Last time I was in Germany it just happened to coincide with the wedding of my cousin Johanna. Back again in Germany and another major event in the life of my cousin Johanna’s, the baptism of her child (along with the baptism of 3 other children including my other cousin Christoph’s daughter). Johanna had asked me if I would like to shoot photos for them, which I naturally obliged to do. It was a bit hectic and crazy with 4 kids being baptised, not to mention the others there to watch, but was a lot of fun. Here are my favorite shots from the event!

This year Christmas was a little more special than previous years. It was the first time in about 12 years that we had all the brothers home for the holidays. The last time this happened (at least that was documented) was my highschool graduation. It was definitely long overdue, and made for one full house. It was also the first time many in our family got to meet my niece Azure. It was a really fun time having everyone together, and I was happy to be able to get a few photos of the full crew before we went our separate ways.

Here are some photos from Christmas at the Klopp’s house.

File this post under the better late than never.

The major reason for me to go on the big road trip from California to Colorado was to attend the wedding of my friends Venassa and Raphael. I had met Venassa back in 2006 in Vegas when following Pearl Jam on their west coast leg of the tour. She had seen us during the Canadian Tour (or our Van) and got into contact with us wanting to join us if we ever did another tour. When the US tour was announced she joined us in Vegas. As things go I also met her now husband Raphael at the same time. He was living in Vegas at the time, and was meeting up with Venassa for one of the first times after the two had been set up by friends who thought they would get along well.

After the tour I kept in touch with Venassa and would see her every so often when visiting Montreal. When she told me she was engaged to Raphael I was extremely ecstatic for them. The chemistry between the two when I first met them was obvious, and it made me happy to hear they finally were able to make it work. When Venassa asked if I could take a few photos of their wedding, I told her I couldn’t be happier to.

As for the wedding, it took place at Keystone Resort a little over an hour East of Denver. It was completely non traditional; on top of a ski hill, Venassa’s cousin doing the ceremony, everyone dressed in ski gear, and most people going for runs after. It was a fun, and touching ceremony, and a fantastic weekend. Shooting the wedding was a bit tough due to all the ski gear everyone had on, and the midday light, not to mention having to hold a camera in the extreme cold. Regardless I think I got a few good shots from the wedding. Here are some of my favourites.

My last stop of my trip before heading off to Colorado for Venassa & Raphael’s wedding was in Moab, Utah. Moab is a really cool town that sits just outside of both Canyonlands and Arches, and is a Mecca for rock climbers, mountain bikers and other nature and extreme sport lovers. I was initially going to camp in Arches for the 2 days I was there, but after having such a good time in Moab (the brewery in town is fantastic) I decided to simply stay in a hotel.

Over the two days I spent most of my time in Arches. However on one of the mornings I got up early and raced my way up into Canyonlands so that I could get a picture of the Mesa Arch at sunrise. It is probably one of the most photographed arches. While I was racing time to get up to the Arch I noticed another car behind me driving equally fast. When I pulled over at the Mesa Arch trailhead they pulled in right beside me. We all got out of our vehicles, full camera gear in hand, and ran off to the Arch to setup before sunrise. We got there just in time. The group of three photographers were from Portugal. One of the photographers (Fernando) used to be a professional photographer, however now he just shoots for himself. It was a real pleasure to meet this group, and get some pointers from Fernando. He had such a great eye.

After shooting the sunrise I headed up to Arches National Park and went for a hike along the Devils Garden trail. It was a really fun hike that took me over fins and canyons, and to a lot of different arches. It was a bit ridiculous how many arches are in the park. Later that day I did another hike up to the Delicate Arch where I ran into the group from Portugal again. Delicate Arch is the arch that is featured on the Utah licence plate, and probably one of the most famous arches. I hung around taking photos and watched the sun set. It was a bit of a task hiking back down from the arch in the pitch dark. Luckily I had my headlight and was accompanied by a couple other photographers with lights.

I really enjoyed my time in Moab and the parks nearby, and am really glad I decided to change my trip to accommodate them. Would love to go back sometime in the future.

Here are some photos from Canyonlands and Arches.

Page is not the most exciting city in Arizona, however the sites around the city are simply breathtaking. There were three main sites I had wanted to see near Page before I started this trip. Horseshoe Bend (where the Colorado River does a 180 degree turn), Antelope Canyon, and The Wave. Going through Page twice I was able to do two of the three. Later in my trip I was actually offered to join a group of Portuguese photographers who had won the lottery for entry to shoot The Wave, unfortunately the day they were going was the same day as the wedding I was on my way to. For another day.

