Gersh Photo Post | Max Gersh | Multimedia Photojournalist

From the moment we landed in Grand Junction, Colorado, all I could say was “wow!” Every direction I looked, there were mountains. I took out Katie’s Panasonic Lumix and started shooting as we left the plane and walked to the terminal.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ8 — ISO 100 @ f/4 and 1/200 sec — A man puts on his jacket after getting off a Frontier prop plane in Grand Junction, Colorado.

I knew this was going to be a great trip.

It takes about 30 minutes to get from the airport to the house we were staying at in Mack, Colorado. We were out in the desert and only six miles from the Utah border. As we got to the house, sun was setting and they were starting to feed the horses. I figured I’d waste no time and start photographing ASAP.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 800 @ f/2.8 and 1/500 sec — Horses walk around the enclosure at sunset in Mack, Colorado.

After feeding ourselves, it was time to light the bonfire. I’ve always lived in cities and suburbs so I had never experienced a private bonfire. Living on seven acres in the desert gives you all the privacy and independence you might want and need. Again, I grabbed my camera and tried to do a wide shot of the fire. This was my first test for my TC-80N3 cable release.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 100 @ f/2.8 and 13 sec — A bonfire lights up the surroundings in the Colorado desert.

Day 2

I really shouldn’t have been this excited but when I saw my first tumbleweed, I nearly screamed! I reacted to memorialize this moment in the parking lot of the Plum Creek Winery in Palisade, Colorado.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 70mm ISO 100 @ f/5.6 and 1/500 sec — My first encounter with a tumbleweed.

After visiting a few wineries, we drove up into the Colorado National Monument. It was absolutely breathtaking. I got out of the car at some points and did short hikes along the cliff sides.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 100 @ f/8 and 1/500 sec — A section of the Colorado National Mounument.

Day 3

Off to Utah. We took off in our early 80’s Ford van and headed for Moab, Utah. We stopped in the middle of the desert at a place known as Fisher Towers. While the towers weren’t that impressive, our huge van dwarfed by the expansive desert was.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 70mm ISO 100 @ f/8 and 1/400 sec — Our blue van is dwarfed by the expansive desert.

After making a short pit stop in Moab, we headed to Arches National Park. On the way in, we stopped at many of the roadside pull-offs to take more photos.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 100 @ f/5.6 and 1/250 sec — The roadway carves through the landscape at Arches National Park just outside of Moab, Utah.

Eventually, we actually made it to part of the park with natural land arches. Katie and I took off on a hike to get close to the arches.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 100 @ f/5.6 and 1/1000 sec — An arch in Arches National Park.

After hiking for what was probably close to half an hour, we found a sign that said “Primitive trail back to parking lot.” Ok. Sounds good. The only problem was that the trail disappeared. We were walking on the backside of these arches with no visible trail. We practiced how we would defend ourselves from mountain lions, just in case. Eventually, we found a sign pointing us in the right direction.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 100 @ f/5.6 and 1/640 sec —After being lost along the "primitive trail" at Arches National Park, we found a sign that pointed us up a rock face to continue along to the parking lot.

After stopping at a few more places in Arches National Park, we drove up the road to Dead Horse Point. The area got its name when starving horses jumped off of the cliff to drink out of the Colorado river below. The drop is probably around 1,000 feet.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 100 @ f/2.8 and 1/500 sec — A view from Dead Horse Point.

Day 4

Believe it or not, I didn’t take any photos on day 4 of our trip. We all slept in a bit and took our time getting ready. In the early afternoon, we took three horses out for a ride. Of course I brought my camera. I put it in a padded bag that attaches to the saddle horn. We rode in the Colorado National Monument at a place called Devil’s Canyon. Being that this was my first time doing trail riding on a horse let alone one of the only times I’ve ever been on a horse, I never did feel comfortable enough to take my camera out, especially since we were running up and down hills, climbing rocks and crossing streams. It was tremendously fun. It was very beautiful as well. Katie’s aunt took a picture of us with Katie’s camera.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ8 — ISO 100 @ f/4.5 and 1/400 sec — Katie and I on our horses at the top of Devil's Canyon in the Colorado National Mounment. The famous "mushroom rock" is between us in the background.

