Photography – David Kotz

Dartmouth and its castle

The picturesque village of Dartmouth, at the mouth of the River Dart.

Dartmouth College has been a major part of my life – as a student, professor, parent, and spouse – for over four decades. I am proud to be part of the extended community of this Ivy-League university that dates back to 1769, founded even before the United States. And yet, although I’ve long been aware it was named after the Earl of Dartmouth, in England, I’d never had a chance to look deeper into the origin of its name. Until today! I spent a beautiful spring afternoon exploring the picturesque village of Dartmouth, nestled along the banks of the River Dart within sight of the river’s mouth, which is defended by a Castle dating back to 1388. In addition to exploring this Dartmouth’s many historical milestones, my hike (30th consecutive weekend!) led me to one of the most spectacular wildflower meadows I’ve ever seen, in peak bloom!

David – on the River Dart, in Dartmouth England.

Amsterdam and tulips

A perfect weekend to visit!

The tulips are in full bloom in Holland! For my “hike” this weekend, Pam and I joined our friend Jen for a weekend in Amsterdam. (It’s only four hours from London via train!) Jen kindly arranged a bike rental in Lisse, a small village south of Amsterdam surrounded by vast fields of tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths – all in full bloom – where the air was sweet with the scent from hundreds of thousands of flowers. We spent a lovely few hours riding the bike paths – the Netherlands are heaven for bikers, because nearly every street and road has an adjacent bike path, with dedicated signage.

Vast fields of tulips, hyacinth, daffodils, and other flowers – outside Amsterdam.

Svalbard cruise

A first installment about my trip to Svalbard.

I’ve just completed an amazing ten-day visit to Svalbard, an Arctic archipelago far to the north of Norway. In a prior post from Longyearbyen (the only substantial town in Svalbard), I described the fascinating multi-national character of these islands located at 76-81ºN latitude, only 600 miles from the North Pole. I flew here for a week-long photography workshop with Muench Workshops, aboard the MS Virgo. In this post I’ll share an overview of the ship, our itinerary, and our activities. I’ve posted a photo gallery; the videos may give you a good sense of the incredible landscape, but I am saving the best shots for future posts focused on wildlife and landscape – I’m still sifting through over 12,000 raw images snapped over ten days! [Postscript: One of my trip-mates put together a really nice five-minute video about our trip.]

Our group photographs the landscape in Hornsund, southern Svalbard.

Moffen Island, Svalbard

Snow and walrus at 80ºN.

Today was not a typical hike, by any stretch of the imagination! While a light snowfall whipped across the featureless arctic landscape of Moffen Island – a tiny islet three hours’ sail north of Svalbard’s mainland at 80ºN – we walked across the southern spit to photograph a group of walruses that had hauled out of the sea for a long nap.

David (at left) and others photograph walrus during a snowstorm on Moffen Island.

Longyearbyen – Svalbard

Time to launch a new adventure!

I’ve just concluded a 48-hour visit to Longyearbyen, the largest settlement in Svalbard, an archipelago far, far above the Arctic Circle. (Just to give you a sense how far north, the flight from Oslo (Norway) lasted over two hours.) The weather was fantastic and the flight delighted us with spectacular views of the snowy mountains and fjords as we descended along the west coast before landing just outside Longyearbyen.

Incredible views of mountains, glaciers, and icy fjords as we approach landing in Svalbard.

London scenes – January and February

A gallery of photos from my wanderings.

As regular readers know, I like to wander. Even when I have a destination in mind, I often ignore the map and “follow my nose” by aiming in the right general direction and hoping some combination of left and right turns will lead me to my destination and new discoveries along the way. Today, I’m sharing a gallery of photos taken in London, in January or February. It’s quite a random collection – just things I found beautiful or interesting. None appear in my other blog-posted galleries. Enjoy!

A model walks through a field of daffodils – St James Park, London.

Yellowstone + Teton in winter

Dartmouth Alumni Travel trip through Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park.

When offered the opportunity to serve as the faculty host for a Dartmouth Alumni Travel group tour of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, in mid-winter – highlighting the opportunity to observe wolves and other wildlife in these majestic national parks in mid-winter – I jumped at the chance. This trip, billed as the Wolves of Yellowstone, was operated in partnership with Orbridge Travel and led by two fantastic guides from Wildlife Expeditions, a unit of the non-profit Teton Science School in Jackson, Wyoming.

A bull elk grazes beside the road in Yellowstone National Park.

Smoky Mountain photos – finally

I’ve finally finished post-processing the rest of my photographs from October.

In late October I spent an extra weekend in the mountains of North Carolina after concluding a photography workshop in the Blue Ridge Mountains – where I took so many photos of foliage and waterfalls that it was months before I finally processed and posted my favorite photos.

A pretty scene along the Kanati Fork stream in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Solar Shard

Sunrise split by the London Shard.

I glanced at my watch as I strode out of the Tube station and through the drizzle into the emerging daylight. The time was one minute before sunrise – but would the clouds cooperate? I was heading once again for Primrose Hill, a popular site for viewing the sun rise over London’s cityscape, which I’d first visited on the winter solstice. This was my fifth visit in four weeks, and I was determined to capture a particular scene, a particular moment, that I’d forecasted one month ago. To get the shot, the sun would need to actually show up, and in rainy London that’s never certain. At home in the pre-dawn darkness, it was raining hard and the forecast was gloomy. I need to make a go/no-go decision 45 minutes before sunrise to reach to Primrose Hill on time. It’s always a gamble. Today I gambled and won.

People enjoy the sunrise view from Primrose Hill, London.

Blue Ridge photos – finally

I’ve finally finished post-processing my photographs from October.

Back in October I posted about an enjoyable week in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, with a photography instructor and a small group of other aspiring photographers, at the height of the fall-foliage season. The focus of our photo workshop, if you don’t mind the pun, was waterfalls – but we also took advantage of mountain overlooks to capture the foliage in the golden light of sunrise and sunset. I snapped a couple thousand photos in five days, and worked hard to improve my photography skills. I finally found time to select and process the photos, and I’m pleased to share the best fifteen in this photo gallery – it’s also viewable as a brief slideshow.