The Continued Travels With Tessa Tangerine

I was barely home in January and so with one last quick trip to Nashville, TN on the plate, I decided to take Tessa Tangerine along to keep me company and connected, and it was another chance to get her in the air and on her way to "seasoned traveler" status. So off to Nashville we went.

Let me get the humiliating part out of the way first, ugh... the mad white knuckle dash for the bathroom at the layover in Atlanta on our way home, where Tessa had to squeeze into a stall with me in her stroller, and all our luggage, in the stink of the mens bathroom while I took care of some unexpected urgent business. There was a dude in the stall to the left of me, and to the right of me, and Tessa decided she wanted to say "dadadadadadadadada" a hundred times and giggle. Let's just say that at 19 months she already knows the hilarity of a good solid fart sound, and in that Atlanta bathroom they were "booming," some brassy, some low, but all hilarious to her, and she was not shy with her reactions when hearing them. I am sure the gentlemen seated on the sides of us appreciated me taking the time to give a life lesson during all of this to say: "Shhhh, that's not polite honey."

I have to say that traveling alone with my daughter was a reminder of just how much the majority of the female population has bought into this idea that a man is a bumbling ding dong, barely capable of ordering his beer correctly, or knowing when to stop shoving a couple pounds of bacon and cheese wrapped in fried chicken into his mouth. I mean the reaction I got to taking Tessa on a trip was insulting, all the disbelief and smirks, and that annoying "aww isn't that sweet" reaction-- Look a father is actually doing something with his child. This was largely the reaction while en route to Nashville, and I was happy that once I was at the actual Blissdom conference, that I didn't experience the same disbelief. Well, not so much about taking Tessa on a trip alone, but there was quite a bit of awed amazement that I actually dressed her myself. I mean I know how to put an outfit together, it's not a real big deal.

Some important realizations and discoveries were made on this trip...

** Tessa outgrew the lap child thing. After the flight out, I realized that I was being a rude prick trying to save some extra bucks, and that this kid needed her own seat from now on. It just isn't fair to the person sitting in front of us, she is a serious seat kicker. So I bought her, her own seat on all the flights home. It made a huge difference in her behavior and I am glad I spent the extra money. She is definitely not a lap baby any longer.

** Tessa discovered that if she walks up to a group of people and says: "Hi!" that she gets a reaction. So she became the kid that waves and says "hi" to everyone. To everyone.

** The last night we were there, I decided I would take her down to a party for a little while and get some food, and let her see some of a concert that was going on. She loves live music. There was a red carpet entrance with a step & repeat and a few photographers, and let's just say that Tessa worked that carpet. I was actually shocked at how much she played to the camera.

** We also learned how powerful of an impact a good pair of shoes can have.

** The first morning we woke up in Nashville, I was sad. I was tired of traveling, I missed home, I hated that we were in a hotel room, and I felt guilty for taking Tessa. I wasn't comfortable here, so I assumed she wasn't either. I laid in bed in the dark of the room and swam around in a lot of frustration and let myself be a baby for a few minutes. Within a minute of Tessa waking up, and saying "good morning dada." she managed to change my whole head around. She was happy, she was smiling. As soon as I picked her up out of her crib, she made a break for the curtains, and started playing in that perfect soft golden light that the first minutes of morning brings. It was like watching a kid play in the rain, she was swimming in this light, and it was one of the only times on the whole trip that I took a picture. It was one of the best starts to a day that I can remember.

In case you were wondering: "why were y'all in Nashville?" I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel about Compassion Fatigue at the Blissdom Conference with some amazing people. This was the first time in a long while that I spoke in front of a crowd and did not feel out of my mind terrified. I was happy to tell the story of Do Fun Stuff and felt a little ting of pride while I was telling the story of how it all went down. That doesn't usually happen, so I have to thank Megan Jordan for thinking of me for this panel, and convincing me to do this. After attending Blogher I had decided that I was not going to be a part of any more lady conferences as I just felt like I had no business being at them, at all, but Megan has become a fast friend and it was impossible to say no when she described the session. So I agreed. Another big moment during the session was while I was seated next to Ellen Seidman who writes Love That Max, I was listening to her talk about the realization of the list of symptoms and challenges her special needs child had to face, it sent me back to the first time that Cole and I read the symptoms and characteristics list onSmith Magenis Syndrome when LB was diagnosed, and I got this huge lump in my throat, and I just wanted to hug this woman sitting next to me that I had just met, and cry, and say I know what you mean, and thank you for being kind, and funny, and accepting.

