Sean Bagshaw Outdoor Exposure Photography

Images from the edge

See all image results...

Search Criteria
Content Type

Walking The Dales Way

by Leave a Comment

In June, my wife Jennifer and I spent a week walking the Dales Way in northern England with our good friends Karl and Rina. The route covers about 80 miles, starting in the market town of Ilkley and ending on the shores of Lake Windermere in Bowness. It was a holiday, not a photography trip, but I almost always bring a camera wherever I go. For me, photography enhances the experience of walking. I find it helps me pay closer attention to the landscape, the light, and the weather.

The Dales Way, established in 1969, is a long-distance footpath that winds through the Yorkshire Dales National Park, an area known for its rolling hills, dry stone walls, ancient farmsteads, and timeless pastoral scenery. The national park preserves a rural landscape shaped by centuries of farming and settlement, and walking through it feels like stepping into another era. I carried my Canon R5 with a 24–105mm lens and photographed everything handheld, without a tripod. When it wasn’t raining, I kept the camera on a shoulder strap so I could shoot quickly without needing to stop and hold up the rest of the group.

Rather than chasing dramatic sunrise or sunset scenes, I photographed along the trail during the day as we walked. While the images may not be as bold as some of my more dramatic landscape work, I found the soft light, moody skies, windswept hills, and vibrant greens of the countryside to be incredibly photogenic. As a collection, the photos offer a genuine sense of what the Yorkshire Dales looks like: its landscapes, its history, and the way of life that continues there today.

I hope you enjoy this gallery of images from our walk.

(Click to enlarge)

Republic of Korea Photos, October 2024

by Leave a Comment

Beautiful Light, Northern California Coast Range

by Leave a Comment

Lupine and oak in the coast range of Northern California.

I just finished reading the Pulitzer Prize winning book, "The Overstory" and am having a hard time getting trees out of my mind. Having grown up in southern Oregon, oak trees are some of my favorite trees as they remind me of running through the woods in childhood. I return to this tree regularly for inspiration.  The blooming lupine, lush green grass and a sun-star on this particular visit was a combination I couldn't pass up.

If you haven't read the book, I highly recommend it. When you're done, research it online if you need help with some obscure plot points, because that little step blew my mind and made me love the book just that much more...

Beautiful Light Print, Northern California

El Chalten, The Smoking Mountain (Mount Fitz Roy)

by Leave a Comment

Daybreak on El Chaltén (also known as Mount Fitz Roy). The name means Smoking Mountain in Tehuelche, the language of the ancient nomadic hunters who lived in this part of Patagonia. They named it so because the mountain is almost always shrouded in cloud. I spent three days here back in 2016 with Christian Heeb and our group and was fortunate to have clear views each day. But this, the morning of our second day, was by far the most spectacular!

Canon 5DsR, polarizer, 24-70mm lens at 53mm, 1/200 second, f/11, ISO 400. I had to really scramble for this photo. We had been hiking around photographing all morning and were just getting back to the car when the lenticular cloud formed and the first band of light hit the foreground. I knew it would all be lit up in seconds, so I bumped up the ISO, ran to this spot and clicked off a couple of exposures handheld.

Fitz Roy Print, Patagonia, Argentina

Fitz Roy Stock Image, Patagonia, Argentina

Red Racer – Death Valley National Park

by Leave a Comment

Red RacerI finally made it out to the Racetrack in Death Valley while road-tripping with the boyz a couple weeks ago. Super clear skies were calling out for a starry night shot. Zack and I spent a chilly hour or two experimenting with different light painting techniques. The one I liked the most was the red “night vision” setting on Zack’s headlamp. We selected this particular sailing stone because it had a wonderful S-shaped track. For the land exposure, we set the long exposure timer for 4 minutes, carefully walked the track with the light pointed at the ground, groped our way back to the cameras in complete darkness…and then adjusted our technique and repeated. We had lots of screw ups. For developing I blended one 2-minute natural starlight exposure together with the red, light painted exposure. The starry sky is from a third25-secondd exposure to avoid star-trailing.

If you aren’t familiar with the Racetrack or how the famous “Sailing Stones” move around the playa check out THIS VIDEO.

Canon 5D4, Rokinon 14mm lens. Natural light exposure: 2 minutes f/5.6, ISO 6400. Light painted exposure: 4 minutes, f/5.6, ISO 1600. Sky exposure: 25 seconds, f/2.8, SIO 6400.

Red Velvet – Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica

by Leave a Comment

Red-Velvet
Working on some images to submit for a book on Costa Rica gave me a chance to revisit photographs that were forgotten in my archives from several years ago. This image of a moody sunset at Playa Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica apparently fell through the cracks the first time around. I remember the sky that night was ominous and mesmerizing. I took advantage of the darkness to take a 25-second exposure and create the velvety surf.

Canon 5D3, 24mm, polarizer, F/18, ISO 100. Two exposures, 2.5 seconds and 25 seconds, blended for dynamic range and water texture.

