This past year has been very unfortunate for most. As things started to open back up in the winter, for me at least, engagement sessions were the highlighted sessions. It seems that there were quite a few couples who felt they needed some love and longing in their life after such a dark period. Maybe it was because they were able to spend so much more time with their close loved ones or maybe they were shown how important close relationships are in this world. For me, it was certainly a blessing to take part in such a wonderful time in these couples’ lives.
Marc Soong
Recently I shot the live recording of NPR’s From the Top, a radio show that features up and coming musicians. The show was extremely fun to shoot, the musicians spirited and talented, quirky and very excited to be there. It was invigorating to be around such passion and drive. I was even more honored to be asked to use one of the photos for an upcoming recital, which was sent to me and displayed below. I mention this just to show my gratitude and to wish these young musicians success and perhaps we may meet again along the way.
Tips to take better fly fishing photos →
This is a great article from one of my favorite sites. Just a great article that covers a few tips regarding how to take better photos during a fly fishing outing. Fly fishing and photography are certainly two of my favorite things and for photography, there are some great tips here.
First, go out more. The more you get out there exploring with a camera on hand, fishing or otherwise is always a great way to get more sustenance.
Next, is the tip to go out with rad people. Well, yea! It makes me smile but true, a good friend or trusted partner can spur the creative process and offer more opportunity for you to explore your creative side!
Check it out if you have a few minutes!
Cheap Flights
I stumbled onto this site; Scott's Cheap Flights recently. They send out flight offers every few days. The most recent being one focusing on $400 Round Trip flights to Beijing. This is also where I recently learned of Google Flights. Linked here is an article regarding how to use Google Flights, and another, Momondo. Check it out!
article on using google flights and momondo
Source: https://scottscheapflights.com/
Giving Photography Credit
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-properly-credit-photographer-erin-bhoorasingh/
It is very difficult to keep track of photography assets in the digital age. Images are accessible to everyone by downloading and screen-grabing. The point is, these images belong to someone and it very easy to "share the love" and making sure you let people know where they came from. It's easy and takes no time at all. I found this amazing and short article on Linked-In the other day written by Erin Bhoorasingh (http://www.GrandLensPhotography.com) on how to give proper photo credit on print, social and other digital agencies. Check it out:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-properly-credit-photographer-erin-bhoorasingh/
Great Colorado Hikes
I've been meaning to create this post for some time. There has been so many articles and references to Hanging Lake inside of Glenwood Canyon. This trail is popular among tourists because of it's location, turquoise lake and naturally formed waterfalls that flow into it. It is a relatively short hike and has been upgraded over over the years with a deck that circles the lake.
Photo by boydhendrikse/iStock / Getty Images
Because of it's popularity, there is thoughts of restricting the traffic flow on the trail. This has been due to a number of reasons, mostly traffic but this year there was even vandalism that spurred closing it down to the public.
http://www.denverpost.com/2017/04/19/hanging-lake-vandalism/
It is a beautiful hike, however I would like to turn you on to one of my personal favorites, Missouri Lakes.
A view from Missouri Lakes Basin.
The Missouri Lakes trail is located in the Holy Cross Wilderness, outside of Leadville, Colorado. It's a bit longer than some might hope, being about 3.5 miles to the basin but worth every step along the way. The trail follows Missouri creek from the very beginning and crosses a canyon, bringing you to a scenic meadows, cascades and small waterfalls until arriving at the basin itself with breathtaking views of the lakes, meadows and granite ridges and peaks surrounding you. Need I say more. Check it out the next time you are looking for a worthy hiking trail.
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/missouri-lakes-trail
Looking for an Awesome Trip this Fall?
One of my biggest loves in this life is travel. However, I've never posted about it and I've decided to try and share more of my travel and thoughts on deals and places to visit. Hawaii for under $700 Fly.com, that being said, I just came across this deal that you, my reader might be very interested in.
http://www.fly.com/cheap-flights/from-Denver-to-Honolulu-DEN-to-HNL?amt=699&cur=USD
You can fly to Hawaii for $670 from Denver round trip. I don't think I'm going to be able to swing this one but I hope you can. For a round trip price this is pretty incredible and Fall is a great time to be there. It's a bit off season so the beaches aren't as crowded as summer/winter seasons. If you have any questions about visiting, I would be happy to answer. -B
The Misadventures on the road
Two weeks ago, I decided to visit Crested Butte. I've never been there. It's on my list of places in Colorado, I've never been, and wanted to go. So having now been there what did I learn? Crested Butte is awesome. It's such a cool little town that is an outdoorsmans paradise, away from major roadways and high traffic trails.
Crested Butte is the home of the bike. If I was to guess where bikes originally came from it would be there. Everyone in town was getting around on cruiser bikes, there was great roadbiking on the roads through the passes, and mountian bikes gallorre. I was amazed that you could actually get around on cruisers, from home to town and back. It made me jealous, here in the valley it's so hard to make that feasable with the hills and highways.
