Maiza

I connected with Maiza through instagram. I saw some pictures of her climbing and she just seemed like a super strong and fun person, so i told her if she was ever in my neck of the country to hit me up for a shoot. It worked out perfectly as i was getting back from 40 Big her and her husband were at The Red so i drove up and took them to my favorite wall. This is Snozzberies 5.11d or 5.12a depending on where you’re looking. It’s has very diverse climbing with a shallow cave right before a really big crux move. I love it. She killed it first try and i had a blast handing out with them and their dog all day. She also got on Naked, another 12a with crazy pockets right next to Snozzberries. Hopefully more adventures with them will happen in the future.

Michael

There are a lot of things I could say about my brother, Michael. I could tell you how we played a whole season of wiffleball with just the two of us when we were kids. I could tell you how we fought or got mad at each other. I could tell you how we’ve traveled the country, just the two of us, playing music and making friends. I could tell you about late nights when either of us was sick and we took care of each other. How we trade using our car and van based on who needs better gas millage or how we lived in the same room up until recently so that we could save enough money to keep pursuing music. I could tell you a lot. All you really need to know is that I don’t know where I’d be today if it wasn’t for him and that he inspires me and that i love him. Cheers to turning 28.

Moab Birthday Party

Life has a weird way of connecting certain people. There may be 7-8 billion people in the world but things like music and sport and art put us in these bubbles that connect with other people’s bubbles all over the world. I’m always amazed at the people i meet and connect with all over the world.

Josh and I got to Moab early for 40 Big this year so we could set up some things and test some stuff. One of the things we wanted to do was set up a giant swing at Looking Glass Rock, a giant domed rock in the middle of the dessert. When we got there Andy Lewis and Ryan Redfoot repelled down the rock in front of us. I, like most people who slackfline or are adventurous have been following @sketchyandylewis for a long time. We got to talking and decided to help them set up their “Space Net” in the dome for Ryan and Andy’s birthday party a week from then.

Fast forward a week, Josh and I went to the birthday party of the year under the stars in the Moab dessert. Made a bunch of friends and memories and I got to take a bunch of pictures and capture the moment. Love and connection and being in the moment.

40BIG

My best friend Josh and i put on an adventure event every year called 40 Big. It’s our way of getting all of our friends who will actually make time for adventure and taking them on the biggest adventure of the year. Josh and i have worked in rigging so much over the years that we want to be able to rig crazy swings and zip lines and slack lines for ourselves finally. We go bigger and better every year. You can go big or you can got 40 big. This year we took all of our friends to my favorite adventure place in the world, Moab, Utah. There’s no place like it. It took us 10 months of preparation and planning and it was the best 40 Big to date. We took everyone canyoneering, rappelling, multi pitch climbing, giant swinging, and space netting. We camped in the dessert and watched the sun set and stars rotate around us while we sat by the fire every night. Next year is gonna be so much crazier.

couple more from the album cover shoot

Ian Mills

Got to shoot with my friend Ian before he moved out to the west coast. Ian is a musician and climber and all around nice guy. Great dude and had a fun time getting these shots for him.

Red River Gorge Friends!

I’ve been trying to make to up the The Red River Gorge in Kentucky at least once a month this year. It’s this magical place in the middle of nowhere where climbers from all over the world gather to hone their Sport Climbing skills. There are very few places you can go east of Colorado and have 1,400+ bolted sport routes accessible in such a small area. Each area you go to has it’s own world class climbing routes. On top of that I just love the community. I’ve never been there and not met climbers from France or Germany or Canada or Sweden or China. Such a diverse community with climbing connecting all of us.

This trip was based on taking my friend Sarah climbing outside for the first time. I met Sarah on a solo adventure i did back in March for my birthday. I drove down to Florida and spent some time on the beach and kayaking around an island there. Sarah works for a climbing gym there and we got to climb a little bit together one afternoon. There’s not many rocks over 10ft tall in Florida so I invited her to come up to Tennessee to climb anytime and i’d take her out. But why not take her to The Red instead. Start big.

