It’s been a minute since I’ve posted, but not for lack of content. In the past couple of months I’ve hiked to 10 different waterfalls, dragged myself out of bed for sunrises in the gorge, ventured to Olympic National Park, wandered around a Holland-esque tulip festival, and completed a 4 day solo camping trip along the Oregon coast, mountains, and desert.

It’s been an incredibly grey and rainy few months, but instead of going somewhere a bit more tropical, tomorrow Ben and I are headed to Scotland. We’ll first stay in Edinburgh for four days and then we are picking up a camper van rental and touring around the Highlands, the Isle of Skye, and Northern Scotland for 10 days! You’re either thinking “that sounds awesome!” or “are you crazy?” and the answer to the latter is yes, probably. 🙂 If you’re interested in following along with my adventures, follow me on Instagram! The link is on the right side of this page.

Before I go, I wanted to mention a project I’ve been working on for a few months now that I plan to continue working on while I’m exploring the land of glens and lochs. It’s called “Barefoot Atlas”, and it’s mainly a combination of self-portraits and landscapes.

The reason I decided to put myself in front of the lens (even though it’s scary!!) is because lately I’ve been struggling with focus and inspiration when it comes to photography. Sometimes taking a pretty picture of a landscape just isn’t enough for me.

I was out on a hike alone one day when I finally had the revelation that my landscape photos need a human element. By adding a person to the image, I can create a sense of scale, I can infuse them with feeling, and I can tell a story to create more thought-provoking and lasting images.

With these photos I aim to evoke curiosity and awe, wonder, excitement, nostalgia, mystery, even sometimes fear. Being in nature brings out my inner child, it makes me want to climb trees and walk barefoot and I tend to forget all about stress and discomfort.

That transformation is powerful and I want to make people viewing my photos feel that same urge to explore and play, to reflect with nostalgia on their childhood, to go outside and connect with nature.

There are many more photos on my new Instagram: @barefootatlas. I’d love to know what you think!