Ghost Forest – Torres del Paine National Park, Patagonia, Chile

by Leave a Comment

Ghost-Forest

Fires have burned large sections of Torres del Paine NP in the last 20 years, many of them apparently set off accidentally by backpackers. I never like to see beautiful landscapes burn, but fire is part of the ecological process and these burned out trees do create impact and help tell this particular visual story.

Canon 5DsR, 25mm, Polarizer. 1/10 second @ f/18, ISO 100.

Trip Report: Photographing Oregon's Owyhee Country

by 6 Comments

Malheur County may be one of the least known and least visited parts of Oregon. It is located in the extreme southeast corner of the state bordering Idaho and Nevada. Geographically it is one of the largest counties in Oregon with a total area of about 10,000 square miles, but it has one of the lowest population densities at just 3 people per square mile. Most of the population is centered around Ontario and Vale in the northern 15% of the county. Almost everything to the south is open range land managed by the BLM. There is just one paved road, Hwy 95, and one town, Jordan Valley.

But out in the arid scrub and ranch land of Malheur County lies the Owyhee River. The Owyhee drains a remote area of the high desert plateau on the northern boundary of the Great Basin and flows northward to the Snake River. The various arms and tributaries of the Oywhee cut deep canyons through the Owyhee Plateau, many with vertical rock walls that in places can be over 1,000 feet deep. 120 miles of the Owyhee River Canyon were designated as Wild and Scenic in 1984.

The southern reaches of the river can only be accessed by dirt roads, some fairly well maintained and others not more than jeep tracks. Even then there are just a handful of spots where it is possible to reach the river by vehicle. Most of the Owyhee and it’s tributaries can only be explored by backpacking or rafting.


People have been suggesting I check out the Owyhee country for years. As it is not along any usual route of travel and many hours from just about anywhere I had never visited this part of the state until this spring. I went to do some exploring and take some photos with fellow photographer, David Cobb, who had previously hiked and photographed portions of the river.

Finishing the morning shoot at the Cliffs of Rome.

I was absolutely drawn in by the beauty and scope of the canyons and the surrounding high desert. Along the drive south from Ontario the dirt road first takes you through Succor Creek Canyon which is just a small preview of what’s to come, but very scenic in its own right.

Succor Creek Canyon

Leslie Gulch is the main attraction along the Lake Owyhee reservoir and provides the easiest access to the river in this area. Throughout the gulch and all along Lake Owyhee the rock spires and escarpments are very reminiscent of Smith Rock State Park only, as David says, “on steroids”. We explored the main Leslie Gulch road and made a couple of forays up side canyons. The area to the north known as the Honeycombs looks particularly enticing but can only be reached by backpacking in or taking a boat over from the west side of the lake.

North of the town of Jordan Valley you can follow the Jordan Craters Road for about 30 miles into a large lava flow that originates at the Coffee Pot Crater.

Coffee Pot Crater

Spatter Cone at Jordan Craters

View from inside a spatter cone

Continuing on a side road from there you can wind your way down steep switchbacks and reach the river at the historic Birch Creek Ranch. This is one of the main takeouts for rafters floating the river.

Cliffs at Birch Creek Ranch

Birch Creek Ranch

Southwest of Jordan Valley is the community of Rome. Near Rome there are several dirt roads that offer access to the river canyon as well as the nearby Cliffs of Rome and Chalk Basin further to the north.

Pillars Of Rome

South of Hwy 95 between Rome and Jordan Valley, Three Forks road makes it’s way across about 30 miles of high desert to join the Owyhee River at Three Forks. David and I were glad to have my 4×4 for this road as we found it heavily rutted after winter rains. We also had to make about three creek crossings, the deepest of which engulfed my front bumper. From the map we saw that we could stop along the road a few miles north of Three Forks and hike out the the canyon rim. Photographing a roadless portion of the wild and scenic Owyhee at sunset sounded appealing, but after a few steps off the road we discovered ticks clinging to our pants. Despite giving David a serious case of the willies we continued on and were able to access a sweeping vista of the canyon before sundown. By the time we completed our hike back in the fading light we had found over 100 ticks between us! A strip search in the headlights revealed several more. I managed to find all of the ones on me, but David found several more lurking on him during the night and didn’t get a wink of sleep.

David trying to ignore the ticks

Three Forks is a popular put-in for rafters and the presence of hot springs make it an attraction for others as well. My main interest in returning to Three Forks is that this is where the adventurous backpacker can access the branching web of the upper Owyhee Canyon and it’s various tributaries. Radiating out from the Three Forks area are no less than six deep and narrow canyons including the Big Antelope, Louse and Middle Fork.

While I was able to take some exciting photographs on this scouting trip I am excited to get back soon. Future trips will include spending several days rafting and photographing the Owyhee proper as well as doing some back country packing up the tributary canyons south of Three Forks.

