So This Is The New Year

Although I haven't been posting, I have been shooting a decent amount over the past year.  I sold some prints, invested in a new micro 4/3rds camera (Olympus E-PL5), and it needed to be warranteed 3 times in as many months.  So after writing a bunch of bad reviews and angry emails, I turned back to my trusty Ansco Speedex.  I carried this folder camera on most of my backpacking trips and shot 20+ rolls of 120 film.  Now I just need to scan it all...In the meantime, enjoy a few that I have.  These have all been shot on Fuji Velvia 100 and scanned with my Epson flatbed.

-Tyler

 Ten Lakes, Yosemite National Park 2014 ©Tyler Gates 2015

 Grant Lake, Yosemite National Park 2014 ©Tyler Gates 2015

Looking south across Yosemite National Park 2014 ©Tyler Gates 2015

Hello there

I'm not even going to say that I'm going to try to start posting here again, but I'll say that I hope that I start posting here again.  I'm completely camera-less these days, less my 1950 medium format folder, so I don't have much motivation in that front.  I did develop a bunch of old film from that camera recently, and I might buy some more to keep it up.  In the mean time, here are some of those shots.

Also, I'm currently accepting digital camera donations if you're feeling generous.

If anyone ever checks this, thanks.

Laters

Backcountry, The Only Way to Travel

Just a little over a year ago I had a friend of mine invite me on a backcountry hut ski trip.  At this point I only had a vague idea of how an AT setup worked.  I did, however, have almost 20 years of skiing experience, unfortunately this was East Coast, inbounds, mostly groomer skiing experience.  Obviously the best way to learn was to do it with a 40+ pound pack of gear on my back!  So I rented an AT setup, and was off to Keith's Hut in B.C., Canada.  After that trip I was hooked and began tirelessly scouring the internet for a cheap used AT rig.  A year later and I'm still doing whatever I can to avoid getting on a lift.

Here are a few shots from skiing this past holiday season.

Enjoy
-Tyler
www.GoodLifePhotography.com

 Esteban getting in deep new Kendall Stump

Snoqualmie Pass, WA

 Another great air by Boon

Same area as above

 Whitey skiing near the Blueberry Chutes

Herman Saddle, WA

Life Update

Oh how the time flies.  As usual, photography has been on the back burner while life keeps chugging a long.  The last 6 or 7 months have been some crazy ones, involving probably the most aggressive weekend warrioring(?) I have ever been a part of.  I don't think that I've taken more than 4 of 5 days off at a time but have fit in so much rock climbing, skiing, and general traveling in that I can't even remember everything that I've done.  August, September and October offered up many clear nights under the stars and even more days on rock in the sun.  Then, when the Northwest got hit by a huge storm system in the last week of October, I promptly switched to backcountry skiing (OCTOBER!).  November and December offered up the deepest skiing of my life, with so many unforgettable runs, I couldn't possibly list them all here.  In January the sun came out and we got into some ski mountaineering and ripped plenty of groomers.  The clear dry weather continued into February and encouraged a couple of spectacular winter bouldering days.  Now as February comes to a close the storms are back, and it feels like it's winter in the PNW all over again.  There's almost 2 feet of fresh snow in the mountains, and it's time to break out the fat skis again!  There are few things I would change to make this life better.

This post should be followed by some photography postings.  I've been enjoying the simplicity of shooting with my little point and shoot, but I have been really missing the quality of shooting with a DSLR.  Anyone want to donate a new camera?

Waiting for the snow to soften up on the Muir Snowfield

 Mt Rainier, WA Jan 2013

Our Wonderful Rain Forest

The rain forests of the Pacific Northwest never cease to amaze me. I hope you enjoy these shots from the forest in the Hoh River Valley.

-Tyler

 

Joffre Peak, BC

Do you remember my first backcountry ski trip? Because I'll certainly never forget it.  The terrain around Keith's Hut is some of the coolest easy access alpine terrain that I've ever seen!

Mt Hood

I recently had the pleasure of climbing my first volcano here in the Pacific Northwest.  I had a few days off around the 4th of July and decided that I had to do something great.  I jumped on board with a few friends that were planning to climb and ski Mt Hood, and then do the same on Mt Adams.  Unfortunately I only had enough time off to do Mt Hood.  It was very odd to start from a ski resort parking lot and pass snow cats building jumps at 4am, but the climb was amazing.  And I have to admit the feeling of skiing groomers past kids and families with my climbing pack on my back felt pretty good.  Mt Hood had no fall zones, fairly steep snow, a knife ridge, and a beautiful summit view, I couldn't have asked for more.  Here's another one from the Point and Shoot, the night before the summit bid.

Enjoy.

Smith Rocks State Park, OR

I recently had the pleasure of getting to check out Smith Rocks State Park.  As a climber, I've dreamed of climbing here quite some time now.  As a photographer, I couldn't wait to see the amazing rock formations glow from the morning light.  As a person who enjoys the outdoors for the solitude, I was very disappointed.  Crowds aside, this place was pretty amazing.  And the land management does an amazing job at keeping it from being destroyed by the crazy amount of people that wash over it daily.  Although I only got a taste of the climbing there, I was pretty impressed, and it felt like a lot of the climbing I was used to in Tucson.  I can't wait to go back on a true climbing trip and get to sample many more of the classics there.  In the meantime, enjoy a couple of snaps that I took with the Point and Shoot.

