I make the drive from Seattle to Jackson Hole a couple times a year and I always drive by this spot hoping for the right moment that will make a great image. This one wasn’t bad. The Grand is covered in new snow and the swans are enjoying the sunshine in the river below. The road sign adds a little more detail to the image. I think I needed some more clouds and a sunset but overall I’m pretty happy with this shot.

The jagged teeth of the Teton Mountain Range are actually in Wyoming, but Idahoans prefer “the quiet side” on the western slopes, along the Teton Scenic Byway.

At nearly 10 million years young, the Tetons are the newest mountains in the Rockies. In fact, they continue to grow today at the snail-like pace of about an inch every hundred years. In fact, the largest peak on the range, Grand Teton, now stands at 13,772 feet.

Beginning at Swan Valley, this byway travels east on Idaho 31 through the beautiful Pine Creek pass to the town of Victor, and then north on Idaho 33, along the western side of the Teton Range. The mountains sharply contrast with the rolling agricultural fields to the north and west. In the towns of the Teton Valley, Victor, Driggs, and Tetonia, travelers can enjoy small town hospitality, internationally famous resorts and festival events held throughout the year. West of Tetonia, the byway turns north on Idaho 32, offering glimpses of the Tetons and the Falls River until it reaches Ashton, where the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway begins.

The post Teton Valley Overlook appeared first on Mark Epstein HDR Photography.

Every Christmas I drive from Jackson to Sun Valley and usually end up getting there around sundown. Just as the sun was dropping I rounded a corner in Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve and had to stop and get a picture of the amazing sunset with a crescent moon rising behind Venus.

Described as a “weird and scenic landscape”, Craters of the Moon certainly lives up to its reputation. It was established in 1924 to preserve the unique volcanic features of this enormous lava field. The 750,000-acre monument contains a diverse array of volcanic features including volcanic rifts, cinder cones, spatter cones, shield volcanoes and lava tubes (caves). A surprising number of plants and animals have adapted to live in the harsh volcanic and high desert environment. It is an excellent site for hiking, bird watching, photography, backpacking and caving. The monument is cooperatively managed by the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management. Summer activities include guided cave walks and evening programs at the campground. Winter activities include Winter Ecology Workshops, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing. School groups are welcome to visit the monument and curriculum resources for teachers are available on our website. Teachers’ workshops are also offered.

The post Sunset over Craters of the Moon appeared first on Mark Epstein HDR Photography.

Little Redfish Lake is one of my favorite spots to take pictures of the Sawtooth Mountains. It’s picturesque backdrop makes a beautiful reflection on the calm waters just as the sun is coming up from the East.

Located in the heart of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, Redfish Lake is named for the brilliant Sockeye Salmon that once returned from the Pacific Ocean in such massive quantities that the lake shimmered red during spawning season. Sadly, these fish are now on the endangered species list.

The post Little Redfish Sunrise appeared first on Mark Epstein HDR Photography.

Snow in October is expected in some parts of the world. It just so happens that Bald Mountain looks magical with a light dusting of snow, especially in the fall. I saw a picture online of snow on Baldy and got in my car and drove there from Seattle that day. I was rewarded with this great image from Trail Creek. The leaves were changing and beautiful fall sunset filled Sun Valley with pinks and purples.

The history of the “American Shangri-La,” as Sun Valley is sometimes referred, is not too different from the magical village of legend. It all began in 1935, when Count Felix Schaffgotsch, under the hire of Union Pacific Railroad chairman Averell Harriman, set out in search of the perfect spot for a grand American resort.

The count spent months searching the mountains of the west and surveying many areas that would later become famous resorts, but none of them met his strict criteria.

Feeling defeated and ready to abandon the search, the Count was preparing to wire Harriman the bad news when he heard locals talking about Ketchum, an old mining town in central Idaho. The Count postponed his return home and set out for the Ketchum area.
Upon reaching the Ketchum valley, Count Felix Schaffgotsch was overwhelmed by the area and wired his employer, saying: “This combines more delightful features than any place I have ever seen in Switzerland, Austria or the U.S. for a winter resort.”

The Count’s enthusiasm spread to Harriman, who rushed to join the Count, and within days purchased 4,300 acres of what was soon to become Sun Valley.
Harriman was determined to build Sun Valley into a resort worthy of its breathtaking and majestic setting. “It is not enough to build a hotel and then mark with flags and signs the things you propose to do in time to come.” Harriman said. “When you get to Sun Valley, your eyes should pop open. There isn’t a single thing that I could wish for that hasn’t been provided.” Part of what he “wished for” included a timeless lodge complete with glass-enclosed pools, haute cuisine, impeccable service and nightly orchestra performances.

After just seven months of construction, Sun Valley opened to the public in the winter of 1936. The resort was an instant success. Local wildlife was seen sharing the mountain with European nobility and Hollywood royalty. Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, Claudette Colbert, Bing Crosby and Gary Cooper were all regulars in the lodge, while world champions including Don and Gretchen Fraser, Gracie Carter Lindley and Andy Hennig used the mountain for Olympic training.

In 1977, Sun Valley joined the Little America family, under the ownership of R. Earl Holding. Since then, Holding has redefined the standard of elegance and excellence subscribed to by Harriman. He has lavishly refurbished the Sun Valley Lodge and Sun Valley Inn, from the stairs and halls to the guest rooms and made profound improvements to the mountain amenities. But Holding’s greatest accomplishment is Baldy’s “triple crown.”

“Baldy,” says Holding, “is a regal mountain and it is only fitting that she wear a crown radiant with three precious jewels.” Those jewels are Baldy’s three distinctive and award-winning day-lodge facilities: the Warm Springs Lodge, Seattle Ridge Lodge and River Run Lodge.

Unlike the Shangri-La of legend, Sun Valley welcomes visitors back year after year. The tradition of beauty and service, “roughing it in style” as Harriman called it, has become the tradition for families across the globe. So, don’t be surprised if you catch a glimpse of a world champion as you carve your way down Bald Mountain. And just nod if you hear a familiar voice telling tall tales at the local watering hole. It’s all part of the magic and mystique that has made Sun Valley the American Shangri-La.

The post Sunset on the Valley appeared first on Mark Epstein HDR Photography.

Pike Place Market is a large covered market downtown that sells everything from fish, meat and produce to clothes, paintings and tourist trinkets. It is comprised of many different stores, including the original Starbucks, a popular tourist attraction in and of itself for fans of the coffee chain. It is also a farmers market, with stalls after stalls of fresh produce and flowers.

The post Pike & Pine appeared first on Mark Epstein HDR Photography.

This is a photo that I took on the way to Banks Lake for Memorial Day. I had seen a bunch of cool buildings along the way and finally convinced my driver to pull over and let me take one photo since I knew we wouldn’t want to make any stops on the way home.

This was an old filling station that had seen better days, but I thought it would make a cool photo. I added some background texture to it to make it a little more interesting and moody.

The post The Last Fill Up appeared first on Mark Epstein HDR Photography.

Pier 66 is the official designation for the Port of Seattle’s Bell Street Pier and Bell Harbor complex, which replaced historic Piers 64, 65, and 66 in the mid-1990s. Facilities at the Bell Street facility include a marina, a cruise ship terminal, a conference center, the Odyssey Maritime Discovery Center, restaurants, and marine services. A pedestrian elevator and overpass at Bell Street connects it to the upland World Trade Center (another Port of Seattle property), as well as to a parking lot and to Belltown in general. The area once was a shantytown. Cleared around 1903 in conjunction with the regrading of Denny Hill,it became home to the Pacific Coast Company’s Orient Dock, which ran parallel to the shoreline rather than at the usual northeast-southwest angle. The southern portion of that dock was sometimes referred to as Pier D. By the 1920s, the Orient Dock was replaced by two “finger piers” running at the usual angles. These Lenora Street Piers (Piers 64 and 65) were used by the “Princess Ships” of the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Leslie Salt Co. The Port of Seattle’s original Bell Street Pier, the previous Pier 66, was built here in 1914 on dirt from the Denny Regrade. Despite the Thomson/Cotterill plan, the Orient Dock and the both the old and new Bell Street Pier were built parallel to the shore. There was a bridge on the site of the present-day pedestrian overpass.

