On Monday friend and fellow photographer Yuri Choufour snapped this image of my daughter Jade and me. If you guess where we were and what we were photographing, you will get a print of the subject. Answer coming next week.

Owen Dudley Becomes Air in the Mist © Jay Goodrich

Or is the journey an adventure? I think the two are so interconnected and interrelated that you cannot have one without the other. I have been living an adventure for a very long time now and it is has definitely been a journey. An experience. Life like in all respects. There are those sayings–Life is like a journey…With age comes wisdom…etc. Full of twists, turns, ascents, and descents.

The whole concept of adventure and journey can fit into any aspect of life. Or life itself. Think about it. Creativity. Those who seek it regularly, discover it is full of twists, turns, peaks, and valleys. Life is the same way. Growing older. Peaks, valleys, twists and turns. Exploration. Peaks, valleys, twists and turns. All of it, every complete part of it is connected to the ideals. It doesn’t matter where, when, or how you are at any given point in your personal life, professional life, or creative life. You will encounter journey and adventure and life. Symbiosis. Very much like the relationship of aperture, shutter speed and iso.

The key to your success in any aspect of whatever is very simple and very hard. Recognize how to rise from the valley. How to prolong the peaks. To lean into the turns. And continuously grow and progress. The reason it is difficult is because the clues along the way may not be placed right out in front of you. Hence the reason the journey is an adventure and the adventure is a journey and it all corresponds to just about every scenario you can place in front of it.

To abstract? Maybe. Or maybe not? You be the judge. Think about it and think about every experience you have had to this date. Were the mistakes you made avoidable? If only one decision went a different way would have the whole thing turned out differently? Better or worse. With age comes wisdom, but does wisdom come if you are not open to experiencing all that life throws at you? If you don’t ride the mistakes and climb to the peaks, where will you be? And is the valley necessarily a bad place? Think about Picasso’s Blue Period. If you sit on the couch watching tv will you be a better person than if you make a mistake in the mountains and a death in your party results from it? All possibilities based on action and reaction.

I am hoping that this post forces you to think about your life. Your journeys and adventures. It may pose more questions than answers, but it is those questions that may have you realizing that at 2:01PM you have the ability to turn every adventure and every journey right around from whatever it isn’t to whatever it should be. The same holds true at 2:02PM, 2:03PM, and 2:04PM. Now stop reading.

Suset over the Lava Beds Processed in Lightroom 4 Only © Jay Goodrich CLICK TO ENLARGE

Earlier this week Adobe Labs released the first Beta version of Lightroom 4. I am a huge user of Lightroom so I immediately downloaded this new version to have a look at what I can be expecting. I have to tell you that I was pleasantly surprised.

As soon as you open the software up you notice the workspace has changed. There are two new editing modules on the right–Map and Book. You can now tag all of your images on a map brought to you by Google Earth. This also includes the ability to locate your spots via GPS longitude and latitude functions. You can tag whole libraries or just a single image at a time. Very cool. Also included is the ability to create books for publication. Lightroom is offering press printed books through Blurb with all of Blurb’s Proline features, but if want to use someone else, you can layout your entire book and then export it as a PDF. Again, really no limitation.

I was hoping for more video capabilities and it looks like that is on the very near horizon.  The best part about storing your video in the Lightroom 4 Library will be the fact that you won’t need to view the clips in an external editor such as Quicktime. Adobe also added the ability to edit your clips’ in and out points which will really speed up the organization process for film you are planning on editing. If you have multiple clips that you want to use on a single take, you can actually create a virtual copy of the film and change the in and out points correspondingly. Magic. You now have the ability to make adjustments to the clips via the Quick Develop settings and even attach Develop Module presets to them. Not all of the presets work, but most do.

The Develop Module has also gone through some tweeking. Under the Brush and Graduated Tools you now have the ability to locally adjust white balance, noise, and moire. The Auto Mask check box actually works amazingly well now too! Adobe also updated the global adjustments. Exposure and Contrast are together and Recovery and Fill Light are gone. Don’t worry though, Adobe is now giving us Highlights, Shadows, Whites, and Blacks adjusting sliders. The whole process makes much more sense to me. In addition, we now have a 2012 process under Camera Calibration and it seems to be a bit more forceful with its adjustments to the images. Some may not like it, but I do.