The second thing I noticed is that I came across a huge amount of International Scouts. If you don't know what a scout is, it's a 4 wheel drive truck that was introduced in the early 60s and produced the international Harvester corporation and manufactured them only until 1980. They are really cool looking precursors to the SUV, that featured a boxy look much like that of the early Bronco's and had removable hardtops. For a truck that had a relatively short span of production, that stoped being produced more than 35 years ago, and to see 5 or 6 of them in one place seems crazy to me. It's like if you owned a scout, it would automatically start driving and wouldnt stop until you got to Crested Butte. Perhaps if you wanted to move there, you would have to fill out a questionare with one quesion, do you own or have you ever owned an international scout. If you answer yes, boom, your automatically accepted.
One of the many Scouts I came accros in Crested Butte
Changing the subject slightly, and why I call it the misadventures on the road, I had to cut my visit short because weather. For someone (myself) who usually is over-prepared for any situation, I was completely unprepared for how cold it was going to be. It was the middle of August so I had a light sleeping bag. Biiiiiig mistake. I abandoned my tent, put on all the layers I had in my car and attempted unsuccessfully to sleep in my car. So 6 in the morning, after about an hour of total sleep, I sat in my camping chair, in my sleeping bag, chugging coffee to warm up waiting for the sun to hit my face. As I waddled over to my tent, I shook the ice off the rainfly and said not happening another night. No way. On the positive side, it was a beutiful camp spot, only about 10 minutes outside of town.
So, to wrap this up, lesson learned, be prepared, be more than prepared and you will be ready for anything. If you are like myself, and don't do well in extreme cold conditions, have lots of extra layers and always bring your warm sleeping bag. Also, go exploring in these last few weeks of summer, there is nothing better, you never know what you will come across. Enjoy the rest of the summer folks. - Barry
Ansel Adams, visualisation and intention
Yes there are millions of photographers out there. Phones make it easy, and give versatility to the art. However I think the phone is a tool. There is a time and a place to use it. There is a difference between a phone image and other mediums. How often do you print images from your phone? For me, pretty much never. I use it to view on phones or cpu screens where the resolution does not matter that much. I use a phone for certain times, while a DSLR for others, and yes, on a rare occasion I will still use film because without a doubt, film makes such a more detailed image. This video, and shout out to the Nerdwriter here for putting this together, shows that there is more to shooting an image. It brings light to the thought process behind the image, and what an incredible image maker he was.
History of photography
Holy Cow! In 5 minutes this video covers 100 years of photo history. Certainly worth a view. From the Camera Obscura to the bankruptcy of Kodak in 2012 and yes, the advent of the camera phone. Hard to imagine that the modern day SLR type camera is only about 70 years old.
Yohan and the art of non-conformity
It's only natural to contemplate the past, as we round into the New Year. For me, this was certainly the case. I questioned some choices I had made, thought about new years and the way I have spent new years in the past. This year, I decided to take a more relaxing approach to the holiday and traveled to Todos Santos, a small town about 40 minutes north of Cabos San Lucas for some sun, swimming and relaxation. One of my favorite activities, while traveling or at home, is to spend some time with a good book. New Years day, it was serendipitous that I ended up opening up a book called The Art of Non-Conformity. The book is about helping you realize how to live life differently. Think different, live differently. After an hour or so, I needed a break.
As I joined a few friends from the resort I was staying at, lounging on Cerritos beach, I was introduced to Yohan Ricca. As we talked surfboards, sun and swimming, these thoughts were fresh on my mind.
As I contemplated this idea of unconventional opportunities, what that means and how they may present itself, I found that this new character I met has been living unconventionally for some time now. Yohan has been traveling between Canada, the US and Mexico for the last 6 months living out of his van.
In my eyes, this is as unconventional as it gets. This goes against what most see as a life norm. So obviously, I was intrigued. I asked if we could continue our conversation and a little later that evening and I joined Yohan where he had parked for the night next to Cerritos. He casually finished preparing dinner, tuna rolls, while we talked.
“I love to travel. When you are traveling you meet new people, see new places, every day can be different.”
This isn’t the first time he’s traveled and lived out of his car. A few years earlier he travelled to Canada and lived out of a station wagon, for 6 months.
“I worked for 3 years and spent 6 months in Canada, when I got back home, I knew I wanted to do it again. I worked for 4 more years and hit the road again. During those years I saved about $30,000. When I got to Canada, I bought this van, luckily it was already insulated, and I built out the rest. Sometimes it can be hard, travelling alone but after a while, I’ve found, it just makes me happy.”
