This movie compiles all of the videos I shot during my trip to Glacier National Park, Montana and Seattle, Washington in September of 2019. One correction: the photo captioned as Victoria Falls is actually Virginia Falls, not sure how I made that mistake given that all the photos I shot were captioned properly.
Category: United States
Virginia Trip, 2018: Luray Reflections
This collection features photos of underground pools in Luray Caverns. Most of them were shot at the main Mirror Pool, where the water is so still that it produces a perfect reflection, resulting in imagery reminiscent of landscapes you might see in a science fiction film.
Click on any photo to open a gallery.
Mirror Pool
Mirror Pool
Mirror Pool
Mirror Pool
Mirror Pool
Mirror Pool
Mirror Pool
Mirror Pool
Another reflecting pool.
American Southwest Trip, 2018: A Rainy Day in Bryce Canyon
My first day in Bryce Canyon National Park was mostly a washout as it stormed heavily all day, but the skies did clear enough toward the end of the day for me to get some decent photos. I had tried waiting out the storm at my hotel but after a while I decided that I didn’t want to lose my entire first day (having already sacrificed my planned stop at Red Canyon) so I made my way out in the rain.
I started by driving all the way to the highest point at the end of the park, hoping the rain would be gone by the time I got there, but instead the rain turned to snow at the higher altitudes and the ground was covered in ice. I didn’t even bother parking the car after reaching the top since I was only wearing a windbreaker and also because I didn’t want to be stuck driving on icy mountain roads when it got darker, so I just turned around and drove back down the mountain. As I made my way down, the rain finally started to subside and I was able to hit some scenic lookouts.
The one good thing about driving through Bryce in a heavy rainstorm was that I practically had the entire place to myself. At some points it was eerily quiet, without even the sounds of birds or insects to break the silence. And some of the photos I took, while shot at a much lower than ideal aperture because of the gloomy conditions, have a unique look because of it.
Click on any photo to open a gallery.
American Northwest Trip, 2017: Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone
These photos are from the Norris Geyser Basin, the hottest thermal region in Yellowstone. Walking among an abundance of craters, geysers, and steam plumes really drives home the reality that you are standing on top of a super volcano, and the beautiful blue pools and multicolored springs give the place an otherworldly feel.
This is the area of the park where a man died the year before my visit when he fell into one of the springs and his body dissolved. He had left the boardwalk to engage in “hot potting,” an illegal activity in which people look for hot springs to bathe in. He slipped and fell while taking the spring’s temperature and was never seen again. So, if you ever visit the thermal areas of Yellowstone, you might want to stay on the boardwalks–they were put there for a reason.
Click on any photo to open a gallery.
Upstate New York Trip, 2015: Around Letchworth
Here are some miscellaneous photos from my hikes around Letchworth State Park in Upstate New York, including high-vantage-point views of the gorge and the Middle/Upper Falls area, as well as shots from the Great Bend Overlook area.
Click on any photo to open a gallery.
The Great Bend Overlook area.
The Great Bend Overlook area.
The Great Bend Overlook area.
Middle Falls
Middle Falls
California Trip, 2014: San Francisco Bay
These photos are from my various walks along San Francisco Bay, including visits to Telegraph Hill, Fishermans Wharf, and Pier 39. The bay area of the city is a big reason why it is one of my favorite American cities I’ve visited, right behind Portland and on a par with Seattle.
Click on any photo to open a gallery.
San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
Seattle Trip, 2019: Whale Watching Cruise
These photos are from my ill-fated whale watching cruise out of Seattle. I should have known what kind of day it was going to be when my 8 a.m. seaplane flight to San Juan Island was delayed for an hour because of fog. The delay meant that I would no longer have time to eat breakfast at a nice restaurant in Friday Harbor, so I walked down the street to grab a quick egg sandwich at Starbucks. When I returned to the marina I learned that the flight would be further delayed until at least 11 a.m., meaning that I would now have no time at all to enjoy Friday Harbor before the cruise. On top of that there was a chance the flight would be canceled altogether. At this point they offered me a refund of both the airfare and cruise, and I really wish I had taken them up on it and just spent the day exploring more of Seattle.
Instead, I decided to wait it out because I did not want to regret passing on the opportunity to see killer whales in the wild (the company claimed to spot orcas on 98% of their cruises). With two more hours to kill I decided to make the long walk back to my hotel room for a while. When I returned, the weather had finally cleared and we were off. The seaplane ride itself was cool. The pilot offered to let one of us sit in the cockpit with him. I thought it would have been a neat thing to do as the only solo passenger on the flight, but one of the other men beat me to it.
So we landed in Friday Harbor and pretty much had to rush to the meeting area. The cruise started off well—we spotted a humpback right away and I had high hopes—but that single whale was about all we would see. The rest of the 3.5-hour cruise involved brief glimpses of a couple of porpoises and a seal, an extended period of time spent looking at some wildlife on islands, numerous returns to following the same humpback whale, and long stretches just riding around looking at nothing. We never came within a sniff of a killer whale, despite them being spotted off the islands on the previous day by some of my fellow passengers. So much for that 98% success rate–I guess we were the unlucky 2%.
