Happy Belated Summer Solstice & 4th of July!!! / "Rocky Mountain Daydream" Photo Spotlight

Well hello again friends! Whew, I can’t believe we are here - at the peak of Nature’s cycle! One of the roughly bazillion times of the year that I absolutely love!😁

I, of course, had so hoped to be more timely with this originally intended Summer Solstice post, lol! However, grinding it out finishing up some big landscaping projects towards the end of June / right up to the weekend of the 4th during an extreme heat wave here didn’t leave much left in my engine (or my brain for that matter😂) in the evenings.

But, I made it, and after a recouping weekend, have been busy behind the scenes here for a few days preparing for a new experience!

At some point tomorrow I will head out towards Michigan for the Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff this weekend in St. Joseph, MI. I’ll have a couple days in between and then be at Ann Arbor setting up next Wednesday at the State Street District Art Fair. (If you missed my last post and want a more detailed explanation of what’s been going on click here - “Life’s Possibilities”)

I’m so excited to be getting back out on the road and showing my work to a new audience! I’ve been getting very ansy now for a few weeks, especially since I hadn’t done any shows this past Spring. And honestly, no matter what the case may be, when it gets to be about late June - actual Summer - my mind really starts to drift toward adventure…!

It has been that way as long as I can remember in my adult life. From the Coasts, to the Forests, to the Mountains… Backpacking, Camping, and Living Life 🏔️🏕️🏝️😎 That’s all I can think some Summer.

And now, the Festivals too! Being fortunate enough to be juried into some of the Nations finest that I can share my photographs with you, it brings me such joy!

Follow along here on my Blog/Newsletter for some of my most epic expeditions and consequently what I feel is some of my strongest finished work to date.

This Summer, escape the noise and the heat, and let this be the Season of Adventure!…

“Rocky Mountain Daydream” - Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

Linhof Kardan Large-Format 4x5 View Camera

Schneider Symmar-S 150mm Lens (Normal)

F45 at 1/4 of a second

Professional Fuji Velvia 100

As this was to be my Summer Solstice greeting, let’s kick things off here, because this photograph actually took place on a Summer Solstice - back in 2017.

Getting the photograph itself was honestly not that great of an ordeal. What I went through prior to however, was challenging in its own way…

I was headed out to Denver in early/mid June for an Art Festival, when cruising along I-70 in western Kansas, my Xterra decided to just stop running. Yeah…

Miraculously, since my insurance policy has always given me one free tow per breakdown to a garage of my choice within 200 some miles, and (here is the miraculous part) since I was so in the middle of nowhere Kansas and Denver fell within the mileage limits, I was able to get a tow to Denver!!!🤯

It was a long night to say the least, and at dawn, I was able to transfer my booth in a rental and still make the festival… wow, recalling all of this now is bringing back some crazy memories, lol… (And some instances that I sincerely hope I never have to endure again!)

It ended up being my transmission, which I had to have rebuilt (manual) and I ended up stranded in Denver for about a week and a half. Fortunately, I had friends that I could stay with and family that helped ease the financial burden.

For anyone out there thinking - “how glorious this life has to be?!” - this is just one example of the many many things you need to realize can happen “out there” sometimes. And you’d better not have a weak heart if you’re going to go for it, lol! It has damn near broken me on more than one occasion! Also I can’t say enough about having a strong support system and how that can come in very handy!

When I finally got my wheels back, I thought to myself - “I can’t NOT do something fun before returning home! So Rocky Mountain National Park, here I come!”

I only spent one night camping in the surrounding Roosevelt National Forest and did this one hike the next day on the Summer Solstice. But man, was it epic!!!

Also, fortunately, I think since I had been out here for close to 2 weeks, my body had acclimatized to the elevation very nicely and even though I ascended a few thousand feet and topped out over 10,000 feet elevation for the first time in my life, I felt great the entire time!

I remember passing elk along the lower elevation of the trail system and hiked past a gushing Alberta Falls on the way to this view of the back side of Longs Peak. Afterwards I would climb even higher up to the Loch Vale and remember hiking through melting snow fields, all the while with glorious sunny skies and warm, but “high mountain air mild” temperatures on this breathtaking Summer Solstice Day!🏔️🌞

It may have not been exactly the time I would have hoped for overall, but during those 24 hours, at least, out here in the mountains - the struggles felt the furthest thing from my mind, lost in a “Rocky Mountain Daydream.”

