Took me at least 10 minutes to get to the office this am – the sidewalks were icy and I was walking. Had to head down valley to find a few parts I needed recently. Couldn’t shoot a few weeks ago as an Arctic front moved in and the temps dropped way below zero (both c & f).

Gotham it’s not. But working as a location photographer some distance from anything of standard metro value really suits me. Aside from the obvious choices for quality of life, family, space and a ginormous spectrum of recreation the people and pace make a difference.

The way the blogs roll these days it’s hard to not to hear about everything that’s happening. Sure, I know folks that don’t have an email address but it’s for the right reason and suits the lifestyle just fine. My Mac tech on the other hand has an iphone, two old school cell phones and a server farm that registers a noticeable percentage of energy consumption on the local grid.

But I’m down with these discrepancies and I know I’m not the only one. As my office is booking regional and national accounts for the year it always amazes me who chooses to look beyond the options in front of them and who doesn’t. I’m thankful for each client that I get to establish a relationship with but I don’t think they have it too bad either if they get to come visit the Rockies for a week.

With everything from cajun to sushi and amenities that cater to those with means beyond most of us the possibilities for a damn good time are endless (as long as you don’t stay for more than a week). Location wise there the opps are endless – a national park, a lake larger than any freshwater west of the Mississippi, ski resorts, wilderness, Native American communities, vast fields, mountains, and more.

And the thing that ties it together and always brings the greatest of color into my shoots are the people. It’s amazing how rock solid people still are. Access to almost anything here in the northern Rockies is a simple polite question away.

My point is, look around. It’s way too way too easy to get caught up in the latest fads and the current homogenous mindset. It’s common sense to be in touch and up on the latest but that shouldn’t be at the expense of what’s right in front of you. After all, the real adventure consists not of seeing new sights but in seeing the sights around you with new eyes.

“Make visible that, which without you, would never have been seen.”

Robert Bresson

Talking work with another shooter this am and the conversation was completely hijacked by the service aspect of photography. In the current market I think it’s often misunderstood how important it is to run one’s business as the service it is. Actually, it’s first important to run your photography as a business and then run that business as a service oriented enterprise. Aside from the vision that we as image creators all bring to the table, service is the one other thing that really sets us apart from one another.

With that in mind I’m excited to announce that I’ll be running a workshop with 16 photographers this summer through the Rocky Mountain School of Photography. RMSP was founded 15+ years ago by Neil & Jeanne Chaput (he’s an Ansel Adams protege & she’s a top cookie) in the northern Rockies outpost college town of Missoula, MT. The week long professional studies workshop is titled Adventure Photography: People in Action and will be covering everything that makes up this mess of location lifestyle photography including service/business, vision, technical skills and a handful of life-sized solutions. I’m running it completely open and welcome questions across the board – either here or in the workshop itself.

Haven’t released the full schedule yet but I can say that we’ll be outside everyday as Missoula’s located at the head of five valleys and has a slew of locations to take advantage of. August is the ideal time as summer’s just peaking and the days are super long. I’ll be posting from the workshop itself as well as possibly including videos from a few of the select days.

And if that’s not enough the 5th(?) annual Swan Crest 57k Trail Run will be taking off Sunday Sept 7, the day after we wrap everything up in Missoula. The run is a monster party – mind blowing, leg numbing 36 mile opportunity to carry the smallest camera you can find along the crest of the Swan Mountains with views into the heart of the Rockies. Perfect for those seeking a little fractured creativity. Completely unsupported, ie, nothing from start to finish in terms of help, so come prepared for views, hills and the best beer you’ve ever had.