It’s been an interesting summer… some good, some bad, and some great.  The great, and the only things I feel like writing about right now, consist of two things: my new nephew, Otis (1, 2), and The Woods Project (1, 2).  This is about The Woods Project.

My previous life on this planet, prior to photography, was as an outdoor educator.  I loved it… I loved the outdoors, I loved teaching, and I loved the adventure of the combo.  So a year ago when I stumbled upon The Woods Project via an email sent by NOLS, I jumped at the idea of volunteering for the organization… little did I know the impact it would have… the power of transformation it can bring to all those involved, students and leaders alike.

The Woods Project is a Houston based organization dedicated to the principal that the out-of-doors has more to offer than the in-of-doors… it espouses the notion that great leadership and invaluable personal life skills are best discovered in the same place that human beings have found them for ions past: out there… with experiences that most of us (in the first world) are never faced with anymore: survival… as the young indian brave becomes a man in the woods, so to shall the brave inner-city students of The Woods Project.

I spent two weeks helping to lead a group of some of the most amazing students I’ve ever met through the wilds and wonders of Yosemite National Park.  Every day I was blow away by the qualities of these kids… their maturity, generosity, determination, and humor… their will to succeed and exceed… they achieved beyond my wildest expectations and each and every one of them will go far in life.  Kudos to you Y2Bers….   whooop whooop!!

I brought along with me a Fuji X100 camera to document the journey… it is a fun new little sucker with an APS-c sized sensor and a lens fixed at 35mm (equivalent).  Despite a bucketful of quirks it is a wonderful camera with fantastic image quality.  You will find a handful of my favorites below.

CLICK HERE for a larger gallery.