Kaaterskill falls, another expedition me and the boys impulsively embarked upon...in the dead of winter...again. this time around we had abandoned the whole idea of camping in its entirety. We were more of day hikers than anything. This time with nothing more than our cameras, large canteens filled with coffee and some cook ware for lunch. This hike was way more leisurely than the first, thanks to what we had learned from the first one we had a little more experience under our belts, which ultimately led to us learn the most important rule on hiking/ camping. Bring what you need and that is all.

Diamond back notch. The first place that I have ever taken my camera or any camera in general for the purpose of photography.

It was just 2 days after Christmas and me and my buddy and his girlfriend impulsively decided that we'd take our new cameras upstate and attempt to camp out in the lean-to at the top of the trail, which took us at least 3 hours to get there with over 100lbs of completely unnecessary "gear". Once we finally made it to our home away from home we realized that we had no chance of not freezing to death throughout the night. So just before the sun started to go down, with out tails between out legs defeated we trekked back down the hellish rock stairway back to our car and we go ourselves a cheap hotel for the night celebrated the entire night as if we had accomplished our goal. 

Over this past summer me and five of my closest friends rented an entire three story house upstate in

lake George. Our house wasn't actually in the town of lake George, but actually inside a community called "tripp lake". We had the house for an entire week and also had planned how we would be spending our time for the whole week. Our first night there we had all spent so much time in the car throughout the whole entire day that when we arrived we immediately divided the rooms accordingly then afterwards, going to the nearest market to get all the beer that we could carry. Shortly after we returned to our home away from we celebrated the official start of our long awaited summer vacation until we could no longer keep our eyes open.

The next morning we wake up to the aftermath of our first night.  

After a long morning of outlandish recreational activities (along with tidying up the house a bit) we went for a casual stroll down on of the dirt roads through the community and found a seemingly infinite amount of tiny vibrant orange salamanders. Everywhere we stepped we were almost crushing a good handful of these beautiful little creatures. I was fortunate enough to have had my macro lens attachment on me, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten to mess around with taking close up shots of these little critters.

My friend sam had asked me if I could be her photographer for a show/ charity event/ fashion show she had gotten asked to play at last minute. not only was this job a nice way for me to reconnect with a old friend I haven't had time to see due to life's ever changing schedule but it was a good chance to get some more practice in with some concert photography and also have a little fun with some street photography photographing my friend on our way to the venue. later on during all of the artists performances I was able to work on my own technique while also observing other "more advanced" photographers, all in all it was a great opportunity to have some fun taking pictures and also improve on my technique and learn a little more everyday.

One of my first times experimenting with long exposures including body motion. This is not only a what I consider to be an aesthetically appealing image but also an emotionally charged one for me. 

Being able to make my self seem as almost a ghostly entity I was able to portray how I may feel when ever I hit a mental block or a time I may be in a funk. Sometimes it's hard just to not feel like a ghost, even in a reality where you're surrounded by people whom may love you, it's hard not to be a ghost.

You wouldn't belive how difficult it was for us to get to this cliff jumping spot. Not only were we extremely Unprepared for the hike that was in store for us but we didn't know how far we would have to go. We also had no clue how close we were all gonna be from falling into lake geogre every step of the way with our backpacks filled with cameras clothes and other expensive electronics. After what felt like a good afternoons hike we reached had finally reached our destination and all of our hard work had paid off and we actually got what we wanted out of something in life for a change. On top of the sheer experience, after soaking it all up in got a couple really cool memorable pictures of me and my friends doing something we won't forget. 

sore index

Remember that time I cut my finger tip off at work and the hospital cauterized my finger shut cause it wouldn't stop bleeding? How bout that no longer than 3 hours later I picked you up so we could go to a bar/venue so I could take some pictures? Or how about how nervous I was about walking around with my camera in public in fear of being ridiculed by people I didn't even know. The most important thing I remember is how confident you made me feel and still make me feel to this day. I'm not posting this picture because I really love it, I'm posting this picture because I love the moment that was captured with it, a moment that would truly be difficult to ever forget.

what I'm learning being that my world is becoming more and more consumed by photography is the importance of the context of the image. The context of the image may not be important for someone other than myself based on that its it my own personal experience that makes this such a powerful image. this isn't an image I intend on using to sell prints of and make money, its an image that further fuels my passion for what I do and what I'm going to do for the rest of my life.