Unrequited Love

Note: Click the Panaramics for a better viewing experience and some technical details.

Wildlife and Landscapes, two loves neglected. Being in such a beautiful place as Park City, Utah and not pursuing these things has left two gaping holes in my heart that have been begging me to return and focus my attention solely on them. The effort from the photos posted here were merely by convenience. Walking into the backyard and looking around, riding a Gondola up to a ski-resort, asking only to stop once on a 36 hour round trip car ride was the extent of my effort to get these pictures. I did not hike for hours to some remote location to take these pictures, nor did I scout and wait hours on wildlife to capture them in their true winter form. I passed up most of the opportunities of being in such a place and driving by countless antelope, a bald eagle being harrassed by a black crow, and a wild moose walking clumsily through the snow to spend time and experience things that can't be replaced or re-visited once they are gone. I spent my love on my family. I would do it over and over again because as much as I would like to believe that the pictures I can take of wildlife and landscapes can love me back or even provide me with an ounce of fulfillment, I would be wrong, wrong, empty, and alone. I was excited that the family vacation would be in such an awesome place, but I was even more grateful that so much of my family would be going and that we would all be together for this great vacation. The ambitious photographer in me was frustrated at times, but I had decided before I even agreed to go that this was a family vacation and not a personal photography excursion.

While surrounded by grand things of nature the discovery of this new environment of photography was full of little things that you can only experience in such conditions. Things that while experiencing them you marvel about how awesome and powerful even they are. Little things that take away the pain and allow yourself to endure longer suffering. Little things that teach you how to cope and adapt in this challenging environment. The snot from your nose freezes on your camera. Getting warm invites condensation. Re-entering freezing temperatures can cause ice to form on the outside of your lens and camera body. Metal equipment can maintain freezing temperatures that can cause condensation to form and freeze upon entering a building. The reason your fingers stop hurting is because you can't feel them anymore. Trekking around in powder with no prior knowledge of the terrain is challenging. The grandeur landscapes beg to be captured and continue to linger in your mind asking for your return. I continue to be smitten by photography in every path that I am able to experience it, and in every direction it leads me.

The above and below red house is where 19 of us stayed as a family while in Park City, UT.