Tag: nature photography

St. Vrain Waterfall: A Study in Motion and Permanence

The photograph of a small waterfall along St. Vrain Creek embodies the tension between geological permanence and water’s fleeting essence. Using long exposure, it transforms the scene into a contemplative study of motion and stillness. The intimate scale highlights the beauty of overlooked subjects, emphasizing the profound within Colorado’s landscapes.

Long exposure view of a small waterfall flowing through smooth granite boulders along St. Vrain Creek.
A small waterfall flows between granite rocks along St. Vrain Creek in northern Colorado.

Within the third chapter of Greg Urbano’s Top 100 Journey—devoted to Colorado Landscapes & Cityscapes—this long exposure photograph of the St. Vrain presents a meditation on the fundamental tension between geological permanence and hydrological flux. The image captures a modest cascade in Northern Colorado, yet its technical execution elevates what might be considered a commonplace subject into something altogether more contemplative.

The photographer’s decision to employ long exposure proves essential to the work’s success. Water, rendered as gossamer curtains of white and pale green, flows through the frame with an almost supernatural quality. This technique transforms the kinetic energy of rushing water into something visually paradoxical: movement frozen into silken stillness. The effect creates a temporal ambiguity that refuses to commit to either instant or duration, existing instead in a liminal space between photographic modes.

Compositionally, the work demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of how natural forms interact within the frame. Pink-hued granite boulders, weathered and moss-touched, provide structural anchors throughout the image. These stones—products of millennia—stand in stark contrast to the ephemeral blur of water that has shaped them. The photographer positions these elements with careful attention to visual weight and balance, allowing the eye to trace pathways through the composition that mirror the water’s own journey through the rocky terrain.

The color palette reveals itself as deliberately restrained. Warm earth tones of pink and tan granite dominate, punctuated by touches of green moss and the cool, milky whites of the flowing water. This chromatic restraint prevents the image from becoming overly dramatic, instead maintaining the documentary authenticity that characterizes much of this chapter’s work. The photographer resists the temptation to over-saturate or manipulate, trusting the natural beauty of the Colorado landscape to speak for itself.

What distinguishes this photograph within the broader context of the Colorado Landscapes & Cityscapes chapter is its intimate scale. Rather than pursuing the grand vistas often associated with Rocky Mountain photography, the work turns its attention to a more modest subject—a small waterfall that countless hikers might pass without particular notice. This choice reflects a maturing sensibility within the photographer’s practice, one that finds profundity in the overlooked rather than the obvious.

The technical execution warrants recognition as well. Managing long exposure in daylight conditions requires careful control of light through neutral density filtration and precise shutter speed calculation. The photographer has balanced these elements skillfully, maintaining detail in both the highlighted water and shadowed crevices of stone. Branches visible at the top of the frame remain relatively sharp, suggesting a shutter speed calibrated to render water motion without sacrificing all structural definition in the surrounding environment.

Within the arc of the Top 100 Journey project, this image represents an important moment of focus. The work demonstrates that landscape photography need not rely on sweeping panoramas or dramatic weather to achieve visual and emotional resonance. Instead, it proposes that careful attention to the quotidian—to the small waterfalls tucked into Northern Colorado’s piedmont—can yield images of equal contemplative depth. The St. Vrain Waterfall stands as evidence of a photographer learning to see not just the spectacular, but the quietly profound.

Hidden Valley Hike: A Study in Atmospheric Depth and Winter Quietude

The photograph from Hidden Valley in Rocky Mountain National Park captures a snow-covered trail among dense trees, showcasing Greg Urbano’s skill in monochromatic winter photography. Emphasizing subtlety over grandeur, it conveys solitude and wilderness through careful composition and tonal restraint, highlighting ecological specifics and the beauty of intimate landscapes.

Snow-covered hiking trail winding through evergreen forest at Hidden Valley in Rocky Mountain National Park.
A snowy trail leads through dense evergreen trees at Hidden Valley in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.

Within Chapter 3 of Greg Urbano’s Top 100 Journey—devoted to Colorado Landscapes & Cityscapes—this photograph from Hidden Valley in Rocky Mountain National Park represents a masterful engagement with the challenges of monochromatic winter photography. The image captures a snow-laden trail ascending through dense coniferous forest, where atmospheric conditions have reduced the distant peaks to mere suggestions within a veil of falling snow and fog.

The photographer’s compositional strategy reveals a sophisticated understanding of visual hierarchy. The trail itself functions as both literal and metaphorical pathway, drawing the viewer’s eye from the textured foreground snow through the middle ground’s architectural arrangement of pines and firs, before dissolving into the atmospheric void of the background. This recession creates a palpable sense of depth despite the flattening effect that overcast winter light typically imposes on landscape photography.

What distinguishes this work within Urbano’s broader Colorado portfolio is its restraint. Rather than pursuing the dramatic vistas and saturated alpine glow that characterize much Rocky Mountain photography, he has chosen to document a moment of visual subtlety—a soft, nearly monochromatic palette punctuated only by the warm sienna of exposed tree bark. The decision to work within such a limited tonal range demonstrates confidence in form and composition rather than relying on chromatic spectacle.

The technical execution merits particular attention. The photographer has maintained remarkable detail in the snow-weighted evergreen boughs while preserving the delicate gradation of gray tones that define the misty background. This balance suggests careful exposure management in conditions that would challenge most practitioners—the high reflectivity of fresh snow against dark timber, compounded by active precipitation and low contrast lighting.

From a thematic perspective, this photograph speaks to the contemplative dimension of Urbano’s landscape practice. The absence of human figures—save for the implicit presence suggested by the trail itself—invites meditation on solitude and the experience of wilderness in its less hospitable moments. This is not the Colorado of tourism brochures, but rather an intimate encounter with the state’s winter reality, where beauty reveals itself through subtlety rather than grandeur.

