There’s an odd, if that’s a fair word, bridge that connects a three-month vacation to an upcoming four-month stretch of wall-to-wall photography sessions.

I’m on the middle of that mental bridge right now, looking back at so many brilliant memories of 17,000 miles, 19 states (plus Canada) and extraordinary visuals/experiences throughout, while also looking forward to what’s about to be an explosion of work through late-December.

My business has been the beneficiary of so much good fortune for six full years, and I’m deeply thankful for the ebbs and flows that are hard work coupled with time away from that work. It’s a natural ying and yang, I suppose. Right now I’m on the bridge looking both directions and am feeling wholly, and appropriately, awed.

Those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.

Nietzsche

I’ll never know, or be able to repay, how I get so lucky.

Hiking through Glacier National Park, this gorgeous Mountain Goat walked not 30 yards from us. Following shortly after was its child (who was a bit disheveled in its shaggy, shedding state….). The entire episode lasted less than 20 seconds.

I had said, not an hour prior, that I’d love to see a mountain goat on our hike.

I sure didn’t think that I would, and I still can’t believe that I did.

Sometimes I wonder why I always carry a camera. Sometimes I get an emphatic answer to that question.

As many times as I’d been to Seattle and vicinity, I hadn’t had the chance to explore Olympic National Park. What a treat seeing the rainforest, the vistas and the wildlife.

Ninety days on the road sure is a luxury of beauty, new experiences and returns to old favorites.

Beautiful setting at the stunning Suncadia Golf Resort, and a wonderful time hanging with Kayla, Tommy and Belle!

I read a nice quote yesterday about how photography is capable of picking up where words leave off…. As much as I love language, it’s probably true: a picture can be poignant, terrifying, heartbreaking, joyful, etc., in a way where language may have gaps.

Siobhan grew up back-and-forth between Ireland and Oregon, and in the latter her favorite place as a child was Cannon Beach, with its signature Haystack Rock alongside the iconic Oregon Coast. Her family went to Cannon Beach for decades, and the ties are deep (our son and daughter have visited multiple times, too, of course).

She asked me this week to photograph her at her treasured childhood/mothering location, as part of our three-month adventure throughout the country.

While Siobhan is beautiful, funny and has perfect eyes for a camera, I knew that the shot I most wanted to give her, as a from-me-to-you gift, was of an image of her looking back in time. I think the scene is heavenly and conveys a bit of what we all feel when we reflect on our own childhood.

Famously, a photographer’s Achilles Heel question to be asked is “What kind of camera do you use?”

It’s literally not about the camera (the lens is much more important, in fact).

The key, all things being equal, is angles.

Keep moving over/around/left/right/through to find just the right angle.

There are so many types of photography that I deeply love. I’m thrilled to be a professional portrait/wedding/engagement/commercial/business photographer, and am genuinely joyful to step in to each new session.

No question, though, that I equally love landscape, wildlife, abstract and street photography. I find juggling multiple interests among a limited number of hours/days/weeks/years to be about as challenging as is any task in our short lives.

I love pinchmeyou’vegottobekidding moments.

I somehow get many, many more than my fair share.

Alaska, Summer 2019

Enthralled with Alaskan photo opportunities. What a gorgeous, wild, straightforward and intimate place.

Here, I was waytooclose to a grizzly bear, who had just killed something and was eating it in the safety of a waterway.

Other pictures from this set are more graphic and jaw-dropping, but I’ll detour from those images and present this gorgeous, almost personal, moment, where he/she acknowledged that I was nearby (600mm lens) but wasn’t either threatened or aggressive toward me.