Sophomore

Yesterday was one of those days where everything that I needed to complete a simple task was on empty. I had an invoice I had to send out, and something that should have taken a quick 5 minutes to print, stuff into an envelope, slap a stamp on, and mail away-- ended up taking me the entire morning to accomplish.

If you already follow me on TWITTER than you already heard about the "smearing" and I apologize.

So I tried to print this invoice, and of course the ink is out. Ugh. Errand. Load Tessa in the car, start it up. Ugh. Gas light is on. Another errand. So I head to the gas station. Pull in. Grab a pump. Ewww, I immediately feel something gooey and smushy and wet, and "OH MY GOD IT'S SHIT!" The entire inside of the gas handle had been smeared with dog shit by someone, which is now all over my hands. "FOOOOOCCCCKKKKK" I look around to see who saw the outburst and if there are any giggling prankster hooligans hiding nearby watching their handy work. Nothing.

The worst of this, is that you still need the gas. So you have to just stand there and keep pumping. When life hands you dog crap on a gas pump, you keep pumping.

The woman in the mini van behind me, has the shocked look on her face, I notice she is also standing there with a hand full of dog shit shaking in disgust. Luckily I have baby wipes and hand sanitizer and share the wealth. We chat about humanity being on the brink. We both just keep saying, "who does this?" I get in the car and had to laugh about how simple and cruel this prank was.

I drive back home, and wash my hands 20 thousand times, with vinegar, with a lemon, with some bleach water, and they still smell bad. Ahh, toothpaste. That always works. Remember that little trick folks. It gets the smell out.

So long story short, I get the ink. It's the wrong pack, I'm out of envelopes, I'm out of stamps, I am feeling like a schmuck for being so unorganized. How can we spend so much money at Target and still be out of these kinds of things?!

Whenever a series of annoyances comes barreling at me like this, I always end up in a funny mood. Like laughing out loud in the car at myself and calm. I just think, "these are your problems?!" and I remember to feel lucky. I will take dog shit hand, and trouble remembering to keep ink in the damn printer any day. None of it is a big deal. Not even a little bit.

And then all of the sudden just to make sure my day was brighter. I get the most excellent email in my inbox from THIS super talented lady.

It's the brand new cover art for "Do Fun Stuff Vol. 2" which will be coming out close to Christmas this year. That's right, It's finally coming together. Take a good look at it. It's freakin exciting. I'm excited.

I am thrilled to share this with you. I wanted to get a new artist for each new Volume of "Do Fun Stuff" and for this effort I asked mega talent Jen Lobo who paints stunning creations using animals as her main subjects. There is so much personality and spirit in her subjects that they just push the imagination. They always feel like grand scenes from a bigger story don't they? I recently bought my favorite piece of hers for Tessa's bedroom. I hope she will make up a thousand stories in her head about that whale. I can't wait for THIS image to be in her shop.

So HUGE thanks to Jen for kicking things off for Volume Two and coming up with this scene for the cover.

In the mean time, while I get things finished up with Volume 2. Anyone that might be interested in picking up some prints I am having made of some of my work, please read below. I am participating in a silent auction. Prints. I almost never make prints.

I wanted to direct your attention to a great family that's out there making things happen for the Smith Magenis community. I recently got the chance to speak with Steve who runs a much more ambitious blog than mine, where he has chronicled a ton of great hiking trails and museums in his home state. Steve often takes along his son with him on his travels, and his son also just happens to have SMS. We recently talked on the phone for a couple hours about the charity work that he is doing, but mostly we traded stories about the boys. Steve's son is a little younger than The Littlest Buddy, just as adorable and charming. His name is Damian, and his father is doing big things to get some money raised for hard research. He has put together a really cool silent auction and I am in the process of getting some prints made to donate to the cause, and soon you will be able to go HERE to a "Dream for Damian" and bid on them along with a ton of other really great items. You can bid on anything you want, and all the money goes directly to the Smith Magenis Research Foundation. He has done a fabulous job whipping up interest and getting people on board. It's a father fighting to make a difference, not just for his own son, but for an entire community of people that just doesn't get much help or attention when it comes to research funding. I am grateful of his hard work, and for his perspective on raising a child with SMS. It has been a real comfort knowing there is another parent I can talk to about the heavy and the fun stuff.

So if you're interested in the auction, please take a look HERE.

