Mountains | Cody Duncan Photography

Night Comes to Lofoten

July 18, 2009/0 Comments/in Landscape, Lofoten Islands, Mostly Photos, Mountains, Norway, Panoramics/by Cody

View from the top of Stamsundheia above Stamsund, Vestvågøya towards the village of Henningsvær and mountains of Austvågøya. The mountain peak in the center of the photo is about 16km away. The second set of mountains behind that are about 35km away. The Furthest distant peaks are the Norwegain mainland (Hamarøy I think) about 65km away, sperated by the mighty Vestfjord.

The night arrives slowly this far north due to the low angle of the sun. In the weeks prior the the nearly 2 month long “day” of the summer months, night never really properly arrives, just a few hours of twilight. Though here in March the night eventually comes, delayed enough that one has enough time to walk off a mountain after sunset with relative good visibility.

Conway Summit

July 13, 2009/4 Comments/in California, Landscape, Mountains, Panoramics/by Cody

The North Coast

July 6, 2009/2 Comments/in California, Landscape, Mostly Photos, Mountains, Panoramics, Random stuff, Travel, wildlife/by Cody

After a night in the Mt. Shasta Area I headed west, through the winding mountain roads of the Trinity Alps and out towards the coast north of Eureka, almost to the Oregon border. This area is the home to Redwood national park and numerous smaller state parks. My favorite being Prairie Creek Redwoods state park, a mixture of thick redwood forests and beautiful beaches. This area is so from my home in southern California (it is a shorter drive from Seattle, Washington than from Santa Barbara) that I only first came through here a couple years ago in the summer and then again in the autumn of 2007.

Gold Bluffs beach - Prairie Creek Redwoods state park, California

Prairie Creek Redwoods state park, California - tents among sanddunes at Gold Bluffs Beach Campground

There is this super cool campground at Gold Bluffs beach, set amongst coastal dunes with the endless crashing waves of the Northern Pacific ocean just a couple hundred feet away.

Roosevelt Elk graze in camproung at Gold Bluffs Beach, Prairie creek redwoods state park, California

Roosevelt Elk lazily wander and graze throughout the tents and campsites. I would have liked to get a photo of them walking along the beach, but I never saw them there this time. More reason to go back again.

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Mount Shasta

July 4, 2009/4 Comments/in California, Landscape, Mostly Photos, Mountains, Panoramics, Travel/by Cody

Mount Shasta is one of my favorite mountains in California. Unlike the chain of rugged granite peaks of the Sierra, Shasta is simply a giant volcano rising 10,000 (3,000m) above the surrounding landscape to a height of 14,179 ft (4,322 m). The mountain is at the southern end of the Cascade range, a series of (mostly) volcanic peaks surrounded by endless Bigfoot-roamed forests starting in northern California, through Oregon and Washington and up into British Columbia.

Landscape stock photography - Mount Shasta, California

Tuolumne Meadows and the Yosemite High Country

July 3, 2009/1 Comment/in California, Landscape, Mostly Photos, Mountains, Panoramics, Travel/by Cody

After the Morning at the Alabama Hills I was yet undecided as to where to go. As I headed north towards Bishop I heard the days weather forecast on the radio: hot and sunny in the Owen’s valley and a possibility of thunderstorms up by Yosemite. So off I went!

No thunderstorms ever arrived, but at least there were some nice clouds during the afternoon and of course at the 9,000ft of Tuolumne Meadows, a sane temperature. I’ve never acually been here during the summer (usually in the autumn), so it was nice to see everything lush and green, and full of tourists. Lucky enough, I found myself a campsite at the Tuolumne Meadows campground which saved me from having to drive out of the park at night, and back again in the early morning for sunrise.

Even in the sun, the Sierra hummingbird mosquito was in full attack mode. Around sunset, while standing in the meadows, I estimate something like 5-6 bites per photo taken. I remembered why I never go near the Sierra high country during summer.

Lone rock on top of Pothole dome, Tuolumne meadown, Yosemite national park, California

Lone rock sits on Pothole dome. I wonder how long that rock has been sitting there?

View from above Olmstead point looking back towards Tenaya lake.

Sunset over flooded field in Tuolumne Meadows. Lembert dome in the middle of photo, with 13,053 ft (3979 m) Mt. Dana rising in the distant background.

Alabama Hills and Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains

July 1, 2009/2 Comments/in California, Landscape, Mostly Photos, Mountains, Night, Panoramics, Travel/by Cody

The Alabama Hills are one of my favorite places here in California and a usual stop anytime I head to the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Normally I avoid the area during summer as the temperature is often well above my level of tolerance, But I decided to check things out anyhow. On the way up as I was crossing the Antelope Valley before entering the high desert area, I knew I would be in trouble from the heat. I guess after too much time in Northern Europe, I had forgotten that I really don’t enjoy myself in 100˚ (37˚c) temperatures (yes, I’m spoiled living on the coast). Turning off in Lone Pine during the late afternoon I headed straight through the Alabama hills and up to the 8,000 (2500m) foot coolness of the Whitney Portal to get a bit of an escape from the heat. The light was pretty bad anyhow, so I sat around up there and got eaten by mosquitoes for an hour or two.

I have a couple favorite places to camp, but since there is so much to see, I usually do a little exploring to see if I can’t find some cool new place. The whole area is open for wild camping, so I like to look for a spot where I can roll out the back of my truck at dawn, walk about 10 feet or crawl up some rock and start shooting. Sure beats having to drive anywhere!

Alabama HIlls, Owen's valley, California

The sunset was actually one of the boring-er ones that I’ve witnessed, but what can you do. Took a few night photos, but a pretty good wind picked up around sundown which was blowing a lot of dust around. So after a five minute photo, I’d have to clean everything off again.

NIght photography Nikon d700: star trails over rock formations, Alabama Hills, California

Dawn broke to a perfectly clear sky, again, nothing spectacular. Better weather for climbing than photography.

Lone Pine peak in the center of the photo, with Mount Whitney (14,505 feet – 4,421m, highest mountain in California and lower 48) on the very right of the photo in the pre-dawn light.

Landscape stock photography: Mobius Arch, Alabama Hills, Owen's Valley, California

Mobius Arch, one of the more famous icons in the area.

Alabama Hills and Sierra Nevada Mountains, Lone Pine, California

By 7:00 am it was already getting hot and the light hazy and washed out. So I decided to some place higher and cooler for the day…

California Road Trip

June 30, 2009/2 Comments/in California, Mostly Photos, Mountains, Random stuff/by Cody

mount shasta, California

Took a little road trip around California during the last week. Mostly to visit old places that I haven’t been to for a while, such as Mt. Shasta (above), which I climbed back in 2005, but haven’t seen since. Up every morning at 4:30, but the light was pretty dissapointing for the most part. Still nice scenery though, if not so good for photography. Still managed a few nice shots though. More in the next days…

One from tonight

June 5, 2009/2 Comments/in Mostly Photos, Mountains, Santa Barbara/by Cody

Had some strange weather in Santa Barbara today, for this time of year anyways. Ended up on a couple hour drive down a dirt road along the mountain ridge. Good way to spend a Friday night. Every time I would pull over to take a photo, the clouds would roll in and I couldn’t see more that a few feet.

Santa Barbara, California