Nikon FE (left) and Nikon Df (right)

I recently added a new-to-me camera to my collection to pair up with my Nikon Df. It has an old 28mm lens to go with it (picture to the left is with a 50mm), which is turning out to be great for street photography and portraits alike.

The first roll of film I put through it was a bit of test roll to see how the camera and the 28mm lens would work together. I thought it would be a good throwback to shoot something analog with something analog. I really like the results :)

Shot on a 1978 Nikon FE on Lomography Lady Grey 400 film.

I really enjoy meeting people when I travel. You just have no idea who you'll bump into or what kind of folks you'll wind up sharing a conversation with. When I visited Jackson, WY as part of a trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks last June, meeting Art, the owner of Million Dollar Cowboy Bar was a real treat.

He talked with fellow photographer, Justin Balog, and myself for a good while about the history of the bar, and at one point even invited us to make him an offer to buy the place ;) He was only too happy to talk to us about the history of the bar and show us around. He was even kind enough to let us take his portrait.

Such great times coming from just a simple, "Hey, how's it going?" conversation. 

Needless to say there's been a lot going on in the world in the last couple of weeks. And Seattle hasn't let it pass by in silence.

I'm so proud of the city in which I live and the strength it is showing by fighting for basic human rights and by welcoming everyone of all creeds, backgrounds, and colour, through peaceful protest.

Shot on a 1978 Nikon FE on Portra 800 film.

When I visted the Tetons in Wyoming last year with the nXnw crew, we made a point of heading out to see "The Shane Cabin", the remains of what's left of a small log house that was featured in the movie, Shane.

We got there and had the place to ourselves to explore. I actually hadn't seen the movie, so it was pretty new and cool for me to see fresh. The whole time I thought to myself how wonderful it'd be to live out here and wake up to the views of the beautiful Teton range.

I made a few images here at the cabin, but I liked the outside / inside pairing of these two images the best, it just seemed to match the thoughts I was having about what it would be like to live here. Hopefully one day I get to come back and see it again!

At it's core, I believe good photography engages the viewer with a story - it presents an idea, challenges the viewer, and draws you to form an opinion. Music does exactly the same thing but using sound instead of visuals. It's fun to think about the parallels between the two mediums. Opera on the other hand, combines both the sound and the visual components to the story.

This was right up my alley. And having never seen an opera before in my life, I jumped at the chance to throw my spin on opera. 

What followed through 2016 was one of the greatest photographic experiences I've had, and I couldn't be more thankful for the opportunity. Below are some of my personal favourite images from the operas throughout 2016 -- The Marriage of Figaro, Mary Stuart, The Wicked Adventures of Count Ory, and Hansel & Gretel.

At the end of last winter after a trip to Colorado I discovered how awesome snowshoeing can be. I also realised around that same time how neglected my 85mm lens was. I tried to think of a somewhat unconvential way to get creative with it, and showshoeing gave me an idea. What if I used it to shoot subject traditionally shot wide, and see if I can make it equally (or more) visually appealing?

I took the Df and the 85mm along with me in a little throw bag, and set off for a little hike amongst the snow and trees. I figured I'd be crammed in at 85mm, but when I found a little clearing and had a view, I found something that really fit the lens quite well.

As this winter approaches, I can't wait to explore this concept a lot more, along with a lot more snowshoeing!

I'm returning to Iceland this week on my blog. I've visited the country twice, once in 2012 and 2013, and for some reason I've felt this place calling me to return again. I'll be going through some images that are new (in that I've never posted them) this week, while I look to plan the time to return to this beautiful island country.

This is the view of downtown Reykjavik, as seen from the top of Hallgrimskirkja, one of the tallest buildings in Iceland and a Lutheran church. I just love the look of this beautiful European city!

I'm returning to Iceland this week on my blog. I've visited the country twice, once in 2012 and 2013, and for some reason I've felt this place calling me to return again. I'll be going through some images that are new (in that I've never posted them) this week, while I look to plan the time to return to this beautiful island country.

This image, of my good friend Rod Hoekstra who travelled with me to the country in 2013, somehow managed to convince a flock of arctic terns to do his bidding one fateful morning, north of the arctic circle on Grimsey Island.

