In search of the fountain of youth, explorer Ponce De Leon stumbled across Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica.  The amazing thing is that he was somehow able to leave this place to continue his search. Today Manuel Antonio is considered one of the most beautiful national parks on earth.  Wild monkeys swing from the trees while raccoons will unzip your backpack for a little bit of food.  Unfortunately, we too had to leave.

We were two of five or ten photographers out for a 5 am photo shoot of Maroon Bells a few weeks ago. Its a little disenchanting to see five professional photographers at a spot in the morning, but better than the hundred who show up once the aspens start changing.

This is the same picture right side up and upside down. The reflection that morning was great!

About a month ago I had the opportunity to visit Bangalore, India.  The friends who we were visiting run a number of schools for kids who otherwise could not afford any education.  We went to the preschool and the kids lined up to get their pictures taken. I was able to get mostly smiles, but definitely made some kids cry  (which is the general reaction I get from children regardless of venue).  It was an immense blessing to see all of the hard work of the 50+ staff who sacrifice so much so that these kids can have an education.

I remember an old angry professor telling me that the original Portuguese name for the “Cape of Good Hope” was “Cabo das Tormentas” or the “Cape of Storms” because of the rough seas surrounding it.  The seas might get stormy, but I cannot say I’ve seen a more beautiful place. Every night the sun would slowly dip into the ocean brushing its final rays onto the mountains.

I love it when the past meets the present.  This statue of Jose Artigas stands in the Independence Plaza in Downtown Montevideo, Uruguay.  His backdrop is a huge building of flats and the thriving successful city and country that he helped to make.

This year we went back to drive the Million Dollar Highway, and I must say that it was no less stunning the second time around.  We drove through the pass during the morning and the views were stunning.  If there is one place in Colorado that I would like to live during the summer time it would definitely be Ouray. It sits on the northern side of the million dollar highway and is considered the Switzerland of America.  I have never experienced  a more beautiful place.

When we arrived in Minsk, Belarus we heard rumors that George Lucas, in an act of  international defiance, shipped numerous Star Wars walkers to the Belarussian countryside after the filming of the original trilogy.  We were only able to find an AT-AT and and AT-ST as we travelled the country, but came upon them by accident.  The strangest things about the placement of these larger than life props is that they are all placed in odd and inconspicuous places.

It’s weird to think, living in a western digital world, that half the world away some people live in simplicity as nomads.  It sounds romantic, but as I saw that it is a very difficult life.  Either way I am inspired by how they live off the land.

These two shots were taken by my friend Andrew Hoza.  He was traveling from Gypsum to Eagle, Colorado when he saw a Bald Eagle sitting on a mountaintop cross.

It would be easy for an American to take this occurrence as a jingoistic omen.  I don’t see it that way at all, but instead as God’s majesty of nature and his sacrifice.  Making it all the more beautiful.

When I went to visit my friend, Ryan, in San Francisco I saw this picture as his wallpaper.  He shot it up on the twin peaks drive as a panorama and then warped it down to the size of his wallpaper.  So, on our last day there we decided to drive up and I shot my own.  So this is my blatant plagiarism of his work.

The top shot is is mine, and the bottom shot is Ryan’s.  I think his is better because of the cloud warp.