2013

Photographer Dave Shumway looks up at the Milky Way
while sitting beside a small campfire in Tanzania. 

Another year for the books...I LOVE MY LIFE.

In the last year, I:

• consumed 123 pizzas (or more);
• went climbing 116 times;
• took 117 Bikram Hot Yoga Classes;
• and...drumroll please...spent 142 days away from home on trips. 

I basically look at the year like this, March in the American Southwest, May (and other little trips) in Yellowstone, August in Tanzania, October/November in Italy, and the rest of the year trying to make Rocky Mountain College the best place I could all while climbing, doing lots of yoga, and eating even more pizza. 

I missed my 10 year high school class reunion because I was getting ready to fly to Italy, sorry BHS class of 2003. The good news is that I weigh the same that I did when I graduated, and can climb much better, the bad news is I have not run or sang on stage in years. 

I ticked my first on-sight trad lead rated 5.11D (or 5.12- depending on what guide book you read). 

I had plenty of images published in ads, magazines, newspapers and books around the world...at least enough to afford some cool trips and buy some great gear. 

I visited family back in Chicago in June, visiting "home" for the last time, as my parents are moving to a new place, that will likely never be "home" to me, even though I'll keep visiting them yearly. 

I did make one big change, or will in a few days. As of January 6, 2014 I will no longer be the Staff Photographer/Web Content Manager/Designer are Rocky Mountain College...I will be the Director of Communications for Volunteers of America - Northern Rockies. I will still be teaching a class here and there for RMC, so don't worry. 

I pray that your 2013 was as fulfilling as mine, and that we all safely finish 2014 knowing that we lived each day trying to be more awesome than the day before. 

God bless, and happy shooting

The Best Year

The best year...well the past year, it has been a great year.


This year's calendar starts in an odd place. Last June, my little sister got married to her high-school sweetheart and a great guy. They planned their wedding date around my adventures, mostly because they wanted a free photographer, who did work like a $5K photographer.  They were too afraid to do the wedding after my Alaskan Adventure because "what if a bear were to eat me."

So this great year starts on June 8, 2012, my sister’s wedding. I’m so proud of my little sister :)

Shortly after her wedding, I drove my newly customized (to live out of) Ford F150 from Chicago, IL to Billings, MT, where I packed for what ended up being my longest adventure to date. I also finished editing wedding photos before I left, just in case something went wrong – you know, like a bear eating me.

I left Billings, MT for Alaska and the trip was legen...wait for it...the kind of trip that gives you memories and stories to fill a lifetime. : ) Jumping off ice into the Arctic Ocean, swimming rivers in remote (almost unvisited) national parks (ANWR and Gates of the Arctic), seeing muskox, climbing in the Brooks Range, hiking in Denali, camping along fishing costal brown bears, spit ratting it, sailing Kenai Fjord, watching orca pods come together to breed, driving the most rugged and remote roads in North America, and getting to photograph it all...I hope your not lactose intolerant because the second half of the word is, dary...legendary ;)

Alaska in the summer is amazing, and I feel okay using that word because it is God's creation at its most unadulterated state. Alaska really is creation at its finest that I have experienced to date.

I returned home with more than 27,000 photographs, and I don't have words to describe the experience justly.

Now for those of you who have not visited Montana you may not realize that it’s  "Big Sky County" and "The Last Best Place." Those things really are true, but it’s no Alaska. My return to home and to my job as a staff photographer and college "prof" was a challenge, and I'm okay admitting that.

I spent two months with the nights being too bright to see stars, with no deadlines, no real responsibilities, and with very few people to interact with. A foreign concept to folks in most of the world, but it was my reality, and I loved it.

My fall semester was a good one with great students in all of my classes, numerous trips to Yellowstone National Park (my favorite place in the lower 48) and plenty of good climbing around Montana and Wyoming. The problem with having a "real" job is that you can't just take two months, or even two weeks off to go on an adventure. And if that's true then I am incredibly blessed to not have a real job, as by November I was ready for another adventure.

I'm Swedish and German, I grew up in the Midwest, and I like cold weather, so there is something about the Arctic that just calls to me like a siren song. As November rolled around, the semester was winding down, and I got to leave for two weeks to go back to the Arctic. I was teaching classes like Digital Nature Photography and Conservation Photography, so the students understand why I “had” to leave for two weeks.

The trip’s timing was perfect. We saw countless polar bears, ample snow, rapidly changing ice, Northern Lights, and magical light. I returned home with more than 12,000 photos and some of them are unimaginable.

