Yippee ki-yay, motherfuc*er!

Howdy, partner! Rustle up a chair and perk up your ears, for I got me a tale that needs a-tellin' and I reckon you're gonna like it.

I'm recently returned from my expedition to the southwestern US, and holy cow what an adventure it was! I moseyed through numerous slot canyons and deserts, ran over many a poor tumbleweed, drank some coffee that would wake the dead, slogged miles up a swift-movin' river, slept in sub-freezin' temps, and imbibed copious amounts of beer.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot: I shot me some photography, too.

Okay, okay, ya' got me: I'm bein' a tad disingenuous. Truth is, I came away with more "keeper" shots than possibly any other week of shootin' I've ever had. Yes indeedy, ya' might just say it was an incredibly productive outin'. And you'd be right.

Since I've so many images from this trip, I'mma gonna break with my tradition of postin' 'em all at once and and instead display 'em over several different upcomin' photoblog posts. That way, I'll be able to explain a bit more in-depth about each one and YOU'LL have more photoblog posts to look forward to than usual. Ya' lucky son-of-a-gun!

First up is an image I call "Hall Of Faces". It was created in a scarcely-known slot canyon in northern Arizona. Anyhow, what makes this here image special is the floor. There are a good many slot canyons in Arizona and Utah, but the vast majority of 'em are very well known and thus overrun with tourists and photographers and other sorts of unsavory characters. To find one with an undisturbed floor, especially one with ripples in the sand like this one, is quite rare. That's why most shots of slot canyons ya' see don't show the dag-nabbin' floor. But, without the floor, it's damn near impossible to show a sense of place and scale like I was able to do here. My reasoning for the image's title should be readily apparent. Can ya' see the faces? (If not, suck down a couple barley-pops and then take another gander.)

Hall Of Faces (Large version HERE.)

Next is an image entitled "Distorted Hallway". Like the previous image, it's from that same secret slot canyon and it has the sand and mud ripples in the floor. It is quite a surreal and nearly confusing spot, hence the title.

Distorted Hallway (Large version HERE.)

Before I go, I'd like to holler a big "THANK YOU KINDLY" to my good pal and master photographer Marc Adamus. Once again, he made the trip all it could be. Without him, I'd a-never found many of the places we explored. Lastly, I'd also like to give a nod to Marc's friend Colin, a fellow photographer and nice fella who accompanied us on our ramblin's.

Well, that about does it. Until next time, stay safe and keep your cards to your chest. ^_^

Good things come...

...to those who wait. Or so the old saying goes. And since I've kept you waiting for two months, I figured I'd give you something good: a bunch of new images.

These are all miscellaneous images from the past year. I needed to get them done, displayed and cleared out of my workload before I leave in less than two weeks. (And I did... on time! *gasp* Wonders never cease.)

Once again, I will be rendezvousing with friend and renowned landscape photographer Marc Adamus, this time in the southwestern US. When I return in late November, I will have a whole mess of new images to show you, many from places few have ever seen.

Until then, take care. And Happy Halloween! ^_^

Passing Alpine Thunderstorm

Mating Monarchs


Sunset at Hamm's Bluff

Dense Forest at Sunset

Rutting Bull Elk

Elk Silhouette

Little Tree On the Prairie

Sprague Lake Sunrise

Wild Comma Flutterby

Picture Perfect Picnic Spot

Sunbathing Marmot

Summer at Independence Pass

Tumultuous Tidepools

An International Adventure.

Last month, some friends joined my girlfriend and I on a trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Every time I've gone there, some sort of adventure has followed. This time outdid them all.

Without going into too much detail, one of our group injured himself fairly seriously, and we had to administer first aid in the field. All that Boy Scout training finally paid off. What makes it far more interesting is that the injury occurred while we were a bit... lost. Turns out our map was incorrect. (That sure is heartening -- a map, which pretty much only exists to PREVENT you from getting lost -- was wrong, and got us, um, lost.)

Once we found our bearings, we realized that we had been on Canadian soil when my friend got injured. So, in addition to being injured and lost, we had also illegally crossed an international border. Yep, we were injured lost illegal aliens. Sounds like a reality show.

Below is a photo from near our campsite on Rose Lake. The rocks in the foreground are Minnesota. And the land on the horizon is -- you guessed it -- Canada. You can view the large version HERE.

Don't forget that I'm out at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival every Saturday and Sunday until October selling the posters I made of Twig the Fairy. Hope to see you out there!

Until next time, take care. ^_^

Rose Lake Sunset

It's a tree! It's a branch! It's a... Twig?

Time for a trip down memory lane.

