Jason in the Wilderness

11/05/2024

I was very happy to get back out to the Cosmic Ashtray on this last trip and to my surprise we had it completely to ourselves for a beautiful sunset.

10/05/2024

I’ve started a new thing. I’m trying to document some of my photography travels but don't always want to carry a second body and lenses so I picked up an Insta360 X4. Quality definitely won’t be great at first while I figure everything out and learn best methods for what I want. Hopefully something is gleamed out of the video on my photographic process and traveling.

Part 1 of a 10 day trip around the Southwest exploring and photographing some of my favorite places as well as some new locations. Hanksville, Grand Staircas...

09/05/2024

The Twin Temples of Elefante and Rinoceronte near Escalante, Utah.

Not really. In actuality these formations have no name and I don’t see why they would when viewing them from the ground. When I was flying my drone nearby though I immediately noticed in the sunset shading that these isolated sandstone buttes had shapes very similar to an elephant and rhinoceros. It’s so interesting how the mind can find the forms of the animate in the inanimate but the textured sandstone like skin with the small trunk and eye were especially striking to me. One of the reasons I love searching for new aerial perspectives.

I know this image won’t connect with most who come across it but to those it does, thank you.

07/05/2024

It was hard to pick what image to work on first from my recent trip around southern Utah. I had such beautiful light on this arch in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument I couldn’t help but be drawn to it. A breaking wave in a sea of sandstone and scattered storms.

27/04/2024

Pretty wild how a thin ribbon of water can carve a canyon like this.

23/04/2024

Nothing has made me want to get my pilot’s license more than flying over the early fall tundra of Alaska.

02/04/2024

Lizard Head in a stupendous winter blanket. This past summer I backpacked to and camped in the basin below the peak. It was a lot different with the coal black soil covered in verdant grass and vibrant wildflowers as seen in pic 2.

24/03/2024

Highlights of our Jackal Hut trip. I don’t know at what point something is a tradition but to me it’s 10 years of ski hut trips with an incredible group of friends.

18/03/2024

The project I was working on in December is online now at Atlas Obscura. It was a whirlwind week of photography, filming, and audio capture around small towns throughout Colorado. 1400 miles, camping in below 0ºF temps in my old 4runner with Glacier, all while getting the opportunity to put my drone skills to work creating media like this. (This is the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad)

Check out the interactive webpage with words by Corey Buhay.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/studio/colorado-small-towns

10/03/2024

Currently here…so good I had to share it straight out of camera.

09/03/2024

Imagine living and working at a mine above treeline with this as your night sky. This building with the aurora overhead gives me Golden Compass vibes.

06/03/2024

Shandoka the storm maker.

21/02/2024

It’s not all smooth as ice, still looks good though!

20/02/2024

The most prominent mountain in the North American Rockies, Mount Robson towers 9,281’ (2829m) over the surrounding landscape and is also the highest point in the Canadian Rockies at 12,972’ (3954m). Mount Elbert in Colorado isn’t far behind with 9,093’ (2772m) of prominence but it’s much taller at 14,440’ (4401m), no glaciers though 😞.

14/02/2024

Wilson Peak looks like something in the Himalayas from this angle. Image how incredible it would look with someone skiing down it.

12/02/2024

The San Juans showin' off again ✨🏔

📸: Jason in the Wilderness

12/02/2024

Lost in the silent symphony of night where the Milky Way and stars illuminate the sky over our backcountry ski hut. 🌌✨

10/02/2024

Social media is full of images of pure ice in pristine glacial caves. This one and I found in the Canadian Rockies was far from that but just as mesmerizing. A mixture of smooth rippled ice intersected by ribbons of rock and numerous chambers open to the sky full of shattered blocks.

27/01/2024

This wraps up my 3 ice images; caves, skating, and climbing. Sometimes I think about getting into ice climbing again, but I really don’t need another sport…but I do already have crampons, boots, harness, and helmet…

20/01/2024

With all the news about nasty snowstorms, flooding, and ice, I realize how fortunate we are to have such wonderful winters here in SW Colorado. We definitely have our dry spells and avalanche cycles but our winter storms are welcomed and blue skies are rarely far away.

15/01/2024

The cool kids call it Wild Ice Skating but I’m pretty sure that was invented 5000 years ago by inhabitants of Scandinavia that filed the shin bones of large animals into skates for wintertime travel on frozen lakes and waterways. Anyways, metal skates on a frozen lake high in the alpine is pretty fun too, but in a less boney way.

12/01/2024

Probably the best winter campsite view I’ve had and definitely worth the 15 miles of xc skiing with backpacks. This was on the tail end of an exceptional snow storm that left everything buried in heaps of snow and power out to much of the park. Thanks to for planning this trip and providing the motivation to see Yosemite in the winter again after a previous trip with disappointing snow. Is it weird I’ve never been in the summer though?

11/01/2024

The mesmerizing beauty of glacial ice caves always leaves me wishing I had more time to photograph them. Most are hard to reach in dangerous terrain and only somewhat safe in the cold winter months when the hours of light are fewest. As glaciers flow these caves are constantly changing and what you found last time is likely gone so there’s no second chances.

09/01/2024

Almost everyone dreams of their own cabin in the forest but if everyone had one there wouldn’t be much forest left. I’ll take the many special nights I’ve had at as a happy alternative.

05/01/2024

Layers of old gold in the San Juan Mountains.

27/12/2023

A late summer storm in the San Juans this year as the alpine tundra was transitioning to fall and the peaks above saw their first snow.

23/11/2023

It took a decade of trying to get this photo on Kebler Pass; worth it!

21/11/2023

I don’t often travel east of the Mississippi for photography but in 2012 I made a short excursion to the Appalachians for a few beautiful scenes like this. The Glade Creek Grist Mill at the time was a quiet park and I had a peaceful morning alone over the fog filled New River Gorge below. I definitely hope to make it this way for an autumn trip again, especially if I can find more tranquil rural locations.

20/11/2023

As would say, a “Colorado Postcard”.

The final fall view of my 2013 season, which became the cover of the 3rd edition of my Colorado Fall Photography guidebook.

25/10/2023

Like spilled ink, a perspective of autumn’s end only seen from above. Since upgrading to the Mavic 3 last winter I decided to focus mostly on aerial photography this fall. It’s hard to shoot really good aerial imagery and traditional photography at the same time so I approached this season’s locations with that in mind. It was hard to put down my regular camera sometimes but I have a lot of thoughts on the Mavic 3 and why it’s the system I’ve wanted since the original Phantom I started with in 2012; but those I’ll share in a future article :).