The image also functions as documentation of a specific ecological zone within Rocky Mountain National Park. The mixed conifer forest, dominated by what appear to be Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir, places the photograph within the park’s upper montane and subalpine life zones. The photographer’s attention to these botanical particulars grounds the work in a specific geographic and ecological context, elevating it beyond generic winter scenery.

Within the arc of the Top 100 Journey project, this photograph demonstrates stylistic evolution—a willingness to embrace quieter moments alongside more conventionally dramatic subjects. It suggests that Urbano’s curatorial eye has matured toward valuing atmospheric mood and compositional sophistication over spectacular subject matter alone.

The final consideration is one of timing and patience. Winter photography in Rocky Mountain National Park demands both technical preparation and willingness to work in physically demanding conditions. That this image exists at all speaks to the photographer’s commitment to documenting the full range of Colorado’s landscape character, not merely its most accessible or comfortable manifestations. The result is a work that rewards sustained attention, revealing its carefully calibrated tonal relationships and spatial complexities gradually, much like the trail itself emerging from and dissolving into winter’s embrace.

Hallett Peak: A Study in Motion and Permanence

In a captivating long-exposure photograph of Hallett Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park, the artist merges landscape photography with technical artistry. The image features dynamic cloud streaks, contrasting geological permanence, and rich tonal variations, creating an engaging interplay of time and nature. This work illustrates a mature artistic voice, enhancing familiar landscapes.

Hallett Peak rises above evergreen forest and snow-dusted slopes beneath streaked clouds in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Hallett Peak towers above forested slopes near Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.

In this striking capture from Rocky Mountain National Park, the photographer demonstrates a sophisticated command of long-exposure technique to transform a familiar Colorado landscape into something both ethereal and architectural. The image of Hallett Peak, taken from the Bear Lake area, exemplifies the technical precision and artistic vision that defines Chapter 3 of his Top 100 Journey project.

The composition is anchored by the geological drama of Hallett Peak itself—that distinctive snow-dusted formation rising with muscular authority against the left portion of the frame. Yet it is the sky that commands immediate attention. Through extended exposure, the photographer has rendered clouds as diagonal streaks of motion, creating dynamic vectors that sweep across the upper two-thirds of the image. This technique transforms the sky from mere backdrop into active participant, suggesting the passage of time within a single frozen moment. The effect is cinematic, almost reminiscent of time-lapse sequences compressed into still photography.

The tonal range demonstrates careful exposure management in challenging high-altitude conditions. Deep blues saturate the upper atmosphere while softer, almost pearl-like whites and grays occupy the middle zones where cloud and sky intermingle. The snow-covered peaks and rock faces provide textural counterpoint—solid, immutable, sharply defined—against the fluid sky. This juxtaposition between the permanent and the transient becomes the photograph’s central artistic statement.

In the foreground, dense stands of evergreens establish both scale and context. The forest appears in rich greens and shadow-dark tones, creating a horizontal band that grounds the viewer’s eye before it ascends to the peaks and sky beyond. These trees serve multiple functions: they frame the composition, they provide Colorado’s signature ecological context, and they emphasize the vertical drama of the mountain forms rising behind them.

What distinguishes this work within the Colorado Landscapes & Cityscapes chapter is its sophisticated balance between documentary and interpretive approaches. While the location remains recognizable to anyone familiar with Rocky Mountain National Park, the artistic treatment elevates the image beyond straightforward landscape photography. The photographer has chosen to emphasize process—geological, meteorological, temporal—over simple representation.

The technical execution reveals careful planning. The long exposure required for cloud streaking demands stable tripod work, precise timing, and likely the use of neutral density filtration to manage the bright mountain light. The sharpness maintained throughout the frame, from foreground forest to distant peak, suggests a narrow aperture and careful focus technique. These are not accidental achievements but rather the results of deliberate craft.

Within the broader context of his Top 100 Journey, this photograph represents a mature artistic voice. It demonstrates that the photographer understands landscape work as more than capturing beautiful places—it involves interpreting those places through technical means that reveal aspects invisible to casual observation. The streaming clouds make visible the wind, the time, the atmospheric dynamics that define mountain environments but typically escape photographic capture.

This image invites extended viewing. Initially, one registers the dramatic sky; subsequently, the eye explores the geological complexity of the peaks, the play of snow and rock, the forest’s quiet density. It is work that rewards attention, revealing the photographer’s ability to transform a well-visited location into something that feels simultaneously familiar and newly seen—a hallmark of accomplished landscape photography.

Aspen Stand, Poudre Canyon: A Study in Natural Geometry and Seasonal Light

The photograph of aspen trees along Poudre Canyon Road showcases their autumn colors, balancing structural elements with individual characteristics. It features a rhythmic vertical pattern in soft light, capturing a unique moment in Colorado’s landscape photography. This singular image asserts confidence in representing the iconic aspens effectively and artistically.

Tall white-barked aspen trees with yellow autumn leaves standing among green forest vegetation.
A stand of aspen trees displays fall foliage along Poudre Canyon Road in Colorado.

Within Chapter 3 of Greg Urbano’s Top 100 Journey—dedicated to Colorado Landscapes & Cityscapes—this photograph of aspen trees along Poudre Canyon Road represents a pivotal encounter with one of the American West’s most celebrated subjects. The image captures a dense stand of aspens in their autumn transformation, their white-barked trunks creating a rhythmic vertical pattern against a backdrop of golden and green foliage. What distinguishes this work from countless other interpretations of the same subject is the photographer’s restraint and his attention to the structural elements that give the composition its quiet authority.

The vertical emphasis dominates immediately. Dozens of aspen trunks rise through the frame, their characteristic pale bark marked by dark knots and horizontal striations that break the otherwise smooth surfaces. These natural imperfections serve as visual anchors, preventing the repetition from becoming monotonous. The photographer has positioned himself to maximize this rhythm while maintaining sufficient depth to reveal the layered complexity of the forest. Evergreens punctuate the composition in the background, their darker masses providing tonal contrast to the luminous aspens and golden understory.

