Wow, it sure has been a whirlwind of life since I last posted.  I had a fantastic trip to the East Coast over the holidays where I spent amazing time with my family and got to see some very good friends. Since I’ve gotten back, Ive been consumed with something new (that I’ll be announcing here real soon), that I’m really excited about and is going to mean lots more blogging and sharing of photos, music, and videos. So exciting!!

But for now, here’s a little recap of my last month or so with some teaser pics of full blog posts coming soon.  You’ll wanna check back soon cause there’s something really exciting in the works that I just can’t wait to share with you all!!

Here I am on the plane making my way east.

I had the amazing fortune to meet and spend the day with a family who I’ve admired for a long time, The Sandersons. Such a beautiful family, and incredible photographers.

My Dad and his wife Lynn are working on a new business and so we got a couple shots of them for their new website which will be going live really soon.

I also got to do an Engagement shoot in Baltimore for my good friends Jennifer and Eric. I’ll have a full blog post coming from this shoot real soon. Here’s a few teasers. We got some great shots!!

Since I’ve been back home, I’ve appreciated the mountains even more than usual as I always do after a trip away.

I went out hiking with my friends Lars and Ryan the other day, and we had a blast. The clouds were killer and it felt more like Junuary than January.  There will be a full blog post coming on this soon as well.

A little self portrait fun in Ryan’s glasses.

So while I was gone, I did get a new Canon 5D Mark II and I couldn’t be more excited!!! Its the first digital SLR to include full HD 1080p video capabilities, and the footage is just stunning. I went to a going away party the other night for my friend Mark who’s moving to South Dakota, and decided to bust out the camera for just a few minutes to play around. When I got home I decided to throw together a little short from the footage.

I’m totally just learning, but am really excited about the new possibilities video opens up!! The song in the video is Urban Blue by Paul Alvaran and is available as a royalty free music download at ShawnReederMusic.com. You can watch the video full screen by clicking the button in the lower right hand corner. Enjoy!!

I just got back a few days ago from a week away in Yosemite and out to Shuteye Ridge for a birthday camping and climbing trip. It was so nice to spend time out at Shuteye, one of my favorite places ever. My friend Ryan and I stayed out there for a few days and had a huge moon the whole time with perfect fall temps as well. We climbed every day and hiked around exploring new areas as well. Sat by a fire one night, got some good reading in, and had a great re connection with nature. A total dream. I’ve also been trying to get out and find fall color as much as possible and it has been beautiful, but it comes and goes in the blink of an eye. Just this afternoon I went up to the Aspens up Bishop Creek and they’re almost all bare already. Just like that. I guess it makes that brief time of splendid color that much more special. I hope you are enjoying fall as well and that your days are filled with smiles.

I had one of the most special shoots I’ve ever had when Ashlee, Kevin, and I got some photos for their engagement in Yosemite’s beautiful high country, Tuolumne Meadows. Many of you will recognize Kevin, as I’ve been sharing photos of our adventures and art for years now. Kevin’s actually my longest standing friend who I still spend a lot of time with. We’ve been friends for 15 years, and I love him very much. He is a brilliant artist and his work can be seen here.

I couldn’t be more excited for such a dear friend to have met and connected with someone as amazing and lovely as Ashlee. She has a warm radiance and love about her that is completely infectious. Kevin is a lucky man!

Ashlee and Kevin met in Tuolumne 6 years ago when we all were working there for the summer, so it was so special for us to capture images of their love in our beloved Tuolumne.  Yosemite is one of the most magical places on the planet, and Tuolumne is the most sacred and special to us.

Kevin and Ashlee, I love you both so very much and wish you a lifetime of joy, happiness, and growing together.  I’m so excited for all the wonderful times we have and will share together, and am blessed to have you as such dear friends.

You can check out the slideshow by pressing play or clicking here to see it on its own page.

