Well, there's not much to say.. My name is David Hale, and I'm an avid off-roader and  part  time amateur photographer. I currently live in Reseda, California with my wife Mary, our son Kyle (oct 2003), daughter Heather (Jan 2006) our two dogs Daisy and Dusy, and our cat Shred.  I'm currently working for Centex Homes as the Los Angles/Ventura Division IT Manager.

There's nothing I like better than to pack up the truck and head to to where few people have been, and to explore and photograph those places. I actually enjoy getting lost.. I'm just starting to get the Ghost Town bug, I love exploring old towns and mining sites, as well as mountain and forests.. I originally preferred the mountains and forest areas, but I've discovered the beauty and remoteness of the desert has it's own attractions.

I first got interested in photography back in High School, where I worked on the school year book and was the TA for the photography class. I even won a few awards, and had some pictures published in papers. But the cost and time required to shoot film and maintain a darkroom was getting too much, and I slowly lost interest over the years. But then modern science came along, and Digital Photography became affordable. I could now shoot unlimited amounts of photos, and maintain a state of the art darkroom, all on my computer. With these new tools at hand, I have renewed my interest in photography.

In order to satisfy my insane desire to wander about, I've built up a custom Toyota Tacoma 4x4 truck for the trips. (See "Tankota Specs" under off-road info) The truck has 33" tires, 6" of lift, custom suspension, tons of Armor (hence it's nickname of Tankota), winch, off-road lights, and tons of recovery and survival equipment. Most of the time it's equipped to survive 10 days out in the middle of nowhere, and hopefully enough off-road equipment to get the truck back again. To date it's taken me all through Death Valley, all the way up to the Canada border, and all the way out to the Rockies with no problems.. Toyota builds them tough, and I've built it up a bit more tougher..

I currently belong to two off-road clubs, the first is Tacoma Territory Off-Roader's Association (TTORA) of which I am a So-Cal staff member and Trailmaster, and the other is the Trail Crew, an excellent all around fun for everybody club.

TTORA is a Tacoma truck club, with over 300 members in Southern California alone, and usually has 1-2 runs a month, some of which I lead. The Trail Crew is open to all vehicles, and also has 1 -2 runs a month and the runs range from easy, to some pretty hard core runs like Coyote Lake, pictured below right.  Both clubs follow the "Tread Lightly" guide lines to help preserve our natural areas for all. You can find out more info about both clubs by following the links on the home page or favorites page.

I hope you enjoy my site and photographs. As I get time, I plan to expand the site more and provide new and updated photos.. Feel free to drop me a line anytime at the e-mail address listed on the home page.

-David Hale