At this point in my year, I'm back to Montana after spending two months in Alaska and more than 30 days in the Arctic. I have nearly 40,000 images to edit. It was those images that caused me to make a decision that broke my mother’s heart, just a little bit. I decided to stay in Montana and edit photographs rather than travel back to Chicago for Christmas. I decided that I needed to edit and was not going to let myself have a "real" Christmas unless I was finished editing. Don't feel too bad for me, as I found plenty of time to ski and climb while I was "resting my eyes," from all of the editing.

2013 started off with a new semester at Rocky Mountain College, and being that it was also my fifth year teaching I'm told I was due a "sabbatical." Now as I am not a full-time professor, I don't know how this was really supposed to work, but I took that to mean that I could teach an independent study course or two and schedule the month of March off from the staff photographer part of my job. So that's what I did, and no one has called me on it yet.

Again my images appeared in national ad campaigns and magazines like The New Yorker, Backpacker, National Geographic, and Outside to name a few. I had my worked published in a few books around the world, and in so many US newspapers that I lost count.
Oh, and the region’s biggest paper, The Billings Gazette, named me as one of their 40 Under Forty this year in February.

March 1 I left Billings, MT bound for Las Vegas. Well, actually about twenty miles west of Vegas to Red Rock Canyon. Red Rock is one of the best climbing destinations in the country – it is seriously incredible. But that was only the start of my "sabbatical trip"a.k.a. my "March Through The Southwest," I continued on to Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, The Swell, Arches, Canyonlands, Indian Creek, Natural Bridges, Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon, The Wave, and back to Zion and Bryce Canyon before I made my way back toward home, with a mandatory stop in Yellowstone.

Upon returning home with 17,000 photographs, I immediately left for a climbing trip to Devils Tower, where I got rained out again, and then off to Bozeman for some more climbing.

April is a crazy month around any college campus, but I love the craziness, as I get to photograph all kinds of different things, and that only makes me a better photographer for whatever assignments come my way through the rest of my life. My April was also filled with catching up with old friends, making new ones, doing 32 hot yoga classes and finding time to climb 16 times despite the cold and snowy spring.  Oh yeah...I was a bit ticked off that after a cruddy winter for skiing, as soon as the resorts closed we got pounded with snow, but I was finished with the ski season so I didn't motivate myself to go and skin up the mountain to earn my turns.

May, and my 28 birthday, was spent in Yellowstone National Park... Sixteen days to be exact. Spring in Yellowstone was slow, but patience and dedication paid off, and after spending more than 100 hours watching and waiting, I was privileged to photograph a grizzly sow and her three tiny cubs of the year. Many of my friends in Yellowstone got to enjoy my birthday German chocolate chocolate chip cookies, but they still couldn’t help but to harass me about my age...I'm getting closer to an age where people will just assume I'm an adult, I hope ;)

I truly LOVE the life that I get to wake up each day and live. I am blessed beyond measure in so many ways, and though this has been the best year of my life, I have a hunch that next year will give it a run for its money and each year to follow will do the same.
Remember, it might seem like I never work, but I average over 50 hours each week. Though I spent one third of my year traveling, that is not much more than someone who chooses to spend each weekend of the year traveling. Oftentimes I travel like a dirtbag, but I do have a nice truck (2012 - F150), I do have a nice apartment (no time for a house, but I do love having a pool/hot tub/sauna), and a great job with benefits and a retirement plan. Yeah, I'm single, but who do you know that would put up or keep up with someone as crazy as me...no seriously what's her number? I'll give her a call ;)

p.s. In August I'm taking students on a three week African safari, and then I hope to climb mount Kilimanjaro.

p.p.s. In October/November I am going to Italy to teach photography for three weeks, and hopefully sneak in a sport-climbing trip on the Tuscan coast with a friend.
I'm living my dream...I hope you find a way to live yours.

March Through the Southwest

Photographer Dave Shumway hikes The Wave, in the Coyote Buttes district of the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Utah. Captured with a Canon 5D III and 17-40/4.0L in aperture priority mode with an exposure bias of - 1/3 at ISO200, f/11, and 1/640 of a second. The camera was mounted on an Induro CT214 tripod with an AcraTech GP ballhead.

For my "sabbatical" trip I decided that it was time to revisit the American Southwest, and March seemed like the perfect time to do this first trip, with a digital camera. The other reason behind the trip in March, is that it allowed me to get plenty of great climbing in too, while snow and ice cover the rocks back in Montana.

Each parks name is linked to its corresponding gallery of photos and the thirty "best" images are in  "The Best of My March Through the Southwest (2013)."

