Tumbling Pixels

Joe Garza grew up in Michigan and always loved being outdoors. During the 1990s he served in the U.S. Navy, and that was when he developed his love for photography. His travels took him to many countries, and he just wanted to document them all. In 2008, he got his first Nikon DSLR camera, and it changed everything for him with photography. The love he had turned into an all-out passion. Landscape and astrophotography are his primary areas of focus. Watching the light transform waterfalls, mountains, lighthouses, canyons into truly magical places is an amazing experience for him every time it happens. He takes pride in what he creates by chasing light to the corners of the world, even to Mount Everest and back. He wants to tell the story behind each image by using thoughtful, unique compositions. His hope is that his work awakens a connection viewers have with a special place and time, be it in their past, present, or future. He currently lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with my three kids. They live for the outdoors and he enjoys taking them on adventures to see the amazing sights and watching their eyes light up.

As a creative director, designer, and marketing specialist, Candice Paxton provides brand strategy and targeted creatives to organizations wanting to build awareness, a strong brand and marketing presence. Candice's superpower is translating brand objectives and organizational values into tangible mission driven deliverables, digital content marketing campaigns, social media, support graphics, collateral, integrated communications, user experience and multi-channel marketing. Her experience with nonprofits has been primarily in the area of marketing, internal communications and brand strategy. She has helped organizations empower and build brands that resonate with donors, community, stakeholders and volunteers, by incorporating brand strategy with user-centric design, voice, and an identity that connects with beneficiaries by establishing authenticity and trust.

Scott J. Smith is a landscape photographer based in Vancouver, Washington. He has been shooting in the Pacific Northwest for more than 20 years, chasing soft light, quiet places, and the mood that lives somewhere between weather and stillness. He got his start shooting film and hiking the Cascades off the beaten path. He is still drawn to the same things: fog over trees, mist in the air, the way light shifts when nobody's watching. Most of his work focuses on minimalist, moody landscapes from the Cascades to the coastal cliffs. He's not always looking for dramatic skies or postcard views but moments that feel honest, when the light is soft, the air is still, and the landscape holds its breath. Many of his photos come from slow mornings, quiet hikes, and standing still long enough for the scene to settle in. Sometimes nothing happens, and sometimes the magic of the world unfolds before your eyes. For him, photography is a way to enjoy the outdoors. It's about being present in a place and noticing the offerings: a shadow across a stone, frost clinging to the pines, or low light cutting through the coastal fog. These are the small things that stay with him.

Ash L. Blender is a teacher and educator from the beautiful Pacific Northwest with a passion for art and design that is bold, organic and targeted mainly at children. Ash graduated in 2022 with a BFA in illustrations and has worked with companies like Handwritten Revolution as an illustrator and been part of several comics anthologies.

Erin Elrod graduated with a Bachelor Degree in New Media Communications from Oregon State University. She is a visual artist and learner. Creating multimedia work is part of what makes her who she is.

Shreya Pidikiti a concept artist with a background in architecture and art. Over the years Shreya has learned to apply these skills to web and VR experiences and spends time crafting immersive worlds and visual stories, bringing ideas to life through design, storytelling, and environment art. Shreya enjoys the full process—from early sketches to final renders—shaping experiences that feel thoughtful, cohesive, and engaging. Shreya is always learning, experimenting, and excited to collaborate with teams that want to explore bold and interesting ideas.

George Gill is a wedding photographer, turned corporate pilot, who with his free time is a passionate landscape photographer. Born in Washington, D.C., Gill went to college in Savannah, Georgia, where he earned a BFA in photography while also earning a pilot’s license. He now calls Portland, Oregon, his home, truly one of the most beautiful and unique cities the country has to offer, and it is in the center of truly spectacular landscapes. “I don’t like to go out with a mission or a plan and then force myself to photograph something. I wander by foot or by car, and when a scene excites me, I try to make an image.”

Mitch Kelly is an independent creative designer and artist in Oregon with 15-plus years of experience in graphic design, packaging design, art direction and illustration. Mitch is drawn to bold color, texture, and storytelling, and his work blends graphic design instincts with a love for handmade, character-driven art. Each piece is a little exploration of mood, memory, or just something that looked cool in his head.

Ever since he picked up his first camera, Arno Jenkins has been captivated by the power of photography to tell stories, preserve fleeting moments, and evoke emotion. His goal has always been to create images that truly resonate, capturing not just what he sees but the essence of what he feels in those moments. Photography has become his greatest creative outlet, and there’s nothing more fulfilling than spending a day out in the field with his cameras, chasing beautiful light and exploring new perspectives. It’s in these moments, immersed in the process, that he feels the most connected to his passion. Jenkins grew up in a military family, moving frequently between the major cultural centers of Europe. This unique upbringing gave him the opportunity to experience the great classics of Western art and architecture firsthand. From Renaissance paintings to ancient ruins, he was surrounded by creativity and craftsmanship that left a lasting impression. That early exposure inspired him to explore his own artistic voice and pursue creative expression in all its forms. His artistic journey began with pen and ink, where he developed a deep appreciation for detail and precision. From there, he explored airbrushing and mixed media, always searching for new ways to bring ideas to life. Eventually, he discovered photography, which gave him the perfect outlet to combine a love for storytelling, composition, and design. Art has been a constant thread throughout his life. No matter the medium, it’s always been about capturing emotion, creating beauty, and sharing unique perspectives. For Jenkins, it’s more than a profession—it’s a way of understanding the world and connecting with it on a deeper level. Today, he is a professional photographer, graphic designer, and artist based in Portland, Oregon. Most days, he can be found working in his studio, editing images, designing projects, or planning his next creative adventure. When he is not indoors, he is out with his camera, exploring new landscapes and finding inspiration in the natural world. Photography is a journey that keeps evolving. “Every shot teaches me something new, and I’m always striving to grow, learn, and push the boundaries of my creativity. It’s an endless pursuit, and I’m excited to see where it leads next.”

