I recently spent 12 days in Iceland photographing with Focus on Nature, John Paul Caponigro and Seth Resnick and a great group of excellent photographers. I took nearly 7,00 images (lots of bracketing) so it will be a while before I get through sorting and rating let alone producing some final images.

Many people have asked to see some of my work, SO here is a small quick sampling that hopefully shows the incredible diversity of what I saw and photographed. Iceland is an amazing, amazing place and I can’t wait to return. Einar’s Focus on Nature crew is exceptional and I would highly recommend them for anyone visiting Iceland.  More to come.

Click on image for a larger view.

Back in November I had a chance to spend a morning photographing in the “Neon Boneyard” in Las Vegas with my daughter Kate.  We had a blast. What a cool place!

They are collecting many of the old classic neon signs from around Vegas and making an outdoor museum.  It’s not open to the public yet but should be in a few months.  I would highly recommend checking it out.

Here’s one of my favorite shots so far. I hope to have a new gallery up in a few weeks.

 (Click photo for a larger view)

While most photographers have long ago posted their “year in review” / “best of” / “2011 Favorites”, I wanted to take a little extra time to reflect and think about the year that was.  As a photographer that specializes in Travel, Americana and Landscapes, 2011 was dream come true.

Not that 2010 was too shabby either, but I covered a lot of ground in 2011 and saw, experienced and photographed some amazing new places and re-experienced some old friends.  It was nearly impossible to pick only 11 images to represent the year, but what follows is my best shot.

Please visit my “Special Places” Galleries to see many more from each of these trips.  Enjoy!  On to 2012.

February 27, 2011 -Turquoise Pool, Yellowstone, National Park Wyoming

March 24, 2011 - Joshua Tree National Park, California

March 27, 2011 - "Layers" Zion National Park, Utah

March 27, 2011 Sunset at Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

April 30, 2011 - Cliff House, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

August 6, 2011 - Dolores Peak, near Dunton, Colorado

September 12, 2011 - Glacial Ice, Hubbard Tidewater Glacier, Alaska

September 25, 2011 - Boreas Pass, Colorado

October 1, 2011 Tumalo Falls, near Bend Oregon

October 10, 2011 - Red House Lake, Allegany State Park, New York

October 24, 2011 - White Sands National Park, New Mexico

I’m just starting to put together a new gallery from the autumn trip to Oregon.  Here are a couple of my favorites so far.

On the way home from our recent trip to Las Vegas we stopped by Bryce Canyon, UT to show our daughter Mollie around.  With some recent snow and some good morning light a couple new shots made it into the gallery.  Check out the entire Bryce Canyon Gallery in Special Places. http://bit.ly/va5tRd

Found this place in rural New Mexico on the way to White Sands. Wish I could have seen this place in its heyday. A classic western General Store.

Last weekend Mary & I headed to Cortez, Colorado (8 hours away) for a friends wedding.  After dinner downtown, the old theatre marquee and neon caught my eye.  I just can’t resist old neon signs.

A couple of Elk in velvet hanging out in the shade.  Rocky Mountain National Park

Just south of Zion National Park is a fairly well know ghost town called Grafton.  Several westerns have been filmed there including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

The color of the adobe was amazing and the HDR brought it out even more.  Ghost towns are great subjects for HDR (High Dynamic Range Photography).  It really brings out the detail and color in the old buildings and if you happen to have a dramatic sky, all the better.