I am currently living in Germany. Here are some photos that I have taken in the last month that I have been here. Sorry for the lack of blog posts recently, life is busy but that is hardly an excuse.

Enjoy:

This was taken in Switzerland on a hike within the alps. I took this only minutes prior to a torrential downpour.

Later on the hike I passed this hut. All the white absent space is fog and couple thousand foot drop to the valley floor.

I am living here in this town Friedrichshafen. It is a small city upon the Bodensee (Lake Constance) in southern Germany.

The oldest castle in Germany is only about a 30 minute bike ride from my school in a small historic town called Meersburg.

I am also here in Germany with Joey Ozol. He is getting his tourist on in this photo.

This is Neuschwanstein, the castle that Walt Disney modeled his off of. Unfortunately, when I was visiting the castle it was undergoing construction on the majority of the historic structure.

Fortunately, I took this hike that went behind the castle and got this birds eye view of the hopeful dwelling place of Ludwig II of Bavaria. It is a shame that he never actually lived in the castle, he died in the lake adjacent to the Romanesque palace.

This lake to be exact. Vaguely you can see the small village of Hohenschwangau in the bottom right and above the village are the beautiful German Alps.

Autumn in Germany is just a little better if you’d ask me.

I am not going to promise you that I will post more frequently, but let it be known that I am piling up the archives on my hard drive.

Stay gold,

-Steve

Awhile back, my brother purchased me a Yashica Electro 35 for my birthday. That was with out doubt one of the best presents I have ever received in my life time. Incorporating film into my photography has made me appreciate this medium far more and I have really tried to bring it back to the roots of the art. Film makes one really work for the photos and I have grown to love it. Yet, I still love to shoot digital because of the quality and what I am able to produce. Even though film is fun, digital will always take the cake for quality and precision. What this little rangefinder my brother bought me has turned into is more of a point and shoot camera. I bring it to the skatepark, take it to school, bring it on walks and pretty much just take it everywhere with me. I love it.

Here are a few shots from the last couple of rolls I have been shooting with. Oh and that reminds me, I have yet to buy film that isn’t expired. I tend to buy film from St. Vinny’s because its cheap or free and it lowers the cost of shooting film. Anyways, take a look:

This was taken at my friend Cody’s old house this last winter. I spent many days and nights there this last year so I figured I had to get a photo before his family moved.

Meet Carl (Kyle). He likes beer, burgers and beards. Oh yeah, he is a pretty good skater too.

Levi Kender never ceases to amaze me. This man will change the way you think and will motivate you to chase adventure. Well that is what he made me do. Thanks Levi.

If you look closely, you will see some people taking off their clothes in public. Seattle is great.

The only reason why this photo is set apart from other Pikes Place photos is the fact that there is the miserable baby in the bottom left corner. Sheer beauty.

Shout out to Joey

I spent a little time in Victoria, BC this spring. This was taken in their heavily populated China Town.

This guy was on a completely different planet. He was something else. Only in Victoria.

Had too..

Inside the British Parliament building. Some dome they have there.

The Queen was there.

This is my homie Essex. 

We went golfing at his lake cabin. (He totally missed the golf ball in this shot)

We found a snake while we were golfing.

Thanks for grabbing the chairs from the dock, Essex.

When I took this photo I envisioned a far cooler photo than what was produced. Blowin’ it.

Nothing too special here.

This is one thing I will miss about high school. Caleb Knight is one extraordinary guy. He claims he can time travel, reverse the shift of gravity and also strongly believes in Chem Trails. Caleb, hope to see again in this lifetime.

Don’t ask.

And I will finish it off with a sunset. Beautiful North Idaho.

Stay gold,

-Steve

It is incredible how simple yet completely complex a rainbow is. The simple concept of light refracting is so hard to grasp because of how visually complex the matter is. Today my instagram feed was flooded with all of these absurd photos of this double rainbow. All of the posts contained captions like “Douuubbble Rainbow!” or “Oh my gosh! A double rainbow all the way” or even “#DOUBLERAINBOW” and were quoting the viral video from a few summers ago. Rather than instagram it, I actually took a couple photos with my camera and spiced up the scenery a little bit.

Being bold and blatantly courageous, my two close friends Cody and Levi threw themselves into the freezing cold water of North Idaho. Adding to the scenery of the photo, Cody and Levi preformed excellent dives into Hayden Lake. With proper form and great execution, the photo turned out nice. Along with the winning photo for the day I captured some frigid moments those two shared together. Thanks guys for hurling yourselves into that awfully cold water.

This is Levi Kender. Meeting Levi was one of the greatest encounters of my senior year and made high school all worth it.