Day 5

We left Mack and headed into the mountains towards the town of Ouray. It is pronounced yur-ay.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 100 @ f/5.6 and 1/400 sec — Ouray is nestled in the San Juan range of the Rocky Mountains.

Ouray is known for its ice climbing and its hot springs. We went to Orvis hot springs. It was beautiful and relaxing. Unfortunately I can’t show you. It is a clothing optional hot spring and no cameras were allowed in. For the record, I opted to leave my swimming trunks on.

Day 6

On our final day, we headed up to Mesa Lakes to do some snowshoeing. Again, we drove up into the mountains. The lodge where we rented our snowshoes from was at just under 10,000 feet in elevation. Once we got going, we estimated that the snow was a minimum of five feet deep in some areas. You would not want to sink in. At one point, we came to a bridge we had to cross. It had a foot and a half of snow on top with a very narrow flat surface. Katie and her aunt crawled across while her uncle and I braved walking across…very slowly and very carefully.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 100 @ f/8 and 1/640 sec — Katie's aunt crawls across the snow covered brige at Mesa Lakes while snowshoeing.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 100 @ f/8 and 1/400 sec — Katie crawls across the snow covered bridge while snowshoeing around Mesa Lakes.

The trail winding through the trees was very beautiful.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 24mm ISO 100 @ f/8 and 1/500 sec — Trees along the snowshoe trail at Mesa Lakes.

After we finished a loop of one lake, I continued on alone for another twenty minutes or so because I was having so much fun. I decided to take a self portrait in front of one of the snow-covered lakes.

Canon EOS 1D MarkII — 15mm ISO 100 @ f/8 and 1/800 sec — I stopped for a self portrait in front of a snow covered lake while snowshoeing at Mesa Lakes.

Day 7

That was all she wrote. The next morning, we headed back to the Grand Junction airport — an airport so small it only has six gates. Oddly enough, I couldn’t remember which gate the lady and the check-in counter said we needed to be at for our flight to Denver. When I saw this sign, I guessed we were at the right one.

Panasonic Lumix DCS-LZ8 — ISO 800 @ f/5.8 and 1/60 sec — A sign at the Grand Juction airport indicated that flights from this gate were headed for Denver.

I loved every part of this trip. In fact, I would love to live near Grand Junction. The outdoorsman and adventurer inside me would be busy all of the time. I definitely think another trip is in order to see more of the beautiful scenery and do more of the outdoor activities that appeal to the mountain man inside.

I can never sleep the night before travel. I’m not nervous. I just can’t wait to be somewhere new.

Tonight, or rather this morning, is no different. Later today I hop in a plane and head to Colorado. A lot of you may say “What’s the big deal with that? You’ve been all over the world.”

This is true. I’ve been to China, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Israel and Bermuda, all within the last 5 years. I’ve also been all over the eastern United States and Midwest.

For some reason, I’ve only made it as far west as Joplin, MO, where I had the distinct pleasure to chase the infamous Spooklight.

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Somehow the great west has continued to elude me.

2009 rolls in. My girlfriend, Katie, noticed that airfare to Grand Junction, Colorado was relatively cheap over her spring break. We jumped on the opportunity.

Katie has an aunt that lives just outside of Grand Junction in a town called Mack.

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Some of our plans include cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing (I don’t know the verb for that) and horseback riding. No. I’ve never skied before. I unsuccessfully snowboarded once. I still have my goggles from then and I most certainly plan on giving them some more use.

For this trip, I bought a new camera battery and a special cable release that will allow me to do sophisticated time-lapse and other timed photography.

I’ll post photos here as soon as I can. Keep an eye out.

I think Gavin and I picked the best day to go camping in October. If we went any earlier, the trees wouldn’t have been as colorful. If we went any later, it would have been a little chilly.We had perfect weather, beautiful scenery and water that wasn’t too cold.

It’s always nice getting in touch with nature.

This year, our adventure started somewhere near Eminence, MO. Once we found the drop off point, we quickly got on the river. Shortly after, we tied off to a tree to go explore a cave.

We broke a few of the posted cave rules. We didn’t have helmets and we didn’t have three sources of light. As we wound back further into the cave, we realized we shouldn’t go any further without a big flashlight. For some reason, my LED light just wasn’t cutting it!