To sum it up, it was a great experience, I was glad that Tessa got to be with me, I needed her to lift me up that morning and get my brain thinking positive again. All that said I am happy to be home. This week is catch up week for sure.



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What I Saw in a Vegas Arena

The following video is a collection of my most favorite shots that I captured while I was in Vegas wrapping up the 2011 Redken Symposium last week, if you do not know what a Redken Symposium is, you can read about it HERE, but in a nutshell it is about 10,000 hair stylists celebrating the industry, getting inspired, and taking advantage of the education that Redken offers. It's always a blast, and it is something that I feel privileged to be a part of. This was my third Symposium.

It sucked to be away from the children for so long between this Vegas job, and then Alt Summit immediately after, but it was definitely fun to show them these clips when I got home and watch them get excited about some of the things that I saw and managed to capture. I might get to be "cool" to them for a little while longer if I can keep landing good jobs like this. This was the first time I shot a job making it a point to capture sights specifically for them. Shooting with the kids in mind was a new source of inspiration I had not realized I had as a resource, but as soon as I started to look for shots and moments to show from that perspective it got fun. When LB sees something he likes, he walks right up to it, as close as he can, he likes to be in the middle of everything, and since I love shooting with a wide angle, I have to get close, and in the middle of the action. It was a blast to get to be around all the backstage pre-show antics of the dancers, and acrobats, burning off nervous energy while they waited for their cues. It had been a long time since I was around a bunch of artists great at what they do, and it always stirs up the performer in me-- that acting bug gets more riled.

So here are some sights from the things that I saw, while I was in Vegas...

** I did not have the shoebox dolly with me in Vegas, but I was lucky enough to have a slider dolly available to me to use, and although it was not the fancy dream dolly I have been dreaming of, it was really awesome to design shots with this thing. It opened up a ton of new possibilities and solidified how much I want to get into making video.



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P.S. I am headed to Nashville with Tessa Tangerine to talk a little about Do Fun Stuff at the Blissdom conference this week, so if you are going and you see us, please say hi. I was asked to be part of a panel that dives into the idea of "compassion fatigue" and how to get your charitable message out to the public in the deluge of worthy causes. So it was a great chance to talk about the album a little, but hopefully I will be able to help others find a way to break through and raise some money for a cause close to their heart.

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The Jumping Tour in SLC

This past weekend Cole attended a sewing workshop at Alt Summit put on by the talented Susan Petersen of Freshly Picked. Susan had enlisted a group of her friends all equally skilled and knowledgeable in various textile arts: There was some leather work, some sewing, some silk screening, and a little crash course in crocheting...

Cole had two hours to bounce around this big ballroom at Alt and dabble in each thing, and she walked out of that room a total addict. She seriously would not put the crotchet needle down. Saturday night was like a scene right out of New Jack City, "put it down Pookie." It wasn't long before she was out of yarn, and on her phone tracking down a yarn shop in SLC. So on our last day in town, we ventured off into downtown to get this girl some more yarn. The nice thing for me, was that it gave us a chance to get out and see more of the city, and we had our vacation tradition that we still had to shoot, thejumping picture. My big plan was that I wanted a shot of her leaping into the air in front of the Temple.

I just didn't do such a great job at paying attention to exactly where the temple was all weekend. I was so focused on Alt Summit, that I just assumed it was the great big gorgeous building we saw from our hotel room balcony. It was huge, hand carved stone, old, and had many pointy towers. Duh.

