Goodbye, 2016

2016 was a year full of ups and downs, for me and for everyone.  

I'm not one for "resolution" or any cliche shenanigans, but I am one for optimism and looking forward.  2016 did come with losses, but it also came with opportunity.  Many of those opportunities have become inspiration, inspirations that I'm going to take with me to 2017 and try my hardest to build on.

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Behind the Photo: Best of 2016 - Voyage Cosmique

The second installment of my "behind the photo" series also comes from Chamonix.

One of the things I really geek out on, online, is Google Maps.  I find it to be a fantastic tool to find new places to visit.  I use Earth view and then rotate an image to get a 3D appearance so I can get an idea of what the terrain looks like - from there I use the street view tool to hopefully find other people's images to get a "real world" idea of the area.  So there's secret number one on how I find some of the places I have been.

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A Fall Afternoon in the San Juan Mountains - Ridgway, Colorado

I had been staying in Breckenridge with a friend and couldn't really decide what I wanted to do.  I was planning to head to Minturn to see my two favorite pups, Gus and Blu (find them on Instgram by clicking - @gusandblu), but as I was driving over Cory Marshall (who you may recall from my Iceland adventures) called me and invited me down to Ridgway.  He had invited me down a few times, but the previous times I had been busy, but this time I was finally free.  I was hesitant because it was already late in the morning and it was well over a 3 hour drive down, but I knew I would regret it if I didn't go...so I set off.

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Aiguille du Midi - Chamonix, France

Aiguille du Midi is a peak located in the Rhône-Alpes of France; It is part of the Mont Blanc massif. From the town of Chamonix, you take a series of two cable cars (téléphérique in French) which ascend a whopping 2,807m (9,209 feet).  The second cable car runs without any support pillars - this means the cable car is suspended by nothing other than the building at the top and at the bottom.

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An Afternoon in the Redwoods

I recently took a trip down to California's Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park with Antonia and her family.  I have been to the Redwoods four times now and each time I am overwhelmed with a joyous feeling.  The redwoods are a magical place; the size, the red of their bark, the green forest floor and moss growing on literally everything.  It's an enchanted place, a forest like no other that I have ever seen.  

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Iceland - Day 6

Picking up where we left off...

...I woke up from my nap and we continued our way to Gullfoss. When we arrived it was still rather dark; not many clouds in the sky which would mean nothing too special for sunrise color, but there was no one else there, so I was happy about that.

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Iceland - Day 5

Due to some complications, we had to drive back to Reykjavik. Being the type who can't sit still, that didn't last long before I decided to head back out and explore more. 

We headed back towards Skógafoss. We made it out there just in time to catch the sunset. I wish there had been a bit more color, but really, such a petty complaint considering that we were able to watch the sunset over this astonishing waterfall.

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Iceland - Day 4

Sleep. Who needs it? That's certainly how I was feeling at this point considering the long days and nights. 

Our first planned stop for the day was Goðafoss. Goðafoss isn't a very long drive from Mývatn. We arrived and of course it was already fairly busy; seeing as how beautiful it was, it's not a surprise. The waterfall is a horseshoe shape; beautiful clear, blue water pours into the river below. 

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Iceland - Day 3

Day 3 was more of a travel day than anything else. The reason I chose Höfn for the place we were staying was due to it's proximity to Vestrahorn. 

We left Höfn in the morning and made our way out towards Vestrahorn. The weather wasn't very cooperative; it wasn't raining at the time, but the skies were rather bland and gray. Regardless, I definitely needed to stop, but the chances of getting any great photos wasn't very likely. 

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Iceland - Day 2

Day 2 started rough, and the reason I say that is because I was completely exhausted. Staying up late and watching the northern lights meant not much sleep for me!

The first stop of the day was at Iceland's iconic (at least I would call it that) Skógafoss. It's big, it's beautiful, it's so busy it's hard to photograph; there are always people there, despite the weather and the time of day. Now, I had been to Skógafoss last year and took the "traditional" approach photos; this year I wanted to get different perspectives.

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Iceland - Day 1

Iceland - what can I say; Iceland is never-ending beauty. No matter where you go, you'll be blown away with the aesthetics of this country.

Having arrived late in the day, we stayed in Reykjavik, Iceland's capital city. We stayed the night at the main campground within the city, Reykjavík Campsite. It's conveniently located, affordable and a major stopping point for people passing through the country; a fantastic place to meet other travelers. We spent the night discussing our plan of attack as I really wanted to get around the entire country this trip. Last year I had the same ambitious plan, but not enough time and I didn't plan the trip extensively enough to know where we would stay outside of Reykjavik. This year we had more time and I planned the trip much more meticulously to ensure we could make it around the island.

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The Night Sky

Shooting the night sky is one of my favorite things to do. A clear night under the stars is something amazing - when you look up and stare at the stars, you realize just how small we really are: we are a speck on a larger speck in a much larger arena that we can't even fathom the scale of.

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