Sometimes you forget why. The other day I was reminded. Below is a photographic journey into the central Washington Cascades for a day of backcountry skiing.

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I’m not sure I could survive without my bike. From short rides along the shore of West Seattle, to epic month-long bike tours in Chile, I love to ride. Here are some photos I took along the way.

Fine Art Photography Prints are available, as are digital downloads. Contact me for further details. Click HERE for print pricing

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Watch a slideshow of these and additional mountain bike & cycling tours photos HERE

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Below you’ll find a growing selection of backcountry skiing photos, all of which are available as fine art photography prints.

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Watch a slide show of these images

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I’ve heard it before, really, as I’m sure anyone who has paddled in ocean swells and prefers the aroma of salty air over the rush of white-water, has too. Mention the word sea kayaking to anyone who has never actually done it, and I’m sure you’ll get a similar response. Little do they know how exciting (thrilling even?) and dangerous sea kayaking can be. Don’t get me wrong, most of my sea kayaking trips tend to be in areas that offer solitude, wildlife and (relatively) calm waters, such as the secluded bays off of Vancouver Island or hugging the coastline of the Channel Islands (or right here in Puget Sound.) That’s not to say I haven’t been in situations where things went bad very quickly, when I was literally paddling UP and DOWN ocean swells, praying for dear life that my boat didn’t capsize. Things can go bad very quickly in a sea kayak.

What got me thinking about this was an article I flipped through in a recent edition of Sea Kayaker magazine. There was a story about a veteran paddler who got lost, and disappeared, while paddling around the Brooks Peninsula (the most western point of Vancouver Island and all of Canada.) Interestingly I was trying to plan a trip to this exact same area for the summer (a wedding got in the way.) Of course this doesn’t mean I won’t try and get up there. Every one of my Vancouver Island trips, whether by bike or boat, has been awesome. The island is so diverse, there is so much to do and explore, that I find it hard to believe people who have called Seattle home for decades, have never made the trip north.

Cape Cod National Sea Shore

My parents are lucky, for they live in a truly unique part of the US. Although I'm spoiled by the natural wonders of the Pacific Northwest, I'm always intrigued and captivated by the scenery in and around Nauset Beach and the rest of Cape Cod

8 Photos

Sea Kayaking Channel Islands National Park

Sea kayaking Channel Islands National Park, camping on Santa Cruz island

8 Photos

Blake Island Sea Kayaking

Sea kayaking around Blake Island off West Seattle.

6 Photos

Sea Kayaking Johnstone Strait Vancouver Island

The sea kayaking in British Columbia is spectacular and the thousands of inlets, coves, peninsulas, and nearby Johnstone Strait, make paddling around Vancouver Island some of the best in the world. This photo album consists of two separate sea kayaking adventure trips to the Broughton Archipelago, off the NE corner of the Island.

17 Photos

Kayaking Ross Lake, North Cascades

Ross Lake National Recreation Area is located in the heart of the North Cascades. Although not part of North Cascades National Park, it offers true wilderness lake kayaking. Surrounded by towering peaks and dotted with serene camp spots, Ross Lake runs north to the Canadian border.

9 Photos

Sea Kayaking Trip: Baja California

Unfortunately I don't have the original prints from this epic 17-day sea kayaking trip from Loreto to La Paz in Baja, Mexico, back in Dec 2000. I do have lots of memories though. This was really my first big self-supported 'wilderness' trip, one that opened my eyes to adventure travel. All sea kayaking photos were shot with a simply P&S film camera. I apologize for the very small viewing sizes. Hopefully I can uncover the original prints and rescan.

9 Photos

So, be careful if you’re going for a paddle. Although I ski and bike alone (resort ski, not backcountry ski) I rarely go sea kayaking by myself.

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It’s pretty cool to watch a hobby develop into something slightly more than just a money and time-consuming passion. Although I’ve been carrying a digital camera with me wherever I roam, it really wasn’t until the last couple years that I began to  publicly persuade people to buy my landscape and adventure photographs…and realize that people other than close family and friends really did like the photos and would actually pay money for them! So needless to say I’m was pretty happy to see some of my recent ski photography and images of the US National Telemark Ski Team on the Scarpa website  at www.scarpa.com (you have to first click on Team Scarpa at the bottom of the site, then click on SKI and then click on USTSA.)

Getting good sports photos is definitely a challenge. At this point I don’t have one of those massive white Canon zoom lenses you see during professional sporting events; my only zoom is a Canon 70-200 IS, which means I have to get close to the action and hope that I’m focusing on the right spot at the exact right moment. You always have to be thinking a couple seconds ahead of the action, basically predicting the future and what that person is going to do. Use a fast shutter speed (at least 400) and make sure the camera settings allow for a rapid succession of photos.  Oh…and practice, a lot. Action photography, in my opinion, is one of the hardest types of photography to perfect.

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