Landscape photography is more than capturing scenery — it's an invitation to dim the chatter of daily concerns that often veil our natural environment's presence. Creating an image begins with the deep breath of a long walk, traversing landscapes in search of a unique or interesting view. Anything that would distract fades from this process as attention settles on exterior surroundings — on color, tone, texture, composition, and shifting light. Photography therefore necessitates an awareness of something other than one's own stress, and through its practice I have found it easier to sense the not-so-quiet silence of a long hike, of tall grass rustling in a mild breeze or mountain chickadees chirping through crisp Sierra Nevada air. Mindfulness is not only essential to realizing the potential for meaningful images, but also the calming beauty that surrounds us at any moment.

Though I have photographs spanning the United States, most of my locations are within San Diego County. This is due in part to the fact that it is my home, but also to the biological diversity that thrives across a relatively compact area.  Within an hour's drive one could depart the Pacific Ocean and reach peaks topping 6,500 feet. In between there are sandy beaches; rocky intertidal zones beneath towering sea cliffs; wavy bluffs nurturing coastal sage scrub; taller chaparral blanketing the steep, rippling foothills of East County; and coniferous woodland dominating higher elevations. Beyond San Diego's mountains the landscape drastically plunges, falling thousands of feet to the Sonoran Desert which hosts Anza Borrego Desert State Park, one of the nation's most prominent arid ecosystems. Such wealth in habitats leaves an infinite palette of environments to discover and share.

Yet another drive behind my desire to portray San Diego County is nostalgia, a rendering of landscapes that longs for the abundant natural beauty I experienced in youth.  I've made an effort to frame every photograph in a way that highlights the vibrant, heathy perspectives of each location: trees burst with leaves across lengthy valleys and cacti rise firmly with smooth, supple skin surrounded by a verdant haze of creosote.  Given our warming climate, however, these views have increasingly thinned as the impact of worsening heat, drought and wildfire becomes clear.  It's now common to find entire groves of Torrey Pine trees destroyed, their limbs withered and broken into piles of decaying wood.  The same goes for old-growth oaks, teddy-bear cholla and a host of other native plants long under environmental stress.  By featuring the seemingly resilient scenes that remain, I hope to inspire an appreciation for our environment as well as an awareness that it should never be taken for granted.

My first taste of photography as a craft was (seemingly ages ago) while taking an introductory course. There we learned the basics of shooting, darkroom development, and print with film. In following years I carried a Cannon AE-1 all over the world taking pictures for fun and memories. Upon an introduction to DSLRs, my devotion to photography exploded given the ease of shooting and reviewing results. I currently use a Nikon D850 which reproduces an amazing spectrum of tones and color in very sharp detail. 

A proficiency in Adobe Photoshop has also been beneficial — it offers amazing tools for infusing RAW images with a breath of personal, emotional impression. Layers and masks additionally allow users to combine multiple images into one final product. Long, sweeping scenes beyond a lens' scope can therefore be captured with a clarity and tonal range that would otherwise be impossible. This is absolutely essential to maintaining superior quality to my largest prints.