I’m still a bit baffled by the choice to stuff a 8 megapixel camera into a phone. Most people don’t need this in a P&S (point & shoot), let alone a phone. And, if you think about it, the photos people are taking with their phones are most likely going to be shared online, so the file size alone of a 8 MP photo is absolute overkill for sharing.

But enough of that. My first few photos with the Droid X were downright terrible. I mean, I wouldn’t even share them I was so embarrassed (I’m picky, sorry) by the awful resolution. Now, to be fair, the camera/phone was new and I was just starting to play around with it. Recently though, my hopes have been on the rise.

During a Whistler backcountry ski tour last weekend with my brother, for the first time in recent memory, I forget my DSLR. But, I did have my phone, and, of course, the day turned out to be ideal for some backcountry ski photos. So I did what I could. I snapped some shots here and there of the beautiful Coast Mountains, stretching as far as the eye could see, a world of white. Then I discovered the panoramic feature. It took me a few tries to figure out exactly how it worked, but once I did, I was impressed by the technology. Of course, any photo looks amazing on the (relatively) tiny screen of a phone, so it wasn’t until I got home that I could see what the results were. Overall I was pretty impressed.

This last photo was taken the other day on my bike commute home – with Boeing literally just down the road, I see these often. Pretty cool. (the stitching wasn’t perfect here)

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February is half over yes, but it’s never too late for a little winter inspiration. I can’t say it feels like February here in Washington, but than again it’s hard to complain when the sun is shining this bright.

Making the below photo your desktop wallpaper is easy:

1. click image
2. Mac: right click and “Set as Desktop Background”
3. PC:  click image >> right click >> save to desktop >> open image >> right click >> save as desktop background

Monitor resolution – 1440 x 900

Monitor resolution 1280 x 800

Monitor resolution 1024 x 768

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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.

View photos at SmugMug

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My wife and I left Seattle on Saturday. 14 hours later we were in Salt Lake City. Day one, skiing at Alta. Day two, skate skiing at Solitude. Day three, a backcountry ski tour up Big Cottonwood Canyon. This morning, drove to Steamboat Springs, CO. For the next four days I’ll be dividing my time between cheering on my wife at the Telemark National Championships ski race here in Steamboat Springs and snapping photos. Subscribe now and be the first to witness some road trip photographs when I return home and organize everything.

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Below is a short list of landscape and nature pictures available as panoramic prints.

Fine art prints are available as 5×15, 9×18, 10×20, 12×24 and, when possible, 10×30. Please contact me if you are interested!

View photos at SmugMug

CLICK HERE to watch a slideshow of these panoramic photos

To view print pricing, see our Pricing Page

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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.

View photos at SmugMug

Watch a slide show of these images

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Last Chance! Two More Days To Order. This is it folks. I’m shutting the doors on any and all orders at the end of this week. Sure the economy sucks, but your gifts don’t have to.Have a question about a print or print size? Shoot me an email. - All prints up to 24″ mounted on canvas for only $135*. After the holidays these will go back up to $200. Two mounting options to choose from. 3/4″ stretcher frames that do not require ANY framing, or canvas mounted on matte board that can be framed - Want a framed photo instead? All photos are printed on museum quality luster or matte paper using archival inks. - A 5 x 7 double-matted print is only $25. Or, any 8 x 10 print for just $30! - You can also purchase just about any print to use as greeting and/or thank you cards. A set of 24 costs only $49. Stock up now and say thank you with style. - Another inexpensive card option is a one-sided 4×8″ card with vertical or horizontal orientation. A set of 12 for only $20! Can’t decide what print to give? Let them choose! Send a gift certificate for any size print or dollar amount! Watch a Slideshow! I just moved a large number of images into this slideshow, making it significantly easier to browse photos. Check them out now! This really is your last chance to get print orders in for the holidays.

Panoramic Prints Mt Rainier Photographs Backcountry Skiing Photos *not all print sizes available on canvas

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The first ski tour of the year is always filled with a bit of anxiety. Like any other adventure, you’re constantly doing a mental checklist of gear on the drive, despite making the effort beforehand (even the night before!) that everything you need is in good working condition and ready to go. I laid all my backcountry gear on the floor, taking note of what I had, and didn’t have.

Let the games begin

Due to relatively little amounts of snow, the destination for our first ski tour was, wherelese, Mt Rainier. With sunny skies predicted and about half a foot of fresh snow, our expectations weren’t all that high but instead hopeful. Arriving at the Paradise parking lot around 9:00 am, we were quite pleased to see most of the ground covered in fresh snow, with the possibility of skinning from the car looking high.

Before I really had time to think about it, our small group began the skin up towards Camp Muir. No matter how many times I ski on or around Rainier (which is a lot) I am always blown away by how beautiful a mountain it is.

Taking very few rest stops, I found myself quickly gasping for air and the legs tired as I attempted to photograph “The Mountain” while keeping up with my buds. Soon I fell into a rhythm though and the Muir snowfield unfolded into a massive powder field. This was going to be good I thought…

My legs kept trying to tell me this was the first ski tour of the year, while my brain was just too enthusiastic about the current conditions (which are rarely that good towards Muir Camp at 10,000 ft) and the fact that despite a very slow start to the ski season here in the NW, we were looking at about 3000 – 4000 ft of very good turns.

And very good turns we did have. So enjoyable they were, we opted for two. Sooner or later though we had to listen to our tired bodies and so the adventure back to car began. A bit of walking here, some survival skiing there and our first day of backcountry was deemed a success.

There are a lot of folks in Washington who tire of hearing Mt Rainier stories, myself (sometimes) included. But on this day, the first turns of the year, it just didn’t matter.

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A friend just forwarded me a link to some winter photographs taken up at Mt Baker yesterday. The images, showing about two inches (!) of snow up near Artist Point, could very well be (or could they?) indicative of a big winter in the Pacific NW. This is good news, no great news, not only because I’m looking forward to many days in the backcountry with friends, but I’m really hoping to get lots of backcountry skiing photos this year.

Here is the link to the Mt Baker images on Flickr

Pray For Snow!

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Well maybe not, but it’s hard not to feel it in the air these days. Mornings are crisp and cool, snow levels are dropping (well sort of…I think the top of Mt Rainier may have had a dusting recently) and a friend of mine in Whitefish just sent some hiking photos from Glacier National Park and there had to have been at least 3 inches of P…O…W…D…E…R!

Yes I love winter, even here in the Pacific northwest. Because for every inch of rain that falls here in Seattle, a foot of snow falls in the Cascades. And since it rains quite frequently here, it also snows…a lot. I’m not a resort skier, I hate lines and lift ticket prices are just about absurd. (Relatively speaking that is…they’re actually on the cheap end here.) So for myself, and the growing masses, looking for endless face shots, unknown adventures with friends and desolate mountains, the backcountry beckons.

So although winter may in fact not arrive for many months, I just posted (and will be posting more) some backcountry skiing pictures from seasons past to get everyone in the mood.

[View with PicLens]

Pray For Snow!

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