Family hiking the Queen’s Garden Trail, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

Much of my love of the outdoors can be traced back to my earliest memories of good times on the trail with my parents. It instilled in me an appreciation of nature and ultimately a desire to document it through the lens as my life’s passion. Not surprisingly, my own kids grew up in similar style and will hopefully pass it on to the next generation.

At the center of this, my mother and my wife have been the catalysts that propel our family’s adventures. In addition to providing the love and support that bonds our family, they both share an acute sense of adventure and love of the outdoors that is truly inspiring. From hiking in the Sierra Nevada wilderness to cycling across the country it’s a wonderful feeling to honestly say that my mother and my wife are two of my best friends, and I look forward to our next big adventure together.

So here’s to all the moms out there. Have a wonderful weekend – and whatever you do, remember just how much you are appreciated!

Back in my days at CBS Entertainment there was a saying in the studios that summed up the sentiment about some of the products being produced – “It’s art if it sells!”. This was a tongue and cheek response to the fact that a lot of the shows were commercial fluff designed to sell advertising to the masses (no surprise there), but the underlying fact was that they did sell.  And as a result, the desire to strive for quality lost it’s appeal and was supplanted by a false sense of accomplishment.

Fast forward to my current life as landscape photographer I now wear all the hats from production to distribution, which is empowering but does have its challenges. The Internet and the transition to digital has streamlined much of the day to day business though, and the ultimate reward is being at the forefront of the creative process. The art still must sell just as with any product, but the satisfaction of creating something that preserves the beauty of the world and hopefully in turn helps inspire others to enjoy and protect it is priceless.

Happy Arbor Day!

Created 137 years ago the first Arbor Day was held on April 10, 1872 by J. Sterling Morton (President Grover Cleveland’s Secretary of Agriculture) as a celebration of trees in all their wonderful shapes and forms. The holiday occurs each year in the United States on the last Friday in April and similar events are now celebrated worldwide.

The Arbor Day Foundation is the world’s oldest and largest tree-planting organization who’s mission is “to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees”. It is an excellent resource for everything from identifying trees to forest management and educational materials to connect kids with nature.

So whether you plant a tree today, wander through a redwood grove, or simply enjoy the beauty outside your office window – take time to appreciate all that trees bring to our lives.

Click here to visit Craft & Vision.

Craft & Vision’s latest eBook arrived today. SHOOT + SHARE by Stuart Sipahigil is a thoughtful and inspiring reference on navigating the seemingly endless choices of where and how to display your work online. Whether you want to attract more fans, followers, or buyers this eBook will help formulate a sharing strategy that includes websites, social media, self-published books, and prints.

For the next five days only, use the promotional code SHARE4 when you check out to get the PDF version of SHOOT + SHARE for only $4 OR use the code SHARE20 to get 20% off when you buy 5+ PDF eBooks from the Craft & Vision collection. These codes expire at 11:59pm PST April 28, 2012.

Happy Earth Day!

It was 40 years ago that the green movement was conceived and since then it has become a driving force in today’s world economy and social consciousness. We’ve come a long way from those early days when even the idea of recycling was a novelty to 2012 where fluorescent light bulbs are in vogue, hybrid cars are everywhere, and small countries like Iceland are run almost entirely on clean energy.

One of the driving forces in my photography is to show the natural world at its best and to remind us all why it’s important to preserve it. I also support organizations like The Nature Conservancy and The Wilderness Society, which do an excellent job of preserving natural spaces, working with land owners, and educating the public about conservation.

Earth Day also coincides with National Parks Week (April 21st-29th) and all 397 of the nation’s parks are free this week. So get out and enjoy America’s Best Idea at a park near you or celebrate the day close to home. Take a hike, go for a bike ride, or just marvel at the natural wonders that surround us – and breathe a little easier knowing we’re heading in the right direction.

