Back in 2020, I had a trip planned to Wyoming/MT to do some astro photography. There happened to be a huge storm front over the Rockies at the time of my trip, so there seemed to be little chance of seeing the stars anytime that week. So, I started researching other destinations and randomly came across an image on Instagram with some big waves and an interesting landscape. After some research, I discovered that that image was captured on the North Shore of Lake Superior. I shifted the direction my truck was originally pointed and headed to the North Shore.
That trip did something to me. Something profound. I’ve always been a water dude. Ever since my first rafting trip on the Poudre when I was 11 or 12. Went on to work rivers as a whitewater guide in CO and MT. Moved to California to experience the Ocean. I’ve always loved the water and it has always done good things for my soul. Seeing Lake Superior and the surrounding region for the first time was life-changing. I found elements of some of my favorite places from Oregon, Idaho, Montana, California, Colorado…all somehow stitched together in this amazingly beautiful place. Wild rivers tumble and twist through canyons to join forces with the big lake. The ancient white and red pines, cedars, aspen, larch, and birch of the boreal forest create an ecosystem like no other. A diverse and massive wilderness that holds its beauty no matter the season.
I would end of traveling to the North Shore about 10 times over the course of a year since that first trip. Some were family trips, others were solo trips exploring with my camera, and some were for video projects for new clients, as well as productions for Midwest Food Stories. Simply put, I fell in love with the beauty, the water, the wildness, the people, and the creativity happening everywhere you look.
Every trip I have ever taken since I was a kid, I have always tried to imagine living in that place. Sometimes, I’ve embraced that drive and let that curiosity guide me to new places, like when I moved to Bozeman, Salida, Missoula, Leadville, Ventura, or Denver. Those were all very valuable chapters in my life that I’m incredibly grateful for. The time of Covid taught us a lot of things, with the most important lesson being the value of time and how valuable it is. We all get just one wild and precious life, so we decided to go with it- to go with this love we were all feeling for a new and interesting place. We took a family vote and decided to leave our home and our extended family to head out on a grand adventure and make Duluth our new home. It was hard to imagine leaving all that we had behind and starting over in a new place. It was extremely hard to leave our acreage, our house in the forest, and my studio that we had spent the last five years building. And it was next to impossible to leave behind our community of amazing friends and our family…but in the end, we went big and decided that we needed to embark on this new adventure. We wanted our kids to grow up having amazing access to wild places. We needed to get back to living near water and trails and a community of people that cherish the wild lands.
There are new creative projects that I’m been sketching out since I first visited this region and I’m incredibly excited to start making those projects a reality. And I’m looking forward to collaborating with new clients on the North Shore in many different capacities. The kids have integrated to their new life beautifully and I’m so proud of them for their courage and curiosity and their willingness to embrace adventure. Same goes for Joey who has been our rock in beginning this new chapter. We have loved exploring the trails and beaches and backroads of our new home and are constantly discovering a much as we possibly can.
I will continue to travel wherever and whenever for my clients and I look forward to many more adventures together.
So, here’s to new adventures! Happy new year.