The post Pier 66 appeared first on Mark Epstein HDR Photography.

Desolation Sound is a deep water sound in British Columbia, Canada. It is a favorite destination for boaters because of its spectacular fjords, mountains, and wildlife. It is part of the Sunshine Coast.

The sound is home to the steepest drop from mountain peak to sea bottom in all of North America. It has many waterfalls cascading into milky green glacial runoff. The geology of the coast is dominated by igneous (mainly granitic) shorelines. These fjords are the result of intense glaciation of the mountainous coastline.

The sound was inhabited by tribes of the Mainland Comox prior to the arrival of Europeans, who first charted the sound in 1792. Two expeditions led by Captains George Vancouver, Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Cayetano Valdés y Flores arrived that same summer and cooperated in mapping the sound. Vancouver named it Desolation Sound saying “there was not a single prospect that was pleasing to the eye”.

Throughout the nineteenth century various European traders continued to visit the area, primarily from the Hudson’s Bay Company. In the late 19th century white settlement increased dramatically in the area after a rapid drop in the native population levels following smallpox and tuberculosis outbreaks. The shelter of the sound provided a good foundation for the fishing and logging industries primarily. A large mill was established at Powell River.

The post Sitting on the Dock appeared first on Mark Epstein HDR Photography.

Kenmore Air is an American airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Kenmore Air Harbor in Kenmore, Washington, north of Seattle. It operates scheduled and charter seaplane and land plane service to destinations throughout western Washington and southwestern British Columbia, as well as seaplane “flightseeing” flights around Seattle. In addition to its corporate headquarters, seaplane maintenance facility and terminal in Kenmore, the airline has hub operations for seaplanes at its terminal on Seattle’s Lake Union and for land planes at Seattle’s Boeing Field/King County International Airport.

The airline was established and started operations in March 1946. It was founded by Robert Munro and two partners and began operations with a single aircraft and hangar at the airline’s current location on north Lake Washington. After a short term partnership Munro continued alone with the company until his death in October 2000

Daily, year-round seaplane service is provided from Seattle’s Lake Union to Lopez Island, Orcas Island and San Juan Island in Washington State, as well as to Victoria, BC. Limited year-round service is also provided from Lake Union to the Canadian Gulf Islands and the Saanich Peninsula. Seasonally (May-September), daily seaplane service is provided from Kenmore Air Harbor to more than 30 destinations in British Columbia, including Big Bay, Campbell River, Cortes Island, Desolation Sound, Nanaimo, Port Hardy, Port McNeill, Quadra Island, the Sechelt Peninsula, Sonora Island, and Refuge Cove.

The post Kenmore Air appeared first on Mark Epstein HDR Photography.

Discovery Park is Seattle’s largest park, and it has an amazing variety of terrain: cool forest trails that can feel as secluded as mountain hikes lead to meadows, saltwater beaches, sand dunes, a lighthouse, and views that include Puget Sound, the Cascades, and the Olympics.

Click Here to Buy Print

The West Point Light, also known as the Discovery Park Lighthouse, is a 23-foot-high lighthouse on Seattle, Washington’s West Point which juts into Puget Sound and marks the northern extent of Elliott Bay. Opening on November 15, 1881, and featuring a fourth-order Fresnel lens, it was the first manned light station on Puget Sound and cost $25,000 to build. It was illuminated with a kerosene lamp for its first 44 years, until it was attached to Seattle’s electric grid in 1926.

Click Here to Buy Print

Click Here to Buy Print

Click Here to Buy Print

The post Discovery Park Lighthouse appeared first on Mark Epstein HDR Photography.