Exploring Hart Mountain Wildlife Refuge In Winter

by 2 Comments

Admittedly, winter is not my most prolific photography season. Cold, darkness and unpredictable weather often get the better of my psyche and I find myself making excuses or prioritizing office work. However, once or twice a winter I do manage to gear up and head someplace windswept and snowy with my camera. This winter Chuck Porter, one of my oldest and best friends, and I spent a couple days exploring the lonesome high desert in the Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge. Back when we were more energetic Chuck and I spent a lot of time climbing cliffs and mountains all over the western US and spurring each other on to complete questionable feats of endurance. Once we hiked the entire length of the Wild and Scenic Rogue River Trail, all 40 plus miles, in a day. Another time we climbed Mt. Shasta, Mt. McLoughlin and Mt. Thielsen in a 21 hour push. These days we are happy just to get out and camp for a weekend and do a little ski touring.

Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge is a national wildlife refuge on Hart Mountain in southeastern Oregon, which protects more than 422 square miles and more than 300 species of wildlife, including pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, mule deer, sage grouse, and redband trout. The refuge, created in 1936 as a range for remnant herds of pronghorn antelope, spans habitats ranging from high desert to shallow playa lakes, and is among the largest wildlife habitats containing no domestic livestock. Located in a remote region of southeastern Oregon at an elevation over 6,000 feet, Hart Mountain is a wild and desolate place any time of year. In winter, blanketed by snow, it becomes a quite and seemingly endless surreal landscape.

During our visit, Chuck and I skied through a couple of different areas, both very small in the total scale of the refuge. We talked about coming back one winter and skiing all the way across, but we’ll see if I ever get the winter motivation to take that on. The two areas we explored on this visit were the hot springs basin below Warner Peak and Petroglyph Lake. Petroglyph Lake is sheltered on one side by a low cliff band that houses several panels of Native American rock art.

Instead of going on at length about the skiing, sleeping in the car, eating bad food and all the other standard tales from a trip like this I’ll just let the photos speak for themselves. You can click on each image to see it larger and then hit the back button to return to the article.

Hart Mountain rising out of the clouds above Hart Lake.

Old building at park headquaters.

Winter Landscape

Rok Chuk

Hotsprings basin black and white

Meandering hotsprings stream

Skiing toward Petroglyph Lake

Desolate and windswept

Warner Peak above the high desert plain

Skiing around Petroglyph Lake

Petroglyphs

Petroglyphs

Petroglyphs

Wind sculpted snow

Skiing in a snow shower

Photographing Southern Baja, Mexico

by 8 Comments

Mexico is one of my favorite places to travel and photograph. Although it has recently been getting negative media coverage for events occurring mostly in cities near the US border related to drug trafficking issues, my experience is that many areas in Mexico pose minimal risk for travelers; certainly less risk than places within the United States. Millions of Americans live in cities with higher crime and violence rates than the places I visit in Mexico. Americans think very little of visiting places such as Los Angeles, New York and Washington DC. However, I do meet people from other countries who avoid visiting those cities based on what they see on TV.

In the past couple of years I have traveled to and photographed several locations in Mexico in which I felt very safe and saw no signs of the problems being reported in the news. Some of the locations in Mexico that I have been to recently can be seen in my Mexico photo galleries including Guanajuato, Sayulita, Puerto Escondido, Mineral de Pozos and San Miguel de Allende.

Most recently I spent eight days traveling extensively through southern Baja California. I passed through several towns including La Paz, Todos Santos, Cabo San Lucas, San Jose Del Cabo, Santiago and La Ventana while scouting for a photography workshop that I’ll be leading with professional photographers David M. Cobb and Christian Heeb in November of 2011. The remote end of the finger of land known as the Baja Peninsula is further from the troubles of northern Mexico than many places in the US. Largely uninhabited, Baja presents an otherworldly desert landscape filled with towering cardon cactus and bordered by the achingly clear turquoise waters of the Sea of Cortez. The lifestyle we found there was very relaxed and peaceful. The small but well maintained two lane roads through the desert had very little traffic and the people were gracious and welcoming. Very few places I have visited have felt as safe or as accessible.


The best part of the trip was the variety of new and different subjects to photograph which are not part of my familiar NW landscapes. The other best part was the fact that in November, when my home town is engulfed in freezing fog and rain, the weather was about as perfect as it could be. It was comfortably cool at night, warming up to the high 80’s during the day with relatively low humidity for the latitude. The crystal clear water of the Sea of Cortez was the temperature of a heated swimming pool.

The entire Gulf of California was designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2005. One of the highlights was hiring small fishing boats to take us out to some of the nearby islands, most notably Isla Espiritu Santo, but also Isla Cerralvo. These islands have been protected as wilderness and are teaming with wildlife, both above and below the sea. If you have ever seen photos of cactus perched above pristine turquoise bays there is a good chance it was on Espiritu Santo. This may also be one of the few places where you can easily snorkel with sea lions and sea lion pups without need of a wet suit.

The most intimidating place in southern Baja I visited was Cabo San Lucas and that was almost entirely due to the Americans spilling out of cruise ships, visiting dance clubs, chartering fishing boats and building mansions on precipitous cliff above the sea. At one time the landscape at the southern most point of Baja must have been a true natural wonder, but now it is almost completely developed. Still, the beaches and rocky cliffs at Land’s End are so beautiful that they are worth seeing and photographing even in their current state of development. The towering arch on the southern most tip known as El Arco is a wonder to behold.

