Why I'm Ending The Montana Retreats
Back when I started making online workshops in 2018 I was most excited about accelerating peoples journeys. The logic was that If they could avoid the mistakes I did and learn from my wins, they would have a much better chance at breaking through in photography. First came the Adventure Photography Workshop which was made on a shoestring budget but ended up being a hit. In the first few days more than 1000 people signed up for it. I was shocked. How come so many people were shelling out their hard earned dollars for my crummy little online class? The realization that people wanted to learn from me and other established photographers got me thinking — what if I got my favorite photographers to make their own class? This is how Finn Beales’s, Benjamin Hardman and Forrest Mankin’s class came to life. We were getting thousands of people signing up to our workshops, leaving raving reviews, it was a wonderful time.
While connecting with so many creatives was exhilarating, I knew that something was missing. We were nailing the education side of the equation but we learned that without a community of like-minded folks, it’s really hard for photographers to stay on track and utilize all the knowledge we’d share with them.
Which takes me to the Montana Retreats. The idea was simple: Come to Montana for five days, learn the business of photography, have a grand time mingling with like-minded photographers, belong to a community. In 2019, we launched the first Montana Retreat and had 10x more applicants than we had spots available. The key to in person workshops is building a group that is small enough that you can spend time with each person but big enough that you have a group energy. We landed on a group size of 8.
Some of the 2020 Montana Retreat Crew on a ridge in Glacier NP: (left to right) James Kelly, Gary Huey, Max Marty, Blake Swingle, Corbin Heist.
Since 2019, I’ve been hosting a Montana Retreat at least once a year, preferably in the summer where the high country is more accessible. Now, in 2022, it’s with a mix of nostalgia and excitement that I write this article. This year will be the last Montana Retreat.
The super swanky badge I had made for the last retreat. Designed by the Jonathan Cheseaux.
My intention was never to become a tour operator where I’d take groups of people to the same places over and over, repeat the same things, crack the same jokes, drop the same ‘Montana’ facts like clockwork and turn them back to their hotel room. So every year, I have to come up with fresh material to teach, scout new locations, and set up new shoots for retreat students. And, after doing it for 4 years in a row, I feel like I want to shake up the way we do these retreats. The world is a big place full of dramatic places to go shoot, why wouldn’t we ‘keep exploring’?
Cracker Lake seen from Mt Siyeh in Glacier NP
So this August 9-14th of 2022 will be the last Montana Retreat in a while. Because I want the last one to be the most memorable, I’ve come up with mind-boggling locations, have taken field shoots to a new level, brought in Cody Ringo as a private chef, and have the strongest insights to share.
If you’ve always wanted to come to the MT retreat, this is the time as there won’t be another one in a long time. Please apply here.
Introducing Adventure Buddies, The Zine
Nearly three years in the making, 250 un-released images, 500 miles on a bike across the Montana Wilderness. That is my new zine, “Adventure Buddies: #01 Road To Friendship”, in a nutshell.
It is going to be a very limited run and the first 300 copies are going to be very special. If you don’t want to miss the release please sign up here.
Since our falling out in early 2018, my friend Isaac Johnston and I were looking for an ‘epic’ shared adventure to take our friendship to new depths — the kind of expedition that would put us through the lowest lows and the highest highs. From my experience, it is in these situations that we grow the most.
We had grand dreams of South American travel but the reality was that in the summer of 2020, we couldn’t travel anywhere… So I dusted off my idea log and found this idea to cycle across Montana, North to South, using the most remote trails that existed. Isaac was so enthralled with the idea that he built a rough itinerary over a weekend. Our grand adventure became real, very quickly.
The plan was to load our bikes to be completely self sufficient for the longest amount of time, stop when we were hungry or tired, set up camp by a water source, and bring the least amount of camera gear as possible. Oh, and have a good time… In the end, it’s only cycling.
The zine is coming out mid June of this year and I’ll be sharing more updates in the coming days. This won’t be a pre-order— the entire run is being printed right now and will ship within 3-4 days after the launch. In the meantime, here are a handful of frames of the layout!
The Most Important Books I'm Reading in 2021
The ‘Three Crowns’ tower over the Bay of Biscay during a winter storm — shot from Biarritz, France (Dec 2020).
This is a roundup of the most important books I’ve planned to read in 2021. I’m sharing it now to give you some more ideas about what to read this year. You will notice that there’s all kinds of book genres in it - from novels to self help by way of psychology. I believe it is always beneficial to expand my horizons for it cultivates creativity. Often our best ideas come from associating different things in our mind, almost by accident, but the larger the range we give our minds, the larger the range of ideas will be.
