Origins of the Elk

It turns out that indigenous Roosevelt Elk were native to our river valley and the present day Cedar River Watershed prior to European American settlers making this area their home. Native Americans relied heavily on the natural prairie between the current towns of Snoqualmie and North Bend where the elk resided. They used the prairie as both a multi use pasture and a very large garden plot for native crops.

This area was scraped clean by retreating glaciers, so very few natural large trees grew and the remaining brush and the smaller trees were controlled by periodic burning (either by mother nature herself or through controlled burns by the Native American tribes that called this area home). This burning allowed these prairies to flourish. It also helped to keep up natural barriers between the grass lands and the stands of dense trees where the elk and deer prospered. These meadows served as an excellent breeding and feeding ground for the native Roosevelt Elk and the herd flourished to numbers well over 1,000 individuals.

New Residents & Replenishing the Elk Herd

When Europeans migrated west and entered our river valley in the 1800’s they relied heavily on the native elk and deer populations for food. As a result they all but wiped the elk completely wiped out the herd, save for a few individuals. To sustain the new inhabitants of the valley, it was decided in 1913 by the Seattle Elk’s Club that they would pay for the introduction of Rocky Mountain elk. The elk would be sent over from Yellowstone National Park in Montana by train to the Snoqualmie Valley to help replenish the dwindling food source.

The original shipment of elk numbered 44 animals and the herd soon grew to over 400 individuals. There were several complaints about the herd due to damage to property and agricultural crops. The elk were eventually pushed to the Mill Pond area where they lived for a number of years. During the great flood of 1932 the elk were forced back to the mainland where they became a staple food source during the Great Depression.

World War II

Fast forward to 1945 and World War II. The remaining elk population exploded due to lack of hunting (the majority of the men who would do the hunting in the valley were at war) and they became a large problem for the residents of the Snoqualmie Valley.

That same year a deep freeze hit the area and wiped out a large number of the elk. The residents in the valley lost their crops and their food sources were dwindling, so they turned to hunting the local elk once again. Lack of food, freezing temperatures and over hunting due to the starving residents in the valley wiped the herd out and only about 12 known individuals remained.

In order to save the remaining animals local officials decided to relocate the last 12 elk. One bull and 11 cows were relocated to the upper reaches of the Nooksack (River) in Mt.Baker National Park and the Snoqualmie River Valley was once again free from elk… or so they thought.

A few Roosevelt Elk remained protected and hidden in the Cedar River Watershed where they had been living for decades. In 1995 Snoqualmie Valley residents began seeing the elk return to the area. By 1997 they had come back to the area surrounding the old Weyerhaeuser Mill.

Elk Herd Remnants and Management

By 2008 the herd had gotten large enough to, you guessed it, cause problems for the local residents in the river valley. This time around the elk Management Group was formed to find solutions that benefited both the local residents and the elk.

There are now an estimated 450 to 500 elk in the Upper Snoqualmie Valley. The management group takes a census each year between March and April to confirm those numbers and make adjustments to their counts. Volunteers count the elk daily during the early morning hours while the herd is feeding. They work with wildlife biologists to collar the elk to help track their movement and to report their findings to the divisional wildlife department.

These elk counts help the fish and wildlife department decide on the number of tags issued during hunting season. They also help with research and education to determine the overall health of the herd.

I think it’s important to note here that there is a turbulent relationship between humans and the native species in the valley. Our interactions with them throughout their history have shaped their behaviors and it appears that we’re more the problem than they are. We’ve taken a great deal of their land away and we continue to do so at a fairly rapid pace. We need to strike a balance of sorts with the wildlife in our valley or we will continue to face problems with elk, bear, bobcat and even cougars. They were here first after all and I think we need to keep that in mind when we discuss management and how we go about dealing with them.

Rules of Engagement

If you want to go see them in person there are number of rules that you should follow:

1. Always observe from a distance, use binoculars or spotting scopes
2. If you plan to photograph them, make sure you utilize long lenses to keep your distance (All of the photos in this article were shot at focal lengths of 180mm – 840mm)
3. Talk quietly and minimize sharp sounds and pets should probably stay home
4. Do not disturb animals in mating season (or any season for that matter) and never come between a mother and her offspring… you definitely don’t want to find yourself in that situation
5. Walk away slowly if an animal becomes nervous or looks aggressive

Early morning and twilight are the best times to see the elk in the river valley. Once again and I can’t stress this enough; do not come close to the wildlife, especially during the fall elk mating season. Enjoy the views from a distance

To see more images and to order prints please feel free to visit my Wildlife Gallery here on my website.

