I was lucky to get to work with Brian and Jean for a second time. This time they had their hearts set on a bridal portrait shoot. Similar to the engagement photos hike we did last year, this trail rewards with gorgeous Mt. Rainer views, but with only one third of the miles required, we were going to be able to focus more on wedding bridal photos and less on pounding through miles of hiking…

March 2020 I joined a group of local climbers on my first Mount Saint Helens summit trip. Later that year in early October I went back to see what climbing the mountain was like in no-snow conditions. In this post I’m going to take look back on both trips and photos.

…I was honestly a little bit nervous about the fact that we would be hiking in the dark as we started out on our hike up to Old Snowy Mountain. This hike was pretty ambitious compared to what I am used to, but at the same time, I was really excited about this challenge. As soon as we started on the trail all the nerves just melted away…

…In fact, in all the excitement and planning I overlooked a vital detail. It was now Friday morning at 7am, exactly 24 hours before we were to start the climb, and I woke up to messages and a phone call. It was Aaron and Trevin asking me where I was. I had the wrong date on the calendar!

If I wasn’t able to make it their backup plan was that they would join together to make a team of 5. Fair plan, but that wasn’t going to happen…

It was early November when Vanessa contacted me to hike to Old Snowy Mountain. I had just gone up there a few weeks prior, but with some snowfall in the recent few days I knew this would be a completely different experience…

Q: What do you do when your wife is more into fashion then she is hiking?

A: You buy her a pair of fashionable hiking shoes!

What’s something that Mt Rainier and myself share in common? Well, we both call Washington state ‘home’, and that’s pretty cool! When given the chance to get up close and personal with this mountain, I’m gonna take it!

Love can drive us to do crazy things.
Has love ever made you do this?

This guy played on six NFL teams and in the 2015 Pro Bowl. Now he is the inventor of Shower Pill and most recently the brand Hustle Clean. His name is Justin Forsett. 10 years ago, in 2010, Justin was 25 years old and playing as a starting running back for the Seattle Seahawks. I was living in an apartment at Pike Place and commuting by skateboard everyday to my studio in Pioneer Square. Seattle Fashion Network contacted me to photograph an editorial assignment with Justin as the model.

Yes, I am peeking in the mailbox on Mailbox Peak. lol

I had to get a joke in there before this gets serious, because this hike is seriously no joke. Although right in North Bend, WA with a paved road to the trailhead this hike starts to feel remote, and starts to test your mental strength very quickly.

Here’s a preview with some 360 views….

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” -Viktor Frankl

I truly think this is my favorite quote ever. And I really believe it to be true. It is a freedom to have control over your thoughts and reactions and only the mind can strip you of that freedom…

Mountain peaks are one of those things I have always felt amazed at. They stand up high with wisdom the rest of the world just doesn’t have. But it’s only been in recent years that mountain peaks have started calling my name. They are beckoning me, challenging me to climb, plant my feet on top and capture the views only that mountain knows…

Yes! Another year spending some time in Korea. No, not North Korea… the other one. (Just to clear that up.) Visiting Korea means several things for us: One, my daughter (20 months old) can visit with her grandparents. Two, my wife can eat spicy rice cakes on any street corner. Three, we can both meet up with friends we made when we lived in Seoul. And of course, four, I get to shoot some photo projects. These photos I’ll share here are some personal photos I took along the way.

First, welcome to my blog and my website! I’ve been wanting to share these images, looking for the right place to do that, and decided a post with some descriptions here would be perfect. Thanks for looking!

This shoot was a project with 509 Bride. 509 is the area code for Eastern Washington State. And 509Bride.com makes it much easier for soon-to-be wed persons to find working wedding professionals locally. So we set out to build a team of creative wedding professionals, and to create this inspiration shoot for the current season…