Last week when I was over in Yosemite my friend Graham and I decided to hike up to one of my favorites places, Hidden Falls. Its a beautiful hike up Tenya Creek, and one of my favorite places in Yosemite to hang and for photography. Graham had never been there before, and I always love sharing my favorite off the beaten path with others, so it was especially fun.

A few days later two of my dearest friends came back into town, Kevin and Ashlee. They just spent close to 4 months in India and Nepal and have now arrived back into the marvelous Sierra Nevada for another fun filled amazing summer in Tuolumne Meadows. Kevin is one of my longest standing friends. We’ve been friends since just after high school back in Maryland, and its so awesome that he comes and spends a good part of the year every year in California. He’s a very inspiring traveling artist who I love sharing time and adventures with. They stayed with me a few days and then we went up to Tuolumne. Our first night up there we hiked to the top of Lamb Dome and caught and amazing sunset.

Kevin did a rad watercolor.

I LOVE this next shot!!

The next day I met up with my great friends Sean Jones and Graham Hunt. Sean’s been dreaming of a new route potential over Tenya Lake for years so they went to explore and check it out.

I also met up with another good friend and Sierra legend Doug Robinson. Here he is with some of his friends after a great trip in the Palisades. They stopped in Tuolumne on their way back to the coast and we all serendipitously happened upon each other. Sean and Doug and I have worked on 3 feature articles together, yet its rare we get to just hang out and have fun in the mountains. We actually got Doug to detour his trip home and come join us for a real mountain adventure a couple days later. More on that in a blog post later this week.

The route Sean wanted to check out looks amazing!!! Looks hard, maybe too hard for him, but only time will tell if it’ll be climbable.

The Tuolumne River was sure looking spectacular. It has such a special place in my heart after sleeping right next to it for 11 summers, and I love to just go sit down by the river and Be.

Doug, Sean, Graham, and I went on an awesome mountain adventure a few days later that I’ll be sharing here real soon, so check back!

Hope you’re well,

I’m so unbelievably excited to share that Rangefinder Magazine did a feature article on me and it just came out!!! Rangefinder is the biggest magazine in the US for professional photographers, so I was beyond honored when they called me up and asked if I would mind being interviewed for their magazine. I have to give a huge shout out to Frank Simon for encouraging them to check out my work. Frank is an AMAZING photographer living in Arizona, and someone I respect immensely, and share a kindred spirit with. You should really check out his work, its out of this world.

You can download the whole article HERE. I’d love to hear your thoughts or feelings if you read the article, so please leave them in the comments if you like. Thanks!

Hope you’re having a wonderful day!!

Home is such a special place. A place to be able to put love and energy into and hopefully enjoy being at, for most people spend a fair amount of time at home. Home is especially important for someone like me who works at home, for it to be a nice environment to keep me motivated and feeling good.

I absolutely Love where I live and am so thankful everyday that this is where I call Home! It’s this amazing Oasis in the desert created by the runoff from the mountains, and it just blows my mind that this neighborhood is so lush, and yet as soon as you get outside of the neighborhood, its pretty much a barren, sage brush, lunar style, desert landscape.

Crazy that we’re completely surrounded by open desert, and yet in our Oasis there’s a pond out front with lots of other ponds in the neighborhood, with almost every property having a creek or two, and just a general greenness and lushness not normally associated with the desert.

This is the front of my quant little cottage that I rent. There’s 7 other cabin/cottages that are all in this area thats a park like setting, and we’re all friends and share common interests so its super cool.

A few weeks ago my next door neighbors and good friends Eric, Caroline, and I decided to completely overhaul our backyards and make one open shared beautiful lawn for us to enjoy. I wish I would of taken some before pictures because it wasn’t pretty, but a completely weed infested and overgrown jungle of gnarliness. But many hours of hard work and camaraderie yielded a gorgeous shared lawn that we’re so excited about!!

And yes that is a trampoline over there, and yes it does lead to hours of fun!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you’re well,