References:

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Can you believe that 2016 has already come and gone? As the New Year approaches I decided to take some time to reflect on what 2016 has meant to me and just where I see myself heading in 2017. To say that 2016 was a big year for me would be an understatement. I got married, photographed a fairly large chunk of southern Utah, experienced shooting lava on the Big Island, spent a fair amount of time shooting locations around my home in Washington state and started working full-time for DPReview. I definitely have a lot to be grateful for this year and it’s going to be hard to top 2016, although I’m definitely going to give it a run for its money!

Photographically speaking this year was full of ups and downs. Between my career change and the wedding, I had a lot on my plate, which meant that I definitely had to make the most out of every photographic opportunity that presented itself this past year. This meant that I had to buckle down, focus and get creative. Additionally, if that wasn’t enough, I decided to try to reshape my personal image of what ‘popular’ photography is and what it means to me. 

I spent a lot of time this year reflecting on just why we create photos, why we go through the hours of driving, shooting and processing the images that we share. This year, more than ever, I realized just how important it is to shoot for yourself and to really create images that offer not only personal satisfaction, but also a sense of place, a sense of being and a story. Photography shouldn’t be about epic light and who got the best conditions in any given year, it should be about personal progression and overcoming adversity.

As photographers, we often dwell so much on what’s popular on social media or if a photo will sell that we often lose track of why we got started in the first place. I spent a lot of time soul searching this year and really asking myself why I create the images that I do and just what I hope to accomplish with them. My images may not always be ‘what’s popular’ or ‘what’s main stream’, but that’s not my end goal; my goal is to create work that inspires myself and others to try something new and to look beyond the lens.

Looking Beyond the Lens

Looking beyond the lens is something that I think that we all need to do from time to time. Put down the camera and just take it all in. This became even more apparent when I was out on the lava field shooting the ocean entry where new land was being created right before my eyes. My family has a long history in Hawai’i; we immigrated to the islands in mid to late 1800’s. To say that seeing the lava entering the sea was a spiritual experience would be an understatement. My connection with Aina, the land, my ohana and the culture made me realize just how small we are in this world and to really respect the time that we have to take it all in. Photography has opened my eyes to a lot of things this year, but that was one particular thing that has persisted and will for the remainder of my life.  

In order to develop my photographic vision this year and to look beyond the lens, I spent a lot of time behind my Canon 70-3oomm F4-5.6L IS telephoto lens. Minimizing scenes with long focal lengths really forces you to think outside of the box and to look beyond the lens in order to really break a grand scene down into its parts. Many of the grand scenes that we take in are only so because of the sum of their parts. Each portion of the scene can tell a story; it’s up to the photographer to decide how to decipher the story and how to present a portion of the scene that can stand on its own.

This can be extremely challenging and it definitely takes some time and a great deal of trial and error to come up with a methodology that works. This is something that I’m planning to do a lot more in 2017 as I’m looking to expand my reach to around 600mm to really capture some unique compositions.

Setting Goals

As this year comes to a close I find that it’s a great time to not only reflect personally, but to also take in all of the work that your favorite photographers have published as well. Education in photography is a never-ending process. I find myself constantly yearning to learn new things all of the time. In the end your personal progress is only hindered by the creative walls that you put up. You have the ability to do whatever you set your mind to and in 2017 I plan to to push myself even harder in that respect. Have a very happy New Year, everyone! Best of luck to you in 2017!

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I decided to take a jaunt up to Mt. Rainier during some rather questionable weather conditions. I was really inspired to shoot the mountain in a different way that I haven’t really seen done before.  The conditions made the shooting difficult, but I was able to come away with a handful of images that I think really depict the beauty and detail that can be found in and around the mountain.

[See image gallery at cwexplorationphotography.com]

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I’ve been reflecting a lot lately about how much personal style and taste has changed over the years.  I’ve found myself really refining and in some cases dialing back the way I process images.  When I first entered the field in 2012 I was absolutely blown away by the stuff I would see on 500px, Flickr and Facebook.  So much so that I would often try to imitate not only the types of shots but the editing style as well.  The problem is no one can REALLY shoot that type of scene like the person who innovated the process or refined their own personal style.

