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  • Perhaps no other local illustrates the rugged American Southwest better than Monument Valley. This must be exactly how the famous Hollywood director John Ford felt when he first discovered this magical landscape in the mid-thirties, and is the reason why he chose to shoot several of his blockbuster westerns here including, Stagecoach in 1939 and How The West Was Won in 1962. Although it still receives relatively few tourists compared to other parks in the region such as Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona or Zion and Bryce canyons in Utah, most people still find it familiar. This is no doubt due to the countless advertising campaigns that have featured the monuments as the backdrop for marketing their rugged image. Toyota trucks and even the United States Marine Corps have used the scenery, but nobody seems to spend more time here than the Marlboro Man. Yes, that fictional cowboy the Marlboro Man is the reason why most people in the world have seen pictures of Monument Valley, whether they realize it or not. In fact, I have noticed billboards in Kathmandu and posters in Tokyo featuring Monument Valley's vistas and always point out to people, "Hey,that's where I'm from". Actually, the only people that can really claim to be "from" Monument Valley are the people of the Navajo Nation as Monument Valley sits entirely inside the borders of the Navajo Indian Reservation, the largest such reservation in the United States. For centuries the Navajo have been ranching and farming this land and consider many of the monuments to be sacred..Just South of the border with Utah, these are probably the most famous monuments in the valley and together they are known as The Mittens. No matter how many times you go to Monument Valley, they never cease to inspire awe with their shear size and perfectly eroded shapes of a left and right mitten. I chose this composition because I felt the beautifully striated boulders in the foreground not only lead the viewers eyes nicely into the phot
    WarmMittens.tif
  • Upper Antelope Canyon briefly gives off a rare double beam of sunlight
    Rays.tif
  • This is an example of an image that I planned for extensively. Having been to this location months prior, I vowed to come back at the perfect time to get this magical shot. That perfect time only occurs around noon in the summertime when a crack in the narrow walls above cast this perfect beam of sunshine on the sandy ground. A tripod and a carefully timed exposure helped capture, what I consider the world's most beautiful and natural sundial.
    BeamMeUp.tif
  • A Southwestern sunrise
    MorningMittens.tif
  • The amazing colors and landscape of Arizona
    MonumentalCutOut.tif
  • The most beautiful road in Vietnam
    TramTonPass.tif
  • An iconic image of the American Southwest
    DeadTreeInMonumentValley.tif
  • The iconic Southwestern landscape of so many of John Ford's Westerns
    JohnFordPoint.tif
  • Nature's artistry
    UpperAntelopeCanyon(B&W).tif
  • The famous crown of Our Lady of Guadalupe church in historical Puerto Vallarta.
    LaCaronaDeLaIglesia.tif
  • A georgeous chapel built into the beautiful red rocks of Sedona
    ChurchOfTheHolyCross.tif
  • The Grand Canyon; Earth's most spectacular example of what happens when you combine the perfect combination of geology, erosion and a whole lot of time. As magnificent as the canyon is, it can be a "grand" challenge for photographers to capture images that provide scale and depth to a wonder filled with superlatives. Of course, we will never be able to to re-create the awe that one is overcome with when standing on the rim and gazing into the vastness of this world wonder but the joy of photographing the canyon is to try and capture a semblance of it's beauty and grandeur on a two dimensional medium. There are different techniques you can use to achieve to this aim and in this photograph I combined two of them. First of all, it is necessary to place something of interest in the foreground to give the image depth. Secondly, I sometimes like to use something in the foreground of the photo that acts as a sort of natural border to create a "frame within the frame". This will draw the viewers eye through the photo from the foreground to the background. Thus, you can not only have a striking image framed beautifully and naturally but you can also achieve a sense of depth at the same time..This all came to mind instantaneously when I came across this dead tree while hiking into the canyon via the South Kaibab Trail. It caught my eye because it's lack of foliage not only lends itself perfectly to the afore mentioned techniques but it's apparent age also makes it the perfect companion to the the canyon and the theme of this photo, time.
    Time.tif
  • Two things in this scene really grabbed my attention and inspired me to make this photograph. Comment below what you think they were.
    20140930-Ethiopia-Harar-167.jpg
  • This gentleman is the orthodox high priest of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. Upon finishing an outdoor mass he approached me and asked if I wanted to go inside to see crypts of Haile Selassie a.k.a. Ras Tafari and his wife which are kept inside, adjacent to the vestibule. He must have thought I was with Nat Geo or something as apparently they usually charge a ‘museum’ fee for that. I’m sure it’s intended to not only, well, raise money for the church, but also as a means to restrict the crowds and prevent the church from becoming a scene like that at Mao Zedong’s mausoleum. At any rate, I took him up on the offer and moments later found myself standing over the auxumite granite tombs of Emperor Haile Salassie (The Holy One), his wife Empress Menen Asfaw and other family members. I took in the significance of the moment. Not so much out of respect for his status as a leader, but more so from being the huge fan of reggae music that I am. I mean I’ve been hearing about this guy from Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff, Toots and all of my other favorite rasta’s my whole life! The least I could do is bow my head for the inspiration he gave those fellas, right? <br />
As he was escorting me out, I thanked him quietly yet profusely and asked him if I could make a portrait to remember him by to which he gave an approving nod. I and I left that church feelin’ irie I for the rest of the day!
    20140927-Ethiopia-AddisAbaba-Holy Tr...jpg