Badwater Rain – Death Valley

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panoramic landscape photography - Rainclouds over Badwater Basin, Death Valley, California. February 27, 2010

A stormy morning at Badwater basin in Death Valley national park, California.  At 282 feet below sea level, Badwater is the lowest place in the North America.  Normally the lake bed is bone dry with 1.9 inches of average annual rainfall in the valley, but this year has been an above average rain year so there is a fair bid of water flooding the basin at the moment.  In this photo though it actually looks dry due to the fact that the wind was quite strong and litterally ‘pushed’ the water away, while on the previous day this area had been submerged.

Two Vertically shifted photos from Nikon 24mm tilt-shift lends for the vertical panorama.

Racetrack – Death Valley

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Night photography at Devil's Racetrack playa, Death Valley national park, California

5 minute self portrait on a cold night under a nearly full moon out on the playa at the Devil’s Racetrack in Death Valley national park, California.   I took two seperate 5 minute exposures with the Nikon 24mm tilt-shift lens to get the ‘square’ format.  One upper, one lower.  No tricky Photoshop needed.

I had my stopwatch going to measure the exposure but since I was afraid to move my arm and risk putting it back in a slightly different location I had to count in my head as best I could. When I got to 5 minutes in my head I took a peak at my watch, 4:57, and quickly ran back to the camera.  Pretty good internal clock. I could have left the scene earlier, but some ghosting would have occurred as I was gone a greater percentage of the overall exposure, so I wanted to remain as close to the full 5 minutes as possible.

The Racetrack is better know for the ‘moving rock.’  Unfortunately, that section of the normally dry lake bed actually had some water, so I couldn’t go there as footprints last a long time out there…

Kungsleden Photo Gallery

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Kungsleden mountain landscape, Singi, Lapland, Sweden

Kungsleden photo gallery: Click here

I’ve created a image gallery from my hike on the northern section of the Kungsleden trail in Swedish Lapland.  Weather was pretty bad – Sept 17 was the first day I was snowed on – so most of the pictures are of clouds.  When I go back again one of these years, I think I would like to be there for the beginning of September.  Though I was told that the autumn/winter came early last year and that it was colder than normal, so maybe I just had a bit of bad luck.  Still, it’s an amazing place so I would not complain about going back and wandering around for a few weeks.

Panoramic landscape stock photography: Mountain landscape, Kungsleden, Lapland, Sweden

Outdoor lifestyle photo - Solo hiker on Kungsleden trail, Lapland, Sweden

Lofoten Islands – Flakstad

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Panoramic landscape photography: Flakstad beach, Lofoten islands, Norway

Flakstad, Lofoten Islands, Norway.

In summer under blue skies, this is a wonderful beach that is often crowded with people.  In early January it is a cold and windswept place – which is perfect for me because there are no footprints.

Nikon D700, 24mm tilt-shift lens.

Unstad – Lofoten

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Snow covered beach, Unstad, Lofoten islands, Norway

Unstad beach, Lofoten islands, Norway.

An unrelenting storm had been hanging over the islands all day, but the weather on the islands can be quite localized, so I took a gamble that the north side might have some better weather, and indeed it did.  Emerging from the tunnel to Unstad, the snow had stopped and been divereted around the mountains that surround the village.  I wish I had arrived earlier as the day was already late and darkness – and more snow – was soon to come.

Lofoten Islands – Kjerkfjord

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Landscape travel stock photography: Kjerkefjorden, Reine, Lofoten islands, Norway

Kjerkfjord as seen from near Reine, Lofoten islands, Norway.

This is the light at around 1:30 pm on the afternoon of January 6, the first day since mid December where the sun once again appears on the horizon at 68˚ north.  Got lucky to have calm winds and mostly clear skies on this day.  Imagine more or less the same light like this lasting for hours.  Magical.

Lofoten – Haukland Beach

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Haukland beach in winter, Lofoten islands, Norway: Travel Landscape stock photography

Haukland Beach winter, Lofoten islands, Norway.

When the sky is clear, the light as this amazing diffuse glow to it.  Due to being so far north, the sun travel at much more of a horizontal angle than what occurs as one approaches the equator.  So due to this, the period of ‘sunset’ or ‘sunrise’ light is extended into hours, not just minutes.  In early January, the sun barely rises above the horizon so there is not really any direct sunlight, more like a 4-5 hour sunrise-sunset until the darkness of night comes by about 2:30-3:00 pm.

South Ronaldsay, Orkney

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Orkney travel stock photograph - Old boat sits abandoned in Barn, South Ronaldsay, Orkney

Staircase in abandoned derelict building, South Ronaldsay, Orkney, Scotland

living room of abandoned house, South Ronaldsay, Orkney, Scotland

Abandoned house, South Ronaldsay, Orkney, Scotland.

I wonder what stories these old walls could tell.  Once it was probably the center of a large farm.  Times changed and the old ways lost their charm.  The young generation left home for the glamour of the city.  No one wanted to live on the edge of the world anymore.  The house sat alone, empty.  The paint faded.  The roof caved.

Black Cuillins – Isle of Skye

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Panoramic landscape photography - Black Cuillin Hills, Glenbrittle, Isle of Skye, Scotland

Black Cuillin Hills as viewed from Glenbrittle, Isle of Skye, Scotland.

Ring of Brodgar – Orkney

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Ring of Brodgar standing stones, Orkney, Scotland - Cody Duncan photogapher

Ring of Brodgar standing stones, Orkney.

Sunset panoramic photo Ring of Brodgar standing stones, Orkney, Scotland

Winter sunset behind Ring of Brodgar stone circle, Orkney