McWay falls drops from a wooded ridge and free-falls onto a sandy crescent beach beside a turquoise-colored cove. At high tide, the waterfall drops directly into the Pacific, a rare occurrence for waterfall fans. The waterfall faces northwest and is shaded until late in the afternoon. A setting sun supplies a warm, rosy glow across the whole scene.

Stay off TransCanada Highway 1 and drive the more scenic route from the Confederation Bridge to Charlottetown eastward on Route 10. Twenty kilometers east of the bridge is the historic village of Victoria where you’ll find a lighthouse near the fishing harbor. An old wooden dory is weathering away in the grass while adding a picturesque foreground to the scene. Park and walk along the waterfront. Then walk into the village to sample the homemade sweets at Island Chocolates. Walk the length of the village to photograph gardens surrounding colorful Victorian cottages.

South of Farmington, New Mexico, in the Four Corners region, lies the ruins of the largest Anasazi community in the American Southwest. Scattered across a twenty-mile-long canyon are the ruins of two-thousand prehistoric dwellings. The largest of these, Pueblo Bonito, flourished in the early 1100s, when it stood four-stories high and contained six hundred rooms. Skilled Chacoan masons worked with precision and care to create vast communal buildings. These walls are solid and doorways are still straight and true after standing more than a thousand years. Remains of the red stone walls glow in morning and afternoon light. Shadows keep moving across the walls, creating new compositions. Most roofs and ceilings have collapsed long ago, so rooms are open to the sky. There are two long, rough dirt roads leading into Chaco. No services are available in the canyon. Plan to camp while photographing the ruins.

Located at the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway and divided by the border between Tennessee and North Carolina, this national park is the most visited park in America. Arrive in the spring for the peak of the wildflower season or in October when autumn foliage paints the mountain sides. Here are details on the back roads, remote trails, and hidden corners of this park where few visitors travel. This issue will help you find the fall color, wildflowers, waterfalls, and where to set up a tripod to capture the classic sunrise scenes of distant fog-filled valleys and overlapping ridges of blue hills receding far into the distant Appalachians.

One of the largest displays of petroglyphs in southern Nevada is located at the mouth of Grapevine Canyon, five miles west of Laughlin, Nevada. This location is near the point where Arizona, California, and Nevada meet. This spot is a ninety-minute drive south of Las Vegas. To photograph the many petroglyphs, you will need several lenses. A 28-80mm zoom and a 70-300mm zoom should allow you to frame the whole scene as well as the small details located high above the trail. Most of the petroglyphs are geometric patterns, with a few human figures and some big horn sheep scattered throughout. Some of the rock art is at ground level. Other panels are high up on the slopes and require a long telephoto lens. A 300mm lens was perfect for framing most of the higher petroglyphs. Most of the panels face the east, and morning light is probably the best illumination for these petroglyphs. In the late afternoon, all the panels are in shade and there are fewer contrast problems with slick rock reflections and dark shadows beneath the stones.

Visitors will discover isolated beaches and seascapes free of any trace of man, as well as busy harbor scenes packed with colorful lobster boats and trawlers anchored in protected coves. At day's end when the fleet returns, lobster traps and brightly colored buoys are piled on wharves, nets are hung to dry, and workers are busy cleaning and boxing fish for delivery to market. Photographers, always searching for the best light, may discover these scenes enveloped in morning fog as a rising sun paints reflections of brightly colored boats on the surface of calm coves. Every season shows a different face of coastal Nova Scotia. Plan your visit soon and enjoy some great photography.

I flew into Alaska to photograph the Kenai Peninsula, a location that every nature photographer wants to visit. I flew into Anchorage and rented a car. I drove most of the roads south of Anchorage, finding many spectacular landscapes along the side of the road. Several boat trips revealed even more remote locations south of Homer and hikes to the edge of several glaciers. I photographed bears, moose, elk, whales, and many seabirds. I returned from this adventure with the landscape and wildlife photographs I had hoped for and gained a much greater appreciation for Alaska.

Along the rugged Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia, hundreds of small villages and tiny harbors support a fishing fleet that still harvests a living from the sea. From Yarmouth to the northern tip of Cape Breton, every bay, cove, and harbor along the Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia is a home port to working fishermen. Photographers looking for images should travel the coast of this Canadian Maritime Province. In addition to wildlife preserves and national parks that protect large wilderness areas, the contributions of settlers from many lands can be seen in the Nova Scotia of today. Some of the best lighthouse photography can be found here.

Stovepipe Wells dunes, Zabriskie Point, and Badwater are some of the best places to set up a tripod at sunrise. Photograph the mysterious sliding rocks on the Racetrack. Dante’s View, Ubehebe Crater, and Titus Canyon should be on the list of locations for every photographer. A single creosote bush at the base of a dune at sunrise or a stone on the edge of a salt pond at sunset can also inspire a photographer to create unique images of Death Valley. Be out there at sunrise and sunset and the desert light will inspire you. Death Valley is a wonderful winter destination for nature photographers.

John Ford Point is one of my favorite Monument Valley spots. It’s a great place to be at sunrise and sunset. Maps show which roads and trails are open to the public, which can be explored when accompanied by an authorized Navajo guide. Hire a Navajo guide and use their services to photograph the formation called Yei Bi Chei at sunrise. Learn the best time to photograph the Teardrop Window and how to get a Navajo guide to photograph Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto.