrise in Blackwater National Wildlife Reserve, Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake, Delmarva, Dorchester County, MD. © Jerry Ginsberg

By Jerry Ginsberg

National Wildlife Reserves

While our National Parks, the crown jewels of federal lands, often receive the lion’s share of our attention, the wonderful creature sanctuaries known as National Wildlife Refuges provide an immeasurable benefit to wildlife in these days of ever-expanding development. This human expansion inevitably results in ever shrinking habitat and more and more pressure on the wild creatures who rely upon that habitat.

Continue reading →

New River Gorge National Park

by
Photo of the New River Bridge, a long, tall, arched bridge spanning a large tree-covered canyon at dusk. Not exactly a Nature subject, the New River Gorge Bridge spans this wide river with a huge central arch framework and is a featured calling card of the new National Park. © Jerry Ginsberg
Not exactly a nature subject, the New River Gorge Bridge spans this wide river with a huge central arch framework and is a featured calling card of the new National Park. © Jerry Ginsberg

By Jerry Ginsberg

America’s 63rd and newest national park was created earlier this year when the Congressional resolution authorizing it was buried deep in the text of legislation intended to address financial issues related to the COVID pandemic. Not one to look a gift horse in the proverbial mouth, I am just grateful that these 73,000 scenic acres have been awarded the nation’s highest level of protection. Just 10% of this territory is included in the actual national park. The remaining 65,000 acres make up a national preserve. So, what makes this area special?

Continue reading →

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

by
Uniquely shaped caprock formations in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota. © Jerry Ginsberg
Uniquely shaped caprock formations in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota. © Jerry Ginsberg

By Jerry Ginsberg

As the virulent pandemic that has crippled our society for over a year recedes and the country and the world begin to open up again, our thoughts turn back to traveling. With the summer season now upon us, potential destinations include our 63 fabulous National Parks. If you want to get a little off the well beaten path to overcrowded places like Yosemite and experience something a little different, try Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.

Continue reading →

The Web of Life

by
Closeup photo of a grizzly bear enjoying a salmon in the Brooks River, Katmai National Park, Alaska. The bear has the salmon it its mouth and is in the river. © Jerry Ginsberg
Grizzly bear enjoying a salmon in the Brooks River, Katmai National Park, Alaska. © Jerry Ginsberg

By Jerry Ginsberg

We humans take ourselves far too seriously. Out of habit, we allow the minutiae of our daily lives to block our ability to see the big picture. That picture is one in which our species is but one of a multitude of creatures eking out a living on the crust of this still molten rock hurtling through space. Like it or not; choose to admit it or not, we are all interrelated to some degree. As for how these ruminations connect me to my role as a nature photographer? Hang in there. I’ll get to that.

Continue reading →

Photographing in North Cascades National Park

by
Park Creek Ridge high up in the Cascade Range in North Cascades National Park, Washington. © Jerry Ginsberg
Park Creek Ridge high up in the Cascade Range in North Cascades National Park, Washington. © Jerry Ginsberg

By Jerry Ginsberg

This remote park is revered by backpackers and climbers, but often overlooked by most other folks, even though it’s just 120 miles from the Seattle metropolitan area. Covering more than 500,000 acres, North Cascades National Park includes its namesake mountains at the northern end of the Cascade chain, virgin forests, countless alpine lakes and meadows, glaciers and more than 360 miles of wilderness hiking trails. There are very few roads within the park, so most visitors travel east and west on State Route 20. Whether folks want to hike in remote wilderness, embark on a family-friendly road trip or camping vacation, North Cascades National Park is a remarkably underrated destination that shouldn’t be missed.

Continue reading →

Photo Travel in the Age of the Coronavirus

by
Clearing Storm over the Teton Range. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. © Jerry Ginsberg
Clearing Storm over the Teton Range. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. © Jerry Ginsberg

By Jerry Ginsberg

The Bucket List

In these days of COVID-19 my bucket list is getting bigger, but my bucket is not. At the risk of being less than completely clear, allow me to explain. As time goes by, always far too quickly, I learn about more and more places on our little globe that I would like to visit, photograph and enjoy.

My list is now measurably longer than it was a year ago. Working against my ability – and that of all of us – to cross names off that list is the virtually worldwide lockdown as nations everywhere take a multitude of steps in an effort to minimize the spread of this scourge. Countries including as Argentina, Chile, Jordan and Switzerland are sitting on my yellowing list now rigidly frozen in gridlock.

Continue reading →

Cruising the Middle East with Camera in Hand

by
The domes and minaret of the El-Jazzar mosque rise above the ancient city of Akko (Acre), Israel. © Jerry Ginsberg
The domes and minaret of the El-Jazzar mosque rise above the ancient city of Akko (Acre), Israel. © Jerry Ginsberg

By Jerry Ginsberg

Because of the pandemic, any attempt at planning photo travel these days is a long way from normal. Still, it is my wish that offering a glimpse into a fascinating photo trip to Israel might spark hope that the proverbial light we now see at the end of the tunnel is not mounted on the front of a freight train.

Continue reading →

Everglades Re-Visited

by
Early morning ground fog in the swamps of Everglades National Park, Florida.
Early morning ground fog in the swamps of Everglades National Park, Florida.

By Jerry Ginsberg

In these days of COVID-19, very little seems normal. Our daily routines have been drastically altered. That certainly includes travel and photography. Had this been a normal year, I would have traveled to both Switzerland and Argentine Patagonia. Under the circumstances neither country was about to allow entry to foreign tourists. After tolerating cabin fever for just so long, I had to at least get in the car and go someplace where I could photograph some natural beauty.

The national park and, by far, greatest nature preserve closest to my home is Everglades at the southern tip of the Florida peninsula. Since I hadn’t been there in several years (as a species, we frequently seem to avoid the easiest options), it seemed like the obvious choice. So, in early December I packed up and headed south. Once finding a convenient and presumably sanitized motel in nearby Florida City, I began cruising through this very familiar more than one million-acre wilderness of avian and reptile life, swampy prairie, and slow moving river of grass.

Continue reading →

Dreaming of Argentine Patagonia

by
Evening Light on Mt. FitzRoy and Cerro Torre © Jerry Ginsberg
Evening Light on Mt. FitzRoy and Cerro Torre © Jerry Ginsberg

By Jerry Ginsberg

This month, allow me to describe not a trip that I have already made to a place that I have photographed, but travel that I have carefully planned to a place that I have not yet been with plans first postponed and then canceled – thanks to the coronavirus that has stalled most of the world for the past year: A dream trip to the southernmost part of South America, the Argentine Patagonia. I have never done this type of article before. Never even contemplated going off on such a tangent. But in the very strange age of COVID-19, many once unforeseen things have become real possibilities. With fervent hope that this plague will soon be in our collective rear-view mirror, I expect to make this trip in late 2021 or early 2022. I’ll keep you posted.

Continue reading →