Art Festival Updates / “Life's Possibilities" Photo Spotlight

Hi again friends! And apologies on the minor delay, I just noticed I set my dates wrong on the scheduling of posting.🤦‍♂️

I hope this finds everyone enjoying their weekend and if you’re in the Midwest or Northeast, hopefully dialing the heat and severe weather back a bit! Maybe this waterfall below will help cool you down!

Before we get there though, I have a bit of information I’ve been wanting to share with you…

So, this year is and has needed to look a little different for me. I know I have vocalized it a little bit, but this past year was rough in many ways and I have been doing my best to do what is necessary first and change things up a bit this year.

This actually reminds me of a quote I saw in one of my Mom’s nature/inspirational/spiritual calendars a few years back from Saint Francis of Assisi - “Start with what’s necessary, then with what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

That really struck a cord with me and I have ever since tried to use it as a mantra for when life seems too overwhelming.

So, in relation to my Artwork this year, I had to make some tough decisions. And although I applied to a handful of Spring shows, I decided early on that I wasn’t going to stress about how to make any of them happen this year (and since I only applied to some of the really big hitters, I was either waitlisted or didn’t get in to all but one anyway - Stockley Gardens - a perennial favorite of mine every Spring that I hated to let go but decided it necessary this year). I was just going to take some guaranteed landscaping work and enjoy that work during my favorite time to do it. Then I would consider how to shape the Summer after the 4th of July and then the Autumn.

Which brings me to what I’ll be doing this Summer, well July anyway. I have always done the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts (the State College or Penn State Show) the weekend after the 4th ever since I started doing festivals in 2016. It was actually my first show ever (wow was that a learning experience!😂) and I have been fortunate enough to be juried in every year since. And it’s also kinda my hometown show, having grown up in Reedsville, PA and gone to Penn State. It holds a special place in my heart. But this year, I respectfully declined my invitation and I’m trying something new…

I have had several very good years there, and some very disappointing. That’s how it goes on the circuit! But, I have felt a little bit of a decline for a few years now and what I’m sensing from the show, at least for what I am trying to sell. And there are a few other highly reputable monster shows out there the same weekend. Namely, Madison (Wisconsin) and one called Krasl (Michigan). Last year I applied to all 3, and GOT IN to all 3!!! (Well after being invited from Krasl’s waitlist anyway)🤯 Boy, decision time??! After much debate and learning I had finally procured a corner booth at State College. I decided to “play it safe” on expenses and all that and just stay local and see how the corner worked for me…

Well, the weekend was meh, I made a little bit, but overall I felt it left a lot on the table and I found myself wondering the entire time and ever since. So, this year, same thing - I applied to all 3…

State College - Accepted! Madison - Waitlisted. Krasl - Waitlisted. Arghh. I held out deciding on State College until the next to last day before commitments were due. And I was actually about to commit that day when I opened my email and - Invited to Krasl!!! Side note, I was also accepted into Ann Arbor this year…

So, with a bit of a heavy heart, but also a ton of excitement, I declined my invite to State College and I’m heading to Michigan for back to back weekends this July! It will also be my first time doing Ann Arbor and I’m excited for some new experiences!

I will miss you all at State College this year, but it is time to broaden my horizons and visit a new audience. From what I have heard, Krasl is a beautiful show with a great high end reputation drawing on Southwest Michigan’s lake communities and the Chicago area. It takes place on a lake bluff in St. Joseph near Benton Harbor and looks and sounds gorgeous!!!

So, there I will be the weekend of July 10th-12th and then across to the eastern side of Michigan in Ann Arbor a few days later July 15th-18th!

