A Day at the Botanical Gardens of UNCA with Quinn

On Monday I was able to spend the afternoon with a very special little man named Quinn. We went to the Botanical Gardens at University of North Carolina Asheville where we spent some time fishing, playing with trucks in the creek and just having a good time. Quinn is a very bright young man with an inquisitive mind that can be playful and very serious as well. Being with him as he played with his trucks in the creek brought back many a fond memory of my own childhood and I felt blessed to be able to share in Quinn's playful energy. His parents Tom and Libby came a long and we got some really special shots of Quinn and his family.
Thank you Quinn, Libby and Tom for such a wonderful afternoon, I hope we get an opportunity to do it again really soon.

Pacific Nortwest

I love where I live...Asheville is a special, beautiful place....that being said, if I had to move, it would be to the Pacific Northwest. Washington, Oregon, everything I have seen in that part of the country continues to amaze me. Chris is from Redmond, Wa. and gave me quite to tour. We went through Leavenworth Wa. which is a small Alpine / German village at the base of the Cascade mountains. Lots of great beer and brats....and from what Chris tells me one of the most stunning Christmas celebrations around. It's pretty wild to come off a 2 lane highway and all of a sudden there is this German village in the middle of these monster peaks, every building there has to be built according to the Apline village code, including the McDonalds and the Bank of America.




Outside Leavenworth, we followed the Icicle river over the Cascades back into Seattle on Rte 2. What a road! It creeps along the river until it crests the peak of the Cascade range and drops back into Seattle. Along the way we stopped at Desolation Waterfall and got some great shots that represent the Pacific Northwest really well. The forests are so lush and green, the cedar tress are really spectacular, and what I noticed as one of the main differences, and a fact that Chris explained to me, is the cleanliness of the forest floor. The needles from the Cedars and other evergreens are so rich in acid, that they dissolve everything that lands on the forest floor so quickly that the forest floor is really clear of clutter and debris like we have here.








I have been slowly working on a series of images that I feel are quiet and Zen like. Images that make you slow down and relax when you look at them. Images that almost force you to be quiet and still. At Desolation Waterfall Chris and I found some spots to capture images like that. These images have had only minor corrections done to them, the colors and light are straight out of the camera. Enjoy... (you can single click on these images to view them individually in a separate window)

Backyard Fun

The highlight of my trip out west was getting to spend time catching up with old friends, cooking tons of food on the grill and enjoying a couple bottles of wine in Tamara's backyard. Tamara has three beautiful girls ages 3, 7, and 13. Their energy is contagious and it is such a pleasure to be reminded what summer is about watching them play in the yard, chase some chickens around, or just being silly with one another.

This is Gracie watering the garden...
This is her sister Chloe playing in a play tunnel they have for the rabbit. I miss chasing those kids around already!One more of Gracie being too cute...

Chris and I @ Yellowstone Lake

My friend Chris and I on the edge of Yellowstone Lake. The were a lot of deer out in the field we were in that we so accustomed to people that we were able to walk within 40 feet of them to take pictures. My dome is looking fresh after 2 days of rain!

Back From Missoula

I have returned from a hot 12 days traveling around Montana with my friend Chris. We spent two days in Yellowstone, 2 days in Seattle and the remainder in Missoula.
The two days spent in Yellowstone was less than optimal, it rained pretty much non stop for both days. It did stop once, long enough for us to think that it was done raining, and to go for a 5 mile hike. However, it started raining again (raining in Biblical proportions) about half way through, and we had the unique pleasure of hiking the rest of the way with all of our camera gear in ankle deep water. Nothing spells excitement like coming out of the woods into a large field carrying a tripod in a lightning storm. We did not get to see as much wildlife as we would have wanted to due to the rain, but the bison are always nice enough to pose for a couple of candid shots.