We discovered a wonderful Oasis in Cabo, Los Milagros hotel. The quiet garden courtyard setting, attractive rooms and friendly owner made it hard to believe it was located in the center of Cabo. We are making a point to stay at Los Milagros with the photography workshop next year. We also found similar quiet, friendly and comfortable lodging at el Angel Azul in La Paz and at the Ventana Bay Resort in La Ventana.

Los Milagros El Angel Azul

One of the highlights of the trip was photographing the Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead celebrations in La Paz. This Mexican festival held in Early November honors and remembers those who have died. While the Day of the Dead is not nearly as popular in Baja as it is in other parts of the country, La Paz has a wonderful event at the city’s outdoor theater that features a beauty pageant, dancing, poetry readings and theatrical performances. The colors, lights and costumes all made for some great photo opportunities and a true departure from my normal nature focus. We are timing the 2011 workshop to allow us to photograph this event again.

Even though I had wanted to travel to southern Baja for some time, the experience exceeded my expectations. It provided a near perfect combination of safety, adventure, culture, comfort, weather, great people and photographic interest. With at least three more months of hard winter weather coming up here in the NW I’m already anticipating my next visit. Perhaps the best part will be the opportunity to share it with the photographers who join us for the workshop. No matter where these workshops take me it’s always with a great groups of folks who enjoy expanding their photography skills and having a rip roaring good time.

If you would like more information on the November 2011 Baja California photography workshop it is available on my Workshops Page.

New Horizons In Photography With Better High ISO Performance

by 6 Comments

Several months back I upgraded cameras from my trusty Canon EOS 5D to the newer model, the Canon EOS 5D Mark II. The Mark II boasted a range of new features that made it a worthwhile investment, including a larger and clearer LCD screen, a stronger and more weather proof build, easier to navigate menus, customizable settings, HD video, a sensor dust cleaning function as well as greater resolution (21 MP), updated processors and firmware and reportedly better image quality. Over time I have found that, really, just one feature of the newer camera has fundamentally changed the way I can take photos. That feature is the greatly improved performance at higher ISO settings.

Hand held at 1/40 second, f/9, ISO 500

ISO is the standard by which the sensitivity of film or a digital sensor is measured. Better sensitivity, lower noise and improved in-camera noise reduction at higher ISO settings are hallmarks of the latest generation of digital SLR cameras, and high ISO performance will surely continue to improve in the near future. I have always used Canon digital cameras by choice, but the most current high end digital SLRs from Nikon, Sony, Minolta and others all have much better high ISO performance than their predecessors.

Hand held at 1/100 second, f/8, ISO 320

I haven’t done quantitative tests to compare the high ISO performance of older DSLRs and current ones, but the improvements are so dramatic to be readily apparent with a simple inspection of the image files at 100%. There are plenty of independent testers out there who have done careful scientific comparisons if you want the raw data. My goal in this article is simply to share some images I have taken recently that either would have previously been impossible or would have required more equipment and more labor intensive techniques. Of course, you would need to see high resolution image files to get a complete understanding of the image quality, but for the purpose of this article I think these screen size images give you the main idea. I should also point out that in addition to improvements in ISO performance, improved noise reduction algorithms in software like Adobe Lightroom and Camera RAW, as well as improved image stabilization technology in lenses take some of the credit.

Hand held at 1/13 second, f/4.5, ISO 3200

How does better high ISO performance allow for new opportunities in photography? As the sensor becomes more sensitive to light as the ISO setting is increased, the camera is able to maintain faster shutter speeds in lower light conditions and still get a proper exposure. Essentially it means you can shoot in lower light situations or with smaller aperture settings without the need for a tripod. However, with past cameras the increased sensitivity to light at higher ISO settings came with an unacceptable trade off; increased image noise or digital grain. Until I acquired the Canon 5D Mark II, the higher ISO settings were generally useless to me. My images need to be very clean and sharp, so I would always shoot at the lowest ISO setting (ISO 100) to ensure adequate image quality. This almost always meant the need for a tripod to get a sharp image.

Hand held at 1/15 second, f/5.6, ISO 3200

Experimenting with the ISO capabilities of the 5D Mark II during my travels in Mexico this month have left me impressed and excited about the possibilities. I still use my tripod most of the time, but I find that in situations where a tripod is impractical, time prohibitive or creatively limiting I can often raise the ISO to between 200 and 500 to allow for fast enough shutter speeds for hand held shooting with a very slight loss in overall image quality. Images at these ISO settings are certainly good enough for publishing and even fine art printing. There are times when having the ability to photograph without a tripod is extremely freeing and allows for flexibility, mobility, spontaneity and creativity that wasn’t possible before.

Hand held at 1/20 sec, f/4, ISO 3200

What’s more, I have found that I can also hand hold my camera in minimal light situations, such as indoors or for night time city scenes, by increasing the ISO dramatically. I have increased the ISO to as much as 3200 and still been able to capture very usable images. A slight degree of noise in these images is acceptable to me for the fact that they would have been almost impossible to get otherwise. While I still return to the tripod if image quality is essential, it is exciting to be able to photograph people and other moving objects in low light conditions and not have them be blurred. Most of my night city photography does not include people because of the blurring of objects in motion with slow shutter speeds.  Being able to hand hold the camera and get sharp images of moving subjects indoors and at night opens a whole new world of possibilities.

