Jay Patel
bio www.jaypatelphotography.com

Travelling Through Seasons

Travelling! The word can strike dread in some while it’ll put a light in the eyes of others. Your perspective on travelling depends upon whether you travel for a living or whether you live to travel. But, what if you can do both? Imagine a job where you can choose to travel to some of the most breathtaking locations in the world and for sake of your business. Landscape photography is one such job. Just for a minute, let your imagination take you on a ride—

Spring has not yet arrived in the Northeast Ohio and you are just putting finishing touches on your travel plans to photograph the spring bloom in Southwestern deserts. Upon arrival in Death Valley National Park you can’t believe what your eyes are seeing. The clouds are lazily drifting past the Panamint and the Amargosa mountains; there is still a bit of chill in the morning air and as far as your eyes can see, the typical dry barren desert landscape has been transformed into a sea of gold by blooming flowers. Is this really a desert country? Eight hours later, standing on Mesquite dunes in the middle of an approaching sandstorm, you are jolted back to reality of being in the desert. But, then the sun dips below the clouds and just before it disappears behind the Panamint Range, it puts on the light show of a life time. And you are once again in fantasy land.

Summer is the traditional travelling season as kids take break from school. The melting snow makes it possible to reach the remote areas in the mountains. You are busy fighting the summer travel crowds at the airport to visit lush green rain forests on Olympic Peninsula where more then 100 inches of rain falls every year. Wait just a minute…a rain forest in the continental US? Yes, a rain forest where the fern hides the ground, where the moss covers the trees like a blanket, where the plants are growing on the moss that is growing on the trees, where every inch of ground that is not walked upon is covered with vegetation. Less then three hours later you are soaking yourself in the hot springs of Solduc Hot Springs Resort located near the breathtaking Solduc Falls.

Fall arrives with a chill in the air, and you are looking forward to witnessing the last brilliant fiery display of nature in Zion National Park.

On your way to Virgin River Narrows you can’t help but marvel as the red walls of Zion accentuate the fiery display of the trees growing along the bluish green Virgin River. Next day starts early with a chance to travel to Bryce Canyon National Park to catch a sunrise in one of the most unique rock formations in the world: The Hoods of Bryce Amphitheater. At dawn you will stand spellbound watching the hoods of the Bryce Amphitheater display every possible shade of red.

Just as the brutal and depressing winter home in Northeast Ohio is taking hold, it is time to travel again, this time to the warm waters of Florida Keys.

In Key West, the best place to watch sunset is a cruise on board an old style sailing ship while sipping champagne or hot chocolate. Next day as your sea plane approaches the tropical paradise of Dry Tortugas National Park, you are confronted with nothing short of a stunning sight. Patches of coral and undersea vegetation form a mosaic of the most vivid blue-green waters that you have ever seen.And rising from the middle of this mosaic is red-bricked, hexagon-shaped Fort Jefferson. And after photographing the fan coral that was accidentally washed ashore, it is time to go snorkeling and look forward to the next trip.