Other note worthy additions include the ability to export videos directly to social media pages and the ability to generate a soft proof image for printing on a specific paper and color profile. This is great addition because now you will be able to create a virtual copy of your image with the soft proofing turned on, match it to your original, and you are off to the races. Like I said I am on board with this update. Of course this is a Beta and if I could have my way with Adobe there are some things that I really want.

Give me Content Aware Fill! The best Photoshop add ever in my opinion. Give it to me in Lightroom. I don’t care if directly adjusts pixels and that is not the way Lightroom works. You are Adobe, just do it. I want the ability to adjust the masks that I make with the Brush tool and Graduated Tool. Especially when it comes to Shifting and Feathering my Mask Edges after the fact. Maybe a little Smart Radius too? How about the ability to merge multiple exposures? Curve presets for the Tone Curve Tool. And the ability to locally edit video–adding text, titles, vignettes, and turning the captured sound off or on. Now we are talking. I would also like the ability to export my movie clips directly into Premiere Pro just like I can export my stills to Photoshop. And have the adjusted clip stack directly back in my Library with the original? That’s all, it’s not a huge list. Let’s see what March Brings.

Owen Dudley Drops into the Baker Backcountry © Jay Goodrich

Well, finally, it snowed. It has literally been since November, but on the final day of the year, Mount Baker got hit with a foot of new snow. Owen Dudley, Tyler Hatcher and myself headed out to see what we could make of a perfect stormy day. You can view more of the images on the Mount Baker Ski Area website. Now, we just need this to continue so we can do it again, and again, and again–much like the movie Groundhog Day. I guess if you love it, repeating it is not really a torture. Happy New Year!

The Vomit Comet in Fall Splendor © Jay Goodrich

Reset the clock to fifteen years ago. I was upwardly mobile in the architecture and construction industry. I had money. I had toys, many toys. And I was in the process of purchasing a racing machine. The goal was one of the simplest ideas and yet one of the most difficult to complete. Create the lightest mountain bike possible with the least amount of money expended and make damn sure it had class, style, and a bit of flair that would have other riders asking themselves, “What the fuck was that?” The project came together with an overwhelming success. I purchased a hand made, custom sized frame from Independent Fabrication. This was an employee-owned, start-up company in Somerville, Mass. A company full of bike builders that were left high and dry by their now estranged boss Chris Chance, who was the founder of another bike company that went by the name of Fat City Cycles.

The frame was steel and tipped the scales at less than four pounds. The completed bike only weighed 21 pounds. It rode like the wind. And was my favorite bike to date. I raced it, road it, and cared for it like it was one of my first children. It was a relationship of obsession. It made it through three 24 Hours of Moab races before it succumb to complete and total devastation. In the bike’s defense, the final Moab race was like none other. It was a Mother Nature experiment gone wrong, really wrong. The desert was angry that day my friends like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli. The skies dumped ten inches of rain in what seemed like minutes. It turned the microscopic sandstone dust particles into a brake, bearing, and bicycle destroyer. You could literally swim to the finish line after the final turn in the race course. My wonderful machine lost its life that day. Frozen, rusted, and abused beyond repair. Well, almost, another plan came together.

A year later the IF was resurrected. New paint, and a new purpose in life. A self-imposed torture machine. You see, instead of returning her into the lightweight 24 speed racer that she was, I opted to convert her into the power of one. A single speed mountain bike. And now she was even lighter, stronger, and faster than before. Now if you have ever tried to ride a single speed mountain bike, you will know that it isn’t the initial experience leaves you asking for a…better one. Actually it is torture. You ride and ride hard. My resurrected steed quickly got the name of “The Vomit Comet”. There were very few rides during its initial season that didn’t contain a vomit session from yours truly. This actually went on for a few years. Eventually I got stronger and stronger and learned how to ride some of the hardest rides in the Vail Valley with only one speed.

