2015 Double Down Enduro

Over the past several years, I’ve shot one or two bike races a season, mainly dictated by the events being hosted at my home ski hill. It’s inspiring to be around all levels of riders, pushing themselves in whatever endeavor (cross country, downhill, enduro). I might not be riding on that given day, but I’ll always channel that experience on my next ride. On the photography side, my skills have become stronger, and I’ve gained significant confidence in my go-to techniques.

Botsy Phillips rips through stage 2 of day 1.

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Posted in Bike Photography

2015 Glorieta Enduro

2015 Glorieta Enduro-4

As part of the Outside Bike and Brew Festival, the Glorieta Camps hosted an enduro race on the final day of festivities. Entrants from all around the Southwest came and enjoyed a beautiful day, the first after an unseasonably wet stretch for much of the festival. While muddier than normal for Santa Fe, it was still a fantastic day of racing through the woods of the Glorieta Camps on Sunday. Continue reading

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Brandon and Nicole

2015 B&N-3

Brandon and Nicole have been friends of mine from pretty much my first day living in New Mexico. Over the years, we’ve enjoyed all kinds of experiences in the outdoors: hanging off cliffs, making turns in the backcountry snow. Brandon in particular is usually up for the more “epic” experiences, so he’s often my go to partner for those days which may involve maximum effort for minimal reward. The two of them are also some of the most resourceful people when it come to more domestic adventures. They’ve helped me out of many home improvement and automotive repair jams over the years. 

Recently, they asked me to take their portraits while enjoying several of their favorite outdoor distractions. We spent a morning out at the Galisteo Basin Preserve trails, just southeast of Santa Fe. The trails prove a respectable amount of singletrack, and beautiful views from the top of every ridge.  Continue reading

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Catching up with More Ski Hill Legends

2015 Skaggs Family-1

Pajarito Mountain Ski Area has a long tradition of volunteers in various capacities on the hill. In some cases, that tradition runs through generations. This is the case with the Skaggs family in spades. Bob and Barbara raised their family on the hill, served on the ski patrol, lead the patrol, and have been nationally recognized for their service. Now their daughter Kathy serves on the patrol, runs various patrol training, and is herself recognized by the National Ski Patrol. Continue reading

Posted in Pajarito Volunteers, Portraits, Winter Sports Photography

Puppy’s First Day Running on the Slopes

2015 Bruno Skiing-1

Here are some snapshots from Bruno’s first real day out skiing with us as Ski Santa Fe. The area has a pretty relaxed policy with-respect-to skinning uphill in the ski area boundaries. If it’s after hours, you can even bring your dog. This was the first day he was allowed to run around off leash on the descent, and the little guy was stoked. Continue reading

Posted in Winter Sports Photography

Pyroclassic XC Bike Race

The Jemez mountains came to being through several eruptions of a massive volcano. Millions of years later, the volcano’s caldera remains as a beautiful alpine setting, and a 80,000 acre public space. The Valles Caldera National Preserve hosts various events, and even serves as the backdrop for the Longmire TV show. This year, the Caldera added a mountain bike race to the list. The Pyroclassic bike race (this is where the geologists in the audience are chuckling – since most of the Jemez were formed by the pyroclastic flow of ash and rock). hosted about a 150 racers, pro to beginner. The weather was fantastic, and everyone had a great time. Hopefully this’ll be the first of many races in the VCNP.

2014 Pyroclassic Bike Race-1

2014 Pyroclassic Bike Race-8 Continue reading

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Rock n’ Roll Enduro

2014 Rock n Roll Enduro-14

I live in the arid, pinion/juniper climate of Northern New Mexico. We enjoy 300+ days of beautiful sunshine, and brilliant blue skies. For two months of the year, we’re graced with the summer monsoon cycle and the occasional moody gray weather which were normal fare in my midwestern youth. We still get plenty of that New Mexico sunshine, put for a small part of the day we get some great moody backdrops.

This year, Pajarito Mountain hosted its first enduro race, the Rock n’ Roll Enduro. Lucky for me, great bikers and a misty backdrop combined to create some stellar images.

2014 Rock n Roll Enduro-3 Continue reading

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2014 High Ground

imageEvery year, my in-laws Kathy and Mike McCoy host a cadre of their friends and colleagues who are all impressive representatives of the design world. They spend the weekend collected on the deck, overlooking the Arkansas river valley, discussing the state of the design world. Luckily, they let me sit-in and my head is always spinning with new thoughts by the end of the trip. I’m usually the only or one of the few engineers in the crowd, and they all appreciate whatever insight I can provide from outside their normal world. Coming off of the Heisler workshop the week before, I decided to document the event through a series of portraits of everyone. Some of the shots were taken in the hills surrounding the house, while others took advantage of the spaces on the aforementioned deck.

Here are some of the selects.

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Harry Teague, architect, former president of the Aspen Design Conference

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Santa Fe Photographic Workshops

Living in Santa Fe has many perks. Yeah, we have the mountains, cultural diversity, the art scene, and way more dining options than you’d think for a town our size. We also have a vibrant photography community, thanks in part to the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops. Year-round, with a focus on summer, the workshops hold an astounding number of classes taught by some of the best photographers in the world. This year I decided to develop my portraiture skills, and take Gregory Heisler’s portrait lighting workshop. For six days, I got to enjoy the company of fourteen other talented photographers, absorb as much of Greg’s knowledge possible in such a short time, and shoot some great models in amazing settings. Above is a image of Donald, one of the SFPW’s rock-star models, during a session at the now-defunct New Mexico State Prison.

It was a fantastic time, where it’ll probably be months before I realize how much information sunk into my little noggin. Continue reading

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2014 Pajarito Punishment Downhill Race

The Pajarito Punishment downhill is back! After a little break, Pajarito hosted the 2014 state downhill finals for the first time. As an added bonus, the race coincided with Pajarito’s annual SummerFest party. Ad the two, and you get great downhill racers, plenty of enthusiastic spectators, live music, and +17 craft breweries waiting for the competitors to celebrate their run.

As always, the race provided an excellent opportunity to catch some exciting biking photos.

Racer catching the biggest air of the day off the 2nd to last jump on the course

Final jump on the course, for all the gallery to see.Final jump on the course, for all the gallery to see Continue reading

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