Just a Photo V
Monday, January 18th, 2010


More photos from my brother’s lost journey. I’m dry camping in the forest up on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula – working on the book…

Even though these will totally screw up Jeff’s Mystical Impermanence Lesson, here are some shots of his Great Northwestern Journey as seen through my eyes…



Thanks to Rene’s comment the other day, the weather has started to become overcast. I love overcast days because they were made for photography. Overcast days produce a very subdued, soft light – perfect for portraits, nature, and whatever you call my kind of shots. Contrary to popular lore, it is very hard to take a good picture on a sunny day – you’re better off just putting on some shades, hitting the beach and working on your tan.

Though it was sunny at my camp, it was very foggy in San Francisco. This shot, just to the north, is of the cliff area at Muir Beach. Like the “Genesis” shot, this one too has that mysterious, churning quality. Obviously something is drawing me toward the Dark Side of the Force.

After I uploaded my last post, it started snowing harder so I went out and shot some more photos. I like this one the best.

On my hike yesterday, I came across this plot of rocks in the desert that reminded me of a Zen garden.
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I have been shooting photos for a couple decades now, and one of the things that has caused me no end of frustration, has been lugging the tripod up and down steep mountain trails. There just never seemed to be a good way to carry the damn thing (just thinking about it gets me frustrated). I’ve finally figured it out and now have a very lightweight, versatile, comfortable, simple, take-anywhere-all-purpose camera rig…

As luck would have it, I think I’ve got the best campsite in the entire park. Lucky #13 has a great view of the lake. I don’t know how the spot was open. Superstitious folks I guess.
Yesterday, after setting up camp, I rushed back into Phoenix for a Photo Expo and sold all my camera equipment (aside from my new camera and my trusty carbon-fiber tripod). My thoughts are that in a year or so, they will have a camera of the quality of my old 1Ds, but in the size – and more importantly, weight – of my new camera. I still have mental reservations but my back is thanking me already.

As part of my website facelift, I’ve added a photo gallery – My Favorite Photos from 2008. Clicking on any thumbnail will expand it and provide a link to “Steal this Photo.” – Enjoy!

We had a light snowfall here in Tucson – it melted as soon as it hit the ground at my campsite, but I could see it up in the hills, so I grabbed my camera and headed to the trail head that led upward…

Took the new camera for a stroll up into the hills behind my campsite. Here are a few of the shots…

Took a little road trip today. Headed up to Cloudcroft, NM, then over to White Sands National Monument. Got some great shots at White Sands – or so I thought – but when I went to pull them from the storage card, the ones I was really looking forward to (at the end of the “roll”) were gone. Miserable. This shot is of the Sacramento Mountains between Cloudcroft and Alamogordo, NM.

Caverns have got to be one of the hardest places to get a good photo, especially when you have tourists kicking your tripod as they pass by. Not their fault though, caverns are one of the darkest places too. Funny how I don’t consider myself a tourist – what’s with that?
Day One of my juice fast. Hungry. I’ve never done a juice fast before, only water fasts. Curious to see if the hunger goes away after the third day (as it does with a water fast).

Here are some photos from Savannah, GA. I only walked around the downtown area about two hours before heading to Powell, Alabama where I’m keeping my RV at my buddy Doug’s place.
I was stationed outside Savannah most of my three years in the Army. Brought back a lot of memories, none of which I’m particularly proud of, but good memories nonetheless.
More photos below…

For years I’ve been saying that I wanted to take some photos along the “river” near Palm Bay where my parents live, but I’ve never liked the light at those times. So I got up early today, grabbed my camera and tripod and headed out into the pre-dawn morning.

I didn’t get up early enough to catch the dawn light – maybe tomorrow. I think the mist rising off Jordan Lake and the early morning skies would make for some spectacular photos. This is another shot taken with the tilt-shift lens.

Richmond is a very old city, but I was surprised at the state of some of the downtown area. Still, I try to find beauty even in the ugly. See the pics below…