"Blanchard Spring Cavern" Photo of the Day: August 31, 2015

If you ever find yourself in Arkansas, I would highly recommend visiting the Blanchard Spring Cavern cave system in Ozark National Forest. This was one of the first of countless incredible rock formations within the complex cave system that we saw on our journey beneath the earth's surface.

Photo of the Day: July 24, 2015 "The Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains"

This was shot within the Blue Mountains National Park in New South Wales, Australia. I shot this while peering through the rainforest at the "Three Sisters" rock formation during a hike. This beautiful park has some of Australia's most stunning scenery and was a blast to explore!

Photo of the Day: June 29, 2015

"Balancing Rock" - Located in Arches National Park in Utah, this incredible sandstone rock formation formed from wind and rain shaping the stone like its a piece of pottery.

Blanchard Springs Caverns Adventure!

Is this earth??? In Blanchard Springs Caverns, expect breathtaking rock formations.

Last week I had the privilege of exploring the Ozark National Forest in Arkansas. I visited many incredible places, however one of the most beautiful was the Blanchard Springs Caverns. This incredible three-level cave system is called a "living cave" due to its continuous evolution at the mercy of water. I went on the most popular cave tour offered, the "Dripstone Tour". The guide took us through two massive rooms within the first level of the cave system.

 As you can guess, it was incredibly dark within the cave and without permission to use a tripod many of these images turned out grainier than I would have liked. Maybe I am just being overly-critical of my own work...regardless, I hope that this post can act as a snippet of what you can expect to see in this incredible underground world. If you are ever near Arkansas, head over to the Ozarks and to the phenomenal Blanchard Springs Caverns!

This is a photograph of my favorite space in the cave that our guide took us to. Those formations along the ceiling are known as "Soda Straws" - young stalactites. These inconceivably fragile formations covered the room...beautiful, yes?

A crazy flowstone formation! I wish that I could somehow show how enormous so many of these formations are. This one absolutely dwarfed me!

The main room, the "Cathedral Room". The sheer scale of this space was difficult to fathom at first.

Um, I am pretty sure that this is something from that "Avatar" movie. But its not, just some amazing consequences of water gushing underground.

Another image within the Cathedral Room. The handrailing centered near the bottom of the photograph gives a sense of scale of the enormity of these formations.

Frozen smoke? Nope. Water did this; H2o continues to make the cave evolve.

Is that Jaws gaping mouth?

This marshmellowy looking stuff is a rock-solid flowstone formation. 

Overall I cannot recommend the Blanchard Springs Caverns enough. It was something that I will never forget and I hope that you will have the opportunity to visit this spectacular place as well! The Visitor Center and Museum were beautiful and the staff and guides were all fantastic. Two thumbs up!

Landscapes Shaped by Water - Yellowstone

These photographs were taken this past August in Yellowstone National Park. Erosion caused from water can create absolutely stunning landscapes, as seen beautifully here in America's first National Park. I personally love photographing anything that involves water; it instantly makes any scene more intriguing to me. Yellowstone is dotted with lakes, rivers, and streams so I got my fair share of time photographing good 'ol H20! 

Below is an image of me taken at Grand Teton National Park, the next door neighbor to Yellowstone.

Lake Sylvan, South Dakota

 Within the Black Hills of South Dakota lie some incredible sights, including popular tourist destination Lake Sylvan. This lake is neatly tucked away on the famous "Needles Highway" and features many amenities such as a swimming beach, a "novice" walking trail around the lake, picnic areas, a store, along with many other points of interest. A main feature are the extensive hiking trails that surround the beautiful landscape, some of which I got to experience on my last visit, this past August. Here are some photographs that I captured during my day at Sylvan!

