Neon Morning

Isn’t it nice that even when we have a bad day, we can sleep it off? Each day starts anew. We can, of course, remember yesterday’s issues while waking up as our feet hit the floor. We can just as easily decide to leave those thoughts aside and instead lavish our senses with tasty cup […]

Wizard’s Hat

Drive most anywhere along the Oregon coast and we’re likely to see hundreds of rocks of varying shapes and sizes lining the beach. Sometimes, when we’re lucky, we get to see them in a good light. Suddenly they look different…unique…beautiful even! Same rock.Same beach (plus or minus some sand.Yet different. The conditions in which we […]

Can I Squeeze In Here?

A family member described as, “a complicated man with complicated relationships,” passed away recently. There’s much to unpack in that insightful passage, and one can walk away with various interpretations of it. If we take the complexity on its face, then contrary to what we might expect out of Hollywood, where someone’s the villain, or […]

Green Mirror

Since everything is literally changing all the time, it’s easy to get stuck reacting to what we observe instead of thinking and planning more for what we desire to experience. Not surprisingly, this often leads us to feeling overwhelmed, dejected, and exhausted. Perhaps there’s another way. Like the mirrored surface of Glacier NP’s Avalanche Lake […]

Moody River

When someone else wrongs us, often our first reaction is to reciprocate with like behavior. But who said we should always live our life per Hammurabi’s lex talionis? There’s no surprise that when we try giving someone else the benefit of the doubt, we’re usually the ones benefitting the most. And similarly, when someone does a […]

Two Coffees, Please

I’ve recently been noticing an interesting phenomenon. I had known in my head starting from the perspective of the solution rather than the problem is best, but when you’re in the thick of it, that’s sometimes easier said than done. It’s where practice is starting to help. Two events over the past couple of days […]

Jewel of the Coast

Ever notice how some people are seemingly unafraid to speak up, to express their thoughts, to run counter to the crowd? There’s such pressure, from so many sides, to conform and “behave” according to rules others have set for us. No wonder they stand out. When we think of those we admire, are inspired by, […]

Royals

We were heading home from Breckenridge yesterday, driving in a short line of cars past Quandary Peak and over Hoosier Pass. As is always the case with a two-lane road, there was a car going a little slower, so everyone else got to pile in behind. It’s pretty easy to get annoyed at the front-most […]

Strong back, soft front

We’re social beings. But not the only ones, and we see it with many other animals. Even certain tree species form entire, connective root structures from one tree to the next, creating an open sharing mechanism for communication and perhaps many other unknown-to-us functions. Humans are unique with our quite dominant egos, which sometimes makes […]

A Gentle Embrace

We almost missed this shot. Returning home to Denver one afternoon, we pulled onto US 285 heading east. As we climbed, I checked my rear view and saw Mt. Princeton quietly shrouded in clouds. We’d seen the mountain, one of Colorado’s 53 14ers, many times before, but not like this. Thankfully we were able to […]

The Way

Our lives can be pretty complex sometimes, and when we’re at a crossroads, what to do next can feel a bit blurry. Our intuition (gut feeling, inner being, whatever you wish to call it) is powerful, however, if we give our attention to it. In modern times, we often look for physically measurable phenomenon as […]

Finding Our Niche

We spend a lot of time thinking about belonging. Finding a good match removes social friction and offers a sense of ease when being with one another. It keeps things easy. Sometimes though, if we’re paying attention, we can see when we’re standing outside of the group. But being a non-conformer is usually harder than […]

Morning Meeting

It was quiet and I was by myself at the Windows section in Arches National Park, showing up well before the day’s light began spilling over the horizon. I scrambled over boulders to climb about 25 feet up, intending to get a shot of Turret Arch through North Window Arch as the sun rose, lighting […]

High Flying

There’s a tip photographers use to improve their photos, and that’s to change your height. To get better photos of kids or pets, for example, get down and shoot from their height. Or, as shown, pointing down from a high up cliff, from well above. In our day-to-day lives, we naturally operate at our normal […]

Green Machine

No matter your perspective, life is really complex. It’s moving every which way and seems impossible to confidently predict. Whether peering through a microscope or a telescope, our physical universe is unfathomably and impressively sophisticated. Even this plant’s leaves offer no discernible order to their direction. They simply grow in the direction of what feels […]

