Unstad, Norway
I was 26 with my first kid on the way… my wife was almost due and I decided to take one more job shooting surf in Norway before my son came. My life up to that point had been singularly focused on my career – booking back to back jobs around the globe and I hadn’t really taken a moment to look over my shoulder. Knowing it was my last shoot for the next few months, I pushed myself extra hard… spending more time in the icy waters causing frost nip in my hands & nerve damage that I still deal with to this day. There’s a lot more to unpack from this trip but I look back at the images with a palpable memory of my time there and the feeling life would never be the same when I got home
Unstad, Norway
I was 26 with my first kid on the way… my wife was almost due and I decided to take one more job shooting surf in Norway before my son came. My life up to that point had been singularly focused on my career – booking back to back jobs around the globe and I hadn’t really taken a moment to look over my shoulder. Knowing it was my last shoot for the next few months, I pushed myself extra hard… spending more time in the icy waters causing frost nip in my hands & nerve damage that I still deal with to this day. There’s a lot more to unpack from this trip but I look back at the images with a palpable memory of my time there and the feeling life would never be the same when I got home
Unstad, Norway
I was 26 with my first kid on the way… my wife was almost due and I decided to take one more job shooting surf in Norway before my son came. My life up to that point had been singularly focused on my career – booking back to back jobs around the globe and I hadn’t really taken a moment to look over my shoulder. Knowing it was my last shoot for the next few months, I pushed myself extra hard… spending more time in the icy waters causing frost nip in my hands & nerve damage that I still deal with to this day. There’s a lot more to unpack from this trip but I look back at the images with a palpable memory of my time there and the feeling life would never be the same when I got home
Unstad, Norway
I was 26 with my first kid on the way… my wife was almost due and I decided to take one more job shooting surf in Norway before my son came. My life up to that point had been singularly focused on my career – booking back to back jobs around the globe and I hadn’t really taken a moment to look over my shoulder. Knowing it was my last shoot for the next few months, I pushed myself extra hard… spending more time in the icy waters causing frost nip in my hands & nerve damage that I still deal with to this day. There’s a lot more to unpack from this trip but I look back at the images with a palpable memory of my time there and the feeling life would never be the same when I got home
I’ve only photographed Mt Fuji once… but maybe that was enough.
The memory from this morning has stood the test of time and left an impression on me that I still think about frequently. Japan has been a real gift in my career and life and I feel lucky to have been able to create so many images and stories there.
At Glacier’s End was a 7-year dedication to documenting Iceland’s glacial rivers… intended to encourage others to keep them close to their natural state and pristine for generations to enjoy them in the same way I have over the years… & a tribute to my dear friend and pilot, Haddi, who’s unexpected passing came just a couple of years back around this time.
As a landscape & adventure sports photographer, I always hope that this kind of work inspires those who see it to spend more time pursuing their passion in the outdoors or putting effort towards preserving a landscape… this book emerging from this particular concept in mind – documenting the glacial runoff as a form of nature’s fine art but also an encouragement to value and protect the locations responsible for this beauty. If you are inclined, grab a copy for your coffee table and bookshelf at the link in my profile.
At Glacier’s End was a 7-year dedication to documenting Iceland’s glacial rivers… intended to encourage others to keep them close to their natural state and pristine for generations to enjoy them in the same way I have over the years… & a tribute to my dear friend and pilot, Haddi, who’s unexpected passing came just a couple of years back around this time.
As a landscape & adventure sports photographer, I always hope that this kind of work inspires those who see it to spend more time pursuing their passion in the outdoors or putting effort towards preserving a landscape… this book emerging from this particular concept in mind – documenting the glacial runoff as a form of nature’s fine art but also an encouragement to value and protect the locations responsible for this beauty. If you are inclined, grab a copy for your coffee table and bookshelf at the link in my profile.
At Glacier’s End was a 7-year dedication to documenting Iceland’s glacial rivers… intended to encourage others to keep them close to their natural state and pristine for generations to enjoy them in the same way I have over the years… & a tribute to my dear friend and pilot, Haddi, who’s unexpected passing came just a couple of years back around this time.
As a landscape & adventure sports photographer, I always hope that this kind of work inspires those who see it to spend more time pursuing their passion in the outdoors or putting effort towards preserving a landscape… this book emerging from this particular concept in mind – documenting the glacial runoff as a form of nature’s fine art but also an encouragement to value and protect the locations responsible for this beauty. If you are inclined, grab a copy for your coffee table and bookshelf at the link in my profile.
At Glacier’s End was a 7-year dedication to documenting Iceland’s glacial rivers… intended to encourage others to keep them close to their natural state and pristine for generations to enjoy them in the same way I have over the years… & a tribute to my dear friend and pilot, Haddi, who’s unexpected passing came just a couple of years back around this time.
