Sunday, June 19, 2011

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day to all the fathers out there in the world.
 I am so thankful that my daughter has an amazing father to help guide her through life. 
I love watching the interaction of father and daughter and the special bond they
are developing together. David is still rafting down the Grand Canyon and so
is missing Fathers Day today, but I know he is thinking of his daughter today.
Happy Fathers Day, David, we love you!






Friday, June 10, 2011

Rafting the Grand Canyon

The fun part of being a Landscape Photographer is getting out and taking pictures. David is currently rafting down the Grand Canyon snapping away at the unbelievable landscape on his 21 day journey. He just sent me this picture as he was loading his numerous photography bags onto his raft. Can't wait to see what he comes out with, and to share with all of you his new photographs! 

Grand Canyon... note this was taken with an Android phone.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Gallery Party May 21st!

Gallery Party

Saturday, May 21st

6-9pm

801 Zion Park Blvd
Springdale, UT 84767


We will be having two of our favorite musicians
performing at the party, Dave Tate and Victoria Lagerstrom!
Click here to visit their website.

We hope to see you there!

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Elite Immortal



Anyone who has visited the gallery recently will have noticed the Clik Elite photography bags that we showcase in our gallery. David personally uses the Pro Elite Photography bag as his primary photo backpack.

We just received a shipment of the 2011 line, and they are awesome! Each of the bags are well thought out with quality material and great organizational potential. They are sure to please the most discerning photographers.

Something fun is David was chosen to be part of the "Elite Immortal" http://www.clikelite.com/immortals/  group of photographers featured in the 2011 catalog and on their website. Stop by the gallery to check out the latest bags and pick up the 2011 Click Elite catalog.



David J. West
Photo by Jim Speth

Friday, April 8, 2011

Adopt a bighorn.

Bighorn 1

Bighorn 2

Bighorn 3
 I have decided to donate 100% of the profits from the first sale of each of these new Bighorn images to the Adopt a Bighorn program which is designed to protect Zions Desert Bighorn Sheep. Adopt A Bighorn

Zion is still open

Zion is still open. As of 8:00pm MST 4/8/11. 

 Vehicles are still allowed in Zion National Park.


Road Closed signs... are these for closing the park?

Friday, January 28, 2011

Looking back and Giving back

Rage
  My travels awhile back to the Middle Eastern countries were mostly peaceful, until I stayed in Northern Israel and suddenly the border with Lebanon became a war zone. The above photograph is one I took while in Northern Israel, the men were burning tires to protest Israel's ongoing war with Hezzbollah. Staying in a bomb shelter for a few days was an experience I don't want to repeat, yet many people have to live with this on and off their whole life. I'm not about to take sides or try to explain the conflict, to be honest wars in the Middle East confuse me. All I know is that many innocent people suffer, people that want nothing to do with war at all.

Burning tires blocking traffic

  As a professional landscape photographer I feel I'm only suppose to show beautiful scenes of Mother Nature, yet as I look back through my old slide film from trips I've taken over the years I see I was also inspired by people along the way. There was even a time I daydreamed about being a photojournalist traveling the world covering stories, like war and innocent people dying, and the front lines of disease and poverty. I guess you can say I wanted to save the world through my photography, or at least make it a better place by exposing the world's most pressing humanitarian needs.
  Yet, in a way I do help make the world a better place by creating art through which people feel uplifted and by teaching others how to do the same. As an artist and also a citizen of the world I feel it is important to know what is going on in the world around me. I feel grateful that my life with Landscape Photography as well as with my family and friends is peaceful. When I look back at my past slides I am reminded of how I got to where I am today, and where I want to be tomorrow. I look forward to new travels and sharing images from past journeys.


Zambian Grocery Store
My time spent in Zambia and Mozambique was amazing. Although I've seen the worst of what poverty and disease can do, I've also witnessed true happiness in people being content with nothing but food, water, shelter and each other.

Zambian family
Here's a link to an organization we have supported-  www.humana.org This company does humanitarian work all over the world with an emphasis on development and education.

Snow Dreams
Here are a couple other organizations we like to support.
http://www.zionpark.org/foundation.php
http://www.nationalparks.org/
These two organizations help protect the landscapes I've come to love.