You've probably seen one or two photos of Yosemite Falls before, but take a closer look at this shot, and you'll notice something a little different. Ask yourself, where was this shot taken? Not from the valley floor, not from Glacier Point, ... it was shot from a hang glider! The photographer provided me with this photo, and a brief explanation of how it was captured.

The rolling hills stretching towards the horizon along with nice foreground placement of the mountain laurel are the reason this photo of the Big Run Watershed within Shenandoah National Park has been chosen as this week's photo. Most sweeping landscape shots come from the National Park units out west, so I'm glad to offer some views from the mountains out east as well.

I was awed by this photo for a couple reasons. 1) It's a shot of the Old Faithful Geyser taken in landscape mode (instead of the tall portrait mode), and 2) the incredible side-light hitting the tower of water with the dark clouds providing a purple contrast in the background. Stunning. I've communicated with Lynn, the photographer, and here is what she had to add about the shot.

The photo was taken July 21, 2005 during a family vacation at Yellowstone National Park. The time was 8:05pm.

Tiger Lilies on the High Divide trail in Olympic National Park. The Lilies are a little soft (out of focus) and the detail in the clouds are totally lost, both of which were not intentional, but the composition of this photo makes up for those photographic errors, in my opinion. This shot was taken August 5, 2001 at 10 am with a Nikon CoolPix 990.

Mountain goats having a bite to eat on a summer's day in Glacier National Park

Bryce Canyon's "Wall Street."

A Fourth of July fireworks display (1986) at the Washington Monument.

Devils Tower taken on July 27, 2005.