While we were there we made a bunch of friends including Will and Steven. Joined up our forces and spent the next couple days learning and climbing harder and harder routes. Such an amazing time and great friendship and community. This trip took place a month ago and last week i went to the red again and met up with Will and Steven to climb. Climbing creates such a strong community anywhere you go. I love it.

The first day of climbing i didn’t take any pictures because i was teaching and wanted be focused on safety and making the experience as fun as possible. The Second day when we teamed up with Will and Steven it gave me more leeway to hang up on a cliff and get some shots of everyone. We climbed at a wall called The Land Before Time Wall in Muir valley. Decently small wall with some easier routes, but containing some really awesome rock features that i tried to capture. Later we went to Phantasia Wall where i got to do a harder overhung route called Creep Show(5.10d). Super fun route with a lot of different styles of moves. I’ll definitely climb it again. I set my tripod up so i could capture some pictures of myself climbing it.

Super fun adventure and great friends. Two things that make life the best it can be.

4:08am

What time of the day do you need to wake up to see all the beauty of the world? Apparently 4:08am. That’s when i got up to go get the shot for Michael and I’s new song artwork cover. I knew the shot i wanted in my head and I don’t know how it worked out so well but I was able to capture it. My friend Leah and i got to the lake before sunrise and hiked a 1/2 mile to a spot where the water wasn’t too deep and it lined up with the rising sun. It’s always amazing to me how little editing you have to do to pictures when the lighting is right. Spent a good 2 or 3 hours swimming around holding my camera up just taking everything in. I hate mornings… haha I’m a stay up late guy. I’m also a bartender and musician so that’s my lifestyle. But every once in a while sunrise is so worth the lack of sleep. Especially if you get the place to yourself.

The picture I wanted to capture needed to capture calmness and a slight sense of drowning or needing help. The song “Everything” is about offering your help to a friend who doesn’t necessarily want it or is to guarded to take it. Yet you offer yourself anyway. I wanted a shot that had the chill vibes of the song and captured someone who wasn’t on firm ground. Also wanted to do sunrise to symbolize hope. There is always hope.

A Secret Spot

I’ll never tell. You’ll never find it. Secret spots are sacred and more and more I’ve realized how important it is to not tell people the special places that i go. On this adventure my friend Roxanne took me to one of her secret spots. So glad she trusts me enough to share it with me. The problem with secret spots is that are so cool and rare that you want to share them. You want everyone to experience the beautiful and untouched locations that we get to explore. But what ends up happening is that word spreads far enough that eventually someone ruins it for everyone. Trash, graffiti, destruction, every single time, some crappy person or group of people come in and ruin the magic of the place. Thats why more and more explorers and adventures will not tell you where they’ve been. I’ve mostly just been geotagging to state when i go to locations now. So welcome to Alabama. It’s so sad that everyone isn’t more respectful of beauty. These places deserve to be shared, but the risk is too high.

tiny pine cone

Colorado

Colorado is where it’s at. From back in the day when i would drive 9 hours through the night from Wichita to climb for a day and drive back that next night, to now flying from Nashville, I will always consider Colorado my real rock home even though i’ve never lived there. There’s so much diversity there. So much learning to be done. I learned all the different styles of climbing that i know from climbing there. Started on red sandstone near Colorado Springs in Red Rock Canyon and the Garden of the Gods, then learned granite slab in Boulder canyon and crack climbing in clear creek canyon. Throw in a couple of roofs here and there and BOOM yeah that’s basically everything i know all within 2 hours of Denver.

This trip was special because I got to climb with a lot of my Nashville friends. So nice when i can get outside Tennessee with them. Didn’t even really plan for that to happen, just worked out perfect. I got to have really good quality time with my parents for 4 days and get a solid 3 and half days of climbing in. Makes for a satisfyingly exhausting trip.

