Numbers.

8 Days. 2,300 Miles. 5 National Parks. 3 Travelers. 1 Frame to share. More to come.

TO THE MOUNTAINS!

If you don't already know, I LOVE the Adirondacks. I'm looking for reasons/excuses to move there on a weekly basis. In the meantime, we take as many trips as we can. This time was special because it was the tiny one's first camping trip. We usually tent camp but this time Marla booked us a cozy little guide tent (queen bed included), on the premises of The Woods Inn which is nestled in on Fourth Lake, as a treat for fathers day! Happy Fathers Day toooooo Me! As we meandered around during our stay...

Looking forward to a sunrise engagement shoot tomorrow morning! Happy Friday friends!

GREAT OUTDOORS ~ MAN TRIP '11 *spring edition*

Man Trip. Where we head off to some foreign land (THE ADIRONDACKS), go and beat our chests, eat meat (A LOT), wrestle wild animals (DON'T THINK WE SAW ANY), build fires (THESE WERE NICE), and plan to do things that kick our butt (THIS HAPPENED MORE THAN ONCE)! This trip took us back up to our collective favorite spot. The Hi-Peak Region of The ADKS. Being hesitant about the weather and conditions we made plans to start at Colvin(4057'), summit it, then over to the summit of Blake(3960'), then back over Colvin(4057') and possibly Nippletop and Dial. Well we had another GORGEOUS day. HI 30's Low 40's, and barely a cloud in the sky! The trails were packed nicely as long as you statyed on them. 8 inches to the left or right and your trekking pole or leg would disappear into 3-4ft of snow. The nice weather did play a part in our demise as the snow on the backside of Colvin tuned to a snow cone consistency and not snowshoe or crampon could grip. Needless to say we did a portion of this on our bummers. It was a phenomenal weekend as it always is with these gentlemen and scholars. Can hardly wait for the next one!

GREAT OUTDOORS ~ COLOR

As we speak it is a blistery -5 in the out-of-doors. It IS one of my favorite times of year as i truly enjoy the snow and crunch of the ice and all the things that winter brings. Hot drinks. Snowshoeing. Fires. Juniper Ridge Sweetgrass Incense. Getting stuck in the driveway. Things like that.

I've been slightly overwhelmed by life as of late. I've been reliving life and some of the past trips scrolling through my library. I have the itch for another trip so while preparation for that is underway I like to dip in to the old albums and revisit some of the amazing places I've been fortunate enough to go. Every time I roll through the pictures from out Anniversary trip from two years ago there's one image that always seems to hit me.

Vermont is by far one of my favorite places. For years Marla & I would go play life there. Roll into these small quaint little towns and eat at no name places. Trying to frequent the places the locals call their favorites we always find ourselves in remote little corners of nowhere. Those are the places we love. Another one of our favorite Vermont past times is to ride. Enjoying the mountains, streams, amazing colors (in Fall), and in search of ye good ole moose. We have a slight obsession with them. But, prefer remote wilderness. Which again is right up our alley. On that trip we found ourselves in the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge which had to have been pretty close to Russia (my good buddy Palin). I love traveling these single lane dirt roads with brush scraping the sides of the car, knowing this is WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. On that remote road, in that remote area, with the wild things, I shot this image. I was standing on a bridge (looking for trout) and 5 steps to the right this is what I saw. Looking down onto a fir tree, some brush whose color that had hit its peak, and a strange shade of purple brought out by the river rocks. I really loved what I saw. I must've snapped 10 different variations of this same image. While it may not be the most striking, every time I pass it in my roll through my library I try to tag it. Only to realize it's already marked to be posted or in a place where I can see it more often. So today, on this super cold snowy day and a day where I needed a little color in my life, this scene did it's job and reminded me of God's goodness, creativity, and my love for the GREAT OUTDOORS.