Aside from that, I am anticipating doing the return of the Stowe Foliage Festival in Vermont on Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples’ Day weekend (pending on some personal up in the air things). And that may be it, unless Michigan goes very well - there are some shows I know I could apply to at last minute and potentially do in August through October. But time will tell…

And I intend to have much communication and photo sharing between now and then! And oh yeah, how about the fun stuff now!…

This was another one I intended to share much earlier in the Spring, but found a way to relate it to what I have just shared. Time to explore and soak up “Life’s Possibilities”…

“Life‘s Possibilities” - Foothills Trail, SC

Photographed April 28th, 2012

Mamiya RB67 w/ 65mm lens (Wide-Angle)

F22 for 4 seconds

Professional Fuji Velvia 50

I could make the argument that in many ways, this experience is the one which really set the stage for my life’s passion for adventure and preservation of our wild places.

In April of 2012, I drove south to visit my brother in South Carolina for my inauguration into the world of backpacking. He had been getting into it (backpacking, that is) for a couple of years and we had loosely discussed getting together for an adventure for a while. Well, during the holidays of 2011, more concrete plans were made and here I was! Using mainly his own and his wife’s extra gear, he took me out for 3 days/2 nights on the Foothills Trail in Northwestern SC.

To say the 8 miles on day one kicked my ass would be an understatement!😂 I’ll never forget the feeling of floating away upon taking the pack off for lunch only a few miles in. Which, by the way, is never quite as funny feeling as that first time! I also don’t think I’ll ever forget how exhausted, punished, and well downright beaten and alien to myself I felt for the last two miles of that hike. But, I also loved it!!!

We arrived at night one’s campsite just in the nick of time to hang a tarp to pass the thunderstorm that had been brewing for most of the afternoon. The sky at once opened up and the storm let loose, ahhhh that smell!

As we awaited its passing, I had the notion to photograph the forest scene in front of us from under our shelter (see “Soaking Up Life” in the Gallery). And I’m so glad I did. I absolutely love how green and teeming with life the forest is! As I gaze upon it, even still now, I see how truly life giving the Spring rainfall is, how every tree and leaf are soaking it up. I see it breathing. I can feel its heartbeat.

As the storm passed on, we set up camp and chopped/sawed our firewood. And just before preparing our dinner, I caught a magnificent sunset moment from the top of the waterfall, not more than a stone’s throw from our tent, looking outwards. That is, after all, one of the main reasons my brother felt this location would be a really cool photo opportunity for me - as he noticed here before that at this time of year, one gets a clear view of the sun setting beyond the distant mountains from the top of the waterfall. Although I didn’t get a “clear” view due to our stormy conditions, the moment was purely exhilarating! With the falls flowing and plunging a good 80-100 feet right at my feet, I had a peek through the thick of the surrounding forest into misty mountain ridge lines and an ethereal pink glow in the clouds that only a storm can provide. After I snapped a couple exposures, I turned to face my brother and pumped my fists in the air as if triumphant! I was being given “A Peek See” into just a few of Nature’s grandest elements.

The night was thick and damp, but by the fire was bliss. And wait, seriously?? These freeze dried meals are this good??!!!

In the darkness, as we conversed about life around the flame, we witnessed something so strange that took me years to identify what it was we were seeing - some soft ghostly blue glow of a gliding insect, some species of firefly we do not know?? - In fact, yes! It was the Blue Ghost Firefly! I have since experienced it a few more times and it is some of Nature’s purest magic!!!

What a way for one to spend their first day and night backpacking, I thought as I was alone now as the fire died down beside a thundering waterfall… We, much like the forest around us, were “soaking up life.”

Bruised and battered at dawn the next morning, I then stood, photographing the waterfall - this image - that has stood the test of time as the strongest piece to represent my experience. As I was setting up, I caught my brother out of the corner of my eye, strolling down the trail to greet me with a cup of coffee he just brewed at our campsite, tucked maybe 50 feet behind the top of those falls you’re now looking at. What a moment, what an experience. It was only a weekend long, but it changed my life forever. And it set me on the path for where I am today, opening the doors to so many of “Life’s Possibilities” and what I believe to be my life’s purpose.

Thanks Bro!

By the way, have you guys noticed the dates on these last 3 images I’ve shared??? April 2012 with my Mamiya RB67 was epic!!!😉

My very best,

Brandon

P.S. - Just a disclaimer for anyone who may have been confused about accessing my Spring in Bloom slide show on the post the other day. If you click on the View Gallery link, it takes you to my original blog post on the website. From there, simply scroll down to the same place in the post and see the slideshow! (As I do different things in my posts, I am learning how things then translate to the email newsletter, which I only have so much control over in certain situations.)

