42 new stock, nature and fine art photographs by Michael Routh in the Latest Work e-Gallery at www.sanmiguelphoto.com

Zion National Parkzion-9469_thumb.jpg
Virgin, Utah

Zion National Park is located in southwest Utah north of the Grand Canyon and west of Bryce Canyon National Parks.  Zion National Park has 229 square miles desert terrain at the meeting of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin and Mojave Desert.

North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Canyon, Arizonagrand_canyon-9186_thumb.jpg

Grand Canyon National Park is one of the most amazing sites in all of nature. The Grand Canyon is formed by the Colorado River and is comprised of the South Rim & North Rim. Grand Canyon National Park receives approximately 4 million visitors a year. The North Rim receives apporximately 400,000 visitors per year.

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Paria River, Arizona
 paria-9026_thumb.jpg

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument spans nearly 1.9 million acres of America’s public lands. From its spectacular Grand Staircase of cliffs and terraces, across the rugged Kaiparowits Plateau, to the wonders of the Escalante River Canyons, the Monument’s size, resources, and remote character provide extraordinary opportunities for geologists, paleontologists, archeologists, historians, and biologists in scientific research, education, and exploration.

Los Padres National Forest, Californialos_padres_7058_thumb.jpg
Monterey County, California 

Los Padres National Forest is nearly two million acres in size and covers almost 220 miles from the Big Sur Coast in Monterey County to the western edge of Los Angeles County. Los Padres National Forest has 1,200 miles of trails with steep hikes, beautiful valleys and spectacular displays of wildflowers in the spring.

California Wildfirecdf_martin_7932_thumb.jpg
Santa Cruz County, California

The men and women of CAL FIRE are dedicated to the fire protection and stewardship of over 31 million acres of California’s privately-owned wildlands. The Department provides varied emergency services in 36 of the State’s 58 counties via contracts with local governments. The Department’s firefighters, fire engines, and aircraft respond to an average of more than 5,600 wildland fires each year. Those fires burn more than 172,000 acres annually.

Death Valley National Parkdeath_valley-0353_thumb.jpg
Death Valley, California 

Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes cover nearly 15 square miles in Death Valley National Park near the town of Stovepipe Wells. The dunes are constantly changing shape due to the winds from the near by Panamint Mountain Range.

38 New stock, fine art nature, landscape and travel photographs by Michael Routh

Zion National Park
Virgin, Utah

Zion National Park is located in southwest Utah north of the Grand Canyon and west of Bryce Canyon National Parks.  Zion National Park has 229 square miles desert terrain at the meeting of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin and Mojave Desert.

Anza Borrego Desert State Park
Borrego Springs, California
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is the […]

Photography in the rain

A friend of mine called me from the east coast in late December, 2007 and said he wanted to visit in January for a California photography trip.  I said great.  We would photograph the Big Sur and Santa Cruz coastline, the Santa Cruz Mountains, maybe Point Reyes National Seashore and possibly Yosemite.
At the time of […]

28 new photographs in the Latest Work e-Gallery at http://www.sanmiguelphoto.com/

McQuay Falls
Big Sur, Monterey County, California

The Big Sur region is located along California’s Central Coast from Carmel in the north to San Simeon in the south. The 130 miles of coastline is considered one of the most beautiful areas in the world.  Highlights of the Big Sur region include the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, […]

Driving while tired - Rainbow photograph over Yosemite National Park

I was driving home from Owens Valley and the Eastern Sierra Mountains in July after camping in Coyote Flats (10,000 ft) for 3 days.  We left Bishop, CA late around 5:30PM for our 6-hour drive home to San Jose after enjoying our first “real meal” (at Denny’s) after our backcountry adventure.  By time we filled […]

Photography - Moon setting over Owens Valley and the Eastern Sierra Mountains

One can always tell a nature photograher who needs to be out in the field more when they look through their old un-developed images and find a nice shot.  Charlie Cramer (http://www.charlescramer.com/) told me during his Advanced Digital Printing workshop that sometimes it is best not  to develop your images soon after a shoot because […]

Getting Off The Couch

Yes I admit it.  There are those Saturdays and Sundays when I don’t have enough motivation to awake at 3:30AM and drive 2 hours for a sunrise shot in the mountains or to stay out in the field until after 9:00PM for the last light.  Don’t get me wrong, I am a very motivated photographer.  […]

Backyard Photography

I sometimes fall into a trap of thinking that to take a great photograph, which is the goal, I always have to:

Drive a 1,000 miles to Moab
4WD into a dangerous desert canyon (alone)
Hike on a difficult trail lugging 30 lbs of camera equipment
Climb on top of an impossible rock
And then wait (hope) for good light […]

What it Takes: Setting Up A Landscape Photograph

People who look at my photographs usually don’t realize what I did (went through) to take the photograph. Countless numbers of times, I awake at 2:00AM, 3:00AM or 4:00AM to drive two hours for a sunrise shoot. Typically, when I am on a trip, I only have about 3-4 hours of sleep […]

Recent Travels of a Professional Digital Landscape Photographer

In February 2007, I traveled 500 miles south from San Jose to Anza Borrego Desert State Park in southern California along the Mexican border. Anza Borrego Desert State Park is the 2nd largest state park in the country behind Adirondack State Park. I attended a one-day “advanced” four wheel drive (4WD) recovery […]