I've been doing some investigative research and travel in the southwest. Two things that stick out: the wide range of what we call 'outdoor recreation' and the frontier spirit of the individual. The American desert has given room for both of those pursuits to breathe. I spent some time in Quartzite, AZ - the largest migratory stopover point for RV dwelling snowbirds in North America. There numbers are down here due and they have scattered throughout the region, but Quartzite still dominates as a winter mecca.

Leonard Knight has been devoting his efforts over the last 24 years to the creation of Salvation Mountain - a Land Art based billboard proclaiming the universal of message of "God is Love". I'm reminded of a passage in Paul Shepard's book, Man in the Landscape:

"The desert is the environment of revelation... To the desert go prophets and hermits; through deserts go pilgrims and exiles. Here the leaders of the great religions have sought the therapeutic and spiritual values of retreat, not to escape but to find reality."

No map, no plan. I went out West with a friend to do some research/exploration of the Western landscape. It was an exercise in being open to possibility and finding opportunity. It was also the first field test of both some project ideas and my truck with its modified camper setup. A working vacation with no demands and just possibilities was just the right order. We explored the people and place that wove together self made buildings out of paper, frontier mansions, the best beans in Marfa, Pinto Canyon, villages in Mexico, the wild Terlingua, and a sky of stars above the Chisos in Big Bend. The trip was just a piece of something greater in progress.

Our developing group effort will be blossoming into a beautiful show for E.A.S.T. (East Austin Studio Tour - Nov. 22-23). Along with the talented Lance Rosenfield, Sarah Wilson, and Matt Wright-Steel, I will be showing work in a gallery space at the old Mrs Baird's Bread Factory on Tillery St. in east Austin. We've also developed a group blog to track our moves: www.texastoastphotoshow.com

Outside ran a double page spread of one of my wilderness nightworks images in the Exposure section of the October issue. I shot it on a week long shoot on the Colorado Plateau last January. This project is still in development so stay tuned for further news.

It was nothing less than an amazing amazing weekend at the Eddie Adams Workshop. Between not sleeping, shooting (w/ great gear), and being immeresed with amazing photographers and story tellers I couldn't have asked for much more.

Seeing Bill Epperidge speak about covering Bobby Kennedy's campaign in 1968 opened up a gap in history and allowed me to draw tight correlations between that political landscape and our present day. I'm still processing the wealth of images and conversations that were presented will stay with me for a while. But, much more impactful was the amazing community that I've found and joined. Photography has often been a solitary pursuit for me and I'm thrilled to find others who are moved by the same things.

Pipeline Trek from Blake Gordon on Vimeo.

"Water is the true source of wealth in a dry land" - Wallace Stegner

How does a community begin to define its future? Is it merely shaped by market forces? Does it have to sacrifice part of itself for its future? The conversation is changing from Progess to Quality of Life in places. But how does that play out? How does that play out for a deeply conservative town in southwestern Utah?

I joined Lin Alder and Scott Hirschi as the embarked on an exploratory trek along a route for a proposed pipeline from Lake Powell to the St. George, UT area - roughly 170 miles. I shot stills, video, interviews and all. A final piece is yet to come, but the material serves is rich and the questions are richer. Stay tuned.

The September issue of National Geographic Adventure is out with a spread from the Texas Water Safari. It's a shot of the winning 6-man team right before they exited the Guadalupe River for the final 3 mile stretch across the bay.

The image was shot at 11:30pm under a near full moon. I drove for a few hours (thanks Joey) to catch up with the leading team at the finish line. Arriving early, I found that their was an old wooden bridge that could make for a good vantage point during their last stretch of river. I arrived, setup, swatted off mosquitos, and had about 5 seconds to catch them with the flash before they were out of range.

Capitol Peak is one of the most difficult of Colorado's fourteeners to climb (as far as standard routes). The only non-technical route, the Northeast Ridge, requires crossing the famously exposed "Knife Edge," the northeast ridge of Capitol.

There is something utterly compelling about mountains. I've been thinking about them quite a bit while in Austin. The visual appeal is one thing, but I keep thinking about how their elevation creates space in the landscape. Life in three dimensions is so much more compelling.

260 miles in the June Texas heat. The course runs from San Marcos to the Gulf and is not too technically challenging, though there are some spillways, old cotton gin dams, alligator gar, crocodiles, and other buggers. In addition to stills, I shot video for the Texas Film Syndicate for an upcoming film about the race entitled Hard Water.

The New York Times wrote about the race last yearhere.

National Geographic Adventuree will be running a spread of the race in their September 2008 issue

The 'Nightwalks' work was recognized by PDN (Photo District News) in their 2008 Photo Annual.

The Nightwalks project developed through an exploration of Austin between 2am and 5am. The sense of the city was so different from what is commonly observe that it renders a different place entirely. Instead of traveling to visit somewhere by plane or car, why not go by time?

It is work I'm continuing to develop and use an investigative tool of place.

The 2XtM (To Cross the Moon) expedition is a group of three young, yoga-inspired athletes (the YogaSlackers) snowkiting across North Dakota to demonstrate the potential for wind energy. I joined their expedition for five days to photograph their trip. I never knew North Dakota was so beautiful.

A story on their expedition is in the June issue of Outside Magazine. They have also setup a web gallery here.

PDN (Photo District News, in conjunction with National Geographic Traveler) selected two images for the World of Focus contest. One in the 'Wilderness Photography' category and the other in 'Extreme Exploration'.

They are both from Canyonlands National Park during a summer storm I encountered while testing methods for my nightscape work.

Click to see the other winner's of PDN's 2008 World in Focus contest.

Big Agnes is using two of my images for their 2008 Catalog include this one of Richard Moquin and myself staying warm at Hamburger Rock in the Cayonlands. Richard is a sheer joy to camp with; if I were solo, I'd be trying to sleep freezing and tentless. But, Richard packed the chairs, logs, food and manly desert companionship.