You can nearly always tell when someone has taken a skype lesson or a tutorial from an artist with their own personal flare; as it resonates with the image.  The problem is what people fail to realize is that these lessons and learned skills are just tools to your own creative process.  Too often I see folks limiting themselves to what they see on 500px or what they’ve been taught.

Something that I wish someone would have told me when I first got my start is to be inspired by others but to also develop your own unique style. Learn from the images you see, but don’t limit yourself to their constraints.  Find your own voice and let your photos speak for you.  It really comes down to is a simple question; who are you shooting for?  Are you shooting for yourself or are you shooting for likes and publicity?  What motivates you?  To find your own voice through your images you have to dig deep into your creative process.

Don’t strive to be different, but strive to be you.  I think too often we push ourselves so hard to nail the shot or to think outside the box that we miss the mark all together.  I’ve said it before, but I think it bears repeating; imitation is a form of flattery, but at what cost to your own creative process?

Personal growth is something that I think never really stops in photography.  I look back at my images from even two years ago and cringe.  I think we’ve all been there.  As much as it hurts my eyes to look back through my work it is rewarding in a lot of ways.  It’s fun to see how far you’ve come not only compositionally but also in processing as well.  We are constantly learning.  As the tools improve our skill sets will shift in an inevitable ebb and flow, but your creativity and innovation will always be your foundation.

The creative process is how we all grow individually as photographers. It’s how we develop the style that sets us apart from the masses and it’s how we breathe life into our images.  Know your shortcomings and work to improve in those areas.  Is there a particular type of scene in landscape photography that poses a weakness to you?  Shoot the hell out of it.  Learn the ins and outs of it and improve where improvement is needed, refine where refinement is needed and don’t give in to your self doubts.  No one can dictate your success.

Egos

One of the things that perplexes me the most about landscape photographers is the sheer volume of arrogance and ego that seemingly go hand in hand with success.  Folks seem to forget that at one point in time no one knew their name, their post processing probably needed work and their images lacked interest, yet those same folks stand a top their soap boxes and intimidate the hell out of anyone whom they feel is wrong or may have crossed the line.  Let’s face it.  In the digital age the lines that define fine art and true photography are blurred.  It’s a very, very messy subject and one that I don’t want to get involved with quite frankly.  Everyone has an opinion on the matter and every social media thread seems to end up in the exact same place; you do you and I’ll do me.  In some cases, yes, things need to be addressed; like when Marc drops a sky and the internet loses their collective minds for instance.

Overall though, I think we owe it to ourselves as photographers to support one another, drop the cliques and help the field progress in a positive manner.  So much of what I read on social media is so toxic; people are bashing and belittling each other left and right.  Is that really what the field has come to?  Instead of spending so much time focusing on negativity how about we work to progress our art and push the field in a positive direction.  Forget your egos and pick up a camera, the field will be better for it.

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This is a collection of my favorite images landscape photography images from 2015.  The images you see here were taken in Washington, Oregon and Montana.  It was a great year and I can’t wait to see what next year will bring!

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I nearly killed my computer putting this together (quite literally) a7r files are MASSIVE and putting 26 of them into a pano with 4GB of RAM was quite frankly suicidal. As a result this took me about 8 hours longer than it should have. Needless to say I just bought a ram upgrade for my Mac. Here’s hoping that my computer will improve haha. Before this past Sunday I had never seen a full lunar eclipse in person and man was it worth the effort to get out and see it. My girlfriend and I headed out to photograph the event and just take in a pretty rare moment that won’t be seen again for several decades. I know everyone’s seen a ton of photos of the event over the past few days (most of which have been pretty heinous) so hopefully this one will be a bit different. This is a 26 image panoramic all shot at 200mm; this includes 8 images for the moon shot at 200mm as well. Nothing was re-sized for this one. This is just as we saw it. I’m so lucky to have this view quite literally in my backyard. The mountain to the left of the image is Mt. Si and toward the middle lies the town of North Bend, WA. I hope you will enjoy this one; it was a ton of work to put together.