Spring in Bloom / "Innocence" Photo Spotlight

My, my, my, well, so I started putting this post (and 2 others) together about 2 months ago now as the follow up to my Vernal Equinox post and then it turned into a belated Earth Day post -

{Belated Happy Earth Day my friends! (For those perhaps not “in the know” April 22nd is Earth Day and April in and of itself is Earth Month 🌎🌍🌏). What a fitting time, in my opinion, as April is the month where for a lot of us, the world is truly awakening from its Winter slumber. And boy has Spring been blossoming and blooming in my neck of the woods over the past couple weeks since I last wrote to you!😍}

- and now here we are in June, BUT I never gave up on these ideas and how I could still translate them into relativity…

Needless to say, it has been a very busy Spring here in my Landscaping world and I needed it, so it has been good. Sure, I’ve not exactly been able to do a lot of things I would have loved to, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Since late March it has been Spring cleanups mixed with a little pruning here and some this ‘n’ that there and MULCH, MULCH, MULCHING my little heart out! 😂 Which if you know me well enough, I love to say if I could be Backpacking, Photographing, Selling my Artwork, AND Mulching all at the same time… Boy you wanna talk about living the dream!!! 😂 And the funniest part is, I’m not really joking - I LOVE mulching! It is honestly my favorite way to work aside from this whole Wilderness Photography thing😊

So, again here we are, on the brink of the Summer Solstice, and I still want to share this photograph and these thoughts (as well as those other two I mentioned earlier) with you before we do officially turn to Summer.

So why now? Because! Lol! I love this photograph (probably my favorite quintessential Spring image to date, although I do have a few new hopefuls looming…). And I took a personal day yesterday to finally catch up on so many things that have been neglected and/or pushed to the side out of survival mode for a while, haha!

And honestly, I have jotted down so many thoughts in the moment and taken so many pictures around my home that I have been burning to compile and share with you!

So, enjoy “Innocence” and then be sure to keep scrolling down for some meditations and then a visual slideshow I put together of Spring in Bloom 2026 around our landscape.

And be on the lookout Friday for another blast from the past and some important Art Festival updates!…

“Innocence” - My Father’s Woods, PA

Photographed April 4th, 2012

Mamiya RB67 w/ 90mm lens (Normal)

F32 at 1/4 of a second

Professional Fuji Velvia 50

You know, in all honesty there isn’t a ton I have or feel I need to say about this photograph.

If you recall from my previous post highlighting “Rise and Shine” - you will notice these were both taken on the same day! I caught “Rise and Shine” as the rising sun crested the facing mountains to bask the scene before me in golden light! And then shortly afterwards I began meandering my way down my Dad’s 4-wheeler trail to explore more of the forest in the morning light only to compose this scene about an hour or so later.

Isn’t it crazy? Sometimes I can spend days backpacking and not bust out the “real camera” and other days, it’s like I could shoot a whole box of film and have everything be portfolio worthy!

Again, this photograph doesn’t come with any harrowing tales, only a lovely morning spent hiking around exploring on my Dad’s wooded property.

But when I look at this image, all I can envision, no, all I can feel is the jubilance of Spring in all of it’s fresh, new wonder - innocent of anything that lay before it or of what is to come - the newborn child of Nature’s cycle.

I just wanna lay on the grass on this idyllic April day, looking up at these beautiful blooms and blue sky after a good, long Winter and scream YES, SPRING!!!

If you are willing to pull yourself away from that daydream and continue on, I would greatly appreciate your indulgence to relive the Season in these journal entries that range from early March through the present June now. And then enjoy the slide show of roughly 50 images I put together from throughout this Spring around our humble abode (and a couple other places too😊).

Wednesday March 11th - “The biggest highlight of this unseasonable warmth is that right on cue, the first warm night - the Spring Peepers were heard! And they grew last night and this evening have been an echoing chorus of ambience throughout the night sky!”

Wednesday March 18th - “Even though it may not have been everything I could have hoped for in an adventure standpoint, this past winter was what it was. And it was a beautiful, good old-fashioned Winter. And one of mental rest and much reflection…”

Saturday March 21st - “A nice balance of warmth from the Sun and slight coolness of the breeze today as the birds busy the air. For a couple weeks now the flocks have been returning.

