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Milky way in Anza borrego state park

Milky way in Anza borrego state park

We had heard a lot about Anza Borrego desert state park in San Diego as a very good place to stargaze. Thanks to a good friend of mine, this trip happened, and we had been looking forward to it since the last month or so. Hope you guys like the pictures.   Tried star trails for the first time  

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First milky way shoot of 2018

First milky way shoot of 2018

Have been waiting (very impatiently) to get out an get a glimpse of the milky way this year. Finally, got out this weekend and shot for about an hour.

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Very late night photo session at Arch Rock in Joshua tree national Park. We spent only a few minutes when this place was crowded in the day time but came at 2am and had the whole place to ourselves, Totally worth it!! #archrock #joshuatreenationalpark #nationalparks #jtnp #sonyalpha6000 #longexposure #nightsky #stars (at Joshua Tree National Park)

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Big Island, Hawaii

More pics from Hawaii !!

As a traveller and photographer, its important to see every place with an open mind. There are many amazing photographers who capture some stunning images. So what makes them special?  Perspective. These pictures here are my perspective of Big Island, Hawaii. Hope you guys like it. The greenery, clouds and the rocks   The   Sun setting behind the trees   Place of refuge       Green turtle  …

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Double rainbow on fiery lava fields in Hawaii !! (at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park)

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Volcano, Big Island, Hawaii

For the longest time, our idea of Hawaii was beaches, pristine green colored beaches. But we were taken by surprise (pleasantly), when we learnt about the active volcanoes. So after a ton of planning, we went to the infamous Volcanoes national park during thanksgiving holidays this year. This was our first glimpse of “Halema’uma’u crater” from Jagger museum. Do make a point to visit this overlook…

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The heart wrenching "Mauna Loa volcano". #hawaii #bigisland #maunaloa #volcano #nationalpark

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For Harshitha’s birthday weekend, we did what we like most. We visited another national park. Lassen Volcanic National Park is the 19th park that we have visited, out of 59 national parks in the United States. Its a fast 220 mile drive from bay area that has a bunch of very attractive experiences bundled together – hiking, dark sky, steam vents, beautiful lakes.

A view of the Lassen peak from afar. A strenuous 5 mile round trip to the top which sits at an elevation of 10,457 ft. 

Once the trail ends, unexpectedly and not-so-welcomingly, there is more hiking in the snow and then some more rock climbing to get to the peak. Very refreshing to see snow in summer.

The views from the top are sensational to say the least. From the top, Mt. Shasta can be seen and it looks stunning.

The main attraction in the park are these steaming mud pots, sulfur filled lava vents. Its a very short and easy 1.5 mile hike to get there with beautiful views on the way. Highly recommend doing this and get a view up close.

Throughout our trip, Lassen kept reminding me on the Rockies in Colorado. This picture is an example of why that was. Such reflections in lakes always make beautiful pictures. This is lake Helen in Lassen which is sitting pretty next to these mountains. And there are many such lakes in Lassen (including Manzanita lake where we set up camp).

  As the end of the milky season is coming closer, my obsession for seeing/capturing it is getting to a new level. Conditions and timing were not perfect this time but I still managed to get a peek at our magnificent galaxy.

      Lassen Volcanic National Park For Harshitha's birthday weekend, we did what we like most. We visited another national park. Lassen Volcanic National Park is the 19th park that we have visited, out of 59 national parks in the United States.

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Death Valley

Mesmerizing Death Valley !!

Death Valley in California is one of those places that is widely perceived incorrectly as a why-would-anyone-go-here kinda place. Well, I will tell you that this is one of the most beautiful places to visit in California. And that is saying a lot considering California has got shortage has beautiful landmarks. Death valley as lots of lots of absolutely straight roads. You would know you are close…

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Milky way in Pinnacles National Park

Our magnificent Milky way !!

A little bit of effort, a little bit of planning and after a lot of waiting, I finally managed to captures some good images of the milky way in Pinnacles national park, California. Hope you all like them. A big thumbs up to “San Jose Astronomical Association – https://www.sjaa.net/ – for organizing all the amazing star parties and giving us the opportunity to see so many through their telescopes.

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Zion national park

Zion national park !!

By the time we reached Zion, we had already been quite awestruck by Utah (Arches and Bryce Canyon. Even with such high expectations, Zion national parks left a stark and lasting impression in our minds. A day in Zion gave us an opportunity to fill the a day with numerous hikes with great views. We started the day early (yes, we have learnt to do that over time :)) and caught a glimpse of the…

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Hidden gem of Colorado

The Hidden gem of Colorado !!