Horseshoe bend was really a fantastic place to see, albeit a bit unnerving. You stand on a cliff with a sheer 1,000 foot drop down to the Colorado River. Talk about facing my fear of heights full on. My drive to get a good shot of the bend eventually won over my fear of heights and lead me to inch my way to the edge of the cliff. It was breathtaking. I actually visited the Bend twice. Once on my way up to Zion, and then the second time the morning before entering Antelope Canyon. The latter I had the place all to myself, and was able to have a few silent hours alone along the ridge.

After the morning at the Bend I made my way to Antelope Canyon, where I was able to get a photo pass. Antelope Canyon is a slot canyon carved into the red sandstone. What makes it special is that when the light shines into the canyon it reflects off the canyon walls creating some amazing colours on the rocks. I was the first one into the canyon, and spent close to 3 hours wandering through it taking photos. It was pretty amazing time.

Finally I had to make my way East. I left Antelope Canyon and headed off through Navejo land for Monument Valley. I got to the Valley a few hours before sunset and did the scenic drive. I was initially thinking of camping in the valley, however due to the lack of hiking in the area, I decided to push on forward to give myself more time in Arches and Canyonlands in Utah. So I left Monument Valley as the sun was setting as so many westerns that were shot there had ended.

Here are some photos from Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon and Monument Valley.

On my way out of Bryce Canyon I didn’t have too much of a plan for the rest of the day. I needed to get to Page, Arizona; but didn’t have to be there by any set time. I knew there were a few state parks a little south of Bryce, so I figured I would just pick one and try it out. I decided to go with something a little different than Canyons, and picked the Coral Pink Sand Dunes.

On my way there I passed by a dinner that I had to stop at. It was located right at Camel Junction (between Bryce and Zion) and had a big sign saying, “Home of the Ho-Made Pies”. Any dinner with a sign like that required a stop. I ended up getting a snack, and then tried a slice of the coconut cream pie. It was pretty great.

Back on the road I got to the sand dunes about an hour and a half before sunset. Once again the only person at the park. Myself and a bunch of pink sand. I wandered around in the dunes, taking some photos and just exploring the sand. It was a pretty wild place, and when the sun began to set the sand turned a majestic red. What a great end to my day.

Here are a few photos from the Coral Pink Sand Dunes in Utah.

My plan for my second day in Bryce was to wake up early and catch the sunrise over the amphitheatre before heading out on a hike around Fairyland Loop. When I woke in the morning I noticed something was a bit off. It was oddly warm in the car. When I finally opened up my eyes and looked around, I realized my car was completely covered in an couple inches of snow. So much for the clear skies I had seen the night before. This pretty much ruined my chances of shooting a sunrise over the canyon, so I took my time getting myself together in the morning, before heading out to one of the lookouts to inspect the situation.

The snow at this point was already starting to slow, and from what I could tell the trails all looked pretty good. After seeing an ill equipped group from Florida head out down one of the smaller trails, I decided I was good to go for the Fairyland loop. I am so happy I decided to push forward with this hike. The snow was not a problem, and this was one of my favourite hikes of my trip. I didn’t see a single person the entire time, and it was just me and the hoodoos. Midway through the hike the sky began to open up, and the fog and clouds lifted leaving the last half of the hike in the sun. It was a real treat.

After my hike I made a small lunch before checking out the viewpoints one final time, then set off back for Page, Arizona.

Here are some photos from my second day in Bryce Canyon.

Bryce Canyon was one of my favourite National Parks that I visited on my Southwest trip. I loved the out-worldliness of it, and how different the scenery was from what I am used to. Most of all however, it was a fantastic place to hike and take photographs. My first day in the park I spent hiking some of the smaller trails and taking photos, leaving my big hike for the next morning. After spending a fantastic day in the park I picked up some dinner, a 6 pack of beer and made a camp fire in the deserted camp ground. The stars in Bryce Canyon were simply amazing, and the brightest I have seen in a very long time. Here are some photos from my first day in Bryce.

I didn’t spend a long time in Zion National Park, and was lucky to even make it there. Midway through my trip I decided to change my route in order to fit it in. In my initial plan I was to go North from Page to Bryce then continue north through to Arches National Park and then further south to Monument Valley. However after looking at a map I realized that would have caused me a lot of back tracking. Now instead of going north after Bryce, I would go back south through Page, then East over to Monument Valley and then north through to Arches.