Hand held at 1/30 second, f/4, ISO 3200

I’m sure the technology in ISO performance will continue to improve for some time. Within a couple of years there will be cameras that allow us to photograph in almost complete darkness with fast shutter speeds and produce noise free images. Until then it is exciting to know how good the ISO performance is right now, and that photographers have the ability to take photographs that were previously impossible or impractical.

Hand held at 1/15 second, f/7.1, ISO 500

If you found this article helpful, informative or otherwise useful, feel free to share it on the social media network of your choice using the handy links below. If you have anything to add, feel free to leave a comment. Thanks!

Hand held at 1/30 second, f/4, ISO 3200

New Photography Possibilities with high ISO Performance

Several months back I upgraded cameras from my trusty Canon EOS 5D to the newer model, the Canon EOS 5D Mark II. The Mark II boasted a range of new features that made it a worthwhile investment, including a larger and clearer LCD screen, a stronger and more weather proof build, easier to navigate menus, customizable settings, HD video, a sensor dust cleaning function as well as greater resolution (21 MP), updated processors and firmware and reportedly better image quality. Over time I have found that one specific attribute of the newer camera has had a bigger impact on the way I can take photographs than any other. That feature is the greatly improved performance at higher ISO settings.

I haven’t run any objective tests to make quantitative comparisons between older DSLRs and current ones, but there are plenty of independent testers out there who have if you want the raw data. My goal in this article is to share some images I have taken recently that either would have been previously impossible or would have required more equipment and more labor intensive techniques.

Better sensitivity, lower noise and improved in-camera noise reduction at higher ISO settings are hallmarks of the latest generation of digital SLR cameras, and high ISO performance will surely continue to improve in the near future. ISO is the standard by which the sensitivity of film or a digital sensor is measured. I have always used Canon digital cameras by choice, but the most current high end digital SLRs from Nikon, Sony, Minolta and others all have much better high ISO performance than their predecessors.

How does better high ISO performance allow for new opportunities in photography? As the sensor becomes more sensitive to light with increased ISO settings the camera is able to maintain faster shutter speeds in lower light conditions and still get a proper exposure. Essentially it means you can shoot in lower light situations or with smaller aperture settings, without a tripod, than at lower ISO settings. However, with past cameras the increased sensitivity to light at higher ISO settings came with an unacceptable trade off; increased image noise or digital grain. Until I acquired the Canon 5D Mark II, the higher ISO settings were generally useless to me. My images need to be very clean and sharp, so I would always shoot at the lowest ISO setting (ISO 100) to ensure adequate image quality. This almost always meant using a tripod.

Experimenting with the ISO capabilities of the 5D Mark II during my travels in Mexico this month have left me impressed and excited about the possibilities. I still use my tripod most of the time, but I find that in situations where a tripod is impractical, time prohibitive or creatively limiting I can often bump up the ISO to between 200 and 500 to allow for fast enough shutter speeds for hand held shooting with a very slight loss in overall image quality. Images at these ISO settings are certainly good enough for publishing and even fine art printing. In some situations the ability to photograph without a tripod can be very freeing and allow for creativity and camera positions that weren’t possible before.

What’s more, I have found that I can also hand hold my camera in very low light situations, such as indoors or with night time city scenes, by increasing the ISO dramatically. I have increased the ISO to as much as 3200 and still been able to capture very usable images. The value of these images in greatly enhanced by the fact that they would have been almost impossible to get otherwise. While I still return to the tripod if image quality is essential, it is exciting to be able to photograph people and other moving objects in low light conditions and not have them be blurred. Most of my night city photography does not include people because of the blurring of objects in motion. Being able to hand hold the camera and get sharp images of moving subjects in low light opens a whole new world of possibilities.

I’m sure the technology in ISO performance will continue to improve for some time. Within a couple of years there will be cameras that allow us to photograph by moonlight without a tripod and produce noise free images. Until then it is exciting to know that ISO performance is at a level right now that allows for types of shooting that were previously impossible or impractical.

Subterranean Guanajuato

by Leave a Comment

Guanajuato, Mexico is as visually interesting as any city I have photographed. What many visitors might not realize, however, is that to find some of the most surreal parts of town you have to go underground.

The entire city sits atop an extensive subterranean tunnel system. The tunnels were originally dug by mining operations starting in the 16th century to divert the river and keep the town and mines from flooding.

From its beginnings in the mid 1500s the city was built to maximize useable space on the steep hillsides. Houses were stacked on top of one another with only the narrowest of alleys between them. Much of the charm of Guanajuato comes from the fact that it was never intended to accommodate cars.

But cars were inevitable. In a huge engineering project in the 1960’s, as car traffic in the narrow streets became more of a problem, the river was diverted yet again and the tunnels were converted into an underground system of roads. New tunnels have since been added, creating an ever expanding underground even Batman would be envious of. Drivers who know and understand the complex catacombs can quickly get from one part of the city to another. There are many entry and exit points making it possible to dive underground in one neighborhood and surface in another the next valley over.

