The Oceano Dunes

Sand dunes are somewhat of a photographer's paradise - at least for me. After living on the central coast for almost six months, I had never so much as heard about these, let alone ventured out here. After just receiving my Mamiya 7ii a few weeks earlier, I decided there was no better place to give it a test run than out at the dunes, which was practically in my back yard. Late fall in California marks the end of the dry season, and the dunes were feeling it. The wind had been blowing all day, and about two hours before sunset, it subsided leaving the perfect ripples. 

Clear skies are typically looked down upon with landscape photography. The texture in the sky adds interest and the reflected light from a layer of clouds illuminates the land. In the sand dunes, however, photographic opportunities are endless. With severe clear skies, I looked toward the texture in the sand. 

Over the past year, I have been devoting a fair amount of time studying photographic art. I stumbled upon the work of Edward Weston when visiting Carmel, CA. Flipping through a book entitled "Dune" I realized the work was created less than five miles from my home in the Oceano Dunes. His work inspired this small I created on my Mamiya 7ii, all on transparency film. All are available for purchase, so please contact me if you are interested.

Goodbye to the Golden State

If you follow me on social media, you will have already heard this by now. My wife Jes and I are leaving this beautiful state of California at the end of this week. The past year and a half that we've spent here have been filled with unbelievable moments and the people we've grown to know and love here will be friends for life. While this may mark an end to us being here, it creates a new beginning for us. Jes will be pursuing her passion in art, working as art director at a local non-profit art gallery and I will be pursuing my dream of working full time as a fine art landscape photographer. 

Daydreaming - McWay Falls, CA

Coming to Peace - Death Valley National Park, CA

The support we've had from all of you who have purchased my work, given me praise, or even silently read through my posts are what have led us to this point in our lives - and I thank you. Without you all, this would not have been possible.

With that, I am going to be traveling extensively. I have several projects I'm going to begin working on based out in the Great Plains as soon as I arrive next week. From there, I will be headed into Colorado, the desert southwest, and back to California sometime this coming winter. 

Surfer's Delight - Shell Beach, CA

California is somewhat of a dream location as a landscape photographer, with diverse landscapes all at your fingertips. Having a full time job, it's a perfect place to be - hit the beach after work for a nice sunset or maybe wander out in the dunes before work. Now that I have the freedom to be wherever I need to be with no time constraints, there's no better option than to be in the center of the country. I plan on coming back to CA at least twice a year, but I look forward to seeing new landscapes and living in the place I consider my photographic home - the Great Plains. 

While this may be goodbye to this place, it's all just the beginning for us. Big things are coming, and a ton of film is about to be exposed. I have much more work I've created while in California that will be released progressively throughout the year and more and more new work will be on its way. Keep a look out on my social media for behind the scenes photos and subscribe to my newsletter for other news.

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New Release! Tranquil Tides - Big Sur, California

This image has been waiting to be released for quite a while. I found this vantage point almost a year ago now returned about five times waiting for the light to be just right. I exposed this image late last summer as a rare summer storm was about to hit the cliffs of Big Sur. As the storm moved in, about fifteen minutes after the sun had set, the clouds erupted in a bizarre purple hue unlike I had ever seen in this particular location. I only had time to expose one sheet of film for  a 2 minute exposure before the light had changed and the color was gone. On the way home that evening, lightning was hitting the sides of the cliffs. Coming from Kansas, close encounters with lightning doesn't seem to be that big of a deal, but in Big Sur...or really anywhere in California, that's some big news. Talk about a crazy night!

I also had help on this particular evening. Thanks, Charlie. 

This was also the first 8x10 image I have had professionally drum scanned on an Aztek drum scanner. For those of you who don't know what this is, it is essentially the highest quality digitally converted image you can get. To give you an idea of just how detailed this photograph is, below is a 100% crop of this image.

Yes, that's a house, and yes, we are all quite envious of this individual's back yard. But the point is, this is a single exposed image and I can almost bet none of you can find where this house is in the full sized image. With that being said, this image can be printed with incredible detail and clarity up to 48x60". Pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.

Because this was my first drum scan, I thought I'd go ahead and get it printed and framed as well, so a couple of months ago, I received the first edition, framed by my friend David at Saw and Mitre.

Here is the first edition. It's printed 24x30" on photographic paper and finished off with a beautiful walnut frame. When this image is hung, it really brings a sense of peace to the room. If you'd like this exact image (#1/90) framed as shown above, click the button below to add it to your cart!

If you'd like to purchase this image in a different size, follow the button below.

Fall Color Wrap-Up - The Sierra Nevadas and Rocky Mountains

Autumn is one of my favorite times of year, especially when it comes to photography. Aside from football starting up, the MLB postseason (go Royals!), and the weather finally cooling off after a brutal 75 degree California Central Coast summer, the aspens begin their annual transition. I chase the color every year, usually in the Colorado Rockies and Arkansas hardwood forests. This year, I had a chance to explore a completely new area - the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountain range in California.

