Backpacking in the Flat Tops Wilderness - Yampa, Colorado

Flat Tops Wilderness - Yampa, Colorado

Backpacking - Fly Fishing - Photography

Only about 6 months late on this post, so yeah. Trying to chip away at the piles of images gathering dust on my hard drives from the past year. These are from an incredible camping trip in the Colorado backcountry. Specifically in the backcountry of Yampa. A very small and very remote town that is only frequented by locals, and those lucky enough to know about it. Our "campsite" was about a 5 mile hike from the car. So not crazy, but certainly enough to get far away from everything. Mojo was with me on this one, and he had a blast to say the least. We got in a lot of fishing and a lot of eating. One thing the Yampa backcountry is famous for is the "Devil's Causeway" (seen below).  It's part of a trail with a narrow strip of rock with very immediate and very long drops on both sides. If you fall, you're down. Walking up to it doesn't seem that bad, but once you're there, it gets in your head a little. I saw one kid completely freeze while trying to cross it.

Death Valley-Running

I've been living in San Diego for a lot of years now, and have no excuse for never visiting Death Valley until just a few weeks ago. With all the cross-country driving I do, it seems ridiculous that it took this long to visit a place less than 5 hours away. Either way, I was more than excited when a client asked me to shoot some running images out there. And can't wait to go back for more. It's a very unique place. Obviously. Massive and desolate. You could argue that is almost seems like another planet, and not many people would argue. We came out of there with some awesome shots, but this has to be my favorite. This style of image is something I've been working on for a while now. Trying to show the scale of a place compared to the athlete and what they are doing. About 70 yards away from the runner in this shot, I still wanted to use strobes in order to really make him pop. So we ran a 20ft sync cord from my camera to the Broncolor transmitter, and set it up on top of a rock, which was in direct line of site to the strobe. Have to admit, when we first started testing, I thought the distance was going to be too far. That, and the very nature of Death Valley, seemed like it would mess with the radio frequencies between transmitter and receiver. Hoping to head back in a few weeks to push the envelope. Stay tuned. 

Nikon D800e and Polarized Nikon 70-200mm lens. Runner lit with Broncolor Move Pack and MobiLed Head. 

Click HERE to see more RUNNING images. 

Boulder, Colorado-Trail running

If you live in Boulder, Colorado, then chances are you spend some time outdoors. It's a town that's just as famous for being active, as it is for marijuana. Which seems kind of contradictory, but whatever. I've been a fan of Boulder (and the rest of Colorado) for a long time now. So on my last visit, I made it a point to shoot some trail running. Red Rocks Trail is a cool spot with a great backdrop for this type of thing. The shoot was a lot of fun despite having one Elinchrom strobe shit out on us about 3 minutes in. Luckily, I also had some brand new Broncolor gear that I was testing. Huge fan of it, by the way. Looking like the Elinchrom's will be taking a backseat. These first three images were lit with strobes. The last one is all natural light. All shot on the Nikon D810. 

PCT - California

Trail Running Photography

Pacific Crest Trail - California

Drive about an hour east of San Diego on the 8 and you'll find the Sunrise Highway. Explore up there for a bit, and you'll be happy you did. Lots of fun hiking with great views. Especially on this section of the Pacific Crest Trail.