As landscape photographers, we often spend days planning out our shots. We track sun angles, calculate tides, and scout locations on digital maps before we ever pack a gear bag. But every once in a while, the best images come from throwing the itinerary out the window and just going for a drive.

Summer has a way of pulling everyone toward the coast. The itch to feel sand underfoot, hear the rhythm of the waves, and just breathe for a minute — it’s real. So this week, I wanted to share a beach image that captures exactly that feeling: quiet, unhurried, and peaceful.

The funny thing? I shot it on New Year’s morning.

There is something about standing at the edge of a mountain overlook in the dead of winter, alone, with the valley going dark below you, that cuts through all the noise. No crowds. No conversation. Just wind, cold stone, and whatever the sky decides to do next.

There is a unique magic to the Mentone area that keeps drawing me back to Lookout Mountain season after season. As a landscape photographer, returning to a favorite location isn’t about repeating myself—it’s about witnessing the incredible ways nature shifts, breathes, and completely reinvents a landscape throughout the year.

To truly appreciate a place, you have to see it at its extremes. Recently, I had the chance to capture DeSoto Falls at two completely opposite moments in time: trapped in a deep winter freeze, and waking up in the peak of spring.

As landscape photographers, we can plan our locations down to the exact GPS coordinates, but we are always at the mercy of the elements. You can't control the weather, and you certainly can’t control the sun. But you can control how you adapt.

Recently, I took two trips to Kinlock Falls in the Bankhead National Forest—spaced just a few weeks apart. The contrast between these two excursions perfectly captures the absolute power of light, and why some locations demand a second chance.

Every photographer can point to a specific moment where the "bug" bit them—the exact shot that made them realize the camera could see the world in ways the human eye completely misses. For me, that moment happened in May 2020, right when I was first starting out with Bama Price Photography.

That afternoon resulted in a shot I call "On the Rail," and it all came together using my very first camera: the trusty Sony a6000.

There is a brief, magical window just after the sun dips below the horizon where the world seems to hold its breath. The harsh glare of the day melts into a soft, golden radiance, and if you’re in the right spot, the landscape completely transforms.

The Cahaba Lily is a legendary Alabama treasure, blooming for just a fleeting window each year in swift, rocky shoals. For this shot, titled "Cahaba Star," getting the perfect perspective meant leaving the dry riverbank behind and stepping directly into the lily's world.

There is a world of color hidden just beneath the surface of Montana’s glacial waters. This piece, "Montana Mountain Stream, Big Creek," is an immersion into that world—quite literally.

There is a specific kind of magic that happens when you mix the Caribbean Sea with the unpredictability of a morning storm. On my final day in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, I knew I couldn't leave without one last sunrise. I headed down to the shore with a plan, but nature ended up giving me something much more profound than a standard sunup.

Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains is one of the most photographed peaks in the Southeast — but what I found at 4AM on a 40°F morning was something I'd never seen before. There are moments that feel less like real life and more like a page torn from a fantasy novel. Standing at the edge of the world in the Great Smoky Mountains, I found one. I call this shot "Smoky Mountain Sea," because, for a few fleeting moments, the solid earth vanished and left an ocean of white in its place.

Ask any outdoor enthusiast, and they’ll tell you: the weather can either make or ruin your day. In photography, lighting is everything, but it can be deceptive. What looks "blah" to the naked eye often hides a beauty that can only be captured with the right technique and a healthy dose of patience.

Think you know all of Bankhead's secrets? Discover why Shangri-la Falls is the turquoise oasis every Alabama hiker needs to see—and the one "extra mile" detail AllTrails misses.