Remember my encounter three summers ago with Twig the Fairy? Well, ever since then I've always wanted to collaborate with her on a photography project. I always knew that together we could make some knockout images. I actually tried to contact her a few times that summer to see if she wanted to work together, but to no avail. (Getting ahold of fairies is no easy task. They don't exactly have cell phones, ya' know?.) After awhile, I gave up trying to contact her. I figured if it was meant to be, it would happen somehow.

And then, this past April, happen it did.

One day, out of the blue, there was Twig. She had somehow found me. I told her of my idea and she liked it. And a partnership was born.

Earlier this month, she and I went out into the local Minnesota wilderness and made some images. I gotta say, I'm quite proud of 'em -- they exceeded even my already-lofty expectations. I really poured my heart into making them. I hope you like them, too. (Be SURE to view the larger versions in my Twig the Fairy Gallery. They do the photos much, much more justice.)

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: Beginning August 21st, we'll be selecting three of these images and making large, high-quality posters of them for sale at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. I'll be out there everyday, as will be Twig, of course. Stop by and say hello, and if you're lucky, Twig will grace your poster with her autograph. (I'd offer my autograph, too, but all we'd hear is crickets chirping.)

Well, I gotta get going. I've gotta start preparing my stomach for an onslaught of turkey drumsticks and mead. Take care! ^_^

P.S. If you'd like to learn more about Twig, her Facebook page is the way to go.

Street Life

Recently, I had the opportunity to get on top of the overhang of the world famous First Avenue music venue in downtown Minneapolis. How and why did I get up there? Believe it or not, I wasn't trying to evade the police. (Although, if I were, the top of the overhang would be an excellent spot.) Actually, I'm just not going to tell you how or why I got up there, because it's not important.

What is important is the image I created while up there.

This image is both a reflection of the street corner below as well as a view through the window at the back of the bar's liquor rack. See how the liquor bottles read correctly, while the street components (Hard Rock logo, taxi cab, etc.) read backwards?

I feel it makes for a nice juxtaposition of life both inside and outside the club. Street life, baby. Street life.

The large version can be viewed HERE.

They say "persistence pays". Turns out they're right.

Remember the St. Croix landscape images I've mentioned the last couple times? Well, I ended up spending all of my energy on creating just one. But she's a beauty, and she's ready to show.

I found this spot on the west end of St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, in early April while scouting locations. The island in the center is a seastack, which are rare in the Virgin Islands. This is the only seastack I've ever found on St. Croix in ten years.

I returned to this remote spot several different times over the course of three weeks and shot the sunset. I had to be on my guard to keep my camera dry while shooting near the crashing waves -- my feet were often in a foot of water. On the last sunset before I had to leave the island for the summer -- my very last chance to get what I wanted without having to wait until next winter -- I finally got it. So many times we landscape photographers bust our humps and the weather doesn't cooperate -- it's very rewarding when persistence pays off and we finally do get what we're looking for.

I honestly think this is one of the strongest images I've ever made in the Virgin Islands. I hope you dig it, too. Be sure and look at the large version of this -- it really does it much more justice.

Well, that about does it for this latest entry into the Greatest Photoblog In The Entire Known Universe. I hope after reading it, you will now march forth, with your newly-acquired divine knowledge of seastacks firmly in hand, and solve world hunger. Or, at least smile a little. ^_^

The Only Seastack

(Click HERE for large version.)

Dolphins!

There are some things in this world that just about everybody loves. Puppies. Rainbows. Sunsets. Politicians getting caught lying. Me making a fool of myself. You get the idea.

I think we can safely add another thing to that list: dolphins. Besides being the smartest animals on Earth, they are very playful and just plain CUTE! Getting to see and interact with one, especially in nature, is a rare treat that many have yearned for.

In my time in the Virgin Islands, I have been lucky enough to encounter dolphins in the wild not once, not twice, but three times! (They must be attracted to clumsiness.)

The most recent of those times was just eight days ago. While sailing the 40-mile stretch from St. Croix to St. John, a pair of dolphins swam up to my boat and proceeded to frolic all around for about 45 minutes. It was unforgettable!

The icing on the cake was the weather: it was dead calm. Now, for a sailboat, this is not ideal (we had to motor most of the way). But, for photographing underwater critters, it's perfect! The stillness of the water allowed me to see the dolphins easily even when they were deep underwater. That made it much easier to follow them and capture them at just the right moment when they breached the surface. In addition, the calmness combined with the unusually thick cloud cover created what were honestly the most surreal conditions I've ever seen in ten years in the islands.

Take a look and see for yourself. Please view the LARGE versions where applicable, as they do the photos much more justice.

Until next time, take care! I'll be back soon with those landscape images from St. Croix that I talked about last time. ^_^

Approaching Dolphins

Underwater Pals (Large version HERE.)

Follow Us! (Large version HERE.)

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