As a landscape & adventure sports photographer, I always hope that this kind of work inspires those who see it to spend more time pursuing their passion in the outdoors or putting effort towards preserving a landscape… this book emerging from this particular concept in mind – documenting the glacial runoff as a form of nature’s fine art but also an encouragement to value and protect the locations responsible for this beauty. If you are inclined, grab a copy for your coffee table and bookshelf at the link in my profile.
At Glacier’s End was a 7-year dedication to documenting Iceland’s glacial rivers… intended to encourage others to keep them close to their natural state and pristine for generations to enjoy them in the same way I have over the years… & a tribute to my dear friend and pilot, Haddi, who’s unexpected passing came just a couple of years back around this time.
As a landscape & adventure sports photographer, I always hope that this kind of work inspires those who see it to spend more time pursuing their passion in the outdoors or putting effort towards preserving a landscape… this book emerging from this particular concept in mind – documenting the glacial runoff as a form of nature’s fine art but also an encouragement to value and protect the locations responsible for this beauty. If you are inclined, grab a copy for your coffee table and bookshelf at the link in my profile.
At Glacier’s End was a 7-year dedication to documenting Iceland’s glacial rivers… intended to encourage others to keep them close to their natural state and pristine for generations to enjoy them in the same way I have over the years… & a tribute to my dear friend and pilot, Haddi, who’s unexpected passing came just a couple of years back around this time.
As a landscape & adventure sports photographer, I always hope that this kind of work inspires those who see it to spend more time pursuing their passion in the outdoors or putting effort towards preserving a landscape… this book emerging from this particular concept in mind – documenting the glacial runoff as a form of nature’s fine art but also an encouragement to value and protect the locations responsible for this beauty. If you are inclined, grab a copy for your coffee table and bookshelf at the link in my profile.
2019, Kuril Islands, Ushishir
Despite exploring some of the most spectacular (and arguably some of the hardest to access) islands, hiking up sweeping Calderas, witnessing the tail end of a volcanic eruption & a pod of orcas, one of the most memorable moments of the expedition was this encounter with a fearless little arctic fox who came over to our camp & spent about an hour sniffing our bags and walking around us… maybe not his first human encounter but certainly he didn’t seem threatened. He seemed genuinely unbothered by our presence and we were happy to let him wander around so long as he didn’t eat any of our food. I was struck by his curiosity and willingness to walk right next to us… a reminder that it’s sometimes worth taking an hour or two in a place to pause and allow nature to resume around you. The small details are often as beautiful as the large ones… you just have to take a moment to notice them.
It’s always really fun to be interviewed by a good friend… but especially someone who can draw out vulnerability & dive into topics that truly matter. For these kinds of conversations, I feel like podcasts are one of the best long format mediums that provide space for more complex topics and the nuances that come with them. My good friend @tedhesser recently had me on his show & it was one of the more memorable conversations I’ve had in a while. we talked business, faith, AI, photography, life in general, and tons more… listen to the full episode at the link in my profile
I shared this image a few months ago and noticed a lot of speculation in the comments about whether or not the mushrooms on the tree were real or had been photoshopped in… so I thought I’d share the iPhone clip (a bit unsaturated due to overcast skies) so everyone could see the natural moment and that these mushrooms are in fact, real. I don’t know what kind they are but I thought they were beautiful growing on the side of this giant sequoia last fall on assignment for @natgeo documenting Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park.
As much as social media is a gift for sharing the world and inspiring each other with experiences or thoughts, I also think it can be a complex place where assumptions & opinions are offered as facts instead of checking with the source or maybe consulting a professional… my hope is always to keep things as real and natural as possible – sharing unadulterated scenes from the earth that inspire positivity & adventure to those who view them.
When the volcano erupted in 2021 on the Reykjanes Peninsula, I spent over a week on site… documenting the progression of lava flow both day & night on an assignment for @natgeo and figured it was a once in lifetime experience, but here I am 3 years later having seen several more – each unique in their own way and likely more to come. Although the recent volcanos have brought destruction for people and hardship to the people of Grindavik – the sight of magma flowing is nothing short of spectacular & quite special to witness… I’m grateful to have shared these moments with my friends & family… hoping that any future activity happens safely so that others can witness the beauty without a negative effect on the people of Iceland.
