Overture
Sweeping and Inviting
Overtures set the mood and call you to be present in the moment. Here you will find images taken with a grand scale or that simply introduce the overall feeling of a place. These are places that invite you to explore.
Canyon and Storm Clouds, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument
By Michael Piraino
Colorful, rugged, remote and huge; Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument . “Staircase” refers to the cliffs and ledges that form steps in the landscape from the Grand Canyon all the way through this area. Much of the scenery is accessible on rough dirt roads that often have deep sand and are subject to flash floods. But it is worth the effort to see the gigantic uplifts of rock create interesting shapes such as these.
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Labyrinth Canyon, Green River (Seeds-kee-dee-Agie, “Prairie Hen River”), Utah, 2018
By Michael Piraino
I appreciate the abstract artwork of the earth as seen from high above. Sometimes looking down at the land is like lying on your back staring at clouds: you start seeing all kinds of images as if drawn by an artist. The imagination really does soar. I was fortunate to capture this image of the Green River, where I was about to spend several days backpacking with National Park Service colleagues.
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Kaiparowitz Plateau, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah, 2017
By Michael Piraino
This is the view from one of the most remote and least visited wilderness areas in the US; an ancient land without many trails or roads, but thankfully with an abundance of space and solitude. It was the last place in the US to be mapped.
This is the Kaiparowits Plateau. Its place names reflect the land’s wildness and harshness. Names like Carcass Canyon and Death Ridge evoke a history (humans have been here since prehistoric times) as well as a current reality.
One of those realities is coal. A proposal in the mid-1970s would have turned much of this land into a huge coal mining and power generating complex. The threat is not ended.
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Snæfellsnes (Snow Mount) Peninsula, Iceland, 2019
By Michael Piraino
This peninsula, known as “Iceland in miniature,” became known to us as the place of rainbows. We saw dozens in the space of a few hours. The place was moody and full of history and folklore. This is where Jules Verne’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth began. We remember it as a place of waterfalls, clouds and mist, aurora, and black volcanic sands.
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Confluence of Rivers, Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand, 2016
By Michael Piraino
A small portion of a rainbow lights up a dark corner near the mountain while the Hooker River draws patterns around the rocks in the foreground. Near the confluence with the Tasman River, there is plenty of glacial flour in the water to create this beautiful emerald color.
There was dramatic lighting in the opposite direction from this photo. After working in that direction for awhile, I turned around and saw the sunbeams lighting the mountain side and headed in that direction. The rainbow was visible and there was some thought it might grow. But I wasn’t after a rainbow shot. I wanted this photo to be about the two converging lines formed by the illuminated mountain and the rocks in the water.
Near the confluence with the Tasman River, there is plenty of glacial flour in the water to create this beautiful emerald color.
The Maori name Aoraki is translated as “Cloud Piercer,” an appropriate name for this mountain. The Maori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, “Land of the Long White Cloud”.
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Confluence of Rivers, Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand, 2016
By Michael Piraino
A small portion of a rainbow lights up a dark corner near the mountain while the Hooker River draws patterns around the rocks in the foreground. Near the confluence with the Tasman River, there is plenty of glacial flour in the water to create this beautiful emerald color.
There was dramatic lighting in the opposite direction from this photo. After working in that direction for awhile, I turned around and saw the sunbeams lighting the mountain side and headed in that direction. The rainbow was visible and there was some thought it might grow. But I wasn’t after a rainbow shot. I wanted this photo to be about the two converging lines formed by the illuminated mountain and the rocks in the water.
Near the confluence with the Tasman River, there is plenty of glacial flour in the water to create this beautiful emerald color.
The Maori name Aoraki is translated as “Cloud Piercer,” an appropriate name for this mountain. The Maori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, “Land of the Long White Cloud”.
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Island in the Sky, Canyonlands National Park, 2018 (infrared)
By Michael Piraino
Island In The Sky; such an appropriate name for this large mesa in Canyonlands National Park, looking out over the meanders of the Green River. The clouds were busy sweeping away the day while the sunlight still worked its way onto the land. Infrared again, which created some surprising highlights over Soda Springs Basin and along the river 2,200 feet below. The view from here extends out for 100 miles, and it feels as though it is all blessedly unoccupied wildness.
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Chisos Mountains, Big Bend National Park, 2018
By Michael Piraino
The name of these mountains may be from an Indigenous name referring to spirits. Or it may be from a Castilian word meaning enchantment. I think both of those names fit the mountains well. They are not especially high, but I find their eroded forms very lyrical, which is why they were part of the inspiration for the book title Photographic Harmonies. This is an infrared photo, which brought out the wispy clouds.
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The Lost Coast, Northern California, 2023
By Michael Piraino
Fog, sun, a rock and an island in the King Range National Conservation area. This shot captures the mood of the place and time, as we dodged around winter storms to capture glimpses of grace in this remote place.
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Homestead at Fruita, Capitol Reef National Park, 2018
By Michael Piraino
This scene felt like it could have existed just like this in the 1880s when orchards were first being planted here beside the Fremont River. This homestead is mentioned in Wallace and Page Stegner’s book, American Places, with photos by Elliot Porter whose work was an early inspiration for my photography. The small settlement here was known as the “Eden of Wayne Country”. The orchards are still there along with the amazing mesas.
