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The Beauty of the Landscape

by Paul Gallagher

A recent feature in National Geographic posed the question about attracting more of the 'selfie generation' to the National Parks of the USA. Some of the statistics make alarming reading. In a country where a significant portion of people are climate change deniers (and this now includes their new president, the Orange Faced Grand Wizard *) they have found that only 1% of the visiting population are black and only 3% are asian. Within the remaining 95% of white people only 14% are Millenials the rest being made up of 39% Baby Boomers and 47% 'Other' by age. Compared with 2013, Baby Boomers are up by 15% but Millenials are down by 7%.

Overall then the national parks are failing to attract the younger generation and the numbers are falling. The Park Service are responding with the largest marketing campaign they have ever conducted. We wish them both luck and continuing survival against the ravages of the savages rolling into Washington. Trump does not look like somebody who would relish night under the stars, he might wake up with his hair messed up.

The Center for American Progress Action Fund found that there are 182 climate deniers in the current pre-2017 Congress: 144 in the House and 38 in the Senate. That means more than six in 10 Americans were represented by people who think that climate change is a big 'ol liberal hoax. The latest figures are unlikely to be less depressing.

The Hill Survey found:

The research, conducted mostly before nearly 200 nations voted last month in Paris on an international climate accord, found that Democrats (63 percent) are much more likely than Republicans (18 percent) to see climate change as a very serious issue.

Photography has a pivotal role to play in the health and well-being of all wild and natural places. Ours is the only way of telling the story; no account, regardless of how well written, can quite prepare the traveller for their first glimpse of Yosemite's El Capital or the Grand Canyon.

This then is Imagemaker's piece of the jigsaw, using Paul Gallagher's images to show what some of the places are like and, by inference, why we should be worried about them, why we should cherish them and prevent philistines such as Trump and his cronies from decimating them for personal gain. Any thing we say about Yosemite could equally apply in Alaska where the Iditerod required the import of snow for the dogs to run on or to any of the starving polar bears looking out on their ice-free and seal-free territories around Svalbard. This is why we have a duty to call out the likes of Trump even if he is not 'our' president, for he presides over the country which is pumping a massive chunk of the CO2 overload and now has a bunch of redneck coal producers baying for relaxation of the rules. And feel free to have a pop at our own government, shortly about to start fracking in Lancashire (Lancashire, Mrs May is a place 'up north' - you can find it on your map, it's just a bit up from where the new railway is due to stop).

The National Parks of USA and Canada - some notes

1. The main difference between Yosemite and Canada is the scale of the places. Yosemite National Park is just over 3,000 square kilometres whereas Banff National Park alone covers over 6,600 square kilometres and its neighbour, Jasper, covers almost 11,000 square kilometres!

2. The main attraction of Yosemite National Park is the Yosemite Valley itself which is only about 9 kilometres in length and although the sights are staggering, because if its global fame from Ansel Adams, it can get rather busy with American tourists.

3. Yosemite is situated in the High Sierras and so to reach the national park the road climbs gradually up 1,200m above sea level and the most impressive of the cliffs is El Capitan which stands 3,000ft above the valley floor

4. Many of the mountains that surround the lakes of Banff, Yoho and Kooteney National parks rise up to over 10,000 feet above sea level and are often snow capped.

5. The access to the upper portions of Yosemite National Park are via Highway 120 and the Toga pass which is closed from November through to late May so you have to plan your trip well.

6. In comparison, the highways through Banff the main being Icefields Parkway is generally open all year round.

7. Comparing the two locations I would say the photographic opportunites in Yosemite National Park and plentiful and very close together and it is without doubt a photographer's paradise from the woodlands of the valley floor, Valley view, Tunnel View and Glacier point are all within a very short driving distance of each other.

When you get to these places do not be surprised if you choose the and of the day and see many other keen and excited landscape photographers with the same idea.

8. In Banff, Kooteney and Yoho National Parks in Canada you really do feel a sense wilderness because of the size of the place but you will have to put some miles in to get around. On saying that the roads are second to none and every mile is worth it!

9. In the simplest of terms, as a landscape photographer, you cannot compare side by side the two places. They both have lakes, mountains, rivers, forests and woodland and stunning views, but they also both have very individual personalities which is only something you realise when you have visited and photographed both and experienced them.

Contributors, Paul Gallagher and Michael Pilkington are now running courses out to both Yosemite and the Rockies.

Check out www.aspect2i.co.uk for the itineraries (some are almost fully booked already but have not even been posted yet!)



Updated 27/04/2026 16:44:22 Last Modified: Monday, 27 April 2026