Live a 'One-Knife Life' via Bushcraft

Spent the day with Mike Lummio of Bushcraft Northwest. With the Columbia River Gorge as a setting, he showed me it's possible to live off the land, and all the easier if you've brought along a real stout knife.

This pic shows Lummio using a drill to make hot embers that can lead to a fire. I wrote a story about the experience, and it appeared as one of my Cascade Playground columns in the Vancouver Voice newspaper, the alternative paper in Vancouver, Wash. Click through!

http://www.vanvoice.com/article/19879-tools-wilderness

The Best Part of Outdoor Retailer: Chillin' in Boise

I'm a little scared to count the number of times I've been to the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market trade show in Salt Lake City. Let's just say 10 times would be an accurate guess. While the thrill of the show floor never completely leaves me, other experiences have crept up as even more delightful.

Here's a picture of Marcia Cook and Ryan Whitesides, two friends who happen to live partway between Portland, Ore., and Salt Lake. When I asked if I could lay over a night on my way to the show, they opened their home to me with kindness and generosity I've not experienced in ages.

I had such a great time with Marcia and Ryan, I wrapped my Outdoor Retailer business up a day early so I could scoot back to Boise and hang out. What sweet memories of summer I'll always have of Boise! As long as they'll have me, I'll be back!

The R. Craig Brown Family

For the first time in many years, all nine children of my wife's paternal dad, R. Craig Brown, got together. Many make it to this spot each 4th of July, Grandpa Robert Brown's cabin in Island Park, Idaho, but rarely all.

I had my camera and got this shot of the kids with Craig. The gang are spread across five states these days, and one even lives overseas. Jana Bitton, my wife, is on the far left in a dark shirt.

Four of the kids are from Craig's first wife (Jana's mom) Venessa Pitman. Five of them are from Craig's second wife, Christie.

Beauty Queen Photo Shoot in Port Townsend, Wash.

Deidra Morris, daughter of a dear friend from my junior high and high school days in Idaho Falls, competes in pageants. She needed some fresh photos, so I agreed to motor on up to Port Townsend, Wash., to help out.

Her mom, Lori Marler Morris, hasn't changed a bit since high school, and her daughter, who I took to calling "Miss D," looks just like her mom.

After the shoot, we all went to dinner with Lori's family at the best Mexican restaurant in the area. It was great food, as well as great company.

Best of luck with the 2009 pageant season, Miss D! I'm cheering for you!

TRIOBA Wild Sky Adventure Race

Index, Wash., played host to the TRIOBA Wild Sky Adventure Race. Here's a shot I got right after the race start, as teams were headed out of town toward the mountains that shoot straight up behind Index.

At this moment, I was in the back of a pickup with other photographers. My intention at Wild Sky was to be the official TRIOBA photographer, but because real media showed up from newspapers in the surrounding area, I decided instead to play PR guy. I spent the day making sure they got the information and photographs they needed for their stories. Felt just like the good old days at Primal Quest Utah, where I was a member of Gordon Wright's media team. Ahh, the memories.

Daddy Daughter Date: The Killers Rock Seattle

My daughter Ashton is still amped up about rock and roll, and when I heard the Killers were going to play the Pacific Northwest, I saw a perfect chance for a daddy-daughter date. Surprisingly, the Killers had no Portland dates (they added one later!), so we headed to the Seattle show.

Digital SLRs aren't weren't allowed in the venue, so I made due with my iPhone camera. After dozens of shots, I had a few I was proud of , including this one of bass player Mark Stoermer as fireworks rained down onstage.

It was a late night, plus a three-hour drive home to get Ashton to school this morning. But it was so worth it! We were singing their songs all the way back to Vancouver, Wash. Well, I was. Ashton was asleep. Smart kid.

Blood on the Wide-angle Lens

Like most of the folks in the Spirit Mountain Casino last night, I've been a fan of mixed martial arts (MMA) since I saw it a few years back on Spike TV. So imagine my excitement when I learned about SportFight XXV, an MMA event held within driving distance of Portland, Ore. In this image I captured ringside, amateur fighter Colt Toombs of Team Quest in Portland puts a finishing right on his opponent, Tom Shrout. The result -- blood on my wide-angle lens, as well as on my shirt. I grinned so hard my face ached. What an unbelievable rush! Toombs comes from a fighting family. He's the son of one-time professional wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper.