This composite image has so much connected to it that it is truly a cornerstone to my story.
First and foremost this image won not only first place in the Illustrative category of the recent Shutterfest 2018 image competition, but also took Grand Award of the entire competition. I was so truly humbled and thankful for those awards and the memories I have created because of it.
The rocks she is standing on are from a cave in Iceland, near Vik and the famous rock face at Black Beach. My wife and I traveled there in March of this year and it was a dream come true for us both. Such a beautiful and peaceful place that we both felt an immediate connection to the land and knew that this trip would be the first of many.
The sky behind the Valkyrie was shot in the backyard of my new home in Arizona, the day after I arrived. The move to the southwest was a long and very complicated one. I felt uneasy and unsure of my future here and secretly feared that I might have made the wrong choice. When I walked out into the backyard and saw this amazing cloud formation and all of the colors indicative of the southwest, I knew that I was where I needed to be.
The Valkyrie is an extremely talented and amazing photographer, model and artist. I had followed her work almost instantly after I arrived in Arizona and finally decided to go for broke and ask her if she would be interested in playing this character for my work. She enthusiastically agreed and it set my mind on a path of yet again understanding how fear is the only thing that separates us from the life that we dream of.