I quickly began educating myself on how not only to ride a single speed, but how to cheat with it as well. See, you may be limited during your ride, but the key was always figuring out what gearing you needed before getting out on that trail. You didn’t want to walk, but you didn’t want to scorch up the steepest sections with ease either. It was the ultimate balancing act. Then one day during a typical two hour ride, the sound of inevitability chimed. I over-torked my rear wheel, put a huge flat spot in it, partially because of a bad wheel build, (not by me) bringing the trusty machine to a halt. Major surgery was the only way to fix her. She was hung up for a while as I began adding miles to a brand new bike this one had many speeds and a lot of suspension. Then we moved from Colorado to Washington. And now we come to present day.

There she hung in the garage next to the other five bikes. Cob webs gathering. Covered in dirt from all over the country. Colorado. Utah. California. Two days ago the doctor (that’s me) decided to see what could be done. Surprisingly, with some spoke loosening, a bit of pushing, hammering, truing, ball scratching, lube, and some air she awoke like Frankenstein. Still with a minor limp, but one that could be worked with for now. “What is thy bidding my master?” “How ‘bout a ride?” Day two and counting. My body is completely sore and tortured, again. She is loving the Pacific Northwest. This bike was created by East Coast woods riders. It is nimble and accelerates like a top-fuel dragster. And yes, she still owns the name, “The Vomit Comet”. Yesterday was a homemade quesadilla, strawberries, and a handful of chocolate chips. Today was bow-tie pasta with mushroom marinara and some animal crackers.

The beauty of riding a machine like this is that it makes me feel, other than sick, like my favorite t-shirt from Patagonia–Live Simply. No shifting. Brakes that barely work. Top fuel acceleration. And precision handling for the woods of the Northwest. Living Simply and loving it! I was going to have eggs for breakfast tomorrow, but figured that wasn’t the smartest idea. Day three is about to happen.

Riding the Pipeline © Jay Goodrich

I had dinner with friend and fellow photographer Jim Goldstein in San Francisco earlier this week and the conversation covered the full spectrum of subjects. Kids, blogs, work, play, friends, future workshops, everything had a go at one point or another. It was a wonderful evening. During our discussions Jim told me about a blog post he did on HDR titled, “Why I Hate HDR: Photo Technology Porn.” And within a second, the synapses, began firing. Ah, porn…wait sorry, different thought. Actually, that is what came to mind first, but in the split-second, official review of the tape, I was actually thinking about something another friend of mine said to me while I was in Eagle, Colorado shooting an article for Dirt Rag Magazine. Bike Porn. “So we need to go out and get you some photos for that article that will make the bike porn fools drool over. Not a problem can do.”

Now before you all go to your bedrooms or bathrooms (showers more specifically), bike porn is not having sex on a bike. It’s having sex with a bike. No, kidding, it actually refers to watching crazy videos of crazy riders doing crazy shit on their bikes. You sit their jaw agape, bit of drool hanging out, much like you would if you were…watching porn. You long for the locations, the ability to ride the lines, and/or the actual bikes the athletes are on. It is the simplest of marketing concepts. Create something that is sleek, shiny, and desirable and you will sell millions. True porn has it, most sport industries have it, hell even camera manufacturers have it. So here, with a little sneak as to what is coming (no pun intended) is one of the 5400 images that I shot while working on my upcoming article. A little teaser. An image of myself riding a trail named Pipeline. Yes, I am in fact riding the pipeline. An homage to me, a self-indulgent artist. Now it’s time for a cold shower. This is just the beginning…of the porn.

Thank you Jim and Chris for enlightening my thought processes a little more than yesterday.

A few months ago I was approached by an online show who’s mission is simple:

“Lets be real.  Photography is addicting.  It’s an intoxicating craftiness that truly has limitless potential for those that crave the art.  It is in its own world of ever-changing possibilities and is constantly evolving.  With that being said, we decided to create a show.  A free, weekly broadcast that captivates as well as educates.  Every week we will bring different photographic talents to you that will share a piece of their wisdom, their work, their process, and their art.

[FRAMED] will take you on location to local, national, and internationally known photographers for the purpose of bringing a behind-the-scenes view of photography to your computer.  All we ask of you is to share, participate and jump on the train of inspirational photography education to inspire you to be unique.  Be careful, you might get addicted.”

