Memories from 2014

Like many people I looked back through all the pictures I’ve collected in 2014 and sifted and sorted to find photo’s that sparked a special memory or spoke to a new style. These aren’t necessarily my best pictures of 2014–although some of them are favorites–but they each tell a story.

They tell stories of courage, travels, new friends, exploration and beginnings.

Girls twirl in their wool polleras in the village of Perka, Peru on the shore of Lake Titicaca on June 24, 2014. Each village or region has a different style, which is influenced by indigenous and Spanish colonial clothing.

Cahalen Morrison &; Country Hammer perform on top of a haystack in Paonia, Colo.

Fiery leaves rise above Aspens that have already shed their fronds on Kebler Pass in Colorado.

Morgan Foster in the snow in Bellingham, Wash.

Steve Kossler capes a buck deer for a wall mount in Paonia, Colo. “Some people don’t like hunting,” he says. “but it’s just part of the West.”

Michelle Brugiere starts a climb in Indian Creek, Utah while Jeff Montgomery dons his festive pimp hat.

Morgan Foster approaches South Six Shooter on the morning of March 28, 2014. South Six Shooter and North Six Shooter, in the background, are two solitary towers that stand northwest of the cragging buttresses in Indian Creek, Utah.

Brian Calvert rests while tracking elk in the West Elks Wilderness. This was the first time he has hunted since childhood.

On his 90th birthday, Dec. 21, 2014, Gerald Warren reads The Economist. He reads the magazine cover to cover every time it arrives at his doorstep. When asked about what he read he says, “I don’t remember, but I know it was good.”

Atop a mountain 13,000 feet above sea level near Maracuay, Peru, Victor Ayma Qoyso, 71, gently strums his harp and sings a high pitched melody in Quechua that extends across the hills. The harp came to the Andes of Peru during the Spanish colonization and has become part of the sound of the Andes.

Vantage: There for the Light

Four of us and a dog crammed into a car on Memorial Day weekend to cross to the other side of Washington State in search of some climbing. We pulled into the campsite, just as the sun sent golden rays across the valley, next to our friends with an American flag flying high from their car. For the next two days we climbed basalt pillars in Vantage, Wash. Some of us climbed for the first time, others put up their first leads, and one of us (Annapurna the dog) learned how to chimney (kind of).

This trip I focused on taking interesting pictures in camp. It’s important to be able to capture beautiful scenes that aren’t about peak action or extreme locations. I also took the opportunity to try harder routes and teach some of my friends how to belay, so I became lost in the moment rather than engrossed in capturing the moments while at the crag. In this age where everything seems to be photographed, I think letting go of the documentation to be in the now can lead to a different enriching experience.

So here’s to the downtime and approaches:

Zach Pike-Urlacher and Ari Blatt make lunch while Annapurna takes a nap, tuckered out from hiking in the hot sun.

A climber watches the sunset above the camp at Vantage, Wash.

Annapurna the dog looks down a drop with trepidation while Morgan Foster prompts her to get over her fears and leap down.

Zach Pike-Urlacher and Ari Blatt check out the sunset at Vantage, Wash.

Ari Blatt sets up her tent in the dying light.

Climbing Competition

I covered the NC3 Bouldering Competition at Western Washington University a few weeks ago and had fun layering and trying to capture reactions rather than brute force. The lighting was a bit weird since they had colored spotlights on the climbers for the open finals. Sometimes the colors made the people a sickly shade of green, but other times the spotlights provided the perfect off-camera lighting I needed.Here are some of my favorite pictures from the event.

Brittany Goris tapes the routes for finals at the NC3 Bouldering Competition at Western Washington University on Feb. 1, 2014.

Liza Dinh won women’s open at the NC3 Bouldering Competition at Western Washington University on Feb. 1, 2014.

Jimmy Eggiman laughs after he falls off a route during finals at the NC3 Bouldering Competition at Western Washington University on Feb. 1, 2014. He got second place in men’s open at the competition.

Morgan Cabe pulls through a move in the women’s open finals at the NC3 Bouldering Competition at Western Washington University on Feb. 1, 2014.

Liza Dinh swings from the cave at the NC3 Bouldering Competition at Western Washington University on Feb. 1, 2014.

At Circus School

Last week I drove down to Seattle for a lecture on documentary photography, but unfortunately traffic hindered my progress and I was too late. I wanted to make the most of my trip, so I went to The School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts where I took pictures of a tumbling class. I’m glad I knew about the place, otherwise I would have done a lot of driving with nothing to show for it. When in doubt, photograph!

Unicycles lie in wait for performers to balance on a single wheel at the School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts in Seattle, Wash.

Hisam Goueli perfects his pike jumps on the trampoline on May 9, 2013 at the School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts in Seattle, Wash.

Sybille Fleischmann practices trampoline tricks while Hisam Goueli watches on May 9, 2013 at the School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts in Seattle, Wash.

Tom Hanna, an instructor at the School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts in Seattle, Wash., looks over his Tumbling 1 class while they are conditioning on May 9, 2013.

Trap the music

Three DJ duos stood at the front of Glow, sharing the sound space to prompt people to dance. Neon lights bounced off the empty dance floor, until the music seeped under the growing crowd’s skin and they started to shake. Glow Nightclub came alive to the mix of techno and rap music, also know as trap music. People threw their arms in the air, feet shuffled on the floor, butts bounced. The trap music DJs were doing their job; playing the music they loved to get people pumped up.

This was the scene I walked into when I went to take photos for an article in Klipsun Magazine. It was fun to weave in and out of the dancing crowd, and get pictures behind the stage. I think I managed to get a wide variety of images, which is always something I strive for. What ended up being printed in the magazine was limited by page space, so here are some of my personal favorites from the shoot. Enjoy!

(from left to right) Brittany Herring, Hana Nelson, Paula Roe and Brandon Davidson dance at the Run Tha Trap show on Jan. 31, 2013 at Glow Nightclub in Bellingham, Wash. DJs from Dropsquad, Blessed Coast Sound System and Storm and Trooper kept the music going for three hours.

Jordan Pinney-Johnson, known as DJ Triple Crown, or Blessed Coast Sound System relaxes before playing his music at the Run Tha Trap show on Jan. 31, 2013 at Glow Nightclub in Bellingham, Wash.

Dancers move under flashing neon lights while DJs from Dropsquad, Blessed Coast Sound System and Storm and Trooper play their music at the Run Tha Trap show on Jan. 31, 2013 at Glow Nightclub in Bellingham, Wash.

Jeremy Maxfield of trap music team Storm and Trooper makes music at the Run Tha Trap show on Jan. 31, 2013 at Glow Nightclub in Bellingham, Wash.

Ryan Greigg, known as Ryan I, flicks on his lighter when he feels a good beat. “[It’s] to get people’s attention,” he said. Greigg is an artist for Blessed Coast Sound System.

Spencer Bell, known as DJ Radical Kid, and Paco Mejino, known as Ca$h Bandicoot, pose for a portrait after they play their music at the Run Tha Trap show on Jan. 31, 2013 at Glow Nightclub in Bellingham, Wash.