I saw steam above Old Faithful, watched a sunset in the Great Smoky Mountains, caught some nice light on Lake McDonald (below) watched the sunset from both sides of the Grand Tetons, and caught some afternoon light in Yosemite (above). Just what I needed to stir my photographic juices.

The resolution and quality on these webcams is limited but there is still enough information to get an idea what it is like to be there. Wandering the world via my favorite web cams (via links at my websites) is a good lesson in light. Nice one day, blah the next. The light can change in a few minutes from boring to great and back again. And while the light is dramatic in one location, at the same time it can be flat in another. Too bad I can’t check out my locations via the internet and then say “Beam me to Yosemite Scotty.”

So we go to a location, spend some time, and look for good subjects, wait for good light and do our best to match the subject to the light. I had several straight days of rain and fog on a trip to Colorado when I could not see one mountain, or even part of one. I had several days of great light in Alaska. We take what we get and make the most of it. Too foggy for grand landscapes? Do soft light flower closeups. When magic happens, we make photographs like crazy.

Between now and your next photo trip (across town or around the world), you can wander the world via web cam. Some of my favorite web cam links are here. I just added some new links.

Lake McDonald via web cam, Glacier National Park