I cannot tell you how excited I am to see the final footage and commend everyone who worked with me to create a wonderful 3o minute segment. I hope you have some spare time in your day to have a look. I give you a brief glimpse of some new work and a few techniques to get you started in your own backyard. Let us know what you think.

I think my mom said it best today, “John was a crusty exterior filled with a warm marshmallow center.” And after listening to friend after friend of his describe their experiences with my father, I couldn’t agree more. My father was a hard man to understand and know, but once you made it through that hardened exterior you were in for life. He would stop at nothing to fix whatever trouble you were in. Even if that meant crossing illegal borders with a small army to break you out of an international prison. Many people didn’t “like” him because they didn’t understand him. He had no filter, no buffer. He called it like he saw it and that wasn’t necessarily the way the people around him wanted it put. You did know exactly who he was though. As you learned more about the person he was you learned that there were special buttons that would set him off and the other special buttons that would diffuse his explosiveness.

There were times throughout the course of my life with my father that I loved him, hated him, needed him, respected him, and disagreed with him. He was a man who could figure out how to fix anything. He could build anything. And he did it until the last days of his life. He never needed to rely on anyone but himself, until the last few weeks of his life. He was a two-hundred pound, six-foot tall giant. He taught me to shoot and respect guns, how to fly airplanes, how fix my car, how to trick out my car, and how to swim at three years old. I returned the favor a few years ago by taking him flying for the first time in close to thirty years. I never saw him smile that way prior. Grinning ear to ear.

Looking back there were decisive moments in my life were I knew that I had won a place in my father’s heart and soul for eternity. One was the day that I called and told him I was a licensed pilot and the other came unexpectedly as we sat drinking beer by the swimming pool a day after he met his first grandchild. It was dark out, a hot summer evening in New Jersey, the sound of crickets around. He took a swig of his Samuel Adams Lager and said under a quiet and confident voice, “I never imagined in a million years you would be the father that I never was.” I looked over a bit confused. Took it all in and realized what he just said. I said nothing. He continued, “I am so proud of you, that little girl is going to be something very special.” “Thank you.” I drank some more beer.

As I cried my brains out today as his friends spoke, my daughter, Jade, made herself around the room hugging not only me, but every single person, that shed tears as well. I reflected on what they said and realized one very important thing. He saw and knew what I had yet to perceive. I had learned from him, I had taken all of the good and thrown out all of the bad to become a better parent, a better person. And hopefully Jade will in turn do the same to me.

As I head onto the plane home, I will leave you with two things. My grandmother would always say to me, “Never say goodbye, just so long.” Why? “Because goodbye is forever and so long is until I see you again.” And the other is the quote that my sister picked for the remembrance card, “Fill not your hearts with pain and sorrow, but remember me in every tomorrow. Remember the joy, the laughter, the smiles, I’ve only gone to rest a little while. Although my leaving causes pain and grief, my going has eased my hurt and given me relief. So dry your eyes and remember me, not as I am now, but as I used to be. Because, I will remember you all and look on with a smile. Understand, in your hearts, I’ve only gone to rest a little while. As long as I have the love of each of you, I can live my life in the hearts of all of you.

So long father. I hope you are flying and shooting guns every single day without pain, without hesitation, and for an eternity, until we meet again.

Heather Goodrich Rolling on Red Hill © Jay Goodrich

Before you ask why the heck is this coming on Wednesday, well I don’t know, I try to make one post, every week, on Wednesday. So there! This is my blog and I do what I want. Most of the time. Sometimes. I have handlers you know. I did write it on Monday though.

I love Mondays. Yes that’s right I do. There was a time in my life when Mondays were the bane of my existence though. I worked for someone. I had a 7am Monday morning meeting. I didn’t drink coffee. And it was a witch hunt for those that didn’t do their jobs in the week prior. It just generally sucked. Now, Mondays are made for coffee and not that Foldgers shit, good barista made, Pacific Northwest craft. 3 shots of pure perfection. And small. 8oz or 12oz. I want octane not cow calories. And on tired days the quad. That’s how it starts.

