Featured
— B L O G —
Featured
— B L O G —
As the 100 Summits film flickered on the projection screen at Uptown Theatre in Richland, WA, a spark was ignited. After attending this live showing, Ashtin turned to her father, Dean, with a newfound aspiration: to climb some Bulger Peaks. Eight months later, Dean reached out, suggesting I mentor Ashtin and even join them on the trip. It was an idea I immediately loved…
It’s been a while since an update. This year has been a wild one and there’s a lot to catch up on. As the pace is slowing a bit now, with winter vibes quickly rolling in, I am going through some video footage from earlier this year.
The biggest update I have yet to mention here is a mountain climbing project I collaborated on between mid-June to early-September. I had the privilege of…
May 12th, 2023. Cashmere Mountain's summit is 8501 feet elevation located near Leavenworth, WA. It is the 58th peak on Washington state's tallest 100 "Bulger list". This summit makes for 35/100 completed for me. Being spring there is still enough snow coverage for the Victoria's Secret route on the north side…
I was lucky to get to work with Brian and Jean for a second time. This time they had their hearts set on a bridal portrait shoot. Similar to the engagement photos hike we did last year, this trail rewards with gorgeous Mt. Rainer views, but with only one third of the miles required, we were going to be able to focus more on wedding bridal photos and less on pounding through miles of hiking…
March 2020 I joined a group of local climbers on my first Mount Saint Helens summit trip. Later that year in early October I went back to see what climbing the mountain was like in no-snow conditions. In this post I’m going to take look back on both trips and photos.
Anna and Roger had a vacation planned to Ashford, WA and wanted to visit Mount Rainier. While I offer several options for the Mountain Portrait Experiences, we chose a 16-mile round trip trail in the northwest corner of Mount Rainier National Park. The destination sits at over 8300 feet, stands up over a glacier, and overlooks a dozen ice blue snowmelt ponds, also referred to as tarns…
…I was honestly a little bit nervous about the fact that we would be hiking in the dark as we started out on our hike up to Old Snowy Mountain. This hike was pretty ambitious compared to what I am used to, but at the same time, I was really excited about this challenge. As soon as we started on the trail all the nerves just melted away…
…In fact, in all the excitement and planning I overlooked a vital detail. It was now Friday morning at 7am, exactly 24 hours before we were to start the climb, and I woke up to messages and a phone call. It was Aaron and Trevin asking me where I was. I had the wrong date on the calendar!
If I wasn’t able to make it their backup plan was that they would join together to make a team of 5. Fair plan, but that wasn’t going to happen…
This post is completely about me and my friend’s two day trip to tackle 9 mountain peaks. SPOILER ALERT- I do make a poor decision and end up stuck on some scary terrain. Now, if the sound of that doesn’t trigger a record spinning to the tune of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now”, well this trip report may not be for you.
My Bucket List during COVID-19
Lists help organize priorities. For some of you, having a list may give you a little extra boost in eagerness to do something just to get it checked off. If that’s you, you might have the same streak of competitiveness as I do!
Personally, during this whole COVID-19 era having a list…
There is a list for people who are serious about climbing WA’s mountain peaks. Not just a list, but the list. The Washington Bulger List. It basically includes the highest 100 mountains in the state… I heard from a friend that he was going to climb two of these mountains - in one day, and that I was invited!
It was early November when Vanessa contacted me to hike to Old Snowy Mountain. I had just gone up there a few weeks prior, but with some snowfall in the recent few days I knew this would be a completely different experience…
Q: What do you do when your wife is more into fashion then she is hiking?
A: You buy her a pair of fashionable hiking shoes!
With no exciting trick-or-treating going on Halloween 2020, it was the perfect chance to get out and bag a peak. In the quite popular Enchantments near Leavenworth is a range of mountains…
What’s something that Mt Rainier and myself share in common? Well, we both call Washington state ‘home’, and that’s pretty cool! When given the chance to get up close and personal with this mountain, I’m gonna take it!
