Stories
Field notes from Beautiful Places
A blog of hikes, photographs, video shoots, quiet discoveries, and the people and places that shaped Beautiful Places.
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Avatar, Sea Shepherd, and Methuselah Grove
I have a few things on my mind right now, Methuselah Grove because I just released a new episode of Beautiful Places In HD of Methuselah Grove, the movie “Avatar” which I saw about...
Read storyBeautiful Places on Apple TV Ad
I woke up a few days ago and found a message from Tipay, a SLAM alumni who works at the Apple Store in San Francisco, with a video attached showing Beautiful Places featured in an...
Read storyGrand Teton Climb Video
I finished the video of the Grand Teton climb! The video premiered at The Ascent, a kickoff show for the new season of Climbing for Kids. The crowd loved the show. I talked to many...
Read storyGolden Gate Shooting and Alex Lindsay
So there I was with my friend Rick, taking pictures on a hill near Point Bonita when I hear a voice saying “excuse me sir do you know you need a permit to film here?” I’ve heard...
Read storyKen Burns National Parks
I’ve been watching Ken Burns’ National Parks program on PBS for the past three nights. I am glued to my seat and I soak up every word. What a beautiful show. I know this will cause...
Read storyWhy I Can’t Do Workshops
A friend of mine suggested I do a workshop where I teach others how to shoot nature video or stills. He said people would pay good money for it. My problem with this is that it...
Read storyZion Narrows Episode Released!
I love driving to a place like Zion, getting there before sunset, and driving around a bit to figure out where to go the next morning to watch the sunrise. I drove into Zion and...
Read storyBeautiful Places: Hiking to debut 9/8/09
We’re releasing the Hiking show! Just a taste of the first-ever episode that I created to show ON Networks what a cool idea it would be to show folks the trails, talk about gear or...
Read storyDewey Point and Facebook Fanpage
I spent a few days at Dewey Point in Yosemite. It’s on the South Rim of the valley about 4 miles hike from the Glacier Point road. I got there a day earlier than my friends Rick and...
Read storyBeautiful Places: Hiking
This is my second podcast. It’s a spinoff of Beautiful Places In HD. Our thinking was that Beautiful Places was all about the place, and showing the
Read storyI’m A Professional!
I’ve been thinking of getting back into photography lately. Lugging a big HD video camera around has really put a damper on my still photography. I find myself whipping out my video...
Read storyI Just Got That Feeling!
It’s been around seven months since my trip to Zion National Park. The images and memories were long faded. Even my memory of how cool the Zion Canyon episode was faded. I have a...
Read storyWhy I Film The Outdoors
HIking around, I see amazing things. Like the shot above. It’s just on a trail in Yosemite. I can’t even remember where. But I remember hiking along, looking uphill to my right, and...
Read storyTetons and Wyomians
Wyoming is one of the most beautiful states in the country. My favorite is California (it’s my home state), but Wyoming has what I like: solitude, mountains, and geologic wonders...
Read storyGrand Teton Climb (why tour groups suck)
The Grand Teton climb is over and I require about a week’s worth of writing to summarize the events. I’ll keep it short though. We didn’t make it to the top, we got to within 600...
Read storySometimes It’s OK To Be Lazy
So with my rant about lazy photographers a few posts ago, you might think that I should be some sort of Lance Armstrong of the photography world. Well let me tell you that is far...
Read storyThe Perfect Trip Usually Has Problems Along The Way
s is my favorite show to date. It was also one of my most memorable trips. When I’m going through rough times, I just mentally put myself there again, watching the sunset behind...
Read storySigns Signs Everywhere Signs
My wife and I just took a trip to Hawaii’s Big Island to see Kilauea erupting. The top has a plume coming out of the summit crater and all trails surrounding the crater are closed....
Read storyClimbing The Grand Teton
Three years ago I set out on an adventure. I made a commitment to climb Mt. Rainier and raise $3000 for Bay Area Wilderness Training. They, in return, gave me over a thousand...
Read storyThey’re Closing Our State Parks?
It’s hard to understand the news. The Governor has proposed the closure of 220 California State Parks. 80% of our heritage, our parks, our State Beaches, our forests… To be clear,...
Read storyAre Most Photographers Lazy?
I constantly pass by photographers doing the absolute minimum to get a good shot. This includes videographers as well, it’s not just camera folks. They are always beside the road,...
Read storyBryce Canyon
I spent most of Spring Break at Bryce Canyon, Utah. What a crazy extraterrestrial place! I’ve never seen anything like it or even close. I shot tons of footage for a Beautiful...
Read storyYosemite Valley In The Snow
I took the above panorama while filming the Yosemite Valley in the Snow episode. It is about 10 shots all stitched together to make the panorama. I decided about Thursday that I...
Read storyHD Scenery
I have a new project I am embarking on. It’s called HD Scenery. I love to go out and shoot beautiful shots. For me though, I need to have a purpose to get motivated to get out...
Read storyMooney Falls
Mooney Falls is about a mile hike from the campground in Havasu Canyon. The campground follows the path of Havasu Creek between Havasu Falls and Mooney Falls in a skinny canyon. The...
Read storyHavasu Falls
Havasu Falls is the most beautiful waterfall in the world. OK, so I have not seen all of them, but I challenge anyone to find one more beautiful. Please send me links to images. 🙂...
Read storyHavasu Canyon
I was sitting at home one day looking at a three day weekend coming up and decided, why not take a day off, make it a four day weekend, and go to the Grand Canyon? The best trips...
Read storyRocky Mountain National Park
The Rockies. This is a picture of Glacier Gorge in Rocky Mountain National Park. I flew out to see Rush with a good friend Scott and his wife Debbie. The show was at Red Rocks, the...
Read storyPeople change on the trail
A comment I got on my last post, by Mike Horn, got me thinking about something I always notice on the trail and you probably have also. People look you in the eye and say hi on the...
Read storyThe Mist Trail, Yosemite
Yosemite is a sacred place to me. It’s the place where I first experienced the awe of nature. As a kid looking up at the granite walls reaching to the sky, I got a peaceful feeling...
Read storyMt. Rainier
This image is from Mt. Rainier. I took it on the training day before the climb to the top. I climbed Mt. Rainier in 2006 and the climb changed my life. The challenge of climbing...
Read storyHalf Dome From North Dome
If I could transport myself anywhere on Earth when I need to feel peace, it would be here on North Dome watching the sunrise in complete silence except for my boots crunching on the...
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