  2016 is heading into the home stretch! While I’m working to get my latest travel photos posted here and on my various licensing platforms, I thought I’d take a deep breath and share my thoughts about my recent globe-trotting. There’s no doubt that this past year has been the most creatively rewarding and exciting period of my life’s photographic journey. Traveling with master photographers like Art Wolf, Lorne Resnick, Frans Lanting, and Tom Mangelsen has been an ongoing lesson in more than mere camera technique. Through the adventures implicit in any exotic travel—including a wrenched back, a blown knee, and countless sore muscles earned at every elevation and in every climate the planet has to offer—I’ve come to understand the value of patience (wild animals don’t pose on cue), making “connections” with subjects, and the “perfection” of imperfection when capturing images that create what I like to call my “nailed it” moments. I’ve learned to shift my focus from the technology behind my work to the greater challenge of being “at one” with myself, exploring my creative center and establishing a true connection with my subjects. Whether I’m shooting a portrait, a wild animal, or catching a landscape at the crack of dawn, it’s that personal connection that creates the genuine magic of a compelling image. This is not to say that I’ve mastered anything beyond what I like to think is an uncanny ability to navigate through TSA checkpoints at this point. I still l have much to learn about “taking pictures,” and I’m dedicated to the hard work finding the greater self-awareness that will take my work to the next level. The photos I post here are, in the main, those that have spoken to me and have taught me something about the world and about myself. The journey to find these images has certainly been challenging…but it’s also been exciting beyond description. In pursuit of the elusive goal of photographic mastery, just this year my photographic adventures have included travel to the Galapagos Islands, Alaska, Cozumel, New Orleans, Easter Island, Tahiti-Moorea, New Zealand, Iceland, Romania, Cuba, Coos Bay (thank you Black Market Gourmet for a terrific show!), Brazil, Costa Rica, Patagonia, Australia, China, Japan, and finally to New York City. When pressed to name my “favorite” stops throughout the year, I’d have to say that Iguaçu Falls in Brazil, Patagonia, New Zealand, and Alaska were photographic standouts for me. Yes, I know that’s a lot of “favorites,” but each truly holds a special place in my mind’s eye as well as in my lens. Moving forward, I’m firming up plans to head to Majorca, Amsterdam, Oregon, Alaska, Glacier Bay, New Zealand, Jackson Hole, and then once again to Romania, followed by another rockin’ “Blues Cruise” navigating the Caribbean. Throughout it all, I’ll be searching for that creative “high” that comes with every click of my shutter. The next chapter of my photographic adventures promises to be exciting. I hope you’ll take the journey with me...and be sure to check out my new 2017 calendar!  Comments are closed.
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