Honolulu-based photographer Elyse Butler Mallams shares photos of beautiful coastal landscapes in Oahu, Hawaii.

All of O’ahu’s beaches are open to the public, if you know how to get to them, you can see some of Hawaii’s most exquisite landscapes. As a beach lover, it was a lot of fun heading to some of my favorite locations on the island for this Hana Hou! Magazine assignment about a new guidebook, O’ahu Beach Access. The book details eighty-nine public right-of-ways located all over the island and is a must have for anyone wanting to explore O’ahu’s gorgeous coastline.

See more photos on Elyse’s blog.

Chicago-based photographer Shane Welch recently traveled through El Cocuy National Park in Colombia and shares some beautiful photos.

This trip is insane! Jay and I did a 5 night 6 day trek through El Cocuy National Park in Colombia. We covered around 50 miles of backcountry trails, 8 mountain passes, and some ridiculous elevation. It was definitely the hardest backpacking trip I have ever done. I loved every second of it, well… not really, but damn am I glad I did it. The first day of the trip was so hard we actually talked about not going through with the rest of the hike. I know, I’m not proud to say it, but you weren’t there so stop judging me. In my defense, I had actually been in a car accident just 4 weeks before the trip. The car was completely totaled and I was in a knee and a back brace throughout the entire hike. The next morning we felt like we were getting over the elevation sickness and decided to give it go.

Continue reading and see more photos on Shane’s blog.

Honolulu-based photographer Elyse Butler Mallams chased rainbows for Hana Hou! Magazine.

We were chasing rainbows all last year for this Hana Hou! Magazine feature story. I studied the weather and watched the radars to help detect where and when I needed to be at unique locations on the island to see vibrant rainbows appear. Even though we live in the Rainbow State, and see rainbows quite frequently compared to mainland US, it was challenging finding these brilliant bows in picturesque settings and made me truly appreciate each rainbow I now see.

See more photos on Elyse’s blog.

View from Kalawao

Honolulu-based photographer Elyse Butler Mallams took some beautiful scenic shots of Kalaupapa, Molokai for a Hana Hou! cover story.

Scenic shots from Kalaupapa, Molokai from this Hana Hou! Magazine cover story. The isolated old leprosy colony is surrounded by the highest sea cliffs in the world, the area is blanketed with the gravestones of Hansen’s Disease patients, a few churches, and the last remaining residents who still live on the beautiful peninsula.

See more photos on Elyse’s blog.

Graveyard at St Philomena Church

View of the highest sea cliffs in the world surrounding Kalaupapa, Molokai from the air

Atlanta-based photographer David Walter Banks shares photos of Sapelo island off the coast of Southern Georgia.

Last week I spent a day on the small barrier island of Sapelo off the coast of Southern Georgia.  My senses and awareness of my surroundings seemed to heighten the second my cell and internet connection wafted away somewhere over the Atlantic aboard the small ferry.

The grandson of the woman whose trailer I rented picked me up from the ferry and shuttled me down the dirt roads through forests of live oak, coated heavily in Spanish moss, to my temporary home.  The next day I set off at dawn in my rusted, yet trusty F-250 extended cab pickup, rented from the same kind family I stayed with.

I explored the small bumpy roads, their deep ruts a tale of those before me.  I hiked the trails, walked dangerously far out with the receding tides, and even poked around Reynolds Mansion where the ghosts of plantation owners past reside.  When the few people and infrastructure slipped out of site in the rear-view, the island seemed simply Jurassic.  And when you are all alone, you can hear the island whisper its secrets, steeped in history and culture and pleading for a savior.

Continue reading and see more photos on David’s blog.

Savannah, GA-based photographer Marc Newton is photographing mannequins in natural landscapes for his MFA thesis.

Wild nature is conducive to human interaction: exploring, challenging one’s self, and breaching the gap between modern civilization and primitive urges. Human beings’ place in the natural world has evolved through many millenniums. From our prehistoric hunter and gatherer ancestors to the modern founders of the Sierra Club, our understanding of the natural world has changed as well as the way we view its importance. What we see in the natural world is nothing more than a reflection of ourselves and our society. Our “Wilderness” is a fabricated subjective story, written by our yearning and our cultures. William Cronon stated “We turn them (natural icons) into human symbols, using them as repositories for values and meanings which can range from the savage to the sacred. What we find in these places cannot help being profoundly influenced by the ideas we bring to them”. The more we think of the wilderness as a distant world, an entity we have no influence on, the more we are conducive to destructive interaction.

For my MFA thesis, at Savannah College of Art and Design, I am photographing mannequins in natural landscapes. These figures stand for the human aesthetic and culture that is projected onto the nonhuman world. With these selected images I hope to promote this idea, to be more conscious of how we utilize natural resources, and to minimize the gap between the nonhuman world and ourselves. The struggle to understand how we as humans are compelled to support and coexist with nature today holds subjective but urgent recognition.

See more photos on Marc’s website.

Art director and photographer Amy Medina traveled across the country from Long Island to Seattle and back, and put together a cool time-lapse documenting her trip.

From Long Island to Seattle and the West Coast… and Back, in 16 days!

Well, my trip is now over and we had an AWESOME time… and I’ve finally gotten through all the photos so it’s time to share them. I’ve posted them by each day, with a little commentary, in folders that represent where we were along the way. Be sure to check out the maps too.

Trip Itinerary: Long Island to Seattle by Amtrak; Sunday evening to Wednesday Morning (July 17-20, 2011)
Visit Seattle, see Pacific Ocean and attend Photo Workshop (July 20-25, 2011)
Drive from Seattle to Chicago over six days, enjoying the sites along the way! (July 26-31, 2011)
Amtrak from Chicago to Long Island in the last 24 hours (July 31-August 1, 2011)

Also check out this other time-lapse she produced:

As someone who loves the beach – and from the East Coast – I cannot explain how amazing it felt to see the Pacific Ocean. I had an overall amazing cross-country trip, but the Pacific Ocean was a huge highlight for me.

See more from Amy’s cross-country trip on DangRabbit.

L.A-based freelancer Melissa Golden got a new point and shoot camera and photographed the state of California from the air.

I recently got a new point and shoot camera, the Canon s95.  I took it on a trip to San Jose last weekend and enjoyed myself.  There’s no effort or thought or care in the photos that I take with it.  It’s the perfect vacation/party camera.  I don’t want to have to think about photography when I’m on “me time” but a large part of me still wants to take pictures.  I need to enjoy my surroundings and companions and this camera has helped with that.  There’s nothing casual about my work cameras.  They’re large and can make people uncomfortable.  Also, I only shoot manual, which is a task that occupies a significant part of my brain power.  Having a tiny but powerful point and shoot camera set to the program function is freedom.

Continue reading and see more photos on Melissa’s blog.

Freelancer Tristan Wheelock has been traveling across country in an Airstream and recently passed the state of Wyoming, where he shot some beautiful scenery.

I’m from Florida but I currently live in a bright blue Airstream trailer that’s crisscrossing the country. I shoot documentary style photographs and make multimedia projects usually focusing on little stories about people in the US of A. The other day we blasted across Wyoming en route to Denver Colorado. I’d never been to the State before and I was surprised by the stark cold beauty of it. They have ghost towns! Like for real ghost towns!

See more photos of The Cowboy State on Tristan’s blog.

San Diego based freelance photographer Frank Rogozienski has been photographing the border fence between the U.S. and Mexico.

See more images from the series on Frank’s Blog.