Light in a Box

I am pursuing a dream and part of that dream is to travel. I have listed my top 10 places in the U.S. to travel but since I am a dreamer why don't we dream big and scour the Earth for this final list of 10 with the top 10 places in the world I would like to visit. 10. Iceland Iceland would have been a lot higher a few years ago but their tourism department has been kicking butt. Iceland has become one of the hottest destinations recently especially among photographers and the crowds have caused Iceland to drop in this list. It made the list because of the raw landscape and colossal waterfalls that are prime subjects for my photographic preferences. The island was once as peaceful as its lush hills but tourists have been flocking to Iceland and locations that were once isolated have become major attractions. I prefer to avoid the masses when shooting but the terrain would give my camera a lot to photograph. Here are a few of the sites on my list, Gullfoss, Fjaorarglijufur, Aldeyj...

As I've said before I don't set hard resolutions for the new year. I usually reflect and pinpoint a few areas that I'd like to improve on. I try to be mindful of those improvements as the year progresses and hopefully when 2019 rolls around I've seen personal growth and am closer to being the person I want to be. That being said I have put together a list of ten goals I hope to accomplish for 2018. Some are photography milestones, others are personal guidelines, but in 12 months I hope to have met all ten of these goals. 1. Launch Long Shutter Project I am still going to hold off on the details until I get closer to launching, you know build suspense and all. This was a goal for 2017 that didn't happen so early in 2018 I would like to see this finally go public. There are still a few bugs with the website that need to be worked out but this idea should come to fruition this year. 2. Streamline Editing This has been a major issue productivity wise and if ther...

It's been over three years since Sarah and I traded frigid Wisconsin for colorful Colorado. We have explored quite a bit over the years and there is still a lot of terrain left to turn over. For this list of ten I rank my favorite places in the Centennial State. 10. De Steeg Brewing One of the big draws for Denver was the beer scene. With over 300 locations in Colorado brewing the good stuff it became tough to resist a land of adventure and home to the second most breweries in the U.S. Over the years, many a pint have been drank and there is one location that ranks above the rest. De Steeg Brewing is located in the Highlands neighborhood and is a hidden gem in a saturated market. The low key brewery is tucked away in an alley but offers a wide variety of fantastic brews. The first visit was interesting as there were no signs on the street for the brewery until we noticed a piece of paper in shop window. The brewery entrance was through the alley around back. The bar was cozy, li...

My list of places to travel is extremely long, basically everywhere. Having a full time job that doesn't pay the best I run into time and financial obstacles that limit how much and how far I can travel. But every year Sarah and I manage to book our year full of trips all over the world as our wallets will allow. Here are 10 trips that have a good chance of happening in 2018. 1. Italy Italy may seem like a big trip to start out with when looking for ten trips for a single year but it comes in at number one because it has already been booked. The details beyond our flight schedule are blank but the tickets have been purchased and come May you can expect to see a lot of wine and pasta pictures on Instagram. We also were creative with our flight bookings and managed a long layover in Paris on our way to Milan and London before we return to the States. Our London visit will be especially exciting as we will be there the day before the royal wedding. It will only be an evening in eac...

My parents instilled in me a passion to travel. Every year we took a family vacation and the older I got the more involved in the planning I became. Then I married another lover of adventure and together Sarah and I have been traveling as much as possible. So to continue my ten lists of ten here are the top ten place I have ever been. 10. Maine I have stepped foot on Maine soil on three different occasions. I really hadn't seen much of the Pine Tree State my third visit. That trip would be my first adventure with Sarah. This was a big test for us to see how we traveled as a couple. I had yet to declare myself a landscape photographer but my preferences were still bias towards the camera and Sarah wanted to see the lighthouses so our interests alligned. Other than a slight mishap with the rental car, the trip could not have gone better. We took our time driving the coast stopping at a dozen light houses and probably just as many lobster shacks. We made our way to Acadia Nation...

