Kelvin Kuo

journey through the life of a suppressed artist. Weighed down by numbers, formulas, and pentagon figures.

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Holiday Dog Bandana – Dogs in Winter Hats and Pink Snow

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Holiday Patterns – 3D Origami Cotton Face Mask | Reusable | Washable | Handmade

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Olympics - Alpine Skiing Finish Line

Olympics – Alpine Skiing Finish Line

A late editing day lead me to the Olympic Village at the Coastal Cluster in Gangneung.  This site hosts the Oval, where the speed skaters race, the Gangneung Hockey Center, Curling Center, and the figure skating venue.  I wanted to walk around to see if I could get any features in the area, and see if there was anything interesting to photograph.  I ended up wandering around and found a few spots…

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Olympics - Editing and Biathlon

Olympics – Editing and Biathlon

Day two was a lot easier, since we got home at 2 A.M. the morning of, I was glad to hear that I was tasked to edit the photographers photos that night.  I have been working both the desk and shooting as well, so this allows me to get much needed rest as well as stay sheltered from the cold. I ended up waking up later than expected because I really can’t sleep in.  Also I had to head to the free…

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Olympics - Opening Ceremony

Olympics – Opening Ceremony

The start of the Olympics is signified through the opening ceremonies, and I was tasked with seven other photographers to cover it.  Since the ceremonies wouldn’t be starting until 8 P.M. that night, I decided to go down to the biathlon track to check out the lay of the land.  I would be covering this event two days from then, and we were going to work with the photo manager at the venue to see…

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Olympics, the Journey to Korea

Olympics, the Journey to Korea

I was asked to work the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang for USA Today Sports Images back in July, and it’s been a pretty daunting road preparing for events that you may, or may not shoot. I really didn’t prepare until around a month before the trip, and had a few talks with fellow colleagues one their advice for what to bring.  Since this would be my first time covering an Olympics, I really…

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Minaret Lake

On the first anniversary of my marriage with Melody, we decided that there would be a tradition put into place.  We would be visiting a mountain and lake location, similar to our wedding location of Lake Tahoe, and really admire the scenery.  Our first stop would be Minaret Lake by the Mammoth Lakes area, which is a pretty simple 11.2 mile out and back trail.  This made it easy for us, since it…

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Mount Whitney to Kearsarge Pass - Day Three

Mount Whitney to Kearsarge Pass – Day Three

We headed out on our last day of our multiday backpacking trip through Kings Canyon National Park on our easiest pass up and over Kearsarge Pass at 11,709 feet, with another 14 mile day.  This was by far the easiest day, with our lungs acclimated to the altitude from the days past, but also due to the 5 mile downward hike making up a third of our trip.  Actually two thirds of our trip would be…

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Mount Whitney to Kearsarge Pass - Day Two

Mount Whitney to Kearsarge Pass – Day Two

Day two was another gruesome day, the altitude really didn’t let up the second day as well.  Our goal was to get past Forester Pass, a 13,153 foot pass which isn’t much of an elevation difference from Mount Whitney the day before.  On top of that, we were aiming for roughly a 20 mile day, which was fortunately cut down to 17.5 by the end of it all.  Here are the tracks and elevation profile of…

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Mount Whitney to Kearsarge Pass - Day One

Mount Whitney to Kearsarge Pass – Day One

When life doesn’t afford you the time to go out for a multi-day through hike backpacking trip, you can always rely on your friends to get some logistics out of the way.  I had work the night before our first day on a trail up Mount Whitney, and through Kings Canyon National Park out at Kearsarge Pass.  I knew I was up for a long night and morning, covering the Angels in Anaheim the night before.…

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Lake Clark National Park - Homeward Bound

Lake Clark National Park – Homeward Bound

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Lake Clark National Park - Bear Aware

Lake Clark National Park – Bear Aware

Our mileage for the day was getting longer now that we were used to our packs, used to the terrain, and used to the groove of things.  Usually it will take a day or two to adjust to a backpacking trip, especially if you had a long days travel before getting to mile zero of your trip. Melody and I ended up getting through 8.86 miles this day, with a few hundred feet drop and climb.  Ideally we…

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Lake Clark National Park - Turquoise Lake

Lake Clark National Park – Turquoise Lake

Our second day backpacking was a lot easier than expected.  We were looking at getting 5 miles max a day now, due to the first grueling day, but fortunately, we were out of the brush and onto the tundra.  There are a few drawbacks on this terrain though, higher elevation, softer ground, and still exhausting.  We were able to make it to Turquoise Lake after a 7.33 mile hike and hiking between…

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Lake Clark National Park - In Over Our Heads

Lake Clark National Park – In Over Our Heads

Melody and I had some lofty goals, coming into this backpacking trip wondering how 29 miles would be difficult.  The elevation would only get to 3270 ft, and we were looking to pass by one lake, and really relax at the last one. Here is the overview of our trip, which seemed relatively simple.  We were also thinking of passing through the mountain pass on the east side of Turquoise Lake, over…

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Lake Clark National Park - Telaquana Lake

Lake Clark National Park – Telaquana Lake

Melody and I had some wide plans, stemming from our idea that our wedding tables would represent places to visit together, which included destinations like Patagonia, Norway, and of course Alaska.  What we really were planning on doing in Alaska was to see some Northern Lights activity, but instead we booked a trip to Anchorage in the middle of summer, during the longest hours of daylight, and it…

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Zion National Park - The Narrows

Zion National Park – The Narrows

Part two of the Zion trip, we headed to the iconic Narrows, hiking up the canyon upstream on the Virgin River.  During busy season, the main part of Zion is closed off to all road traffic, and you are shuttled by buses from one stop to the other.  We work up early, but not as early as the day before really missing the sunrise timing, to head to the visitor’s center in Zion National Park.  There…

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Zion National Park - The Subway

Zion National Park – The Subway

One of the most attractive hikes in Zion National Park is the Subway, where you need to reserve a slot to go on the hike to the iconic hollowed out tunnel.  There are two routes here, the canyoneering route and the hikers route.  A permit can be reserved beforehand, which is reserved months in advanced, or day of through the first come first serve, and cancelled reservations.  We ended up heading…

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