Organic Climber goes to Shelf Road

Still been posting stuff on The OrganicClimber.com you guys should check it out. I was recently out at Shelf Road in Colorado and took some pretty sick photos. You can check them out on my latest post, but here are a couple to wet your whistle.



Although I haven't been shooting many assignments lately, I am considering getting back into some sports photography this fall, and possibly shoot some weddings in the spring. That is still TBD, but I will be sure to start posting stuff here again if I begin shooting. But for now I just shoot at my own leisure.

The Organic Climber

Well, since I haven't really been posting here I figured I would point you to my new blog. The Organic Climber. I am giving it a go at creating sort of a catch all blog. I will be blogging about three of my passions: Climbing, RAW Foods, healthy living and sharing my photography within those posts at times. The new blog will be updated far more frequently than this one. I hope you enjoy the new blog.

Super Food Salad

I will start off by saying I have some awesome images that I will eventually be posting here from the Wichita Mountains that I took a couple weekends ago. I can’t post them yet, but sometime in the near future they will see the light of day here on the Web site.

This however is not a photo related post at all. It’s food related! I have never done this before, but I have been considering starting a food related blog lately. Heck, I even want to start a climbing only blog, but alas, I don’t have that kind of time.

Anyway, back to food. Last night I was making my daily salad that I bring with me to work for lunch and ended up creating what I think is an amazing dressing. My mouth is watering as I type this, and I can’t wait to go eat it here in about 40 minutes.

The salad is simple: mixed baby greens, shredded carrots, red onions, tomatoes, green olives and raw candied almonds (another recent creation of mine). But the ingredients in the salad are not what’s important, in fact I think granny smith apples and raisins or craisins would go great in this salad. The dressing is actually what I think is so amazing.

The dressing is sort of mild and somewhat earthy tasting with a bit of sweetness to it, and yet it has a kick to it as well. Now, I know most people won’t have the ingredients for this dressing, so don’t go breaking the bank to get them. You may end up hating me later. But without further or do, here is the recipe.

The Dressing
Now, I don’t have any specific measurements, but the base ingredient is raw tahini, so you want to use a lot of this. Other than that, add ingredients to your liking based off the size of the salad; then stir until you get a nice thick paste like consistency.

- Raw Tahini
- Pumpkin Seed Oil (small amount)
- Olive Oil
- Apple cider vinegar (a very small amount)
- Fresh Lemmon Juice
- Agave Nectar
- Coconut Butter (small amount, and optional)

Since dressing will be a thick consistency you will have to stir/toss it well into the salad.

David Bazan

Last weekend I saw David Bazan (formerly Pedro the Lion) play a house show at a friend of mine's house here in Denton. David played to a packed house of about 50+ people. The house tour is to promote his new album while remaining "low key" at the request of his record label.

Paddle, Pound and Pedal

On a cold and windy Saturday morning I awoke at 5 a.m. to go photograph the Denton Parks & Recreation, Paddle Pound and Pedal Challenge. Being awake that early allowed me to be one of the few to witness snow furies for a couple hours. The furies pretty much stopped right as the race started. Anyway, here are some of my favorite shots of the race.





























This racer lost a crank shaft and finished the race on foot.

The rules of the race are fairly simple. Teams of two race together in three stages, 3.5 mile canoe 2.5 mile run and 12 mile off road bike. The team that finishes in the least amount of time wins. There were many categories to enter and the top thee contestants from each category received an award.

Robbers Cave Oklahoma

I spent last weekend in Oklahoma climbing the sandstone and ironite cliffs of Robbers Cave. These beautiful cliffs are composed of hard sandstone with ironite plates covering random sections of rock. It's some of the strangest rock I have seen, but it's gorgeous. Despite this being mostly a top rope crag I love going here. There is excellent bouldering and a hand full of routes you can lead that take good gear. Despite getting rained on most of Saturday the sun came out on Sunday and provided us with a gorgeous day!

The climb pictured here is The Vein (5.9). This route is one of my favorite climbs of all-time.

Portfolio progress

Lately I have been working on my portfolio during whatever free time I can get, which honestly is not very much these days. It has been a slow process, but things are coming along. The updated portfolio will show case my photos at 800px wide, as opposed to 600px wide in my current portfolio. With a majority of the internet now on high speed connections there is no reason not to display my photos large format.



I will continue using SlideShowPro to display my photos, especially since there is a plugin for Light Room 2.0. For any photographer out there looking for a way to show off their photos SlideShowPro is an excellent and inexpensive way to display your work. Though there is a bit of a learning curve involved it is well worth the effort.





Featured in this post are a few of my favorites so far. Although the Sammy Sosa photo isn't brilliant, it was a historic moment as he hit his 600th career home run against the Chicago Cubs at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The photo of Mike Hankins climbing The Baptism at Quartz Mountain in Oklahoma is one of my favorite photos. I just happened to be in the parking lot with a long lens when he began to solo the route.



