As winter fast approaches (or has already hit you if you are from South Dakota and other points snowy) people often start to look at buying cameras. Not coincidentally just about every major camera manufacturer released a raft of new models this fall.

A few years ago we decided to brave the throngs of visitors and see Virginia’s fall display in Shenandoah National Park (where, ironically, the highest visitation month is October!) and drive the famed Skyline Drive. With the colors at their peak around our home in Pennsylvania, we figured that Shenandoah's forests would be nearing their peak as well.

Not everyone is a painter, musician, or sculptor, but it seems that everyone is a photographer. Whether tracking Yellowstone wolves, following Glacier’s goats, or watching Yosemite waterfalls, all it takes is a camera. And that’s exactly what camera manufacturers count on: Making it easier and easier, especially in the new digital world, to produce quality photographs.

As Eric Larson's photo of sunrise at Haleakala National Park in Hawaii clearly shows, there are some incredible vistas across the national park system. From the rain forests of Olympic National Park and the tropics of Everglades National Park to the gun-barrel-gray peaks of Glacier, there are countless photographic opportunities across the park system.

Someone has found a satellite photo of a 747 flying over Yellowstone National Park using Google maps. Not much of a story here, I just thought the photo/technology is kind of cool. 'Read more' to see the full resolution image and map.

I'm sure we all get the message this sign is trying to convey, it's just that it looks pretty silly! Can't you just imagine that rider saying "weeeeee"?