Our walking tour of SLC for yarn


Cole couldn't get over how Salt Lake City has greener grass right now than Florida, so she dove in.

This was the only snow we found to stand in, so we could say we stood in snow.


**Since people are asking about the shoes, HERE they are.

The first picture below was before we realized this was not the Mormon Temple, Cole thought we were going to get in trouble for jumping in front of the sacred towers. She said "This is like against the rules isn't it? it's like not taking your picture in front of your Kim Jong Il poster or something!" Nobody came and took us away, because we were just jumping in front of the old regular City Hall building. Turns out not every gorgeous castle looking structure in SLC is a temple. So we regrouped, and found a cab driver that wanted to show off his town, and he drove us up to the top of the "bowl" and showed us a great view of everything, he said we would want to hug him. It was in fact a gorgeous view, but we chose not to hug. And then he took us to the temple for some great big leaps. Mission accomplished. Our vacation was complete.







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The Day Before Home

We had big plans to wake up in Salt Lake City and hit the mountains exploring, and instead realized we were in the thick of some peace and quiet and very rare time to ourselves. So we did the sensible thing, and slept late, enjoyed the view from our room, ate giant huckleberry pancakes, and Cole sat in the sun and practiced crocheting. Between the hospitality we were shown here by some locals, the mountain views, and the option to cat nap at will today, Salt Lake has a new found fondness in my heart that I was not expecting.

I like this place. I love surprises.

The amount of quality good hearted people that Cole and I met while we were here has made this entire trip worth it, I will absolutely be coming back to Alt Summit next year. I think the biggest most lovely difference that I noticed about this conference in comparison to some other ones that I have attended, is at Alt Summit, being surrounded almost exclusively by talented design bloggers, they want to know all about what you are doing, and what you are up to, they are collaborators, and pick one another up, idea sharers for sure. It was refreshing. It was nice to have conversations, and not just relentlessly pitched at about stats and followers, and brand alliances. This was a great experience, and I am grateful I got a peek into this corner of the web that I was not as familiar with. I did not get to meet as many people as I wanted to, and will definitely do a better job at picture taking the next time. I was so burnt out from shooting in Vegas I barely took my camera out.

Rachel, who I did the photo panel with, actually convinced me to stop being a photo shy baby, and let her take some pictures of Cole and I together. And well, Cole got so excited she was literally jumping all over the place, you can check them out HERE.



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Kin

Remember that contest that I blogged about where HP flew in a couple of Project Runway sensations for a little Q&A over some lunch at Alt Summit.

Well....

I was not planning to post again until all the traveling was over, but was really so very excited to share this quick moment that we had with Mondo yesterday at Alt Summit-- where we revealed to him that he was in fact a long lost relative. A doppelgänger. He was very sweet, fun to be around, and did agree that The Littlest Buddy looks like his childhood pictures. We were not able to dress LB up in a little classy bow tie before we left town, so we just had him scroll through a series of photos on the kids i-Pad we stole from home. It really was bizarre to essentially see a grown version of LB walking around. Big thanks to Mondo for spending time with us, he had a huge swarm of fans to contend with, and did so with a smile and care. Big thanks to HP for hosting the lunch.

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Hell No, We Won't Snow

Ernie Buffalo was the first person yesterday to send me the link to a Gawker article where they play bummed that yet again "dumb old Florida" has ruined it for everyone else...

In case you have not heard the news, Florida remains the lone holdout in a snow covered United States. Currently there is snow covering the surface somewhere (even if it just the top of a volcano- pretty lame Hawaii) on 49 states right now, and I guess there is a tinge of feeling left out involved, as it would be awesome to play in the snow with the kids? But I think the best part of this news is that it feels nice for Florida to be making National headlines for something as innocuous as being too warm for snow, instead of the usual embarrassing headlines that creep into the National News Wire from here. For example... hmm let me think, I don't know, maybe stuff like the dude that got sidetracked while shopping for a birthday gift for his daughter at a Walmart, and ended up getting erotic to a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition in the toy section, and then went on to wipe the load of evidence onto some toys for good measure. Ugh, shameful. (I couldn't bring myself to link to it, you can do the work if you're really curious)

Back to the snow...

