"The Halo" — Mount Aconcagua, Argentina (6,962 meters)
Everything I use shares one thread: obsession with robustness. Not the newest technology. Not the lightest gear. Gear that won't fail when everything depends on it.
Most things break at altitude. Electronics fail. Batteries die in minutes. Materials become brittle. Tripods that work perfectly at sea level become unstable. When you've carried equipment for days to a location you may never visit again—you develop deep appreciation for things built to last.
This extends to prints. The art we see from millennia ago—cave paintings, Roman mosaics, Egyptian hieroglyphs—isn't all the art that was created. It's the art that survived. Durable enough to outlast empires, climate, wars, and time.
Not the newest technology. Not the lightest. But after testing countless systems—D800E, D810, Canon Mark III, Sony A7R II, Sony Alpha 1, various Fujifilms—nothing produces images like the D850.
When I compare final outputs, the D850 wins. Dynamic range, color depth, sharpness, extreme lighting—simply superior. This isn't brand loyalty. It's about results.
Yes, it's heavy. Significantly heavier than mirrorless. I carry it anyway—up to 6,962 meters (22,837 feet) so far. At that altitude, every ounce matters. Your body is oxygen-deprived, muscles exhausted. But when I'm witnessing light few humans ever see, I need equipment that captures it with absolute fidelity. Weight is the price of uncompromising quality.
As a kid, I hated photography. Point-and-shoots never captured the world as I saw it. Flat images, wrong perspective, no sense of scale.
That changed with my first wide-angle. Finally, photography could capture my vision. The expansiveness. The way a landscape fills your entire field of view when you're standing in it.
I've tested dozens of lenses. For landscapes, nothing comes close to the 14-24mm f/2.8. This lens sees the world the way I see it.
Standing at a canyon edge, on a summit with peaks stretching to the horizon, in front of a massive glacier—your eyes take in everything. You feel small. You feel surrounded. A narrow lens can't capture that. The 14-24mm captures immersion, the feeling of being enveloped by nature.
A camera and lens are only as stable as the platform. For landscapes—shooting in low light, with wind—the tripod isn't an accessory. It's essential.
I use the Really Right Stuff TVC-24L. Carbon fiber, 3.7 pounds, supports 40 pounds. Extends to 66 inches, lowers to 3.7 inches. Versatility for unpredictable terrain.
Really Right Stuff dominates the duty tripod category for the most demanding users: U.S. military snipers, federal and state law-enforcement sniper units, special operations reconnaissance teams.
If it's good enough for American snipers, it's good enough for me.
For open editions, I use Hahnemühle—the world's oldest continuously operating paper manufacturer. Founded 1584. 440 years of fiber chemistry knowledge that directly impacts longevity, color stability, and museum certification.
I've tested Canon, Epson, Moab, Canson Infinity, Fujifilm, Inkpress. Nothing comes close.
Photo Rag Metallic for most prints—340 GSM, high-gloss metallic finish. Images look three-dimensional. Won TIPA World Award 2019 for Best Inkjet Photo Paper.
Museum Etching for matte work—350 GSM, ISO 9706 certified for museum-grade age resistance. Beautiful tactile texture, like a painting.
For limited editions, ChromaLuxe metal. The most enduring material I've found.
Fireproof. Scratch-proof. Dust-proof. Waterproof. Designed to last not decades, but potentially millennia. The dye is infused into the metal through sublimation—part of the substrate, not sitting on top. It won't fade, peel, or deteriorate.
Centuries from now, someone discovers an abandoned building overgrown with plants. Among the ruins, they find one of these prints. It would shine as new. Colors still vibrant. Detail still sharp. A window into Earth's history, preserved with the same clarity as the day it was printed. That's what this medium does.
Every ChromaLuxe print comes framed in a Modern Metal Float Frame—the print appears to hover within the frame, adding depth. Sleek, minimal, protective. When you're creating art that needs to last millennia, every layer matters.
If I'm capturing moments unique in the history of the universe, the print needs to be worthy of that significance. As enduring as the mountains, as permanent as ancient sequoias. Every print comes with a lifetime guarantee.
Each choice deliberate. Each tested against alternatives. Each the best solution for art that survives generations.
Read about my philosophy and creative process, or view ChromaLuxe prints.