After eleven miles of hiking through an enchanted rain forest my thoughts began to form words and take flight on their own. Before I had a chance to give it a second thought the idea was born, "I'd love to shoot adventures like this more often..." I spent much of that night fleshing out the idea in my Moleskine, and before I knew it I had several pages of my next business idea. 

     Today I'm excited to finally share that with you as I announce my new Adventure Photography portfolio and services.

     The concept is simple: I want to be the one taking photos on your next adventure. You don't have to settle for arms-length iPhone pictures, and you don't even have to decide between taking photos or enjoying the moment. You enjoy the moment, I'll shoot the photos, and we'll both have fun in the process.

    You can find more info about it as well as a little more background on me and even some ideas to get your gears turning. Let's go on an adventure together!

------- Feedback results -------

     For those of you who participated in the soft launch feedback contest I want to express a heartfelt THANK YOU! Your feedback was exciting, surprising, entertaining, eye-opening, and definitely appreciated. I was particularly interested trying to understand why you chose what you did. Here are some initial observations:

• Emily Chastain, who is a ridiculously talented wedding photographer, chose mostly photos that appear from a first person perspective --i.e. things she would see on a trip.

• A few people (mostly named Jenny and Kerry) chose photos that they thought matched the word "adventure."

• Nobody picked two of my personal favorite photos. I've used this one in my portfolio for a couple years and I guess nobody likes it. Shouldda asked sooner =) Perhaps the other one looks too engagement-ish. I don't know.

• Candace Evans chose photos that "made her feel like she was there."

• "Excited activity" appears to be the common denominator among the highest rated images. The top five photos were comprised of feeding a baby moose, riding a camel, jumping, and catching a fish.

• Lots of you chose only photos with people in them.

• The Marsdens seem to like silhouettes as much as I do.

• Most people who participated did so because they wanted to help, not because they cared about the giveaway. That means so much to me, and it makes me even more excited to reward a few people who participated.

Without further ado, here are the winners:

• Random drawing goes to: Ami (with an "i") Ballenger

• Most shared goes to: Emily Chastain

• Most creative goes to: Dominique Coulture

I will be emailing the winners shortly. You can see the photos that made the cut here. Thanks everyone for participating, but more importantly thanks for your support and feedback! Please continue to spread the word next time you hear about an upcoming adventure.