So while the rest of America has been bundled up and digging out, we have been running around busting through leaf piles in shorts and tanks, and for the most part just all walking around with legs exposed to the elements here. Of course this morning it is quite bone chilling chilly holding steady at 32° but still, it's been awesome weather, and I don't get to say that often amidst all the sweaty humidity and mosquitoes.

It was funny (weird not haha) to scan this shot of Cole in last night, and think about how crazy it must seem to everyone else all snow dusted and freezing that she is running around in clothes like this right now. Even when a day starts out "cold" we will manage to end up in the sunny seventies somehow. (not today of course, when I am trying to be all Florida pride and brag a little that it is actually nice here.)

Geez, did I really just talk about the weather and some diddling dad that much? What is happening to me? All of that to explain why Cole is wearing a skirt in this one photo. A picture that was supposed to just be a companion to say, that while I am wrapping things up for a job, Cole will be filling in the blanks here and there around the panic room for a few days until I get back to earth and settled. She's the best. So keep your eyes peeled for some Cole posts. I am hoping she will clear out the cell phone for one of her photo posts tomorrow. Fingers crossed.



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Reaction

It's funny to be married almost 3 years and all of the sudden realize that in that time, I have not seen Cole sit down and just read a book by herself for her own pleasure-- ever. There are books all over the place in this house, so I guess you just assume they are getting read. We have had a busy couple years of required reading, we read a hundred case studies, and packets, and newsletters about SMS, and before that there were ALL the natural child birth books when she was pregnant with Tessa, and of course loads and loads of the Teen Vogue consumed. BUT... no books read that were just for her own growth and discovery. And I have been so consumed with myself around here lately wrapping up another 6 month stint with Redken, that I am not even sure when she started reading this new book that she loves, no idea why she selected it, or what it is really about. Apart from the gasp that she will let out, not like the scary just woke from a terrifying dream gasp, it's like the great big chest puffing breath you take down in anticipation of a big juicy rant you're about to deliver. This breath of air sucked in, breaks the silence in the room, and I know to look up from what I am doing and listen, because that whoosh of air going down is followed with the reading of passages that have stirred her. She reads them aloud in disbelief and frustration. She is moved. She is thinking. Sharing old ideologies that make sense and become new again.

Yesterday I was sitting in our room, on the computer, finishing a call, and I see her in the backyard. She has my old wooden handled shovel that my parents have passed down to me in her hands. She is busy. I watch her digging up the grass that filled in our garden when we abandoned it for the fall break. It's crunchy brown and dead from our couple of freezes we had in Florida, it all comes up easy enough to reveal the rich black soil beneath it. I asked her "What are you doing?" and she just said very plainly and excited, (like I should already know this): "getting the dirt ready."

Her reactions to this book are the start of solidifying daydreams and pillow talk of how we wished we could live our lives from now on. Each year together we have chipped off a little more of the "supposed to" mentality, and implemented policies and practices that make sense to us. Without knowing about a movement, there has been much discussion and decisions made over the last two years to parent and partner in a way that felt healthier to us. Having a garden is just one small part of that.

I am relieved to have a partner this go round with attempt number 3 at growing our own food. She was a huge help the last two tries, but she was just helping. And true as it is that she was a big help, it was kind of like when someone finally agrees to watch a movie with you, that you know deep down they would never actually pick, but they go anyway because they love you. It was maybe a little bit like that. It isn't like that any longer. She is thinking about this soil in our yard in a completely new way. She is being deliberate. I love it.

I am not sure what she is reading beyond the glimpses she gives me, but I can sort of figure out where the words are landing in her heart and her head, because I see this person with this new vigor, her energy has a little well managed anger mixed in with the normal motivation to move. She is in the midst of moving priorities around to fit in new things that she wants to be up to. She has a better understanding of what was capable in the past by able bodied people faced with conquering a single day. She is making decisions about how our life will be. I love seeing her react. It's gorgeous. All of it. But, seeing all of this and knowing that Tessa is right there, around all of this, watching her mother, is the best part.