Great Outdoors ~ Ahhh

Today was the first day I was able to get back outside and took advantage of it by heading to one of my favorite places...The Genesee County Park. I maintained a great routine of getting out for a hike up until our recent arrival. After a few weeks of being derailed, we grabbed our little package, bundled her up, and headed out to show her what will soon be one of HER favorite places. *Deep Breath*... Ahhh, So nice to be outside again. Have a great Friday friends.

GREAT OUTDOORS ~ ATTICA CASCADES

Autumn has just about reached it's fullness here in Western New York. I felt inspired this morning to head out and enjoy it all. I had been driving the backroads of the WNY for quite some time and finally found my way back to Attica. After a few stops I thought it might be a good day to revisit the Attica Cascades. I was correct. It was gorgeous and after our recent downpours we had a good amount of water spilling over. After a few minutes of enjoying the falls, smells, and cool temperatures, I was interrupted by a phone call. I was being summoned by 2(She alway's blames the babe) for a Dunkin Donuts Pumpkin Spice Muffin Delivery! Hey I can't argue with a stellar request(demand) like that! Muffins for all!

Great Outdoors ~ Ode to Yosemite

Well, this is way out of order but I was just blown away by the GRANDNESS of Yosemite. I continually said to Marla..."Babe, Stop... Look around at where we are!" I've had the opportunity to admire Ansel Adams work over the years as well as some reading about him and WOW, did he capture this place to a T. It was great to tread the same ground as guys like Adams and John Muir. While hiking in the Mariposa Grove, which house's the most humongous Sequoia's I've ever seen, we came across this older gentleman who was quite a spectacle. He had setup and old large-format camera on his tripod and would Tweak this and Turn that. Plug this. Click that. All the while appearing and disappearing from underneath his hood to grab something from Sharon, his wife/assistant. (They make the best assistant's!) He had secret tools on his belt in leather compartments. I knew we would be friends by his sheer amount of sweet gadgets he had. As I stood there I began to feel ridiculous. I see Sharon hand her husband ONE, UNO, 1., Un...a single slide of film. I began to say to myself..."What have we done". As I stand there with my camera in hand, knowing I had another 458 images left on my 8GB card, I proceed to watch dozens of others come by to grab a shot or 14 shots of "Grizzly Giant". (This is a huge Sequoia which stands 209ft and is 96.5ft around.) I am struck by how we've lost the art of photography. How can I come home with 7 shots of this tree...all subpar. What if I only had one shot? Would I study the subject more? Would I take my time in setup? That image would mean more to me b/c I found MY view of this tree. MY interpretation. While this guy was packing up, I asked..."Do you have a card...Somewhere that I might see your work...?" He said, I don't have a card with me, but if you search the web for...B-O-B--K-O-L-B-R-E-N-E-R, you will find me. After leaving the valley and gaining internet access, I looked up Mr. K-O-L-B-R-E-N-E-R and found that I had run into a special person. Mr. Kolbrener was an assistant and fellow instructor of photography at Yosemite with none other than Mr. Ansel Adams himself. I was blown away. His work is truly astonishing! If only I could go back and grab on to his coattails or leather belt compartments in this case, I would have studied his every move. He continues to shoot and has exhibitions of his work traveling the world which is showcased along with Adams.
It was a great moment for me. Here I am this peon in the world of photography and we have greats like Kolbrener and Adams before us to remind us of the ART of photography. Reminding us to let a little piece of ourselves be in every image. Reminding us to express ourselves. And most of all, reminding us to look for the small things in life. The beautiful shadows, streams, fog, weather, reflections, shapes, textures, faces, etc. God has blessed us so much with these things to enjoy. Slow down and look close.
These images were captured in Yosemite and were inspired by Nature and greats like Kolbrener and Adams.

Great Outdoors ~ Autumn

It's almost here and I can hardly stand it. It's the most amazing time of year. I love watching the trees turn their fiery colors, pulling out hoodies, listening to fall albums, building warming campfires, and trying to spend as much time outside as possible! The past couple of weeks have had the most incredible skies. Today while walking to the car for lunch...