The treatment of light deserves particular attention. Soft, even illumination suggests either overcast conditions or the photographer’s careful timing to avoid harsh midday sun. This choice allows the full tonal range of the foliage to register—from the brilliant yellows of peak autumn color to the deeper golds and lingering greens of leaves in transition. The post-processing, executed using DXO’s Color Efex Pro 4, enhances these chromatic relationships without pushing them into artificiality. There is saturation here, certainly, but it reads as an intensification of what was present rather than an invention.

For a photographer whose body of work encompasses diverse subjects and geographies, this image represents his only definitive statement on the iconic Colorado aspen to date—a fact he acknowledges directly in his own description. This singularity is worth considering. Rather than pursuing multiple variations or returning season after season to refine his approach, he has selected this single frame as representative. The decision suggests confidence in what was captured during that Saturday excursion from Fort Collins, and indeed, the composition supports that confidence.

The photograph functions effectively within its designated chapter, contributing to a broader portrait of Colorado’s varied landscapes. Where other images in this collection might address the state’s dramatic peaks, urban environments, or expansive vistas, this work explores the intimate scale of the mid-elevation forest. The aspens become both subject and structure, their seriality creating pattern while their individuality—visible in every unique scarring and branch configuration—asserts the organic nature of the scene.

Technically, the image demonstrates solid fundamentals: adequate depth of field to maintain sharpness across the forest layers, balanced exposure that preserves detail in both the bright foliage and darker bark, and a color palette that feels cohesive despite its range. The vertical format suits the subject matter, emphasizing the trees’ upward growth and the viewer’s sense of standing within the grove rather than observing it from outside.

This photograph documents a specific moment along Poudre Canyon Road while simultaneously engaging with a broader photographic tradition of Western landscape representation. It is work that respects its subject without overstating its case—a measured, observant addition to an ongoing artistic journey.

Boulder Falls Long Exposure

The photograph of Boulder Falls captures the intricate interplay of water and rock in Colorado’s canyon, showcasing the photographer’s mastery of long exposure techniques. Using a Nikon D610, the image balances smooth water motion with structural clarity. This work signifies a matured artistic voice within the broader context of his evolving landscape photography.

Long-exposure view of Boulder Falls flowing over rocks into a shallow pool within a rocky canyon.
Long-exposure photograph of Boulder Falls cascading through a rocky canyon in Colorado.

The photographer’s mastery of long exposure technique reaches full maturity in this commanding portrait of Boulder Falls, where water, stone, and light converge in a composition of remarkable spatial depth and textural complexity. Captured with a Nikon D610 and an 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5 lens at its widest setting of 18mm, the image employs a half-second exposure at ƒ/4.0 and ISO 100 to render cascading water as ethereal veils against the canyon’s ancient geological architecture.

The composition operates on multiple planes, drawing the eye through a carefully orchestrated visual journey. In the immediate foreground, stream-smoothed boulders—some dry and tan, others wet and rust-colored—create a rocky platform that grounds the viewer’s perspective. Water flows around and between these stones in delicate ribbons, their motion captured as soft blur that contrasts with the sharp detail of stationary rock. The middle ground presents the falls itself, a luminous white cascade plunging through a dramatic cleft in the granite amphitheater. Finally, the background reveals towering rock walls in warm earth tones, their fractured surfaces speaking to millennia of geological upheaval, crowned by evergreen forest and a brilliant blue sky.

What distinguishes this work from countless waterfall photographs is the photographer’s sophisticated understanding of how long exposure serves composition rather than merely creating predictable aesthetic effects. The half-second shutter speed proves precisely calibrated—long enough to smooth the water into silken forms while short enough to preserve structural definition in the cascade. The falls maintain sculptural presence rather than dissolving into amorphous white masses. Similarly, the foreground stream retains enough texture and gradation to read as water in motion rather than abstract blur.

The technical choices reveal deliberate control over the medium. The wide 18mm focal length encompasses the entire scene’s grandeur while maintaining exceptional corner-to-corner sharpness, crucial when working with such complex spatial relationships. The ƒ/4.0 aperture balances depth of field considerations—keeping both foreground rocks and distant walls acceptably sharp—with the light reduction necessary for the extended exposure. At ISO 100, the image maintains optimal clarity across its tonal range, from the brightest highlights in the falling water to the shadowed crevices in the surrounding stone.

The inclusion of this photograph in Chapter 3—Colorado Landscapes & Cityscapes—marks a significant development in the photographer’s journey. Where earlier chapters saw him exploring beyond Florida’s boundaries, this chapter formalizes Colorado as a central subject within his practice. The image embodies what might be termed “high country aesthetics”: the interplay of water and granite, the vertical drama of canyon topography, the crystalline light of elevated altitude. These elements recur throughout Rocky Mountain landscape photography, yet the photographer brings fresh eyes to familiar territory through precise craft and compositional intelligence.

Within the broader context of the Top 100 Journey project, “Boulder Falls Long Exposure” represents an artist who has moved beyond technical experimentation toward mature artistic voice. The photograph demonstrates that mastery emerges not from discovering novel techniques but from wielding established ones with intention, subtlety, and unwavering attention to the specific demands of place and moment.

Boulder Creek Long Exposure

The aerial photograph of Boulder Creek, captured with a DJI Mini 3 Pro drone, showcases a harmonious blend of long exposure techniques and modern technology. The composition balances flowing water and angular granite boulders, creating an abstract visual narrative that highlights the juxtaposition of motion and permanence in landscape photography.

Long-exposure view of flowing creek water cascading over large rocks in a narrow channel.
Long-exposure water flows over boulders in Boulder Creek along Boulder Canyon Drive, Colorado.