Becky Lance is a former Montessori Elementary educator, a math nerd, and a mom. In between writing and making art, she loves reading aloud to borrowed children, cooking, and spending time with her family. She prefers working traditionally in collage and watercolor, but loves adding to and editing her art digitally. She is a member of the Children’s Book Illustrators Group and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

Brenda Tharp is an artist who uses the medium of photography to express her vision. She has been holding some form of a camera since she was about nine years old. Photography was a doorway into a special realm, one of connection and immersion in the world around her. She grew up on almost two acres of land with some woods that was a place of natural discoveries. Her family always went on a summer vacation, exploring the forests, mountains and ocean mostly along the eastern seaboard. In her teens, Brenda joined her father on many backpacking trips along the Appalachian and Long Trail, and she always made room for a camera and at least one lens in her backpack. Her past work includes a variety of editorial publications and corporate assignments. She was the featured photographer for several episodes of CANON’s Photo Safari TV program, and she was a photography instructor on board many trips for National Geographic/Lindblad Expeditions. Her photographs are presently used for interior decor, with clients including hospitals, healing centers, corporate and living spaces, and her photographs are in private collections across the country. She has been teaching photography workshops since the beginning of her career, and she loves sharing insights and helping others to see more deeply and create personally meaningful photographs in the field. She loves what she does—it’s her career and her passion—and she can’t imagine doing anything else! She is always seeking out new places, whether local or distant, with her cameras in hand.

Isaac LeFever is a designer and illustrator splitting time between Seattle and Amsterdam. He runs a one-man studio where the focus is simple: do good, honest work for people of a similar description. He takes on illustration, branding, and packaging design jobs, sometimes all in the same project. He has worked with Intel, Sierra Nevada, YouTube, Penguin Random House, Monotype, and National Geographic, among others. When he's done with the work, he likes cycling, printmaking, and daytime drinks in foreign places. He decided some time ago that seeing the world is where he’ll find his best ideas. So he makes a point of it. Often.

Ben Coffman is a photographer living in Portland, Oregon. His photography journey has been both nonlinear and nontraditional, full of fits and restarts, with the latest chapter coinciding with his return to the Pacific Northwest in 2010. Much of Ben’s photography details the collision between the natural and man-made worlds, tiny lights pulsing against the encroaching darkness of a mysterious and sometimes malignant universe. Deep shadows tug at the crumbling remains of old farmsteads and cars, shipwrecks and pilings. Popular postcard destinations take on a strange new meaning at night, when crowds ebb, shadows form, and the sky becomes sprinkled with stars.

Molly Chidsey is a Portland, Oregon-based illustrator, designer, and creative coach who brings together art, strategy, and story. Before becoming an artist, Molly was a project manager focused on social change initiatives like environmental sustainability, advancing equity, and building collaborative teams. Her favorite part of that work was creative planning: helping people clarify their goals, map out a path forward, and make meaningful ideas real. She learned that good planning is an art form of its own. It takes imagination to envision a better future, and creativity to chart the steps that lead there. Art is her second act. At the height of her career, a health crisis sparked a creative awakening and led her back to art. In her mid-40s, she enrolled at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, studying illustration on nights and weekends while continuing her full-time work. That experience reshaped how I see creativity—not just as a personal practice, but as a way to help others turn inspiration into action. Today, she specializes in watercolor, drawing, illustration, hand-lettered calligraphy, and digital techniques that blend these mediums into cohesive, expressive designs. She is also an art educator and creative planning coach, helping others bring their ideas to life through art, strategy, and imagination.

Miles Morgan is an amateur Fine Art Landscape Photographer located in Denver, Colorado. He is actually an airline pilot who occasionally goes out and takes a few snapshots hoping that something pretty will get in the way of his lens. His father, Hank Morgan, is a successful photojournalist, so Mike has always had cameras close by, but he never took the time to learn much about them. It wasn’t until April 2009 that he decided to try his hand at landscape photography. Very quickly he became hooked and has been trying hard to hone his skills both in the field and in Photoshop to produce images that are pleasing. The greatest gift that photography has given him is the return to nature that was missing in his life. He has seen enough stunning scenes during his brief stint as a landscape photographer to last a lifetime, and he hopes his images allow you to enjoy them.

Diane Ramic is an illustrator and graphic designer from Portland, Oregon, who uses a variety of both traditional and digital mediums in her work. She takes inspiration from the natural world when drawing creatures that existed in the deep past, those that share the planet with us, and those that have yet to be. Her personal work tends to focus on speculative biology, xenobiology, character design, and paleoart. She has also delved into book illustration, game design, and layout.

Steve Schwindt is a landscape photographer and woodworker based in Portland, Oregon. As a native Oregonian, he was fortunate to grow up around the beautiful scenes and environments that he became so fond of in his photography endeavors. Though the Pacific Northwest is known for its natural beauty, Steve is still constantly surprised by its vastness and variety. He often ventures to other locales, but his true passion is in capturing the beauty of this variety from behind the lens. In addition to landscape photography, Steve is also an avid woodworker. In recent years, he has grown a strong appreciation for the beauty of trees and their unique woods, being able to create something tangible with his hands. Similar to his photography, Steve mostly creates with hardwoods that are native to the Pacific Northwest, such as Black/Claro Walnut, Oregon White Oak, Big Leaf Maple, and occasionally Old Growth Redwood. Most often he builds furniture for his home, but he also enjoys turning bowls, making decorative boxes, and veneering. Aside from his creative endeavors, Steve is also a father, husband, and product management leader for a software company that focuses on risk management solutions for transportation and mobility companies.