Logan Graham Photo

White Blaze ◻️

The
A
T
symbol, an old barn, lone hiker, one lush tree, & a white blaze post guiding the way. A dreamy composition with great depth.

5/16/23 @ 11:50 am —

I captured this photo on a gloomy Tuesday morning in Shady Valley, Tenesesse. After escaping the thick fog in the woods & receiving some much needed trail magic on a road crossing, I came upon this surreal scene at the Osborne Farm.

The old farm, once occupied by the Osborne family, was purchased in 2001 by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy to re-route the Appalachian Trail. It sits within the boundaries of the Cherokee National Forest in a rural farming community.

This was one of the most serene, unique places on my section hike. You enter the farm through an old wooden gate & walk through a fenced-in cow pasture. It almost feels like you shouldn’t be there & an old man with a pitchfork is going to yell at you for trespassing.

Just as I got view of this scene, a fellow hiker by the trail name “Rascal” passed me by, never to be seen again. We spoke for no more than 30 seconds before she marched onward through the meadow. Her goal was to make it to Damascus, VA that same day. Over 20 miles from Osborne Farm, that trek was going to take me 2-3 days.

With no time to ask her to write in my POAT Notebook & snap a portrait, I captured this candid shot of her walking away in the distance. Word on the trail was she was averaging over 30 miles a day.

Thanks for being the perfect human element for this photo. Happy trails.

– Wolverine

About Me ⤵️

As an avid outdoor adventurist, I’ve found a passion for capturing the natural environment that surrounds me. On land, in the air, & at sea, my cameras are always at the ready.

Along the journey, I’ve managed to attain diving & mountaineering safety skills/certifications. My specialties are in underwater & aerial media. My roots are in photojournalistic & fine art photography. I’m here to share stunning visuals of authentic moments & tell their stories. Enjoy.

If one image is worth a thousand words, thousands of frames must be invaluable.

– Logan

3/16/23 — 📸:

Shining Armour 🐊

1/29/23 @ 12:20 PM -

In Florida’s Mayaka River State Park, a modern-day dinosaur menacingly stares me down. Floating there almost completely motionless, like a statue, its tough armored skin glistens over the surface & reflects onto the water. This American alligator was well aware of my presence, as I was of its, during our entire interaction.

I cautiously positioned myself about 25 ft or so away from the bank of the gator-infested Deep Hole, a 131 ft deep sink hole at the south end of Lower Myakka Lake. This particular alligator, out of the many surrounding it, watched my every move through a gap in the thick mangrove brush between us.

The reptiles bellowed constantly, making loud rumbling noises. Vibrations from this create a rippling effect in the water, which can be seen circling the alligator in the photo. They make these sounds for a variety of reasons, usually mating/social behavior. In this instance, it seemed like a territorial warning for other alligators to keep their distance… but I’m no expert.

An ode to Odie 🚂

“One step, then another, that is the way of a hiker. We forever walk towards one thing, and away from another. In moments of solitude, we reflect on our fellow man. We could tell you of the places we’ve been and things we’ve seen, but we could never truly describe for you how it felt. The silence of the springs, the taste of the sunrise, the magic that seemed to dance to the rhythm of our feet. We walked a path that was endless, and it left us forever changed. The irony of hiking the Trail for healing is it leaves us more broken, but somehow that is what we needed all along.”

- Odie

5/20/23; One of the most beautiful, collective gatherings of like-minded people I’ve ever witnessed. These images were captured just after the parade of the 2023 Appalachian Trail Days Festival in Damascus, VA.

Odie, an AT legend/founder of The Hiker Yearbook, climbed atop a train car & gave his incredibly powerful speech. Every hiker in the crowd was moved by Odie’s resonating words, including myself. A moment I’ll have forever in my mind & camera.

Thank you, Odie, for helping these people reconnect with each other after they step foot off the trail. Here’s some photos of you for a change.

- Wolverine

Diamond Ring 💍

4/8/24; The signal that totality has ended, aka the “diamond ring” of the solar eclipse, when the sun begins to shine once again. A moment of sheer bliss for those that had the opportunity to witness such a miraculous phenomenon.

I made the trip to Texas to see this amazing spectactle myself without expectation of capturing even a decent photo. After landing in Sulphur Springs, I set up my tripod, camera, & solar filter under an unfortunate blanket of cloudy sky. About a half hour before the eclipse, I packed my camera bag back up & called it quits.

Suddenly, the sun poked through a thin layer of clouds. I took out my gear again & was able to get this shot. The cloud coverage created a sort of film & added some nice texture to an otherwise simple photo.