This aerial perspective of Boulder Creek represents a striking departure in both technical approach and creative vision, captured not with traditional camera equipment but with a DJI Mini 3 Pro drone equipped with a Freewell ND2000 filter. The photographer’s willingness to embrace emerging technologies while maintaining classical long exposure techniques demonstrates an adaptive practice that refuses to be constrained by conventional methodologies. Shot at 6.7mm with ƒ/1.7 aperture, 1/2 second exposure, and ISO 100, the image transforms cascading water and weathered granite into an abstract study of motion and permanence.

The aerial vantage point offers what might be termed a “god’s eye” perspective—looking directly down upon the creek as it navigates through massive boulders along Boulder Canyon Drive. This top-down orientation fundamentally alters the traditional landscape viewing experience. Rather than observing the scene from a human standpoint at creek level, the viewer hovers above, granted access to compositional relationships and water patterns typically invisible from ground perspective. The half-second exposure blurs the rushing water into silken ribbons that weave between dark stones, creating organic shapes that appear almost calligraphic against the textured rock surfaces.

The geological elements provide crucial counterpoint to the flowing water. Angular granite boulders, their surfaces marked by striations and mineral deposits, display warm ochre and gray tones that anchor the composition’s cooler water tones. These stones reveal billions of years of geological history—compression, uplift, erosion—rendered in layers and fractures visible even from the drone’s elevation. The photographer frames the scene to balance solid mass with liquid movement, allowing neither element to dominate but instead creating a dynamic equilibrium between opposing forces.

The technical execution demonstrates sophisticated problem-solving. Achieving long exposure effects from an airborne platform presents unique challenges—the drone itself must remain perfectly stable while the camera shutter stays open. The ND2000 filter proves essential, reducing light transmission sufficiently to permit a half-second exposure in daylight conditions without overexposure. At ƒ/1.7, the lens operates wide open, yet the minimal depth of field concerns inherent in macro or portrait photography become irrelevant when shooting from such elevation; everything within the frame exists at roughly equivalent focus distance.

Within Chapter 2—Florida Landscapes & Cityscapes—this Colorado waterway continues the photographer’s geographic expansion evident throughout this section of the Top 100 Journey. The consistent choice to photograph Rocky Mountain landscapes suggests deliberate exploration of environments radically different from Florida’s flat, subtropical character. Perhaps this juxtaposition serves the project’s broader narrative: an artist defining his vision through contrast, discovering what landscape means by experiencing its various manifestations across diverse topographies.

“Boulder Creek Long Exposure 001” ultimately represents the democratization of aerial perspective through consumer drone technology, married to time-honored long exposure aesthetics. The photographer recognizes that tools matter less than vision—that a small drone can produce work as artistically valid as traditional large-format equipment when wielded with intention and compositional awareness. The image stands as testament to adaptive practice in contemporary landscape photography, where technical innovation serves timeless artistic goals.

Black Forest

The photograph “Black Forest,” taken along Colorado Highway 14 in the Roosevelt National Forest, captures the aftermath of wildfire with striking clarity. The image, presented in monochrome, highlights resilience amidst destruction, showcasing charred pine trees against snow. Through meticulous technical execution, the artist transforms environmental tragedy into profound visual poetry.

all, fire-scarred pine trees rise from a snow-covered forest under an overcast winter sky.
Fire-scarred pine trees stand in deep snow along Colorado Highway 14 in the Roosevelt National Forest.

Stark verticality defines this haunting monochrome study captured along Colorado Highway 14 in the Roosevelt National Forest, where the photographer confronts the aftermath of wildfire with unflinching clarity. Titled “Black Forest,” the image transforms environmental tragedy into a meditation on resilience, absence, and the stark beauty found in landscapes marked by upheaval. Shot with a Sony Alpha a7 II equipped with a Samyang AF 18mm f/2.8 lens, the technical specifications—ƒ/11.0, 1/200s, ISO 100—reveal a photographer working with precision to render both foreground detail and atmospheric depth.

The composition presents a forest reduced to skeletal architecture. Charred pines, stripped of foliage by fire, rise as dark sentinels against pristine snow cover and a brooding sky. The wide-angle perspective at 18mm creates exaggerated depth, pulling the viewer into this expanse of vertical repetition. Trees march rhythmically across the frame, their bare trunks creating a natural grid that speaks simultaneously to destruction and order. The interplay between the blackened wood and white snow generates maximum tonal contrast—a decision reinforced by the photographer’s choice to render the scene in black and white during post-processing.

This monochromatic treatment proves essential to the image’s power. By eliminating color, the photographer strips away potential distraction, forcing attention to form, texture, and the dramatic chiaroscuro that defines the scene. The absence of color becomes metaphorically resonant, echoing the absence of living foliage. Shadows stretch across the snow-covered ground, cast by winter sun through the denuded canopy, creating secondary patterns that add visual complexity to the stark tableau.

The technical execution demonstrates sophisticated understanding of landscape photography fundamentals. The aperture choice of ƒ/11.0 provides substantial depth of field, ensuring sharpness from the foreground trees through to the distant background, while the relatively fast shutter speed of 1/200s freezes any potential wind movement in the upper branches. At ISO 100, the image maintains optimal clarity and tonal gradation—critical considerations when working in monochrome, where subtle gradations between black and white carry significant expressive weight.

The image’s inclusion within Chapter 2—Florida Landscapes & Cityscapes—continues the geographical expansion evident in this photographer’s evolving project. Again working far from Florida’s borders, he engages with Rocky Mountain topography and ecological narrative. This persistent geographic departure suggests an artist whose vision transcends regional documentation, seeking instead to explore universal themes of landscape transformation, human impact, and natural regeneration across diverse environments.

What distinguishes this work from mere documentation of fire damage is its formal rigor and unexpected aesthetic grace. The photographer finds pattern and rhythm in catastrophe, transforming a scarred forest into something approaching abstract composition. The trees function as both individual subjects and collective form—a forest that remains a forest even in its diminished state.

Within the broader context of the Top 100 Journey project, “Black Forest” represents an artist willing to engage with difficult environmental subjects while maintaining commitment to visual poetry. The photograph neither exploits tragedy nor sanitizes it, instead offering honest witness rendered through thoughtful craft—a balance that marks mature artistic vision.

