One of the hardest challenges in nature photography is distilling a chaotic scene into a handful of elements that tell a cohesive story. In other words, the natural world is messy, and the photographer's job is to make sense of that mess. Case in point: on my recent trip to West Virginia, I chose to photograph fall color primarily. It’s one thing to look at a canopy of trees with our human eyes. But taking that view and making it into a two-dimensional image is another. There

Autumn is in full swing where I live. Just a few days ago, I returned from a short trip to West Virginia. Close to home, at least, it's some of the finest fall foliage you'll see. Everywhere you look, there are forests full of reds and golds, and every shade in between. In the hollows between mountains, beautiful waterfalls, full from recent storms, flow down steep gorges, seemingly disappearing into the deep, dark rivers below. Meanwhile, on any given morning, you might find

Three hundred and fifty posts? That's right. But currently, I'm in West Virginia, and it's been a bit of a whirlwind. Between the big 350 and this current trip, I have some writing to do, I suppose. In the meantime, instead of writing out a full blog for today, I decided to share a couple of my old posts. I couldn't pick between these two; I just know they both struck me as posts I should re-share. So here we are. First, this post is about how God is our help and our hope. Ps

Pride goes before a fall, as they say. Last fall, attempting to find an off-trail waterfall, I came face-to-face with that idea. My adventure was cut short; a coming deluge, high cliffs, dangerous footing, and a wrong approach all kept me from reaching my destination. I would have to return. Thankfully, I was finally able to, and this time I wasn't alone. My friend and I headed to the trailhead and started down the overgrown path. I had done a bit more research this time, and

High in southwestern Montana, stretching into the northwest corner of Wyoming, are many sub-ranges of the Rocky Mountains. The Teton and Wind River Ranges in Wyoming rise dramatically, showcasing some of the most stunning natural beauty in the United States. Nearby, the Absarokas stand tall to the Northeast. Further north and east, straddling the border between Montana and Wyoming, are the Beartooth Mountains, an impressive range in its own right. Driving up Beartooth Pass, o

It was a smoky afternoon in Montana. That was the story of the week, if I'm being honest. But challenging situations caused us to travel, to look, to try something different. Which I'm actually glad for. But on this particular day, we ended up driving all over. I can't recall the original plan, but it fell apart, and we drove northward to one mountain range in particular, if my memory serves me correctly. Montana is full of back roads, dirt roads, and roads that you can't rea

Cold water rushes through a narrow ravine. On either side of the stream, sections of rock are exposed, revealing ancient breccia, a mixture of sharp-edged rock fragments and finer grains, like a rough, natural concrete, formed by ancient volcanic activity and other dramatic forces. Vibrant green moss covers the landscape as the water rushes over ancient boulders. The stream flows through a canyon surrounded by peaks over nine thousand feet high. The American West and its geol

Do you remember back in the nineties when TV shows would have recap episodes? A couple of people would talk and remember something. Then the screen would get all fuzzy, chimes or some dreamy music would play, and then there would be a scene from an earlier episode. I suppose I do something like that on this website at times. But hey, I was a nineties kid. It is amazing to me, however, that here we are, around a year in. By God's grace and with His help, I've been able to writ

Four hundred and six miles. That's how far we drove, if memory serves, one day on my recent trip. Montana is a big state, and there is a lot to see. Smoke, however, kept us from some locations. Instead, we searched all around, and on this particular day, we ended up looking for a waterfall. It wasn't one that either of us knew much about; we weren't even really sure where it was. Well, other than which trailhead to go to. We arrived with a couple of hours of sunlight left, an

Not the typical photograph I would go for, but when conditions are what they are, you have to make do. Is it everyone's cup of tea? Perhaps not. But it actually is one of my favorite shots from my recent trip. It tells a story. And those are my favorite photographs. Mountain vistas, alpine lakes, wildflower meadows, epic sunsets brought on by afternoon thunderstorms. These are all things that come to the mind of a photographer when they think of the American West in summer. B