Essentially, when factoring in the seaplane airfare, it ended up being the most expensive 3.5-hour harbor cruise ever, and you could see it on the faces of my fellow passengers. After a while most of them just stopped looking for marine life, opting instead for the warmth of the cabin, their faces painted with looks of dejection. And that was that.
I’m not writing this to find fault with the tour operators, which is why I am not using their names; I’m just recounting my experience. I understand that the seaplane company could not control the weather, and that the cruise company could not control the presence of wildlife, but that does not lessen the disappointment, and this whale watching cruise was the worst I’d ever taken in terms of sightings. It just felt like a wasted day. It was one of the only nice weather days in Seattle during my stay and I spent it in waiting rooms, planes, and freezing boats with very little to show for it. By the time I returned back to Seattle that evening, I was too tired to do much of anything else after waking up at 5 a.m. to make my pre-flight check-in.
I think this experience has turned me off of whale watching cruises for good. I’ve only been on one really good cruise and that was the first one I ever embarked on about 20 years ago in Maine. That particular trip out of Bar Harbor featured wall-to-wall whales, dolphins, and other marine wildlife, which obviously spoiled me because every cruise I’ve taken in the years since has been comparatively disappointing.
Anyway, despite the lack of sightings I ended up taking around 250 photos. Whittling them down to the few I’m sharing here was quite a chore (I’d hate to think how many photos I would have shot if there had actually been whales on this trip!). In the end, I managed to get a few nice shots of the humpback whale and some of the island wildlife.
Click on any photo to open a gallery.
Whale Watching Cruise: Humpback Whale
Whale Watching Cruise: Humpback Whale
Whale Watching Cruise: Humpback Whale
Whale Watching Cruise: Humpback Whale
Whale Watching Cruise: Humpback Whale
Whale Watching Cruise: Humpback Whale
Whale Watching Cruise: Island Deer
Whale Watching Cruise: Island Deer
Whale Watching Cruise
Whale Watching Cruise: Island Deer
Whale Watching Cruise: Island Deer
Whale Watching Cruise: Seal
Whale Watching Cruise: Bald Eagle in Tree
Whale Watching Cruise
Whale Watching Cruise
Whale Watching Cruise
Whale Watching Cruise
Whale Watching Cruise: Humpback Whale
Glacier National Park, 2019: Sun Point and Nature Trail
These photos are from my hike along the Sun Point Nature Trail in Glacier National Park, as well as from Sun Point itself, overlooking Saint Mary Lake, where, for the third year in a row, I encountered engagements and/or wedding photo shoots at a national park, one of which is featured in this collection.
Click on any photo to open a gallery.
Sun Point
Sun Point
Sun Point
Sun Point
Sun Point: I stumbled onto a wedding photo shoot.
Sun Point
Sun Point
Sun Point
Sun Point
Sun Point Nature Trail
Sun Point Nature Trail
Virginia Trip, 2018: Luray Caverns
These photos are from Luray Caverns in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. The stalagmites and stalactites of the caverns create remarkable landscapes that look like scenes from an Alien film. Another attraction to look out for is the Great Stalacpipe Organ, which uses the stalactites of the cavern as pipes. When played it sounds similar to a xylophone.
I only wish I’d had my new wide-angle fast lens with me at the time (these were shot with a 50mm prime lens, which was great for the low-light conditions but limited in how much of the landscape it could capture in one photo).
Click on any photo to open a gallery.
Luray Caverns
Luray Caverns
Luray Caverns
Luray Caverns
Luray Caverns
Luray Caverns
Luray Caverns
Luray Caverns
Luray Caverns
Luray Caverns
Luray Caverns
Luray Caverns
Luray Caverns
Luray Caverns: Great Stalacpipe Organ
Luray Caverns
Luray Caverns
American Southwest Trip, 2018: Bryce Canyon Floor
After spending a couple of days in Angel Canyon at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, the next leg of my southern Utah tour sent me north to stunning Bryce Canyon National Park. These are the photos I shot upon reaching the floor of Bryce Canyon after descending the Wall Street arm of the Navajo Loop and before ascending back up to the rim via the Queen’s Garden trail. The entire loop is nearly three miles, with the floor portion of the trail taking you through a pine forest. It rained a bit when I reached the bottom with some thunder in the distance, but most of the hike was pleasantly sunny and took about three hours, counting photo/lunch stops.
Click on any photo to open a gallery.
Canyon floor along the Navajo/Queen’s Garden loop.
Canyon floor along the Navajo/Queen’s Garden loop.
Canyon floor along the Navajo/Queen’s Garden loop.
Canyon floor along the Navajo/Queen’s Garden loop.
Canyon floor along the Navajo/Queen’s Garden loop.
Canyon floor along the Navajo/Queen’s Garden loop.
Canyon floor along the Navajo/Queen’s Garden loop.
Canyon floor along the Navajo/Queen’s Garden loop.
Canyon floor along the Navajo/Queen’s Garden loop.
Canyon floor along the Navajo/Queen’s Garden loop.
Canyon floor along the Navajo/Queen’s Garden loop.
Canyon floor along the Navajo/Queen’s Garden loop.
Faces in the rocks.
Michael Rappa 