Big Thompson Long Exposure

The photograph of the Big Thompson River showcases a masterful interplay of permanence and fluidity through long exposure techniques. Captured in Colorado, the image emphasizes detail in granite boulders alongside soft, flowing water. It reflects the photographer’s evolving artistic journey, expanding thematic boundaries while presenting a cohesive and naturalistic landscape composition.

Long exposure view of fast-moving water flowing over a rocky drop on the Big Thompson River between granite boulders.
Water flows over a small rocky drop along the Big Thompson River, photographed with a long exposure.

The photographer’s technical mastery converges with natural drama in this commanding study of the Big Thompson River, captured in Colorado’s rugged high country. Shot with a Sony Alpha a7 II paired with the Sony FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS lens at 62mm, the image employs long exposure technique enhanced by neutral density filtration to transform rushing water into ethereal ribbons of motion. At ƒ/9.0 and ISO 50, the exposure settings reveal a deliberate approach to capturing both sharpness in the surrounding geology and the silken blur of flowing water.

What immediately arrests the viewer is the dramatic interplay between permanence and fluidity. Massive granite boulders—textured, ancient, immovable—frame a cascade that appears simultaneously powerful and gossamer-soft. The long exposure technique transforms the torrent into bands of cream and amber, creating visual movement that guides the eye through the composition in sweeping arcs. The golden tint in the water suggests the presence of sediment or tannins, lending warmth to what might otherwise read as a cool mountain scene.

The compositional architecture demonstrates sophisticated understanding of visual weight and balance. A substantial boulder occupies the right foreground, its weathered surface rendered in exquisite detail, while a piece of driftwood creates a diagonal element that adds depth and natural geometry. The left side reveals stratified rock walls, their vertical presence providing counterpoint to the horizontal flow. This triangulation of elements—stone, water, wood—creates a cohesive environmental portrait rather than merely documenting a waterfall.

The inclusion of this image within Chapter 2—Florida Landscapes & Cityscapes—presents an intriguing curatorial question. Clearly captured in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain ecosystem rather than Florida, the photograph signals an expansion in the photographer’s geographical scope and thematic boundaries. This apparent departure from the chapter’s titular focus suggests an evolving artistic journey, one where the photographer moves beyond regional constraints to explore universal themes of landscape and natural process. Perhaps the chapter title reflects the photographer’s home base or primary focus, while individual works demonstrate his widening field of exploration.

The technical execution reveals growing confidence with long exposure photography as a expressive tool. The neutral density filter allows for extended exposure times in daylight conditions, creating that characteristic motion blur while maintaining proper exposure across the frame’s dynamic range. The choice of ƒ/9.0 ensures adequate depth of field to keep both foreground rocks and background elements acceptably sharp, a critical consideration in landscape work where context matters as much as subject.

What elevates this beyond technical exercise is the photographer’s eye for natural composition. The cascade’s S-curve creates inherent grace, while the careful positioning relative to the boulder forms suggests patient observation and deliberate framing. The subdued color palette—grays, tans, muted greens—speaks to naturalistic rendering rather than heightened saturation, allowing texture and form to dominate over chromatic spectacle.

Within the broader trajectory of the Top 100 Journey project, this image represents an artist testing boundaries and methodologies. It demonstrates that landscape photography, when executed with technical precision and compositional awareness, can reveal the sublime within the observable—the eternal dance between stone and water, stillness and motion, captured in a single decisive exposure.

Passage Through Green: Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

The photograph from the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary captures the harmonious relationship between human infrastructure and Florida’s natural environment. The cypress boardwalk invites viewers into an intricate ecosystem, showcasing careful light management and depth. By depicting the balance of accessibility and preservation, it highlights Florida’s ecological significance and the need for conservation.

Wooden boardwalk winding through tall cypress trees and dense green foliage at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, with dappled sunlight on the path.
Cypress Boardwalk at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary (2014)

In this luminous study from the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, the photographer presents Florida’s natural landscape not as wilderness observed from a distance, but as an invitation to passage—a curated encounter between human infrastructure and primeval forest. The cypress boardwalk becomes both subject and compositional device, leading the viewer into a cathedral of green light that speaks to the delicate negotiation between preservation and access.

The technical approach reveals careful consideration of the swamp’s challenging photographic conditions. Working at ISO 100 with a half-second exposure at f/16, the photographer has maximized depth of field while maintaining exceptional image quality. This combination renders crisp detail from the weathered planks of the boardwalk through to the layered canopy above, where backlit foliage creates a luminous gradient from deep shadow to radiant yellow-green. The 24mm focal length—a moderate wide-angle perspective—provides visual breadth without the distortion that might compromise the scene’s natural proportions.

What distinguishes this image is its masterful handling of light. Shooting within the swamp’s dense canopy during what appears to be late morning or early afternoon, the photographer has captured the moment when sunlight penetrates the upper canopy, creating an almost ethereal glow. The graduated tonalities—from the shadowed foreground through the mid-tones of the boardwalk to the brilliant highlights beyond—establish a sense of progression and discovery. The exposure value suggests deliberate retention of highlight detail in what could easily have become overblown areas of white, instead preserving the textural complexity of individual leaves and branches.

The boardwalk itself serves multiple compositional functions. Its strong linear perspective creates depth and movement, drawing the eye inexorably toward the illuminated center. The railings function as framing elements, containing the viewer’s gaze while suggesting the carefully managed interaction between visitors and ecosystem. The warm tones of the aged wood provide chromatic relief from the overwhelming green, grounding the image in the tangible reality of human construction within natural space.

Within Chapter 2’s exploration of Florida landscapes, this photograph represents a significant counterpoint to the architectural documentation of the Dalí Museum. Where that image examined cultural infrastructure against an urban backdrop, this work investigates environmental infrastructure—the pathways that allow observation without destruction. The photographer recognizes that Florida’s identity is inextricably linked to its threatened ecosystems, and that contemporary experience of these spaces is mediated by such interventions.

