ASTRO

Dawn of A Monolith

Yukon Territories, September 2018

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Last summer and Fall I spent about 2.5 months in Aurora territory Alaska and the Yukon. Of the 20 or so evenings I was able to see the northern lights this was one of the two best displays. While the northern lights are usually present on and above the northern horizon, on this night they were so strong they danced over this iconic peak to the southwest of our camp. There was no moon, but the lights were so bright they lit up the entire landscape and allowed me to capture great detail in this freezing lake.
With the long distances, heavy packs, steep slippery routes and average nightly temperatures of 2 degrees Fahrenheit, this was one of the most physically challenging, but rewarding trips I've ever taken.
Camera info:
Nikon D850
Samyang 12mm
Ground: f/4 150 sec iso 64
Sky: f/2.8 6 sec iso 640

Ordained Framing

Nevada, May 2019

Wandering around the Nevada desert in search of cool erosion patterns lead me thru washes, several dead end slot canyons and across various swaths of sagebrush and juniper to this invitingly symmetrical scene. Very rarely have I ever found a Yucca or any other plant so isolated and devoid of other natural clutter. The late afternoon light was unremarkable, but after star watching the night before I realized that I might have a shot to line up things up at night. A little research confirmed this and thus a 3am wake up call was in order. Light painting this scene involved a stealthy figure eight around this outcrop and took about ten tries to nail without directly hitting the camera with light.

Fire Coming Out of a Monkey's Head

Surrealistic light painting focus stack on the edge of the desert.

Thawing Cosmos

Arapaho National Forest, Colorado June 2018

This photo was taken at the end of definitively the worst road I've ever driven on. What is the worst road you've ever been on and why in the heck where you driving on it?

The vast majority of my photos come from far flung corners of the earth usually with a lot of blood sweat and tears, but you can drive right up to this lake in Colorado Rockies. That said the road is consistently awful for the entire 17 miles, which took us 3 hours to get thru. It was never so dangerous and terrible that you are forced to turn around just nightmarishly ridden with huge potholes, rocks and snowbanks that never relent.
If you reach the lake there's a charming beaver, lots of flowers and the continental divide, but I probably will never go back. Unless you are deeply passionate about awful roads I recommend skipping it to.