It's a rare occasion that I get to photograph nature just for the hell of it, just because it's what I love to do. Not to try and save the world or make a buck, but for the challenge of making a great photograph and for exploring an unfamiliar place.

Just was the case as I rested my soul north of San Francisco in the heart of wine country for 48 glorious hours. With rolling green hills, gnarled moss-covered oaks, cliffs plummeting 1000 feet into the pacific, and giant redwoods, there was no shortage of photographic subjects.

A couple walks to an overlook above California's rugged pacific coast. This is a composite image consisting of two photographs – one exposed for the sky and one exposed for the land. When done correctly, this technique, which is a simple method of HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography, allows for capturing a wide range of light without appearing fake. I shot this on my first night in California. The sunset never really showed its true colors. The light was generally terrible for big scenics, so I spent most of the rest of my time in California working close-ups and intimate landscapes.

Serendipitously, I crossed paths with a good friend from my hometown. I could not believe my eyes, and neither could he! We both live in Alachua County Florida He was with his family. At his daughter's request for her college graduation, they were touring wine country for the fun of it, much like I was. After a few minutes of laughing and head shaking, we said goodbye, but not before he gave me a photo location tip. He said go to Armstrong Redwoods park instead of Muir Woods because it was less crowded and a more pleasant hike. I took his advice not knowing if I would follow it. I'm  hard-headed like that. But I ended up following his advice and was not disappointed. (See below.)

At Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve, I found a bright red mushroom that I might have looked over had it not been for the fact that I was photographing just for the fun of it. It stood on its own, with nothing around it but black detritus. Not overtly appealing. However, it was bright red, and that intrigued me. So I put on my macro lens and began to work my way in, closer and closer.

I love panoramas of big trees in the forest, especially when dappled lighting renders some trees darker than others. This kind of light helps create the illusion of more layers in the composition, and thus more depth of field. These Redwoods are nearly 300 hundred feet tall and 1000 years old. Even without a person in the image, the feeling of scale and age of this forest is evident.

This grove of oak trees (I think) was so cool. The light was absolutely perfect. Low, relatively thin clouds allowed for just enough sunlight to fall softly on the earth to create a highlight on the top side of each moss-covered trunk and limb in this road-side grove of trees. The very tips of the branches were covered in lichens, giving the illusion of leaves when leaves had not yet sprouted. I shot several of compositions. Picking the best one was impossible for me. So I will soon add a blog post about this scene in particular. 

This abstract scene is an extreme close up of a flower growing along the coast at Bodega Bay.

Also at Bodega Bay, I practiced my panning and drag shutter technique for photographing fast moving subjects. In this case, a few thousand sea gulls made ideal subjects.

The NANPA Summit ended on a high note Friday evening with a stellar presentation by photographer Joel Sartore. Afterward, college students, committee members, and colleagues went out for dinner and drinks at a local pub. Always a great bonding experience when alcohol is involved. We stayed up late (again) but actually got a chance to unwind.

This year's students were amazing to work with. Not only are they talented photographs, they are team players with a second-to-none work ethic. Not all have Web sites yet. Here's what I have.

Neil Losin Web site

Michael Dossett Web site

Ellen Woods Web site

Ethan Welty Web site

Great job to the 2010 NANPA Summit College Scholarship Students! I will post the multimedia video they created as soon as all the release forms have been signed.

This Summit is my last as a college committee member, at least for now. I leave to focus on my conservation photography project "Life on the Edge."

Last night I attempted to post these photos through squinted eyes, dried by the desert climate and made restless by the near 24-hour work day. Maybe it was me, maybe it was the internet connection. Either way, something went wrong. So now here I am awake at 5:30 am working to get these images online before starting what will be another near 24-hour work day.

The college students selected as this year's NANPA scholarship winners have worked very hard. They have portfolio reviews today by some of the industry's top editors and photographers. Every day they meet with pros for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Between are workshops and keynote presentations. Amidst all of that, we've asked them to find time to tell the story of the restoration of the Truckee River. We're asking a lot from 12 strangers that have traveled to Reno from across the continent. We hope to have the 5-or-so-minute piece finish by early Friday morning, perhaps around 2 or 3 am, if we're lucky. Then Friday evening we present to the entire NANPA audience. We have very talented photographers in this group of students, and I am absolutely excited by what will come of this effort.

