Sometimes it’s hard to find the time to just play outside, poking under rocks and splashing in creeks like the kids we once were (or still are inside). A lot of us look back on those rough-and-tumble, alfresco adventures as formative life experiences, so it makes sense that as parents, we strive to give our children the same opportunities.

Jesse Burke began taking road trips to explore wild places with his daughter, Clover, five years ago. In the time since, they have criss-crossed countless state lines—Johnny Cash playing in the background—investigating the country’s great outdoors together. Like any camera-toting dad, he snapped pictures of his kid at each destination. Except these snapshots weren't just the standard family-album variety, because Burke is a professional photographer.

It all started when he brought Clover along for company on a project shoot in northern Maine (a weeklong trip in 2010).  Wanting to to take some pictures of his adorable 5-year-old enjoying the beautiful scenery, he tried to get her to pose in various natural settings. Yet unlike his adult models, who followed directions, Clover refused to cooperate. Looking at the photos later, he realized the shots of her free-spirited reactions were not only better than the staged ones, they were something special in and of themselves.

“After many frustrating attempts, she taught me that I needed to let go of control, respect her autonomy, and let her be a wild creature,” Burke told Sierra by phone.

Wild & Precious, the new monograph published by Daylight Books, is a collection of those moments. With the increasing digitization of daily life, Burke’s photos remind us that to truly connect to the human experience, we have to get outside and disconnect. And there are few better ways to relive the joy of discovery than through a child’s eyes.  

In the book, we see Clover excited, apathetic, exhausted, and even bandaged—the very real consequences of roughing it with a child. Even in the raw moments, Burke has captured beauty. “People always say to me, ‘you’re so lucky, you get to go see all these incredible places, and your kids are so fortunate.’ And I always say, ‘Well, yes and no. I’m lucky, but it’s not so much luck as it is choice.... It’s a magical world out there, and I think as parents, part of our job is to allow our children the opportunity to be intimately acquainted with it."

If you need a poignant reminder to get outdoors, or if you just want to enjoy Jesse Burke’s powerful photography, pick up Wild & Precious, or see some more of his work at http://www.jesseburke.com/. You can also view the new film.