Vancouver’s English Bay is a beautiful area, I took this one from Jericho Beach looking towards downtown

I’ll break from my photo posting tradition a little bit by including myself in a shot. However, the only way you can gain an idea of the scale and the contrast of the brutal landscape around the South Dakotan badlands is in relation to a person amongst their craggy peaks.

I hiked only about a mile through the landscape and despite chugging water most of the way (as signs everywhere tell you to) I still experienced deep heat exhaustion and a headache the rest of the day. The area radiates heat from all around and will drain you quickly!

Because of the Horizon Deepwater oil gusher, the Louisiana marshes will never be the same again. I still remember my time there and hope I can return someday to a restored habitat although I highly doubt we’ll ever find a way to replace the delicate balance of this marine ecosystem. The above silhouette of a fisherman is off Pecan Island in the southwest part of the state, one of the areas that will be hit by the oil slick.

The Black Hills of South Dakota are an interesting formation, it reminds me of a prehistoric landscape, half expecting to see brontosauri wandering around. I took this one from Harney Peak.

Taken during the Olympics; this sunset was particularly beautiful! Much better than the rain that’s falling on Vancouver these days.

During the Vancouver 2010 Olympics the weather could not have been more beautiful (unless you were up on Cypress Mountain). This panorama was taken from English Bay with my back to Granville Island and. One of the great things about living in Vancouver is that even on an exhausting day, I can look up at the mountain skyline and receive exhilaration at the view. I know that wherever I live in the future, I’ll probably end up missing mountains in my life daily.

For the full 6545 x 1249 version check it out on Flickr.

This one was my first experiment with exposure blending. HDR can give some great results from complex lighting, but what about when no light exists? Exposure blending allows you to use limited light to give a better picture of the scene. All those little streaks you see are the stars moving through the sky. You can also see a shooting star there in the middle!

One of the most iconic images from Banff National Park in Alberta, Jane and I just happened upon it as we were driving from our campsite near Lake Louise to Banff.

The mountain was named in 1858 by James Hector for its castle-like or fortress appearance. Following the post-war visit of U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower, the name was changed to Mount Eisenhower by the then Canadian Prime Minister W. L. Mackenzie-King. Eventually, public pressure forced the name to be changed back in 1979 to its original because the Alberta locals were outraged at the snap judgement of the Canadian PM.

@ Porter Sculpture Park between Sioux Falls and Mitchell, SD on I-90. This place was one of the highlights of the roadtrip this summer with so many awesome sculpture and meeting/talking to Mr. Wayne Porter himself.

The Boathouse at Lake Louise in Banff National Park. I still have so many amazing photos to post from my road-trip from NC to BC. This is one example. I’m longing for the sun and blue skies of the Canadian Rockies after the incessant gray that hangs above the trees and building of Vancouver winters.