After the Grand Canyon I drove on North and made it to the town of Springdale where I found a nice cheap hotel just outside the entrance to the park. The drive into Springdale was interesting as I dropped down into a canyon doing some sharp snowy switchbacks, followed by a tunnel that went on for over a mile long. I was happy to make it to the hotel room after the long day of driving.

In the morning I was up early to catch another sunrise. After, I chased a few deer around (or rather they chased me around), went on a few small hikes, then set off around lunchtime for Bryce Canyon. It was a short visit, but in December, Zion wasn’t as spectacular as I am sure it would be in the spring or fall. Here are some photos from my short stint in Zion.

The grand canyon is nothing short of magnificent. It is one of the seven natural wonders of the world, and for good reason. I had a heard a lot of good things about visiting the Grand Canyon, and it didn’t disappoint.

I arrived at the grand canyon late, after wine tasting all day in Northern Arizona. I checked into a cheap hotel just outside the canyon and did my best to get to bed early so I could catch the sunrise at the canyon. Nerves, excitement, and the couple in the hotel room next door kept me up later than I had hoped, but eventually I got to sleep. The next morning I made my way to the park just as the sky was beginning to open up. I was a touch late, as by the time I made it into the park and at my first viewing area all the reds of the morning sky had dissipated. However that first glimpse at the over 4000 foot drop below was no less breathtaking. I stood still on the edge of the canyon watching as the sun continued to climb up the sky, and several photographers snapped happily away.

After I regained my composure from my captivation of the grand canyon, I wanted to get out and do some hiking. It was still early in the day and I wanted to do some exploring. I decided to hike the Hermit Trail, as I thought it would likely have the least amount of people hiking it, and I wanted to honour the late Canadian Louis Boucher who the trail was named after. I hiked first to Hermit’s Rest then made my way to the Dripping Springs, before heading back to the top of the canyon. All in all I hiked over 16 miles, in about 5 hours.

While relaxing after my hike at trail head I met a really nice couple from France. They both worked in England for a few years saving up, before finally setting off on an epic adventure that will take them from Alaska to Argentina, and eventually back to France. Fabienne and Arnaud are documenting their adventure on their blog at: http://www.elgringotrail.com/blog/?cat=12

I camped that night in the canyon with Arno and Fab, before setting off again in the morning to catch the sunrise. This time I was there in time, and got to shoot the canyon as the sky lit up to a blaze of colour. It was an amazing experience. After spending the morning shooting, I slowly made my way out of the park, checking out all the viewpoints on my way out of the park. I would have loved to spend more time in the park, however I still had a lot of country to cover and needed to make my way north into Utah.

I will definitely be returning to the grand canyon. I would love to do the multi-day hike into the canyon out to the Havasu Falls. Until then however, I will have to only dream of the beautiful green-blue pools.

Here are some photos from my hikes and of my sunset and sunrise shoots at the Canyon. Also here is the Google Earth KML file of my hike.

On Sunday I returned from a small trip down south. My good friends Venassa and Raphael were getting married in Colorado, so I decided to combine the wedding with a visit to my good friends Joe and Kasie in California, and a road trip across a few southern states to check out some of the national parks. It was a really epic trip, that started and ended with really good friends. The road trip itself was simply amazing. A dream come true from a photography standpoint, and something I want to do again soon. Over the next few days I will posting a few notes and photos from the trip as I make my way through my collection. Here is the first set, photos from San Clemente California, and the start of the drive to Arizona.

San Clemente was a great way to start the trip. Relaxed time spent with friends, with nice sunny weather (especially after the snowfall we were getting in Vancouver). I got to experience American Thanksgiving (twice), Weezer in concert, and see a hockey game in a non hockey market. On my finals days before leaving San Clemente I overdid it with the Mexican food, and my stomach fought back. I had visions of Montreal before my Europe trip a few years back, and was fearing my road trip wasn’t going to get off the ground. However I was lucky enough to have the wonderful Kasie around to nurse me back to health so that I was able to leave on schedule. Thanks again Kasie!

I have been in Montreal for the past few weeks visiting my brother and family. It has been a really nice time of year to come, as the colours of the trees are all very vibrant. Here are some photos from a walk I did around the mountain and the city.

During my time back in Fauquier I made a day trip with my nephew Mateo to Vernon to visit my brother Michael and his family. It was a really nice summer day, so Mike decided to take out his boat on Kalamalka Lake to do a little wakeboarding, and just enjoy they hot summer day.