The subtle signs of change continue to slowly grow as Spring is now astronomically official! The tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils are poking their heads from the ground, which softens by the day. Splotches of grass are beginning to show a more lively shade of green and the rains have a scent of fresh was to them.”

Saturday March 28th - “Leo’s chasing the Moon tonight.😊

It’s a brisk one on this crisp, clean, starry night illuminated by the waxing gibbous moon this beautiful early Spring Eve.”

Friday April 3rd - “What a great day!

One of those days that despite the tornado of shit swirling around you, you find peace, calm, and zen happiness in the day that has been given to you and the tasks at hand…

On this particular day - I rested, made a good breakfast, took care of business related tasks on-line, and spent a blissful few hours on our outdoors getting our beds cleaned up for Spring growth, completely re-defined all bed edges, and gathered all the down branches, sticks, and twigs!

It was a lovely Spring day, as good a Friday as Good Friday’s come, in my opinion! - A cool, cloudy start climbing into the high 60’s with ample sunshine and part cloudiness. A beaut of an early Spring day to get your business in order!”

Saturday/Sunday April 11th/12th - “Hyacinth Intoxication! Hyacinth breezes and Cherry Blossom waves…”

Saturday May 16th - “Toads singing their hearts out on a lovely warm Spring evening.”

Tuesday June 2nd - “Man, what a beautiful day! My mind drifts from this pile of mulch towards camping and backpacking adventures…

Sunny, bright blue skies, white puffy clouds, fully leafed greenery, and a nice 72 degree breeze!

Spring, as it does, has taken me from beautiful blooms aplenty to delicious scents in the staggering of Hyacinth, Lilac, Honeysuckle, and finally to vibrant young green… and oh wait, is that the Chestnut trees I smell coming into bloom?!”

If you made it all the way here, thank you so much for your time and interest and support, it truly means the world to me!

All my best,

Brandon

"Marooned" Photo Spotlight - The Voyageurs NP Adventure

Weekend greetings everyone! If you are opening this and perhaps missed my post/email from Friday March 6th, click National Geographic wants a photo from the Cruiser Lake Trail to bring more relevance to why I’m sharing this today. It’s pretty cool news, I promise!😉

And if you did see that post and have been waiting for the follow up I promised, your wait is over. Here is the fun-filled story behind my time spent in Voyageurs National Park, a time that would eventually lead to that correspondence from National Geographic!

All great stories have an epic adventure tale behind them, or something like that right?! So, pour yourself a coffee, tea, (or something stronger if you like😂), sit back, relax, and enjoy…

“Marooned” - Voyageurs National Park, MN

Linhof Kardan Large-Format 4x5 View Camera

Schneider - Kreuznach Super-Angulon 90mm Lens (Wide-Angle)

F64 at 1/2 second

Professional Fuji Velvia 100

Now, I have backpacked what I consider to be a fairly decent amount and feel pretty darn comfortable doing so.  The waterways, however, are something completely new to me!  I have always loved to swim, especially in the ocean, but have spent very little time on any kind of watercraft.  In fact, I really can’t even recall the last time I was on any sort of “boat” since my chilhood/teenage years.  Well, I rented a canoe from a local outfitter, talked some things out, and planned a 3 night, 4 day adventure into the Wilderness of Voyageurs.  A little nervous, but mainly super excited, I figured how hard can it be right?!

         When I first “shipped out” I found the water navigation to be a little challenging as I worked out the kinks of getting my bearings and proper “steering” paddle control.  But, overall, I think it went rather well for a complete novice!  It wasn’t too awfully long before I felt like I knew what I was doing enough to be pretty calm and as the sun was setting, I found myself taking in a beautiful orange glow while out in the middle of this thin “canal” of Lake Kabetogama.  And you know what?  It was pretty darn awesome! :-)

         Even with darkness encroaching and being in a totally unfamiliar situation, I remained very at ease (the surroundings here don’t hurt, trust me!).  I had my National Geographic Park Map and my AllTrails App showing me exactly where I was and how to navigate around the island in front of me and into the channel I needed to be to reach my campsite on the opposite side.  Oh, I should also note a full moon was approaching so that certainly helped with visibility out there!  And so here I kind of gently ushered my way across the calmest waters as night set in, the moon and stars above me and a feeling of some of the utmost peace and solitude I have ever felt.

