– Jim Wirth

A few days back I posted some beautiful photos of the open road taken by veteran long-haul trucker Paul Tarin, also known as “Slimeface” (see A Trucker’s View of the Open Road).  Well, serendipity has led me to another amazing picture of the “open road” that I would like to share here.

I traded emails tonight with a fellow watch enthusiast named Marc Levin.  Marc sent me an email to join a watch club that I manage.  In his email, Marc mentioned that he was a blogger, and was “passionate about the web, social media and the power of creativity in our world.”  Among Marc’s favorite social media sites are Flickr and Twitter, and checking out his Flickr account, I was exceedingly impressed with his photo entitled Sun on the way up to Mammoth, which Marc took on a 2007 ski trip.

An awesome view of the open road to the Sierras, captured beautifully by Marc.  If you’d like to learn a bit more about this part of world, check out our story and video entitled Highway 395: Scenic Eastern Sierra.

Thanks for letting me share your photo here Marc.  I’m looking forward to meeting you in person some day soon, and seeing your new Panerai that caused our paths to cross.

– Carl Bidleman

Our good friend and master of aerial photography, Robert Campbell, has published a new book of stunning photos. When he brought Point Reyes and the San Andreas Fault Zone to the office a few weeks back, M’Gee and I got so absorbed with it that we spent an entire hour “ooohhhing” and aaahhhhing” over the stunning images. You can see many of them in this video conversation with Robert and Doug.

Click to play

– Doug McConnell

Carl wrote the tease on the home page to my Big Sur Road Trip mobile post mentioning Jack Uhalde’s photography. Producing television and video stories is, at best, a team sport. Carl and I have long had the benefit of working with extraordinarily talented photographers, writers and editors who help us produce our best work. We have always put a premium on photography….and Jack Uhalde was and is one of the best videographers in the business.

Jack worked as Director of Photography with us for 10 years, and much of his work graces OpenRoad.TV. Jack and I traveled to the ends of the earth together finding and telling stories of all kinds. He was a terrific travel companion, and he always came home with spectacular sounds and pictures that made every story. Almost all of the Big Sur video you see was shot by Jack. One of these days I’ll pass along tales of some of our adventures along the OpenRoad of the West and the world. In the meantime, I hope you sit back and enjoy the work of a very talented guy…..and get inspired to hit the road yourself and pass along your work for all of us here to enjoy.

– Jim Wirth 

Mike Malandra is a professional landscape photographer.  Mike recently discovered the OpenRoad.TV group on Facebook and posted a few of his photos and video photo slideshows.  Mike spent a little time on the OpenRoad.TV website and loved what he saw, so he reached out to me through Facebook this week to say hello, and boy am I glad he did.  Being the curious person I am, I went out to Mike’s “Elements of Nature” photography website, and was very impressed with his work.  Mike’s online gallery showcases his landscape photos throughout a number of states in the American West, as well as New York, New Jersey, Florida and Hawaii.

One photo in particular, which Mike has titled “Rock Fins,” really jumped out at me, and Mike has graciously allowed me to share it here…

“Rock Fins” was photographed by Mike in March of 2007 at Utah’s Arches National Park in the Courthouse Towers area of the park.  Adequately named, Arches National Park boasts over 2,000 natural sandstone arches and many other unusual rock formations exposed over millions of years by the awesome forces of nature.  Thanks for sharing Mike, and keep up the great work!

And while we’ve got you thinking about the natural wonders of Utah, check out our Grand Southwestern Roadtrip and Zion National Park adventures.