If you have read a book in this list or have a recommendation to make for other fellow photographers, leave it in a comment below.
Here we go:
Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality
I added Awareness after hearing about it on the Tim Ferris Podcast who himself got it recommended by wealth manager Peter Mallouk. What drew me into this book is the promise of expanding my horizons and finding more happiness within myself.The Essential Enneagram: The Definitive Personality Test and Self-Discovery Guide
My partner at Wildist Laura Schmalstieg has been adamant about having the entire team do the Enneagram test. I finally took it and discovered a lot about others and myself that I didn’t expect to find. I added this book after Theron Humphrey recommended it. He added that “Enneagram is not a typology, people are not numbers” and this is only book that gets that right.Zero to One: Notes on Start Ups, or How to Build the Future
I knew of Peter Thiel from being one Paypal’s founders but never really dove into his approach to startups. I recently found his Stanford speech called Competition is for losers which goes totally against the more popular and iterative “Lean Startup” approach.The Lost Art of Reading Nature's Signs: Use Outdoor Clues to Find Your Way, Predict the Weather, Locate Water, Track Animals―and Other Forgotten Skills
As an avid reader of Alastair Humphrey’s books, blog and newsletter I discovered Gooley’s workshop and his writings. Added this one to the list because as an outdoor photographer I’m always looking for new ways to see, hear and feel nature.Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
Added this book after reading about it on Ryan Holiday’s best books of 2019 roundup. The promise of this book matches my personality— I’m curious about a lot of things and this book seems to offer ways to better channel that curiosity.Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil
This book made it to the 2021 list early on. During the early stages of the pandemic I went deep into Olive oil research because its an ingredient that I use everyday. I wanted to know more about where it comes from and what makes a quality oil vs a terrible one. Most of the virtual rabbit holes I followed lead to the authority on the subject, Tom Mueller. It was only natural that I read his book.The Maine Woods (Thoreau)
Some of Thoreau’s sentences have to be read a few times to really appreciate their subtleness. While I’d hate that in an educational book, I quite enjoy that in novels/autobiographies. It’s rewarding. After reading ‘Walking’ and ‘Walden’ by the same author I added this one and a ‘Winter Walk’.The Call of the Wild
Listing all of the people who said I had to read this book would take too long. I kept putting it off because when too many people recommend something I see that as a bad sign - as a pretentious frenchman, I like finding lesser known stuff, to cultivate a ‘different’ way of seeing - but this year I gave in. Hope it delivers!Nature (Emerson)
Added this one after seeing it quoted in conversationist Aldo Leopold’s Sand County Almanac.Meditations: A New Translation
Another Ryan Holiday recommendation — The Daily Stoic is one of my favorite books in 2020 and I added this one to get closer to the source of the Stoic movement.Dove
My friend and fellow filmmaker RJ Bruni has good taste in books. He raved about ‘Dove’ so I put it on this list. Apparently one of the greatest adventure novels ever written.Rebound: Train Your Mind to Bounce Back Stronger from Sports Injuries
After breaking my wrist on a motorcycle crash I could not use it for at least 3 months. I thought it was going to be horrible but it turned out to be a positive experience. I gained wisdom in knowing that it ‘could be way worse’, and also new skills, like opening jars using a dexterous combination of right hand twisting and left elbow ‘gripping’… A year has passed now and I can cycle again but it still left me wondering what it would be like to recover from a worse injury. The pragmatic in me is preparing for it with this book that ultra runner Mike Foote recommended.Men to Match My Mountains: The Monumental Saga of the Winning of America's Far West
I live in the American West most of the year and I kick myself every other day for now knowing more, besides the writings of Lewis & Clark, about its conquest. I might also spark new ideas for a photo story.
The Best Books I Read In 2020
2020 was an insightful year for me. I had to learn to appreciate a life at home with far less travel, with abundant down time to follow my curiosity. Looking back, it was a year of inner growth: I built a deeper connection with my wife, started doing yoga, and found a bit more stilness, accepting the fact that not every day is a work day.
Photography-wise, it was surprisingly a year of development where I crossed Montana on a gravel bike, walked the length of the Cevennes range in France, launched wildist, released two workshops, and joined 66 North ambassador team.