Yohan explained that most of his travels right now is spawned from his love for climbing. He started what he explained to me as his one-year journey, in Canada. The summer began in Winnipeg working on a farm before moving to Kenmore, climbing when able but he began to have back problems. He moved to Vegas and recently decided to check out Mexico to relax and surf.”
He is originally from Switzerland and his trade is installing HVAC systems. When he returns home, his friends bombard him with questions. “My friend asked me, Yohan, when are you going to settle down and do something with your life? My answer is I’m doing it. I am happy. If I stay anywhere too long I have to get back in the car. Sometimes I feel it’s hard going home because friends will ask me, how was your trip? What can I say, there is so much to say but it’s hard to tell them.”
What I learned and was able to take away from this conversation is that if you find something you want to do, whether it is looking for an unconventional means of living or otherwise, take action. Yohan seemed to agree.
“Many people say sometimes, I want to travel more, for long periods of time, but I’m afraid, I would have to quit my job and leave my apartment. But just do it. I tell them, just do it. You have too. I don’t regret my decision. When I’m ready to go back to Switzerland, I’ll ship the van back so I can live the same type of lifestyle. I want more freedom to be able to go on a whim. “
So what’s next for Yohan? “I think I’ll go back to Vegas and climb for a few weeks then it’s on to Joshua tree, maybe Sedona, Zion. My visa for Canada is up in April. I may try and find a job and snowboard in the winter. I’ll try and decide what to do from there. Right now, I am happy to keep looking forward. I don’t miss home, I’m just excited to keep moving.”
So what else did I take away from this conversation? Forget about 2015, let’s keep moving forward.
The Obsessed
First off, yes, this is an ad. But if you disregard the last 15 seconds or so this truly does capture how visually obsessed photographers can be. Obviously Joel shot the image and the creator most often is the worst critic but I get it! Horrifyingly so. In a changing world where there was once only say 1000 professional photographers compared to now where anyone with a cellphone is a professional what makes an image stand out. What makes a photographer in the end. Maybe it can be stated it's the way they view things, the way they see the world. The details. But this is just a video right. A good video, thanks Canon.
Production Team gets a boost
I just wanted to share my gratitude everywhere I can to my production team. This week, our video on Meniscus Root Repairs was used to launch JBJS (Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery) new video education portal on Essential Surgical Techniques.
Tribute to Dr. J Richard Steadman
I have been honored to work along side Dr. Steadman throughout the last 6 years. Dr. Steadman retired last year, but his legacy continues. Here is a recent tribute video dedicated to the life of this humble innovator.
Vail Whitewater Race Series
From May through June, a somewhat underplayed racing series takes place right in the heart of Vail. The Vail Whitewater Racing Series. The races are located on a small stretch of water right on the Gore. It is certainly a spectacle that is so centrally located no one should miss. The races are divided between three categories including kayak , two-person raft and stand up paddle board with different course challenges every week. Course Challenge for each event will be determined the day prior based on river flows. Each week, the two round format will consist of an individual time trial with results determining the seeding for the second round, head-to-head race. Having recently bought a stand up paddle board I will have to look into doing this for next year. I may need a bit of practice though first. There are a few photos from the race in the sports category on the main site. - Barry
Concert photos from Lukas Nelson
http://bigiproductionsinc.pass.us/lukasnelson/
I posted a few photos I took from Lukas Nelson's show last month using a pass.us
From Pass.us - "PASS is designed for the way your clients view and share photos: socially and on their mobile devices. PASS even ensures that when your client shares your photos to Facebook."
So far I like the idea, it seems like an easy way to share photos with clients.
Does anyone who has used it have any good info to share on it? Let me know.
Generic Brand Video
Also referenced from Phil Nottingham's talk was a preview of this video. Absolutely phenomenal. Take a look.
From video content to video strategy
http://wistia.com/wistiafest/speaker/phil-nottingham
I was more than impressed when I watched this video presentation by Phil Nottingham in regards to video content to video strategy. Many clients I work with recently have put a lot of effort into content-content-content. Phil opened my eyes as to how this can actually harm your business instead of helping it. He further explains how context should be king over content and how to strategically hit your audience with a direct strategy for web video.
Well worth anyone's time! Check it out!
Steadman's 25th Year
Dr. J. Richard Steadman and the Steadman Philippon Research Institute just celebrated their 25th year of research. A large part of their program is taking Orthopaedic Resident's and teaching them the aspects of Sports Medicine in what is called a Fellowship Program. Dr. Steadman began the Sports Medicine Fellowship Program and it has now grown to be one of the best in the world. After having worked along side the institute for so long I am proud to have been able to produce this piece for them.
Updated Photo Gallery
A few photos have been added recently to the photo gallery. The abstract photo collection was added. A few great music shots were added of Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, a few shots from some work down at Mesa Verde and a couple more Kayaking shots. I hope you enjoy!