Here are a bunch of photos I took during the day. First up was Mateo who had never wakeboarded before. He was up on his first try!

Next up was Kalin. He started off on a wake skate, goofed around on that for a while then switched to the wakeboard.

My sister in law Angie and Kalin’s friend Johnny also went for a board. I went too, but nobody remembered to take any pictures of me. Maybe it was for the better!

However it was my brother Mike who showed us all how it is done.

After we all got a little wakeboarding in we got a little silly. We put Kalin in the dry-suit and filled it up with air so that he would float on the water. We then pulled him behind the boat!

The rest of the day we spent cruising around the lake enjoying the sunshine. Kelsie (Mike & Angie’s dog) was sure enjoying it.

It was a great way to spend the day, as it is always fun hanging out with Mike and Angie.

During my time on vacation in Maui my brother, his wife and I went up to Honolua Bay one day to checkout the surfing. The day we went we caught the tail end of some monster waves. Still got to see the occasional 20+ foot wave being surfed though. Also was some of the best surfing I have ever witnessed live before. Here are a few shots I took from the day.

Hawaii

2009 started with a trip to Hawaii to see my best friend Joern get married. I was the best man of the wedding, and wouldn’t miss the occasion for the world. It was a beautiful ceremony that took place in the garden of the Sheraton on the Big Island overlooking the ocean. A fun evening of drinks dancing, and other fun events took part after.

The first week in Hawaii was spent on the Big Island. I was staying with Jason who I had convinced to come along, as well as Bernie and Andrew who were there for the wedding. We had a good balance of touring around the island and just lazing on the beach, and enjoying the warm Hawaiian waters. After our first week Bernie left us, while Andrew, Jason and myself headed off to the Island of Kauai for some more adventure.

Kauai was a bit of a fantasy land. Such an amazing island in terms of geography, so lush and green, and such an amazing place to photograph. We spent 2 weeks in Kauai, during which time I actually worked for days. I would wake up at 6am and work until around 1ish. This would still give me half the day to explore. Jason at the time was working on his book and kept to a similar schedule to me, while Andrew spent his mornings exploring around on his own. It worked out extremely well, and made me extend my trip by another 2 weeks.

The 2 weeks spent in Kauai went by quickly, and soon it was time to move again. Before leaving the island however we decided we would catch a benefit concert at a school on Kauai that featured Donavon Frankenreiter, and Jake Shimabukuro. Jake stole the show as expected, however seeing all the kids in the school singing/playing along with Donavon was also quiet fun.

We took off to Honolulu for a few days to celebrate Andrew’s birthday, after which we moved onto Maui for a few days. Maui we spent a lot of time our time driving around the island exploring. Our trip along the Hana Highway goes down as one of the most scenic drives I have done to date. It is also largely untouched by tourism, and still very remote.

Finally we ended up back on the Big Island for two more weeks. These last two weeks were spent mainly surfing. We had found a fantastic house to rent half a block from the beach, which allowed us to simply walk from our place, to the beach and go surfing. We did also manage to make it up to the top of Mauna Kea.

West Coast

Unfortunately my time in Hawaii had to end. Although it was nice to be back in Vancouver, and catch back up with life, and play some hockey! Started off playing back in Langley for my tema the Master Bladers, then as the winter started to turn to spring, I began to get some Burton Hockey sessions organized, slowly bringing in new recruits for the year.

It turned out to be a banner year for Burton Hockey, for both VRH and BUSH. I even managed to score my 1000 point, and Lee went on to destroy the record books.

Also during the spring Jordan, Oliver and myself after a night of many beers, started Urban Capture the Flag. We had an initial beta test, then got around to setting up matches every couple of weekends. It was a lot of fun to get going, unfortunately due to busy summers the wheels fell off. Hopefully in 2010 we can get the ball rolling again, especially so we can do another Capture the Beer.

As the spring rolled on I did my annual festival of the year, by attending the Sasquatch Music Festival. I was accompanied by Jason and Lester. It was a ridiculously fun weekend, which was made even better by the cool crew we met from Calgary/Canmore. If only everyone could experience a car party, or the flambongo.

As summer quickly approached, I hastily made a bunch of new travel plans, that would take me away from my beloved Vancouver for most of the summer. Before leaving however I still managed to plant my tomatoes, and get them started on my balcony.

