Landscapes

I love landscape photography. It has rewards and challenges very different from photographing animals. It seems like it would be easier than wildlife. You don’t have to worry about your subject moving, for instance. You get to go big, trying to capture the magic of a big sky, a many-colored sunset, or the quiet of snow. But it’s harder to use tools like bokeh. You can’t count on your subject to create the drama. You can make it awe-inspiring, intimate, or deadly dull. It’s all up to you.

Most of my landscapes are from Africa. There is nothing like a sunrise or a sunset on the equatorial African savanna. There is a sense of being - at home. I have found plenty of attractive opportunities for beautiful landscape images in National Parks, such as Yellowstone, and right in my hometown in Seattle.

I organized these images by natural phenomena - moon, mountain, river and lake, savanna, sea, snow, springs, sun, and tree. For each photo, I provided the location. I’ve had the great pleasure of visiting some of the unique places on the planet, some famous like Grand Teton National Park, and some almost entirely unknown like Liwonde National Park in Malawi. There is no place with more stunning sunsets than Liwonde - and many places have incredible sunsets.

I’m often asked what my favorite park is. It’s such a tricky question to answer. The first park I visited in Africa, Gonarezhou National Park, is still one of my favorites. Gonarezhou means “Place of Elephants.” I love Zimbabwe, its people, its animals, and its parks. Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. The Maasai Mara, Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, and Kruger National Park are the most famous parks in Africa. All are wonderful but can be crowded. I recommend South Luangwa National Park in Zambia when people ask where they should go on Safari if they are up for something slightly more adventurous. There are so many more that I could mention, and I’ll try to do that in other places.