Note: I have visited this area of the Black Hills many times throughout my life. Because of this I have shared images from the lake prior to this posting. Thanks for looking! - Wyatt

Minnehaha Falls

On the edge of the Minneapolis city limits is a famous park known as "Minnehaha Park" which is home to Minnehaha Creek and the iconic falls. The Creek runs from Lake Minnetonka until it merges with the Mississippi River 22 miles later. The word "Minnehaha" translates to "laughing water" in the Dakota language.

The 193-acre park is located near where the Creek joins the Mississippi, with the falls being the main visitor attraction.

This final photo was taking facing downriver on the peninsula between where the Mississippi and  Minnehaha meet.

Sandstone

Hey everyone! I hope that you are all doing very well. Sorry for the delay of posting, life can sure get busy sometimes. Anyway, in Utah there are several world-famous National Parks, with the most popular being Arches National Park. Famous for its, well, stone arches it also is home to unique plant and wildlife species. I have posted about this park before showing photographs that I have taken of some of the most popular rock formations in the park (Fragile Arch, Balancing Rock, etc.). This post will simply show some photos of the rock itself: the beautiful and unbelievably smooth sandstone.

The Painted Canyon

Painted Canyon National Park is located in Billings, North Dakota, near the town of Medora. It is part of the Badlands of North Dakota. On a recent trip driving out to the west coast, I stopped by and took some photos.

  

A view of the canyon.

A viewing deck in the park.

"Yucca brevifolia" The Joshua Tree

 

Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California is home to some very awesome and unique rock formations and wildlife, however the most famous residents of this park in the Mojave Desert are the trees....Joshua Trees (Yucca brevifolia).

These amazing plants are native to the South Western United States but are not considered widely common outside of the park. They grow very fast for a desert plant, growing up to 3 inches a year.

These trees are pollinated entirely by the Yucca Moth, who lays her eggs inside of the trees flowers. These trees don't have a "normal" tree trunk as their trunks are made up of stringy fibers. This causes them to not have "growth rings" like other trees do, making it very hard to determine an individual Joshua Tree's age, however, some believe that they can live up to 1,000 years.

1,000!

It has come to my attention that this blog has now been visited over 1,000 times and has been viewed in over 100 countries! This is huge, considering that I started it as a way to share my photos with family and friends. It has definitely grown! Thanks to all of you for you support!

The Grand Canyon

Northern Minnesota Coastline

The Eastern side of Northern Minnesota borders the largest freshwater lake in the world - Lake Superior. During a recent trip to that area, I got to spend lots of time photographing the coastline. Enjoy!

A panorama of the rugged coast.

Pine and Fir Trees grow right out of the face of the rock.

Waterfalls are present where the many rivers flow into the lake. This is the upper section of "Gooseberry Falls" (I've posted photos of this same section of the Falls before).

Wildlife is common in the forests that stretch along the coast. This is a White-tailed Deer.

A river flowing into Lake Superior (the lake is directly behind the sandbar in the center of the photo).

Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is my second favorite National Park that I've ever visited (sorry, Yellowstone grabs the #1 spot on my list!). Since no words can describe how it feels to look out over the Canyon, hopefully a panorama photo might help... (click on the picture to expand)

Heres a little guy (I believe it is a Fence Lizard) that was sunning himself on a log next to the Canyon. I only got a couple of photos before he darted away. Also, if you look at his neck, he appears to be shedding.

Skull Rock

Joshua Tree National Park in southern California has some of the most strange rock formations in the world. My personal favorite is "Skull Rock". Check it out!

Lake Superior...a photographer's dream

I truly believe that Lake Superior is a dream location for any nature photographer. From the wooded shorlines to the the rocky coasts to the lighthouses to the lake itself, it seems that there is a never ending supply of photogenic subjects. Here are some pictures that I got when I was there this past September. All were taken from the MN border.

Gooseberry Falls is a fantastic place. This picture was taken of only one of the many sections to the falls.

Another photo of the falls.

One of the countless paths near the shoreline.

A close-up of the rock texture along the shoreline.

A wave chrashing against the shore.

A panoramic shot of Split Rock Lighthouse overlooking the lake.