Manasquan Reservoir County Park

In the morning of July 4th, I woke up at 3 a.m. and drove to the Manasquan Reservoir County Park for the sunrise shot. It is a beautiful little park in the Howell Township, Monmouth County of New Jersey. Manasquan reservoir is an important part of the water supply in Monmouth County, with a 4 billion gallon water capacity, it supply up to 30 million gallons of water a day for the resident of Central New Jersey. The reservoir is part of the larger county park of 1204 acres that include woods and wetlands, a 5-mile trail, fishing and boating areas, and a environmental center.

Other than recreational and outdoor activities, Manasquan Reservoir is a charming place for photography, thanks to the dead trees that are standing still in the water. We arrived at the reservoir half an hour before sunrise and I still had some time to scout around for good composition - the point is to have the dead trees well separated on the picture. About 10 minutes before sunrise, the color of the cloud and sky getting incredibly vibrant - it was the most dramatic dawn I have ever seen since I moved to US. The color doesn't last long and it was totally gone in just a few minutes, I was fast enough to capture the right moment. We stayed for a while and walked around the park in hope of finding another good spot for the next photography outing.

By: Kah-Wai Lin
 

Dusk at Cape May Beach

We had a short but rewarding trip to Cape May last weekend - in both photography and sightseeing. Cape May is a lovely little town located at the southern tip of New Jersey, with beautiful Gingerbread-type houses, magnificent lighthouses and charming beaches. 

This is my first trial on the long exposure seascape photography using the B+W 10-stop ND filter, which is also a practice toward my upcoming trip to Acadia National Park. This picture was exposed for about 200 seconds under the overcast sky before sunset. I really love the misty appearance of moving tides and clouds that render the pictures surreal and artistic look. 

Although it doesn't appear in any of my shots, we spotted a group of dolphins passing through. What's a lucky day!

By: Kah-Wai Lin
 

Dancing Waves

This image was taken at Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes at Death Valley National Park. I love photographing sand dunes, you never know what can surprise you in particular time, location, weather and season. Winter is such a great time to visit Death Valley, and therefore filled up by crowd. It took quite some time to escape to a spot with no one and no footprint - if you plan to do that, bring a lot of water and be sure that you are able to find the way back. While scouting the landscape with my camera plus telephoto lens, I spotted this wonderful scene with the layers of sand dunes make up the dancing waves. I wait until the moment before sunset for the best light and freeze the moment with the shutter.

By: Kah-Wai Lin
 

Abstract Painting

When you stand on a point of 5476fts height (Dante's View) and look down at the North America's lowest point of 286fts below see level (Badwater Basin), you will be amaze with the majestic of our mother nature. To the West-Northwest from the Dante's view, Death Valley National Park, you will find the abstract painting-like landscape of Badwater Basin. The current view is formed by periodical flooding and evaporation, which lead to the redeposition of salt over the years and thus appear as the irregular pattern of salt crystals. 

BTW, Dante's View is a filming location in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The scene is where Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, R2-D2 and C-3PO approach a city in Mos Eisley and stop to watch the city from a view point, which is the Dante's View (Source: Wikipedia - Dante's View).

By: Kah-Wai Lin
 

The Hoodoo Land

There's no place like Bryce Canyon National Park. Despite it looks gorgeous at anytime of the year, but the dawn and dusk in Bryce Amphitheater is always breathtaking. This is my second trip to Bryce Canyon, the last trip was during the government shutdown and we were only able to see some hoodoos outside of the park - at Ruby's Inn and the Red Canyon. This time, when I stepped out from the car, it totally blew my mind! How can such a beautiful piece of land exist on earth? Am I standing on earth?

OK, let me explain what is hoodoo. Hoodoo is a tall and thin spire of rock protrudes from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland. It may range from 1.5 to 45 meters tall. Hoodoos were found in various places, such as Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, Cappadocia region of Turkey, Alpes-de-Haute-Procence in Paris, Devil's Town in Serbia, but nowhere in the earth has as many hoodoos as in the northern part of Bryce Canyon National Park.

This picture was taken at the Bryce Point, which is located just 3 miles from the visitor center. Despite it was freezing cold during the winter, I totally forgot about the cold when I saw this amazing landscape and start shooting. BTW, winter is a great time to photograph Bryce Canyon, it is much less crowded than summer time. Plus, you will get a bonus element in your shot - snow!

By: Kah-Wai Lin
 

Dante's View, Death Valley National Park

Dante's View is a viewpoint terrace located about 25km (16 miles) south of Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park. At the height of 1,669m (5,476 feet), Dante's View offer a magnificent panoramic view of various Death Valley geological formation. Particularly to the west, as shown in this picutre, Dante’s View offers the best panoramic view of Badwater Basin and the Panamint Range. From here, the highest and lowest points in the park - Telescope Peak 3,367m (11,047 feet) high and Badwater Basin −86m (−282 feet) can be seen. Badwater Basin is also the lowest point in North America. 

To capture the best light of Dante's View, we woke up at 4am and start driving from Amargosa Opera House & Hotel at Death Valley Junction. Despite the road toward Dante's View is paved, extra cautious is needed because it is narrow and winding. It took us about an hour to reach the peak of Dante's View. The view is breathtaking despite the bitter cold and windy due to the high elevation. This is a fantastic location for wide-angle landscape, as well as telephoto abstract photography. When the sun gradually rising from the horizon, the Panamint Range in the West is bathed with the warm alpenglow - it was when I press the shutter while enjoying the beauty of our mother nature.

By: Kah-Wai Lin