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Recollections, reviews, discoveries, and future plans.

Get Outside

Director Amon Barker grew up exploring the mountains, valleys, and deserts of New Mexico and developed a passion for the outdoors. He was drawn to photography in order to share his experiences with the landscape. Along the way he met others with a similar connection to the environment even when living very different lives. When we came up with the concept for the Human Nature short it was very simple. We wanted to create powerful images of the natural world that would remind viewers of their connection to the land and it's personal meaning to them. We hit the road on a series of production road trips and the story of the edit unfolded through our journey. None of us will forgot the moments along the way. View more by visiting: www.apresvisuals.com License our work at:

https://app.nimia.com/profile/apresvisuals/ Full Credits Director: Amon Barker Production: Après Visuals, Amon Barker, Karissa Tuthill Cinematography: Amon Barker, Tim Barker, Brian Morrison Talent: Demi Petersen Editor: Amon Barker Original Music: Madelaine German, Adam Schmidt Sound Design: Scotty Beam, Cleod9 Music Titles: Eric Bucy, Kailey Tuthill, Scott Sutton

Source: http://apresvisuals.com

Behind the Image - The Ghost Road of Iceland

This is a photo of the Kjalvegur Road / Kjölur Route in Iceland which I shot using my Nikon D7000 a few weeks ago while my buddy Chris (@chrislovesadventure) and I were exploring the interior of the country.  This route, sometimes referred to as the "Ghost Road," used to be the main road used by vikings to travel between the north and south of Iceland.  Some legends say the Knights Templar hid the holy grail somewhere along the route . . . Before embarking on this journey it was highly recommend that we rent a vehicle with 4 wheel drive so we opted for a Toyota Land Cruiser which we picked up from Hertz Iceland.  With a trusty map and compass in hand, we set out to circle the island.  Once we made it back to Reykjavik we still had a bit of time left on the rental so we decided to check out this highland road through the interior.  The route starts just after the massive Gullfoss waterfall and continues on to the Ringroad near Varmahliöand and passes between the Hofsjökull and Langjökull Glaciers (Temple Glacier and Long Glacier).

Some other sites to see along the way are Þingvellir, Gullfoss, Geysir, and Hvítárvatn.

Behind the Image - The Narrows

Date: June 3, 2014
Location: The Narrows | Zion National Park | Utah
Camera: Nikon D7000
Lens: Nikkor 12-24mm f/4G
Additional Gear: Lowepro Photo Sport 30L

The photo below was taken about 15 minutes before the sun sank below the rim of the canyon walls. We started running in order to make as much progress as we could before it got dark. The backpacker running in the green shirt is Ryan, he grew up near Zion and was showing me around.  Further in the distance you can barely see my friend Christine, she lives near Zion and we had been trying to coordinate this trip for about 3 years.

The Narrows | Zion National Park | Utah

No snow in Snow Canyon

Last summer I decided to take a trip to Utah to explore Zion National Park.  Over the years I had seen a lot of photos of Zion and decided that I needed to check it out in person.  My original plan was to head out there in 2011 during a 4,000 mile solo road trip I was doing around the southwestern part of the U.S.  Unfortunately I didn't have quite enough time to make it there and had to postpone.  Finally at the end of May 2014 I had a bit of free time so I packed up my Saab wagon and drove from San Diego, CA to Saint George, UT.  After about 6 and half hours I arrived, grabbed dinner, and met with a few locals I had befriended.  The first day there I went on a solo hike to Three Ponds in Snow Canyon State Park.  It was the beginning of June in the Utah desert so there definitely wasn't any snow in Snow Canyon and the 3 ponds turned out to be one small pool of stagnant water which was covered in dead flies.  This was not the most pleasant thing to discover after trekking a few miles through really fine sand in 113°F/45°C heat.

Finding relief in the shade | Snow Canyon

A few days later I met with my new local friends and went to Zion.  We did about a 5 mile hike in the morning that took us around one of the other parts of the park and then we headed to the Narrows after.  I have to say The Narrows was definitely one of the most enjoyable hikes I've done.  Not only is the terrain amazing, but hiking through the cool water in the shade while it's 100+ degrees out makes things much more pleasant.  We probably hiked in about 3 miles and didn't start heading back until the sun was setting.  Being in a canyon after dark was an interesting experience because it was pitch black, luckily I came prepared with my Petzl Headlamp.  The downside to the headlamp was that it attracted a ton of Mayflies that started to circle my head so I eventually just used the headlamp like a regular flashlight.