Can a desert, mountains and a flowing creek exist together at the same place? Well, turns out that, not only do they co-exist but in some ways are essential to each other in this gem of a place called “The Great Sand Dunes national park” in Colorado. For anyone who is visiting the more coveted and famous Rocky Mountain National park, I highly recommend paying a visit to this place as well. Its…

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Reflections

I could not resist writing this post, started off with it on the flight back from Colorado. These pictures have been taken in Rocky Mountain National park, Colorado, on a hike from Bear lake trail head to Emerald lake. A lot can be said about the beauty of this trail and the park itself but that’s for another day. Today, I just want to dedicate this post to these “Reflections” in these lakes.  …

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Iceland trip itinerary

On popular demand, I am beginning to share some of the itineraries to destinations that we have travelled to. Many people have asked this and we ourselves have spent a tremendous amount of time and effort planning our trips. So, to help make some that planning easier for all travellers out there, here we go. This was our itinerary for a trip to Iceland last year in September. Click this link for…

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  This is a continuation of my series of posts on Utah (First post is here – https://no-where-in-particular.com/2017/01/08/arches-national-park/). Of all the places I visited in Utah, the prettiest to me is Bryce Canyon national park. And more so with all the snow covered hoodoos. 

Honestly, there couldn’t have been a better Christmas present than the sheer majesty of this place. (Oh, I will get to an even more surprising New Years gift in a few posts, stay tuned for that)

We had no idea what we were gonna see in the park when we were driving up there. The whole drive from Arches to Bryce canyon was snow-ridden, not to say it wasn’t beautiful. These roads were a beginning to what was in store for us in Bryce.

  This was our first view of Bryce Canyon and the hoodoos. This has become my most favourite view of mother nature (may be just below Northern Lights in my list, in all honesty :)). 

These hoodoos make you smile from every angle. The snow is quite literally, the icing on the cake.

From up close, into the canyon. It was a short albeit a little strenuous hike. But with the canyon for company, it didn’t matter how much we were exhausted by the end of it.

We couldn’t help but ask a fellow tourist to take a customary couple photo in front of the Canyon.

Bryce Canyon is one of the smallest parks in the country but certainly one of the best. Highly recommend people to visit in winter and immerse in the silent beauty of this place.

  New post about Bryce Canyon on my blog !! This is a continuation of my series of posts on Utah (First post is here -

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Utah has become my new favorite state in the United States. I wanted to do a separate blog post for Utah but there too many places to cover so I decided to make it a series of posts. 

This post covers the “Arches national park”. The park is home to over 2,000 natural sandstone arches, in addition to a variety of unique geological resources and formations. It contains the highest density of natural arches in the world.

Where else can one get pictures like this. This is one of the Windows arches (the north window). The setting sun in front and blue sky in the background makes for a fine photo. As it might be clear, the color of the sandstone changes with the time of day. This one looks more orange because of the sunset.

The “Turret arch, “Staircase to heaven? Certainly looks like that.

The “Landscape arch”, the longest of all the arches in the area. We are lucky to be alive when these structures are here in this state. In a short period (in rock timescale), more erosion will cause these arches to collapse eventually. This is even more apparent with the Landscape arch as it has become thinner to the point that it’s dangerous to climb close to it, as it can break apart with some force.

The only formation that is made of two arches, geologically different and more interesting than other arches here. And understandably, this is my wife’s favorite one.

This is the “Delicate Arch”. Pretty much the only arch that ls standing on its own without any rocks for support. It’s a moderately difficult hike to get to the arch though. We accidentally also ended up on the other side of the arch too, almost no one tries to get here (because its slightly tricky and dangerous). But, on the other hand, we got very close to the arch and it looks beautiful as well from up close. 

The balance of the rock and the beauty of the landscape !! The snow cover makes it that much more beautiful. For me, snow is like jewellery for landscape.

Parade of elephants

Canyonlands

View of the land beyond the arches. Miles and miles of emptiness, the sound of the wind gusting through my ears, clouds trying to hide the blue sky.

An arch within an arch. This is from behind the “North Window arch” and looking at the “Turret arch”. Personally, Turret arch is my favorite.

Sometimes, all we need is to stare at nature, feel humbled by it and share a peaceful few moments.

New post, first in my series of posts on Utah !! Utah has become my new favorite state in the United States. I wanted to do a separate blog post for Utah but there too many places to cover so I decided to make it a series of posts. 

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Winter is here and so is the holiday season. Admittedly, my holiday travels started a little early this with a very short visit to Niagara falls in early December. Considering that I live in California, flying to Pittsburgh, driving to Niagara and back home within a weekend was almost borderline crazy. But our motivation was to see what this famous wonder has to offer in the freezing cold weather.

I was hoping to see a fully frozen falls but alas I was not in luck this time. But the falls still look absolutely delightful. The clouds in the sky and Canada in the background make it even more so. And, as can see, ice is beginning to set in. With temperatures sub-zero throughout the day, in a few weeks its all gonna be frozen.

Sometimes a prop fits in perfectly.

When we stepped in the park, we almost immediately noticed that the squirrels behaved very peculiarly. They seem to run towards us, sometimes even jumping on people. Well, turned out that those poor sweet were incredibly hungry. The cold weather is way more harsher on them than us tourists.

The freezing tree, freezing weather and freezing water. And understandably, we were also freezing. 

The one good thing about visiting in the winter is that the illuminations begin much earlier in the evening because it gets darker by 5pm. I am not a fan of artificial lights for a natural beauty but then it does look good.

  New post !! Niagara falls in winter:) Winter is here and so is the holiday season. Admittedly, my holiday travels started a little early this with a very short visit to Niagara falls in early December.