Once we set up camp for the night, it wasn’t too long before we were doing long exposures. The sky had been cloudy all day and blocked the full moon at night.

It almost looks like a set of wings coming up out of the tree line.

I woke up early-ish the next morning. It was at least early enough to see the morning fog.

On the right, you can see the site of our campfire. Notice the demonic log that we tried to burn and it just wouldn’t. I guess it has seen it’s fair share of heat and flame.

Our tent was really dwarfed by the surrounding nature.

Our trip out in middle Missouri wouldn’t be complete without a little bit of political ingenuity. On our drive there, as we passed through a town with an abundance of McCain signs, I noticed a lone Obama sign. It was unique. It was painted on a wooden plank. I only had a quick passing glance.

On the way back home, we wanted to stop and take a picture of the sign. Once we found it, I pulled into the driveway, got my camera and got out of the car. As I am framing the image, Gavin yells to me, “That’s not an Obama sign! That’s an Obama Grave!”

So it was.

It’s that time of the year again. The leaves are changing. The pumpkins are…pumpking. And the corn is doing whatever it does.

In Sikeston, MO at Beggs Family Farm, they have what may be the best corn maze ever. Every year, they change the path in their maze. Their maze is nothing short of an artistic corn creation. This year, the maze was designed to look like a Ford Model T with the Ford logo. Previous years designs include a dinosaur, Alcatraz and an American Flag.

As you enter the maze, you descend down a stairwell into the corny abyss.

After a miraculous finish in 40 minutes, we headed over to the corn air canon located right next to the maze.

Unfortunately, none of us were successful hitting the target. At least we all looked good trying.

Many of the areas were fenced in with roped flags. Sometimes they seemed slightly too high to hop over and slightly too low to duck under. Chris took a running start and made a flying leap over the fence.

Of course there are other interesting things going on at Beggs farm. Pig races. Weird spinning rooms that cause severe nausea and an immediate disorientation. I took pictures of those too. They will go up when I get a chance.

Tomorrow (actually it is later today at this point), we are going to Lambert’s Cafe, home of the throwed rolls. That will be an exciting gourging of food. We are all looking forward to it!

Yes. It is two in the morning. The perfect time to continue the throwback series!!

The summer after I graduated high school, I took a trip with five other recent graduates, a former teacher and his wife. We debated on where we wanted to go but we decided on Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. We were there for two weeks.

This was my first time out of the country. Here I was, 17 years old and ignorant to the world.

I don’t know how many rolls of film I shot. All I know is that I have contact sheets for film that I cannot find! NOT GOOD! Luckily, I also have a lot of digital images from the trip.

I entered one of my images into the Smithsonian Magazine photo contest the the following winter.

Days before the final day of notice, I received an email. At first, I thought it was a “we regret to inform you” letter. As I kept reading, I found out that my image was selected as an honorable mention. It was in the top 150 entries out of over 35,000 images entered from around the world. That was pretty cool.

Now that I have had some time to go through some of the negatives, I have found some of my favorite images from the trip. Like this one!

While my trip to Thailand was great, it was only a trip. When I was living in Shanghai for five months, it gave me a tremendous opportunity to make beautiful images.

One of my favorite images from China was shot in Longsheng. To get to this city from Shanghai, my friend Gavin and I took a train for 29 hours southwest. From there, we got on a boat for another six hours. After the boat dropped us off, we had to take buses and trucks for another few hours up the mountain. When we got to the base of the town, we had to hike for another few hours up the mountain on a narrow path. It wouldn’t have been bad at all other than the fact that it was midnight when we were climbing this path.

When we got to the village, after we taught a few Chinese people how to play the card game Uno, we hit the sack. We were getting up at 5am to see the sunrise come over the mountain side. There was only one problem. It rained all morning. The fog was so dense that we couldn’t see 20 feet in front of us. After waiting for five hours, the fog cleared for a brief moment and a mountain appeared out of the clouds in the background and I snapped my shutter. This is what I got.

While I was going back through some of my film, I found a black and white image that I shot at the same location.

Most of my time in China was spent in Shanghai. I went to many different temples and pavilions. So many that I can’t identify which one is which. I believe this next image was in Shanghai somewhere. It was shot on a lucky roll of infrared film. This roll went through the x-ray machine in Beijing and appears to have no ill effects.

More to come…