Last month, I took a trip to Hong Kong. It’s a city full of contrasts: small vendor booths nestled between soaring skyscrapers, idyllic villages and fast-paced city life just a ferry ride apart, and—​perhaps my favorite of them all—​cyberpunk neon lights setting the dark night sky ablaze.

Photographically, Hong Kong is well out of my comfort zone. I’m used to being able to take my time composing static landscapes, so the spontaneity and speed needed to keep up in a city like Hong Kong posed quite the challenge.

And so many people! Landscape photographers like me tend to engage in a bit of deception: we present a world of natural beauty untouched by crowds or footsteps. But our usual techniques—​strategic cropping, creative uses of exposure, or more heavy-handed methods—​tend to fall short when photographing one of the most highly-populated cities in the world. I definitely had to set my obsessive compulsions aside and yes, show pictures that actually have people in them.

Or dogs.

But Hong Kong is a city of contrasts. So amongst the hustle and bustle and busy street intersections, if you keep looking, you’re sure to find a scene of perfect serenity.

Check out the full gallery!

Recently, I did a day hike up Mt. Tallac near South Lake Tahoe. The view from the peak was amazing. Check out the gallery and trip report!

Early last month, I took a week-long trip to Banff and Jasper National Parks in Alberta, Canada. It was a spectacular trip with non-stop gorgeous scenery. You can see some of it in the gallery below:

I had the opportunity to go on a couple of day hikes. Perhaps my favorite (and the favorite of many others, as it’s one of the most popular hikes in the region) was the Plain of Six Glaciers. It features lakes, glaciers, and even a backcountry teahouse! What more could you ask for? You can read all about it in the trip report.

This following picture was from the Upper Falls at Johnston Canyon, which features a short hike to two waterfalls.

Beyond the waterfalls is a more strenuous hike to an area called the Inkpots. There, multiple pools of water fill from underground wells. Each pool fills at different rates, which leads to different levels of silt, causing the "inkpots" to take on different colors. Here’s one of them:

And here’s another:

Another hike that I enjoyed was the hike from Bow Lake to Bow Glacier Falls. It’s an easier hike than the Plain of Six Glaciers, but is no less scenic. I’ve also written a trip report about that hike.

Surprisingly, one of the more enjoyable parts of the trip was the driving. Banff and Jasper are connected via the Icefields Parkway, an almost impossibly scenic highway. Mountains and glaciers tower over the road, constantly tempting you to pull over to take photos. I succumbed to that temptation many times.

It was a memorable trip, and even with a week, there were still places that I didn’t have time to see—​which makes for a convenient reason to come back!

It seems that I’m running into wildflowers even when I’m not looking for them. I did two short hikes near Pacifica last weekend, one to Milagra Ridge, and another to Mori Point. What I didn’t expect was to see fields of beautiful wildflowers.

Not all of them are "wild," per se. Signs posted near Mori Point indicated that the city was experimenting with different ways of planting wildflowers, in an attempt to bring back the natural wildflower blooms. Perhaps the bloom will be even more spectacular in the years to come!

In addition to the Carrizo Plains, wildflowers have been blooming all over the SF Bay Area. I recently did a hike at Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve, which is well-known for wildflowers each spring. Compared to last year, the bloom has been remarkable.

The recent heavy rains have also caused waterfalls to be especially voluminous this year. This year, I did the Cataract Falls hike near Mount Tamalpais State Park for the first time, and found it very enjoyable. It’s a short hike, with multiple waterfalls along the way to keep your eyes busy.

I also took a trip to Yosemite National Park to see Bridalveil Falls and Yosemite Falls. Both are particularly impressive this year. The approach to Bridalveil Falls, in particular, will feel like being in a hurricane!