Anything you think I should make prints of? Make available? Let me know.

Thanks for giving this some attention today and I hope you're excited about Volume 2. It's going to be a hard act to follow, but I am determined to deliver another big dose of family friendly music for your epic dance parties.

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Making Good Use of Generosity

Soon after I wrote THIS post a couple weeks ago about wanting to get serious about shooting film more often, THIS MAN, this sweet generous man Mr. Jason Hudson, (who has become a quick friend, mentor, and all around inspirational human since I discovered his blog a year or so ago) sent me the very camera that I had my eye on to start down that path. He did WHAT?! Yeah, that was my exact reaction too. I had spotted a Mamiya 645 in good condition at a local camera shop here, and was saving up to justify the buy, and before I knew it, I received this email from Jason...

"Hi buddy!
I have a Mamiya 645 ProTL.
Tried selling it on Craigslist, but no bites. It’s all yours, you can just have it! Pay for shipping. Polaroid back, 80mm, 55mm lens, light meter . . . Maybe more. Can’t remember. Literally fired that thing no more than 300 times. She’s a beauty. But I’ll never shoot film again."

So after some back and forth banter about how "I just can't." and "no way." and "this is too much." He shook me by the shoulders, slapped me around, and I said, "yes please." And I can't say thank you enough times. I tried. It never feels like enough. So here she is pictured below. Just after I fired my first roll of film. I have never owned a medium format camera before, and so the first thing I did was read the manual. READ. YOUR. MANUALS. Sorry, had to stress that. Amazing how many people never even open up their camera manual. Of course as always I had to watch a You Tube tutorial to load the film. I wanted to make sure I got it right the first try.

** You Tube tutorials have been a tremendous companion to just about everything I have ever wanted to learn about. It's always a great start, if you don't know how to do something, search for a tutorial on You Tube and see if it is out there, it probably is, and even if it might not be the ultimate tell all, it is usually a great first step to figuring shit out on your own.

And yes that is an Instagram shot below. I finally caved and got the kool-aid in my mouth, largely because of, who else, Jason. I admit, it has been fun. Ugh, that was tough to say. If you are also on Instagram you can find me on there now. HERE is my Insta info so you can see me struggle with learning how to take pictures with a phone. I need Cole to give me lessons.

So I ran out and bought a variety of 120 film to test. Kodak, Fuji, and Ilford. And like always when I want to do some kind of a camera test, I watch the windows for Cole to get home from work, and the second she walks in the door I'm like, "COLE! you have to get Tessa's hair to stop looking like the Feral Kid from Mad Max and please go outside in the backyard, I know it's hot, I'm sorry, and let me take pictures of you and the children."

So in preparation for my camera test, this ended up being the very first time Tessa held still long enough for Cole to put braids in her hair. It was a sweet moment. Captured on Instagram.



So the first roll of film I tried out was the Kodak Porta 400 which boasts-- "The PORTRA 400 Film is the world's finest grain high-speed color negative film. At true ISO 400 speed, this film delivers spectacular skin tones plus exceptional color saturation over a wide range of lighting conditions. For years, professional photographers have preferred KODAK PROFESSIONAL PORTRA Films because of their consistently smooth, natural reproduction of the full range of skin tones. In that same tradition, the PORTRA 400 Film is the ideal choice for portrait and fashion photography, as well as for nature, travel and outdoor photography, where the action is fast or the lighting can't be controlled."

Who wouldn't want to buy this film with that description?! These test shots were printed at a local shop here in town, on Matte paper, and I scanned them in with the CanoScan LiDE 700F. Which isn't the best scanner in the world, but it isn't the worst either. I am still searching for that solution now that I am going to shoot more film. Ugh, so expensive.

I was pleased with the results, I mean, we were just in the backyard, the light wasn't great. 3:30 in the afternoon. It was thankfully a little cloudy. I mostly wanted to make sure I could load this camera correctly, and make sure I could make crisp sharp images. Mission accomplished. Now I have a whole mess of film to experiment with and figure out what I can do with this camera.




And since I had the light meter out anyway, (which I have no idea why I waited so long to just suck it up and start using one, should have listened to you sooner Rachel), I wanted to see how much better my Polaroids would come out on the 600SE when i wasn't just guessing the exposure. The Goose is still my favorite camera to take family pictures with, as Cole says, "The Goose just makes everything look dreamy."