The cypress trunks, standing as dark vertical elements throughout the frame, provide rhythmic structure while emphasizing scale. Their substantial girth and textured bark speak to age and resilience, while the dense understory of ferns visible in the lower portions of the frame suggests the biodiversity these swamp systems support. The photographer has captured not merely a scenic vista but a complex ecological narrative.

This image demonstrates the photographer’s evolving understanding of Florida’s duality—a place where nature and human presence exist in constant negotiation. The boardwalk, rather than intruding upon the swamp, becomes evidence of a conservation ethic, allowing passage while preserving the delicate substrate below. In documenting this careful balance, the photographer offers a vision of Florida that transcends tourism, revealing instead a landscape worthy of sustained attention and protection.

Electric Sublime: Atmospheric Drama Over Tampa Bay

The image of a lightning strike over Tampa Bay, captured from Vinoy Park, showcases the photographer’s skill in storm photography. Using a Nikon D610, the thirty-second exposure reveals a dramatic interplay of colors and natural forces. This work highlights Florida’s weather patterns, merging urban and natural landscapes in a powerful visual narrative.

Long exposure photograph of lightning illuminating clouds over Tampa Bay, viewed from Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Long exposure lightning strike over Tampa Bay from Vinoy Park.

Among the most technically demanding and visually arresting images in Chapter 2 of the photographer’s Top 100 Journey, this capture of a lightning strike over Tampa Bay represents a masterful convergence of patience, preparation, and meteorological fortune. Photographed from Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg, the image transforms a transient weather event into a sustained meditation on nature’s raw power and the atmospheric spectacle that defines Florida’s subtropical climate.

The composition presents a study in horizontal stratification—water, distant shoreline, and sky arranged in classical landscape proportions, yet animated by the extraordinary electrical discharge that commands the frame’s center. A single lightning bolt descends vertically through towering cumulonimbus clouds, creating a luminous column that connects the charged atmosphere to the bay’s surface. The strike illuminates the cloud structure from within, revealing billowing formations in shades of pearl, lavender, and steel blue against a gradient sky that transitions from deep indigo to warm amber.

Technical execution reflects the specialized demands of storm photography. Working with a Nikon D610 at the wide end of an 18-35mm lens, the photographer selected an 18mm focal length to encompass both the expansive cloud system and the reflective water below. The thirty-second exposure at f/5.6 and ISO 400 represents a calculated approach to lightning capture—a long enough duration to increase the probability of recording a strike within the frame, yet controlled enough to prevent overexposure of ambient light sources visible along the distant horizon. This extended shutter speed also smooths the bay’s surface into a mirror-like plane, its subtle texture suggesting gentle motion while maintaining enough definition to anchor the composition.

The color palette distinguishes this work within the chapter’s broader collection. Where the architectural study of Signature Place employed monochrome austerity, this image embraces the full chromatic range of atmospheric phenomena. The storm cell’s cool blues and purples contrast with the warm ochre glow infiltrating from the right edge of the frame—likely light pollution from Tampa’s urban corridor or residual sunset illumination scattered through distant clouds. This interplay of cool and warm tones creates visual tension that enhances the image’s dramatic impact without resorting to artificial enhancement.

Within Chapter 2’s exploration of Florida Landscapes & Cityscapes, this photograph occupies essential territory. Florida’s identity remains inextricably linked to its volatile weather patterns—the daily thunderstorm cycles of summer, the atmospheric electricity that makes the state the lightning capital of North America. By documenting this phenomenon, the photographer engages with environmental storytelling that moves beyond picturesque representation toward a more complete portrait of place.

The work also demonstrates sophisticated understanding of the sublime in contemporary landscape photography. The tradition of depicting nature’s awesome power—from nineteenth-century Romantic painters to mid-century photographers like Ansel Adams capturing Sierra storms—finds fresh expression here. The lightning strike serves as both subject and metaphor: a literal discharge of atmospheric energy and a symbolic representation of nature’s capacity to humble human observers.

Viewed alongside the chapter’s urban architectural studies, this image provides necessary balance. Together, these photographs suggest a photographer equally attentive to built and natural environments, capable of finding visual poetry in glass towers and electrical storms alike. Such range indicates a mature artistic vision—one that recognizes Florida’s complexity as both a site of intensive human development and a landscape still subject to forces beyond human control.

Venice Fishing Pier Sunset: Mastering the Fundamentals of Light

Greg Urbano’s sunset photograph of the Venice Fishing Pier exemplifies the intersection of technical skill and artistic sensibility in landscape photography. Through meticulous use of exposure and composition, Urbano captures a moment where structured permanence meets the fluidity of nature, showcasing balanced tones and dynamic movement in a serene coastal scene.

Sunset photograph of the Venice Fishing Pier in Florida, showing the pier extending into the Gulf of Mexico with golden reflections on calm water.
Sunset over the Gulf of Mexico with the Venice Fishing Pier in the background, captured in a long exposure.

Within Greg Urbano’s “Beginnings” chapter, this sunset photograph of the Venice Fishing Pier represents a photographer coming to terms with landscape photography’s essential discipline: the patient orchestration of light, water, and architecture. Shot along Florida’s Gulf Coast, the image demonstrates technical competence married to an emerging aesthetic sensibility—a combination that marks the transition from enthusiast to serious practitioner.

The technical execution reveals deliberate choices that elevate this beyond a simple sunset snapshot. Using a Nikon D610 with an 18-35mm lens set to 28mm, Urbano selected an aperture of f/18 to maximize depth of field, ensuring sharpness from the foreground water to the distant pier structure. The 13-second exposure at ISO 100 transforms the Gulf of Mexico into a silken plane, smoothing the texture of incoming waves into an ethereal blue gradient. This long exposure technique—fundamental to seascape photography—requires both technical knowledge and patience, waiting for the precise moment when light, tide, and atmospheric conditions align.

The composition demonstrates sophisticated spatial awareness. The pier’s diagonal thrust from lower right to upper left creates dynamic movement through the frame, leading the viewer’s eye from the silky foreground water toward the structure’s vanishing point. The rhythmic repetition of pier supports establishes a visual cadence, their angular geometry contrasting beautifully with the organic flow of water and clouds. An American flag atop the pier adds a vertical accent and a touch of patriotic iconography without overwhelming the scene’s natural beauty.

What distinguishes this photograph is Urbano’s treatment of light. The setting sun hovers just above the horizon line, its golden warmth reflected in a shimmering path across the water’s surface. The exposure balances multiple tonal zones expertly: the brilliant sun doesn’t blow out to featureless white, the shadowed pier structure retains detail, and the water holds both luminous highlights and cool, deep blues. This tonal control suggests a photographer who understands exposure compensation and potentially uses graduated neutral density filters or careful post-processing to manage the scene’s extreme dynamic range.

The sky deserves particular attention. Wispy cirrus clouds stretch across the frame in delicate streaks, their feathered patterns creating texture and visual interest in what might otherwise be empty blue space. The interplay between warm sunset tones near the horizon and cooler blues above establishes atmospheric depth, giving the image a sense of vast space and coastal openness.

As a “Beginnings” chapter work, this photograph represents mastery of landscape photography fundamentals. The long exposure technique, the careful attention to composition and leading lines, the patient waiting for optimal light—these are the building blocks upon which more experimental work can later be constructed. There’s confidence here, a photographer who has moved beyond technical uncertainty into intentional image-making.

The Venice Pier becomes more than a documentary subject; it transforms into a meditation on structure and impermanence. The solid, engineered permanence of the pier contrasts with the fluid, ever-changing water—a tension made visible through photographic technique. Urbano captures not just a place, but a moment of perfect equilibrium between human construction and natural forces, all bathed in the transient golden light that photographers chase endlessly along coastlines worldwide.

Fallen Tree: The Foundation of Seeing

The photograph from Hillsborough River State Park, taken by Greg Urbano in 2013 with a Nikon D7100, captures a pivotal moment in his artistic development. It reflects his early understanding of composition and intentionality, showcasing the dense subtropical landscape through HDR processing. This image symbolizes the importance of beginnings and learning in photography.

HDR photograph of a forest trail in Hillsborough River State Park with a large fallen tree across the path, dense vegetation, and filtered natural light, taken with a Nikon D7100 at 10mm.
A 2013 HDR landscape photograph of a fallen tree along a forest trail in Hillsborough River State Park, Florida.

In the opening chapter of Greg Urbano’s photographic journey, this image from Hillsborough River State Park stands as a testament to the essential nature of beginnings. Shot in 2013 with a Nikon D7100, the photograph captures more than a forest scene—it documents the foundational moment when a photographer learns to truly see the landscape before him.

The composition reveals an intuitive understanding of depth and perspective. Shot at 10mm, the wide-angle lens creates an immersive quality that draws viewers directly onto the trail. The fallen log in the foreground serves as both literal and metaphorical threshold, inviting passage into the deeper woods beyond. This diagonal element cuts across the frame with authority, its weathered texture rendered in sharp detail by the f/8.0 aperture, demonstrating Urbano’s early grasp of how to balance foreground interest with background context.

The HDR processing technique employed here reflects the experimental spirit characteristic of this pre-2015 period. While HDR would later fall somewhat out of favor in fine art photography circles, its application in this image serves a clear purpose: to capture the dynamic range of a Florida forest understory, where dappled sunlight creates extreme contrasts between shadow and highlight. The palmetto fronds and oak canopy are rendered with an almost hyper-real clarity that emphasizes the dense, layered nature of this subtropical ecosystem.

What makes this photograph particularly significant within the “Beginnings” chapter is its honesty about place and limitation. Urbano’s accompanying note—that this Florida park offered his “best opportunity to capture flowing water over river rocks” before relocating to Colorado—reveals something crucial about artistic development. Great photography emerges not from waiting for perfect conditions, but from working intensively with what’s available. This trail became his classroom, this fallen log his teacher.

The technical choices demonstrate a photographer thinking through his craft. The 1/50s shutter speed suggests deliberate handholding technique, while the ISO 200 setting indicates available light conditions and a preference for image quality. These aren’t the settings of someone simply pointing and shooting; they reveal consideration and intentionality, even in these early stages.

The color palette—predominantly greens with earth-toned accents—creates a cohesive, naturalistic feel despite the HDR processing. The slight motion blur in the foliage adds an organic quality, a reminder that this is a living landscape caught in a specific moment. The trail itself winds invitingly into the frame’s depth, disappearing around a bend that promises further discovery—a fitting metaphor for the artistic journey being documented.

In the context of Urbano’s larger body of work, this image represents more than just an early attempt. It embodies the crucial truth that mastery begins with showing up, with making photographs even when the circumstances aren’t ideal, even when the technique hasn’t been perfected. The photograph’s inclusion in his top 100 collection isn’t about technical perfection but about recognizing the importance of foundation.

Every artist’s journey requires a starting point, a place where curiosity meets commitment. This fallen tree, this Florida trail, this moment of learning to see—these are the essential ingredients that would eventually lead to mountain streams in Colorado and a mature photographic vision. The imperfect attempt, it turns out, isn’t just necessary. It’s everything.

Marie Selby Roots, 2012

In Greg Urbano’s 2012 black and white photograph of banyan tree roots at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, the ordinary is elevated to extraordinary. Using a Nikon D5100, he emphasizes natural architecture and texture, inviting viewers to appreciate the monumental presence of the roots and their intricate details, symbolizing persistence and growth.

Black‑and‑white close‑up photograph of large banyan tree roots spreading across the ground at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, taken with a Nikon D5100.
A 2012 black‑and‑white photograph of banyan tree roots at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida.

