A Note To Our Fellow Adventurers
At RZE we've always believed the best stories of our watches are told by real users and adventurers in the field. In 2026, as we continue our story, we are dedicated to showcasing some of your stories in our Adventure Logs.
Continuing In our series, with Sam, he continues to share his experience with his UTD-8000-BK on the wrist and on location in Colorado.
Sam Delaware is based in Los Angeles, California, directing and shooting for Sigma America, where his work puts high-performance optics through real-world use across commercial, editorial, and adventure-driven assignments.
As a former in-house producer at HiConsumption, he covered wristwatches from major manufacturers and independent makers alike, building a working familiarity with mechanical systems and design driven by function.
Follow along with Sam as he joins Liam Doran, an adventure, nature, wildlife, and commercial photographer who's marking a decade-long partnership with Sigma.
- Huiy Tang, Co-Founder
October 6-10, 2025
Sigma America
Breckenridge, Colorado
The desert was a trial run. The alpine in Colorado brought a different set of challenges. Shooting a profile on photographer Liam Doran to mark a decade-long partnership with Sigma, retracing the landscapes and shooting with the optics that have defined his work. Decked in Haglöfs and carrying a heavy pack, he moved at a pace that made the altitude feel like an afterthought. I followed with a smaller one-pack kit and carbon fiber sticks over my shoulder, working just as hard as I expected to keep up.
We landed in Denver late on day one, ascended up to Breckenridge and shot in Boreas Pass at dusk, last light spilling across the peaks and blue hour following close behind. Day two was a patchwork of pursuits: tracking wildlife across talus fields and timberline, then Copper Creek for fly fishing with brook and rainbow trout. Sunset on Bald Mountain, just under 14,000 feet. Thin air and high wind cutting across the summit. We tracked a small herd of mountain goats in the last light, close enough to shoot, maybe a dozen moving along the ridge as the sun dropped. Orange bathed the mountain tops and shaped the final shots of the day.
Day three brought a storm building on the horizon, clouds stacking over the skyline. Birds and wildlife were scarce, snow hadn’t dropped yet, visibility dropped in minutes, and fog rolled across the upper country.
Watching Liam work in the mountains, the terrain dictates his pace, his decisions, his attention. There’s no real separation between the work and the environment it’s made in. That sensibility feels increasingly rare. Liam and I spoke more than once about Richard Proenneke on this trip. To us both, Proenneke is perhaps the originalexample of full commitment — someone who deliberately built a life shaped entirely by the work he chose to do.
For anyone unfamiliar, Proenneke was a naturalist and craftsman who spent decades living alone in the Alaskan wilderness. Story goes, after a welding accident that nearly cost him his vision he decided to reorient his life. In 1968 (at the age of 51) he built a cabin by hand at Twin Lakes, Alaska assembling everything by hand. He sourced the timber, stones, and fashioned his own tools. He documented himself with a few 16mm cameras, recording every detail of his life and also kept meticulous hand-written journals.
The connection between Proenneke’s life at Twin Lakes and the Colorado high country was immediate. In Alaska, he was surrounded by tall peaks in nearly every direction; in Colorado, so were we. The scale felt palpably familiar. Moving across the ridges and timberline with Liam, the sense of immersion was similar, a clarity of focus born from working in an environment that demanded attention and respect. Proenneke’s dedication to craft, his patience, and the way he built a life from what was available mirrored the ethos Liam carries into his assignments.
For the final piece for check out the cinematic video 'An Ode To Optics' hosted by Sigma Cine. Follow Sam Delaware on Instagram to see more and join him on his adventures.
