Friday's Focus - 2019/06/28 - National Park Icons

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
My icons, forgive me if some of the locations have already been featured in someone else's post:

Mesa Arch, Canyonlands


Balanced Rock, Arches


False Kiva Cave, Canyonlands


Grand Canyon:


And Death Valley:








Thanks for viewing, best regards

Vieri
What a great set of Icons Vieri!
 

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Jim, do we have enough bandwidth to support all these icons we're going to see? Dunno.

But, I'll follow the trail of tears to Mesa Arch for starts..

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Ha ha, yeah I need to buy some extra horses to keep this wagon moving! :)

It is great seeing all of these icons though, I am sure enjoying this.
 

Vieri

Well-Known Member
What a great set of Icons Vieri!
Thank you very much Jim, am doing what I can as a European! :) You guys are so lucky with all the beauty around you!! Not saying Europe isn't beautiful, but the US National Parks are truly amazing

Best regards,

Vieri
 

Mike Lewis

Staff Member
I am of the opinion that I don't care what anyone else says...I will shoot the icons, I love them, I want to experience them, and the moment I am there shooting them is what makes my image unique when compared to the 10K other pictures of that icon...

Mt. Rainier National Park...guess how many other people got this image...none...because no one else was there! Even my friend that was with me...was doing something else and didn't get this condition...
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Great Smoky Mountain National Park...my favorite park...it is the closest to me, and the one I have been to more times than I can count...again, very unique conditions...normally this rock is iconic...but I got to see it in a very different way, almost no water flow.
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Death Valley National Park...my most recent addition to NP I have been to...one I will go back to again...I loved it there.
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Travis,

Great images, and I totally agree with the sentiment. These things are famous for a reason - they are stunning. I don't care who else might have photographed them, it never prevents me from enjoying every minute of doing so.

ML
 

Mike Lewis

Staff Member
So many breathtaking images, truly.

Here are a couple of mine, one from Denali, and the other from a much more obscure national Park.

Here is the Denali image, from road access using a tele lens on a rare day when the peak wasn't fully obscured.


Here is one of an abandoned hallway in Fort Jefferson, the largest masonry structure in the Americas, with over 16 million bricks. Hard to believe this was constructed by Civil War soldiers in the brutal heat and humidity of the Gulf of Mexico. Located at Dry Tortugas National Park (and pretty much ALL that is located there.) A very unique location at an off the beaten path National Park.


ML
 

Mike Lewis

Staff Member
One of my hiking/photo buddies doesn't ever visit national parks because of the crowds and feels that all our photos of the iconic views are derivative. I agree with him for the most part, but they're iconic for a reason, and I enjoy getting my own take on these places. I do feel lucky to have visited many BITD before they became ungodly crowded (many nights in half empty Zion campgrounds!).

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Most of the photographers gathered for sunset that evening were pissed at this young woman for taking too long on her yoga poses right at sunset. I quite enjoyed it, with the crowds at this iconic spot I expected it, plus she was attractive and very good!

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I'll bet we could have a whole thread on just this iconic tree.

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We were lucky to have this campsite to ourselves.

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First morning on a Denali climb.

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Canadian Rockies

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Typical view of Mt. Rainier from Paradise.

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Longs Pk. sunrise.
Wow, love these Jim - especially the Denali image and the Canadian Rockies shot. That beach campsite image is also very special!

ML
 
A portrait of Mt. Meru, which dominates Arusha National Park in Tanzania.

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Nice set Jeffrey. Mt. Meru is the subject of a documentary of the first climbers to reach the summit. It is on Amazon Prime and it's amazing. It took the group of three climbers two attempts over several years to reach the top. Jimmy Chen is one of them. He was the photographer for Free Solo. I think you would really like it. Oops! I just realized this Mt. Meru is in Africa not Nepal. As Rosanne Rosanadana said....never mind. I still think you would like the documentary.
 
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