Never give up. Never stop exploring.

“Sea & Sky” ⛴️✈️

10/21/23; A harmonious moment of the flying directly over the Maria Bray buoy tender during the Sea & Sky Airshow at Jacksonville Beach, captured by strategically positioning myself in a stairwell at the historical 

I had been shooting on the second level of the hotel next door when the idea for this shot came to mind. The unique white architecture of the old hotel peaked my interest as an element to incorporate into the scene of the action-packed airshow. So I packed up my camera bag, walked over, & climbed up the stairs. After receiving permission from the restaurant manager to take photos from the penthouse lounge, I snaked through the crowd of people enjoying the food & watching the show.

There it was. At the top of a stairwell, an arched opening in the wall facing the ocean. Perfectly framing the ship in the distance with excited sightseers watching from the shoreline below, as if it the hole was created intentionally for this moment in 1925. The only thing missing was something in the sky to balance the composition. So I waited.

Hours go by like minutes when you’re hoping for elements out of your control to align. The classic blue & yellow aircraft come zooming by, leaving trails of smoke & the sound of their jet engines behind, overpowering the cheers from thousands on the beach. My head was on a swivel, constantly switching between looking through my viewfinder & binoculars to know when they were about to perform their next acrobatic maneuver. 

A spectator on the roof points to them coming from the north. I see 4 of them together start to pitch 90 degrees. This was it. I held the trigger & fired away. My camera only shoots up to 10 frames per second. With how fast these planes fly & the small “window” of time for them to be balanced in frame, even in burst mode, this was a lucky shot.

Patience paired with anticipation, a potent combination in photography & life in general. Hadn’t felt the excitement from photography for a while up until this moment. ♾️📸

“Wrecked” 🏴‍☠️

7/1/22; The SS Sapona shipwreck. A concrete-hulled cargo steamer that ran aground during a hurricane in 1926 & hasn’t moved since.

The vessel has been utilized for different purposes over the years in the Bahamas. Originally, it was to smuggle liquor during the Prohibition Era. After it sank to the sea floor, the US military used the ship as target practice.

Today, it’s one of the most notable “landmarks” of Bimini for people that visit the islands. A “public pool” for those that enjoy jumping off the mangled wreckage & diving into the clear Bahamas water.

Once afloat & filled with bottles of rum, now a massive artificial reef teeming with marine life in 15 ft of water. 🍾

“Snowcapped” ❄️

11/12/22; A blanket of snow covers the mountainous terrain of Yellowstone National Park. Captured from the perspective of a passenger on a commercial flight from Bozeman, MT to Dallas, TX.

Strategically picking a window seat in front of the wing, I looked out for what I anticipated we’d be flying over. The vast range of white mountaintops came into view. I immediately picked up the camera with my telephoto lens & aimed it down at 45 degrees, wondering if I had driven along that same road just days prior to capture the incredible wildlife within Yellowstone.

Check your flight path & choose your seat wisely the next time you get on a plane with a camera. 📸

“One” 🙋🏻‍♂️

9/2/23 @ 6:19 am; A baby sea turtle instictually heads straight towards the ocean, immediately after emerging from a hole in the sand with dozens of its siblings.

An unpredictable moment for the little hatchlings, their odds for survival are extremely low.

The birds screech/swoop down, aiming to scoop them up. The crabs scurry across the shoreline, looking for an easy snack. Many of their lives end just as they begin, before they’ve had a chance to even touch the water.

If they overcome those initial threats, there’s a plethora of aquatic predators underneath the surface waiting for them.

Only 1 in 1,000 sea turtles are estimated to make it from egg to adulthood. All that to say the one in this photo could still be alive today. Or not. Farewell. 👋🏼

“Angels” 🪽

10/22/22; The most thrilling experience I’ve ever had with my camera at the

The pilots that man these 6 incredible aircraft have an unbelieveable amount of precision & skill to fly in such intricate formations, I get chills down my spine just watching their performance from the ground, it’s unimaginable what it must feel like to be inside the cockpit

Can’t wait to see the flying above again soon

“Turtle Eye”

1/9/23; I captured this photo revisiting Alligator Reef at the beginning of this year. A couple of good friends & I took a boat 4 miles from Islamorada, Florida to the beautiful, vibrant turquoise waters surrounding the light. Once anchored, I swam underneath and all around the beacon in search of sea turtles with my housing at the ready. Finally, I found multiple turtles grazing on a bed of seagrass & munching on jellyfish at the southern side of the reef.

