People who look at my photographs usually don’t realize what I did (went through) to take the photograph.  Countless numbers of times, I awake at 2:00AM, 3:00AM or 4:00AM to drive two hours for a sunrise shoot.  Typically, when I am on a trip, I only have about 3-4 hours of sleep per day.  Often, I have driven to a very remote location (alone), and then hiked or climbed to a special area for a photograph.  For every photograph on my web site, there were many, many times I went out in the field and did not take a great photograph. 

To take the photograph on the left from the “Badlands” of Anza Borrego Desert State Park, I had to drive 500 miles to Anza Borrego.  Then I drove 15 miles in a very sandy desert river bed (in the middle of nowhere).  Then I had to 4WD 3 miles into a very narrow, rocky remote canyon that was no wider than ten feet at times.  Once I made it to the end of the canyon (without getting stuck), I had to climb/scramble 1,000 feet up a very steep hill/mountain/rockslide carrying my usual 30 lbs of camera gear to reach a high vantage point for my photograph.  Once I was high enough, I had to wait 2-3 hours in cold 20-30 mph winds for the best light for the photograph.  (Safely returning from that location in the dark is a whole other story…)