Light in a Box

Last year one of my 10 lists was my favorite photos from 2017. While I enjoyed looking though photos from all of my travels that year, I decided to go a different route with the 2018 countdown. This past year I spent a lot of time getting feedback on my work at shows and through social media. So with the data from my social sites and the conversations I had throughout the year I thought it would be fun to count down YOUR favorite photos from 2018. While not all of these photos were taken in 2018, they are the ones that saw the most attention throughout the year. 10. Hammock in the Mangroves A favorite of my bin print options, this tropical paradise had everyone wanting to get away. Unfortunately the sales weren't as hot as this afternoon in Aruba but it was one, especially when the temperatures dropped, that caught a lot of eyes at shows this year. My favorite detail is the fish in the bottom right corner. 9. Dream Lake When it comes to popularity, it is easy t...

As I continue my 10 lists of 10 I’m bringing back one of my favorite lists to put together. 2018 was a big year for my photography career as I took giant steps to making it a full time gig. 2018 was also a big year of travel adding four new countries to the passport and visiting 5 countries total. For this list of 10 I get to relive all 365 days of 2018 in search of my top 10 favorite experiences. While the year was full of memorable moments, these 10 had the greatest impact on me. 10. Paint Mines The Paint Mines east of Colorado Springs was a recommendation I received early in 2018 and checked off the list just weeks later. This bizarre landscape is in the middle of the plains in eastern Colorado. The drive cuts through ranches and farm fields for long enough to make it feel like a trick. Even after arriving at the parking lot there is still nothing but rolling grassland as far as the eye can see. Nestled in the weeds is the Paint Mines Interpretive Park. The hike itself is shor...

I have no plans to die in 2019 but while I was trying to put together 10 lists of 10 I had an idea. The bucket list is typically comprised of activities one wishes to complete before they kick the aforementioned bucket. With every millennial dancing to the beat of a song about living like they’re gonna die young, shout out to Ke$ha, I decided to create a bucket list for 2019. These items don't relate to travel or photography, they are just things I would like to accomplish for my own personal satisfaction. 10. Do a Hand Stand I used to practice yoga a lot more often than I do these days. At my peak I was getting close to holding a hand stand but was always paranoid I’d fall and my six foot frame would hospitalize my neighbors. This year I want to get back to where I used to be with yoga and finally find the guts to do a hand stand. 9. Make a BBQ Sauce This is a weird item that’s been on my to do list for years now. I really enjoy cooking and have always had a sweet ...

Every year I get bombarded with travel suggestions. Part of why I love being at shows is  talking travel with people. For every story I tell about a trip I probably get two recommendations in return. My response is always the same, “I will add that to my list”, and I usually do. The problem is my list is extremely long. As an avid traveler this ensures that I will never have a shortage of amazing places to explore but makes choosing where to go first extremely difficult. Every year I attempt to cross a few places off that list and without further ado here are the top 10 most likely photo excursions for 2019. (I completed 6 out of 10 on last years list). 1. Hawaii Let’s start with the most likely. This trip is already booked. Sarah and I have been wanting to return to Hawaii since our last trip and when you find round trip tickets under $300 it’s a no brainer. Last time we split the trip between Oahu and Kauai but this time we’re spending the entire trip on the is...

A new year brings a new outlook for the coming 12 months. As the tradition goes, most of us have conducted personal assessments to determine the habits we wish to correct and will plan our resolutions around those results. I described the results of my personal assessment in my 2018 review post just before New Years and outlined a plan for the next trip around the sun in my 2019 preview. Now it’s time to come up with the resolutions. To kick off my annual 10 lists of 10 this year, here are my 10 goals for 2019. 10. Expand the Long Shutter Project Last year I launched The Long Shutter Project to help raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and raised $100. This year I hope to expand the “Earth Forms” collection and include Long Shutter print options at shows. My goal is to out do 2018's donations and have set the target amount at $500. Stay tuned for more details on the new release. 9. Collect Email Addresses Social media is good for some things but it has...

As a kid, I always looked forward to the New Year’s Eve festivities and the sledding party my family had on the 1st to kick off the new year. After that, it was back to school which meant my excitement for the new year didn’t extend beyond January 2. After I graduated from college in 2013, the world was my oyster, but I’d developed a shellfish allergy. I finally had the freedom to do anything and be anything I wanted the problem was I wasn’t interested in anything. New Year’s Eve parties were still fun but there were no longer sledding parties so January 1st was spent trying to kill a hangover with the lone resolution to find a path for myself by years end. 2017 was different. I’d found a patch of land on which to build a future upon so when the year began I was thinking well beyond January. I hadn’t fully cleared the haze that clouded my mind after graduation which limited my progress. By the time 2018 rolled around, I'd managed to level the plot to begin construction...