This is Cole with The Littlest Buddy, just after he woke up from his after school nap, we are still trying to figure out his new daytime routine, with Smith Magenis Syndrome he is often listless and sleepy during the afternoon, and it can be a challenge to get him awake. It produces both some of the sweetest moments with LB and some of the most challenging. This day, was one of those sweet, wake up slow snuggly moments, which thankfully is usually the case.



So this weekend is The Littlest Buddies birthday and I happen to have a ton of film to shoot :) Hopefully I can find a way to squeeze in copious amounts of camera time, and still be present this weekend, and not just camera zombie, grunting, and tinkering, and staring at the fun through a viewfinder.

Have a great weekend, and for all of you East Coast people, take this Irene seriously, she seems like she could be one serious bitch, and if she ends up heading up to NYC, you city folk please take care of yourselves.

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To Be So Brave

I received an email yesterday which led me to discover a web series about a man Tim LaFollette who died 2 days ago by the unforgiving hands of ALS better known as (Lou Gehrig's Disease).

I have been up for hours now, watching Tim's story unfold. There is absolutely nothing I can write here to encapsulate the emotion and awe in watching this mans life. To face death with grace, and heart, and love of life, it's a bravery that has only existed in films, and story books for me. I don't think I ever realized what real courage looks like, not courage like this. I have heard people say things before like "he died well, or he died bravely" and I had no idea what that looked like before, what that really meant. In this series you can see Tim clinging tightly to his spirit while his muscles fail him, while his lungs will not fill with air on their own, as he slowly becomes a prisoner trapped in his own body. That spirit of his, and the love that circles him, rallies so much support and motivates and moves so many people.

Tim LaFollette and his wife the love of his life Kaylan, are inspiring beautiful humans. Their story needs to be heard, and spread, and the lessons learned from their relationship and battle with a terminal illness is an important story. It's something that should not be ignored.

I hear people say all the time: "Well, I don't know WHAT I would do." in response to something tragic befalling a loved one. If you want to know what you should do, how you should respond, how to treat others in the face of death, this is what love looks like. This is a tremendous love story, please share it. Bookmark this series and watch it when you can, find some time, keep this man's voice alive and well, spreading around the web, inspiring others, and let his voice teach us all something new about this life we lead.

This is the trailer to Tim and Kaylan's story. It's the trailer for a 33 part web series that was made to help spread the word and awareness about Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which most people know as "Lou Gehrig's Disease." Tim LaFollette calls it "America's Best Kept Secret Disease." Please watch this trailer and follow the links below and watch their story. Thank you.

Please CLICK HERE to visit the Often Awesome website to view the entire web series. Just scroll to the bottom of the page to start with episode one. The Diagnosis.

THIS LINK is to the blogger that wrote me yesterday, Tim was her friend, and she wrote an incredible post that I wanted to pass along to you. Here is a small quote from her post, she is indeed doing her part, inspiring others to word spread, and share. Tell his story.

"About a year ago, when Tim lost his speech, he learned how to talk with his eyeballs. A special computer tracked his gaze so he could crack wise with a wicked cool robot voice.

Now he has a whole host of new voices. He has the Often Awesome Army, which is, in its own way, controlled by his gaze. He has a legacy of love plain to see in his friends and his family. And he has me, here, whispering his story in your ear. Please pass it on."

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No Idea

So far this year I have been courted by 15 or so brides-to-be asking me to please pretty please consider shooting video of their big day, and out of all those inquiries this year, at some point of the conversation (usually after I quoted them a price), every single couple has told me "never mind." In some cases I got a courteous "no thank you" right out of the gate, other instances it wasn't until a few months down the line that I would get a reason why they didn't need me any longer, some never wrote back at all. I don't mind so much because I don't really shoot weddings, or even have a photography business for that matter. So far I am just this guy that floats around and makes stuff occasionally. I am absolutely lost to tell you the truth. Stuck between the insatiable thirst to get better at what I do before launching some kind of official photo related business, and the urge to hurry up and get something started that I can nurture and grow into something great.

The point is, I am asked all the time to please consider shooting things that I don't normally shoot, and to quote a price, and to please think about making an exception. I usually say no. Not always. Usually. I'm a freak.

