Josh Hejl photography

rise early, ski pow

admin — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:48:48 +0000

Pulling into the “parking lot” off Hwy 431 we began preparing to skin as two other cars pulled in. One car contained our homey Shane Jones and his friend Dirk. Mistaking the Toyota pickup for Hatchett and I, Shane began addressing the other skiers with our traditional, formal greeting, “**********************” Hilarity ensued and everyone had a laugh about it.

Getting a head start on Shane and Dirk we ascended via headlamp through the trees. Soon they joined us at the top of the run. As the sun rose we enjoyed tea, puffy jackets and some pow turns. The second run found us in the low angle trees (good snow) laughing our way back to the cars. A pretty good start to the day, two runs before 8:30. Now the proof.

Sunrise powder is a mystical experience

admin — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 03:03:01 +0000

Skinning in the dark is a strange feeling, my balance is off and I’m uncertain of the terrain. Slowly the sun begins to wrap its light around my part of the earth. At first its a dull glow. Nearing the top of the ridge we can see small cornices forming, the first of the season, sadly. We follow the ridge to get a better feel for the stability, cracks shoot through the snow as we walk across it. Wind tears across the ridge in a ferocious manner. Soon the sun will make its appearance, the golden hour. Confirming it’s safe for now, we drop in. Laughter ensues as mystical-pow turns cloud around us. Beautiful.

Spring skiing Mount Shasta in February

admin — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:25:56 +0000

With very little snow in the Tahoe area we decided to look elsewhere for an opportunity to shred-the-gnar. Our first thought was the Ruby Mountains in eastern Nevada, after some telephone recon we learned they’re pretty thin on the white gold.

Mount Shasta was the next choice, south facing slopes, huge runs and sunshine sounded pretty good. So we packed up and made the four-hour trip north to the mystical mountain. We failed to encounter a lemurian, though their presence was felt.

A couple of memorable quotes from the trip.

Matt Church; “I think I just skied myself into another dimension.”

Joe Bentel; “This glove sucks as a fan.”

Xander Hood; “I don’t have an ice axe, so I don’t need one.”

sittin sideways in the deep

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:09:21 +0000

The gang and I got some amazing powder skiing in, before the warm weather turned everything to mush and or crust. Here’s one of my favorites from the day. I love the offset of the shadow in the lower left with the turn and trees across the top of the frame.

smoke

admin — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 05:16:44 +0000

the desert of Arizona

admin — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:41:35 +0000

Fall

admin — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 18:45:11 +0000

Lately nearly all of my work has been directed at www.minaretphotography.com, however I have managed to get out and make some personal photos from time to time. For me this is renewing and exciting, and always seems to refresh my mind and give me a renewed sense of purpose (there is none). Here’s one from a recent-ish trip to the woods with my dog. Have a great day.

More from Alaska? Really you haven’t already posted those, from like 2 months ago, c’mon Josh.

admin — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 05:48:23 +0000

Running the PCT at 500mm

admin — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 17:18:02 +0000

Last night Barrett, Maggie, Kristyn, Brooks, Moose and I jammed up to the PCT where it meets old HWY 40 at Donner Pass. We ran up the trail to catch the fading sun and golden light. Turns out running with a 500mm lens is a bit easier than I expected. We had about 15 minutes of light, I made a few photos then it was off to Bills Rotisserie for a late dinner.

The perspective from the 500 is really cool, lots of compression and a very thin depth of field. My 5d had a hard time keeping up, next time the 7d will make a showing. I’m working on some changes to my blog (the only constant is change), Brandon and I have been pretty busy making great wedding photos over at Minaret Photography.

Long Boarding Lassen National Park

admin — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 21:45:59 +0000

After a day of melee, including a chemical burn on my arm, we arrived in Lassen National Park just in time to catch some east side riders dropping the road on long boards. They gave it one run and called it a day.