Portfolio
Ten years chasing light across South America and beyond — from the granite spires of Patagonia to hidden waterfalls deep in the Amazon.
When the Stars Align
I loved the spiral this tree created, and the contrast of the pitch black branches against the sky. The bright star in the center adds the final touch to the image.
Mythos de Las Sirenas
Hidden in the Amazon rainforest are thousands of un-photographed waterfalls. I have spent months at a time exploring the jungle, hiking to these largely un-visited places. I have crossed paths with native tribes and narco traffickers, and heard stories of witches and mermaids in my journeys to these mysterious places. Of all of the waterfalls I have visited, one area in particular remains incomparable. This place had close to 10 of the most photogenic waterfalls I had ever seen, all flowing from the same river. Locals shared stories of mermaids, which they said inhabited the pools below the falls.
Fitz Roy Awakens
Sunrise elaborately framed through lenga trees in El Chaltén, Patagonia.
Chaltén Finale
Sunset elaborately framed through lenga trees in El Chaltén, Patagonia.
Island in the Sky
Rising
Amazing cloud formations complement this tree’s shape as the sun rises.
Gold at the End of the Rainbow
Undoubtedly my most complex image. A long exposure captures fallen leaves swirling in a pool on the side of the river. A 40 image panorama shows an extremely wide field of view, capturing the sunrise, rainbow, and Lenga trees in full fall colors.
Autumn on Ice
Layers of warm and cool tones combined to frame the sun as it set behind Cerro Torre, casting warmth onto the sky-blue glacier below.
Winter in Chaltén
One of my only images of winter in El Chaltén. Having photographed this area extensively during the autumn, it was refreshing to see it in a new light. Although not my favorite image of El Chaltén, it is one that has inspired me to photograph the landscape during winter in the future. Snow with the blazing red peaks is a combination that is sure to make for other great images.
Tree Graffiti
A chaotic symmetry captured in wood. I took this photo after heavy rain, which further saturated the natural colors, and added a slight sheen to the wood.
Heart of the Tree
Close to the Sky
Sunset over a little known area somewhere in South America. One of the most lonely, chilling environments I’ve had to endure for a photo. The motorcycle, starving for oxygen, struggled to make it up the hills to the area where this image was photographed, 11,000 feet above sea level.
Rainbow River to the Stars
Having seen several photos of this Northern Argentinian landscape beforehand, I noticed that the landscape had only ever been photographed from a distance. Like many desert landscapes, vegetation and water were sparse. Hoping to photograph the landscape in a new way, I hitchhiked to a small town several hours away from the colorful peaks. From there, I hiked several hours into a valley below the peaks. There I found boulders with colors which mimicked the colors of the distant peaks. An S-curve in the river mimicked the zigzagging rock layers. These features combined to create an image that felt cohesive from near to far.
Life Cycles
I made this image to showcase the contrast between these bright pink flowers which had fallen onto beds of dead ferns in the rainforest in Peru.
Rainforest Dance
A fallen fuchsia flower sits atop a bed of ferns in the temperate rainforest along the Carretera Austral in Chile.
Brown and Yellow
A striking contrast of colors in a tree trunk.
Once Upon a Time in Patagonia
I have explored the Chaltén area extensively for years, and seen it from thousands of vantage points. As a photographer, I strive to create images that capture great light, scenery, and small details, and are made up of elements that complement one another. A great photo will usually display some of these elements to a degree. I have strived my entire career to create an image that displays all of these elements simultaneously. This image is the result of that search.
Ice Prism
An image showcasing the many textures and possibilities of images that can be found in the ice.
Stargazing
One of my personal favorite images. This image was made in a forest which had been through a forest fire. The fire left the trees stripped of bark, and the charring had left unusual patterns burned into the wood grain. I strive to create symmetries in images to make them feel more cohesive. I’d always wanted to create a symmetry between a long exposure showing the rotation of the stars, and some sort of other element. There are not many elements in nature offering much of a “mirror” to this sort of a sky. The charred base of this tree was one of the few things that I’ve seen which provided a unique counterbalance to this sort of sky. I made the images of the base of this tree trunk, as well as myself standing in the scene, during the blue hour of the day. Leaving the camera in the exact same position, I then waited for the stars to appear, and then shot a 3 hour long exposure, which I then blended together with the images I’d made earlier.