**updated to say that she has been reading Radical Homemakers

Taken with the Polaroid 600SE on Fuji 100 film



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The Shoebox Pocket Dolly & Music Magic

Disclaimer: I am not pretending to be an expert videographer or anything, the same goes for my photography ups and downs that I post here, I am an open book on this blog about the learning process and the growing pains, and I am constantly pushing to get better at both video making, and picture taking. So with that said, if I am posting "tips" or "advice" it is stuff I want to share because I get excited about figuring something out, and I hope it might save some steps for anyone in the same boat, or maybe people find this stuff that might be looking to try some new things.

I get asked from time to time about the videos I make of the kids and Cole running around the house, these videos are my favorite way to freeze the kids in time so we can all look back on them and be sappy. So I thought every once in awhile with time permitting I would try and help with some ideas to spice up your own home movies. So here is my first stab at that. Let me know if this is something you want more of.

My favorite thing about editing video clips down is watching what a piece of music will do to the overall energy and vibe of a clip I am playing. Finding the right song to lay underneath your video clips can make something like the everyday act of drinking a milk, become intense and moody. And vice versa, trading out dramatic big building music, with light choppy bursts of melody, will make that same clip feel completely different.

So I decided to play around with some video examples this weekend while we were all stuck inside watching the Eagles majorly blow it to the Packers. At least now everyone can go back to hating Michael Vick, and can wait and see how he plays next year before they decide if he has found redemption or not. **end tangent.

So yes, Sunday I decided to make some video, so I could play with two things-- Motion and Music.

First adding motion to your shots. The biggest thing that makes videos appear amateurish is shaky misguided camera work. It is my biggest problem to date. I have discussed my earthquake hands before here. So I am huge on the toys that smooth out my shots. And there is this one piece of gear that I want for my bag of tricks so very bad that I can't stand it. I look at the site 2 or 3 times a day. I constantly watch the instructional video. It produces lovely results. It is a smart design. It is expensive. Despite this, I really want it. It is called a Pocket Dolly, made by Kessler Krane. It mounts onto a tripod, it is a mini dolly that produces super smooth controlled moves for push-ins and reveals, and creates subtle-- slow-- sweet motion to your video.

So until I can afford this new toy, I used a shoebox and a book instead, and I placed my camera on top, and slid the smooth side down of the shoe box on the table top, and the wood floor. I used nice heavy books to raise the camera higher and give it some weight so there was some resistance when I pushed it along. I tried to keep the moves slow and smooth. It isn't perfect by any stretch, but It was fun to play, and it satisfied the itch to add some of these moves into my video work while I scrape the pennies together. Basically get that camera out of your hands and try it out in some new ways, put your old phone book to use. Try it. You will like it. If I was more industrious there are a ton of homemade sliders people are making that go way beyond a shoebox, a little search on vimeo and you will find a ton of tutorials.

Second, I wanted to show two extreme examples of how much music can completely change the vibe of your video. I loved this experiment the most.

I did my best to take two completely ordinary occurrences: drinking a milk, and coloring with crayons, and heighten the experience with some nice movement with the camera, and adding the perfect mood to illicit two completely different vibes from the same source material.

I broke the video down into two examples...