So if you missed the top ten photos of 2017 check back a few posts to see how many photos made this list. I thought that one was tough but there were a lot more candidates for this list. I had to go through my entire catalogue of photos and narrow it down to ten. I did it and here they are, my top ten favorite images of all time! 10. Oneonta Gorge This is a blog post I would highly recommend reading . Oneonta Gorge is in Oregon tucked in the Columbia River Gorge. The hike put me on the brink of hypothermia and took a nice gash out of my shin but images like this, made it worth it. This image, that starts out the list, was early in the hike, before I went neck deep in fresh spring runoff or cut up my leg carrying Sarah through it. This looks like a good filming location for a Jurassic Park movie with the moss covered walls and dark haunting slot cut by the water. I need to move on, I'm starting to shiver. 9. Superior Breakwall You can find this image on the website titled ...

Last year was supposed to be the year of travel according to my 2017 outlook last January. It lived up to expectations with trips all over the country and beyond. In a year full of travel, I took a picture or two. While I continue my ten lists of ten to start the new year, this next one was hardest list to put together. Here are my top ten pictures taken this year. 10. Octopus in Aruba The video for this shot would have been higher up the list but this is a top ten photo countdown so the still will have to do. This made my list of top ten experiences of 2017 and the picture brings back the excitement of watching this alien stare me down. The video is even better because you can see it change color and it even darts across the screen for a new hiding spot at one point. The image quality here isn't great but the memory is the reason for this shot making the list.  9. Quandary Mountain Goats A fun "before & after" for all you Wheel of Fortune fans, and the s...

In case you haven't been following me very long, I like to travel. In this top ten list I will be looking at the top ten places in the 50 United States that I would like to visit. As of writing this I have been to 28 states and would like to see all 50. Some of the places on this list are in states I have already been to and some are not. Let's travel! 10. Lake Superior Coast This one may come as a surprise to kick things off. Let me clarify, this is strictly a winter tour. Are you with me now? I lived in Marquette, Michigan for four years while attending college at Northern Michigan University and spent a lot of time exploring the rocky, beach lined coast of Lake Superior. In the winter when the ice would start collecting, there were some amazing formations over the lake and along the shore. So why do I want to go back? Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. In the winter, the shores of Wisconsin get covered in icicles and the islands in Lake Superior are accessible by foot...

It takes a big man to admit his mistakes. You've probably heard that classic line once or twice, usually after you've made a mistake. It's true though, in order to grow we need to make mistakes and learn from them. You put your hand on the hot stove, that's usually a mistake you won't make again. You get a flat tire and in the process of changing it one of the bolts falls into the hub and you decide to drive with that rattling around until it shoots free and leaves you stranded on the side of the road in Oconto, WI. That's not a mistake I will make again. For this list of 10, I have compiled 10 lessons that I learned this year. 1. Know your equipment I learned a lot about my gear this year, usually after a frustrating shoot. I learned about hyperfocal distances which is a point of focus that will render sharpness throughout the scene and how to calculate it. I bought a new lens to replace a pair of wide angle kit lenses that were reducing my sharpness and l...

What a year 2017 was. Aruba, Hawaii, Savannah, Death Valley, Disney, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Sarah and I bought a house, there were weddings, babies, parties, an eclipse, a lot happened this year. So in a year that flew by with all the activities, I thought I would look back and pick out my top ten favorite experiences from the past year. 10. To Go Cups Savannah was a great trip, so great we might be back before we visit Oregon for a second time. The best moment on the trip was the afternoon Sarah and I walked the streets of the historic district. Savannah is covered in more history than Spanish moss and the historic district is the center point. While the sun beat down hard for a spring afternoon, walking those cobblestone alleys with my wife was as carefree as I have ever been. It also helped carrying a frozen daiquiri around on our self guided tour. With sweat being unavoidable, taking advantage of Savannah's "to go cup" policy helped keep us cool and made w...