I had envisioned this photo here months prior. I knew this was the moment I’d been waiting for. The weather was beyond perfect, lighting couldn’t have been any better, and the sea turtles were more curious than I’d ever seen. The next 2 hours were spent floating at the surface, waiting for turtles to come up for air every 8 minutes or so. We had a cutoff time to leave and get back on land approaching rapidly. After missing the shot consistently every time they came up, I decided that this would be my last chance.

I slowed my breathing through the snorkel, relaxed my racing mind, and felt a peculiar connection to this particular sea turtle. It rose to the surface and looked directly at the lens in my housing, only inches away from the dome port, as if the turtle was positioning itself perfectly so I could get my shot. I pressed the shutter during its inhale and hoped for the best.

I took one last look through the viewfinder at what had just happened. I got it. A few of my best photos I’ve ever taken of a sea turtle all from one moment. Mission accomplished.

“Sherpa” 🎒

5/11/23; I captured this photo of Sherpa at a shelter I stayed in at around the halfway point of my 100 mile AT section hike, he was the very first hiker I ran into immediately after stepping foot on the trail a few days before this moment, we crossed paths multiple times along the way and lastly at Trail Days in Damascus, VA 🥾

A truly uplifting person always with a genuine smile on his face, thanks for keeping the spirits high out there man, here’s an excerpt of his writing from my People of the Appalachian Trail (POAT) notebook ⤵️

POAT:

5/9 @ 9:14 am; Tate “Sherpa”

“I got my trail name from carrying my dad’s pack when he was injured last year. I’d beat him to camp and then walk to go find him! My dad got me out here to walk some of it with him; I figured I started so I should try and finish.”

Thanks for sharing your story 🙏🏼

Test

Test

“Half & half”

8/31/22; A much needed rest day down at base camp gave me the opportunity to walk around Lower Blue lake at my leisure with nothing but my camera in hand and nowhere else to be 📸

As I began circling the body of water, I noticed a woman launching her inflatable dinghy from the bank, she must’ve carried it all the way up the >3 mile hike with >1,500 ft of elevation gain 🚣‍♀️

The only person floating in the middle of the blue gatorade-colored water, enjoying fresh air and sunshine 🌞

I knew I had to get a photo of her, so I trekked up to higher elevation and captured this shot atop a stunning overlook of the beautiful alpine lake 🥾

“Yellow” 🟨

9/13/22; This photo was captured while touring the bustling streets of Valladolid in Mexico, an incredibly lively city with some amazing architecture 🇲🇽

On a quest for authentic tacos with friends, I noticed this building with a vibrant yellow hue being painted by a man across the street, he was finishing the last few strokes with his paint roller when he locked eyes with my camera lens 👀

I genuinely enjoy street photography & taking photos of people nearly as much as wildlife photography, more of this ‘somewhat’ candid style and possibly some recent portraits to come 👤

Let me know what you think👇🏼

“Rusty”

7/2/22; This photo is one of my favorites from my last visit to the Bahamas, many hours were spent sitting here next to the Gallant Lady wreck that rests on the rocky shore of North Bimini, waiting on the perfect moment for a passing boat to fill the space framed by the shipwreck in the foreground

The once small freighter sailed out of Belize City and ran aground here during Hurricane Mitch in 1997, since then she’s been reduced to a mangled, rusty mass, barely recognizable as a lady of the sea

I just noticed the tiny bird above the boat while editing this photo almost a year later 🕊️

Can’t wait to be back on these beautiful islands 🏝️

“Castillo” 🏰

10/24/22; I captured this shot using my drone while revisiting the claimed oldest town in the US, St Augustine

This incredible work of architecture, the Castillo De San Marcos (Spanish for St Mark’s Castle), was built from 1672-1695, making it the oldest masonry fort in the continental US

The structure was built using coquina (sea shells) in replacement of the damaged wooden fort that existed prior to St Augustine being raided by the English, it’s served a variety of critical purposes and been through many ownership/name changes over the last few centuries

The Castillo was transferred over the the in 1933, serving as a popular tourist destination ever since

Have you visited this historical landmark?