Here’s a cropped view:

Super Moon Lunar Eclipse, North Bend, WA

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Landscape photography has morphed its way into more of a popularity contest than an art form.  There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t see an in your face, ‘look at me!’ style of photograph gracing the front page of 500px or any of your favorite social media websites.  For me, my perception of landscape photography has changed a great deal.  Sure, don’t get me wrong I LOVE dramatic skies, epic vistas and jaw dropping presentations of the beautiful world in which we call home, but seeing the same areas, presented in the same ways over and over again drives me absolutely crazy.  I don’t think I’m the only one with that mindset. I think that social media has really been responsible for the demise of subtly.  Mass media photo sharing sites push those colorful square crops to the top in no time because as humans, well we love color.  Our eyes are naturally drawn more to colorful scenes; gorgeous sunsets, fields of flowers and starry night skies. We have a tendency to overlook the little things; nature’s footnotes if you will.

Personally I think that we as photographers can easily shift that ideal and find some middle ground by simply not limiting ones self to what’s popular.  That idea seems simple enough in practice, but developing an eye for subtle scenes and natural abstracts is no easy feet.

Seeing the Trees Through the Forest

I know this typically isn’t the way that this idiom is written, but it is quite intentional.  Often times we get so overwhelmed by the vast landscapes in front of us that we over look the subtleties and intimate details that make the landscapes themselves so unique and breathtaking.  The sum of the parts make the whole.  Sometimes it’s worth looking at just what those parts are comprised of and focusing in on the small details that most of us would otherwise overlook.  Finding the trees through the forest can be problematic from time to time; especially when weather comes into play.  I always try to look for patterns in nature.  If a pattern exists; it’s meant to be seen.  I personally look for objects or lines that really catch my eye and lead me through a scene.  From there I really try to focus on those lines, textures, patterns or objects of interest. Sometimes you have to let the weather and the conditions do the framing for you.

Fog, mist and low clouds can not only add some serious mood and atmosphere to an image but they can also help to frame and add depth to an image as well.  Let the clouds and fog help to guide your decision.  Look for breaks in the fog to emphasize a particular feature that you’re drawn to.  It could be a layered ridge line, a small stand of trees or even a mountain peak.  I think too often we get discouraged by crappy weather and low visibility when we should be looking at it as not only an opportunity but a challenge as well.  I love shooting in questionable conditions.  Some of my most memorable shots and experiences have come from shooting in some really challenging and for me evocative situations.  Don’t ever let less than ideal weather conditions discourage you from breaking out your camera.

Limitation is the Demise of Art

Limiting yourself to a certain style or preferred composition can seriously hinder personal development as a photographer.  I struggled a great deal with this early on.  I remember the first time a stumbled upon 500px and I was blown away by the gorgeous mountains surrounded by in your face wildflowers loaded with color and detail.  Don’t get me wrong.  I LOVE shots like that.  I have several in my portfolio, but sometimes it is nice to take step back from them to look for inspiration in other places.  Compositions don’t always have to blow the viewer away by the sheer ‘wow’ factor.  Subtle is good.  

Corn Lilies are an excellent example of this; there are intricate patterns and beautiful compositions to be found if you take your eyes off of the mountains and look to the slopes below.  Pay attention to the curves and turns in the leaves.  How can you best exemplify them?  When I put this image together I looked for symmetrical features that would make the central lily stand out from the rest of them.

I found several lilies that I really enjoyed but framing them appropriately just didn’t feel right until I stumbled upon the one that you see featured here in this image.  The light was perfect, the symmetry was there and the framing helped to exemplify what I was trying to convey.

Water can be an excellent source of inspiration if you know where to look.  Take a waterfall or a turbulent aqua blue glacier fed river.   Your initial inclination might be to find a way to represent the entire scene in a manner that evokes emotion or captures your eye in a unique way.  I find myself drawn to that mindset as well from time to time but I challenge you to look further into the scene and dissect it.  What section of that river do you find most attractive?  Is there a rock formation that catches your eye?  Does a certain tier in a massive waterfall lead your eye through the scene?  Instead of finding a way to work those features into a vast landscape let them take center stage.  Let those features speak for themselves.  After all there is a reason that your eye found them; they’re unique to the area and really epitomize the beauty of the sum of those parts.

The next challenge that you face is how to best represent the intimate scene you wish to capture.  What settings and shutter speed should you use?  Landscape or portrait?  What crop?  These are all questions that circulate in my mind while I’m out shooting in the field.  For waterfalls and any moving body of water in general I find myself drawn toward methods that enhance water texture and lines.  I look for patterns in the flow of the water; the ying and yang of the currents, the balance of the flow around rocks and the light play on the water itself.  I try to evoke a feeling of being there from that small sampling of that vast gorgeous landscape.