Here are some images I captured at the Truckee River restoration sites. (If there's a typo in this blog entry, I blame it on sleep deprivation ...)

A variety of grasses mixed with trees of different ages creates a more complete ecosystem on the banks and flood plain of the Truckee River. Before The Nature Conservancy began their $21 million restoration efforts in 2006, the only natural plants here were a few tall cottonwoods. The Conservancy planted and replanted more than 3000 trees, and more than 10,000 shrubs and other small plants along this 500-acre section of river. All of this at the McCarran Ranch, one of four restoration sites along the Truckee River.

Canadian geese visit the restored habitat of the Truckee River at McCarran Ranch.

A nearby factory is evidence of a troubled past for the Truckee, and a future that will always be a challenge.

A few students and I took the opportunity to visit a construction site (and factory) on the river that were near the restored area. Our goal was to show contrasting uses of the river. This dozer is working the banks of the river.

Wire mesh is meant to keep beavers from  gnawing at the newly planted cottonwood trees.

The Nature Conservancy created wetlands along the river. The wetlands are vital habitat for small animals such as frogs, which in turn become food for birds and snakes.

We didn't fully appreciate the work of The Nature Conservancy until we visited Mustang Ranch, a site where the restoration process was in its infancy. In two or three years, the desolate Mustang Ranch will look like the McCarran Ranch.

Rachel Nuwer is a grad student at University of East Anglia in the UK studying Applied Ecology.

Neil Losin and Michael Dosset were the birders of the group. With their long 500 and 600 mm lenses, they focused mostly on documenting wildlife along the Truckee River.

Adam Wilson attends the University of Connecticut studying Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

I arrived last night in the biggest little city in the world – Reno, Nevada.

Every year the North American Nature Photography Association hosts a week-long convention of workshops, inspirational speakers, social gatherings, and much more dedicated to the nature community at large. You can find out more at nanpa.org.

NANPA is a relatively new organization, only 16 years old. And, as a member of only three years, I am new to the organization. I jumped right (the story of my life) by becoming a College Scholarship committee member in my first year with NANPA. Through a scholarship NANPA brings 12 college students from North America to each summit. They come to network with some of the biggest names in the business. One of the highlights of their experience here is a one-day field workshop where they shoot side-by-side with top pros. In the past this field workshop was just for the fun of it. This is the first year where we are trying something different. In addition to shooting for the fun of it, we're orchestrating the photo shoot to revolve around a conservation issue in the area where the Summit is being held, and at the end of the Summit we will give a presentation to the entire Summit audience. This year the Summit is in Reno. And for our first conservation project we're photographing the restoration of the Truckee River, which starts in the nearby Sierra Nevada Mountains and flows through Reno to Pyramid Lake. The Nature Conservancy has partnered with dozens of local stakeholders to enhance the preservation value of the Truckee River from source to mouth. Near Reno, those efforts are in the form of a massive restoration project that is meant to restore habitat and species that existed along the river bank before settlement in the early 20th century. You can learn more here.

All week I will blog about my time at the 2010 NANPA Summit, including uploading photos (and hopefully video to my YouTube channel). Stay tuned.

Yesterday a friend of mine, Mary Kelly Hoppe, pointed out a photograph on my Facebook page. It's of my friend, Tom Hart, in one of the notches formed by Double Arch, a fantastic twin span of sandstone in Utah's Arches National Park. Mary loves redrock country, and the sense of scale in the image blew her away.

Sometimes the photos I've made end up on Facebook and not on my Web site. This is such the case. So I thought I'd relive a little slice of history and my lust for adventure in wild places by writing this short blog post honoring that great moment in life, below the colossal span of Double Arch with my best friend. We were half way through a 14,000 mile road trip. I was 21 years old. He was 20. What an adventure!! Cheers to you Tommy!