Field Trips

Mustang Island State Park

in

"you can't be your best self until you find your tribe."

i have never felt more a part of something in my life than i have with this group of people. i have never felt more care come from people than i have with this group. i have never felt more concern come from people than i have with this group. i have never felt more enthusiasm come from people than i have with this group. i have never felt more love come from people than i have with this group. 

these folks took me in when i needed it the most and they didn't even know it. no questions. people who were genuinely interested in what i had to say, and more importantly what i didn't have to say. people who would sacrifice their own time to make sure i was having a good time.

people who would bear their souls to me with no expectation that i would do the same (even though i did). people who are always ready to have a good time, but understand the importance of embracing sorrow and heartache when it comes around. people who are nothing but sincere with their words and actions, sincere, so sincere. 

i have found my tribe in these people; and everyday they help me become my best self. 

*shot with the help of lauren simpson (click for portfolio)*

Bastrop & Corpus Christi

in

"....no longer by the circumstances themselves, but my mandate to assess them." marina keegan

trying to write about this weekend had me crossing out line after line in my notebook. trying to articulate how this weekend was refreshing, how time alone, how time with old friends, how time with a new friend, all converged to make for a weekend the was hectic but also the most relaxing i've had in a while. so that is all, and i need to remind myself that sometimes that is all there has to be. 

Field Trip - Pedernales Falls

in

every morning on my way to work i crest a hill by my house, the skyline peaks its head out at me, glowing in the light of the freshly risen sun. i'm filled with an overwhelming sense that everything is going to be GOOD. i'd rather be going somewhere other than work, but seeing a sleepy city just waking up reminds me that we're all in this together. we all struggle, we all triumph, most of us stuck in a line of traffic probably wish we were doing something else. but we are all here and we're all part of it.

 

i was speaking about this with my friend lauren, she mentioned how familiar that feeling was. how she takes a look in her rearview mirror on the way to work to glance at the sun rising behind the city, "i think that's a little daily reminder that life is bigger than us and that work and heartbreak and hard times are temporary."

 

temporary. temporary. temporary. 

"if you have an emotion, especially negative, FEEL IT, wholly and as painfully as you can. embrace it. if you're sad. BE SAD. and then, let it go. breathe and release it back into where it belongs; not inside of you"

as lauren said above, even though those feelings are temporary that doesn't mean we can't take something beautiful away from them, even if it hurts in the moment. because at the end of the day, it is just that, the end of the day. tomorrow is a new one, a new chance to feel how ever we'd like to feel. 

Water World. Austin & Surrounding Areas.

in

have you ever felt like a tourist in your own city or town? i constantly find myself looking around austin in complete awe of everything it has to offer. even after three years here, the people and places continue to amaze me. do i really live in this dream world? from swimming in barton springs to grabbing a coffee at brew & brew, i feel like i'm on vacation everyday(and thats saying a lot since i do have a full time job). these feelings were amplified two weeks ago when an old friend came down to austin from portland, maine. 

she spent the night in an airport due to severe thunderstorms, i blew out my tire an hour before i was supposed to pick her up, the normally bright blue texas sky was under a thick cover of grey clouds, but the string of bad luck leading up to her visit wasn't going to stop us from making it the best weekend ever. 

from the moment she rolled into town until her early morning flight home, we were nonstop. friends, food, drinks, hiking and a lot of swimming. 

a secret swimming hole, barton springs, commons ford and inks lake. our days were based around staying cool and having fun. i usually get burnt out showing people around austin and the surrounding areas, but when it came time for her flight home i didn't want the weekend to end. i was doing the same things i normally do when i stay in town, but it felt like i was on a vacation as well. the feeling of pure amazement and enjoyment in your own city is a beautiful thing and i'm happy that austin can still offer that to me. 

 

check out kanya's adventures in maine by clicking here. http://www.hillsandtrailsco.com/

Buffalo Farm - Gilford, New Hampshire

in

as a kid, my parents would drive a few miles out of the way so we could pass this one gorgeous pasture filled with buffalo in the town we lived in. fast forward to teenage years, your mind is consumed with your high school sweetheart, finding sweet skate spots or dance dance revolution. you forget about those exciting car rides and the beautiful lands your home offers.

oddly enough, the owners of this farm are now family through marriage; i suppose it may not be that strange when you grow up in a small town like laconia, new hampshire.

bolduc farm was built in 1776 and is the oldest continuously running sap house in the united states, first tapping the maple trees the year they built the farm. they also raise the aforementioned buffalo because (in the words of ernie bolduc, the owner) “There is nothing more American than the buffalo!” 

 

Field Trip - Texas Wildflowers

in

"we only take pictures of the things we are afraid to lose." i read this a while back on somebody's instagram and really identified with it. up until that point i could never really define why i took the photographs i did, i probably would have classified myself as a "landscape photographer". and while it's true that i do take some landscape pictures, i take them because of what i'm feeling that moment, standing there with my wife seeing something new for the first time. 

kneeling down in a field of flowers trying to take some pictures for this post taylor asked me "what's wrong", i answered "i don't like any of these pictures, but i'm not really sure what i'm hoping for." here i was taking a technically great photo in the early morning sunlight and it just didn't feel right to me, it was no fun, there was no emotion involved. it wasn't until we climbed up a hay bale that i really started snapping away.

there are times i'll go somewhere without taylor, camera in tow, and not take a single picture. not necessarily because i'm having a bad time, but because my heart is just not there. and if i don't want to take pictures of what i'm looking at why would anyone even want to see them?

all of the photos you see on america y'all were taken because i was feeling something at the exact moment i clicked the shutter, feeling something that i never want to forget. 

Field Trip - Lake Travis Low Water Crossing

in

in general we are solitary people, prefering to enjoy travels and trips by our lonesome. we've learned that friendships can be messy and frustrating and over time have found it much less stressful to only count on each other. but every once in a while someone comes into your life that you just feel at ease with, from day one ryan (brotherstories.com) has been that person to us. a man genuinely interested in the best for those around him, he has a keen sense of adventure, and a way with words i can only someday hope to attain. this past saturday we spent some time exploring the banks of the colorado river directly south of lake travis. climbing trees, feeding birds and drinking brews, i couldn't ask for a better day. and therein lies the beauty of his friendship; it can be light or it can be heavy, but it is always meaningful.