Exodus

We’ve written on past Tuesdays of our love for Olympic National Park as it truly is one of our faves (shhhh, don’t tell the other parks!). The Tree of Life and rainbow of rocks are a few among many on one of our most popular galleries. But what really attracts us is the surf. There’s […]

Life Finds a Way

I‘ve really grown to love the desert (mostly thanks to Anne). I have a newfound appreciation for the creativity and tenacity of its inhabitants. Both plant and animal, they make the absolute most of their lean (with the exception of sunshine!) resources. It’s really quite impressive how a tree can thrive when its neighborhood is […]

It’s Happy Hour Again

We were hiking one afternoon through Oregon’s coastal woods in Shore Acres State Park and happened upon the most lush, moss-draped scene we could have imagined. The late-afternoon sun, dappled through tree leaves, momentarily highlighted parts of the magical green carpet and guiding our eyes across its elements. Looking at this scene reminds me to […]

Bend, Don’t Break

Sometimes it seems like we’re having to heave ourselves uphill all the time on what feels like a daily Sisyphean merry-go-round. Every once in a while though, we break through with clarity of purpose and an outpouring of joy for what’s ahead. That’s what this tree, leaning far over and away from the continual sea […]

Head in the Clouds

High atop Trail Ridge Road in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park, you’ll view the surrounding scenery from over 12,000 feet. Except when you don’t. It’s not uncommon for fog to roll in, sometimes in between mountain peaks, sometimes in wholesale billows, encompassing everything in its path. This was one such day, where we could see […]

Bright Spot in My Day

This scene will never exist in this exact way again. We enjoyed it for one brief moment, with sunlight falling on young maple leaves just so, with neighboring trees basking in the shade. It can be a little unnerving thinking about the fact that this one, individual moment, is all we have available to us, […]

Support Hammock

Sometimes the best move is just to lie down for a bit. This inviting hammock stretched just so between a pair of palm trees just says, “Try me!” as if you really ever had a choice. We found it on a Thanksgiving break’s stay at Palm Springs’ iconic Parker Hotel. Funnily, we’d assumed the place […]

The Other Side

Some years ago, back when we were wedding photographers, we vacationed typically in wintertime because it was the slow season. We visited Zion National Park on one cold & cloudy day, taking the winding Route 9 up through the Zion-Mount Carmel tunnel, leading to the park’s lesser-used Northeast entrance. Given the tunnel’s size, RVs generally […]

Hanging On

If you’ve been lucky enough to find yourself at Kalaloch Beach (pronounced clay-lock) on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula, hopefully you’ve also found yourself staring at the gravity-defying Tree of Life.  Standing in the sand one would be forgiven if they don’t quite believe what they’re seeing before them. Floating in between eroded cliffs, this Sitka […]

Fence Leading to Nowhere

There’s an isolated, peaceful place in Northern California named Sea Ranch. The community itself has a fascinating history and while the whole of its founders’ original purpose may not have lived on in perpetuity, its surrounding habitat remains largely and beautifully unperturbed. We had the pleasure some years ago of a short stay in one […]

It’s a Shy One Today

You know how sometimes when you’re driving or walking along, just minding your own business, you glance over and see something which knocks your socks off? I was driving along the Oregon coast a bit north of Depoe Bay one summer morning and rounded a corner to this sight. Fog is a common summer phenomenon […]

Colorado Mardi Gras

Wildflower fans are already taken with the magnificent bloom underway in Death Valley. Later in summertime in Colorado’s Crested Butte, flowers bloom with mad colors, smothering the surrounding hills with vibrant blooms. They’re so widespread the town created an annual festival to celebrate their arrival, as if Crested Butte needed yet another excuse for people […]

The Morning Run

I awoke early, a short while before sunrise, and sauntered outside to the balcony to take in the fresh sea air. We were visiting New Zealand and in a couple of hours would be taking the ferry to the South Island. In the meantime, we’d slept overnight in the Island Bay Lighthouse (literally, a former […]

Bobby Socks

When we first visited Yellowstone National Park last Summer, I had little to no understanding of its vast and incredible ecosystem. What some might see as a strictly inhospitable landscape, and certainly can be to us humans, is actually an abundant and diverse biome supporting a plethora of flora and fauna and is one of […]

