Josh Murphy Imaging

11/26/2022

One of my biggest revelations while on the Pacific Crest Trail was a desire to become closer to the natural world. The national parks and forests I traversed and the life thriving inside them are treasures of the world we inhabit, and the more we can do to protect them, the better. One of my goals moving forward is to work with the companies, organizations, brands, and people actively working towards preserving the natural resources of not just the United States but the world.

I knew I wanted to do something to highlight conservation efforts and draw attention to the many different ways we can become more connected to the natural world. There are many ways to go about this, but one I plan on visiting more in-depth is the act of hunting and how important it is to conservation efforts. Being from rural Pennsylvania, I have witnessed and felt the reverence surrounding the beginning of rifle season for white-tailed deer.

To those unfamiliar with hunting from a cultural standpoint, it may seem counterintuitive to kill or harvest game as a conservation method. But hunters spend billions of dollars annually that go towards conservation efforts. From the licensure down to the ammunition and weapons purchased, it all adds up to help preserve the natural world I've come to find such a newfound appreciation for.

Here are some portraits of a long-time friend and man who embodies what it means to be a sportsman, Al Rosenberger. These are part of an ongoing personal project I've been thinking about for years and am now implementing due to it's relevance to my goals stated above.

If you or anyone you know would like to be a part of a project that aims to shed light on what it means to be a hunter please reach out to me.

11/20/2022

“The range continues east into ever-increasing darkness as the peaks block the day's dying light. But as that light dies, it burns with the most intensity. The dark will have its time again but make no mistake; the light will return.

Creation and destruction, light and dark. It's all part of the war that created this earth we walk. That war exists within us. I remember everything as I watch a new chapter in this battle unfold.

I remember being in a place where I could never have imagined this moment would be possible. To go from almost 500 pounds and to wish for an early grave to conquering the highest mountain in the lower 48, I feel invincible. And the best part is knowing this is only a footnote on the journey.

The juxtaposition of my internal struggle with the scene before me is uncanny. Yeah, my battle still wages on, but I'm fortunate to stand in the light now.
This moment reaffirms that making this journey was worthwhile.

Up to this point, I had considered myself "putting my life on hold" to hike the PCT. But the reality is, there is no "on hold." This is life. The same one I lived in those days of darkness, just now with a completely different frame of mind.

Standing on top of Mount Whitney marked the beginning of a new chapter for me. I didn't realize it then, but in the months to come, my outlook on life would evolve further. The past will be forgiven but never forgotten. I will remember this moment at 14,505 feet for the rest of my life. The light, the thin air, my matted, days unwashed hair blowing in the alpine wind, and how powerful it felt to realize how far I had come and still had to go. But I will never forget when there was only dark. “

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I have a new blog post that examines the parallels between my life at it's lowest point and my life at one of the literal and metaphorical highest points. As I continue to write my book there will be more of these.

The blogs aren't the final form of book passages, but they'll give you an idea of the gravity of the story i'm sharing. The story of my strange life and how it led me to
the PCT.

https://joshmurphyimaging.com/illwalktheearth/when-there-was-only-dark

11/15/2022

I reached somewhat of a career milestone recently.

I was hired to capture some photos and videos for a new line of trekking poles from Leki. They were modeled by a friend and all around legend of a human being Dan Kosick.

Leki is a German company that makes equipment for cross country skiing, trail running, hiking and much more. I used their trekking poles during my PCT thru-hike and they performed spectacularly even in the harshest conditions. I can say from experience, they make a top tier product and I highly recommend them.

This was the most fun project I’ve worked on to date. We hiked for miles into the Adirondacks to get to the perfect location and seriously lucked out with some unseasonably warm weather. Special thank you to Dan, Sven and the whole team at Leki Germany for involving me in the project.

11/14/2022

The post PCT photo sorting continues and I’ve barley made it through the desert.

I’ll never get over the diversity of the landscape throughout the first 700 miles of trail. Epic views, plants and animals fighting to survive and even elements of human impact all made this a truly once in a lifetime experience.

Getting to edit these photos on my computer opens up a new level of control and color correction that wasn’t possible editing with my phone while on trail.

Almost all of these images have a preset applied that I developed for the photos I captured in the desert. But presets are only the beginning of bringing an image to it’s final form.

11/09/2022

The desert was nothing like I imagined. I did not anticipate traversing rolling hills and climbs in and out of valleys. Being from Pennsylvania and never setting foot in a desert, I expected a flat expanse, tumbleweeds, and a world devoid of life. How wrong I was. An unexpected level of beauty was found in the desert, and it teemed with life in all forms.

This was an alien land. Something more akin to what I'd seen in video games than in real life. I expected some irradiated monster to appear from behind a rock at any moment or stumble upon the ruins of some long-lost society. Luckily there were only lizards, the occasional rattler, and small trail towns bustling with the hiker season in full swing.

For seven hundred miles, I experienced more than I could have imagined and learned what it meant to suffer.

11/03/2022

As I continue to write my memoir chronicling my life, losing 200 pounds and all of the events that ultimately led to me thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, I've decided I'm going to release a "companion" book purely of photos captured during my time on trail. It has been requested enough that I'm finally in the process of putting it together.

There are so many detailed images that will never truly be given justice by being posted online and the best way to experience them is by viewing them in printed form. While there will be small blurbs of text throughout this will be a "coffee table" style book filled with some of the absolute best shots from my 5.5 months on trail. The substantial writing and story will be in my memoir. Think of it as a collector's piece and work of art that will be the first in a series of these kinds of books I plan to make after future adventures.

If you are interested let me know. I will post updates when the book is ready and I intend to release it in time for the holidays. the cost will be somewhere around $50.00.

10/15/2022

Just so happened to be at a cool place around sunset. The view from French Azilum, Wysox PA.

09/26/2022

Today is a strange one. I turn 32 years old and for quite some time I envisioned today being the day where I stood at the Norther Terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail. I ended my hike in snoqualmie the other week. At the time there were no alternate routes to Canada that I was aware of, towns along the way were being shut down and it seemed there was no relief from wildfires in sight for the state of Washington.

I feel like I made the right decision. But it was far from the one I wanted to make. I'm at peace with the entire experience. I've been fine for the most part, but today is rough. Being thrust back into "normal life" has been a mixed bag of feelings and emotions. Post Trail Depression always in the back of my mind, but it hasn't hit yet, if it ever will.

I've been struggling to find the words for my final PCT update post. I'll chip away at it, delete it all and start over. Countless times now. I'll find the right words eventually.

In the meantime, I wanted to share some highlights from my journey. These are all photos that I shot on my camera then transferred to and edited on my phone during my hike. They are far from the only photos I took, but they were the ones that stuck out to me the most at the end of many long brutal days on the PCT.

I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed shooting them. I'm almost in shock to see all of these and realize it's over. I look around in this coffee shop in my small Pennsylvania hometown and can't figure out what real life is. Is it this? is it concrete walls, cold brew coffee and wifi? Maybe. But I don't quite think so. I think I spent the last 6 months experiencing a life more pure than anything I've experienced in my 32 years on this earth and I'll slowly come to terms with knowing that even when I set foot back on parts of the PCT it will never be what it was when I set out in March.

Is this my last thru hike? No. But a part of me will always remain on that trail and for better or worse, I'll never get it back. But maybe that's how it's supposed to be. The trail provides, but it most certainly takes away.

09/26/2022

09/26/2022