DUNESDAY
I’ve shot in difficult conditions before but this day was a whole different ballgame. Sitting in our car, we were debating on if we should even head out into this monstrous glowing cloud of sand that had completely engulfed the Mesquite dunes of Death Valley. You couldn’t see a thing. Of course, lacking any sort of suitable gear for constant 40+ mph winds, I pulled my buff over my entire face and put my sunglasses on and wrapped my camera in my plastic rain sleeve and went for it. WOW, not only was I mostly blind from my homemade facemask, the blowing sand and deafening wind was absolutely nuts. We must have looked like blind zombies roaming out into the dunes. It was slow going and we couldn’t hear each other at all. A few times we’d walk into dip in the dune that funneled all the wind right through it and we’d have to turn back. I can’t even guess how fast that wind was. I laughed at the thought of trying to set up my tripod so I just turned into the wind and started firing away with my 70-200mm. Interestingly, the wind was so powerful it had carved up the dunes and you can see some of the deep cuts revealing the deeper wet patterns in the sand from the rains weeks before. In no time the sun crept behind the mountains thanks to our speedy arrival. Literally choking on sand at this point, we headed back. It took a week to get the sand out of our eyes and teeth and lungs. It gave me a weird sinus sound to my voice which was a nice touch. Just the experience alone makes it one of the more memorable photo ops I’ve ever had.

Earth Angel
Do you see her? Her golden profile, center frame with her head tilted down. The walls on both sides lit like her wings? I saw this almost immediately when I walked through this section of the lesser known Canyon X in Page, Arizona. It was all about the timing too with how the lighting fell on this scene. As my first slot canyon experience I immediately fell in love with the colors, light and textures here. Such a unique and surreal place. Got a chance to play around with some light beams and abstract shots here too—and the best part—had the place all to ourselves.

Superstitions
Nice blooms out in the Superstition Mountains looking at Three Sisters formation.

Fortress
The peaceful and surreal Superstition Mountains and desert landscape. With the very subtle light from the city of Phoenix casting across the face of Three Sisters and the tall giant cacti peppering the landscape, there's something very special about this place!

Colors on the Brain
Morning tones across the brain rock patterns of White Pocket. Even here life springs up out of nowhere.

Spacewalk
A different view from the back of Boot Arch on a freezing 17 degree night. Was well worth the light show and the feeling of being on a different planet.

Cosmic Canyon
Standing alone on the edge of the Grand Canyon with the Milky Way moving across the sky is an experience I won't forget. No picture can capture the magnitude of this scene and the scale of the massive rock wall, Cape Royal, extending out into the distance. And at night with billions of stars above, a 2500 foot abyss below, sitting in peaceful silence, I'm in awe of our amazing planet and how good life really is... The lights of the South Rim glow on the horizon.

Lost
Some places you just can’t put into words. And this was one of those places... Painted hills and ancient petrified forests with hidden chambers of 14’ high hoodoos. Here my friend went exploring, and I went flying. From above this landscape becomes even more spectacular. We had some dramatic cloud cover as well which really completed our surreal experience out here in the badlands.

Bows and Arrows
Morning light falls on the rock patterns of a unique Utah landscape. The colors and striations here are other worldly. This arrowhead pattern caught my eye, leading to the first light on the triangles of the range. A bow of clouds hangs above while minutes later rainbows faintly formed on the horizon. An incredible morning at an incredible place.

Cradle
Some places just blow your mind with scale and beauty. This is one of them. A 3000’ sheer drop down to the Colorado river at the Toroweap overlook - a remote area of the North Rim. Over 60 miles of off roading brought us to this special place. Had a great evening of passing storms, rainbows and lightning. Just us and the rattlesnakes.

Landshark
An absolute blaze over Boot Arch. Amazing and interesting landscape out here in the Alabama Hills of California.

Deviled Eggs
Morning sunrise on broil as the morning light begins to shine on these ancient eggs.

Forged
The other worldly landscapes found in the Badlands of New Mexico under an amazing sunset sky.

Outsidelands
Soft colors of a sunset in the Southwest.

Cosmic

Perched
An small, intimate scene at the grandest of locations.

Beam Me Up

Underworld
Amazing erosion zone of patterns and leading lines found in the badlands of New Mexico. Here, I wandered into this scene as the sun's first light hit some hoodoos in the distance with some dramatic skies.

Journey
I am thankful to be able to make it out to these remote locations. It’s almost always worth the journey when you get to have moments like this to yourself to reflect. Here at Toroweap, when you're standing on a 3000' ledge overlooking the Colorado River, you can't help but feel the power of nature. At this time of year, the sun aligns with the river at sunrise. An incredible place.