On March first I left Billings and drove well past Salt Lake City, where I stopped at a rest stop for a few hours sleep, before pushing on to Las Vegas. Actually I was to the west of Vegas, meeting friends for a week of climbing in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. The climbing was amazing, and the photography was not to shabby wither. I ticked off my first 5.11 on-sight trad lead (Animal Boy 5.11d, or if you listen to Mountain Project it is 5.12a), I got to climb many of the famous climbs, and even climbed some of the remote, rarely climbed routes. Did I mention that I took some pictures too.

After Red Rock Canyon I went with friends to Zion National Park...Zion is beautiful, but without leaves on the trees it just does not seem right to take many pictures, but the climbing is good.

From Zion we made our way to the San Rafael Swell with a quick little stop in Capitol Reef National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park (I'll come back to Bryce). The "Swell" is amazing and worth a visit, or ten. The main plan was to get in some great canyoneering, and we did. We made our way to the middle of the "Swell" and did Baptist Draw and Upper Chute Canyon, if you are interested in technical canyoneering and find yourself in the area, I would call these a must do.

After the Swell, I left one group of friends to meet with another in Arches National Park, but they changed their plans and left me to Arches and Canyonlands National Park all by my lonesome. That was just fine though, I'm a nature photographer...that's how I work best, and with a new moon the planned night photography part of my trip was just getting started.

Arches and Canyonlands, especially Island in the Sky, are simply incredible. The parks are really a landscape photographers paradise, and if you plan a fall or spring trip the low sun angle makes for some different opportunities that will help you photos be different from the millions of summertime visitors.

I made my way South for some climbing in Indian Creek, and photography in the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park, and that continued my streak of awesome climbing and photography.

After leaving Canyonlands I made my way to Natural Bridges National Monument for one last night of star trail photography, and the clouds cooperated letting me have a great night to shoot Owachomo Bridge. I left Natural Bridges in the dark, so I could get down to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park for sunrise, and that worked out quite well. Although I had been up all night, and was getting tiered I decided to drive up to Antelope Canyon, so I could get into the upper canyon on a week day (praying for less crowds). Light shafts begin to make their way to the canyon floor again in mid March, and being able to visit in the "off season" with light shafts and on a week day meant that I was able to arrange a 2 hour (maximum time you can spend in the canyon) solo tour.

Antelope Canyon, like many of my destinations on this trip, has been shot by seemingly everyone, but I hope I was able to let my style keep my images from looking exactly like everyone else's.

From there I decided that I was ahead of schedule and could in fact try my luck at getting a Wave permit. I made my way back into Utah, past Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and into The Grand Staircase Escalante-National Monument. Access to The Wave is limited to ten online permits (reservations earned months in advance) and ten lottery permits issued the day before. It took me three tries, but I got a permit and spent an entire day in and around The Wave (actually waves).

When you loose the lottery you need something to do that day, while you wait to try again the next day, so I shot many of the other local sites, including; The Toadstools, The Towers of Silence, Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park and Moccasin Mountain Track Site.

After ticking The Wave off of my list, I decided to head back ti Zion National Park, to see if the leaves had come in yet. Unfortunately they were just starting to bud, and the rangers predicted another week before things really started to be green. With that bit of bad news I decided to head North a bit and give Bryce Canyon National Park a little bit more of my time.

Three weeks into my trip, and all of my major objectives crossed off of my list I decided to look at the weather and determine the safest break in snow storms to drive back to Montana, and it is a good thing I looked when I did, because the time to leave was right then...as it was I ended up driving just ahead of the storm that pounded Northern Utah, Idaho, and Western Montana for the next few days.

Once I hade made it through the mountains I did decide to make a short side trip down to Yellowstone National Park, but it would have been rude to be so close and not pay the park a visit.


Make the jump to go through the online gallery, I ask that you leave comments/criticism or at least give your favorites a thumbs up...Thanks!

If you have questions, ask. I published the camera information with each image and have added full keywords to share just about anything you would want to know about the images.

Happy shooting

Two Weeks in New Mexico, December 2009

FULL TRIP ONLINE

I had a great time over my two week trip, I had some great company from friends who joined me for parts of the trip. I chose to drive from Billings my Subaru did a great job for the 4,355.9 miles averaging some 25.9 miles per gallon. I stayed around Socorro, New Mexico for the bulk of my trip. I did make a side trip to White Sands National Monument, a few hours south of my "home base." Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Reserve was where I did the bulk of my shooting; but I did make a trip to Bitter Lake National Wildlife Reserve. A trip to Albuquerque provided great opportunities to photograph Wood Ducks at a few locations. Bosque del Apache is one of many National Wildlife Reserves in New Mexico and I did visit and have success photographing at a number of them.