The great folks at Photoshelter are always cooking up something new and this year they have a whole series of major upgrades in the works. The first of these was just released in the form a completely revamped Image Browser that now allows all image related features to be accessed from one page – pretty cool! The new layout is very intuitive and allows much quicker gallery creation and organization along with image pricing, statistics and visibility.

Photoshelter is the backbone of my website and seamlessly handles all gallery management, client access, and e-commerce. Their roster of photographers is a veritable who’s who of happy campers like myself that found their all-in-one product to be the perfect online solution with great SEO and customer service.

Check them out along with all the new features (and get a discount through this site) here:

The Kalalau Trail along Kauai’s north shore is arguably one of the finest hikes in the world. Originally built in the late 1800s to link early Hawaiian settlements along the rugged coastline, it is still the only land access to this remote part of the Island. The trail, which starts at Ke’e Beach, hugs the sheer cliffs and traverses 5 valleys before ending at Kalalau Beach where it is blocked by the pali (Hawaiian for cliffs).

Along this mystical journey you pass verdant spires, wander through lush valleys, and really are left with the feeling that you’ve entered the Lost World (not surprising since both King Kong and Jurassic Park were filmed here). Whether you cover the entire 11 mile distance and camp at Kalalau Beach or take an afternoon hike to Hanakapi’ai Beach, this is the quintessential Na Pali Coast experience.

Evening light on Watchman Peak above the Virgin River, Zion National Park, Utah

Back in the days when I shot film filters were an indispensable part of my technique that enabled me to control the light, balance dynamic range, and give a little extra snap to every image. Well guess what? Fast forward to the digital age and the same still holds true.

It’s easy get caught in the trap of saying “I’ll just fix it in Lightroom or Photoshop”, but the truth is filters are every bit as important in the digital age as they were in the days of film. Photography after all is about shaping and controlling light and whether your image is preserved in celluloid or pixels there is still no substitute for capturing the best possible image up front.

Two filters that I consider essential are the graduated neutral density (GND) and the polarizer. The GND is available in several densities with both hard and soft transitions allowing you to ideally balance the contrast in the scene. This magical filter works best for landscapes where the foreground is in shadow and the background has direct light. Through the viewfinder washed out clouds suddenly become more defined and foreground subjects emerge from the shadows and retain their natural color. Positioning the filter takes a little practice so that the transition seamlessly blends into the horizon and is not obvious in the final image.

The polarizing filter blocks scattered light rays to remove reflections from water and foliage and definitely spends more time on the front of my lens than any other. By turning the filter you can control the amount of polarized light reaching the lens, which has the added benefit of saturating colors, darkening skies and increasing overall contrast. In addition, the polarizer works like a neutral density filter to slow exposure times allowing for a silky effect when shooting flowing water.

There are many other excellent filters available, but these two are a great starting point for creating more dynamic images and saving considerable time at the computer.

Mountain Dogwood above the Merced River, Yosemite National Park, California

As with many parts of the country, winter here in California this year was minimal especially compared to last year’s record setting precipitation. Although spring is just around the corner, it’s expected that the popular high desert wildflower displays won’t be too memorable as a result. Reports from the typical hot-spots including Antelope Valley, Anza-Borrego and Death Valley indicate that the flowers never had a chance to germinate this year and they don’t expect much of a show.

But for those still needing a spring fix, take heart. All that color, grace, and beauty will make a showing – just in a slightly different form and at a higher elevation. Blooming trees and shrubs like Yosemite’s famous Mountain Dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) and the vibrant Western Redbud (Cercis occidentalis) aren’t as susceptible to seasonal changes and should still be in full glory later in April and May despite the limited rainfall.

Although the Valley’s iconic waterfalls won’t be flowing as dramatically as in 2011, the spring is a wonderful time to visit Yosemite and the Sierra foothills with fewer crowds, mild temperatures, and endless photographic possibilities.

Sunset on the Kohala Coast, The Big Island, Hawaii

Here’s to all the ladies out there – the partners, mothers, sisters, daughters and friends. You add beauty and grace to our images, are the best companions on our adventures, and make our lives complete.

Enjoy your day!