I took off the weekend before my wedding to have a little bachelor getaway with my good friend Tyler Brigham and my dog, Charlie. We made a loop down past the southern region of the Sierras, through the Mojave and up to Bishop for the first night. The color around Bishop Creek and Aspendell was fantastic, but different compared to what I’ve been used to.

The groves in Colorado are something out of this world. Gigantic and mature, these organisms span entire mountain valleys and up into the alpine region of the Rockies. The groves near Bishop were small, young, and quite patchy. While still beautiful, many of the intimate scenes looking through the trees were snuffed out due to the forests being so thick and the trees being so immature.

The three panoramic photos you see above are all from the Crested Butte area near Kebler Pass. From these three photos, you can really tell the difference between the forests around the Bishop, CA area and the giant forests of Colorado. The spacious, mature trees make for incredibly unique and textural images. 

Charlie had a blast on the trip. He had the chance to approve a couple exposures, meet some tourists, romp around in the wilderness, and even got to drive a little bit - his four favorite activities. The 8x10 got some good use on this past trip, and not including my evening through Yosemite on the way home (post to come later) I ended up shooting 3 sheets of film. Two of these were the aspen scene from above and the the third was from the scene below. 

The aspen scene above, I've entitled "Autumn's Grasp." I spotted the scene earlier in the afternoon on the day we arrived to the area and knew I needed the perfect low contrast light to photograph it. I set up well before sunset and waited for the calm twilight to come. As the sun sank well below the mountains behind me, the warmth of the sky above reflected a gorgeous light onto the grasses and aspens. I have been forcing myself to see more "intimate landscapes." These scenes are quite difficult to compose and photograph, but I find that as an artist, I strive to search for these compositions. They can be incredibly unique and have so much to say if you let yourself into the image. I composed this photograph intentionally symmetrical. I loved how the textures and colors stacked into perfect thirds, the brown grasses, the almost purple brush, and the pine trees, with that pop of fall color directly in the center. Something new from me, that's for sure.

The white granite in the Sierra Nevadas is an absolute dream to photograph. Because of its silvery / white color, the stone reflects nearly every quality of light, especially during the twilight hours. In the photograph below, the calm twilight of sunrise sometimes known as "the blue hour" was reflected by the bright white granite foreground. Typically, I don't photograph many scenes with clear skies. Clouds add texture and interest to usually otherwise dull photograph, but this particular scene worked quite well with clear skies. With the small pops of fall color in the distance, you can almost feel the peaceful, crisp autumn morning when looking at this photograph. 

Because these photographs are so new and need drum scans and go through rigorous dust and spot removal, these are all still in their early stages of proofing for print. If you'd like to get your hands on one of these early proofs, fill out the form below to shoot me an email for a chance to own one of the first prints!

International Photography Award Winner - Sea of Gold

Recently, I received word that one of my new pieces, Sea of Gold, received Honorable Mention in the International Photography Awards in the category of Fine Art Landscapes. It was chosen to receive this award from nearly 18,000 entries worldwide. This piece has been close to me this past year, as it was one of the first images I created while living on the California Central Coast on my 4x5 camera. It was created at one of my favorite spots in Montana de Oro State Park along with my wife Jes. A large wave hit the cliff face where we were standing moments before, drenching her, but leaving my camera and me completely dry. She took a beating, but the photograph turned out to be one of my favorites I had ever created and I am beyond thrilled and honored to receive this award.

If you’d like to purchase a copy of this limited edition photograph, you can click the button above. Shoot me an email, or give me a call if you have any questions or if you’d just like to order with me personally.

Thanks to everyone who continues to follow me on this journey and, as always, keep a lookout for new work coming up soon!

An Evening at McWay Falls

McWay Falls is located in a pristine cove on California's Big Sur coastline. In fact, it's one of Big Sur's main attractions, where hundreds -- if not thousands, of tourists gather each day to watch the spring-fed falls cascade into the ocean below. Typically, I don't enjoy photographing along a rail, especially among crowds of people, but this was a scene I really wanted to witness and photograph. On this particular evening, the sky was clear with a slight haze in the distance, which ended up working out better than I had thought. I exposed two sheets about 45 minutes before sunset to test the exposure latitude of two types of film, and my second two sheets I exposed as the sun barely started to touch the horizon. My positive film ended up being thrown away, as sometime during the 15 second exposure, the camera must have shaken slightly. This is the negative film, exposed for the shadows with no graduated neutral density filter, which definitely shows how much dynamic range Kodak Ektar can capture

It's definitely a beautiful location, and I hope to return again when the flowers are in bloom and the sky blows up. We can all dream, right?

Technical specs:

• Camera: Ebony 4x5
• Lens: Nikkor 90mm f/4.5
• Exposure: 15 Seconds
• Aperture: f/32
• Film: Kodak Ektar 100