Olympic National Park’s Hoh Rain Forest sits on the western slope of the Olympic Peninsula, fed by moisture-laden air rolling off the Pacific. The forest receives between 140 and 170 inches of precipitation annually.
The canopy is dominated by Sitka spruce, western hemlock, and big-leaf maple. The forest floor is carpeted in up to 130 species of moss, which drape every horizontal surface in unbroken green. Nurse logs provide nutrients and structure for new growth across decades.
Roosevelt elk move through the valley in herds of 30 or more. The Hoh is among the quietest places in the continental United States. Western red cedar individuals here have been dated to over 1,000 years old.
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Old Growth — Inside the Hoh Rainforest
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Chicago After Midnight — The Lakefront at Blue Hour
Chicago’s skyline is one of the most architecturally significant in the world. After the Great Fire of 1871 levelled much of the city, Chicago rebuilt with ambition, pioneering the steel-frame skyscraper and establishing the vocabulary of the modern city.
The Willis Tower, completed in 1973, held the title of the world’s tallest building for 25 years. Lake Michigan provides the city’s eastern edge — a 58,000 square kilometre inland sea that keeps Chicago’s summers mild and its winters brutal.
Blue hour photography in Chicago rewards patience. The 20-minute window between civil and nautical twilight produces even, diffused light that brings out the full depth of the skyline without blowing out artificial lights or losing shadow detail. -
Golden Hour Over the Canadian Rockies
Banff National Park sits 1,400 metres above sea level in the heart of the Alberta Rockies. Established in 1885, it is Canada’s oldest national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Peyto Lake owes its vivid turquoise colour to glacial silt carried by meltwater from Peyto Glacier above. The fine particles remain suspended in the water column, absorbing red and yellow wavelengths and reflecting blue-green light back to the surface.
Golden hour in the Rockies lasts approximately 45 minutes. The low angle of the sun casts long shadows across the valley floor while bathing the upper peaks in warm directional light.