"Golden Gate Bridge in the fog," September 2005

Golden Gate Bridge in the fog

Is this not iconic or what? The Golden Gate Bridge belongs in the mist.

"Blame it on the Tetons," May 2006

In Wyoming, May 27, 2006

On an overcast late-May day in northwestern Wyoming, the clouds hang low over the Grand Tetons, which dwarf the bison grazing in the fields. I have no shortage of images that would fit the category of "peaceful," but most are stored away on negatives in albums on a shelf in the spare bedroom. My grand plan to sort through the vast -- albeit mostly mediocre -- archives and try my hand at scanning them in has yet to begin.

I can already picture some of the, well, pictures that would work for this theme. There's one of me sitting on a rock, looking out over a frozen pond deep in the Maine winter. There's Notre Dame's grotto at night, the candles illuminating the rocks in the alcove in a soft, yellow light. There are numerous snowscapes in which you can feel the cold and sense the silence of the muffled scene.

Just one more item for the to-do list.

"Lost in the Mist," Yellowstone National Park, May 2006

I couldn't decide between the two. I like the vertical one for the scale and the bits of detail in the foreground and the stripped trees up on the hill. But I like the horizontal one for the simple solitude of a man alone with an umbrella in the mist. The combination of a cold rain on this gray May afternoon and the warm steam coming up from the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park made this a thoroughly wet experience. It was like being in a sauna with the shower on -- while dressed. And I didn't have a raincoat, only a fleece.