In the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens of Sarasota, Florida, Greg Urbano discovered a subject that speaks to photography’s essential pursuit: finding extraordinary vision in the ordinary world. His 2012 image of a banyan tree’s root system transforms what many visitors might walk past into a study of natural architecture, texture, and the quiet monumentality of growth.

Shot on a Nikon D5100 at 18mm, the photograph embraces the wide-angle perspective to emphasize the sculptural sprawl of roots as they emerge from and return to the earth. The technical choices here are deliberate—an aperture of ƒ/4.5 provides sufficient depth of field to keep the intricate root structures sharp from foreground to middle ground, while the 1/80s shutter speed at ISO 100 captures clean detail in what appears to be soft, overcast light. The conversion to black and white strips away the distraction of color, allowing the image to become purely about form, line, and the interplay of light across weathered surfaces.

What makes this photograph compelling is its invitation to reconsider scale and presence. Banyan trees are known for their dramatic aerial root systems, which drop from branches to establish new anchor points in the soil. These roots, over time, become massive supporting structures that can make a single tree look like an entire forest. Urbano positions his lens low and close, giving these roots the monumentality they deserve. They undulate across the frame like organic highways, their surfaces marked by the patient work of decades—moss-covered in places, smooth and silvered in others, each groove and crack a record of growth and adaptation.

The composition draws the eye through natural pathways. The roots create flowing curves that lead deeper into the frame, while pockets of accumulated leaves and debris provide textural contrast and visual rest stops. There’s an almost sculptural quality to the way light models the cylindrical forms, revealing their three-dimensionality through subtle gradations of gray. The photograph operates on multiple levels: as documentation of a specific botanical specimen, as an abstract study of natural form, and as a meditation on time, persistence, and the hidden infrastructure that supports visible life.

Within the context of the Top 100 Journey project, this image represents the photographer’s developing eye for architectural elements in nature. The banyan’s root system is, after all, a kind of natural architecture—functional, structural, and beautiful in its purposeful design. The black and white treatment connects this work to photography’s documentary traditions while simultaneously elevating the subject into the realm of fine art.

There’s something humbling about standing before such a root system, and Urbano’s photograph captures that sense of being in the presence of something both ancient and ongoing. These roots speak to persistence, to the slow but inexorable way living things claim their space in the world. The photographer’s choice to work at ground level, to get close and look carefully, reveals a fundamental photographic truth: the world rewards sustained attention. What appears as mere roots at first glance becomes, through the lens, a landscape unto itself—complex, textured, and worthy of extended contemplation.

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Into the Green Cathedral: Highlands Hammock State Park, 2011

Greg Urbano’s 2011 photograph from the Cypress Swamp Trail reflects the intersection of technical skill and artistic vision in photography. Using a Pentax K-x, he captures a weathered boardwalk amidst Florida’s lush swamp, illustrating the relationship between nature and human presence. The image balances light and texture, inviting viewers into a transformative experience.

Wooden boardwalk winding through a cypress swamp with tall trees, exposed roots, and reflective dark water, photographed in 2011 with a Pentax K‑x.
A 2011 photograph of the Cypress Swamp Trail boardwalk at Highlands Hammock State Park in Florida.

In the early stages of any photographer’s journey, there exists a pivotal moment when technical capability intersects with artistic vision—when the craft begins to serve something deeper than mere documentation. Greg Urbano’s 2011 photograph from the Cypress Swamp Trail at Highlands Hammock State Park captures precisely this threshold, presenting a meditation on entrance, passage, and the liminal spaces where human intervention meets primordial nature.

The composition anchors itself on a weathered wooden boardwalk that curves through the left third of the frame, its moss-stained surface bearing witness to countless footsteps and Florida’s relentless humidity. Shot at 18mm on a Pentax K-x with the kit lens, Urbano demonstrates an understanding that wide-angle photography isn’t about capturing everything—it’s about creating context and relationship. The boardwalk serves as both literal path and visual guide, drawing the eye from the immediate foreground deep into the swamp’s verdant interior.

What distinguishes this image from typical nature photography is its masterful handling of light in a notoriously challenging environment. Shooting at f/4.0 with a 1/40s shutter speed and ISO 400, Urbano navigated the technical constraints of a modestly equipped camera to capture the dappled luminosity filtering through the canopy. The exposure balances the bright patches of sky visible through the trees with the darker water below, creating a tonal range that feels both accurate and atmospheric. The slightly elevated ISO introduces a subtle grain that, rather than detracting from the image, contributes to its organic texture.

The swamp water itself becomes a secondary canvas, reflecting the surrounding cypress trunks and creating visual echoes that blur the boundary between substance and reflection. Fallen branches break the surface tension, their pale, skeletal forms contrasting with the vibrant greens of new growth. This juxtaposition of decay and vitality speaks to the swamp’s essential nature as a place of transformation, where death continuously feeds life.

The color palette reveals a sophisticated eye for harmony—countless variations of green layer upon one another, from the luminous chartreuse of sunlit leaves to the deep olive shadows beneath the boardwalk. The aged wood introduces warmer earth tones, grounding the composition and providing respite from the overwhelming verdancy. These are the subtle decisions that separate intentional photography from happy accidents.

Within the context of a photographer’s formative work, this image represents more than technical competence. It demonstrates an emerging awareness of how to use man-made structures not as intrusions upon nature, but as framers of experience—the boardwalk doesn’t dominate the swamp; it offers a way to witness it. The slight curve of the path suggests journey and discovery, inviting viewers to imagine themselves walking deeper into this green cathedral.

Shot with entry-level equipment during a period when digital photography was becoming democratized, this photograph affirms that vision matters more than gear. The Pentax K-x and kit lens proved sufficient tools for capturing not just a place, but an atmosphere—the particular quality of light, air, and time that defines Florida’s ancient swamplands. It stands as evidence of a photographer learning to see, to compose, and to recognize moments worth preserving.

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