Owyhee Rocks

The Owyhee River canyon country is mostly rocks -- basalt columns, layers of pink baked clay, welded ash from cataclysmic volcanic eruptions, rhyolite spires, boulders polished by river-borne sand. Floating down the river over the past 4 days we examine the rocks, play with them, and see how the ancient people of this country chiseled their mysteries into the skin of the rocks.

Valet, my mule please

Normally I avoid turning over my camera pack to furry, dull-witted beasts of burden -- but enough about airline baggage handlers. That's my Lowepro camera pack roped down atop a mule after arriving safely at Santa Lucia Lodge, situated high atop a ridge in the cloud forest of northwestern Ecuador. Our duffels are wrapped in plastic and strapped on either side. Virtually everything at Santa Lucia -- all the materials to build the lodge and cabins -- were carried by mules up the muddy trail that climbs 1,640 vertical feet in less than a mile and a half. This remarkable lodge is the economic centerpiece to a community conservation reserve which protects some of the best remaining cloud forest in Ecuador. Here's a link to Santa Lucia's website: http://www.santaluciaecuador.com/index.html

Behind the Photos

The summer ad campaign for Colorado Tourism is released and these are two of my favorites from last summer's shoot with Tom Stofac and Brandon Saunders at MMG Worldwide. The dude ranch image was supposed to be an evening shoot, but a thunderstorm of epic proportions forced us to cancel that after assembling a cast of cowboys, dudes and horses. We reconvened at 5 a.m. the following morning and were rewarded with exceptional light. Then it started raining again.

The Tavern shoot also had its brush with weather, as rain was falling as we were setting up. Eventually the rain let up and we brought up our talent -- 14 young Denverites, each better looking than the last one. The Tavern was busy since a Rockies baseball game next door had recently finished, but we had a section of the deck cordoned off for the shoot. That did not stop one short, weasly-looking individual from breaching the perimeter, walk up to the models at the front table and announce, "You girls are all bitches." Our producer, Liz Long, thought he had said, "You girls are all midgets," and was a bit perplexed. But the male models heard him clearly and all leapt up with an idea to defenestrate our intruder. Realizing he had not called them midgets after all, and fearing the mens' wardrobe was about to mussed in a bar fight, Liz quickly had the individual removed, and the shoot proceeded happily.

Return to the Burn

Last week in Yellowstone I found myself photographing the same location I had photographed over 22 years ago -- the day after it had burned in the great Yellowstone fire of 1988. Here are the before and after images.

Wheel of Life & Death in Yellowstone

The wheel of life and death is close to the surface this time of year in Yellowstone. And not just because most winter visitors tend to be retirees well into their social security years. All the animals are in survival mode, expending as little energy as possible to make it through until spring.

On my first morning in Yellowstone last week I encountered three coyotes working over the remains of an elk that wolves or weather had killed the day before. The formation of the ravens waiting for their piece of the kill created a kind of wheel of life mandala. By the time I left 4 days later, there was not enough left to interest the ravens.

Escalante

Handmade: Artisans of the Old & New West

For the past few weeks I've been photographing Western artisans -- individuals who are making functional things by hand with a very high level of artistry. It's that balance of form and function, I think, that makes their work so compelling. One commonality I've found amongst all the artisans I've worked with is that their work is a natural extension of their lives.