Dad has the coolest office in Boone. Mom is an accomplished dancer. We had a beautiful afternoon of ballet dancing, cake smashing and back yard swimming. Introducing the Grindley Family.
There are times when I miss living in the Colorado Rockies, especially in winter. I long for deep powder snow, wide open mountain bowls, and bluebird skies. Drab, grey winters punctuated by rain showers are often the norm nowadays. Fortunately, I have a nearby solution if I’m looking for a snowy, alpine fix: Roan Mountain. It’s only 45 minutes from Boone, but an extra 3,000ft in elevation puts Roan in an altogether different climate zone. It’s got wide open summits, big mountain weather, and sometimes…a bounty of fresh snow. With the forecast calling for double digit snow accumulations, the timing seemed perfect for a Roan Mountain ski tour. I’ll let my pictures tell the story, but I have to say it was a sweet experience to ski above the clouds in a frozen world of “snow ghost” trees . Bombing down the incredibly tight and twisty Appalachian Trail was a good lesson in humility. I believe I still have some spruce boughs in my hat.
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Boone, NC is finally beginning to look like winter. Last week, most folks woke up to 6″-12″ of gorgeous snow. When Tenessia called me a few weeks ago to plan out a maternity shoot, I pitched the idea that we should mix things up and do something cold and snowy. I realize that tromping around in snow and freezing conditions is the LAST thing that most pregnant women want to do, so hats off to to Tenessia for going for it! As you’ll see below, there is something beautiful and pure about new snow and the promise of new life. The other special treat was that 2 year old Cayman got his first real adventure in the snow.
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STUNNING!
Anna Brooks is almost 4 months old. I thought it was time to show off a few recent pics of our little cutie. Many people have asked me how her little bottom is doing (she had a bad, mystery rash for over a month). Thanks so much for your prayers and concerns! She is now almost completely healed up and is flying high!
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WOW!!! More beautiful each day!
Beautiful–just like her mother—xo
I just love all your cute cute pixs of Anna Brooks. She is just precious!! How are the boys doing with her?
awwwwwww! i just looooove her! mom is talking to mason right now! So I have some free time in school!
Lighting is everything. A stunning family doesn’t hurt either. I’ve always wanted to get a family out to Valle Crucis early in the morning when the warm light and the cold valley smoke are making their magic. Enter the Jackson family. We got shut down the week before with terrible weather, so I suggested an early morning shoot before the day got busy for everyone. Seven forty-five a.m. rolled around and even my warm coffee wasn’t doing much to tame the mid-30′s chill in the air. Nerves and shivers soon gave way to golden morning light and lots of great laughter. Thanks for going for it Jacksons! Special thanks to Ashley Crutchfield who was in town and assisted me in pulling off the shoot.
Behind the scenes: Ashley bounces golden morning light to evenly light the Jacksons. Without the reflector, this shot would only work as a silhouette.
Behind the scenes: ok. It was cold. Bekah takes a break between shots to warm her feet.
Behind the scenes: We chose impromptu locations based on beautiful light. Shooting at the same level as the Jackson sisters is more flattering if I shoot at the same eye level, thus the bucket. On the right, notice the beautiful light behind the girls AND in front of them. Ashley is just off camera with a reflector.
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Unbelievable. Stunning. Magical. When can the Crutchfields book their shoot? So beautiful!
LUV THE BOOTS!!!!!!
My friend Zack got into rock climbing earlier this fall. I love teaching people to climb, so Zack and I spent several days at smaller crags learning the ropes (I know, terrible pun). Our plan was to climb the mega-classic, “The Daddy,” in the heart of the Linville Gorge before the colors gave way to winter. With Hurricane Sandy making her way up the Atlantic Seaboard, we seized the last remaining day of splitter weather. Climbing The Daddy isn’t about pulling off gymnastic feats of strength. It’s about bushwhacking into the wilderness and losing your way. It’s about titled spires of vegetated rock that tower hundreds of feet above an ancient river gorge. It’s about curling your fingers around perfect incisions of rock that God Himself cut, I suspect, with climbers in mind. Zack and I had high hopes of bringing up our fancy cameras to capture some great footage. But the wrong turns, the thorn-choked billy goat trails, and the flat light made us ditch them in favor of light and fast. I strapped a GoPro on my helmet that captured most of the actual climbing shots that are below.
ps- Zack did fantastic, even with 400 feet between his legs.
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I recently embarked on a new photo project with deep family roots. My mom grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland as a Nagel. Her father Brooks (Pop Pop to all the grand kids) was a farmer and grain mill operator in Preston, MD. A deep faith and an entrepreneurial spirit marked his life and impacted many. My mom’s brother David and his sons Chip and Chad are now carrying on the family legacy. Nagel Farm Service currently operates 5 grain mills servicing some of the most productive land in the Mid-Atlantic. These photos represent just a handful of images I captured over a long weekend to better tell the story of NFS and to preserve the continuing legacy.
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UNBELIEVABLE! These are crazy good.
These photos are fantastic,Eric. What a great job you did! You captured so much about the Nagel family. Love you……Aunt Susan and Uncle C.B.
Our little splash of pink isn’t doing so well. For the past two weeks she’s had a growing infection on her bottom that has gotten pretty severe. A lot of sleepless nights and ineffective treatments have left us without many options. I thought I’d post a new picture of Anna Brooks that would be a good reminder to pray for her.
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sorry to hear about her infection…will definitely be praying.
Today was Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day. Did you celebrate? Clement and his buddies got out and had a blast at Rocky Knob Bike Park. After getting outfitted with free shirts and socks, the kids honed their dirt riding skills under the tutelage of Kristian Jackson and company. Besides being good, healthy fun, the goal of the day is to develop a connection between kids and the natural world around them. Today’s children are tomorrow’s land managers and politicians — future decision-makers for important matters like recreation and access to public lands. How different might our current access landscape look today if previous generations of policy makers had grown up riding bikes on natural-surface trails?
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Awesome! Love it love it!
Great shots! Thanks for sharing.
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