Mini-Micro-Adventure

So I've been following a blog by a man called Alstair Humphrey, in London. He's been involved with several long distance adventures through Europe and Asia, now back in London he has dedicated this year to the "Micro-Adventure," reasonable adventures close to home that anyone can get into. Well in that spirit I've been trying to up my single day adventures, longer day hikes, adventuring off the main trail on my mountain bike, and the like. Yesterday I decided to link up a few dirt trails between my apartment and work, turning my 8.25 mile commute into 10.9 miles.Well little did I know, but my adventure was about to get more interesting. I broke the 15mmQR to 9mmQR adapter on my front wheel, something I need to order to replace. Either way I ended up deciding to run home. I followed the Rillito River trail and then headed up Swan. It was a lot of fun running through the night in a bubble of light from my bike's headlamp. This adds one more night time adventure to climbing at mid-night in Cochise Stronghold a few weeks ago. I'm on my way to a 36 hour epic mountain climb.

Goodbye Tucson

So if any of you actually follow this blog regularly, you may have noticed a severe lack of posts, and I apologize. Although there isn't any real excuse, I've just been really lazy with my photography, I will blame it on the fact that two weeks ago I found out that I'll be moving two weeks from now. I am leaving the desert for the complete opposite, the rain forest of the Pacific Northwest and the Puget Sound. Conveniently I also had a reason/excuse to go through a lot of my images, including a few rolls of film that I hadn't done anything with. Anywho, enjoy this scan, shot at the Grand Canyon. Being a half day's drive from the Grand Canyon is definitely amazing, and although I'm bummed that I still have never been down the the bottom of it, the list of things I'd like to do in the Southwest is too long to get bothered too much by any one thing.

My new life resolution is to be more active with my photography and therefore this blog. I've let photography slip into the periphery of my life, and that needs to change.

Enjoy,
Tyler Gates
Good Life Photography

Christmas in Sedona

So I spent the 4 days around Christmas this year camping and mountain biking around Sedona, Arizona. If you've never been there, words can't describe the spectacular beauty of the place. The contrast of red and white rock, against the green conifers turns every view into an aesthetic dream. Fortunately the only things better than the view are the trails, so I didn't take too many photos. Here are just a few of my favorites.

Enjoy,
Tyler Gates
Good Life Photography

I'm in a slump

I haven't been shooting much lately. Don't worry, I'm bummed about it to. After shooting and shooting and shooting and not doing much with it, I lost the motivation to carry all that gear around with me. I have been shooting a little bit of video and many crappy 5mp shots with my GoPro and cell phone cameras. Just trying to keep the eye sharp.

Keep checking back, hopefully there will be more soon. In the mean time some video can be seen here.

Enjoy
Tyler Gates
Good Life Photography

Happy Holidays!

Happy Hanuhkah, Christmas, Kwanza, Winterfest, Festivus, or whatever you're celebrating this time of year! No matter what we're celebrating it seems to be the season for giving, and what would be better than an awesome print for your loved one? Any and all of my work is available for sale. So feel free to browse through my blog, my website, and especially my for sale page. If you see something you like just let me know. Prices vary depending on the image, size, and the finish you would prefer, but they're all very affordable.

I hope to hear from you soon and enjoy looking through my photos.

Tyler Gates
Good Life Photography

Tallest Man on Earth

So it's been tough to think of what I could possibly follow the photos from NM with. I also haven't gotten a chance to go out and shoot anything since NM. However, with the holidays coming up I was searching through images to think of which ones will make good presents, and I stumbled across some photos I shot that never got posted. Quite awhile ago I was lucky enough to catch a performance by The Tallest Man on Earth at Club Congress, here in Tucson. If you're not familiar with the band, it is a single man from Sweden who has mastered an American art, country folk music. I fell in love with his music on our drive out to Tucson from the East and seeing him perform could have been the culmination of my time in Tucson, and I would've felt complete. I saw him perform a few days before shooting a wedding, so I had with me some higher end rented glass and tested the large aperture by shooting hand held in a dark club. They for the most part all looked the same, so here is just one.

Enjoy,
Tyler Gates

Gila Wilderness: Gila Cliff Dwellings

At the recommendation from a co-worker at REI we decided to check out the Gila Wilderness while on our trip to New Mexico. The Gila was first suggested because of what is supposed to be an amazing overnight hike that takes you to the Jordan Hot Springs along the Middle Fork of the Gila River that is right in the middle of it. We researched more about the hike and couldn't wait to do it. Then Emma hurt her back. We still decided to check out the area around the trail which included not only the Gila Cliff Dwellings, but also tons of free camping! It also boasted an awesome hour and a half long ride down a winding forest road to get there(a huge highlight for me, a downside to my motion sickness prone partner). Not doing the hike ended up being a good idea either way. With night temperatures close to single digits and a guarantee of getting wet from the many river crossings, it seemed best to stay at the campground. We instead took a day to tour the cliff dwellings and then explore the drier side of the West and Middle Fork rivers.

The best way to sum up our trip to the Gila is that I can't wait to go back.

Enjoy
Tyler Gates
Good Life Photography