Most of the tunnels are deep underground, dark and full of car exhaust, but in places they break out to the surface where they are lined with buildings, bridges and arches.

The subterranean channels and tunnels create an entirely different and mysterious dimension to a town that already has so much interesting character. It is a little hard to locate the best parts of the subterranean tunnels at first, and it can also be very disorienting trying to navigate through the tunnels. Often I’ll emerge in a part of town that I have never been in before.

If you enjoyed this photo essay consider sharing it on your social media network of choice using the handy links below.

Mountain Mining Towns of Mexico

by Leave a Comment

For the entire month of January I’m taking my photography in a slightly different direction and exploring the colonial mining towns of central Mexico. My blog will act as my travel journal. I’ll be posting images and stories about the project here every couple of days.

Guanajuato Sunrise
Guanajuato Sunrise

So, why this particular region of Mexico? Several reasons actually. Guanajuato, the city that I will be based out of, is the sister city to my home town, Ashland, Oregon. The two towns share geographic and cultural similarities. Both are located in valleys in the mountains, both are university towns and both have theater festivals and strong art culture. Since the two towns became “sisters” there has been a continuous exchange of students, teachers, musicians, artists and city leaders. My wife has been coming here for several years to attend Spanish language school. This year our sons are old enough to begin taking Spanish lessons, so we decided to move the entire family down for a month of language immersion. I made a short trip to Guanajuato about three years ago and fell in love with the photographic potential of the architecture, character and beauty of the town. During this more extended stay I hope to do the kind of in depth photography that comes with familiarity with a place and also travel to some of the other towns and environs in the region.

Early colonists came to the mountains of central Mexico to mine for metals and minerals. The towns are often built on steep hillsides in narrow valleys. In Guanajuato, most of the roads are in tunnels beneath the city and the town is accessed via pedestrian streets and very narrow and steep alleys. The colorful houses are stacked upon each other like a big game of tetris and the alleys can be almost as narrow, deep and winding as slot canyons in Utah. Needless to say, Guanajuato and the other mining towns in the region are popular with photographers.

Calle Potrero
Calle Potrero, Guanajuato, Mexico

My focus this month is to continue the photography that I started on my previous visit and try to create the most beautiful, dramatic and expressive images of the area that have ever been taken. I have a virtual office set up here so I can continue to work and do business via the Internet. Processing images on my laptop is difficult. The lesser contrast, resolution and speed mean that the images I post during the trip will be as good as I can get them, but will be in rough draft form. All of them will need to be remastered when I get home, but hopefully they will give you an idea of what I’m going for.

For those of you who think I’m in Mexico to relax in the sun, not quite. Guanajuato sits almost 7,000 feet above sea level and the average temperature is 62 degrees F. January is the coldest month and temperatures at night can drop into the 30s. Today it is cold and rainy. So, this isn’t a Mexican beach vacation I’m on here. While I like to sit on the beach and surf as much as anyone, the culture, scenery and history of this place will make it a very rich experience of living, learning, spending time with my family and doing my work.

Intimate Painted Hills

by Leave a Comment

Intimate Painted Hills
Intimate Painted Hills

The painted hills in central Oregon is one of my favorite places in the state. The Painted Hills are located in the Painted Hills Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument along Hwy 26 just west of Mitchell. Even though the hills don’t cover much area, the patterns and shapes and the way light plays across them is visually absorbing. I often take wide landscapes, but for this image I decided to zoom in for an intimate and abstract study. When photographed like this, the hills really do look painted…or rather, they create a photograph that looks like a painting. I’ll have to print this large on canvas and see how it looks.

Sean's Top Twelve Totally Tricky Travel Photography Tips on the Travel Essentials Site

by Leave a Comment

Travel Essentials is a travel equipment and clothing store based in Ashland, Oregon that also does a lot of business across the country via the internet. Each summer they host a travel photography contest that attracts some highly talented amateur travel photographers from around the US. The winning photos in the past few years have been submitted from all parts of the country and were shot in locations around the world. This year I am working with Travel Essentials as a judge and guest photographer. In my career I have had the opportunity to photograph in some exotic locations such as Nepal, Tibet, Costa Rica, Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska and many of the National Parks in the western US. To help kick off the contest I wrote an article outlining some of my top tips and suggestions to help travelers achieve their best results when photographing on a trip.

The following is the list of my top twelve travel photography tips. In the article I explain the importance of each one and give ideas on how to integrate them into your travel photography repertoire.

  1. Don’t get too wrapped up and weighted down with gear when traveling.
  2. Carry your photo equipment with you on the plane.
  3. Make time to photograph on your own.
  4. Photograph during the magic hours for magical photographs.
  5. Vibration is not your friend.
  6. Get the lay of the land.
  7. Control depth of field for different artistic effects.
  8. Add drama with high and low perspective or a unique point of view.
  9. While on the move, adopt a rapid fire shooting style and let the chips fall where they may.
  10. Make it move.
  11. Lose the clutter.
  12. Edit mercilessly.

