I've wanted to make a book for years, but the idea for my very first photography book popped into my head as I was telling stories about my photos at various art fairs over the years. I started to realize that hey, I have some fun stories to share!

I started to think about which images I'd put in a book, and realized the ones I was picking DID have fun stories behind them. Starting to get excited, I called up my best friend Toni - she's got a couple decades experience in writing, layout and design - and we brainstormed the idea of making a book together. My dream of making a book started to become a reality.

Toni is my partner in crime any travels with me any chance she gets - above you can see us, usually on mountain tops, traveling around the Black Hills and Canadian Rockies. We'd been on a roll of taking one major trip together each year, so not being able to go anywhere in 2020 was a major downer. But reliving past experiences while making the book was a fun substitute!

We first started working on this book a few years ago, but the craziness of work and life kept postponing our progress. Then 2020 came… and BAM, we suddenly had all sorts of free time (yay quarantine…) to finally design and create my book! it's definitely not the way I pictured things happening, but I'll take what I get and make the best of it!

Then something magical happened... a gift from a friend reminded me of a pun in the photography world that kinda fit my stories perfectly for a theme. I shared the idea of making this pun our book title, and she giggled like a maniac. "It's perfect!" she said. So this book is a project that took on a life of it’s own, and just so happens to fit into this weird year perfectly.

Sadly I have to leave the title as a tease for right now - we'll announce it the day we launch on Kickstarter!

We've put out hearts and souls into making this book. Picking out the photos was the easy part, but I'm NOT a writer and the idea of writing 50 stories did not sound fun! "Just write whatever pops into your head, I'll fix it," Toni said. I must say, without her re-writes most of the stories in the book would just be a couple of paragraphs! Thankfully my best friend has heard me tell many of these stories - and was there for many of them! - and she magically turned my rambling notes into stories that are much more like talking to me in person. Together we make a pretty good storyteller! (Though if any of the stories feel too long, I blame her! ;)

The result is that this isn’t your typical coffee table book. It's got everything from fun and crazy adventures to heartwarming stories of the moments that really make you appreciate life, all illustrated by my professional landscape and wildlife photography, plus some travel photos that help tell the story.

Besides loving to share the stories behind my photos, I love to share what I've learned in all my years chasing my passion for photography. So we've also added a section with my favorite photography tips! It's got my favorite wildlife and landscape places, plus tips for gear, shooting and editing.

This book is just FUN! You can pick it up and just browse through the images, reading a story when something grabs your interest... or you can curl up with a warm cup of your favorite beverage and read it cover to cover.

If you don't love this book simply for the beautiful photos, we think you'll love it for the humor and down-to-earth joy of exploring this place we call earth.

Thank you again for following me on this crazy journey!