EXAMPLE ONE: I did my best to make the ordinary intense. I used music that employs big grand builds and drops off, and felt a little eerie. And I shot my clips in 60FPS and converted them to 24FPS to slow the action down. The combo of the slow push in, with the slow motion, and the appropriate music, all the sudden made the milk drinking dramatic. Within the same example, the same music that made the opening shot feel creepy, turned a very minor annoyance that Tessa was having managing the paper from her sketch pad, into a great dead pan comedic scene, the music despite being so dark, supported the moment in a very comedic way. I love it. LOVE how music compliments a scene. First piece of music is an excerpt from one of my favorite films: There Will Be Blood, the music is by: Jonny Greenwood

EXAMPLE TWO: I wanted to show how using upbeat melodic music with whimsical hooks, coupled with a nice mixed range of shots (from motion to keeping the camera static and letting a scene play out), can take a very plain afternoon coloring on the floor-- and make it look like an incredible good time. Don't get me wrong, Tessa had fun, and if I didn't capture any smiles, or silly looks, it certainly wouldn't have felt as great. But I am pretty sure she did not go to bed thinking: "Wow, I loved watching the NFL playoffs all day. I wish I could do it again next weekend!" The music in this section is an excerpt from Noah & The Whales album- First Days of Spring, and the track is called- Instrumental I

Enjoy the video:



If you have any questions I will be hanging out in the comment section for a couple hours this morning before I leave for a little foodie shoot with the best food blogger on the internet :) So ask away, and if anyone ends up experimenting in the same way, please send along links to clips.

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The Most Adorable Present Ever

**Since people have asked. The little blue shoes were bought at Target (under 12 bucks), but as usual since most of the baby girl items are all pink or coated in sparkles and hearts, these are little boy moccasins. They come in green as well.

I don't foresee very many instances where Cole and Tessa will be sporting identical outfits, like I don't see them lounging in velvety mother daughter "Juicy Suits" or anything in the near future... but they both got a great surprise on Christmas from Cole's brother and girlfriend, they bought them these matching aprons from Anthropologie. They basically stole the show on Christmas morning the moment they both put these things on. It was cute overload. And ever since, Tessa will go and get her apron, hold it up, and ask "help me" so that we will put it on for her all the time. She loves wearing it. With or without Cole sporting hers. It was such a great idea for them, because Tessa is obsessed with playing kitchen. We spend a huge amount of time in our kitchen, and Tessa is in the phase where she thinks she wants to be around us all the time still. The Littlest Buddy has left his kitchen phase behind for his bowling obsession, so there is some extra room for now.

Confession-- There was this moment where Tessa's curiosity and constant companionship in the kitchen turned from adorable to exasperating, it was one of the first times that I can remember letting out the heavy huff and realized that I just thought my kid was being relentlessly annoying, simply because she wanted to be around us non-stop. It made me feel a little bad, but I was also tired of turning around and smacking into and knocking her over. And it's way harder to inappropriately grope Cole at the sink, or sneak in a hand-bra or two when Tessa is lurking around. Cole and I cooking together is usually the first time during the day where we really get to hangout, so we enjoy doing it. We talk the most when we are putting together a meal. And if we are both in there, it is a sure bet that Tessa will want to be standing right in the middle bouncing into our legs, and getting into unlocked cupboards.

Setting up her play kitchen on the opposite side of our front counter space has proved to be a really great way to keep her happy and involved, and not feel like she is being kicked out of the party. Now we will just send her off to make her own creations, in her own kitchen. This has done the trick for now, because she feels like she is doing what we are doing. If we specifically ask her to make something, 95% of the time she will go to work, chopping up wooden veggies and making soup for us to come taste. I like anything that keeps us from saying "No" a hundred times. So give up your secrets, cause I really want to know-- what have you done/are you currently doing to keep your kids from being obstacles in the kitchen? Does anyone have any great wooden fruit and veggie recipes they can pass onto Tessa, we are kind of sick of carrot and watermelon soup.



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The Old Slideshow

Cole noticed awhile ago, that in my possession was a giant beat-up box that was pouring over with photo slide wheels that were filled to the gills with old Kodachrome slides, (now discontinued by Kodak). There are hundreds of photos that my mother had taken of our family over the years, and then had developed into slides. Do you remember how big slideshows were in the early 80's? :) We were so hip.

So I had all these slide wheels full of slides, cluttering up our closet, and doing nothing. Just sitting there being little ghosts. And basically my childhood was sitting in a box locked in slide form. So this Christmas, Cole surprised me with a very cool (and easy to use), negative slide scanner, and said: "go take a look at where you came from."

