Nature Photography | Russ Bishop Photography | Nature Photo Blog

April 7, 2021April 7, 2021

Nature as Medicine

Trail through moss covered forest along the Columbia River, Fort Cascade National Historic Site, Washington

As the world struggles with a pandemic not seen in our lifetime it’s important to focus on the positive. Social distancing and working from home has become the new norm, but creative ways to stay healthy and a shift in the thinking of health care providers have also emerged.

Prior to the current situation an interesting phenomenon had already been taking hold in the medical profession. Just when the cost of health insurance had skyrocketed, doctors across the country began trying a new approach. Instructing their patients to “take a hike” as a prescription for good health – literally.

They’re not trying to show you the door, but instead are medicating patients with nature to treat everything from heart disease to attention deficit disorder. Detailed prescriptions are often written to include park or preserve locations, specific trails and mileage. In many ways, as Ken Burns pointed out in his excellent series “America’s Best Idea”, our national park system can and should be an integral part of our healthcare system.

As a landscape photographer, I typically spend a great deal of time on and off the trail, and I feel fortunate that my work not only helps to protect these special places, but promotes my health in the process. Photography and outdoor recreation have always been an ideal match, and now they can be considered part of your health regimen. They could even lower your medical bills – and that’s an idea worth spreading!

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” ― Rachel Carson

March 26, 2021March 26, 2021

Worlds Away on Hawaii’s Big Island

Umauma Falls along the lush Hamakua Coast, Hawaii

The Big Island of Hawaii is well-known for its active volcano, black sand beaches, and magical Kona sunsets, and that’s more than enough reason to visit this island paradise. But what many may not realize is that the eastern side of the island is a lush tropical landscape of cascading waterfalls and jungle-lined valleys in a primordial setting.

Traveling north from Hilo on the old Mamalahoa Highway is a journey back in time. Passing countless sugar cane fields, the primary industry here during the last century, the landscape soon enters the dense jungle as the road winds along the rugged Hamakua Coast. With constant views of the Pacific on the right, the highway passes countless verdant chasms lined with an amazing variety of plants and trees that fill every available space with green. Needless to say, you soon find yourself looking for every available pull-out.

Akaka Falls State Park is one of the highlights of the coast. A short nature trail leads through giant bamboo forests and tropical cascades before arriving at its namesake waterfall. Further north, just before the highway turns west towards the town of Waimea, a spur road leads through the sleepy hamlet of Honoka’a to the spectacular Waipio Valley. The overlook at the end of the main road provides stunning views of this valley of the kings and the dramatic cliffs of the north coast, but traveling into the valley down the 25% grade (reported to be the steepest in the US) requires several hours and a guide or 4-wheel drive vehicle.

Boasting 4 out of the 5 major climate zones in the world, and 8 out of 13 of the sub-zones, the Big Isle really does have it all! Unlike the other Islands, which require less travel time, it takes a bit of planning to fully experience the largest of the Hawaiian Islands – but this is one part you don’t want to miss.

November 30, 2020November 30, 2020

Glacial Waters

St. Mary Falls, Glacier National Park, Montana

Glacier National Park in northern Montana is a world carved by ice. Known to Native Americans as the “Shining Mountains”, canyons flow down from this alpine environment along the Continental Divide that were formed a millennia ago when mastodons roamed the earth.

Moving just inches a year, the glaciers fill the rivers and streams below with silt giving them their unique turquoise hue. And set against the red and green sedimentary rock (the oldest in the entire Rocky Mountain chain), the colors provide a visual feast while the chill in the air is a constant reminder that the ice is not far above.

Glacier is recognised as an International Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site, and preserves more than a million acres of forests, alpine meadows, lakes, rugged peaks and glacial-carved valleys. Though evidence shows that within thirty years all of the ice may be gone, rangers are quick to point out that the park was named as much for the forces that formed it as the glaciers themselves.

A trip to this magnificent park should be on anyone’s bucket list to North America, but it’s frozen remains are just one facet of the many awe-inspiring sights waiting to explored.