         As I paddled close to the shoreline where my campsite was to be, out of nowhere a brief collection of howls pierced the silence… Wolves??!!!  In case you don’t know this about me, I LOVE wolves and one of my big hopeful to do’s is to experience hearing and seeing wolves in the wild.  Well, it was too distant and honestly I was so taken aback that I wouldn’t let myself confirm that it was wolves and not coyotes at this time.  Still, to be out on the water, paddling past shore by moonlight and to hear this sound, well it’s up there on my list of coolest experiences! :-)

         Soon afterwards, here I was - Lost Bay Island, a solid 4 mile paddle from launch and the site for my first night.  And what a night it was - sitting there on my own private island, utterly alone in some of the truest wilderness (by today’s standards) that I’ve experienced in my lifetime - lost in the moonset and stars and silence.


September 15th, 2021 - Lost Bay Island, Voyageurs National Park -

         “What a new type of adventure!  Paddling through the waterways of Voyageurs like the canoemen of old.  (Or trying anyway, haha!)  This place is special indeed.  A wilderness on water bringing utter solitude except for the occasional boat passing by.

         This time in Minnesota, so far, has been a wonderful surprise!  Very different and exciting.  I am getting antsy to get back out on the water and on to my hike to Cruiser Lake, but first, a couple notes…

         Two Bald Eagle sitings coming through the Superior National Forest 2 days ago - one right in the middle of the road, perched on top of his prey!  What a glimpse of his size and talons I saw!

         The paddling adventure last evening was such an incredible experience!  Alone, in the wild, on canoe, making my way around islands at sunset and twilight and then star and moonlight to Lost Bay Island - a feeling of solitude and freedom I will not soon forget!

         The peaceful sound of water lapping to shore. The orange glow of the setting waxing gibbous moon and the star rich skies full of dreams and wonder.

         Did I hear the distant howls of wolves or was it coyotes??!  My heart and gut want to say it was wolves, but I am just not 100% sure yet.  However, the beautiful howls were nonetheless enchanting as I paddled past Eagle View, where I will spend tomorrow night…”


September 16th, 2021, 9:23pm Eagle View Campsite, Voyageurs National Park -

         “And then, just after 9pm as darkness was really setting in and aside from the now calm water lapping the rocky shore, the silence so profound was pierced so sharply by a howl so guttural, there was no mistaking it!!!

          I have officially heard wolf howls in the wild!!! No mistaking this one, so guttural!  And this being where I heard “them” on Tuesday night confirms that was most likely these same wolves as well!

         And wow, what a couple days to get here…  Talk about working for it!”

        

Now, honestly partly not even knowing how to feel having experienced something I have so wanted to for years and something so few are blessed to ever experience, I just melted into the night.  The moon and stormy sky put on a wonderful lightning show for me well off in the distance, which I enjoyed along with a good Stout and some really good Scotch, as I replayed this one of a kind Voyageurs adventure, so filled with delight.

On my last morning, I still had one heck of an adventure awaiting me to my surprise…

         I was to be up before dawn to get packed and breakfast ready, and with hopes of catching a good sunrise on film.  Then, I would have to pretty immediately shove off and get back to launch and out of the Park, return my canoe and get back down to the Minneapolis area for that weekends’ festival.

         Everything was going great. I was up and ready, caught a beautiful dawn that really spoke to me about my time out here. And then I got out on the water…

         Not being a complete idiot, I could tell the wind was kicking up again and the water was well, kicking up again too.  It didn't appear to be THAT different from the previous day though.  Well, then I was out there and struggling not so much to go forward, but to even keep drifting sideways and not be pushed backwards, and not get capsized at the same time!