Then it progresses to dropping my kids at their respective schools and then back to the office too…

Silence and work. Now, typically my Mondays end up being days of insanity. This is because I have emailed tons of people during the course of the previous week and they are now sitting in their offices perusing what they need to take care of from the ending of the last week. Sponsors, editors, commercial clients, all have hectic schedules. Inevitably, they are balancing multiple job descriptions and set specific times to reply to people thanks to our lovely economy. For some reason that seems to be Monday. That makes my Mondays about money. And money means I can feed the dog, the kids, and the wife will have a roof over her head for another month. Today as of writing this I have acquired two new architectural contracts, a 25 image licensing deal, a feature article in a well know mountain biking magazine, and an interview with liveBooks. I have also received the contact info for an editor that I want to propose a story idea to–from another editor that I just finished a job with, ordered some stickers to give out to people to help to further promote my brand, and adjusted my job schedule for the next two weeks. It is only 11am. I type fast when drinking coffee try to keep up.

I know this isn’t the norm on every Monday, but I much rather head into my week aggressively and looking at the possibility of good things to come. This all happens because of the coffee injection and an excitement of getting back to doing what I love doing–photography. My moral here, if I have one, is that no matter what your profession, do what you love. It doesn’t have to be photography. It can be anything. My wife is a teacher. She wakes up at 5am everyday to be at her “office” by 7am. She doesn’t like the wake up, but looks forward to her job and her day, everyday. So if your Mondays suck. Change them. Change your life. Change your career. Change your passions. Make it all turn out for the best, because time is short on this planet and there is no reason not to enjoy every minute of it. Gotta go the phone is ringing–it’s the President. Now, you laugh! And enjoy the rest of your week.

The Palouse at Sunset During a Thunderstorm © Jay Goodrich

There are times, when no matter how much experience you have, things do not necessarily go according to plan. This was in fact one of those times. The good thing was that my friend and fellow photographer Gavriel Jecan had as much trouble as I did. Phew! I would have had to bury him in a shallow grave and confiscated his camera as my own.

The set up. I have somehow, with my extremely limited skill-set in marketing and business matters, have landed Marriott as an architectural client. This job was a two-day job in the Tri-Cities area of Eastern Washington. Two days of shooting, with a day on the front end for scouting and prep. Gav and I arrived early to scout the property which in turn gave us the ability to head out for a little personal shooting that evening. We decided to run up north to the Palouse to shoot sunset. What came next was the crushing blow. A death blow of sorts.

There was a growing thunderstorm on the horizon. It was clear to the west and the storm was traveling from the south to the north. It was the perfect photo situation. We were going to get a sunset during a storm. Well there in-lies your problem. Nature is fast. Way faster than any human can perceive. We were in Colfax, Washington when the storm exploded at the same time the sun broke through its western edge. Now if you haven’t been to the Palouse, the town of Colfax is in a deep valley and ah, not so good for the sunset.

I drove up one of the miscellaneous roads as fast as possible to head for higher ground. Breaking speed limits I am sure. Within minutes we had a location to shoot the sunset. The problem was that we were in the direct path of the storm. The blessing and the curse. It wasn’t raining too hard, but the wind was blowing at about sixty miles per hour. Those drops of rain hit like bullets. The came the lightening. We tried and tried to photograph it. Every time it went off we were talking about it. Every time our shutters were open it was a no show. Then there was the run-for-the-truck-we-are-going-to-die-up-here moment. Followed by the lack of foreground at our location. Followed by the soaked gear. Followed by the fact that neither of us thought to get some video. Yes that’s right, collectively we both have been shooting forty years and today it seemed like forty minutes.

All was not lost. Yeah right! As the storm passed and the light dimmed, we headed back out for super long exposures for the again elusive lightening. And it did exactly as it did before. Lightening, who me? Yeah, I’m on a coffee break when your cameras are open. And then there was the deer. Bambi. I hate that guy too. As our scene went to black and the flashes of lightening illuminated the now northern horizon, we saw something familiar. Every thirty seconds or so we watched as the final dream of ours fleeted to the east. A four by four buck walked the horizon line, perfectly illuminated by mister coffee break lightening. Again only to be on exact opposites of our camera shutters.

The lesson of this story. No matter how good you get or how good you think you are, there will be a time when you and I miss. The key, I got to see some crazy stuff that evening, I do have a witness, and although the evidence is purely circumstantial, I don’t need to prove it in a court of law. Thank god.