There’s a quiet conversation happening in your mind every time you pick up your camera. Most of us don’t notice it, but it shapes everything—our confidence, our creativity, and ultimately, our results. If you’ve been active in photography for a while and feel like you’re not getting anywhere, it might be time to check in with the way you talk to yourself. Language is powerful. It’s not just descriptive; it’s directional. When you say, “Someday I want to be a […]
A photographer friend of mine often shares stories about his conversations with other shooters—sometimes “nudging” other photographers to outdo (in a way) their last piece of work. It’s a familiar tension in creative circles: the desire to grow versus the temptation to chase quick validation. Hearing his interactions always reminds me how easy it is to slip into creating for approval rather than expression. That pressure is amplified by social media, where “likes” can feel like a scoreboard. But the […]
Learning from mistakes is one of the quiet superpowers in photography. It’s not glamorous, and it rarely shows up in the final image, but it’s the force that quietly shapes your eye, your timing, and your instincts. Every missed focus, blown highlight, or awkward composition is really just a breadcrumb pointing you toward the photographer you’re becoming. What makes mistakes so valuable is that they reveal the gap between what you saw and what you captured. That gap is where […]
Somewhere along the way, photography turned into a race. A race to get the shot, to get all the shots, to fire off twenty frames before the moment even knows it’s happening. But lately I’ve been reminding myself to ease off the shutter‑happy reflex and just… slow down. There’s something refreshing about taking a breath before lifting the camera. Letting the scene settle. Letting yourself settle. Half the magic of a good photo isn’t the settings or the gear—it’s the […]
There’s something about the first weeks of a new year that feels like standing at the trailhead before sunrise—quiet, full of potential, and waiting for you to take the first step. As an adventure lifestyle photographer, I’ve learned that the habits we build behind the scenes shape the stories we get to tell out in the wild. This year, I’m focusing on habits that create more space for exploration. Simple things, like charging batteries the night before instead of scrambling […]
If you’ve ever climbed out of a cold tent early in the morning and found your fire still hot enough with a few embers to re-light, you know how urgent it is to get some fuel on it and get it burning again. The same goes for the things you forgot you were passionate about. Life can derail your focus or take you away from the lifestyle you enjoyed. Maybe it’s a new partner, kids or simply a significant life […]
A friend of mine asked to see a few photos I took while on a recent vacation to Mexico so I kindly obliged her. Not long after, I got a reply stating that she was delighted by my original photos and loved to analyze why they were pleasing to her. This is quite a compliment, not only for me but for her as well. These “shots” were just quick snaps I took to remember the things we experienced on our […]
I am a part of a small kayak club that gathers on Saturday nights in the off-season at the local pool. The white-water paddle season here is very short so as the weather cools and the snows fall, we move indoors from November to April. One part social and the other part is simply getting some seat time and building new skills. This is important for paddlers who want to be just a little more than “recreational”. New skills are […]
Some might say “Age” can creep up on you but if you ask me, it seems to have jumped out from a dark corner and pummeled me with a large wooden bat. Every morning, I slowly sit up in bed and take stock of the parts that radiate dull pain, I limp to the kitchen to grab my coffee and Turmeric Tea (that my amazing “naturalist” partner makes) to reduce the swelling. While at work the Boss and I give […]
If the Portrait is the “important” work that I do then the Lifestyle portion is the “fun”. Standing in a river with my camera so I can get a different point of view, tied to the back of a wake-surf boat, or mounting cameras on a motorcycle are just a few of the fun things I have had to do in the last 20 years. Capturing the action or the lifestyle of a subject involves meeting the technical challenges of […]
