Most Recent Video: Yosemite Moments
This video contains the timelapse footage filmed over the last 12 years during my trips to Yosemite National Park. It has zero shots from Tunnel View.
The Mauna Kea Heavens Series
Most of the awards and articles about my photography stem from the six years I spent photographing Mauna Kea. This timelapse project is the core of that.
In 2012, I moved to Honolulu, Hawaii to start my PhD in astronomy at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. I was beyond excited to visit and observe at the premiere northern-hemisphere telescopes. During my first couple observing trips at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, I set out cameras between targets and filmed a few timelapse scenes. In summer 2013, I moved to Hilo (on the Big Island), befriended people with four-wheel-drive vehicles, and begged them to drive me to the summit for more filming. I was fighting depression at the time and the project was my escape. That fall, I edited together the first Mauna Kea Heavens video, and it went viral. It accumulated hundreds of thousands of views, was featured on all the major photography blogs, and was even tweeted out by the astronaut Chris Hadfield.
The observatories were excited by the press generated by my video, and several of them reached out to me. Several of the telescopes helped me to obtain commercial film permits and allowed me to film inside their facilities. I permanently moved to the Big Island in 2014 and bought my own 4wd vehicle, so I could access the summit when there were photogenic events. This birthed Mauna Kea Heavens 2, which featured inside-the-dome timelapse and footage of the only time ever that all four telescopes with lasers used them simultaneously to observe the center of the Milky Way:
In the third Mauna Kea Heavens video, I focused more on unusual events such as wildfires, moonrise alignments, and multiple-laser nights. I also spent several more nights filming inside the telescopes.
I spent the final two years of grad school filming the finale of the series. I wanted it to be unique, over-the-top, and unmatched. I purchased a 1000mm lens (basically a small telescope) to photograph an enormous moon setting behind the telescopes, which became the opening scene and earned a prize in the 2017 Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest. I filmed Mauna Kea from Mauna Loa, the second-highest peak on the island. I borrowed a gimbal stabilizer and used it to film driving and walking hyperlapse of the telescopes. I filmed the enormous volcanic eruption occurring in the distance below the summit. And I hung the camera directly over Subaru Telescope and James Clerk Maxwell Telescope for amazing views of their operations.
A gallery of still images of the summit can be viewed here.
The Mt. Whitney Light Trail Adventure
Four friends and I collaborated to produce still photos and timelapse video of a hiker ascending at night the tallest peak in the continental U.S., the 14,505 ft (4421 m) Mt. Whitney. A friend and I did the off-trail scramble up Mt. Irvine, a nearby peak, and two others filmed from Wotan's Throne, above the Whitney Trail camp. This is the result.
The Half Dome Light Trail Adventure
Inspired by the success of the Whitney adventure, Kurt Lawson and I applied the concept to Half Dome, the iconic peak in California's Yosemite National Park. One of the resulting still images was a winner in the 2017 Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest.
Reflection Canyon
Reflection Canyon, an offshoot of Lake Powell in southern Utah, is accessible only by a 50-mile off-road drive and 9 miles of hiking. It first entered public awareness when it was photographed by National Geographic in 2005. In 2016, tempted by low water levels in the lake which partially revealed the S curves of the canyon, Matthew Saville and I hiked to the canyon and spent two nights photographing it. We saw zero people at the canyon the whole time. In the years after, its popularity exploded on Instagram. In 2019, the water levels dropped to near-record levels, and we made a new journey out there. We were shocked to find trash everywhere and over 20 people per night competing for photos in the small area. This timelapse was filmed over 3 days in 2016 and 5 days in 2019. The music is "Gatherer" by We Shine Every Night.
36-hour Solar Eclipse Timelapse
A day-night-day-night-day timelapse of the 2017 Great American Solar Eclipse. I hiked to Sawtooth Lake in Idaho and spent a few days photographing the scenery. Also available in higher res on Youtube.
Accelerated Moments
This montage encompasses the footage filmed during two years of trips around the western U.S.. Locations include Yosemite, Death Valley, Arches, Canyonlands, and Joshua Tree National Parks. Other locations include Mt. Whitney (the tallest peak in the continental U.S.), Havasupai Falls (in the Grand Canyon), Monument Valley, the Salton Sea, the San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm, the Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm, Goblin Valley, Trona Pinnacles, Honolulu (the two urban scenes), the Valley of Fire, Horseshoe Bend, and several other spots. The fullres version of the timelapse montage is 4K and can be viewed here. The music is "Verses" by Russian Circles.
Other Work
Other timelapse videos (going back to my first efforts as a college freshman in 2008!) can be found on my Vimeo page. There are several older montages and even a rejection collection of failed timelapse shots.