Prayers in the Wind - Khumbu Valley, Nepal This image is only available in this custom size. If you are interested in this image, please email me directly at 'rhartimages@gmail.com' for pricing, sizes, and shipping. This image was captured above the village of Namche, in the fall of 2015, high up in the Himalayan valley of Khumbu. The prayer flags were arcing into the sky under a full gale, creating a colorful, and quite audible, rainbow of block-printed prayers against the backdrop of the central village of the Everest Valley. I was very lucky to be in the right place, and at the right time, to capture this image.

Serpent Stone, Tengboche - Nepal A folded piece of granite hides among the rough-cut stones of a small Buddhist temple, or Stupa, near the monastery at Tengboche.

Cholatse, Gokyo Valley - Nepal Sunset on the staggeringly beautiful peak of Cholatse (21,129 ft), in the Gokyo Valley of Nepal. The summit to the right is Tawoche (21,463 ft). This image was taken from the summit of Gokyo Ri, where we were just a hundred meters above the valley fog.

Near Tengboche, Khumbu Valley - Nepal Porters carry loads through the retreating evening light, along the border grounds of the Tengboche Monastery. Naked paper trees, yet to gain their spring leaves, soak up the warmth of the day as the enormous Himalaya remains locked in combat with the lingering high-altitude winter.

Frosty Forest, Khumbu Valley - Nepal In the spring, deciduous trees along the Imja Khola have yet to produce a canopy of green foliage. Instead, the gossamer moss that hangs from almost every branch, collects the morning dew and frost and produces a fleeting albino forest.

Kathmandu Girl - Nepal I saw this young girl sitting on the steps of a shop, deep within the catacombs of Kathmandu. She was waiting for friends, on her way to school. Girl trafficking is a huge problem in Nepal, and so each time I look at this image I truly hope that she is well, her family is proud that they have a daughter in school, and that her future will be as bright as her dress.

Prayers at Sunset, Pumori - Nepal Colorful Tibetan prayer flags snap in the solid breeze near the summit of Kala Patar (18,192 ft). Tiny figures can be seen making thier way to the rocky outcrop that is their destination. Although Kala Patar is just a small black-rocked high point on the long ridge to the imposing pyramid of Pumori (23,494 ft), it remains an evening destination for many trekkers to the Everest region..

Gokyo Lake - Nepal The opaque, turqoise waters of Gokyo Lake seem to blend into the reflection of the frigid morning sky, making it difficult to decide where the water ends - and the sky begins.

Mani Stone and Stairs, Tengboche - Nepal A huge boulder, painstakingly carved with the Tibetan Buddhist prayer - 'Om Mani Padme Hum', guards a worn flight of stairs as it dives up and behind the Tengboche Monastary.

Mani Rimdu Festival, Tengboche - Nepal The most important festival of the Sherpa people is held during the tenth lunar month of the Tibetan calendar, from the end of October to the beginning of November, and encompasses nine days. Near the end of the festival the resident Rimpoche of the Monastery blesses the general public after which the 'Mask Dances' are performed by the monks. Dance intervals display the defeat of demons and the initiation of Buddhism to Tibet.

Mani Stone, Khumbu Valley - Nepal 'Om Mani Padma Hum' - the most common Tibetan Buddhism prayer, found everywhere in the jagged hills of Nepal. People who learn about the mantra naturally want to know what it means, and often ask for a translation into English or some other Western language. However, Om Mani Padme Hum can not really be translated into a simple phrase or even a few sentences.