My bird list from the trip was over 70 species, I was going to post it; but I just don't feel like typing that much :)

I stayed in hotels and did some camping. I ate lots of camp food, some fast food, and enjoyed a few nice dinners at local restaurants.

For those who visit the area I can give a big thumbs up to the Socorro Springs Brewing Company.

To all of the photographers I met on the trip... I hope you got home with great images, it was a pleasure to meet and photograph along side you.

I took almost 20,000 image and after picking through them with a little editing, made easier by Adobe Lightroom 2, I narrowed them down to a little over 1,700 images. I also shot a some video; but it will be some time before I have time to edit it and get it online.

If you have questions about the trip, where I went, etc... Ask away.

Editing Progress... Finished

PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

As the gallery is over 1,700 images I would suggest that, if you have been following along, you skip to the end and work through backwards.

I have added another 170+ images, and I have finally finished editing the photos from a great trip.

The images from December 15th were shot on my final sunrise in New Mexico. I had the great luck of coming across two flocks of Gambel's Quail and a Greater Roadrunner after shooting Sandhill Cranes at sunrise. I then started the long drive back to Billings, MT.

I'll write a wrap up post in the next few days; but I had a great trip and I am grateful for the ability to see so many beautiful birds and to capture them in a way that I can share with all of you.

I hope you enjoy.

Editing Progress... Day 10 of 11

MORE PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

As the gallery is now over 1,600 images I would suggest that, if you have been following along, you skip to the end and work through backwards.

I have added another 180+ images. Days one - ten are now edited and online, in the order they were captured (or close to it). This represents photographs from December 5th - 14th of my trip.

Day ten was my last full day in the area before heading home and then to Yellowstone. The stand out part of the day was spending significant time with an American Bald Eagle. The day was also filled with nice conversation with my fellow photographers.

I hope you enjoy.

Editing Progress... Day 9 of 11

MORE PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

As the gallery is now nearing 1,500 images I would suggest that, if you have been following along, you skip to the end and work through backwards.

I have added another 175+ images. Days one - nine are now edited and online, in the order they were captured (or close to it). This represents photographs from December 5th - 13th of my trip.

Day nine started with a dud of a sunrise at my starting location; but after racing to my fall back I was rewarded with some very pleasant colors. I spent much of the morning shooting cranes in flight with cloud cover keeping the light relatively soft. As my long trip was nearing an end I spent the middle of the day resting (I was very tired) and then headed out for a rather slow evening shoot.

I hope you enjoy.

Editing Progress... Day 8 of 11

MORE PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

As the gallery is now well over 1000 images I would suggest that, if you have been following along, you skip to the end and work through backwards.

I have added another 250+ images. Days one - eight are now edited and online, in the order they were captured (or close to it). This represents photographs from December 5th - 12th of my trip.

Day eight started with a mile or so walk to be in location to attempt photographing a beautiful scene at a reserve North of Bosque before sunrise. It is a long story; but it did not work out. After some morning shooting in the reserve I headed up to Albuquerque to photograph the Wood Ducks in a few well known and some not so well known locations. I had some fun with Wood Ducks, Ring-necked Ducks, Ruddy Ducks, Mandarin Ducks, a Hooded Merganser, and a few other random birds. A snow storm was heading in toward town so I left and drove south to Bosque getting there just in time to shoot some Sandhill Cranes with the storm aided fiery sunset.

I hope you enjoy.

Editing Progress... Day 7 of 11

MORE PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

As the gallery is now above 900 images I would suggest that, if you have been following along, you skip to the end and work through backwards.

I have added another 40ish images. Days one - seven are now edited and online, in the order they were captured (or close to it). This represents photographs from December 5th - 11th of my trip.

Day seven started waiting for White Sands national Monument to open. The night before we were told that we could get into the park at 7am; but due to some missile testing the opening was delayed until 9am. With the delay I decided to head out to the country side to try and see some of the local Oryx that reside in the area. I only had a brief, very distant, sighting. I did see dozens of Red Tail Hawks and captured some nice Gambel's Quail photographs. I was then off to a reserve near Roswell, Bitter Lake. I added many birds to my trip list; but only a few provided nice photographs. The last hour and a half of the day did provide three different owl species (Great Horned, Short Eared, and Burrowing).

I hope you enjoy.

