Our international family summer trip capped off with a week in Nairobi, Kenya. We were there to work, helping Amani Ya Juu develop some videos and marketing material for their organization. Over the weekend of our visit, we did get the chance to explore Nairobi National Park and create some incredible family memories. Initially, we were afraid our trip to the park would be canceled as we woke to rain that morning. But the rain ended up being to our […]
Twenty-one years ago I took my first plunge into international travel. A two-week trip exploring England and the rest of the UK helped galvanize my love of exploring the wide world we live in. That trip also marked the first time I ever used a digital camera. It boasted a three-megapixel sensor and could store a whopping 256 MB of photos! Little did I know at the time how much that small device would change how I approached photography. As […]
Something is enchanting about the desert in the winter. It’s one of my favorite times to visit and explore the more arid parts of the US. Most people associate the desert with severe heat and lack of water, but winter can bring the opposite extremes, especially in higher elevations. Those intense opposites also helped carve and shape this region and its unique look. “Red Rock in Blue Light” was one of the highlights of my most recent exploration of Southern […]
Anyone who has followed me for a while knows I have a soft spot for bristlecone trees. They make for such fascinating subjects. In fall 2023 I wanted to introduce them to Kim on our trip up through the Eastern Sierra Nevada. So we did a quick little early morning hike where I discovered this beautiful tree. I have probably walked past this tree 10-15 times before, but for whatever reason it caught my attention this trip in the autumnal […]
An alternate title could have been “Springtime on the Planet Vulcan”. For those unfamiliar with Vasquez Rocks, you have more than likely seen it you just never knew the location’s name. Most likely you’ll recognize it from the countless movies, television shows, commercials, and music videos it has appeared in. Its location inside the Thirty-Mile Zone created by Hollywood labor unions to determine per diem rates made it a popular set for shows like Star Trek and many Westerns. Personally, […]
This past winter I was invited on a trip to the desert where we had a serendipitous moment. The sandstone in the area was adorned with a whitish-blue coating—like someone had brushed on blue sidewalk chalk throughout the region. The striking, at times subtle, contrasts of the blues paired with the red rock were incredible to behold in person and a pure joy to explore visually with my camera. In that moment I knew it would be impossible for one […]
Waterfalls in Southern California are a very infrequent experience. Most of the natural falls here appear ever so briefly after a series of storms hit the area. But when we get a wet winter you find some scenes that seem so foreign to a normally arid region. Last weekend I took a break from preparing for my upcoming wedding to do a little hike in the Santa Monica Mountains with my brothers. One of my all-time favorite locations to visit, […]
In April I did a little trip to the Eastern Sierra Nevada region. I didn’t have any set agenda, just some places I wanted to scout out, but on my return home the high winds kicked up the dust and made for some hazy conditions in the Owens Valley, so lingered a bit to see how that would affect the sunset. I had set up a composition for sunset, and while I waited for the setting sun I did some […]
One of my favorite things to do in Yosemite Valley is take in the transition from light to dark in the valley throughout the day. The prescribed burn in the valley added an extra layer of interest as the cool morning air pushed down the smoke into what looked like a fog bank at first. Last week my girls had their spring break so I took them on a quick trip, their first, to Yosemite. At least that they remember. […]
This past weekend I got a chance to spend a day sunrise-to-sunset in a locale near and dear to me. These are the mountains that galvanized my love for hiking and the outdoors growing up. I don’t get to spend as much time there nowadays but it’s always a joy to revisit these old friends.