Appalachia: Young and Old

Don (58) - Chelsea (8)

Get Outside; Get into Our National Parks

Adventure photographer Corey Rich talks about his favorite places to photograph and leaves me feeling extremely thankful for our national parks. Preach it Corey!

I'm wishing I could be out in Reno at Lake Tahoe for the NANPA Summit this week. It's my first NANPA Summit to miss in 5 years.

Behind the Scenes

Just for fun, come see where the photos come to life, meet Moses, and see the setup for our fairly random TV interview friday afternoon.

The unprecedented interview was requested by a Hollywood TV crew in response to our neighborhood snowball fight video posted online last week. We never could have thought this one up. Not a chance.

You can tune into truTV's show "Most Daring" sometime in March 2010 to see us.

Send Us to the Himalayas!

VOTE HERE for free!... and Gore-Tex will pay our costs.

You can send the Climb for Captives team to the Himalaya this summer!

We pay our expenses out of pocket so that 100% of $ raised goes to IJM.

This Gore-Tex sponsorship would be huge. Oh, and we would be able to take the climb abroad.

Slightly exciting. Now do your part. Vote by Feb 15th!

Sunil - The man who gave me his hat

If you follow my Twitter updates, you saw that while I was in Washington, DC last week I was given a very special hat off the head of a man from the High Himalaya. His name is Sunil. Our interaction was about much more than a hat. Here is his vision and story. Enjoy!

Is Paul a Videographer?

A neighborhood-wide snowball fight breaks out at midnight on Jan 29, 2010 in Knoxville, TN. I was testing my new Canon 5D Mk II at ISO 6400 by full moonlight. All Canon L series lenses. No color correction.

"I am a still photographer. The still photograph will always pack power that video can't hold a flame to. Though video fascinates me, I don't particularly feel videography is my element. So, why am I playing with it?

Here's why. Due to technology like the 5D Mark II, there's an increasing capacity for smooth integration of the still and moving image.

The current wave of change in photography is the photographer doubling as a videographer. This convergence is happening rapidly, and I'm loving it.

I don't intend to miss the boat on this one. I'd much rather be a Noah helping to build the boat.

In order to be adequately equipped to 'tell the untold story' in the months ahead, I believe I'll need HD video in my tool kit. Stay posted. We'll find out together."

June 2009. Using my indestructable HD video camera--the Sanyo Xacti--in the Tetons. This is where the HD Video/Photo fascination started. For just $299 I suggest you BUY ONE. You'll be glad you did.

DC Snowpocolypse!

From Metro, to beastly 1970 Bronco, to Arlington--we made it!

Tonight Dave, Char, Aus, Mark, and I had an adventure braving the DC blizzard of 2010. At 15" and counting, it's coming down hard.

Fear not!--the Bronco is coming down harder.