The Best Amusement Park Ride

We’re not kayakers. Well, at least not whitewater kayakers. But it sure is fun watching skilled paddlers take on eye-popping rides like Benham Falls. It’s along the Deschutes River near picturesque Bend, Oregon. This group repeatedly hiked upriver to put in, paddle their hearts out all through the falls, get out at the bottom, and […]

The Confluence

How often do we feel prepared for what’s next? Sometimes we can see it coming, and sometimes it just slaps us upside the head with surprise. We’d been taking sunset shots at Arches National Park on a beautiful spring evening and, stomachs rumbling, were headed back down toward Moab for dinner. However, of course as […]

The Frosty Goodbye

Traditional photography advice is to have the sun back over your shoulder so it lights up your subject. It’s a solid tip in some circumstances, such as most portraiture. Yet it’s hardly a hard and fast rule. Want some drama? Position the sun to your side for contrasting light and shadows, or even shoot toward […]

Where There’s a Will

There are few things I enjoy more than finding beauty in unexpected places. This bright, strong, desert flower delights, surrounded by rocks in varying shades of beige and spied while on a sandy hike in Zion. I’m always amazed at what can grow and flourish in the most inhospitable of environments like the high desert. […]

Icing Sugar

We’d been staying at a spacious AirBnb in Sedona, Arizona one December when a rare snowstorm arrived, enveloping the area. But photographers know that combination of sunlight and dark, threatening skies are custom-built for dynamic, engaging photographs. So when the clouds and fog began to part late in the afternoon as the sun was low in […]

Yellowstone

I have admittedly mixed feelings about this image.  In the strict sense—the perspective of the scene at the moment of capture—conveys the mystery and wonder of sunrise at Yellowstone, surrounded by waves of fog and mist arising from the Earth’s geothermal crevices. It’s a gentle and quiet scene and can evoke peacefulness, which is what […]

Please Do Not Taste the Rainbow

I’ve had this shot in my head for a while now so when we finally got to Olympic National Park, I was ready for it. I knew from my research there were beach rocks to be found in all sizes, shapes and colors along the windswept rocky coast of the Pacific Northwest. What I didn’t realize was […]

A Pensive Solitude

Many people are surprised learn there are giant sand dunes in Colorado (it’s true!). One can stand, with shoes undoubtedly filled with sand, atop one of these ever-shifting dunes and watch the morning sun light up the mountainous Collegiate Peaks to the west (or watch it set behind them if you’re a night owl like […]

Kids Will Be Kids

Just downhill from the Continental Divide in Glacier National Park is a fave hangout spot for mountain goats. One afternoon during our trek, we spied a female adult confidently descending a nearby cliff. What we didn’t also see at the time were its two playful offspring, until they emerged tentatively from some thick underbrush just […]

Not What It Seems

The casual viewer may eye this and do a double-take what with the combo of clouds and the island’s reflection. Wait, is that water? Indeed, it’s the calm, nearly wind-free waters of Crater Lake National Park, from which the ethereal Phantom Ship island emerges.  We converted one of our mirrorless Canon cameras to full-spectrum, meaning […]

Out Standing In Its Field

Let’s take a moment this holiday season to appreciate design and decor for other parts of the year too! We were out for a restorative stroll one summer in New Orleans’s Garden District following a major surgery for moi. As we passed by this empty, grassy lot, a sole attraction caught our eye: this shopping […]

Something Borrowed

Like last week’s image, you might glance at this and determine these are desert flowers blooming against a blue-hued building. We were  south of Santa Fe, exploring the smaller artist-centric communities, when we spotted this house. People in this part of the country are not afraid of a little domestic color, especially when it contrasts […]

No. 2

Desert life comes ready with its protective mechanisms, like the top of this cactus in Joshua Tree National Park which we named No. 2 (see the sharpened pencil shapes?). We had been in the area for a concert and figured a morning hike could invigorate the soul before the day’s oppressive heat set in. Walking […]

Blue Ridge

Today’s image is named “Blue Ridge” and…most viewers might look at the image above and think, “Oh, that’s clearly the Blue Ridge Mountains,” which look cleverly similar. Amazingly, it hails instead from the Pacific Northwest at Crater Lake National Park. It was late in the afternoon on a slightly hazy day with minimal winds. We’d […]

Making My Homestead

Hiking the Virgin River upriver from the Temple of Sinawava is a rite of passage for many. On this particular fall morning I held only a fraction of that desire, wanting instead to simply wade into the Narrows for a mile or two to see what there was to see as the sun rose. I […]