I finally broke this new scanner out for a look tonight-- I didn't get a really good chance to go through everything yet... each slide wheel was labeled and placed in a nice dust cover and dated. The dates ranged from 1972 and the latest year was 1981, so there are a ton to sift through to see how they will scan. I just need more time to see what I can do with these.

**Now before I go on, I wanted to say something about my mom and dad-- I have done my fair share of therapy on here, griping about the divide between my parents and I. So I thought this would be a nice opportunity to go on the record (which I know I have mentioned plenty before, but still) and say that my mom and dad gave my sister and I an incredible childhood. Apparently it was all downhill after age 10, and I can't remember anymore what made all the fun stop. But consistently here is the thing I remember the absolute most about being a little kid-- I laughed all the time. I had a big loud laugh. And I laughed. Loud. All the time. So life had to have been pretty damn good. Looking at these slides tonight was a huge reminder about how great we had it, and I got to see a lot of happy memories up close again. We had a heavy dose of outdoors, and judging from all the photos of us covered in mud, and driving tractors, and doing everything helmet-less, I would say we were definitely free range kids.

Two things popped out the most from looking at these archives...

ONE-- Tessa looks so much like my sister and I when we were toddlers that it is kind of creeping me out. Judge for yourself.

Tessa started making this exact same silly face a little while ago at dinner. fists balled up and everything. How can this stupid crazy face run in the family?"




And TWO-- Almost every slide wheel I looked at had pictures of all of us working in my mothers garden, we were either planting, digging, watering, playing, picking, doing something in the garden all the time. Together. As a family. I can't believe how much it was a part of our lives. And it makes total sense why the urge to garden is so strong in me. It is something that my mother continues to do today and is insanely good at. She is for sure one of the best backyard farmers around. Anything that she has ever come over with, some little clipping, and poked in the dirt, has always flourished and yielded the best results. It is something I am grateful of, and happy that the desire to grow my own food was placed inside me. So, I quickly grabbed a handful of garden shots to show you...








Holy cow, there are enough sunflowers in that one flower head to supply a whole little league team for a season! That thing should have won a prize at a fair. I loved seeing our old scarecrow-- That scarecrow stayed with us for years, my mother made him, she used an old wooden oar from my dads little row boat that he had, and we would just replace the grass or hay in him each season. I think it is time for Cole and I to make our own family scarecrow for our garden this year. We got a late start last spring, and suffered the consequences. So we are already planning out the spring garden for this year. These old photos made me really want to get serious about what we can accomplish this year in the backyard. How many of you are planning on having a garden this spring? Get your kids out there in the dirt and let them have fun.

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Making Light

I have been working hard on my part of the panel discussion for Alt Summit that I am doing with the mega talented Rachel Devine, and in doing so it has made me want to explore more of my own weaknesses. Basically be really hard on myself so that I know what we can cover that will help people the most. So it has made me think about what I want to learn to do better this year. So of course, during this process I let myself get sidetracked last night... At the end of last year I bought a small two light setup from Speedotron, did a couple tests, and only used it on one project, and it has been sitting in the case ever since. I realized that it has been sitting there, because I wasn't ready to really figure out how to use light in the way that I want to just yet. I have been focusing so much on just getting to know my camera better in deeper better ways, and so last night, I broke them out. It was dark out already, just before bedtime for the kiddos, and of course LB saw me setting up and started getting really amped up to see the lights flash. He loves to get in front of the lights when they are around, and so he always ends up being my very funny test subject, before I torture Cole.

This is a thunder gray backdrop on a stand, with one strobe into an umbrella that is hitting the background (a small flag to keep it from washing across the entire backdrop), and one strobe just right above the camera and pointing down on Cole blasted through a beauty dish. I have a very tiny space to play pretend studio in, so everything was way too close together, and as I said it was night and so I was building the light from scratch, and I realized I was lost. I could only create this one look, and that made me mad. It made me mad enough that it got me thinking about school again. Using light is just something that I want to master. I want to be able to dream up a look in my head and know exactly what I need to do to create it. Building a scene with light.

