A couple years ago I did a quick trip to the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne for a couple three days. The trip ended up being one of those magical times when I seemed to see and hit picture after picture. (For me - others might think they aren’t very good) It was also the trip where I forgot the spoon.

Perhaps because the trip took place between weddings and I needed to craft a spoon to keep going, my creativity went up a notch. Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of my biggest heroes, talks about a body building technique called “Shock Principle” in his book The Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. It involves breaking up the regular routine by doing different exercises to shock the body into growth. On this trip I shocked myself into thinking outside the normal box and just went with the flow. An idea like Shock Principle doesn’t need to only be found in bodybuilding, it can be used in any field thirsting for creativity.

That book, by the way, remains a personal favorite. Useful for both bodybuilding ideas and life ideas.

Up until this trip I hadn’t spent much time in the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River. Having been there a couple times now I have to say it’s one of the best hidden spots of Yosemite. Amazing waterfalls, killer light reflecting off the granite walls early and late in the day, rapids, pools, rainbows, the place has it all.

Come to think of it, maybe I’ll schedule a trip back this summer. I was trying to come up with someplace to go for a quick trip between my wedding photography and portrait photography work. Except this time I’ll try it with the Fuji XT-5 and a couple lenses to see how it goes.

One word: I’m sorry for all the keywords and links, but the main purpose of this blog is to help my wedding and portrait businesses.