What is the best way to use PTO? The best for your health and well-being? There’s at least one other person with the belief that it is hiking the Pacific Northwest to an epic sunset view of the cascade’s volcanic giants Rainier, Adams, and Saint Helens…
This guy played on six NFL teams and in the 2015 Pro Bowl. Now he is the inventor of Shower Pill and most recently the brand Hustle Clean. His name is Justin Forsett. 10 years ago, in 2010, Justin was 25 years old and playing as a starting running back for the Seattle Seahawks. I was living in an apartment at Pike Place and commuting by skateboard everyday to my studio in Pioneer Square. Seattle Fashion Network contacted me to photograph an editorial assignment with Justin as the model.
There's magic that can happen when starting a photo project with the mindset of a Photoshop artist. Photo compositing is a type of photo manipulation that involves taking two or more photos and merging together selected parts of each into one image. Photoshop artists will do just that but often use stock images to complete these projects. When a concept is thought up prior to photographing it, all photos can be captured in a way that makes them much more compatible when merging them together…
Elena’s words about the hike:
I climbed Mt. Thorp with Ross for my birthday. At almost 6000 ft elevation and a 17 hour journey in snow, it easily places as the most physically strenuous thing I’ve ever done in my entire life - but it was all so worth it. The view at the top…
This was the perfect location to choose for a solo snowshoe adventure as this pandemic was starting to unfold. Just me, the snow bunnies (seen in the video), and lots of snow to trek through. I started at the sno-park parking area outside of Salmon La Sac campground at 5:30am and got back at 4:35pm. Never saw a single person the entire day! 13.6 miles and 3450 feet elevation gain with plenty of stops for photo ops…
Yes, I am peeking in the mailbox on Mailbox Peak. lol
I had to get a joke in there before this gets serious, because this hike is seriously no joke. Although right in North Bend, WA with a paved road to the trailhead this hike starts to feel remote, and starts to test your mental strength very quickly.
Here’s a preview with some 360 views….
-An overnight snowshoe hike to a private cabin-
It was back in November I climbed up into the attic and dusted off a pair of snowshoes. I’ve been ready for the snow since. But it wasn’t until January that I really put the snowshoes to work. One of my goals for January is to get out and do 5 days of snowshoeing. 4 days down now, one more day to go…
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” -Viktor Frankl
I truly think this is my favorite quote ever. And I really believe it to be true. It is a freedom to have control over your thoughts and reactions and only the mind can strip you of that freedom…
This is Courtney. I love the message that she is putting out there. She’s living her unique journey and sharing in a way that is encouraging for others to step off the mainstream path and pursue a path that points towards your dreams.
How cool is that??
…
My photo story from 3 days in the wilderness photographing an Intermountain Alpine Club group backpacking trip.
Intermountain Alpine Club is what IMAC stands for. The outdoor activity group has been around for over 70 years and is based out of Richland, WA. As stated on the imacnw.org website, “Our primary purpose is to encourage the enjoyment of the outdoors and to promote hiking, mountain climbing, and other activities in the Pacific Northwest”…
Mountain peaks are one of those things I have always felt amazed at. They stand up high with wisdom the rest of the world just doesn’t have. But it’s only been in recent years that mountain peaks have started calling my name. They are beckoning me, challenging me to climb, plant my feet on top and capture the views only that mountain knows…
Yes! Another year spending some time in Korea. No, not North Korea… the other one. (Just to clear that up.) Visiting Korea means several things for us: One, my daughter (20 months old) can visit with her grandparents. Two, my wife can eat spicy rice cakes on any street corner. Three, we can both meet up with friends we made when we lived in Seoul. And of course, four, I get to shoot some photo projects. These photos I’ll share here are some personal photos I took along the way.
Hello! I’m pleased you want to take a look at some of my photography from the last year. As you keep scrolling down you’ll find some photos I haven’t shared previously. But mostly this is a recap of the projects that took a substantial amount of my time as well as some of my thoughts on them.
This past June 1st, I had the pleasure of co-leading a student graduation climb of Mount Hood with Ken Stoops, part of the Intermountain Alpine Club's fantastic free mountaineering instruction program. It was an unforgettable day of determination, effort, and triumph with six of this year’s students. We captured many moments throughout the climb, and I'm excited to share our journey with you!