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"Midnight Symphony" The Northern Lights, (Aurora borealis), pulse and sway in a silent slow dance across the midnight skies above Lake McDonald, in Glacier National Park.
"Lake McDonald Lodge." Stars slide across the night sky above Glacier National Park, while park visitors are snug in their beds at Lake McDonald Lodge (left) and in Apgar (right). Behind the lens. Lake McDonald Lodge is a busy place in the daytime. Lots of people, cars, boats, and all of the sounds associated with these things. But at night, all of that activity goes away. After dark, the buildings around the lodge become peaceful points of light and color in a much broader pallet. The quieter, natural sounds return to the lake while the stars ease across the sky. Even the waves calm down. At night, Lake McDonald is a peaceful place once more.
"Stars & Stones." It all happened one night at Lake McDonald. Star trails sweep across the sky. A crescent moon is reflected on the water. The golden glow of pre-dawn, and the faint glow of Lake McDonald Lodge. Underwater stones along the shore complete the image. The night was photographed exactly as it happened, and it was captured in a way that we can never see in real time. Behind the lens. This one image is a combination of three different photography techniques, all performed without moving the camera. Startrails are captured with a time exposure, underwater rocks are highlighted via light painting, and the crescent moon and reflection is your normal press-the-shutter-once image. This lake and mountain scene has been photographed millions of times by pretty much every visitor and every professional photographer that has landed on the shores of Lake McDonald. That is, millions of times in the daylight. All of the colors and textures that I have captured here were created on a totally dark and mostly moonless night in Glacier National Park. Inside the box is boring -- photography is much more interesting outside the box.
"Stars on the Water." Star trails are reflected on the surface of Lake McDonald, in Glacier National Park, Montana. Lake McDonald Lodge glows warmly along the distant shore. Behind the lens. I can't begin to tell you how hard it is to create an image like this. Photographing dim stars is one thing, but trying to record the much dimmer reflections of stars on the surface of a lake is even more challenging. Just to make it more fun, there's also a small creek entering the lake off-camera to the left. So even though it's windless, there are small, one-half inch compression waves on the lake surface. These small waves act to spread out each stars' pinpoint reflection into a constantly wiggling line. Persistence and patience usually pay off, eventually. So after only two or three attempts, I finally caught the stars on the water.
"Apgar Moonset." Lake McDonald reflects the full moon as it slips silently behind the Apgar Mountains, and the village of Apgar, in Glacier National Park, Montana. Behind the lens. This is a good example of how the moon sometimes changes color as it approaches the horizon. While photographing this spectacular moonset at around 3AM, I kept thinking, "I should wake up everyone sleeping in Apgar -- they're missing this!"
"Lake McDonald Pearls." The reflection in Lake McDonald makes a pearl necklace out of the moon’s path across the sky, from moonrise to moonset. I started this photograph at about 11 PM and finished around 4 AM. Behind the lens. This is one of our most technically challenging photographs. On the previous night, I was photographing the moonset from the other side of Lake McDonald. Standing on the gravel beach, in the silent glow of a full moon, I studied the moon's path and then stared across the lake. Back to the moon, then back across the lake. Over and over. Suddenly, this image appeared in my head. You know what that meant -- I had to return the following night and stay awake AGAIN if I hoped to create this image before the weather forecast brought wind and the surface reflection was lost. I showed up early the following evening, took my compass readings, and set up my gear. A handful of tourists overcame their shyness to ask why I was sitting there next to my camera but not taking photos. I tried my best to describe the moonbow that I hoped would happen later that night -- a scene that I had never actually seen anywhere but inside my head. Most of the people I talked to nodded politely and at least pretended to comprehend my challenged description. "You mean you have to stay up all night?!" Yes, I said, knowing just how strange I must have seemed to them. But for this photograph, strange was worth it...
"First Light" poster $20. The first time you ever see Lake McDonald it is love at first site. Wth crystal-clear waters, countless colorful stones that fit just right in your palm of your hand, and awe-inspiring reflections of the surrounding mountains, what's not to love? This image at dawn brings back those peaceful feelings every time you look at it.
"Dawn Geese." Canada Geese gather together in the peaceful, pre-dawn light on Lake McDonald, in Glacier National Park, Montana. Behind the lens. It's funny to me that so many of my photographs were made during the early morning (or the wee hours of the night), because I love to sleep in. But every time I'm out and about in those misty, pre-dawn hours, I'm reminded that it really is a peaceful, magical world out there. The light often has this ethereal feeling to it, and even the animals seem different somehow. It's an easy way to get back to your childhood sense of wonder and amazement -- with the help of an big boy sized cup of coffee, of course.
"Stars on the Water." Star trails are reflected on the surface of Lake McDonald, in Glacier National Park, Montana. Lake McDonald Lodge glows warmly along the distant shore. Behind the lens. I can't begin to tell you how hard it is to create an image like this. Photographing dim stars is one thing, but trying to record the much dimmer reflections of stars on the surface of a lake is even more challenging. Just to make it more fun, there's also a small creek entering the lake off-camera to the left. So even though it's windless, there are small, one-half inch compression waves on the lake surface. These small waves act to spread out each stars' pinpoint reflection into a constantly wiggling line. Persistence and patience usually pay off, eventually. So after only two or three attempts, I finally caught the stars on the water.
"Midnight Symphony"

The Northern Lights, (Aurora borealis), pulse and sway in a silent slow dance across the midnight skies above Lake McDonald, in Glacier National Park.
The Northern Lights, (Aurora borealis), pulse and sway in a silent slow dance across the midnight skies above Lake McDonald, in Glacier National Park." href="javascript:openLB(1903827336,'',XLarge,'',1024,683);">"Midnight Symphony" The Northern Lights, (Aurora borealis), pulse and sway in a silent slow dance across the midnight skies above Lake McDonald, in Glacier National Park.
"Midnight Symphony"

The Northern Lights, (Aurora borealis), pulse and sway in a silent slow dance across the midnight skies above Lake McDonald, in Glacier National Park.
See photo in original gallery.
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