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Published: Backpacker Magazine Sep / Oct 2019
PUBLICATION: Backpacker Magazine ARTICLE: The Best Local Hikes: Hikers Pick Their Favorite Trails Around the U.S. PHOTO USE: 1/2 page spreadI had an opportunity to contribute a small image of Virginia Hawkins Falls in Upstate South Carolina to Backpacker Magazine...
Published: Our State Magazine June 2019
PUBLICATION: Our State Magazine ARTICLE: Island Time PHOTO USE: One-page and 1/4 page spreads, pages #54-55It's always fulfilling to get an opportunity to place images in Our State Magazine. So many of the places and memories of my own life have occured within...
Year in Review: 10 for 2018
As I write this in late December, my area of Northern Virginia is but a sprinkle of rain from being the wettest year on record (Update: we got the extra rain and we broke the record). 2018 was wet. The damp certainly had its effect on annual blooms and seasonal...
Photo Essay: Monarch Caterpillars 2018
The time is just after seven-thirty in the morning; the air is palpable, calm and thick. A low sun slowly ascends in the sky, casting lazy, warm light. Dew, thick and abundant, coats the grass beneath my feet. I can feel the moisture coming through the...
Year in Review: 10 for 2017
Every June I travel sure-footed along the Appalachian Trail, up and over the open, grassy meadows of the Roan Highlands seeking showy pink seasonal blooms of Catawba Rhododendron. My anticipation drives grand visions of large stands of heavy,...
Photo Essay: My Outer Banks
Photography is a game of vision, and vision is unique to each photographer. How each of us views a place is some complex derivation of personal experiences, learned knowledge, and personal attributes—all of which cannot be duplicated, only...
Published: Landscape Photography Magazine May 2017
I had the great opportunity to work with the folks over at Landscape Photography Magazine to showcase one of my favorite places to photograph, the Outer Banks of North Carolina. While much has changed along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore since I was...
Published: April 2017 Our State Magazine
I'm honored to have had an opportunity to work on assignment--for the first time--with Our State Magazine towards fulfillment of the April 2017 photo essay regarding Azalea in North Carolina. My portion of the assignment was to capture images of the Pinkshell and...
Photo Essay: Pinkshell & Flame Azalea 2016
In March 2016, while I was photographing the annual spring bloom in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, Our State Magazine--a North Carolina periodical--reached out to me and offered an opportunity to complete an assignment to be featured in the April 2017...
Photo Essay: Oconee Bell Wildflowers 2017
I lived in the Upstate of South Carolina for nearly ten years while I pursued various degrees at Clemson University. Neighboring Oconee County was where I went to find my "away." I've always loved books and learning. To this day, when an Amazon delivery arrives on...
Photo Essay: Virginia Bluebell Wildflowers
Each year, a small gap in my travel schedule allows a return to my hometown of Northern Virginia to witness and photograph the Virginia Bluebells. Much of the early spring hype is focused on the nearby Japanese Cherry Trees in downtown Washington D.C., where visitors...
Photo Essay: Spring in the Smokies 2016
Each year, as spring rounds out towards mid-April I make a pilgrimage to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I'm never alone; the who's who of outdoor photography will be in the same place. Friends, mentors and those who I've only followed...
16 Experiences for 2016
YEAR IN REVIEW 16 Memories for the Year 2016 Mark VanDyke, Photographer 7 December 2016 This year more than any before I began to understand that it's not about the image for me personally. I stopped obsessing about getting the image or wondering about how I'm going...
From the Field: October in Western North Carolina
FROM THE FIELD October in Western North Carolina 2016 Mark VanDyke, Photographer 1 December 2016 It's always difficult to sum up an entire season in one post, especially when time has passed (is it really December?). That is, however, what I'm going to attempt here,...
Labor Day Weekend 2016: Outer Banks, North Carolina
Hermine. That was the monster that lingered on the forecast for Labor Day weekend. Being an outdoor photographer, of course I was heading towards the storm instead of away. Only this time it wasn’t necessarily by plan. My mother and I booked a weekend of...