05/22/2026
Three-day weekends are for this: being outside, around a fire, with people who matter. This was shot many years ago. The kids in this photo are in college now, nearly grown. In fact, I hadn’t become a dad yet when I pressed the shutter, and now my daughter is 12! Time moves fast, and this image is a good reminder of one of the best ways to spend it.
I shot this on a Nikon D800, 17-35mm f/2.8, with a split neutral-density filter. When I was growing up, the great Galen Rowell was a hero of mine — and one of his signature moves was using the split ND filter for landscape photography. To be like Galen, I spent years shooting with them, but applied them to lifestyle photography as well, which felt like a unique application. And it worked out here, as the exposure difference between this camping scene and the sky was significant, but my trusty split ND filter bridged it beautifully. 😎
Hope everyone gets to spend some time outside this weekend with those who matter! 🙌
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