With the rise of so many distribution platforms videos are getting the head nod they have desperately wanted for years. From low end UGC clips to polished commercials, if you are not using video like the three amigos, you’re doing it wrong. If I offend you, I’m sorry, but let me mans-plain this to you with a recent example:

By no means do I consider myself a wildlife photographer, but, yesterday, I had the chance to "chase" this owl around for about an hour.
Zipping past the bird on a fence post, I said to Kristin, "hey look, an owl."
"Wait, where? I didn't see it." She responded in disappointment.
So, I flipped the van around and checked out the owl.

Last night, I began a new assignment that highlights one of the top 10 dog friendliest hotels in the world (a ranking system I didn't know existed). While none of this mornings photos showcase the countless dogs roaming around, they do showcase the property which is aptly named Hotel Oasis.

Right now, I am in NYC for a few marketing/networking meetings, so I left the camera in Baja. It's bulky and I figured an iphone would do. It doesn't 🤷‍♂️ sorry for calling you out Apple.

However, yesterday I met with 30-ish brands/tourism boards/hotels at IMM by TravMedia

I'm buzzing.

Kristin and I loaded our converted van and headed for a month in Colorado. At first we really didn’t know what to expect from the trip, but we had a few goals to summit peaks, trail run a total of 50 miles, and spend time around the Estes Park area taking photos and rock climbing. Turns out the weather on this trip didn’t really cooperate with us, but in hindsight, my favorite memories from the trip come from hanging in woods making s’mores over the Packfire fire pit at the end of the day, here’s why.

Preparing for a 10-week road trip to Baja is a labor of love. Something will go wrong, so planning a road trip project like this is about building out resources to not get into trouble. This mental freedom allows for more fun and creativity with the camera along the road trip.

Preparing for my next project, two months in Baja, I was running errands all day and got caught up in Carson City, Nevada at an optometrists appointment. While the eye-doctor was very kind by saying, “You know you are handsome, model handsome” I wanted to get my contact prescription and head out to photograph the final supermoon of the year.

There was no intention of making this documentary, but as the summits ticked and I kept pressing record, a story unfolded. I guess that is the luck of the draw when you put yourself in the right position. If you are here as a fellow peak bagger, I hope you enjoy the film. If you are here as a filmmaker, I hope these lessons help you along your journey.

Over the past 10 years I have developed a distribution system I call, “Follow the Journey” to bring viewers along virtually on these kinds of trips. While I don’t have a massive following, 50-something thousand in total, this distribution system is designed to engage viewers over and over again through a variety of formats as well platforms. The secret is staging and diversity.

Partially rehydrated bites of pad thai crunch between my teeth. If I was Alex Honnold, I’d use the the word, “mastication” but I’m just a simple outdoors guy who enjoys hanging with friends and eating food in the dirt. I mean, what more could you ask for than pretty view, some dirt under the nails, and a good night sleep under the stars?

I was scrolling social media this morning (almost never a good idea) and, thankfully, I follow some science accounts because they posted about a supermoon happening tomorrow. This got my head spinning with photo ideas and figured I would go scouting this evening to see what I could create. Only there was one catch, the cloud cover was so thick I could not see the moon.

Day three of my personal challenge to create a photo essay everyday I’m not on production came and went. Turns out, to create a photo essay in a single day, plus write a story about it takes about 2 to 3 hours and somedays I just don’t have that much time. A prime example, today.

But, who really cares? Let’s blow this popsicle stand and head to the Greek Island of Mykonos.