Enjoy

Cerise Creek BC

This might be one of my favorite photographs that I've ever taken.  The Cerise Creek area is an amazingly beautiful and accessible place for skiing, hiking, and climbing.  I've been there twice in the past year and would go back again in a heart beat.  This photo faces one of the sources of Cerise Creek, the Anniversary Glacier.  The glacier is perched between Mt Matier and Joffre peak, both excellent climbs.  The glacier itself offers 2500+ ft of wonderful moderately pitched skiing that drops you off at the door step of a spectacularly simple backcountry hut.  Enjoy

More from Vantage

Enjoy.

More From the P&S

Years ago, when I first started getting into climbing, and started dreaming about the possibilities, this was what I imagined.  Hanging onto the side of what appears to be an unforgiving wall of granite, taller than a building, with nothing but a beautiful expanse of nature, as far as the eye can see.  Basically, my dreams were of Galen Rowell photographs.  This is at the top of an ultra classic line called Godzilla located on the Index town walls, just outside of Index, Washington.  But who cares?  This photo isn't about the climbing, it's about filling your life with beauty and constantly finding new ways to appreciate it.

Get out there.


-Tyler

Finally! An update..

Man, I have very unfortunately let this blog go to the wayside.  Life continues to go on as I struggle with my desire to photography and its competing with my desire to just let life happen.  Sometime photographing seems like a labored and arduous process, and sometime it's the only thing I could want to do.  My digital SLR has been broken for a few months now, and I've been using a point and shoot instead.  The lower quality of image has really forced me to try even harder when taking a photo.  The camera is a lot less lenient when it comes to poor lighting and contrast.  I've definitely loved the low stress and playfulness of having a point and shoot.  I've never really owned one before.  So hopefully I'll keep up with uploading some of those photos, as well as stuff that I shot with my DSLR before it broke.

For now, enjoy this photo from climbing at Frenchman's Coulee, outside of Vantage, Washington.

Keith's Hut

Gertz Engagement Photos

This past summer I had the pleasure of going to Banff to shoot some lovely engagement photos of some of my best friends. Here are a few of my favorites.

Enjoy

Tyler Gates
Good Life Photography

Sorry Folks

It has been far too long since I've updated anything on here. Getting into the swing of a new job, a new house, making new friends and somehow fitting in time in the outdoors has squeezed photography into my periphery. The good news is that it's back! Even though I wasn't doing much with them, I've continued to shoot and more importantly enjoy the outdoors here in the Pacific Northwest. I've also been fortunate enough to spend some time along the coast in Nor Cal, in the Canadian Rockies outside of Banff, and even some time back East down at the shore. Now back to the bad news, my computer is hitting the fan. Which obviously happened right as I was getting back into the swing of editing and reveling in photography. As you read this I'm waiting for a new battery and then it's back in business! In the mean time enjoy this photo I took on a recent climbing trip in the Enchantment Lakes Zone of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in the Central Cascades of Washington. More to come.

Enjoy,

Tyler Gates

Good Life Photography

Dragontail Peak and Asgard Pass at Sunrise

Trees in the Clouds

Creek

I've been experimenting a bit with black & white. Although this is a digital conversion, I've been thinking about getting some B&W film for my old 120 camera. With a little bit of equipment and chemicals I could start developing my own film again and scanning the negs. There's something about pinning all your hopes and ideas onto the right mixture of solutions. It's like magic, loading film in the dark and pulling wet images out of a canister a half hour later.

Desolate

I recently had two days off, after working a solid 9 day stint. I knew I had to get into the outdoors, and fast. I had loosely planned a trip to the Mt St Helen's National Monument and the surrounding Gifford Pinchot National Forest. I had decided on my adventure being in the Northwest corner of the park, in the Coldwater Lake area. It was close to Olympia, seemed remote enough to not warrant many crowds, and bordered on National Forest land(free dispersed camping!) I arrived Thursday morning to discover many things, two of the most important being that the forest land in that part of the park is maintained by Weyerhauser and therefore doesn't allow camping, and that all of the Monument's back country sites were all well under snow and down officially closed trails. Devastating. My closest camping option was a state park about 45 minutes back where I came from. On top of this the mountains were covered with quickly moving storms that brought downpours, sunshine, and repeat. Being pretty bummed out, I rationally decided to drive 2 hours to Mt Rainier National Park. If I was going to pay for camping, it might as well be somewhere awesome, not some lame state park near a popular lake for boating. Before taking off I of course checked out a few of the shorter trails, and snapped a few photos. This little gem is of an area that has been left off limits to people since the blast, so that we can study the land as it recovers on its own.

Enjoy
-Tyler Gates
Good life Photography

This is what life is for

George Mallory Said It Best

"What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the end of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to enjoy life. That is what life means and what life is for.”


This was part of George Mallory's many responses to the question of "why climb everest?" I hope it inspires you as much as it does me.