Hey everybody,

The auto problems are all taken care of for now! Unfortunately, my friend Chris had to go home and go back to work. I’m back in the San Juan mountains, shooting for a bit longer before I return home. I hiked up above Boullion King Lake to Porphyry Basin on Friday evening for a sunset shoot. There were a few patches of profuse flowers, and the light was quite nice. Stay tuned– I’ll be doing quite a bit over the next few days and will have quite a bit to share with you all. For now, I’m headed up to the Uncompahgre National Forest for some solo backpacking and photography. Below is one the images from Friday night that I’ve quickly processed on my laptop to share.

So, my vehicle is repaired, and we’re on the road again! Chris and I are headed back into the Colorado Rockies for some wildflower action. For now, we’re trying to make the most out of the high pressure weather and clear skies, but the monsoon should start kickin’ again soon.

Anyway, we had an absolutely great time exploring the washes, slickrock, and slot canyons in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument! It was a whopping 104 degrees fahrenheit out in the open, but it felt quite pleasant in the shaded slots and under canyon walls. Our day included a nice sunrise shoot, hiking three beautiful slots, an hour-long nap in the shade, a delicious “Subway Fresh” meal, an attempted visit to Calf Creek Falls (The area was “closed…” Go figure!) and finally, I entered a sleepy, Wolves in the Throne Room-induced trance, and commenced a late night, high speed drive back to Moab! It was an insanely tiring day, but it was one of our best days of the trip so far.

Here’s a photograph I like from Spooky Gulch. The reflected light down there, both blue from the sky, and orange from the sun/sandstone, is just unbelievable. You can’t really see it too well with the naked eye, but in a minute-long exposure at ISO 100, the colors really sing.

Here’s another photo of yours truly monkeying around the mud holes in Peek-a-boo canyon.

Finally, here’s a cute little mini-gallery of some vehicular mishaps that have occurred recently.

We’ve run into some vehicular difficulties on our trip. My trusty Toyota is stranded in Moab, Utah until Wednesday night, unfortunately. Chris and I decided to get a rental car so we didn’t end up stuck in Moab for five days, and have somehow ended up in Escalante, Utah, where we’re planning to make the most out of the clear skies by photographing slot canyons. We arrived a bit late tonight, and decided to take a quick late evening/sunset stop in the “Devil’s Garden” area of the monument. Here’s my favorite from tonight. I hope to write again soon of our slot canyon adventures!

Yesterday afternoon, we visited the south rim of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The views of the canyon are absolutely incredible; easily among the finest I’ve seen. It’s quite the experience to peer down over 2,300 vertigo-inducing feet over the rim down to the Gunnison River. The backlit rocks and greenery in contrast with the beautiful reflected light on the canyon walls made for excellent photography in the early afternoon, a time there would typically not be too much to shoot. Here’s a favorite from yesterday.

Right now we’re around Crested Butte, photographing beautiful aspen stands, scouting out wildflowers, and hoping for the monsoon light to start kickin’ again!

Hey everybody,

I scheduled this post the same time I made the last one, since I figured I’ll be away from computers for a few days. Here’s another from Mt. Evans. Chris and I spent a few hours photographing dozens of adult and baby Mountain Goat (Oreamnos americanus,) and had a great time doing so. At times, it was pretty nerve-racking trying to keep up with them on the windy, steep, rocky, and muddy slopes of Mt. Evans, but the rewards were well worth the risk and it was such a great time. Here’s one of many that I’m happy with. Take note of the snow flurries in the background! It was freezing up there, proof that anything can happen with the weather at 14,200 feet.

We just took a quick overnight visit to Great Sand Dunes National Park, and are now off in search of wildflowers around Crested Butte!

Hey everybody,

I’m four days into my summer-long journey through the mountains and desert of Colorado, Utah, and Arizona, and I couldn’t really ask for things to go any better than they have so far. I’m currently with my friend, Chris Kayler, for the next three weeks or so. So far, we’ve photographed in and around Rocky Mountain National Park, Mt. Evans, and pursued some wildlife opportunities in North-central Colorado. Yesterday and this morning, we had an excellent time up on Mt. Evans, with some absolutely fantastic light, and extremely cooperative Mountain Goats. Here’s an image of the sunset last night up on Mt. Evans.

In another day or two, we’ll be on our way to the Great Sand Dunes National Park, and then off into the mountains of Central Colorado in search of wildflowers.

Hey everybody,

I’m getting ready for an epic 6-week Colorado and Utah trip, for which I leave in just five days! Here’s a photo taken in April of this year from a short trip I made to Ohio’s Hocking Hills region. I loved the streams and waterfalls there, and Cedar Falls was one of my favorites!

Hey everybody,

I have a feature article/interview in the newest (Spring/Summer 2010) Nature’s Best Photography Magazine… Woo-hoo! It just came out this week.

Here’s another from the hauntingly beautiful and stormy evening a few nights ago along the Blue Ridge Parkway. I’m heading home now. It was a very successful trip, and I’ve come away with plenty of images and a few stories that I can’t wait to share, but for now I must drive home!

Just thought I’d process and share another one from yesterday evening. The area has been socked in with thunderstorms, clouds, and fog over the past three days. While this has made for great conditions photographing the forests, streams, waterfalls, and some foggy/misty-looking landscapes, it sure hadn’t afforded me any nice sunrise or sunset conditions until last night! I had been up on the Blue Ridge parkway for a few hours, photographing in the fog and rain, and was basically driving around aimlessly, looking for a spot to photograph the sunset that I figured would certainly not happen. I came across a spot near the parkway with some big ~15′ boulders, climbed on top of them, and found a few compositions I liked. So, I decided to wait there for a while and see what would happen. The clouds teased me plenty of times, looking as if they were about to thin out a bit, but then coming back in full force. Luckily, about five minutes before sunset, there was a gigantic break in the lower level of clouds, and mother nature granted me a fifteen minute window to photograph this beautiful scene. Wahoo!