None of this would have been possible if I didnt carve out time to find some inspiration and to read the right things. Here are my favorite books of the year:
1. How Will You Measure Your Life by Clayton M. Christensen
My brother gifted me this one last Christmas when he visited us in Montana. We've always had long conversations about what is truly essential in life, how should we spend it, and how should we know we're on track. This book helped him and has helped me as well. It made me reflect on the sources of satisfaction in life: relationships, career, integrity. It's not written as a manual but more the authors story intertwined with examples from business owners and thinkers.
“It's easier to hold your principles 100 percent of the time than it is to hold them 98 percent of the time.” - Clayton M. Christensen
2. The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday
I heard about this book listening to Tim Ferris's podcast and couldn't resist the idea of diving into thousand year old topics and discover that they're still very relevant. Highlights the fact that there are things that don't change. So now, Ryan Holiday's compilation of stoic writings and meditations is on my repeat list. I've read it two times and always find new insights to guide me through whatever challenges I'm facing. There are 366 meditations and the premise is that you should read one per day. I'll admit that I haven't stuck to the unspoken rule and read a few more per day.
“It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own.” – Marcus Aurelius
3. The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees by Robert Penn
Perhaps one of my favorites books the year. It is the story of a man who cuts a dead ash tree and takes its wood to a host of wood-workers to find out that their techniques are far from dead. I enjoyed it because it reminded me of our historical connection to wood. It is the sort of book who makes you question everything you do and even consider retreating to a small wood-shop on a remote corner of Wales.
4. Travels With A Donkey In The Cevennes by Robert Louis Stevenson
It its maddedning that this book came so late into my life. I grew up near the very trail, The Stevenson Trail in Southern France, where the author's journey travels through. I found it so well written and even funny that I read it in two sittings this spring. It even inspired one my latest photo projects: In Search Of The Cevennes where I travelled my homeland on foot in search for remains of its past. I loved it because on top of making me nostalgic about my geographical roots it also reminded me that adventure can be simple: One man, one donkey and a map. This is arguably one of the first adventure novels ever written and it deserves a spot in the shelf of any wandering nature lover.
"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." — R.L Stevenson
5. In Praise of Paths by Torbjørn Ekelund
After being diagnosed with epilepsy, Torbjørn Ekelund could no longer drive. He started walking everywhere: to the school he teaches at, around the Swedish Islands, and to the cabin where he grew up. In Torbjørn's walking explorations I learned to revisit the way I look at things and that is a special thing to do for anyone in photography.
6. Wind Sand And Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
One of my all time favorite books, and my favorite from Saint-Exupéry. I bought this book after finishing Night Flight which was thrilling. After flying in WWII, Saint-Exupéry became an aviation pioneer in the 'Aéropostale' opening mail routes between Europe and Africa and the U.S and Patagonia. In this autobiographical account he tells the stories of his crashed in the Sahara desert, The Andes and how he tricked death on each occasion. What I enjoyed even more than the mad stories was Saint-Exupéry's perspective on a life worth living and friendship — Highly relevant now more than ever.
“Nothing can match the treasure of common memories, of trials endured together, of quarrels and reconciliations and generous emotions. It is idle, having planted an acorn in the morning, to expect that afternoon to sit in the shade of the oak.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
7. Never Split The Difference by Chris Voss
Heard about this on my friend Isaac Johnston's newsletter. From my experience, a lot of negociation books are quite predictable, full of misguiding information and lacking the psychologic aspect of negociation. In Voss's book I found exactly what I was after: a good story - the author has quite the past working for the FBI as a international hostage negociator - and a set of rules based on his successes and failures, not theories. Enjoyed it so much that I read it twice.
“If you approach a negotiation thinking the other guy thinks like you, you are wrong. That's not empathy, that's a projection.” — Chris Voss
8. West With The Night by Beryl Markham
I like books that transport me in time and in new places. This memoir took me to the Kenya of the 1900's where Beryl Markham began her life as one of Africa's first female pilots. Similar to Wind Sand And Stars there are crazy stories about flying at night over the Namib desert, getting clawd by a lion and being the first female to fly solo over the Atlantic. I also thought the writing was very colorful and quite hilarious.
9. The Tiger by John Vaillant
This book was also recommended by Isaac Johnston. He even raved about it. It's a rivetting true story about a Siberian Tiger who's developed a taste for tracking and hunting humans. Just like any book I love, it transported me to an unknown corner of the world: The Russian far eastern corner of Premorye. I found it hard to pause while reading it as the stakes keep getting higher and things go from bad to terrible.
The impact of an attacking tiger can be compared to that of a piano falling on you from a second story window. But unlike the piano, the tiger is designed to do this, and the impact is only the beginning. — John Vaillant