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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...
Timescapes Meet-Up August 2016: Day Seven, Farewells, and Thoughts
Day seven. Our last full day at Glacier National Park. We wanted to get absolutely everything out of it, so, we were up by one in the morning and at the trailhead by two-thirty in the morning. I've always been very comfortable outside in the wee hours of...
Timescapes Meet-Up August 2016: Day Six
The morning of day six opened with great promise. The night before we had all sat around the table at the rental home and discussed various plans in terms of where to go and what to see. Our destination was concrete. We were going to split into a couple smaller...
Timescapes Meet-Up August 2016: Day Five
Day five opened with the drumming of rain against the outside of the rental home. Several half-awake and questioning faces emerged from various rooms into the main living space where I was sleeping on the sofa. An efficient but effective, “go back to sleep” from our...
Timescapes Meet-Up August 2016: Day Four
Day four. Time to get back up on the horse. I logged some quality shut-eye on a surface that wasn’t rolling at seventy-miles an hour (pretty sure I didn’t move from the time I laid it down to the moment my alarm woke me!). I was excited to get myself back in the...