Bear Naked Granola Trail Day Cleanup at the 2010 Teva Mountain Games.  What a great turnout for the event with over 100 people showing up to give back.  Massive props to Bear Naked for putting together this event and getting people to give back!

Bear Naked Granola Breakfast

Hard at Work

Forest Service Personnel

An Eager Worker...

What's the plan again?

Hard at Work...still!

That's not a shovel he's holding...what's up with that?

Just a few of the crew!

So we arrived at our first mountain destination and I have to say pulling into Nederland, CO really reminded me of Ciciley the small Alaskan town on the hit TV show years ago – Northern Exposure.

It’s a nice small town with several watering holes and restaurants.

I grabbed a few frames with the trusty iPhone and hoped to upload on the spot but alas – I am on a mountain! No AT&T towers here. Duh! So here I sit in the Best Western bringing you my clicks via trusty WiFi…

Just finished 3 day adventure shoot…all assistants and models accounted for and no cliff incidents…Bonus!

We all had a chance after each day of shooting to hang with the crew at Miguel’s. (A local pizza joint and rock climbing outfitters.)  Super laid back and a great place to meet some cool peeps.  We met folks from…everywhere. Seattle, Conn, NY, Vancouver, Quebec, GB/UK, France, Russia, & the list goes on!

More to follow once we get a real internet connection….

I recently took a hike with my 6 year old son to a local nature preserve.  Those of you that are parents know that time spent with your kids is invaluable.  I have to say this day will forever be etched into my memories.  Not only did we have a nice little hike, I got to spend uninterupted time with him doing what often times feels impossible…just hanging out.

As the title implies, with all the distractions of today, be it a buzzing iPhone letting me know I’ve just got 10 more e-mails to answer, a text message from my neighbor, or a voice mail letting me know I’m urgently needed back in the studio to appove images on a rush job…we can very well get caught in the rut of “ALWAYS BEING AT CONNECTED”.

I had promised Tre that we’d go hiking and there would be no distractions.  Within 5 minutes of the hike, the phone rang 3 times!  On a Saturday..No kidding.  I promptly turned it off and turned my attention to my son and the woods we were entering.

The joy I saw in his face was absolutely the best gift I could have ever received as we spent the next 2 hours walking through the woods, taking photos together, exploring old cabins left to the animals and just enjoying guy time.  Uninterrupted father and son time as it was meant to be.

At the end of the hike as the sun began to set, we hiked up the hill towards the car park.  Tre with his digital camera in hand was snapping a photo of the light coming through the trees when we both heard a rustling.  I quickly said, “Tre look for squirrels…”, with that we were surrounded by 12 deer.  No kidding, we had been so engrossed in taking photos of the sunset, that we hadn’t even noticed the well camouflaged White Tail deer that were poised on the hillside.

With instincts that would rival that of a National Geographic photographer, Tre quickly began snapping pics and video of them as they walked up the hill with us.  I grabbed a few shots as we meandered up the trail as well.  In heaven as I saw my son capturing photos and feverishly working to get the best angle.

At 6 he’s picked up on Dad’s trade and is closing in fast!!! (Watch out Pops!)  Seemingly the deer were not even shaken by our presence.  It was so awesome to be right along with them and to have my son right there to experience it too.

Just the other day, I took two of my best friends for a hike through the creek….my son Tre and Kip the “super dog”.

I have always enjoyed stomping around in the woods, taking hikes, looking for salamanders, snakes, worms and wildflowers in the woods. My son has taken after dad’s love of the outdoors and asked if I would buy him a pair of rubber boots to tromp through the puddles and creekbed. How could a dad resist?

So after a quick trek to the store to get my little buddy his tromping mocs…we were off into the woods near our house.

Kip loves a good Labrador bath and absolutely loved the escape from the “lodge”.

Tre and I immediately began turning ever rock over for a Eurycea Bislineata (Two lined salamander – Dr. Ferner would be proud, I remembered!). We perused some of the early wildflowers (Heres’s one for ya Dr. Bryant – Phlox divaricata, put that in your book!) Sorry a trip back in time to my college days and being a Biology major!

He and I also found a baby Black Rat snake. Tre had no problem picking it up! What a big boy. I think I would have freaked at his age.

Rick