Here’s something a bit different from what I usually post: an advertising photo shoot with models and lights. Although in the past I haven’t actively sought assignments (not even mentioning my availability for them), I was still occasionally contacted to create commissioned images. In this case, what led to the job was my great familiarity […]
Posted on January 26, 2012, 5:54 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Although they are not as tall as the coastal redwoods, the giant sequoia trees still reach impressively into the sky. I found it difficult to convey the sense of cosmic height in daylight images. The usually blue sky isn’t visually that interesting, there are almost always harsh shadows or dappled light on a part of […]
Posted on January 19, 2012, 10:01 am, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Last year, I spent some time in Cedar Grove, Kings Canyon National Park, trying to find out whether it was another Yosemite Valley. In the previous post, I reported about my explorations of the Cedar Grove valley floor. In this post, I am describing some of my findings on the Cedar Grove rims from a […]
Posted on October 28, 2011, 3:37 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Mount Hoffman (10,845 feet, 3,305 meters) is right in the center of Yosemite. For a (relatively) easy to access viewpoint which gives you spectacular bird-eye’s views of the Yosemite backcountry in all directions, it is hard to top this hike. If you do only one high-country summit hike in Yosemite, I would suggest this one. […]
Posted on September 21, 2011, 9:34 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Kings Canyon National park was conceived by as a “wilderness park”, mostly free from development. There are only two sections accessible by car within the park, one around Grant Grove, the other in Cedar Grove. Both those sections are small: many visitors do not notice that shortly after Grant Grove, they exit the park, entering […]
Posted on July 7, 2011, 2:25 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
The three first hikes in this series may have given the impression that to see something out of the beaten path in Yosemite, you need to venture out of established trails, on exposed or strenuous paths. This could well be true of Yosemite Valley, so unique and so full of landmarks such as Yosemite Falls […]
The Channel Islands of California are situated off the Santa Barbara and Los Angeles coast. Five of those islands form Channel Islands National Park. Inspiration point, on East Anacapa Island, where I am standing, offers possibly the most spectacular view on the entire US West Coast. Earlier in the day, a misty marine layer (a […]
Posted on August 30, 2010, 9:32 am, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
(More pictures of Lost Lake and the Diving Board) The Diving Board is the prominent rock in front of the face of Half-Dome. The location offers one of the most impressive views in Yosemite. On the West, you see the whole Valley, below you is a 30 feet overhang and a 1500 feet vertical face […]
Posted on August 20, 2010, 8:16 am, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
If you look carefully at the Upper Yosemite Falls wall, you will notice a tiny horizontal ledge protruding all the way to the waterfall, around 1/8 of its height. This is Fern Ledge. I had read about it before, but my curiosity was rekindled when I saw an episode of The National Parks, America’s Best […]
Posted on August 12, 2010, 6:57 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
I have been spending quite a bit of time in Yosemite, and posting quite a few images for a project I’ll talk about later. To celebrate its completion, for the rest of the summer, I will be describing a few Yosemite locations that I visited recently. Their common characteristic is that they are out of […]