“Goodyear” 🎈

7/28/22 @ 9:06 am; I captured this shot flying to Bimini, Bahamas from Pompano Beach, FL in my neighbor’s plane 📸

Just a few minutes earlier, we were awaiting our turn on the runway at the Pompano Beach Airpark as we watched the Goodyear Blimp take off right before getting clearance to do the same 🛫

I’ve always got my camera with a 70-200mm lens at the ready on these low-altitude flights and am so glad I did in this moment, passing over the coast, when the blimp just so happened to fly directly over the Hillsboro Lighthouse💡

I don’t ask questions when unbelieveable compositions like this line up perfectly out of my control, I simply take it all in and press the shutter 🤷🏻‍♂️

“Sea Cow” 🐄

3/16/23; I captured this shot during a somewhat spontaneous trip up to the Florida springs with in hopes of finding some manatees before the weather warmed up and their season ended, mission successful 🫡

We brought with us the portable Nemo tankless diving system to test out its practicality for underwater photography, the device gave me the ability to breathe down on the bottom with a weight belt for over an hour as the curious manatees approached my camera, exceeding our expectations and making this photo possible 🙏🏼

“Alpine | Lake” ⛰️💧

8/31/22; I trekked 3.5 miles, gaining over 1,600 ft in evelation, into the Mount Sneffels Wilderness Area via Blue Lakes Trail to capture this split shot of the unbelieveably turquoise hue of Lower Blue Lake and the surrounding mountains using my housing 📸

Took me 3 hours just to make this short trip to camp due to carrying an absurd amount of weight from all the camera gear 🥵

Worth it

“Scales”🦎

3/14/22; & I were hiking at Curú Wildlife Refuge in Costa Rica trying to capture some wildlife photos when we suddenly came across this Black Spiny-Tailed Iguana being illuminated perfectly by a ray of light cast through the dense canopy ✨

I was shooting run & gun style with my brand new A7IV and renting their 200-600mm lens for surf and wildlife photography 🔭

I crouched down no more than 10 ft away from this little guy with absolutely no idea what I was doing with the 📷; I couldn’t have explained how shutter speed, ISO, or aperture worked and didn’t understand how to adjust the settings for the lighting in the moment, causing the background to be very dark and iguana to be faintly lit, but with some improved photo editing skills after almost a year of practice, I was able to revive this capture and am very satisfied with the result :)

“Puma”🐱

This cougar’s name is Dolly, she’s been at wildlife sanctuary since 2019, her eye was surgically removed in captivity because it got infected from a snake bite 🐍

10/23/22; I visited the sanctuary to test out the effectiveness of using a Sony 2X teleconverter with my 70-200mm F2.8 for wildlife photography just before going to Yellowstone National Park

I found it to be an incredibly versatile addition to my camera bag, enabling me to capture beautiful wildlife photos when the animal is relatively close in proximity

“Heat” 🔥

7/1/22; While taking photos of the sunset on the small island of North Bimini’s west side, I noticed a Bahamian man making a pile of what looked like dead palm tree branches from a house just behind the rocky shoreline, he lit the stack of wood and it went up in flames as the sun fell into the ocean, the bonfire was emitting so much heat and smoke that I could intensely feel the blistering temperatures over 10 ft away when getting this shot 🥵

I was able to capture the fascinating nature of the flames as they were blown around by the wind, almost in a dance-like manner ♨️

“Alligator Reef Light”💡

This 150-year-old beacon roughly 4 miles off of Indian Key was built in 1873 as a navaigational aid for ships to keep a safe distance from the shallow depths of the reef, as many had run aground in the area prior, including a Navy schooner known as the USS Alligator, in which its name was derived from ⚓️

1/9/23; I captured this photo of the 136 ft tall lighthouse station with my drone while revisiting the reef about a year after kayaking there with friends, the water here has the most beautiful shades of turquoise I’ve seen in all of Florida and is my absolute favorite place to snorkel offshore 🤿

“Blastoff” 🤯

How this year is beginning to feel 🚀

10/22/22; An extraordinary kayak adventure with brought forth an unbelievably amazing few hours of watching the fly directly overhead at their birthplace, the ✈️

“Buck Eye” 🦌👁️

11/8/22; I was absolutely taken aback and clearly remember saying, “Wow!”, immediately after capturing this photo of a Whitetail Deer Buck in Montana while shooting with and .lefler , thanks for helping me photograph your beautiful state 🙏🏼

I’m making a print of this photo for my Aunt to hang in her cabin, where I stayed in during part of my MT travels, granting me the ability to shoot wildlife photos like this one 📸

“First Wave” 🌊

3/12/22~5:58 am; I captured this photo of .0 catching his first wave of the session back in March of this year visiting Costa Rica, I was walking the streets of Santa Teresa in the dark towards his daily morning surf spot when he pulled over and picked me up in his truck, we arrived at the location before sunrise without a soul in sight on the beach or in the water, just Paul and I with the waves all to ourselves, absolutely unreal 🤙🏼

Out of all the things I admire in Paul, his love for being outside in the ocean on a daily basis is at the top 🏄‍♂️

Stoked to shoot more waves here in South Florida 📸