Cold dipping before it was cool…
I have a print up of this moment in my Iceland gallery… lot of people asked if it was fake or photoshopped so I thought I’d share the iPhone clip so everyone could see the brave soul testing out the waters off of Greenland in real time…
After several trips to Iceland, the Aleutian Islands, and other cold regions, Greenland was high on my bucket list of places to go. In 2017, an opportunity lined up to sail around the southern coast aboard the @auroraarktika with a small crew for a photography workshop… a dream for me and my first time to Greenland. Sharing the remote waters with the occasional whale & navigating a maze of icebergs was like some kind of once in a lifetime arctic fantasy… The conditions were warm and wind was scarce despite it being late season, the aurora even danced brightly above us one night and we explored an abandoned coastal town. Sometimes these experiences resurface from my memory bank and the realization hits that any one of these expeditions are once in a lifetime.. and I guess my encouragement to everyone seeing this is to take a risk on that trip or that opportunity for adventure in front of you… the uncertainty is often worthwhile and you grow in the process
The Corona Arch in Utah has a quiet history of intrepid individuals like Tim Martin who decided to thread the needle in sense in a Cessna – flying through the arch despite it being 140ft wide and 105ft tall…not much margin for error & now illegal since designated a National Recreation Trail in 2018.
Several years back, @sonyalpha commissioned me to shoot a project as part of the release of the A7RIII – so I put together a special production crew to push the limits of the camera among the canyons of Utah and see how we could display the ability for capturing vast landscapes & action sports in the same click of a shutter.
After somewhat of an arduous permit process – I was allowed to have someone fly underneath the iconic arch and resulted in a special series of images I hope are a tribute in a small way to all of the undocumented pilots who flew underneath…
It may sound crazy to uproot your life in order to be closer to a landscape but I would be lying if I said these glacial rivers and their importance to me and my work didn’t play a role in our move to Iceland. Some people out there will certainly understand the draw that certain landscapes can have on their soul. It feels magnetic at times and at the same time totally indescribable.
I filmed this with my phone yesterday near Skaftafell- it’s one of the more remote rivers that fans out for miles and miles. I love seeing & sharing the unedited beauty of these places so that people can realize this is what they can see with their own eyes and not just through the camera lens and editing software.
✈️ @lillebeggen
Surfing under the northern lights wasn’t really on my radar for several years & trips to Iceland – but in 2015 it was a late winter night in the north between storms… when an exceptional swell came in during an expedition and the possibility of the Aurora being a backdrop to surfing dawned on me… the conditions lined up and I realized we couldn’t let this window pass – a special culmination of remote beauty found in the northern hemisphere and a sport I dedicated my life to…. And with a little extra coaxing, my friends @timmymissions @hammered_sam & @jquinny got out of bed & put the wetsuits on after a long day of surfing and paddled back out… making one of the greatest memories of my career, and would eventually became my film Under an Arctic Sky. You can watch the whole film at the link in my profile
Why use a wide angle lens?
There’s a time and place for every lens out there – but without a doubt, the wide angle lens is my favorite because it forces you to get close and personal… immersed in the moment & interacting with the subject or experience at hand – something that I think often emerges through the images and helps viewers understand what it could feel like to sit in that ice cave or hang off the walls of El Capitan. I think wide angle lenses also provide a greater ability to capture leading lines, bring context into tight spaces, and show the breadth of a landscape in all its glory. I always have at least one in my kit… this particular image I used a @sonyalpha 10-18mm F/4 – a lightweight & unique piece of equipment that defies logic while producing beautiful results despite the APS-C format.
Only there for a season, this little hut in the Swiss alps gave us some of the most perfect conditions for capturing the Milky Way – with almost zero light pollution and little disturbance of any kind. Even with ideal conditions- choosing the right lens is essential for shooting the night sky. I typically aim for something wide with a shallow depth of field to allow in as much light as possible while showing landscape or structures along with the stars… my favorite being the 20mm f/1.8 @sonyalpha Prime G Lens.
I love little huts like these because they allow us to spend time in nature with protection from the elements with a 5-star view…. Thanks to the ingenuity of Swiss architects. Access to this one still wasn’t easy – we hiked several miles through a lot of elevation gain to spend time there during a shoot for Onrunning in 2019… the fact that it wasn’t going to be there forever made it feel a little extra special and I’m grateful I spent a couple of nights out there.
I’m still unraveling the experience we had ski traversing through Icelands interior last month … expeditions no matter how big or small always allow you to reflect internally and draw close to those around you. In this case me and my 3 tent mates definitely shared some pretty special moments… this was for sure one of them. Waking up with the sun on Mælifelsandur right in front of the famous mountain. Eating breakfast with puffy eyes and cold hands.. these are life’s most precious moments.
@helsport
Remote hot springs in the highlands.. There are moments that make you stop & really pause to reflect on how special they are, this is one. A life goal of mine was to Ski Mælifell Volcano, which came to life on this perfect spring day, shortly after we landed the bush plane at a remote hot spring for an evening soak.. this was a peak life experience.
Thanks @stol_iceland @arnarte for the day.
