Enjoying the rappel

San Antonio Falls flows down from Mount Baldy in Southern California and its always a fun descent. As I was deciding the next image to post on the blog I thought I better show some of the women that enjoy the thrill and challenges of canyoneering. Here is Michelle Carlson on the last rappel of San Antonio falls. I was able to climb up the canyon wall a little bit and shoot back across to catch her enjoying the rappel. This image also made it into the pages of Women's Health a few years back. Enjoy the summer!

Somewhere in a pool of water....

I won't say much about this image except we were on location filming a documentary on the sport of canyoneering when I took this image. Tell me what you think.

Fall colors

While hiking up to West Lake in the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains I stopped often to snap images of the fall colors and to just relax and enjoy the beauty.  I know most times when we go looking for fall colors we want an image that shows the entire mountain side covered with oranges, yellows and reds but we forget to simplify.  I try to always find a few images that show that beauty up close.  This is one of those images.  I hope you enjoy it.

Zion National Park

Zion National park is one of the most beautiful places I have explored.  This image was taken near the Subway in Zion.  After a steep hike down the canyon wall and a long hike on a poorly marked trail fellow photographer Brett Holman (getawayimagery.blogspot.com) and myself finally got to the section named the Subway.  We explored for a few hours waiting for the light to be just right but it never was.  We decided it would be best to be there at an early time so we started the long trek out.  Along the way out I was able to create this image of flowing water.  Often times when first exploring a new area its hard to determine when the best light is.  As photographers we learn that morning light and evening light is the usually the best. But in Zion where canyon walls shoot straight up for a thousand feet sometimes noon allows for the best image.  My suggestion give yourself a time to explore the same spot a few days in a row.

Inward Reflections

Sometimes finding the image takes climbing over and under huge granite boulders, like the ones found on the lower Kern River in CA.  I remember scrambling around these boulders making sure not to slip into the river.  A few people die every year as a result of trying to swim in parts of the river.  And I didn't want to be that guy or even worse soak my camera gear.  I finally found this great spot and was able to compose this image.  This was shot on good old Fuji Velvia slide film.  

Spring riding near the border

San Diego has a wide variety of things to do, from surfing to climbing. It even offers up some great horse back riding adventures as well. Good friend Jessica Clifford called me up and said she had a great ride she wanted to show me down by the Tijuana river near Imperial Beach.  So I packed up the camera dug my boots out of the closet and headed south.  It was the first time I had been on a horse in over 10 years. Not like riding a bike but I did manage not to fall off.  Here are a few images from the trip.

Christian James in the recording studio

A few months back Christian James invited me to check out one of his recording sessions.  So I grabbed one light and headed to the studio to document the recording.  It was great watching and listening to him play and work out the small changes on each song.  I had free range in the studio to move him and my light anywhere I wanted.  But found it best to leave him be and only move the light.  I hope you enjoy these images as much as I did creating them.

Ascending

Often times while I'm out canyoneering lighting conditions can be very poor, either to direct or to dark.  On this particular day we had a group out training them how to descend a canyon.  Part of the training was how to navigate the canyon after dark.  This was the last rappel of the day/night head lamps were lit and I saw a great opportunity to create!  You have to be quick with the camera while in a canyon you can't always ask the person to hold still especially if they are getting pounded with water.  Safety is your number one concern not a great image. I was able to fire off a few frames and grab this image titled 'Ascending.'