         Trying to convince myself that this had to be done, and was surely doable with some blood, sweat and tears maybe, I kept fighting.  But I was going nowhere.  Nowhere in the direction I needed to go anyways.  I did manage to fight my way completely perpendicularly and made it to the opposite shoreline.  By now, we are talking total white capped waves out there.  Exhausted and admitting now that to go back out there was complete stupidity, I got the brilliant idea that if I could manage to get to the other side of this island, the wind and waves may be in my favor for the rest of the way…

         Yep, I forged my way first with just my backpack to the other side of the island.  It wasn’t much more than a half mile, but calling it bushwhacking doesn’t even really do the situation justice.  However, refusing to be defeated, I dropped my pack and went back for the canoe.  What I did next, I look back on and think - wow, Brandon.  Yes, I somehow drug, hoisted over my head, whatever I had to do to that canoe to get through this unyielding jungle to the other side.  Talk about a “real Voyageur experience of old!”

         The best part - when I finally was there with my pack and canoe in the same place and tried getting out there, it was still to no avail.  The wind and water just battered me to the adjacent shoreline, not allowing me to exit the little cove.

         Marooned.

         Completely defeated and muscles beyond spent, all I could do was sit there.  It was now late morning/approaching noon.  Miraculously, this entire time basically, I had cell service.  In some ways, kind of disappointing, I know.  But, given the circumstances, I was and am beyond thankful for however this is possible!  I took a few moments to gather my wits and got on the horn.  The weather app was showing me the winds were not going to ease up until between 4-6pm.  I got ahold of the Kabetogama Visitor Center and confirmed the same with a Park Ranger, who relayed to me that this “system” proved to be much stronger than any of them expected, that they had put out a small craft advisory/warning, and that as long as it wasn’t life and death the best thing I could do was to wait it out.  Then I called my canoe outfitter, who was completely understanding and just told me to be in touch in the evening with an update if I could.  And lastly, I called the Festival director to inform them of my current status and that I would not be making it to my appointed check-in time, lol!  I said that I hoped to be out in the early evening and should be able to make it down there in the wee hours of the morning and asked if I’d be allowed by security to begin setting up at a ridiculous hour.  This was all doable.  Now, all I could do was wait…

         In hindsight, I think to myself, it would have been an opportunity to explore this or that, perhaps.  But in reality, I was done, emotionally and physically, and I got myself in my sleeping bag protected from the winds and took an afternoon siesta.  Stirring in the later afternoon, the forecast proved to be rather accurate and around 4pm I began making preparations.  I believe it was right around 5pm when I deemed things seemed calm enough, actually quite beautiful, and I set sail, as it were.

         Much as this adventure had begun a few evenings prior, I canoed off into the sunset.  The water now calm and beautiful, I was able to savor these remaining precious moments, breathe in that watery wilderness air, and reflect on my time out here and what I had experienced, had learned.  It is an experience I will never forget, and somewhere I sincerely hope to return to for further exploration.

         I can’t help but laugh when I look back and think I could have just realized how bad the water was right away and just enjoyed relaxing at Eagle View that entire day.  Then the entire canoe out would have been lovely!  But, hindsight is 20/20 as they say, and I had places to be…!

As you might imagine, when I look at this image and/or recall all of this, it’s hard not to thank my lucky stars! And I am thankful I was able to keep my head and not panic, as it truly was an amazing, one-of-a-kind experience. And if you’d like to read even a little more in detail about it and see some more pics from the adventure and the Voyageurs landscape, click Wilderness Solitude (there are some cool pics there!) and go back to my original blog post about this.

Lastly, in wanting to do a better job of showing work I have on hand outside of the festival circuit - if you love this photograph, here is my first Artist Proof of the Print, in one of my Custom Curly Maple Frames.

“Marooned” - 11x14 Fuji Crystal Archive Print, Artist Proof #1/30

6-Ply White Crescent Conservation Board and TruVue Museum Glass

16x20 Custom Curly Maple Frame, color burned in w/ Aquafortis (roughly 22x26 outer frame dimensions / total wall space)

The price is $425. 6% PA Sales Tax would also be added and any shipping/delivery charges discussed. Just drop me a line if you are interested and/or would like to know more!

Alright folks, I’ll be sharing more again soon. Until then, thank you so much for your time and as always,

All of my best,

Brandon

Hey honey (Anna), does this look legit?... National Geographic??!!!

