I’ve been super busy with a couple projects and haven’t been able to post in a while, but I have some awesome news that I wanted to share. I recently got hired at the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite National Park! I will be a staff photographer, and once I’m trained, be working in the art gallery and leading photo hikes around the valley. The position is seasonal and runs from mid April to November during the park’s high attendance seasons. I will be temporarily moving to the area outside the park, and can’t wait to explore a new experience along this crazy journey.

I couldn’t be more excited for this next phase in my development as a professional photographer. I will be getting paid to have one of the most iconic places on the planet as my work environment! Seems like the perfect collaboration of my love of nature and the outdoors, and my passion for sharing it so others can experience that same feeling for themselves. True nature is medicine for the soul, and the more people are exposed to it, the better the world around us gets.

The gallery features works from Ansel Adams (obviously!), and other world class photographers and artists from all over the globe. If you aren’t aware, Ansel Adams is basically the Michael Jordan of landscape photography, and the pioneer of many photographic and editing techniques still used to this day. You have most likely seen his work before, even if you didn’t realize it. Most of his images are black and white and muted multi-tones of the Yosemite landscape, and are absolutely breathtaking. He has been an idol of mine ever since I saw his pictured called “Clearing Winter Storm.” This is the first photograph I’d ever seen that truly captured the feeling and overwhelming awe you get when looking at the valley during the winter when the clouds come through. The sheer size of the rock formations and depth of the shot always reminds me of how insignificant I am in the greater scheme of things. That thought might be troubling to some, but for me it feels very empowering and makes me grateful. I appreciate the moments that truly take your breath away and render you speechless, and have been lucky enough to see that scene with my own eyes. I was hiking around the valley one winter morning, and stopped to take a break and looked around. For the next half an hour, the only thing that came out of my mouth was, “Wow, Just Wow!.”

If you are ever visiting the valley, stop by the gallery and say hi, or join one of the tours and I will do my best to share that “Wow, Just Wow” feeling with you.