Most of the trip was awesome. Good hangs and good people all around. The bummer parts were that this trip was originally planned so i could go see my best friend Erin. She recently decided to move to Salt Lake City instead and i had plans to spend time with my parents so i couldn’t change my trip. So i haven’t been able to see her in a couple months. Then i really wanted to take everyone to do some climbing in Boulder Canyon and it was closed the whole time we were there so our climbing plans got thrown off twice because of closures.

Anyway, right now i don’t know what else to write about the trip. Makes me want to travel and experience more places to climb. Makes me want to get in better shape to climb harder and longer. I can feel my potential just beyond where i’m at. I loved taking pictures on this trip, but also didn’t make it a priority. I wanted to climb first, then photograph stuff. That’s the problem with every trip. I want to document everything, and i want to experience the moment without distraction. Here’s a couple of the pictures i got though.

Dreams

It’s my dreams that keep me going. I have huge plans for the future. Enough plans for 3 lifetimes. Dreams meant to share music, art, adventure, and love.

It’s my dreams that keep me waking up at night. Remembering who i use to be. Remembering my failures and mess-ups. That knot in my stomach where i said things that i knew so little about and don’t know if i can ever take it back.

It’s weird how i feel like I’ve come full circle in the last 10 years of my life. From judgement and righteousness to openness and realizing the full definition of love. Slowly, oh so slowly i’ve tried to change myself to fit the definition of love. The more i change, the more at peace i am. The more i dream. Hope to make those future dreams the ones i dream about at night.

Love: is patient, is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, its is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. It does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Henry Horton State Park

Last week I went to Henry Horton State Park. I’ve really been meaning to go to this state park for a while now, seeing as it’s only 40 minutes from my house and almost nobody else i’ve talked to has been there. Booked a camp site and headed there without knowing anything about it. It was really easy to get there and easy to find out camp site. We went on a Monday so there was only 1 other tent camper there. There were quite a few RV’s there in a separate part of the campground and it looked to me like there were a lot of long term campers. Anyway we grabbed a map and just decided to start hiking the outside loop of all the trails. It’s quite an interesting hike. I think we hiked 6 miles total before we hurried back because of rain and the dark. But first you start off in a dense forrest, then it opens up into what looks like a huge field, but is actually a wetland. Most of my pictures here are from the wetland. In the first picture i’m calf deep in the water, 100 yard out from the trail trying to take pictures of flowers. There were a ton of small wetland birds and dragonflies. It was a really cool area. As we hiked on we went up a hill into a rocky, dry, flat area. There were smaller evergreen trees and cacti and blackberry bushes. then back to forrest, then to caves and deep cracks in the ground. all the rocks were covered in moss and weirdly shaped trees stretched every which way and looked like something from Lord Of The Rings. You get to see a lot in 6 miles. We got back to camp, made some burgers and sat around a fire deep into the night, then listened to rain hit our tent all night. It was very peaceful. The camp grounds were pretty clean and well kept, along with the bathrooms and showers. That hot shower was the best. The campground even has free wifi if you need it. I have great cell service, but my friend Kayla didn’t have any.

All in all it’s a pretty cool little state park. I’ll definitely be back when i need a close place to go camping.

