“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” ~ Albert Einstein
Special Delivery
… a photographic journal
Hidden Gems – Asheville Alleys #1
Downtown Asheville is known for it’s eclectic art, shops and micro breweries, but a short trip through the back alleys reveals even more. Old architecture transforms a typical shortcut into an artistic stroll. Shooting these unusual scenes and colors gives me a real charge. Each is unique in its own right, and gives me the opportunity to capture things others may not see or interpret the same way.
Corner Meet-Up
Blue Ridge Parkway – Craggy Gardens Overlook
Today I returned from a relaxing weekend with my best friend Carl. He moved north of Asheville, NC only a few weeks ago, so it was great to see his now home and experience a weekend of true mountain life. He lives only miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway, so we did our fair share of shooting there on Friday. The atmospherics were ever-changing and phenomenal, given the summer weather instability. Fog was moving through the valleys all weekend, but by far the most amazing sky occurred Saturday night near Craggy Gardens. This literally flashed in the blink of an eye and was gone before we knew it. Enjoy!
Descending Skies near Craggy Gardens – Blue Ridge Parkway (North of Asheville)
Red Skies at Night near Craggy Gardens – Blue Ridge Parkway (North of Asheville)
Lake with a View – GTNP
“The lake and the mountains have become my landscape, my real world.” ~Georges Simenon
I admit, mountains appeal to me much more than lakes. The combo, however, is hard to argue with. 
Tetons Range from Signal Mountain Marina
Rabbitbrush Near Gros Ventre – GTNP
The skies in Grand Teton National Park change by the minute, and they often produce sunrise and sunset spectaculars day-in and day-out. But, one of the other reasons I love this park, photographically speaking, is the breadth of textures from valley to summit. The rabbitbrush covers much of the floor through the main valley area, and its small yellow flowers in spring give it extra “pop”. This sunset was a trifecta – an incredible sky, textured and colorful goodness in the foreground, and sharing it with friends and wife!
Rabbitbrush @ Gros Ventre – GTNP
Late Morning Bloom in Sepia – Mt. Moran
Stretching his hand up to reach the stars, too often man forgets the flowers at his feet. ~Jeremy Bentham
Mt. Moran – Morning Bloom in Sepia
Explosion of Grandeur
Bison are huge mammals, weighing 2,000+ pounds. Yet the grandeur of Yellowstone skies sometimes dwarfs even the largest of its inhabitants.
Free Roaming Bison in Yellowstone
US Highway 26 – Antelope Flats Area
Captured while scoping out a sunset shoot; main highway through the park near Antelope Flats.
Curvaceous
Mt. Moran Turnout on Teton Park Road
Final morning in the park … and FINALLY had clouds for a change! The Balsamroot flowers were coming on strong … a perfect foreground for a sun-speckled morning!
Mt. Moran Turnout – GTNP
Pilgrim Creek Area in B&W
This cloudy morning brought to you by …. a hiatus in grizzly activity! This exact location was packed with wildlife photogs the entire week we were in the Grand Tetons (first full week of June). 399, a local grizzly famous across the planet for surviving 24+ winters in the Yellowstone basin and for bearing multiple sets of triplets and twins, made these flats her showcase for Spring ’17. She has two new twin cubs, and they emerged from the adjacent woods 2-3 times per day to play and nurse. The road, which is difficult to see in this image, was the epitome of “bear jams” at least twice per day. On this particular morning, she had been known to migrate south a couple of miles. We still had bear spray and watchful eyes at the ready!
Balsamroot Flowers at Pilgrim Creek – GTNP
Lake Life at Colter Bay
Colter Bay is a popular destination for summer tourists of Grand Teton National Park. It is both a village with rustic cabins, a store, and many trails, as well as a marina on Jackson Lake with boating options galore. The Teton range backdrop does not get much better than this.
Canoes at Colter Bay, GTNP
Mount Moran
Mount Moran from Oxbow Bend.
“The mountains are calling, and I must go.” ~John Muir
Mount Moran