Eric Whalen is an adventure travel photographer. His love of wilderness is matched only by his passion for photography. He also climbs, skis, backpacks, dives and plays guitar.

He does what it takes to capture the shot, working on cross-country skis, roped up at the top of a cliff, and on horseback in the mountains. Eric has chased adventure from a young age. He and two brothers got caught in a freak storm after backpacking into Little Yosemite Valley. Snow turned to rain as they set up tents and then runoff flooded the camp. The rumble of thunder said nature wasn't backing down. They hiked out in the dark, crossing the rim of a cliff in a downpour while lightning blasted the sky.

Eric backpacked through Europe and lived the beach life in Hawaii one summer. He has explored Guatamala, Mexico, Italy, France, Switzerland, Hawaii, Canada, Holland, Germany, Yugoslavia and the United States. He believes in the power of a moment. In Tikal's predawn darkness, he and a friend climbed a slick, crumbly, limestone Mayan pyramid buried in the jungle and sacrificed a pineapple to the breakfast gods as the cries of howler monkeys echoed over the rainforest.

He was born in California and has never seen a reason to leave the most beautiful state in the country. His work has appeared in Climbing, Mammoth Monthly and Sacramento News & Review. He and his partner, journalist Suzanne Hurt, are based in Sacramento.

901 28th Street . Sacramento, CA . 95816
916-492-0331 . suzanne@wildjournalism.com