You can read the full article and find out more about my 12 travel photography tips on the Travel Essentials Website.

Then head out on your summer travels with your camera in hand and bring back a winning shot to enter in the Travel Essentials Photo Contest.

Tour of California Super Fans

by Leave a Comment

Riders along the Big Sur coast in 2008
Riders along the Big Sur coast in 2008

In about two hours my brother, his girlfriend and I are hitting the road to be super fans at the Tour of California professional bike race. This will be our third year in a row sleeping on the side of the road, eating fast food and chasing the peleton as it makes its way from one end of California to the other over the course of nine days.

How is this photography related? Largely it isn’t, but I will have my full camera kit and will shoot lots of photos, even if they are mostly for my own gratification. I would love to be one of the press photographers riding along on the back of a motorcycle and getting right up close to the action. It would be great to see my photos in the pages of Velo News. I can only imagine the life of Grahm Watson, traveling to the biggest races all over the world and taking famous calendar and poster photos of people like Lance Armstrong, Jan Ulrich and Tom Boonen. But I’m content being able to pretend for one week each year. With the camera around my neck I even look official enough to get into some of the post race press conferences without being questioned.

This Tour of California should be one for the books. Lance Armstrong will continue his comeback, racing on US soil for the first time in several years. Floyd Landis, Tyler Hamilton and Ivan Basso will also make their combacks after serving bans for doping. All the biggest teams from around the world will be there and the line up will feature more Tour de France, world, olympic and national champions than have ever raced in the US before.

We will be posting videos of our adventure. Watch for some here, but the main viewing station will be the website for my brother’s bike shop FLYWHEEL BICYCLE SOLUTIONS in Talent, Oregon.

Photo Travel: Sayulita, Mexico Is A Little Bit Of Paradise

by Leave a Comment

fishing boat

Thanks to my Wife’s parents, we recently took a family vacation to Sayulita, Mexico. While this was a true vacation in every sense of the word, and I spent most of my time lounging, playing on the beach with the kids, surfing and ingesting large quantities of fresh tortillas and Corona beer, I also managed to get myself up at 5 AM most mornings to spend a couple of hours photographing the landscape.

crashing waves

Sayulita was, until the last 15 years or so, a little known and sleepy fishing village on a beautiful sandy bay about 45 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I spoke to a few long time residents who remember when the whole town was nothing but grass palapas. It is now “on the map” for its surfing, sandy beaches, laid back art community and good food. Even with the recent tourist boom and large numbers of gringos living there it is still retains enough of its authenticity, laid back living and small town charm to make it a refreshing and unexpected departure from the scene down around Puerto Vallarta, with its high rise hotels, traffic, shopping malls and golf courses.

fabric

ocean black and white

The photography opportunities were plentiful within walking distance of town and a bus or taxi ride up the coast provides access to many more beaches and even smaller and more remote coastal towns. It was also a great place for the entire family with plenty of fun hiking, beach activities, music, great food and a fun and active town square.

fishing boats

2008 Amgen Tour of California

by Leave a Comment

tour of california

Photography is my hobby and my job, so it commands a good portion of my attention. Even though it is strictly a hobby, bicycle racing is a close second. One day I hope to travel in Europe during the racing season and be a spectator at some of the classic world-famous races. Until then, I am very glad that the Amgen Tour of California offers a week of professional cycle racing with some of the best riders and teams in the world, just a few hours drive from where I live.

levi leipheimer

This year, my brother Ian, Owner of Flywheel Bicycles in Talent, Oregon, and I followed all eight days of the Tour, camping in Walmart parking lots, eating burritos, cheering on our favorite riders and just being general bike racing geeks. We also had some fun making very low quality videos which we posted on his website for the southern Oregon cycling community to enjoy. If you want to see what the life of die hard cycling fans is like you can see the videos HERE. The videos are posted in reverse chronological order.

tour of california

In Just three years, the Tour of California has become the biggest and most prestigious bike race in the US. It draws the biggest European pro tour teams such as Astana, CSC, Rabobank, Gerolsteiner and Credit Agricole, as well as top US teams such as Slipstream Chipotle, Rock Racing and Toyota United. This year’s roster included the Road World Champion, Paolo Bettini and the Time Trial World Champion and Paris Roubaix winner, Fabian Cancellara, as well as many national champions and other top pro riders such as Tom Boonan, Stewart O’Grady, George Hincapie, David Millar and Mario Cipollini. Levi Leipheimer, who was last year’s overall winner and third place finisher in the Tour de France, defended his title with a convincing second win.

tour of california

I managed to take a few photos of the racers, but someday I’ll have to work on getting a press pass so that I can access the press areas, support cars and photo motorcycles, which is where the best shots come from.

tour of california

Beyond My Control, And I Like It

by Leave a Comment

As an outdoor photographer I work in conditions beyond my control. The unpredictable, mysterious and surprising elements of nature are precisely what compel me to spend time outdoors attempting to photograph the landscape at its defining moments.