I think capturing a variety of textures in a single exposure can be a very powerful thing.  Smooth lines combined with circulating pools and turbulent rapids frozen in time can add a great deal of depth and layering to an image.  It can really make a photograph come to life.  The shot to the right could have been taken on the coast, in a river, near a glacier etc.  That’s the beauty of abstracts; they can really captivate one’s imagination.

Capturing abstracts of waterfalls can be fairly tricky; especially when the water flow is extremely high.  Looking for features in the rocks surrounding the falls, the vegetation in the area or the various tiers in the falls themselves can offer up a variety of different composition.  Focusing on the falls themselves can be another method to capturing an intimate and more unique scene.  Water texture and framing are the big keys to shooting something of that nature successfully.  How much texture do you want?  Do you want to focus on the water itself, or frame it with a bit of the surrounding terrain?

I recently challenged myself to shoot an abstract of one of the most photographed waterfalls in Washington State.  Snoqualmie Falls. Compositionally speaking the falls are extremely limited.  There are really only three terraces to successfully capture the falls from (including the base) and although conditions can change upon every visit; the composition remains the same.

For this trip I put down the wide angle lens and broke out the telephoto.  This shot is one example of the several that I attempted that evening.

I decided to frame the falls by centering the bottom portion in front of the large cavern that sits directly behind them.  I played with a variety of different shutter speeds but ultimately settled upon the one that provided enough water texture and overall movement to lead the eye through the frame.

Abstract or Abstract?

Intimate scenes like the ones described above can be extremely challenging to shoot.  With that said; what happens when you go into the digital darkroom and discover shear disappointment in your efforts?  Fear not! Not all is lost.  There are creative ways to recover disappointing or lack luster shots to some extent.  Motion blur either in camera or in the digital dark room can be extremely rewarding if done correctly.  It may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it can add a lot of creativity to what might be a bland original shot or it can take an amazing shot in a completely different direction.   The panoramic stand of trees that you see here was shot during one of the better years of fall color that we had up here in Washington.

The shot itself lacked a lot of interest so I decided to take a more artistic approach in presenting it.  I utilized motion blur in Photoshop to achieve this effect.  You can achieve this in camera as well by shooting a long exposure shot while slowly tilting your camera up or down to blur the image (hints the title; MOTION blur).  Like I said this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but it can be a fun creative exercise and it’s not a bad tool to have in your back pocket when your artistically stalled or just want to get the creative juices flowing a bit.

As I mentioned before ‘limitation is the demise of art’.  Don’t limit yourself to the conventional techniques.  Think outside of the box and don’t be afraid to try new techniques with different compositions that will set you apart from the field.

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The phrase Aloha ʻĀina is close to my heart for many reasons and I think it’s especially true in this day and age. It essentially means “love of the land” and is a central ancient Hawaiian ideology conserved by many native Hawaiians today including members of my family that still reside in the islands. Those two words embody the connection that the Hawaiian people have with the lands in which they live. Respect the land and it will give back so much more. Much aloha everyone and tread lightly!

Panther Creek Falls, WA

Prints: cwexplorationphotography@gmail.com

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So Rialto Beach and I have quite the history and I should have known that making the trip back there could only have ended poorly. I started the trip out there at around 11am and I was hoping to make it down to the haystacks by around 4:30pm for the sunset. I rolled into the parking lot at around 10 till 4pm. Not good. I checked the tide and the high tide coincided with the sunset. Double not good. To say that getting down to the stacks during high tide was difficult would be an understatement. Most of the trip involved scrambling over massive piles of driftwood while dodging waves and hauling some serious ass down the beach. I ended up missing the majority of the good light but managed to snag some moody twilight shots as the stars started to come out.

I got all of my gear packed up and turned around to head down the beach when BOOM I got nailed by two consecutive sleeper waves from behind. Luckily my camera gear stayed dry but I was completely SOAKED. Water filled my boots and the extra layers I had on absorbed the water like a sponge. Awesome. So then I had to try to figure out a game plan for getting back since I really didn’t want to have to scramble over the driftwood in the dark even with a headlamp.