Finally my last weekend in Vancouver before taking off was spent up at Whistler celebrating Joern’s 30th birthday. It was a fantastic weekend that saw the creation of the m-1000, some amazing stealthing, and a lovely barbeque on the lake.

Montreal and Europe for the Summer

It is becoming a bit of a tradition now for me to visit my brother in Montreal over the summer. Last year was no different. It was a lovely visit with Richard and Youki, and was great to see my ever growing nephew Mateo. Say what you will about bribery, but it works on kids, as I was able to get my nephew to cut his hair!

On my last week in Montreal after a visit to Ottawa I fell sick. Horribly sick. It was one of the worst times of my life, and could have been so much different had the medical system in Quebec treated me correctly. Unfortunately when it came time to fly to Europe I couldn’t go. I pushed back my flight 5 days in the hope I would recover. Luckily I did after seeing a new doctor. The only good thing that came of this, was that I was able to go on another search for the best poutine in Montreal.

I hadn’t planned on going to Europe last summer. However it was my cousin Johanna’s wedding, so I couldn’t not go. Building off the success of my time in Hawaii I decided while in Europe I would work for the majority of my time there to save on vacation days. I spent my first week before the wedding in Berlin, where I met up a few times with my cousin Christoph. It was really nice to spend time with him and get to know his family. Then it was time for the wedding. So I hoped a train and headed out for Oldenburg.

The wedding was absolutely wonderful, despite being completely confusing for me language wise. Johanna being German, and Regis French, made for a very bilingual wedding, in languages I am not exactly the best at. Regardless there were a few nice French girls who could speak English who helped me out. Johanna had asked me to take some photos of the ceremony. I had never shot a wedding before, so I was a little nervous to do so under the gun, however I was pretty happy with the result of the wedding photos I took.

After the wedding I was off to Berlin for a final two days before heading off on the rest of my adventure. Next stops, Croatia and Italy. I met up with Jason in Dubrovnik, where we started our adventure. We spent a wonderful two days in Dubrovnik, exploring the old city walls, enjoying the local cuisine, and partying in the back alleys.

We then picked up our rental car from the airport and started our drive North towards Kastav, where our good friend Sid lives. when we picked up the rental car, we were told Avis wouldn’t honor our rate. We had rented with carrentals.com, who guaranteed us our booking, yet Avis said there was a problem, and we had to pay 10 times the price we were quoted. Here is more info on how we were screwed by avis and carrentals.com.

Despite that minor problem, we continued on our drive up the Croatian coast, finally making it to Kastav where we spent our weekend getting shown around town by Sid.

It was then off to Italy. I celebrated my 29th birthday in Venice with Jason. I then continued on alone south through Verona and Florence. I met back up with Jason in Florence and we continued on to Siena where we attended the Palio de Siena. We were lucky enough to be able to stay with our friend Berenice at her lovely Siena Villas.

Just like that the trip was coming to a close. One final stop in Manchester England to see some friends, and catch a Pearl Jam concert, and then it was back to North America for me.

Wisconsin, Wilderness, and a Trip to the East Coast

A few weeks after returning home to Vancouver I was off again. This time to Wisconsin. One last wedding, and another adventure with Jason. I arrived a week before the wedding of my friends Tom and Ingrid. Basically for the week leading up to the wedding I worked during the day, then in the afternoon went off on adventures exploring the state of Wisconsin. It was a fun time. Jason arrived a few days before the wedding, and the rest of our time was spent celebrating the wedding of some good friends.

When I got back to Vancouver it was time to do my annual hike of the year. This time it was up the Lions. It was a nice hike with a bunch of great friends, and probably the last opportunity we had before the weather started to turn ugly.

I made it home to visit my parents in the Kootenays for Thanksgiving. I spent some time with my mom pine mushroom picking. The rest of my time was spent in the kitchen helping her out baking pies and other nice treats.

My last trip of the year took me to Philadelphia and Washington DC. I finally got to see my first ever Flyers home game, and proceeded to catch two more games. Finally to close out my weekend I caught the last ever concert in the Spectrum (where the Flyers won their Stanley Cups) played by Pearl Jam.

Returning home it was time to finally ground myself for the rest of the year. I spent the final two months of 2009 reconnecting with friends, and baking up a storm. Christmas was spent with my parents and family feasting and playing games. A wonderful way to close out such a wonderful year. Here is to 2010 being as good to me as 2009 was, and perhaps a return to bearded Stefan.