Fitz at Sunset
This photo was taken right as an Autumn storm came to a colorful ending over the mountain Fitz Roy, in Patagonia, Argentina. A 30 second exposure shows fast moving clouds streaking across the sky, and renders the water silky. A little pool of water atop a boulder captures Fitz Roy’s reflection.
Quenal Forest
Wacky colorful trees against an incredible backdrop of turquoise water. The trees on their own are incredible subjects, but the contrast of blue and orange brings the image to life.
Flowing through Time
This was the kind of waterfall image I had hoped to create since my beginnings as a photographer. This scene shows how foam, slowly circling in this pool, looks over the course of 8 seconds. Using the canyon and waterfall as a backdrop, I was able to create an image that unified both the small and large elements of the scene.
Icy Glare
More abstract images tend to be a challenge in that finding focal points may be a bit less obvious. Not always, but focal points tend to be successful when they offer something predictable, or familiar in terms of how they are shaped. Triangular mountain peaks, a human figure, ovular lakes… In this scene, the focal point I found, photographed from this angle, almost appears to be an eye, trapped in the ice, staring up towards the sky.
Yin Yang
Ice forming on the lake traps these fallen lenga leaves in the water. I loved the contrast between the aquamarine of the lake and fiery orange of the leaves. The end of fall and beginning of winter, captured in one.
Shades
I usually gravitate towards curves when seeking out compositions. I find that creating images which are linear and angular is easier to pull off, but generally makes for predictable, flat compositions. This image, divided into segments in a linear fashion, and being shot in a very head on, flat way, felt unique to me in that it lacked curves altogether. Of all the images in my wood series, it stands out because of this. Rather than attempting to create a series of leading lines to move the eye around the image, the more simplistic design of the composition allows the viewer to focus on the most unique element the scene presents: the amazing variety of color contrasts juxtaposed in the trunk.
Autumnal Sunset
Warm colors from the sunset and foliage complement cool ones, as the Patagonian landscape awaits winter. I used a long shutter speed to capture the motion of fallen Lenga leaves as they swirled in the water.
Quechua Sunset
I captured this scene in the Peruvian Andes, after hiking down from the icy cold alpine lakes of the Cordillera Blanca. A girl, dressed in typical Andean colors, takes in the landscape, surrounded by Eucalyptus trees, adobe houses, and the endless fields which her people cultivate and have called home for thousands of years.
Galaxies in Wood
One of my personal favorites. A close up of amazing colors and textures in a tree. I tend to be quite critical of my own work, but this image is one of the few that couldn’t really be improved in any way.
Reflection Rock
A favorite scene of mine, taken in El Chaltén, Patagonia. I have photographed this scene countless times, under many kinds of light. This scene is quieter. A 30 second exposure shows water and cloud motion, but keeps the stars static.
Untitled
Smoke Swirls in Wood Grain
Of all of my images of wood grain, this may be my favorite. This particular tree had a section about 4 feet long of textures like this. I struggled to find a composition which captured the textures in a pleasing composition, and revisited the scene several times before finding this one. With the help of a macro lens, it’s often easier to spot compositions than with the naked eye. Scenes like these often take patience and experimentation to perfect. Although I have an intuitive sense when it comes to recognizing something’s photographic potential, it often takes repeated attempts for me to tease out the image that hides in the scene.
Riverside Palette
This photo was taken while exploring waterfalls in Northern Michigan. While I tend to focus on photographing larger landscapes, it’s always fun to try and create a striking image out of something simple, such as leaves and bubbles. Unlike landscape images, which depend on amazing light and scenery to work, images like this are engaging because of their vibrant colors, varying textures, and visual flow.
Rainbow Tree
This image shows the many colors and textures of a tree trunk. This tree had likely been through forest fires, which stripped it of its bark, leaving the wood underneath visible. The blue tones in the lower part of the image are the result of the photo being taken while the sun was directly behind the tree. I returned to take the photo on a rainy day, thinking that the colors might be even more saturated when the wood was wet, but discovered that the blue tones were far more grey under the changed lighting conditions.
