Posted on June 30, 2023, 2:37 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Fort Ord National Monument memorializes a former military base and provides an excellent bike recreational trail system. My first visits shortly after its designation in 2012 left me unimpressed, but after multiple return trips, I eventually began to appreciate the subtle but diverse landscape that includes several Central Coast ecosystems. Barack Obama ended up designating […]
Posted on May 28, 2023, 11:00 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
The April trip to Japan and its aftermath made me miss the California wildflower season, which due to the winter’s abundant rains, was a super bloom. In early May, figuring out that Southern California would be long past peak, I went on pursuit of wildflowers in Northern California. The northern part of the state doesn’t […]
Posted on July 8, 2021, 1:36 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Thank you for providing feedback on images of New River Gorge. In this post, I go into more detail on the morning when the top contending photos were made, discussing their circumstances and differences. Grandview Point was my first destination in New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. On the first morning there, the fog […]
Posted on June 28, 2021, 10:51 am, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
When I planned my well-awaited trip to New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, I was expecting to photograph the landscapes of the New River Gorge and the most famous landmark in West Virginia, the New River Gorge Bridge. What I didn’t expect to find were so many historic structures that the place often felt […]
Posted on June 19, 2021, 12:23 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
The only thing new with New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is its status as our latest national park. The river is very old, and New River Gorge National River had long been known as an East Coast outdoors activities hub offering diverse activities including whitewater rafting with Class V rapids, excellent rock climbing, […]
Posted on April 20, 2021, 11:59 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Part of Southern California’s transverse ranges running east to west, the San Gabriel Mountains are roughly divided into two parallel ranges. The front range in the south, culminating with Strawberry Peak (6,164 ft) and San Gabriel Peak (6,161 ft), borders the Los Angeles Basin. The back range in the north includes a chain of peaks […]
Posted on April 30, 2020, 9:28 am, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Part 4 of 5: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Although a primary helper of biological diversity, the desert ironwood tree for which Ironwood Forest National Monument was named is hardly a visually impressive feature. On the other hand, independently from its remarkable biological diversity, you cannot miss the prominent 3,907-foot Ragged […]
Posted on April 9, 2020, 7:11 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Part 2 of 5: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Although quite obscure in the big scheme of things, the locations in Sonoran Desert National Monument that we visited in the first part of the article are the most obvious because they are along the monument’s designated trails. Those trails predate the […]
Posted on April 2, 2020, 5:13 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Part 1 of 5: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 The Sonoran Desert is the most biologically diverse desert in North America – or maybe not, see discussion in the last part of this series. Thanks to the national park designation, the most well-known track of Sonoran Desert consists of Saguaro National […]
Posted on May 28, 2019, 10:38 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
This is the first of a possible series of posts where I explain the multiple steps and thought process that led me from initial impression to final image. At Whitmore Canyon Overlook, you face huge cliffs rising in front of you, rather than below you, like at most other Grand Canyon overlooks. My visit was […]