Reelfoot State Park

Went on an overnight trip to Reelfoot State Park in the Northwest corner of Tennessee on Sunday. It was not the trip i thought it was going to be. Reelfoot lake is this shallow, beautiful, hole in the ground in the middle of nowhere. I love it. I also go lost trying to find my campground 3 times. not a lot of signs and no good addresses mean that most of the people there are either locals or have a tour guide. I really wanted to rent a kayak and explore the lake but there’s not place to do that. There are guided tours and probably could’ve stopped at Robbie’s(a local there) house and for $20 he probably would’ve let me borrow his boat. So i finally found the camp ground and saw how beautiful the lake and Cyprus trees are from our campground(picture 4). I needed a different perspective than from behind the trees looking out and i didn’t have a boat so it was time to get in the water. Waded out 50 yards almost up to my neck to get the sunset and side view of the trees. had an awesome time. got back to camp, pulled the leaches off me, swatted some mosquitoes, and took a hot shower in the provided camp showers(that was nice). We cooked some potato soup on the propane stove and sat around a fire long into the night. One of the best things about being out there is the stars. You can clearly see the Milky Way and stars and planets that you never knew existed. I wish i had taken a picture of it but i was too in the moment to pull out my camera. The next day we went to talk to the park rangers about where we could go hiking. They told us about the best secret hiking trail and lookout in the park. I took us on the wrong trail and we both ended up eaten by mosquitoes and poison ivy all over us. Sometimes you make mistakes. Rule number 2- It Happens.

I will definitely be heading back there with a kayak to do more exploring of the lake. There are so many cool places that are only accessible by boat. Anyone want to let me borrow their kayak?

getting out of my comfort zone

Recently i’ve ramped up the amount of photos i’ve been doing and different lighting and locations so if i ever do anything like that in the future i feel a little more confident and learn the nuances of each style. Plus i just really love learning and discovery. I got to hang out with my friend Taylor(@thatdoodtaylor) the other day and shoot his style of art. I love his art. So different than anything else i see anywhere. It takes time looking at his pictures to soke up everything that is in them. Kinda dark and vibrant. Love it.

Anyway, setting up these shots and piecing them together in post was kinda difficult and fun. We got eaten by chiggers and I almost fell down a hill a couple times but it was so much fun. Would do it again 10/10. Also i could sit and talk to Taylor forever. He has a really awesome perspective of life.

Whiskey

Wanted to Take some product shots. I feel like whiskey is classy and for me it’s a slow sipper that allows me to enjoy the flavors over a long period of time. I try to live by the rule: drink what you enjoy to enjoy it, not to get drunk. So if i don’t like the taste of an alcoholic drink, i won’t drink it. I don’t really like doing shots(unless it’s apple juice) and whiskey and good beers are a nice chill refreshing time. Understanding and learning about beer or whiskey has made me take my time and appreciate tasting notes and subtleties that make a good drink.

I also love the craftsmanship of making good cocktails like this Old Fashion. i make mine with brown sugar syrup(equal parts brown sugar and water), orange bitters, Bourbon(usually Four Roses or Woodford), and an orange peal. So good.

BEING THE CREATIVE I WANT TO BE

I’ve tried to keep a blog or at least have a place i can post my pictures and some thoughts just for myself. It’s kinda nice having a place to post stuff that i can’t see likes or views or whatever. I just basically post things for me and I am able to go back and see where i was or encourage myself or whatever. But it’s also a place that anyone who wants to can learn about me or also be encouraged or learn my darkest fears and use them against me. I’ll never know who you are. I like that. Post stuff for me and whoever wants to glean from it what they want, they can.

This is what i want my blog to be: an adventure of my thoughts and places i go and people i meet. I know a picture is worth a 1000 words and i hate writing which is why i mostly just use pictures, but some information behind the pictures is incredibly important or just kinda cool to know. I love learning. I love to share what i learn. so this is where I’ll be able to do it in a little more depth without having to deal with Facebook or Instagram or whatever platform that i don’t have control over. I also would love to start doing gear reviews again. I’d like to do tutorials on climbing or how to make good coffee or photography and such. Part of my thought about this website and blog is to legitimize myself more too. have a place i can send people to see my photos. As much as i just love creating and get better and better at the different crafts i do, I would love to be paid for them. You may or may not know how much money and time goes into being a creative, but it’s an insane amount. The amount or planning and gear and editing or building and modifying, not to mention the business side of things. Take this website for instance. Anyway, I’m not hear to tell you how much debt I’m in. Ha. Just saying that i’ve wanted to create CLAMSJOG for a while and here i am. Can’t wait to see where this leads me.