PDX

Went up to Portland for Memorial Day weekend and to see the Snoh Aalegra concert. Just purchased a new camera, so I was able to put it to the test and see how it performed in the rainiest spring on record in Portland.

Santa Barbara

Took the drive up to Santa Barbara for a nice weekend visiting my parents on their road trip down the 1 to LA.

Joshua Tree..again!

Well, we scored a last minute spot and trekked back out to the desert for two nights of camping. Lucked out with incredible weather; temperatures in the 70s and few clouds in sight. It was the perfect weather to knock out some hikes in the park. Some spring break crowds, but nothing too crazy. The stars made their appearance, I slept through the Milky Way, missing it on this trip. Oh well, next time!

Film Drop v.3

Finally got around to trying out this roll of Ilford Ortho 80 black and white film that has been sitting on my shelf for two years. Really like the contrast that it provided it direct sunlight. The photos looking towards the light, I don’t like the dynamic range at all. These things are good to know. Photos from Mt. Wilson, Vasquez Rocks, Santa Clarita, Los Angeles, and Joshua Tree National Park.

Film Drop v.2

Some classic Portra 160. Sadly this was the last roll that my Olympus Stylus was able to shoot. My trusty point and shoot of 10 years that I bought at Goodwill for $3 finally decided to die on me. Photos from Antelope Valley and Joshua Tree National Park.

Film Drop v.1

Taking a look at the wonderful tones that Fujicolor 100 creates this time. Love this film stock, I used a couple of rolls of it when I went to Kauai a few months back. Love the colors it produces. Photos from Los Angeles and Arvin, California.

Joshua Tree

Sometimes you try to go on a camping trip, sometimes you do not end up going on a camping trip. This was a lesson learned. Not only did timing of Spring Break completely slip my mind, but so did the fact that Joshua Tree requires camping reservations in most sites from October - May. Yeah, we tried for the first come-first served spots. Somehow we just kept barely missing out on spots. Oh well. After a quick reset, we decided to just stay for the day and drive back to LA after the sun went down. I guess the lesson learned was to just make the most out of the day, you’ll be rewarded with great scenery if you turn it around. We sure were rewarded, it was a perfect 70 degree day throughout the park with not a single cloud in sight. Take a peek at the photos below; there were flowers, wildlife, and crowds a plenty. But if you know where to go, and when, you’ll see some good things.

Antelope Valley

Took a nice drive out to the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve to check out how this year’s poppy bloom was coming along. It was absolutely worth the drive. Last year, I went out there and there was only about 10 poppies in total that I saw. I did also go out there the first week of May… probably was a bit late.

Day in the Studio

Spent a day in the studio with Jst an Artist. Shot some stills and some other goodies to use in some upcoming videos. Stay tuned.

Hunting wildflowers.

Thanks to the trusty Theodore Payne Foundation Wildflower Hotline and a little bit of internet sleuthing, I was found out where to go to see the array of colors. Along the side of California Route 223 as you start to approach the foothills, the colors become visible. Golden fiddlenecks, lupines, and the protected poppies paint the hillsides of the ranching land with hues of gold, purple, and orange. After a couple days of rain in the first week of March, the hillsides were bursting with color. The drive isn’t too far from Los Angeles, it took about two hours from my apartment. Makes for a quick day trip if you’re up for a little bit of time in the car.

Prints available in my print shop.

Angeles Crest Highway

Spent an afternoon exploring the Angeles Crest Highway. Made it pretty far before we ran into some snow that was from a late December storm. Beautiful area, sad to see parts of it that have been burned by wildfire.

Snow Day(s) in Portland

The snows decided to arrive as we were finishing watching “White Christmas” on Christmas Day. What timing.

Kauai, HI

A trip to the tropics.

As always, custom prints are available. Contact me for inquiries.

Lomochrome Purple 35mm Film in Sequoia National Park

Sequoia National Park.

Hello to everyone who is reading this. I wanted to start cataloging my photo expeditions as a way to keep my family and friends up to date on the goings on in my life. Not sure where this blog journey will take me in 2021, but what the hell, I’ll give it the old college try for a while and see how I like it. Cheers to a new year y’all.

Same view, hours apart. If the weather is nice, might as well stick around for a few hours. Hand warmers and layers help out a lot too.

On some of these trees, the branches look like they could make up a separate tree of their own.

New Years Eve gave us one last incredible sunset in such a dark year. The park had a decent amount of snow in the shaded areas, left over from a snow storm the week prior to our arrival. It was beautiful to see the massive trees blanketed with a little bit of snow. Clear-ish skies rewarded us with a nice view of Orion and the valley below us.

In the winter months, the Orion constellation is at its prime viewing. To be honest, I prefer the Milky Way, it’s warmer outside.

On New Years day, after sleeping in for a few hours, we decided to make our way into the park. We ended up at Lodgepole Visitor Center as the crowds near all the other attractions were so large. There was a group BBQing in one of the parking lots, it felt like we were at a Ski Resort, not a National Park. Walking through the Lodgepole Campground, we stumbled across a hike to Tokopah Falls. The scenery on the way to the falls was that of George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones. Feeling like we were North of “The Wall” we trekked through the snow to this Valley that had some of the wildest looking frozen waterfalls (pictured below). Made it back to the car, right as the sun was setting behind the ancient Sequoias.

The texture of the snow was wild, it was some of the lightest and fluffiest snow I had ever seen. I would have loved to have gone snowboarding through the trees of this hike. A perfect scene to start off the year.

I spent about 40 minutes on the side of the road freezing my butt off for this shot. I thought this one was a keeper, but wanted to make sure that I got it right. I decided to wait for a car to come again to light up the trees like this, the car never came as the temperatures continued to drop. I think this one is still really good.

The textures of these sleeping giants is stunning. I wonder how long this tree has been around for. Sad to see it down, but now it will begin a second life. Giving back the nutrients it once took.

It really blows my mind at how late “Fall” colors are down here in the warm state of California. This Oregonian isn’t used to seeing foliage in January.