Fall River, California

I was sent on an assignment last week to Fall River Mills, California to shoot and write a story on esteemed fly fishing and travel photographer, Val Atkinson. It could not have been a more incredible four days for me as Val is someone for whom I hold a great deal of respect for and he is an incredibly kind and genuine person. His images of world travel and fly fishing have appeared in countless magazines since the late 70's.

We had a bunch of fun but were also able to sit down and talk about photography and travel and life on numerous occasions. We also walked Hat Creek, a favorite stream of his and floated the Fall River as well on a separate day.

Below are a few images from my time with Val.

Hat Creek. 2016

Val on his beloved Fall River.

Susan Rockrise hits Val with the garden house at their beautiful ranch house.

Val's first wading belt which he bought at Silver Creek Outfitters in Ketchum, Idaho almost four decades ago. He learned his lesson the hard way prior to making that purchase and filled his waders.

Portrait of Val Atkinson. 2016

Oak Tree. Hat Creek.

Spring Lupine

We're in the midst of our spring-green here. Cool with some rain and hail and even snow for the next few days.

May is a favorite month of mine. Great clouds and it's green and generally a bit warmer and warming and our rivers here are generally too high to fish so I don't feel as though I need to be on the river every day and end up exploring other places I might not otherwise check out. I am off to, for example, the Fall River in Northern California and then the East Cape in Baja, Mexico and then the Oregon Coast over the next three or four weeks.

The image below was my first image with a new camera--Nikon D810--taken today. Like any new tool, there are minor adjustments to make in order for the tool to become virtually invisible much like a pen to the hand of a writer. I have been shooting with the Nikon D3s for the past 5 or so years and upgraded yesterday to the D810.

Why the upgrade? My D3s is essentially lumbering into the mortuary to find its place. The memory card slots are broken. The frame is partially bent from a fall. The grip has fallen off in many places. I want a back-up camera. I'd like to print much higher resolution files (the D810 is a 35mm sensor with 36 mega pixels compared to the faster 12 mega pixel D3s), I am indeed sacrificing speed (ie frames per second and iso in exchange for much higher resolution) but really want a higher resolution file as I am shooting more and more at a relatively low (100-1,600) iso and decided against the Nikon D5. If iso and frames per second were my two priorities than the Nikon D5 would be my choice but that's not my case.

In any event, the image below was my first image taken with the Nikon D810. Shot today near Hailey, Idaho.

Lupine. Hailey, Idaho.

Melrose, Montana

I just got back from a weekend on the Big Hole River in Melrose, Montana. I was with my oldest son (13) and we had a couple of great days on the river and camping. My drift boat got smothered in mud after driving it over Trail Creek Summit; not sure it was worth the time saved...

Anglers Journal Cuba

Here's a link to a feature I wrote and photographed on Cuba. This story appeared in Anglers Journal about 6 months ago. Many of the published images do not appear in this digital piece unless you already subscribe. This was based on my first trip to Cuba about two years ago. I was there for my second time this February. I have more work that will appear in upcoming issues.

To read this story click: Anglers Journal

Source: http://www.anglersjournal.com/adventure/cu...

Silver Creek Late Winter

We've been in a very wet weather cycle for about a week now and we're expecting snow tonight and even more snow through Sunday night. Most of that moisture has been rain down in Picabo on the banks of Silver Creek. We are looking at potentially the best water year in quite some time on Silver Creek. 

When I took the image below, two days ago, fish were rising up and down Silver Creek. Temps were in the upper 40's and it was raining lightly...

Silver Creek. Late Winter.

Cuba B-Sides

About a year ago I first visited Cuba and after that trip I put together a group of black and white images I called B-Sides. I just got back from my second trip to Cuba and here is my collection of B-Sides from this year.

To me, the B-sides are images that I did not select my first time through. I generally look at my images a little different my second time. I whittle them down by trashing a bunch and fewer are left standing and I'm generally looking for something more subtle that will work in black and white. For whatever reason fewer fishing images end up in this group.

Click on any of the images to enlarge.

Cuba 2016

Cuba is a bucket list destination for many at the moment. Chartered flights originating in the US are often booked months in advance. Hotels are limited in supply and are also booked months in advance. This is all in a place where the average taxi drivers using vintage American cars bring home exponentially more income than a doctor or a lawyer.

I sat next to a French civil engineer on a 7 hour bus ride from JĆŗcaro to Havana and he told me of his plans to move with his family to Havana for the next 2 to 4 years. His firm has been hired by the Cuban government to build more high rise hotels in Havana and elsewhere in Cuba.

Change is on the horizon in Cuba. As it is, there is a great deal of demand on a place with a quasi-broken infrastructure. Perhaps it's a race to see Cuba before it "changes." Developers are likely hashing out plans and concepts as we speak. 

The only component of change many, including myself, cannot seem to predict is how this influx of Americans and the lift of the longstanding embargo will change the day to day lives of Cubans in Cuba.

Below is a slideshow of images from Havana to the protected marine archipelago, Jardines De La Reina. Jardines is located approxamately 60 nautical miles off of the south central coast of Cuba. As it is, the Cuban government only allows 500 anglers to fish / visit Jardines on an annual basis. It's about 160 kilometers in length and is comprised of nearly a thousand mangrove cays varying in size.

While the fishing could be as good or better in many global saltwater destinations, Jardines is unique and to visit it means an adventure and a glimpse at a relatively intact ecosystem that by and large has not succumbed to the industrial hands of the West.

Tails & Mangroves

Havana

Cuban Pesos

Baseball Debate. Parque Central, Havana.

The MalecĆ³n. Havana.