50th Anniversary of The Space Needle for the New York Times

Mt. Rainier for The New York Times

It's not often that you get a phone call to photograph an assignment that you would probably be doing anyways in some respect. So I packed up my backpack, crampons, ice ax, got some food together, and headed out to Camp Muir, which sits right above 10,000 feet on the side of Mt. Rainier. It was a fun assignment talking to rangers, climbers, and feeling my calves and lungs burn as the air slowly thinned. I decided to bivy up at Camp Muir so I could photograph the climbers leaving for the upper sections of the mountain early in the morning, so I dug out a flat spot in the snow, melted some snow chunks for water, and tried to catch a little shuteye. I woke up to a star filled sky as people began to organize gear, tie knots, and prepare for the trek up to the summit. It was fun to watch the little headlamps bouncing up the looming glaciers above camp as I crawled back into my sleeping bag to escape from the cold. I woke up at 4 AM, made some coffee, and packed up to head down the mountain as the sun was just rising over the ridge. All in all.....the perfect assignment.
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This is me trying to stay warm and occupying my time with running back and forth from the camera as it clicked down from the ten second mark on the timer setting.

Japanese Internment for The New York Times

Recently I have had an influx of assignments varying greatly in scope. Some have been more conceptual, while others have tested my physical abilities as well as my abilities as a photographer. Regardless, they have all been a lot of fun. The NY Times just ran a story about the Japanese who were forcibly removed from Bainbridge Island in 1942. I was fortunate enough to be able to photograph several of the people who returned to the island as well as a wonderful woman, Ms. Hayashida, who relayed her experiences in the camps. Here is a selection of images from the shoot as well as a link to the article and slideshow.
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August

I took my DSLR Basics class out on a field trip last week to the Olympic Sculpture Park to talk about metering and composition. While they were exploring the visual landscape I snapped a couple pics.