I decided that I was already wet so why not cut my loses and stick to the beach. I played dodge the wave for a good part of the time until I had to make the river crossing. Doing that crossing in the daylight is a cake walk. Doing it at night in soaking wet boots and clothes is a different story. Let’s just say that it probably looked like a scene right out of Jackass when I slipped and fell placing the log squarely between you guessed it. Good times!! At that point I just had to laugh. I mean what the hell else was I supposed to do ha! I finally made it back to the Jeep and made the executive decision to skip camping out in Mora and head to Forks. That hotel room bed never felt so damn good!

Rialto Beach, La Push, WA

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This photo comes from the first chaotic night on the Washington Coast with some friends.  For those that have been to Rialto you’ve seen the impressive first set of haystacks right near the parking lot. They are pretty damn cool and make for some awesome photos, but we decided to dig a little deeper for the goods. We bucked it up and moved fairly quickly down the beach toward what looked to be some pretty epic haystacks toward the very end of the beach.

A small memo for beach goers; objects may appear closer than they really are. Actually, that’s a bit of an understatement. I don’t know how far we hiked down the beach to reach these things but it must have been a ways because by the time we got there the sun was well on its way down and the light was fading fast. We ended up hiking a few miles down the beach to shoot these awesome haystacks, arriving just as the sun was sinking below the marine layer off shore and well to keep this short we lost track of time. Before we knew it the tide was coming in and it was dark. Small footnote here; I forgot to leave the girls in our group with a flashlight (in the doghouse for sure). We packed up our gear and moved as quickly as feasibly possible down the beach only to be slowed down by two older guys who not only didn’t have headlamps but were also high as hell on something other then life. We decided to help them get through some of the more difficult sections; you know the river crossing and such, and finally made it back to the car. I drove like a crazy man to get back to the tent site (by then it was dark) to discover that NO ONE was there. To say that I lost it was a bit of an understatement. Horns blaring, shouting at the top of our lungs and finally they came running out into the road.

Turns out that they moved down two tent sites (for a number of reasons) and were a-okay, they even had the tent set up. Apart from the anxiety attack they gave me and their cousin it ended up being an okay night. Solid start to an epic trip.

Rialto Beach, La Push, WA

Prints: cwexplorationphotography@gmail.com

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I decided to revisit this image using some new techniques I’ve picked up over the past few years and a came across a piece of writing that I published with it some time ago. A lot has changed since I first wrote this excerpt so I’ve decided to amend it a bit to reflect my current thoughts:

Everyone has heard the phrase a picture can be worth a 1,000 words, but what does it really mean? The vary convention that any of sum of words can surmount to a real life experience captured by one exposure is an interesting thought. Witnessing the event, feeling the hard emotion flowing through your veins, being there, not here, but there, being part of something raw, something organic, and something new. That’s the type of emotion a single exposure can evoke out of one’s soul. That feeling that you are part of something bigger than you, all trapped within the matting and encased within the glass and framework that is our limitations. A picture is a powerful thing and as a photographer the ultimate goal is to bring life, to evoke emotion, be it negative or positive and to initiate a spark; a spark that can flourish even in the darkest of times. Each and every exposure has meaning, be it symbolic, raw or natural. Be it taken from an iPhone, a point and shoot or a full frame DSLR; each image taken has a certain resonance, a unique tone, a frequency that can really, truly, only be heard by the photographer and left to interpretation by the masses. We risk everything for that one shot, the shot that can not only quench our thirst for perfection, but the shot that can make waves, a shot who’s frequency can be heard by millions and can resonate for many years to come.

Photographers are in a constant ebb and flow; in a search for that one tone; the frequency that drives them, but when it’s all said and done what are they really remembered for? Is it the images they leave behind? The stories they told? Maybe it’s the sheer impact they made by simply existing; by doing the things that others wouldn’t or just couldn’t do. I don’t think that there is any one single answer to a question such as this. The topic is complex and rich; just as the photographs we produce. Perfection isn’t easily attained. We drive hundreds of miles for that perfect moment, the one that gives us goosebumps and sends our hearts racing and leaves us struggling to grasp reality. For me perfection is not in the photo itself, but the journey you took to achieve it. Blood, sweat, tears, aches, and pains; all physical limitations that are exacerbated by one’s own mental inability to grasp reality. We push our bodies to climb, to climb faster, and to climb higher. We climb toward a purpose; maybe it’s to get over that self-perpetuated wall, or maybe it’s to reach the summit. Each and every adversity we face builds character and adds depth and richness to the moments we capture from behind the lens.

(c) Chris Williams Exploration Photography 2014

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