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Sierra Wave Cloud Formations, Owens Valley, Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, 2023
By Michael Piraino
Cold fronts approaching from the west create a wave of speedy winds passing over the Sierra crest, then descending the steep eastern slopes toward the Owens Valley. As the winds reach the valley floor, they swoop upward again, then downward, sometimes rising a final time over the Inyo Mountains to the east. The waves of wind resonate with the land to generate lenticular clouds and dramatic scenes like this. It was one positive gift from the atmospheric river that blocked us from visiting Yosemite
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Dawn, Utah Badlands, 2021
By Michael Piraino
“Otherworldly” is an apt description of this place. The pre-dawn light emphasizes the elegance of the curves, lines, and finely shaded textures of the land. Color photographs are also glorious here, but monochromatic images focus attention on the wild designs.
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Lily Pads at Night, Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, 2017
By Michael Piraino
The Loxahatchee (“River of Turtles) National Wildlife Preserve is part of the Florida Everglades (Pa-hay-Okee, “Grassy Waters”). Tranquil water on an early morning gave me the idea of shooting these in infrared. The reflection of the clear blue sky photographs as black, leaving just the simple design of the floating pads.
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Little Annapurna Mountain, Enchantment Lakes, Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Washington, 2015
By Michael Piraino
Scouting out views of Prussik Peak, we paused to appreciate the calm grandeur of the clouds and fog surrounding Little Annapurna in the upper Enchantments. The Alpine Lakes Wilderness, which includes the Enchantments, is sprinkled with over 700 lakes. There is a long history of Indigenous peoples’ presence here, but the lakes and peaks were named more recently based on mythology.
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Sunrise and Alpine Lake, Mount Rainier National Park, 2015
By Michael Piraino
Mount Rainier often creates its own interesting cloud formations. This one struck me as an eagle flying in the early morning.
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Sunrise, Crown Range Mountains, New Zealand, 2018
By Michael Piraino
On an early morning of biting wind and cold, the view across the valley to The Remarkables was spectacular. Taken from the Crown Range Summit. We had meandered up and down the ridgeling looking for the right angles and foreground for the shot.
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Furnace Creek Wash, Death Valley, 2023
By Michael Piraino
Stormy weather arriving in Death Valley sets off the sandy hills and remnants of borate mines. We have been fortunate to be in the area several times during stormy weather. Great for photography.
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Stone Bridge over Merced River, Yosemite Valley, 2019
By Michael Piraino
The only three arch bridge in Yosemite Valley, the Ahwahnee bridge, like the seven bridges that cross the Merced here, were originally intended to be steel truss bridges. Fortunately, they were instead faced with local stone, consistent with the National Park Service rustic style. I was busy photographing Half Dome reflected in the river to the far left, when Carin called me to this scene, saying “there’s something here you can do something with.”
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Sunrise, Mount Rainier, 2017
By Michael Piraino
Spring arrives slowly at Sunrise on Mouint Rainier. Hillsides become full of avalanche lily (what an unassuming wonder they are!), and paintbrush brightens the roadside, soon to be followed by a profusion of flowers. The world would be a sorrier place without natural areas like this.
Mount Rainier (Tahoma, “Ice Capped”; also Taquotma, “Mother of All Waters”)
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Kirkjufell, a Nunatak in Iceland, 2019
By Michael Piraino
Morning of our last day in Iceland, and finally just a hint of the aurora. It was 3:30am and cold but beautiful. Returned for a glorious sunrise two hours later and then a very artistic storm blew in and objected to our departure. But we were forgiven as the storm threw a full rainbow across the sky just as we crossed the tarmac to our plane.
This mountain on the snaefellsnes peninsula is a nunatak, a remnant of a mountain that once protruded from surrounding glaciers.
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Bryce Canyon (Sikyaatutukwi, Place of Yellow Points) 2014
By Michael Piraino
A Greeting From The Sun. Those hoodoos in the foreground are amazing, glowing in the reflected light of this early April sunrise. The snow had arrived the day before and made the brilliant orange colors even brighter. This is really an amphitheater rather than a canyon, but who cares? The colors were vibrant and the air clear and crisp.
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Sandstorm, Death Valley (Timbisha, Red Rocks), 2018
By Michael Piraino
Just after sunrise, a sandstorm on the dunes stings the eyes and gets into everything. It’s a challenge to capture; the sand gets into everything.
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Snowstorm, Merced River, Yosemite Valley, 2020
By Michael Piraino
Snow can be a nuisance but also a wonder. We have had the good fortune to experience snowstorms several times in Yosemite Valley. Here, the Merced River shines in glory after a snowstorm had cleared and the brilliant sun lit up the snow on the branches. There was no one else around. The only evidence of another’s passing this scene was the coyote tracks in the snow.
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Bryce Canyon National Park, 2018
By Michael Piraino
Bryce Canyon is a certified dark sky location, and we found it fascinating to see the dimly lit hoodoos pointing up to the starry sky. The high elevation and clean air help create the clarity of the views.
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Swiftcurrent Lake, Glacier National Park, 2016 (infrared)
By Michael Piraino
Shadow Play. The rising sun spotlighted Mount Grinnell and the dramatic clouds on this very cold morning. The wind was strong and biting but nature’s performance was spectacular. It was an inspiring sight, and I had it all to myself. Infrared black and white photo.
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New Orleans Street Musicians
By Michael Piraino
Monochrome image of street musicians performing in Jackson Square New Orleans
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