Levi prepping himself.

Perfect.

 A little cold out.

This is Cody. He is amazing.

Stay gold,

-Steve

To say that I have grown immensely in photography with in the last four years would be such a large understatement that perhaps George Washington might even shutter in his grave. Four years ago I was forced into a photography class at Coeur d’Alene High School due to a counselor’s error. Four years ago I hadn’t really ever considered taking photos for pleasure. Four years ago I was introduced to a medium of art that has completely refined my outlook on this fabulously complex endeavor some refer to as “Life.” Photographer and teacher, Bruce Twitchell, introduced me to this addictive, frustrating, nerve-racking, expensive and utterly beautiful hobby of photography my freshman year of high school and for some reason this art form has taken me all over the country, it has been an incredible tool for ministry, it has put me face down in the mud (literally), and it has made me become an entirely different person. I credit a handful of people for my growth in photography, those of which being my brother Scott Sturges, one my best friends Joey Ozol, teacher and inspiring photographer Bruce Twitchell, close fellow photographer Essex Prescott and last but not least Jesus Christ, the largest inspiration of all.

I have some how blogged 100 times in the last four years and I feel that doing so is rather a bulky accomplishment. I was looking back at old photos with a close friend Essex and we were laughing profusely about how bad we were and about how awful we still are. We both concluded that we need to shoot more and continue to pursue this art that we have both been blessed with. Though I may not have blogged as often as I may have desired in this last year, and I do not promise that I will change that, but I do promise that I will continue to shoot often and also desire to see progress within this medium. This may sound as cheesy as a skit from George Lopez, but I don’t really give a damn. Photography has changed my life, and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. Thank you dearly to all whom have inspired me through out the years, you all know who you are.

Here is a cluster of random photos I have taken in the last few months:

Tyler Jenicek rips

Tyler Jenicek also falls, a lot

Bunny Wax Pro Team

Bunny Wax founders, Evan Shadrick and Fred Jones

Proper back smith by Tyler

Trevor can ride his bike with no hands on the bars

This is Dimirti

This is Jordan Halland

This is Jake Toews

Idaho

Idaho

Elks Building

That is my last few month summarized in a grip of photos.

Please check back soon, I will be posting more regularly now that I suddenly have motivation.

Stay gold,

-Steve

Forgive me for it has been far too long since my last post. I have been lazy when it comes to blogging and for that matter when it comes to any realm of art. I have been all over place these last four or so months so that results in a hefty amount of pictures. I am going to keep this post short and concise for viewing pleasure. Enjoy.

A new year has occurred since my previous post so I guess that is a solid place to start. I was fortunate enough to be able to go to Maui, Hawaii with my family at the start of 2012 which is just a playground for photographers. I made it a goal to get every classic, cliche photo I could get while I was in Hawaii, so I did. Here are some of my more favorite images from the trip:

I have had a few small jobs come my way in the last few months one of which being shooting the band known as “The Static Tones”. Getting my foot in the door with these smaller band gigs has broadened my horizons vastly. I never really thought I would be shooting band photos, but turns out it is rather enjoyable and definitely a trick to master. I wanted to keep it classy with the guys from “The Static Tones” but I didn’t want to be too standard. Here is one of photos from the shoot:

Along with business comes play. Chuck Schmidt recruited me once again to shoot some snowboarding one rainy evening in January but suprisingly enough we came out with a shot from the night. Check it:

Chuck is a gangster I guess you could say

Front 50-50 drop in

Similar to previous years, Jesse Mays put together his “Dirty 30” trip. Although Jesse is no longer 30, the trip lives on. Last year I probably was so incredibly pleased with the skate shots that I had received, but this year I was not as impressed. I did a little more filming this time around so be expecting an edit to drop soon. Displayed below are photos from Jesse Mays’ birthday trip:

Tyler went on a walk at Jake Schmidt’s house in Portland. This is his driveway.

Newberg, OR Skate park is sweet.

Lastly, I have just returned from a short trip to Seattle, WA and Vancouver, BC with Joey Ozol, Tyler Jenicek and Josh Monteith. We had intended to skate more than we did, but we ended up getting rained on for the majority of the time. Even though we did not get to skate, we still enjoyed ourselves in Seattle and Vancouver, coming home with stories we will never forget. I am not insanely hyped on any of the skateboarding photos because I feel that none of them are very original and they are just shouting out “blahh”. Here are some photos from our trip:

Ferry

Tyler likes #instagram

Joey ripped at Marginal Way

It was too fun to reunite with Josh Monteith in Seattle. I miss that puppet! (Mis-focus photo)

Tyler slashing at MW

I have never gotten a ship yard photo so I thought I should go get one

Matson Trucking?

