The Mountaineer's Route

Check out our ascent of the Mountaineer's Route on Mt. Whitney!

Bodhi

We'd been "chewing" on the idea of getting a dog for over a year now, but adding another furry friend to the household was a decision that required a lot of careful thought and consideration. Raising a puppy is no easy task and you MUST have the time and energy to do it properly. We knew this well which is why it took us over a year to finally make it happen.

Tahoe's "Shoulder" season begins just after labor day and goes until the snow starts falling and the winter resorts open up again. Everything slows down and work is scarce so many people go on vacation or catch up on things that didn't get done during the summer. Our season with Big Blue Adventure was winding down so Heather and I thought this would be the perfect time for us to get our new addition.

Deciding on a breed was a difficult task. Heather and I wanted a medium size dog that was smart, affectionate, agile, and able to walk off leash. These characteristics were important to us due to our Tahoe lifestyle. But most importantly, we needed a dog that would get along with Boone, our roommate's dog, and fit in with the pack that we already have in place. In the end, we decided on an Australian Shepherd.

World meet Bodhi. He is an 8 week old Red Tri colored Australian Shepherd of excellent pedigree. He was born on a ranch just outside Reno to a breeder who specializes in Aussies. Her name is Colleen and if you are interested in getting an Australian Shepherd for either work or show (Bodhi's brother is still available), she is definitely the person to contact. Her number is (775) 843-3223. Heather and I went down to visit him last week, and as I'm sure it happens most of the time, we fell in love instantly! He reminded us of a little bear cub running around the house with his brother. We made arrangements to pick him up a few days later and began preparing our home for his arrival.

We are so excited and will post again with more updates and photos soon. He is sure to be the most photographed dog in the world!

-Matt and Heather

Bonzai Rock

I don't usually go out with the intention of trying to capture great landscape photos very often. People and action tend to be my area of interest when it comes to photography, but occasionally, I get an idea to go shoot something artsy. Bonzai rock has been photographed by thousands of photographers and I just wanted see if I could put my own personal touch on it. This photo was taken at around 8:45pm using roughly a 20 second exposure. I painted the rocks and the water with a powerful dive light to bring out some detail and then softened the overall look using photoshop.

Adventure Sports Week

Adventure Sports Week is an annual event that takes place at Farragut State Park, located just 25 miles north of beautiful Coeur d' Alene, Idaho. Farragut State Park is a great venue for this festival and celebration of multi-sport and adventure. Heather and I made it out for the second half and had a wonderful time working this event. I was able to sneak away on my breaks to take a few photos of the amazing athletes.

Bishop Climbing Anyone?

Wow I've really fallen off the horse when it comes to my blog. Hopefully I can post more regularly from now on. So lets just start where we left off...

Our Tahoe crew met up with some So-Cal'ers for a little climbing rendezvous in Bishop CA over Memorial Day weekend. We packed in three days of aggressive climbing in the Owen's River Gorge and finished it off with a little River Relaxation in Bishop when it was all over. Here are some of my favorite pics from the trip...

Eagle Rock

I was playing disc golf a few days ago with my buddy Julien and he asked me if I could shoot a shotgun wedding the following day for a friend of his who had been seriously injured in a car accident a few months ago. There are a lot of great wedding photographers in the Tahoe area and since I'm not really that good at shooting weddings, I politely declined. But as he told me Kirk's story, I became more interested and open to the idea. Then he told me where the location was and I accepted. The catch was that I was going to shoot it for free. Why? It seemed like a nice thing to do for someone who has had a rough couple months and it was something that just felt good in my heart. So I contacted my good friend and photographer Cody Davis and asked him to join me as a second shooter for this event.

Here are a few of the photos from the wedding. It took place on top of Eagle Rock which is located on the West Shore of Lake Tahoe and offers stunning views of the lake and surrounding mountains.

Tahoe Sunset

Driving home from Carnelian Bay yesterday, I could tell the sunset was going to be stellar. I rushed home to grab my camera and found the quickest spot to post up for a good picture. It was late and I was running out of light but I fired off a few frames and got some nice photos.