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THE ART OF STORYTELLING
My goal, through the use of a single frame, is to harness the art of visual storytelling by creating timeless fine art images that captivate YOUR imagination. Welcome to my world.
wyoming
Grand Teton national park
I'm frequently asked why my portfolio is predominantly Wyoming heavy, and how come I don’t spend more time shooting elsewhere. Well to answer that question, I would need to take you back a few years. More like 25 or so years to be exact.
Second to photography, snowboarding has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. Growing up it wouldn’t be uncommon for me to hit the northeast mountains 30-50 times per season. So, when a couple old buddies pitched a plan visit mecca (Jackson Hole Mountain Resort) back in winter of 1996, to say I was stoked would have been a drastic understatement.
Days later, planning was well underway and deposits were made. Then life took a sharp, but much needed left turn for me. Literally weeks before we were scheduled to leave, I decided that joining the United States Marine Corps was in my best interest at the time.
Completely bummed, my boys carried on with the mission without me. As you can imagine they had the time of their lives, and didn’t hesitate to throw it in my face from time to time.
Years past, life moves on, and to this day I know unequivocally that the Marines saved me in so many ways. I’m forever thankful for the life lessons I was taught and the leadership traits that were exhumed in which I had no idea I possessed at the time. 19 years had since past, and still never made it to Jackson. Then one February morning in 2015 I woke up and thought, now is the time! I packed up my snowboard, grabbed the wife, and set out for Jackson.
For those of you who have experienced Jackson, specifically in the winter months know how special this place is. Almost magical. The impact that the landscape, people and aesthetics were, and continue to be literally life altering for me.
Since my initial visit, I return to Jackson annually, sometimes twice a year. In fact, there’s no place I’d rather be. Optimistically I’m certain that sometime soon, the stars will align and we’ll be Jackson residents for good. Until then, I’ll continue to visit as many times as possible. Each time documenting my visits as each one presents a unique opportunity of weather conditions, animal sightings and experiences which continue to motivate me. Rest assured, this collection will continue to grow as the years pass.
If you've never been to Jackson, you need to. Life isn’t complete until you’ve experienced this place of magic and wonder!
alberta
Alberta
My trip to Alberta Canada started in a similar fashion as my initial experience with Jackson, WY... Every winter some of the fellas get together for a ski/snowboard trip, and this year, the thrown dart landed on Banff.
As one can imagine it took only a millisecond for me to be counted in for the trip, as there was no way on earth I could live with myself if I passed up a chance to visit such a photographically target rich environment. With merely 5 short days in country, I set out to devise an aggressive itinerary in order to experience everything I possibly could.
First things first. Find a reputable tour guide. Anytime I travel to a location for the first time, I ensure I have a guide. Specifically if my time is limited. This way I know I'm going to maximize my time shooting the locations that are most important to me. This brings the stress level way down and allows me to focus strictly on creativity. For this Alberta trip, I went with Dani Lefrancois (Banff Photography Workshops & Tours) and I couldn't have been more pleased with the results. Dani carted me everywhere! We shot everywhere from Canmore, to Yoho National Park, and everywhere in between.
When the dust settled, regrettably I realized that I had only snowboarded one day. The rest of my time was spent literally freezing in the -35c temps doing exactly what I feel I've been called to do. Months later, I still can't feel the tips of my fingers, but that's perfectly fine in my book.
The Alberta box is by no means checked. If anything, it has increased my desire to visit again in the near future. That part of country is so vast and the Canadian Rockies so overwhelming, it would literally take months of constant exploring to capture a small fraction of the beauty contained there. I'm extremely happy that my first experience was during my favorite time of year... Winter.