Birds

The classic Gum Wall in Seattle

Seattle Center Skatepark

Vancouver, BC

Another backside tailslide photo of Tyler to add to the books

This kid rips

Joey did his first handrail, props!

Tyler going for it

Joey sending it down a 10 stair

Thanks,

Stay gold,

-Steve

I can easily say that the Inland Northwest is one of the most beautiful areas in all of America. With that being said, almost everyone that lives in the area takes it for granted and doesn’t really appreciate our surroundings. We have been blessed with one of the most incredible landscapes in our country and so much of it is untouched. Dimitri Christo and I left early this last saturday morning and hiked into the woods that are far around Coeur d’Alene lake just to explore some nature. It is about that time of year where North Idaho starts to get snow, so it was freezing out but gave us a different perspective on our great out doors. We hiked around a few different bays, a swampy area, trekked up a hill and far into the woods only to find miles and miles of uninhabited land. The only forms of life that probably had been in that area were elk, bear, wolfs and other wild life.

One of the main reasons why Dimitri and I ventured out into the wilderness that morning is to shoot some portraits. It has been a while since I have shot anything worth posting so I really wanted to go shoot some photos out in the woods and get a nice breath of fresh air.

Last saturday morning was probably one of the best mornings that I have had in a long time, thanks D.

Here are some portraits:

Plain and simple.

Also I have been shooting some random stuff this fall. I haven’t really been on task force which is a change for me, but maybe it has been good. I usually go out to shoot for a purpose and one reason. But this last season has been pretty bland in my photography so I have a lot of random, uncategorized photographs. Some are so uncategorized that I have a hard time deciding where to save them. I have shot a few portraits, landscapes, skate stuff, but nothing just with a purpose. Most of my photography comes out of boredom right now. I keep telling myself “If only I could go travel around and take photos somewhere new”. Well, I did that. I got amazing photos but that was not quite satisfying enough (spiritually, yes, big time. Physically, not so much) for my creative nerve. It is kind of like the excuse you get from people who want to move that just think all their problems will be fixed if they get out of this town. Those people always end up right back to where they started. I need to step back into my roots of photography and really work back up from the ground. I need to remember why I started taking photos and really continue to use this gift that God has given me. I want to dig back into what got me stoked on photography a few years ago. Photos are what keep me going spiritually and physically, with out that burning desire to take pictures I feel lost. Sounds cheesy, but it is art, so who cares right?

A wise man named Andy Worhol once said “Art is what you can get away with”.

Im getting away with what keeps me going inside.

Here are a bunch of random photos from this fall:

Joey putting his “pizza lip” to use. This was in Nelson, BC. They have great pizza there.

Ben found 20 Canadian dollars, this was Canada’s way of saying “We love America”

Classic photo of Joey.

Zombie photo of Joey, this was taken on the way back from Canada. We stopped to take a moon photo but couldn’t get any good photos. I took a photo of Joey instead.

Josh Monteith just moved over to Seattle, but I took this photo of him a few weeks before he left. Josh has seriously been one of my biggest inspirations for photography and just for life in general. I am very blessed to have a friend like Josh in my life. Love you man.

This was taken on a hike I went on with Josh. Beautiful Coeur d’Alene lake.

Cliche, but nice. This is on Canfield, I wanted to take landscapes, but I thought this was cooler than my surroundings.

Same goes for this one.

Finally the sun set a little bit and got a nice photo of the beautiful Idaho sunset.

Clouds. I should instagram this photo. #clouds

I went up to Lookout Ski Resort to film a little video for Chuck Schmidt and I took advantage of the prime portrait opportunity I had to take a photo of Aaron Vetsch. Dirty Ern.

Dirty.

Dirty.

I need to blog more, sorry for the massive dump of photos this time.

Stay gold,

-Steve

P.S. Sorry if this blog seemed a little dark, that is most definitely not how I am feeling right now.

This one day out on tour when we were in Pennsylvania, Mike Shamberg decided to go on a walk. We were staying with Tyler’s aunt and uncle somewhere near Philadelphia but I am blanking on the name of the town, it is right in the midst of an Amish town. Tyler’s aunts house is right across the street from this awesome field so Sham and I went and looked through it. I didn’t really know what I wanted to get for a photo, but I had some ideas. Here is what we came up with that day:

I am going to be trying to update my blog more rapidly now because I am back. I will do posts just like this with some fun photos from tour and just things that I like.

Something that I think you all should check out is this biking club and clothing company my good friend Jordan Halland started called The Damn Rascals. Check it out!