While I really enjoy wedding and action sports photography my passion is for outdoor/adventure photography, specifically rock climbing. This has been the case ever sense I started rock climbing and opened up issues or Climbing Magazine and Rock & Ice. It may be a pipe dream, but it is something I will continue to shoot until the day I turn in my lenses, which will likely be never.



All of the images in this post are large format. Click the image in enlarge.

Ole Baldy

This past weekend I spent the day climbing at Baldy Point, known to climbers as Quartz Mountain. Despite being overcast and windy up high on the rock it was a beautiful day of climbing. Our team of thee had the entire mound of granite to ourselves for the entire day. It was the first time I had experienced that. It was just an amazing experience to be able to sit at a belay and hear the wind howling and feeling it whip you around as my partner came up behind me. This was by far one of the best days of climbing I have ever had.

As my trend of posting climbing photos continues I may end up starting an Adventure Blog of sorts and discontinue this one. As of now I still plan on shooting sports and weddings. I am currently in the process of updating my portfolio and plan on posting some of those photos here as I progress. I also plan on updating the website. So be looking for a change there.

My long term goal is also to primarily focus on shooting climbing. This may even involve moving to Colorado, as has been my long time dream. It's hard to pursue such a narrowly focused form of photography in a predominantly flat state. Although opportunities do exist, they are just fewer, especially when another Texas photographer has the niche on climbing photography and an in with editors at major climbing rags.

So, for now I will just continue doing what I am doing and press forward. I also recently discovered a new website with a focus on extreme sports. Check out Wheels & Wax. Oh, and just a note on the panoramic shot. It would have worked out better, I found out latter, if I kept my lens in one place and rotated around that point rather than just shifting the camera across a plane. Next time I am out there I plan on getting another shot like this.

Afternoon Delight

This afternoon I walked into my kitchen with camera in hand to photograph the progress of a RAW Food recipe I was working on. As I entered the kitchen, I noticed light beaming in through the doorway from the living room onto my bulk food jars, so instinct took over and I snapped a few frames. These are a couple of my favorites.



If there is one thing I like about the new house is it gets A LOT of sunlight through the windows, both in the morning and late afternoon. I think from here on out I will always live in a place with lots of natural light. There is just something about it that makes you feel good, it's soothing; plus, as a photographer I just love the way light creates shadows and illuminates subjects.

Solo

Gary Ballard climbs Solo (5.8) at Enchanted Rock State Park.



Well, I must be honest, lately there has not been much content on my blog because I have not been shooting much these days. Part of it has been lack of inspiration, another part of it has been that it seems doors keep getting shut on me when it comes to pursuing my photography passion full time. I have shot many professional assignments and been published an many magazines and newspapers, (including ESPN the Magazine, Sports Illustrated, The Denton Record-Chronicle and numerous college sports annuals) but the pieces have yet to fall into place to turn this into a full time career.

At the ripe old age of 30 I am left trying to decide how much time do I want to invest in pursuing this? Should I continue pursuing it as a source of income or just purely for the art and enjoyment of it, which is what drew me to photography to begin with. The work that goes into running your own photography business is very taxing and performing those tasks on top of a full time job and being active in the lives of people around you takes even a higher toll.

I am sure I will remain involved in photography to some degree, but the question is, "how much, and how often." I am currently working on updating my portfolio and revamping my website CalebSimpson.com. I hope to have that up and running within the next few months. My first priority is to update my wedding portfolio for a contract client so I can start pulling in more jobs through them. Following that will be my sports, climbing and photojournalism portfolios. It will be a long process, but hopefully with the help of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom I will be able to finish quicker than with my old work flow process.

Two Passions

Freelance work has been at a bit of a lull lately, but my New Years resolution is to start taking more assignments again. I am also looking to re-discover what exactly it is I want to be shooting. I should be able to start the year off with a few weddings and various athletic events. Along with that, I should be getting more climbing in - another one of my passions. I also have a trip to Yosemite planned as well, so I hope to come back with some beautiful pictures on a classic technical climbing route up Half Dome.

Here are a few images from a recent bouldering trip to my secret stash here in North Texas. It's a beautiful area located along the Brazos River. The day started off with howling winds, rain and ominous clouds, but we still went and before we arrived the clouds had parted and it ended up being a beautiful day.

Night Light

One of the first things that drew me to photography was incredible night photography shots. I have always wanted to get a photo of the historic Courthouse in downtown Denton with the moon glowing in the background. This past Friday evening was the brightest, fullest moon in 15 years so I finally jumped at the opportunity to get the photograph. Overall I am pleased with what I came away with.