Greatest shot of all time? No. But a stunning scene that points to God's beauty and creative power? I believe so. I'm in Montana with a friend of mine. A big part of why I'm here is because it's a spectacular place to photograph, and lately I've been wanting to be better at photography. But, as you have probably seen in posts I've written on the topic, photography itself can be a challenge. If you've ever played golf, then you know how it is. You may have all the knowledge in

The light was looking pretty good. That's what I was thinking as we cruised along Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park the other night looking for a sunset. The weather had been promising a couple of days prior. But I hesitated and opted to wait for another day. So, it would be the last opportunity to venture into the park before my upcoming trip to Montana. I wanted to make it count. A particular location I know of seemed a good option. I had scouted a couple of shots i

Yesterday, as I was cruising up around 32,000 feet at almost five hundred miles an hour, it had me thinking. Now, I am not a science expert, especially on topics like the theory of relativity. But I can't help but wonder: if we’re flying around five hundred miles an hour, and I run down the aisle toward the front of the plane, am I running at five hundred and ten miles an hour? If at the same time someone runs on the ground, maybe even sprinting, am I still not running expone

Well, I had wanted to share about my trip the other evening up to Shenandoah National Park, but between work, being very tired, and packing for a trip tomorrow, I'm going to postpone that until I'm a little more up to it. Instead, I want to link to a post I wrote last year about packing for my whirlwind adventure last Autumn. Packing is an art, and I'm not an artisan when it comes to it. I'm more of a throw-it-in-a-bag-and-hope type of packer. But I hope you'll find the post

Surrounded by incredible geology, Palisade Falls drops roughly one hundred feet. Many millions of years ago, volcanic activity in the west formed what is now Hyalite Canyon, just outside of modern-day Bozeman, Montana. Or was it millions of years? Was it, perhaps, only thousands? How can we know for sure? The debate over origins and ages has not diminished over the years, sadly. But one thing we can all know and agree on: we all have access to the same rocks. And the funny th

Imagine being in a situation where you had to be told constantly to be brave and strong. A high-pressure moment where you needed a constant reminder that you weren't alone. An extra boost when you might be facing discouragement. That was the case for Joshua. Shortly before Moses died, and even after, God consistently told Joshua, commanded him in fact, to be strong and courageous. But God also reminded Joshua that He would be with him through it all (Joshua 1:9). Wouldn't it

Today I want to share another video that I recently worked on. I know I had posted one earlier in the year, and it is still my official first video. As such, it will be posted to YouTube in the near future, Lord willing. But I also recently finished this one, and it will be titled "episode 1". This one summarizes much of what I discussed in the recent articles on the events surrounding Lazarus' death and resuscitation. I hope that you'll find it encouraging and consider likin

For this trip report, instead of re-write the events of the day, I realize I had actually written out a draft of a post the day of. So, what is written below (with some corrections, etc. ) is from September 27th 2025 while in Montana, a day of photography, challenges, and a lot of cows. As I've mentioned in recent posts, I am currently away from home. This has inherent challenges in and of itself, especially with blogging. But I'm determined to continue on writing. Maybe th

Hardly an original shot, but a stunning location to be sure. There are few places I can think of in the United States that offer more variety, ranging from wildlife to geology, scenic views to just out of this world features, than Yellowstone National Park. Within this amazing place, one could spend multiple lifetimes researching, exploring, and photographing, and still come up with new things. It is a testament to God's creative power. On the northeast corner of the park lie

I've never tried my hand at road side photography before. At least, not quite to the degree that my friend and I did in Montana recently. But given our difficulties with the weather, we had tried a few different things, that being one of them. Of course when I say road side, the term "road" loosely. I'm not entirely sure some of the paths we drove on can legitimately be called roads, but I digress. The places we visited were actually quite beautiful, and not as photographed o