Heart of the Jungle
Getting to this canyon, deep in the rainforest, took quite a bit of work. It is a place that is not well known, and yet offers incredible opportunities for unique images. It’s often difficult to even know where to begin when photographing places like this, as they offer so many potential images, being photogenic in every sense of the word. Texture, form, color, light… what more could a photographer hope for?
If I Could Stand on the Moon
Visiting these pumice fields in Northern Argentina proved to be quite a challenge. After traveling by bus a day from the nearest major city, I arrived in a small town along the Highway 40. There, I was informed that the place I was trying to get to did not have any form of public transportation going to it. After 2 days of hitchhiking, I arrived to another small town, just 10 kilometers away from these formations. I then hitchhiked from this town to the pumice fields, arranging with (bribing) a park ranger in order to be allowed to stay in the pumice fields to photograph the sunset and spend the night. The journey was well worth the hassle, as this was undoubtedly the most otherworldly environment I have set foot in.
Autumn Alchemy
An image of Fitz Roy from a little-known vantage point, capturing fall colors, Lenga trees, turquoise rivers, and sunrise. A classic Patagonian palette. A place which I have rephotographed on at least 15 separate occasions.
Lenga Vortex
A personal favorite from my time spent photographing the El Chaltén landscape. Lenga trees create a unique spiraling framing around Fitz Roy. I re-photographed this scene several times in the hopes of capturing linear clouds, knowing that when shooting panoramic photos, linear forms become warped into curves. My vision was to capture a sky full of curved clouds, to complement the spiral framing of the Lenga trees. A ray of light added the perfect finishing touch.
Rainforest Details
The incredible textures and colors in these leaves were what originally grabbed my attention while hiking through the Rainforest. But figuring out how to photograph the leaves in a compelling composition proved difficult. After studying the images I had taken on my first attempt, I realized that the scene, when photographed from the right angle, held various triangles and diagonal lines. These added a sense of structure to the image, and transformed a cluttered but intriguing patch of leaves into a compelling composition.
Sprinkles on Icing
Lenga leaves sit atop frosty textures found in ice alongside a freezing autumn river. Having photographed many large scale scenes from Chaltén, I made this image in hopes of showing some of the smaller details we often overlook in the Patagonian landscape.
The Adventure Which Awaits
Taken on my first ever adventure to Peru. A friend and I climbed up the side of a mountain in the dark, hoping to get to the top of a ridgeline which seemed so close, silhouetted against the stars. Judging distance and height is never easy in the dark… After 2 hours, we gave up, sat, rested, and as the clouds parted, I snapped a couple photos capturing that moment. Little did I know at the time, that trip to Peru was the beginning of a new phase in life, and I would spend the next years coming back countless times to photograph.
Dreaming
It’s not often that a photo works out on a first attempt, and even less so when I haven’t spent time planning it out in advance. But I remember spotting this stone as I hiked back in the dark after photographing a different scene. It was a relatively unremarkable stone, under the light of day — but some things just have a pleasing shape to them, and with a backdrop of stars, can make for magical images.
Sunrise on Fitz Roy
A chilly fall morning in Patagonia, Argentina. Kept warm by morning light and autumn colors. Look closely and you can see ice starting to form on the pool.
Twilight in the Andes
Stars slowly light up in the sky as the last light of day falls across the top of a remote peak in the Andes. I exhaled the thin air with care, to prevent my breath from fogging up the camera lens on this frigid night.
Lenga Leaves on Wet Stone
Climbing up the edge of a stream which cascaded down the side of a mountain, I scouted for vantage points which might allow for a perspective of a waterfall, autumn forests, and mount Cerro Torre, off in the distance. While I didn’t find that which I was envisioning, I found this instead. A reminder that while there is nothing wrong with setting our sights on the grand, we should never fail to appreciate the details which lay at our feet.
Magic Light in the Amazon
After months traveling in Peru by motorcycle, I visited this little known waterfall. Upon arriving, I could sense it had all of the elements of a great photo. It was almost too easy, or so I thought… I ended up returning to it between 10 and 15 times over the course of 2 years to re-shoot it. Scenes that are this photogenic are incredibly rare. I find it hard to resist returning to places like this time and time again, in order to feel as though I have photographed them to their fullest potential.