A trip I took last fall is a great example. Excited by the promise of fall color and dramatic skies, I took a nine day trip to Montana and Idaho. 1,200 miles later I arrived at Glacier National Park on the edge of an approaching storm. Hunkered in my van, I was buffeted by high winds and rain for three days, during which I was able to get out and take photos for an hour or two. Undeterred, I headed south in hopes of better weather. In the Sawtooth range of Idaho, low cloud cover and snow kept the mountains hidden for all but a few minutes of the next three days. During the long stretches of time alone in my van, I read, scouted locations, studied the landscape and weather and got up before dawn so that I’d be ready if something magical happened.

The mountains were still shrouded when my time came to an end. As I drove back across the high desert of eastern Oregon, the skies opened for a brief sunset at the John Day Fossil Beds, but by morning the clouds were back and it was snowing.

The day after returning home, I decided on a whim to make a quick visit to the upper Rogue River, an hour’s drive away. I was completely caught by surprise when one of the most beautiful sunrises I’ve experienced illuminated the sky and I rushed to capture the event. For the rest of the day I hiked and photographed brilliant fall foliage along the river at the height of color in perfect soft light. On that single day I created more good images than the previous nine combined, including one of my all time favorites. All of my experiences with nature during those ten days: the cold, the gray, the quiet, the slow, the subtle, the brilliant and the unexpected, they all keep me anticipating what nature will show me next.

Nepal Through The Lens Of David Price

by Leave a Comment

Nepali People

David Price is a photographer from the UK who I have struck up a long distance friendship with. He has a great talent for photographing people. He was recently on a photo assignment in Nepal, a place I am very fond of. He captured beautiful images of the Nepali people in a way that I wish I could. What follows are images and thoughts from his adventure. You can see all his images at his site www.davidprice.uk.com.

Nepali Man

Back in England I sit in my apartment several thousand miles from Kathmandu my thoughts firmly with the people of Nepal. Although now great distance separates my new friends and I, editing my images I have just spoken by telephone with film producer Sanu Thapa and the distance between us seems not so great.

Vijaya Thapa

Commissioned to photograph a football tournament and school opening in Kavre south west of Kathmandu. My customer UAP ltd gave me this opportunity and I did not think twice about accepting. The event run by charity DCWC Nepal included a volunteer medical team who treated two thousand patients in five days……..AMAZING ! I extended my trip to Nepal beyond my work in the village; Kathmandu was my home for 18 nights with my guides Komal Lama, Vijaya Thapa and film producer Sanu Thapa.
My memories of Nepal are not of the cues for fuel or the twice-weekly power cuts and the candles in my room, my mind cannot forget the people of Kavre and also a wider Nepal. Speaking only a few words of Nepalese I found a strong connection was quickly formed with the people even though our meeting may have only lasted a few moments. I find the strength of the people incredible, talking with Dr Ramu Sharma, he told me of a patient he treated in the village a lady who had given birth nineteen times with 13 children surviving. To bring up this huge family with no electricity or running water just seems beyond belief. This storey highlights the difference in our two worlds; mine being a combatable life in England with more or less everything a man could want and the harsh reality of life in Nepal. My resounding memory is of its people’s gift of friendship and their wonderfully happy smiles. At times I was overwhelmed by the number of people who wanted to be photographed, and on occasions I put away my camera just for a short break.

nepali People

Kavre village lacked many things I take for granted in England such as a hot shower however I embraced my time there and will never forget it. With no mobile phone or Internet I immersed myself in work pausing briefly to eat or wash in the river an amazing experience. I did not care about communication with the outside world, it was just my work and the people and what more could a passionate photographer ask for. As I left the village after five days tears in my eyes, looking back from the steep path climbing from the valley bottom my thoughts were not of leaving this amazing place but of my compulsion to return.

Nepali People

Crazy Kathmandu. Back in Kathmandu my work at times was difficult I found the speed at which things happened frustrating. I commissioned a short film that was produced over three days by director Sanu Thapa. I am overjoyed with his work and you can watch the film here LINK TO FILM PAGE. Often I organised my own work, waiting to long for other people to do it for me, it’s a very different world in Nepal a lot slower pace than in England. If things happen at all seemed to have little importance and I lost count of the times I was told “tomorrow”. I take my work very seriously and will let little come between my subject and me. My guides on reflection were so good to me they all tried to accommodate my wishes and I visited all but one of there homes, something I feel very privileged to have done. I forged a strong bond with all three guides a process that started on my second night in Kavre when I sat talking with Komal Lama until the early hours. In Komal I see a very good man! Highlights of my work in Kathmandu were photographing models in traditional Nepalese costume and meeting and photographing Shabhu Tamang who submitted Everest age 17 in 1973. I was thrilled to meet for the first time a man who had stood on top of the world. I also built a good relationship with the Sadhu men of Durbury Square producing several memorable images.

Nepali People

As I sit editing the images created in Nepal my realization is that without the people I would have no photographs. It is the people of Nepal that made my trip so memorable. I have a strong desire to return and meet my new friends again to shake their hands and to see how they have changed. My next visit to the country is not in question my only concern is of timing.Thank you to my guides Vijaya, Comal, Sanu and the people of Nepal