Sorry guys, but the #GoldenHour is a hoax. The real secret is to wait for the sunset to disappear. Then you’ve got about 15 minutes of drastically changing, super soft, natural, @Gucci, light that will light your model like an angel. When you combine the race against time and the excitement of a nude body, that’s when the magic happens. But, the real, real secret, is to learn how to shoot in all lighting scenarios...

We pulled over to the side of the road, and hauled our gear through the dense forest that snagged at our clothes. Up a hill and over a field, we walked through the low lying shrubs to the edge of a cliff. There we had a beer and rested. It wasn’t until we stood up and saw the red spots on our clothes, that that we realised we were camping in edible bearberry bushes. #spiltmilk 

 I had a blast smashing taco's, beers, and ankles (#skateordie) with these guys, before the Athlete Tour lecture yesterday. 

Goodbye. 

Living on the devils dime.

Like many people who have an eating disorder Natalie struggled with depression, anxiety and obsessive thought patterns. When the nurse suggested she look at her condition as a physiological disorder she found new venues to help reconnect the dots of body, soul and mind.

From our Runnin On Empty story.

Natalie spoke confidently while reading the personal information, but as I watched her focus on the writing, I couldn’t help but wonder what she was feeling as she began to go further into detail. She continued while not skipping a beat. ”You decided that the risks of taking it are significant enough to motivate you to stop taking them.” she burst into laughter with her adolescent past. The fact she had lied to the nurse and had continued on using the pills was funny to her. I enjoyed the dark humor so I laughed as well. Yet, Natalie was more interested in easing her mind, so her body would continue to suffer until she found something simpler.

From my "Running On Empty" story.

Running On Empty: CONFIDENTIAL

In her hand Natalie held a file that read “CONFIDENTIAL” with three asterisks flanking each side of the bold lettering, indicating it’s weight. Below it read “Children's & Women's Health Centre Of British Columbia” She continued reading out loud, the notes the Nurse Clinician had written her ten years ago when she was first enlisted into the Youth Health Program.

From the "Running On Empty" story.

Running On Empty: Freedom & Enable

“After your mother found the guarana pills, you looked them up and talked about the potential side effects and mechanism of action together. Initially, you felt that guarana would give you freedom and enable you to be more relaxed and enjoy eating and food. It seemed that guarana could work as a safety net, You were hopeful that it might quiet feelings which interferes with your ability to eat, and quiet the urge to vomit.”

From the "Running On Empty" story.

Running On Empty

“Dear Natalie,

Thank you for coming to meet me in clinic today. This letter will provide us both with the opportunity to review what we discussed together. We talked about the guarana supplements that you tried this summer. Your mother found them and was very upset. You understood this reaction, and felt it was appropriate because as you no know, the dietary supplement, guarana has some significant health risks.“

Before we began taking photos, Natalie led me into her room to show me some important things to help me understand how far she had come. Natalie pulled out a few items, including her old hospital wristbands, dated 15 August 2005 along with a weathered scrapbook, but it was evident she was most interested in the file folder.

Running On Empty

It is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week (#NEDAwareness), so a friend Natalie and I would like to share her intimate recovery story on bulimia nervosa over the next few days. We’ve been working together for many months now- going for coffee, talking on the phone, photographing on multiple occasion, and exchanging countless emails- in order to get this right. Natalie use to battle her own pressure for perfection with resistance, yet it was her passive mindful meditation that would give her the tools to start living a healthy life again. But it didn’t come easy.

From the "Running On Empty" story.

Authentic

I was fortunate enough to have Britt Firth as my primary yoga teacher the past year. Thank for sharing your energy.

"Growing up in northern California, I noticed a parallel between fearlessness in the water and fearlessness on land. A lot of the big wave guys I grew up idolizing were notorious for getting into serious shit—meth, drunk driving accidents, just general mayhem. As the son of a psychologist, I began to wonder if there was something about the brains of these people that drove this behavior. I took my first research job in San Diego in 2009 and though the place has changed, my questions are still the same. I’m still looking for the biological reasons for risky behavior. I’ve learned a lot, but most of my questions are still unanswered and that lack of knowledge keeps me motivated." - Michael Barrus

My mind is going lucid inside itself.

Surfer: Noah Wegrich.

Ghosts In The Field

Two years ago Rachel left school in Vancouver and returned home to Bainbridge Island (outside Seattle) to reset her life. One night, biking home from work she was hit by a careless driver just blocks from her family farm. She was bed ridden. With her new friends out of state, and old friends moved on she was depressed and alone.

"They held the ferry and everything to get to the ER on the mainland. I spent the night at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle listening to three people die on the other side of the curtain- a young kid in a car accident, and old addict, and a dude in a bar fight. It was terrifying and humbling. I wasn't treated for the whole night because I wasn't dying. Somehow I was grateful for that. But I didn't know if I had nerve damage and would walk again, so I was scared as fuck. My mobility is priceless. Luckily I'm just shorter than I used to be. I'm 23 and have the back of an 80 year old. I was stuck in a brace for three months. Depressed and on painkillers. I quit that shit fast. That's when I got my runty, weepy eyed cat named Bonzo from a sketchy woman off highway 99. You can also buy drugs or company by the hour. I was told I shouldn't keep him because he might not live very long. But we're both fine. He's honestly the only way I got through it."
 

As we walk away from the field she gives me a smirk and tells me that the earth below us is where her and her family buried their dead animals. "This hallowed ground we are standing on was dug when my first puppy, a chocolate lab named Josie, was hit by a car. There's two llamas, a blind alpaca, three cats a lizard and some fish."

It's been two years of healing. Rachel is very grateful for her current state of health. She's on route to becoming a naturopathic doctor at Bastyr University, and tomorrow is off to climb Mount Rainier. Jah Bless.

Now that we are lonely.