Most of the desert scenery was bathed in full sunshine, but as I hiked into to the shadows of the canyon wall, I noticed this striking scene with rim lighting on the Saguaro Cacti. As I set up my tripod, I noticed the way the backlit layers of yellow and green desert shrubs framed the foreground in the lower left. “This will be my best photo of the day,” I said to myself.
This is a photo of the early morning light on the canyon: backlighting in the shadows cast rim light on the saguaro cacti.
This image also succeeds with its limited color palette. The interplay of yellow and shades of green unify the image, don’t you think?
It’s going to be a scorcher in Southwest Florida today — record breaking 92 degrees in the first week of April. What a perfect time to enjoy the frozen waterfall Skogafoss in Iceland — where I shot these photographs in January.
Be sure to scroll down to enjoy all four photographs. The last one may be your favorite.
Icebergs at the foot of Skogafoss in the fading light of sunset, in Iceland in January 2023. Icicles cling to the cliff alongside Skogafoss in South Iceland, January 2023.Ice patterns alongside Skogafoss in Iceland just before sunset, January 2023.Photographer who trespassed beyond safety boundaries provides scale at the foot of Skogafoss in January 2023. All images are copyrighted, but also for sale as prints. Contact Cathy Kelly at cathykellyphotography@gmail.com for prices and options.
When I wake up on a cloudy day, I feel like staying in my pajamas. As soon as the clouds clear and the blue sky allows the sunshine to light up the world, I feel a burst of energy. Do your moods swing the same way?
On a sunny afternoon in the Fall, you don’t have to convince me that it’s a good idea to go for a walk. This path into the landscape reminds me of a John Constable painting.
Sewickley Heights Park (Pennsylvania) on a sunny September afternoon.
At sunset yesterday, I was finishing a round of golf with some friends. After the sun went down, we agreed to play one last hole. Fortunately, my drive went straight down the fairway, but I had to make a detour before I hit my next shot.
I spotted perfect red tree, standing alone on the horizon before a blue and pink pastel sky. I had to pause and capture a few photos on my iPhone. Little did I know that day that the highlight of my golf game would be a photo. But I must admit it was a well rounded afternoon with the camaraderie of friends and a relaxed nine holes when we had the course to ourselves.
Sometimes the best part of a day on the golf course is Nature. After sunset, on a western Pennsylvania golf course in October, this lone red tree makes a statement.
Hey, it’s raining over there! One cool thing about photography in the Grand Canyon is that you can see so far, that you can see one type of weather in one direction, and different weather in another. Even better, you never have to worry if there might be a building or a parking lot in the shot. The vistas are amazing and varied as you look in many directions. (The only problem that you just can’t fix is the haze created by car exhaust in nearby cities like Las Vegas and Los Angeles.)
This Infrared Photograph, shot in the morning sun into the Grand Canyon from the North Rim shows a towering cloud and an isolated shower. The shape and texture of the cloud competes for visual attention with the amazing land formations beneath it.
I enjoy digital Infrared photography for the high contrast images that can be made in processing. The best condition to get great results with an Infrared-converted camera is a sunny day. I’m glad I packed my Infrared camera with a wide angle lens for this Grand Canyon adventure.
Dramatic clouds form over the Grand Canyon, as seen from the North Rim, while a rain shower is visible on the left in this Infrared photograph.
We traveled to the Grand Canyon during summer monsoon season with the hope of seeing some dramatic lightning. If Mother Nature gave us her best, we aimed to capture it on camera. Mother Nature gave us a great show, and we got what we came for. The moment reminds me of Julius Caesar’s famous line, “veni, vidi, vici.”
After sunset, the Grand Canyon was robed in darkness, but dramatic lightning struck to the west, seen from Hopi Point on the North Rim.
This stark and jagged tree on the rim of the Grand Canyon makes an interesting natural sculpture by itself. But give it the leading role in the landscape, and the tree unites the earth and sky into one composition that is filled with color and contrast.
The dark, gnarled tree branches stand out on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon against a sky and landscape that is also filled with color and contrast.
As I review my photographs from the Grand Canyon, I continue to find some startling frames of lightning. With a Lightning Trigger attached to my Sony A7r4 camera (an advanced mirrorless digital camera), the shutter activates faster than a human being can see the lightning and push the shutter. This long lightning strike has quite an interesting shape with many forks.
A complex lightning strike photographed from Imperial Point on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Marble Canyon is visible on the far side of the Canyon.
Why do I specify “afternoon lightning”? Because evening lightning is coming soon in a future blog post! You can see in this photograph that the canyon is well lit by afternoon light. I was standing on the porch of the North Rim Lodge, watching the darkening clouds for a stroke of lightning over the South Rim when this image was captured. A custom-made lightning trigger helped.
Warmly lit Grand Canyon beneath a dark and stormy sky, seen from the North Rim looking Southwest. Lightning reaches from the cloud to the ground on the right above the Oza Butte.
Enlarge this image on your screen to see the lightning best.
In Southwest Florida, the only kind of rain we get in March is not the wet kind that falls from clouds and waters the plants. No, this time of year it rains yellow blossoms in the breeze.
Yellow blossoms of the Tabebuia tree rain in the breeze at Naples Botanical Garden, March 2022.
I associate the perennial blooming of this lovely tree with Spring Break, since we often visited Naples, Florida when my children were on Spring Break in late March. If you take a walk in Naples today, you will see countless numbers of Tabebuia trees in bloom, raining yellow flowers. Are they as numerous as alligators in the Everglades? Well, maybe not, but much prettier.
Blog: Cathy Kelly Photography 