Spring is Lake Tahoe's algae season. The attached algae is at its highest this time of year. I went out with some researchers from the Tahoe Environmental Research Center to check out how they monitor the growth. We motored the TERC boat to 10 different sites to check out what's happening beneath the surface. The researchers use a drysuit to do their monitoring. All I had was a wetsuit. I can relate to Katie's last quote in the video.
I've been on and off the road for a few days at a time for almost a year. I don't think I've spent a full week at home in Lake Tahoe since I started school in August, 2015. It's nice to be able to pick up and move around easily. But there are downfalls. Every once in a while I crave a full kitchen, especially an oven. On a recent trip to Point Reyes, we made up for some of our hasty travel cooking by getting a plate of grilled oysters at one of the homey shops by Drakes Bay.
Gary, my van, on Highway 1, near the Marshall Store.
I love swimming, but I haven't always. When I was a toddler, I ran around the edge of the pool and refused to jump in. I've been that way with Lake Tahoe lately— but for different reasons. I'm not scared of the water. I'm scared of the cold. I recently invested in a new 9mm Xcel dive suit. This helped. A lot. I doggy paddled around Sand Harbor in a snow storm last weekend. It was fun. I felt like a kid again.
Between school and work, I've taken a few days just for me. Mikaela and I spent the weekend in the Black Rock Desert for Valentine's Day. I love the landscape out there. The sunsets seem to last longer than in the mountains. There are hot springs and critters (we caught a few gargantuan bull frogs). Quick trips like these inspire me to work harder and to enjoy moments without work.
I finished my first semester of graduate classes at the University of Nevada, Reno Reynolds School of Journalism. I worked on a long-form multimedia media project about a group of disabled workers that are cleaning up downtown Reno. It was my first time combining text, photos and video into a cohesive layout. I enjoyed the process and learned a ton. Already looking forward to next semester.
It's been a rowdy couple of months. I'm taking a full load of graduate journalism classes, teaching three undergraduate journalism labs and continuing to work on freelance projects. With the end of the semester in sight, this schedule is coming to a head. I have several major freelance and academic deadlines that are going to converge into a frenetic maelstrom of production. Bring on the storm.
All right!! I got some new stuff up on the website. It's been an amazing summer with tons of hiking, fishing, surfing, paddling and swimming. I'm going to be adding more pages here soon and switching up my galleries a bit. Please get in touch if you're curious about my work or if you're looking for a specific print. Hope you have a great month!
In the last month, I've had a few huge assignments, gained some clients, published some great pieces and turned 30. It's been a bit of a whirlwind. I've shot some good photos and written a couple pieces I'm pretty proud of. I'm going to shoot for an update to my writing page in the next week and hopefully a full website overhaul in the next month. Hmm, good luck.
