Capturing the Spirit of Nature

It’s been a week of deep introspection following the passing of Landscape Mafia founding member Om Malik. Tributes continue to pour out across the internet by the many souls that he touched. The last conversation I had with Om, at his bedside in the Stanford ICU, was telling him about our most recent Landscape Mafia trip to the “Lost Coast” region of Northern California. Part of that story - and my thoughts surrounding it - I’m going to share with you now.

The branch that falls nourishes new roots.

What started as a text group between five passionate landscape photographers has evolved into a revolving cast of characters connected by friendship and a deep love for outdoor photography. Mafia trips seem to have a regular cadence, one trip each spring and one trip each autumn. New faces over the past couple of years include Vincent Laforet, Gregory Essayan, Charlice Lin (a.k.a. Noctigirl from YouTube), Kevin Fickling, and fine art photographers Yunni Xiao and Tom McMurray.

There have been a few Mafia trips that I’ve yet to write about, particularly our Joshua Tree trip, where under denim blue skies, I tried my damndest and failed to make a photograph that was more unique or more interesting than the cruddy canvas print hanging over the AirBNB dining table. But I’ll catch you up on that trip soon enough.

Spring of ‘26 saw The Mafia revisiting the redwood groves in the far northwestern corner of California’s coastline. New faces, familiar location. Yunni, Charlice, Kevin and Tom joined the regulars … myself, Brookover and Rand. Our basecamp was in Arcata, just blocks away from Cal Poly Humboldt. Half of the group was new to the Mafia, but immediately we evolved into a mirthful little family of photography enthusiasts. We bonded over vintage Leica glass and grocery shopping trips to Whole Foods. Yunni delighted in making amazing avocado toast each morning as everyone else acted as sous chef round out the breakfast offering. Tom and I served a buffet of fish and shrimp tacos one evening that were a delight. Evenings were gathered around the table photo editing. Lightroom discussions abound. Kevin kept himself busy loading and unloading 4x5 film holders in a changing tent on the floor. “Normal everyday family life.”

For the first time on a Landscape Mafia trip, we also brought along Lao Tzu … well not exactly Lao Tzu, but rather the teachings of Lao Tzu and the Tao of Ching. For the record, Lao has been dead for more than 2000 years, but his teachings survive, and in this instance it was in the form of a book that Brookover brought on the trip.

Each morning we would gather in a circle at the trailhead and Yunni would open the book and read aloud a passage from the Tao of Ching, setting our intentions for that day of shooting. This was new territory for me personally. The “new to me” wasn’t new to everyone. Charlice is Taiwanese-American. Yunni is Chinese-American. Brookover was born a Kansas farmboy with a splash of Cherokee in his bloodline - but moved to Japan for 15 years where he met his wife and developed a Japanese sensibility and aesthetic in his art and life. So they get it …

My connection to nature has historically been aesthetic rather than spiritual, although I do believe that the universe speaks through artists to inspire the moment of creation. So my spiritual connection is to the art, not to the nature.

Taoism got me thinking about Shintoism. And to be clear I’m not trying to conflate two disparate Eastern philosophies, even if they share a common ancestry (the “to” in Shinto is essentially the same as “Tao”). But rather, I began to think in terms of The Universe wanting us to create images and capture its beauty and create information that can be preserved and passed on.

Shintoism is a Japanese religious tradition that emphasizes harmony with nature, ritual purity, and reverence for sacred spirits known as Kami. Kami are not gods in the Western sense, but sacred presences that can dwell in mountains, rivers, trees, animals, people, and even man-made objects. Individual organisms - such as a single tree overlooking a village - can have its own Kami. Some Kami are good. Some are bad. Some Kami make things grow, others destroy things. There are even Kami to clean up the destruction caused by other Kami (a convenient and pragmatic application of spiritualism!). All told there are something like 8 million Kami.

.“Yeah, and? Get to the point …”

I’m sure the cynics amongst you are saying that I’ve lost my marbles. But I want you to consider one thing.

Irrespective of whether or not you believe a single word of what I’m saying, and irrespective of whether or not you believe in Eastern spirituality - or any other form of spirituality for that matter - you can use the Tao, Shintoism, Kami to develop a personal consonance with nature that will ultimately result in you taking better photographs.

Make photographs with intention. Capture the spirit of nature.

Beyond that, the daily intention was shared amongst the group. So our daily outings shared a common purpose. Of course, each person interprets the intention in their own personal way. Meaning that, even standing right beside each other, the images are often radically different.

I tend see trees. Brookover tends to see a cathedral filled with trees.

Apply liberally to the affected area. Results may vary.

Stay focused. Stay curious. We’ll chat again soon.