Fabulous photo: love the atmosphere and as someone up-thread (down-thread?) said, it looks like a painting.

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback

Thank you for taking time to respond!

Thank you, it's the first photo I've posted in The Photo Gallery section on this site.

Talking about a visit to Death Valley in another thread on UHH got me to thinking of my favorite photo from our DV trip a few years back.
It has to be this shot (cropped a lot) of the Great Roadrunner. It was one of those serendipitous moments where the bird just appeared, stopped to grab a bug and then posed while I took his photo. The camera I used was a simple point-and-shoot, Cannon Power Shot S3 IS, that was 7-years old at the time.

(Download)

All the photos are great, with my favorite being the last one. That winter landscape is just terrific, especially in the downloaded view. I will never visit Yosemite in the winter (don’t like the cold nor driving in the snow/ice) so that photo draws me in especially since I will never see that scene in person.

I've been to Yosemite several times, mostly in late spring and once in October, to avoid the crowds. Spring is my favorite time to visit since the waterfalls are at their most majestic. When we visited in the fall, the waterfalls were just not as wondrous although the warm weather was nice. In late spring some of the roads will still be closed, and there may be snow on the ground in spots, but the trade off is worth it in terms of amazing waterfalls.

We went to DV in Feb. 2013 (birthday present).

We stayed at the Inn (very pricey for a small room) but the grounds are beautiful and the swimming pool uses water from the natural spring that runs through the property, with no added chlorine, so the water has a special feel, like silk.
If you do stay at the Inn, ask for a room on the top-most floor (I think we were in room 403). There are only a few at the upper-level, so it is quiet and the views are nice; the room was tiny but we would stay there again.
Good news: If you are over 50-years old, there is a pretty great senior discount that increases the longer you stay (as copied from their site):
Stay one night, receive a 10% discount with promo code SENIOR.
Stay two nights, receive a 20% discount with promo code SENIOR20.
Stay three nights, receive a 30% discount with promo code SENIOR30.

Enjoy your trip!

Sunset view from our room behind the window screen


View of the grounds, again from our room

I love the photo.
I especially like how the orange of the street lamps is repeated in the orange brick in the buildings.

We are traveling to Salem, OR to view the eclipse. I think we booked the last room left in Salem, and paid dearly for it. (Hubby brought the eclipse to my attention last year, I am sure he regrets that decision, but he is being a good sport about it. )

This site has info re taking photos of the eclipse, they basically say not to bother (unless you are a pro at this type of photography) and to just enjoy the "eclipse experience". http://www.eclipse2017.org/2017/photographing.HTM
The article is long, but read through as it does give some good advice, especially towards the end where it lists other sites that specialize in eclipse photography.

I would NOT book a room on the Oregon coast. There is a chance it might be cloudy, even in August. You never know with the coast, at least that is true in Southern California. I had booked us a room on the coast, as I am sure the Oregon coast would be beautiful, but then thought better of it due to the chance of cloud cover...

By the way, this is my first post!
I joined the forum this past December and have really enjoyed the discussions, photos, etc.