There are some pretty awesome places in the world.
Big places, places that make you feel little and remind you just how we slot into this world. Places where you can watch the horizon all day, taking in mountain tops and rivers and just grin like a little kid at the sheer size of it all.
Maybe that’s just me, but I like to think others do it too.
But those places can be pretty stark and harsh if you’re not around the right people. This past week, working as the Photographer in Residence at Bristol Bay Lodge, I was lucky enough to fish with a series of fun, savvy guides and crew members. I’ve worked in the lodge business and now travel around to places now and again, and when there’s a good vibe in camp it shows quickly.
Huge thanks to the BBL crew for having me up. From the guides who were willing to hold fish for underwater shots and put up with the Pelican case full of gear in the boats, to the house staff who were perpetually cheerful, to the utterly awesome Beaver pilots who shuttled us around every day, the folks I met up here (I’m sitting in the Anchorage airport as I write this) truly made the trip.
There was a lot of laughter, a lot of fish (swinging mice and chubbies for Dolly Varden, anyone?), and it served as a potent reminder that no matter how frustrating some things in this industry can be, when you strip life down to the bare basics it’s still pretty damn awesome.
Here’s a quick start at a top edit; look for more images to come online and in a publication near you soon.