Alright, I’ve hinted at this a few times and now without further ado…

Rewind to August 1st, 2024… We had just a day or two prior returned home from our Summer camping vacation up in Vermont and were begrudgingly trying to get back into the groove when I open my email and find this -

😳

Now, I had this strange sense that I actually recognized the woman’s name who sent the email from several years ago when NatGeo used to do YourShot assignments via their website open to anyone wishing to submit. (YourShot, although still out there, is much more of an Instagram thing now.) These assignments would have curators who judged the submissions. Anyway, this is where I felt I recognized the name from. But, let’s face it - there is so much spam out there, whenever in doubt, it’s good to get a second opinion. Enter Anna, my slightly younger fiancé, much more in touch with the digital and technological world, lol!😂 She looked her name right up and found it associated with National Geographic indeed!

Wow, what a cool feeling! What else need I really say here?!

Well, you bet your you know what I got right on that! She (I am not revealing anyone’s name for respect of privacy) was immediately a pleasure to converse with - very professional, but also not unwilling to have a little humor and personality, and always right on top of things with replies despite a work load I can only imagine.

I compiled 13 images I had taken while I was on the Cruiser Lake Backpack/Canoe Voyage to give her several different looks to consider. After going back and forth a few times and the passing of time with their editorial process, eventually one day that Autumn she emailed that she was happy to tell me that this image of mine had been chosen for the new National Parks Guide Book!!!😁🙃😊

View from Cruiser Lake Trail - Voyageurs National Park, MN Brandon Kline

Ok, now before anyone gets too too excited, this is NOT a portfolio film photograph of mine that is available for purchase, unfortunately. It is a simple digital photo and does not have the enlargement capabilities of my large and/or medium format film work. Very fortunately though, it was just fine for the purposes of the book format!

Perhaps someday, I’ll get a portfolio photograph published in NatGeo or elsewhere, but you know what - I also don’t mind that those images in my collection are currently “merely” pieces of Artwork.

I do submit work to certain outlets from time to time, and you’d better believe I still keep in contact with this woman at National Geographic about what projects might be out there, so I guess we’ll just see how time plays out in that respect…

Either way, I’m pretty darn tickled over this and think it’s pretty awesome! I wish my Pap (on my Mom’s side) had lived to see this. I can credit him with getting me interested in National Geographic way back when I was just a little tike! He had an incredible collection of their magazines I would often ponder through and get inspired. He would have thought this was the coolest thing ever!😊

Ok, now to present day. This has been an eye opening experience to see the time it can take for a book such as this to get from its design stages to actual publication. I was told this past Fall that it would likely be January/February when the book would be hitting the shelves and they would be mailing out the contributor’s copies.

Well that ended up being pretty precise. I received my copy toward the end of January and as far as I know, this newest edition of National Geographics’ Ultimate Guide to the National Parks is out on the shelves!

Anything having to do with me aside, I highly recommend this to anyone who embraces the National Parks. It is an absolutely beautiful edition! (And I own a couple previous copies!😂)

But here you go, before I wrap this up down below, enjoy a few of the books’ highlights that do have to do with me!…

Front Cover

Introduction to Voyageurs NP Page

MY TWO-PAGE SPREAD!!!

Name in National Geographic Credits!!!

Alright, so to wrap this amazing news up - yes, I do realize that in some ways maybe I “dumb lucked” my way into this opportunity. But, whatever, it still happened and here I am!

In talking about all of the circumstances involved - (Backpacking and Adventuring in the first place aside, but also blogging about it, and happening to track myself with the AllTrails App, etc.) - to how this came to be with a fellow Artist buddy, he said something that has really resonated with me that I will paraphrase here… ‘It just goes to show that we are constantly dropping breadcrumbs out there that we never know when and how they may be picked up. But when we are following the path we are meant to be on, those breadcrumbs may just lead us to great things.’🤔

And that is so true, we never really know how something we have done, however long ago, may just end up playing an integral role in the path of our lives, particularly when following the path of our passion.

Cheers Pap!🍻🥃

All of my best,

Brandon

P.S. - As I promised last week, this is going to be a two part story - this today and another coming your way tomorrow. If you want to read all about my epic time in Voyageurs and if I did produce any professional photographs from the adventure, stay tuned…😉