Road Tripping Through Ecosystems #1

Hot Spring Morning - Yellowstone National Park
Canon 7D + 300mm f2.8L IS

In this blog, "The Way We See It," I have tried to honor the tag line... We work to Travel - We travel to Explore - We explore to Learn - We learn to Teach - We teach to Conserve. 


While brevity is not my strength and I am prone to excessive analysis, I do believe that images inspire. I use photography to tell stories, to provoke a response, and to teach. As an educator in a bedroom community, I see the xenophobia that grips our society first hand. Communities at large stress that if you are not "one of us," then you have little value to us. The current debate about budgets, fiscal irresponsibility, and debt crises completely cloud the important things in life. 

So what does this rambling have to do with photography, ecosystems and road trips? 

Throughout this summer I have made a commitment to travel and photography. In one brief month, I have traversed multiple time zones, crossed the continental divide, and straddled the equator. I have endured the discomfort of twelve hour drives, showerless days, and straight-line winds to see my planet with fresh eyes. The monotony of responsibility is replaced by a devotion to my craft and admiration for the planet's biodiversity. So, as politicians continue to debate minutia, and people live in fear of each other, I think that it is only appropriate for me to ask... WTF?! Crawl out of that damn shell, hit the road and take a risk. There are more important things to our survival as a nation and a species than taxes and balancing the books. A good old-fashion road trip across the country or the planet hold lessons for us all. You will be reminded about the fragility of our ecology, recognize our unchecked opulence, and develop respect for simple living.  


So, to unleash your latent road-tripper, I plan to share seven images in seven days. Each picture will be captioned with little more than a location and photographic data. I sincerely hope that these photographs will inspire you to leave the comfort of home and do some living... 

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