I'm returning to Iceland this week on my blog. I've visited the country twice, once in 2012 and 2013, and for some reason I've felt this place calling me to return again. I'll be going through some images that are new (in that I've never posted them) this week, while I look to plan the time to return to this beautiful island country.

This image is from one of my favourite locations in Iceland, Jokulsarlon. It's a huge glacier lagoon where chunks of ice rush in from the ocean, just as quickly as they rush back out to sea. It's a wonderful playground for photographers on the shore, as well as out on the lagoon itself. Most of the images I took here were wide, however this was one of the few were I went long and got tight in on the location. It's a lot of fun to re-visit images from the past, I don't know why I never posted this -- I think it's one of my favourites from this trip!

I'm returning to Iceland this week on my blog. I've visited the country twice, once in 2012 and 2013, and for some reason I've felt this place calling me to return again. I'll be going through some images that are new (in that I've never posted them) this week, while I look to plan the time to return to this beautiful island country.

This image is from a place called Vik on the southern coast. Rough arctic waters rush up on the shoreline, covered with rocky spires and outcroppings. It's such a fun place to explore!

This week on my blog I'm going to be featuring some of my personal favourite images from the Seattle Opera production of Humperdinck's Hansel & Gretel, showing through the end of October this year.

This image, of maestro Sebastian Lang-Lessing, captures a scene that most opera-goers don't get to see. The orchestra is hidden from view in front of the stage, and we as the audience only ever hear their performance. To actually see Maestro at work in front of the orchestra is something else entirely.

This week on my blog I'm going to be featuring some of my personal favourite images from the Seattle Opera production of Humperdinck's Hansel & Gretel, showing through the end of October this year.

I love finding subtle, tender moments during scenes of craziness. Caught the harp player during a rehearsal performance of Hansel And Gretel this week in the orchestra pit playing so gently and beautifully, while on stage an evil witch was trying to hastily capture two little lost children. I just love the light & gesture here!

This week on my blog I'm going to be featuring some of my personal favourite images from the Seattle Opera production of Humperdinck's Hansel & Gretel, showing through the end of October this year.

This image is the Opera's take on what I remember most about the tale from when I was a child -- two kids lost in the forest, all alone. This was a rare, quiet moment before all sorts began to go down on stage...

This week on my blog I'm going to be featuring some of my personal favourite images from the Seattle Opera production of Humperdinck's Hansel & Gretel, showing through the end of October this year.

This image from the opening act is actually one of my favourites. Even though there's very little action happening on stage, every now and then you find this brief "in-between" moments that really make you stop & think. The sets & characters from these shows always leave me in awe.

As Seattle braces for the onset of one of the biggest storms in history, it all let up for a brief moment during last night's sunset. This was the view of the actual calm before the storm of the city skyline over Cal Anderson Park. Amongst all that weather from the day and what's to come, it was actually kind of beautiful. 

I've just returned from a couple of weeks in Singapore, and what an incredible city! Figured it was time to post an image of the city here on my blog after I've been posting some of my street work over on my Instagram page.

This is the city skyline as seen from Marina Bay, a vibrant area on the waterfront filled with restaurants, bars, pubs, and nightlife.

More of these images to come, and hopefully many more trips to the Singapore area!

Sometimes it's just way too much fun to make portraits of my friends.

Presented here, one Justin Balog.

New perspectives are always fun, especially ones that you have continued access to. From 46 floors up above downtown, this is Pike St & Boren Ave crossing over I-5 in the heart of Seattle during rush hour. I expect I'll be photographing this a few more times in the coming months!

Two days prior to arriving in Como, Colorado... "Here.", Armando said. "Try some of this film."

I didn't end up shooting anything digital here, and you know what, I kind of love it that way. For this place, for this work, nothing else would have done what I was looking for. Nothing but an idea and chasing it down with a roll of film and a wooden box.

Can't wait to do it again!

A great deal if not all of the work I did in Wyoming was in colour. I guess even in general, I don't process a lot of black & white images because most of the story in the image I see is partially a result of the colour itself.

For this image, the light of the day happened to be quite dark anyway, and although it wasn't entirely like this, to me it looked black & white as the rainstorm came in over the Tetons.