Another photo I have always wanted to create is a shot of the Dallas skyline. This past Saturday night provided just such an opportunity. The annual Texas Mountaineers Christmas party is held at one of our members house near downtown. So atop of his three story condo I was able to create this beautiful image. I am bummed that reunion tower does not appear in the shot though. The iconic building is now blocked by another building from this particular angle. But again, I am pleased with the results. (click on the image for a larger version of the images)

North Texas Gems

It's rare you find real rock in North Texas. Climbing gyms abound, but quality rock is extremely hard to find. This past weekend my friend Zack and I found two different stashes. Bellow are some bouldering pictures of Zack along the Nolan River. During our exploration we found the infamous Chisholm Wall (a.k.a. The Burn) where the first 5.13d in Texas was established. We also saw lots of other cliff lines with some potential. If we get the motivation we may end up looking into establishing some true climbing here in North Texas.

Tolkien would be proud

This past weekend I finally made the journey out to Monster Rock near Austin Texas for a day of marvelous climbing. Here Neil Higa, Austin Local climbs Torture-iffic (5.11c/d), a long 16 clip traverse across the hardest face at Monster Rock.


Neil reacts to getting his finger snapped by the second quick draw on the route.


Tushar Agarwal climbs Crawling Chaos (5.10a) on the Tolkien Wall.


Tushar Agarwal climbs Crawling Chaos (5.10a) on the Tolkien Wall.

This climbing destination is a gym in the Texas Hill Country. The owner is currently working on buttering up his neighbors who also have cliff lines, into opening up their property for climbing as well. It would be cool to see more climbing open up around here. Hoping my dream of moving here will come true soon as well (but I would settle for Colorado or the North West as well).

Football is back

After a long hiatus of a photo-less photo blog I bring you photos! I was called last week to photograph the Dallas Cowboys vs. Houston Texans preseason game at Texas Stadium in Irving, TX. Here are a few of my favorites.


Dallas Cowboys running back Marion Barber (24) scores a touchdown during the second quarter against the Houston Texans at Texas Stadium in Irving, TX. Caleb Simpson-US PRESSWIRE


Aug 21, 2008; Irving,TX , USA; Dallas Cowboys running back Marion Barber (24) stiff arms Houston Texans corner back Fred Bennett (32) during the 1st quarter against the Houston Texans at Texas Stadium in Irving, TX. Caleb Simpson-US PRESSWIRE



Aug 21, 2008; Irving,TX , USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (12) during the first quarter against the Houston Texans at Texas Stadium in Irving, TX. Caleb Simpson-US PRESSWIRE

This weekend I will be climbing in Arkansas again this weekend. Hopefully I come back with some beautiful images. Hoping the rain holds out and the temperatures stay down.

Not much...

Wow, I can't believe how long it has been since my last post. I have not been too busy lately with photography assignments, thus I have not had loads of photos to post, although I have a backup of work I never even posted. Since I decided to take the business down a notch and am hoping to devote some time to updating my portfolio. Perhaps I will post some photos here during that process.

I also have a couple climbing trips coming up as well, so hopefully I will be able to photograph some of those trips and come out with some stunning images. One of those trips will definitely be to Arkansas, and I am hoping to make a second leg of that trip to Colorado. Things have yet to be determined on that front though, so we shall see.

One thing I am looking to do though is pursue more outdoor photography. I definitely want to capture people in outdoor environments though. I'm not talking landscape, although that will be a part of it, but I want to start documenting climbers; not just at the crag but at the campground and on the road. I am not sure yet what will become of this, but I do hope it goes somewhere.

Memorial Day at HCR

I spent Memorial Day weekend at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch climbing with some friends from the Texas Mountaineers. Despite getting rained on, we still managed to get in a lot of climbing. Arkansas is by far one of my favorite places to climb. I just wish I had more time to take photos while I was out.

I have been so busy with the new job I haven't had time to post photos from the past two weddings I photographed, and I have two more coming up in the next month. Hopefully I will find some time to get the upcoming weddings online. I have yet to even edit any of the images from the past two weddings. Sense I shoot most of my weddings on contract I don't have to worry about the post production, which allows me time for other things.

I have also been tossing the idea around in my head about giving up wedding photography and pursuing other photographic avenues. Climbing photography is definitely a passion of mine, but with rising gas prices it will be hard to get out enough to do that, much less establish myself enough to make decent money. So for now, I think I will just lighten my load and figure out what exactly it is I want to do.

Classic!

These past couple weeks have been extremely busy. I started a new full time gig, and continue to photograph on the side. I was able to spend this last weekend climbing in the Wichita Mountains. Pictured here is Phillip Snow, my roommate, on The Dihedral, a Wichita Mountains classic. This place has become my favorite climbing destination.



I also have a wedding I recently shot that I plan on posting photos from soon. There is a chance I may be covering some Dallas Stars playoffs, and Texas Rangers baseball in the next few weeks as well. I am especially looking forward to covering hockey since it is a sport I have yet to have the opportunity to photograph.

There are also more climbing trips on the horizon as well. I will likely be spending Memorial Day weekend in Arkansas, another one of my favorite climbing destinations. So, keep checking back, more content is sure to appear. Forgive me for my lack of recent posts. Life has been hectic lately, but in a good way.