My past experience with studio lights were when I used a pair of strobes that I borrowed from my friend for Cole's Maternity Series, but they were used as a boost of light in an already very bright warm setting, so the results were softer. It was all designed to be very clean, and many times I created hotspots, and blew out the image. It was my first time playing with lights, and so it was a ton of trial and error. I loved the end results, and they are still the favorite pictures I have taken. Ever.




Before that, I used bigger cinema lights, or "constant light" to paint the scene I was looking for when I shot some interiors for a stone company. My brief run of shooting fireplaces. I liked the results, and the control this gives you in really creating drama and an emotional scene with light, but owning gear like this was/is inconceivable. There is always the battle on forums of strobes vs constant and it can get ridiculous.




So far the photos below have been my favorite result with making light. As much as I love the results, I still want more control, and to be able to create more emotion and drama with light. These photos are what made me really get excited about light. They showed me the possibilities of what can be done.






All of this to say, that my entire life, if I wanted to learn how to do something, I would just figure it out on my own. Read the manual, or get a book. I can honestly say I am actually sick and tired of doing this. I'm tired of relying on myself to figure this shit out. It takes so much time, and a million start and stops, and you never really know if you are on the right track, nobody is around to say: "ya know there is an easier way to do that." I am not entirely pooping on being self taught, I am proud of what I have managed so far. I am just ready for more I guess. I have a thirsty brain this year. This is the first time that I can remember where I just want to straight up go to school. I want an old crusty veteran with gobs of tips and tricks to take me by the collar and show me how to master light. This kid is ready to go to school, or take a class. I can start with a class. A workshop. I do not want to just be decent at something, I want people to get excited about a picture I take. Pee their pants a little maybe. I am assuming I will think I got it right when I look at a picture I take and think: "Holy crap! Did I take that?!" and then pee my pants a little. So I keep pushing. Anyone have good luck with any lighting workshops they want to pass on? Please do. If you are in kind of the same place as I am, and want a really awesome place for tutorials and education, and just good old fashioned information sharing. Start HERE. It is a great online source to get you moving in the right direction.



P.S. If you follow me on twitter you might have heard me mention a bunch last night how excited I was that Alt Summit announced that one of their sponsors HP was bringing in Seth Aaron and Mondo Guerra two very serious Project Runway Alumni to Alt Summit to speak. Part of that news, is that they are also having a contest to win a ski trip for two to Salt Lake City if you help spread the word. So I am absolutely spreading the word. Regardless if Cole and I win a fabulous ski trip or not. I can't tell you how excited I am to bring a picture of LB along with me to show to Mondo so he can see his doppelgänger . I wonder if he will see the resemblance. During season 8 of Project Runway I received emails and tweets and comments every week, asking if we saw the resemblance. It is pretty bonkers how much they look alike. Can you tell I am excited about Alt Summit?

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Bulldozer

There has been a side yard full of leaves to be raked for weeks, and I kept saying... "I am going to make a pile for Tessa to play in, and it's going to be awesome!" Of course in my head, if you make a big pile of leaves, and place a child near it, the possibilities of fun are endless. So I was all jacked up on anticipation when I finally raked up a big fluffy pile of leaves and took Tessa out to see it. She was very calm. Interested. Walked right into them, but she wasn't really getting the idea that you could throw yourself into that pile and cushion falls and dives, and big leaps. She is not able to generate the kind of speed you need to really unlock the potential of destroying a leaf pile.

This is her, "yeah I get it Dad, they're leaves" look. She still has no idea how fun this is."

So we showed her the joy of smashing yourself into a pile of leaves, and we invented a new game that I like to call... Bulldozer!


Music by: Grand Funk Railroad / Song: I Just Want to Celebrate

She's going to be a daredevil, just like her old man. Thanks to Cole and some speedy roadster pushing, She was just as much fun to watch laugh as Tessa.

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