Editing Progress... Day 6 of 11

MORE PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

As the gallery is now above 900 images I would suggest that, if you have been following along, you skip to the end and work through backwards.

I have added another 140ish images. Days one - six are now edited and online, in the order they were captured (or close to it). This represents photographs from December 5th - 10th of my trip.

Day six started shooting sunrise in Bosque then I took a drive down to White Sands National Monument. The afternoon was spend scouting and shooting a little. When I went to shoot my sunset scene so other photographers spotted me and while trying to see what I getting ready to shoot they walked into the scene ruining it... Oh well... I had a few ideas for backup scenes and had some fun shooting after sunset landscapes (some painting with light too). I camped on the shores of a lake that I pray nothing tries to drink out of as it just felt like it was nuclear :)

I hope you enjoy.

Editing Progress... Day 5 of 11

MORE PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

As the gallery is now at about 800 images I would suggest that, if you have been following along, you skip to the end and work through backwards.

I have added another 150ish images. Days one - five are now edited and online, in the order they were captured (or close to it). This represents photographs from December 5th - 9th of my trip.

Day five was supposed to be only a morning in Bosque then a drive down to White Sands National Monument; but as the extremely high winds had not let up (or so the weather report said) I postponed my trip south for a day. The day started in Bosque and ended at a small reserve to the North.

I hope you enjoy.

Editing Progress... Day 4 of 11

MORE PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

As the gallery is now beyond 600 images I would suggest that, if you have been following along, you skip to the end and work through backwards.

I have added another 180ish images, so days one, two, three, and four are now edited and online, in the order they were captured (or close to it).

I had a great trip back to the Chicagoland area; but I am glad to be back in Billings. Back to work, and back to working on images from the end of last year. It is now 2010 so I really need to get all the images from 2009 edited and online so I can go on more trips.

Day four was a bit of a lazy day, as the next day I had a lot of driving to do. We all know that even my lazy days get packed with lots of shooting.

I hope you enjoy.

Editing Progress... Day 3 of 11

MORE PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

I have added another 190+ images, so days one, two, and three are finished and online.

That is all I am going to get added before the big jet airliner carries me away.

Sorry. I hope you enjoy.

Day three led me to a few "hidden" ponds to shoot American Wigeons and Ring Necked Ducks, then down the road to a neighbor reserve for even more birds than Bosque had.

Editing Progress... Day 2 of 11

MORE PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

Another day is added so take a look and enjoy.

I will try to get a few more days worth of photos added here before heading to the Chicagoland area; but I am skeptical.

Editing Progress... Day 1 of 11

PHOTOS NOW ONLINE

Hopefully more images will be flying your way before the end of the year.

I made a day and a half layover back home between my two weeks in New Mexico and a few days in Yellowstone.

I managed to get the first days photos edited and online. I hope you enjoy.

I will try to get a few more days worth of photos added here when I return and before heading to the Chicagoland area; but I can make no promises.

Bosque del Apache, Day 8

Back to Bosque and the surrounding local area shooting lots of birds. I hope you enjoy. It is late so I am off to bed.

White Sands, Day 6

The two and a half hour drive to White Sand National Monument is well worth it when you are in the area. A drive then a few landscapes after shooting sunrise in Bosque del Apache. Just so people know the Oryx have bee removed from White Sands about 5 years ago. If you have connections, I don't, you may be able to et onto the missile range and photograph them; but that is very unlikely.

Days before my arrival here was 60+ mph winds in the area so things were a little different than usual.

For now I'll let the photos finish the talking.

Bosque del Apache, Day 4

MORE PHOTOS ONLINE

Another nice day in the American Southwest and Bosque del Apache. The day started with freezing rain most photographers slept in our stayed in their cars... not me. Arc'teryx kept me warm and dry and I got to do some shooting that was actually well worth the time in the rain. I have some rainbow shots; but they will come in a while. This may be my last post for a while as I will not have internet connections for the majority of my trips remainder. I'll try to post what I can; but I gave you some extra photographs today to make up for the coming drought.

Enjoy

Bosque del Apache, Day 3

Another day with over 2,500 photos, and the light was not even that good.

I am very tired so the photos will have to do the talking.

Enjoy

Bosque del Apache, Day 2

Day 2

A little slower today than yesterday; but I still managed some 2,000 images. The plan for tomorrow is promising, with a side trip to a "special place." All any day will take to go from good to great is a Bobcat and or some great light at sunrise and or sunset.

Long days leave me wanting sleep so I'll keep it short... enjoy the photos.