And it made me realize, I don't REALLY shoot anything. So if I were to bite the bullet and make a Photography business and build one of those sites that feature my best work (that I keep backing out of), it would read: Photographer - I DON"T really shoot family portraits, newborn sessions, senior portraits, engagement sessions, weddings, I don't REALLY shoot anything. But I might?

At the end of the day I just want a business that is my own, and have one of those cool logos, and finally have a business card, or a website. But what the heck would I put on the business card? This is part of the reason I don't have business cards. The other part is that I quite like not having them. It's worked great for me not having them.

**side conversation about why I don't subscribe to the importance of owning and carrying around business cards- I always felt like there was an advantage to NOT having cards. Here is the thing, if someone wants your info, or if you find yourself in a situation where someone is all like, "Oh nice to meet you, can I have your card?" and you're like me, and you don't have one, you can just ask for theirs instead. This way, you have total control over the contact. If they say they are out of cards, immediately ask to write down their info. Don't give them yours. You want that "ultimate power." YOU are the one reaching out to THEM, and saying "Hey remember me? We met at blah blah, and talked about doing this new super great thing together." Because, the other way around, if I were to give out a card to them, it gets messy in my head-- I am all panic mode when I don't hear from them, "What if they lost my card?!" Or maybe I start to feel insecure and think, "Oh great! I give them my card, and they checked me out, and now have no interest in my crappy work. I suck! I SUCK!" So it has always just been way better for my sanity to keep control of the contact. Bottom line is, if two people REALLY truly want to work together on something, it will happen. There has never been a business card involved in any cool thing I have ever gotten to do in my life. I have always reached out directly on my own, by phone, or email, and begged until I got to do what I wanted. It doesn't always work, but when it does.... awesome.

Back to this whole annoying reality that I don't have an actual photography business. Do I not have one because I really don't want one? Or am I afraid of failure? Or afraid of success? Why does therapy cost so much an hour? Why is it easier to spend money on a lawn service than it is on my brain?

Here is the thing, I have never put myself out there or decided that I would go one way or the other with photography. All I want to do is shoot fashion. But it's confusing because I take photos of my life and share it here, so because of that it looks like I have shot a bit of everything. I have done favors for friends, and shot some weddings, and even took some family photos once or twice. So when you cruise through archives there it all is. I guess what I am saying is, I don't have a passion to shoot these kinds of things unless I am bound to the subject emotionally. I LOVE shooting for friends and my own family because I love them. It's effortless.

I'm stuck. Confused. A little lost.

Here is the last little piece of this confusion pie I am gnawing on. I am afraid of starting a photography business because then I will get so busy trying to make that business successful by booking gigs, any gig, that I will stop shooting the things I love to shoot. Because I need money, gotta have money, because I want to be able to say I have a successful business now that I have one, duh. So all of the sudden this business becomes the reason I stop trying to do the things that I truly want to do. No room for passion projects when you have to squeeze in all your session work to pay the bills.

Reading this post back to myself, I realized a few things. I need some therapy, I just throw commas around, wherever, I want, and I have NO idea what I really want to do. I just want to keep getting better at shooting. That is the only thing I really care about. I'm not striving for perfection here, I think I am just in love with learning.

What was this post about? Two things: Do yourself a favor and stop getting business cards made. AND if you ever want to start a successful photography business don't write a blog post on your blog about how you don't really want to shoot anything.

Was this helpful? Good luck out there.

**This post actually really helped me today, and the combination of writing this out, reading it back, hearing it, and then the comments has made me realize something really important. I want to make a movie. So I am going to.

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Go For It!

Of course you can sing. All you have to do is believe it.
I went out for a quick 4 days with my friends from the band Rabbit! It had been years since I had been out with a band on tour, and it made me feel silly that I forgot how lonely it is to close yourself into a van 24/7 with a group of people. There is a quiet to touring that is essential. It's the good kind of silence, the kind of quiet that great couples share over coffee and newspaper reading in the mornings. There is so much calm and waiting within the constant movement to get to the next space, to set up the gear, and play the show. Tour never stops, ever, there is a clock ticking away, and each minute you take to stand in the shower a little longer, or to pull off the road for a piss, is another mile that you are off your schedule. I was totally taken off guard by the quiet, and really loved taking these photos of the band en route.

Rabbit! chose to tour differently as I spoke about in THIS POST, and the result of their decision to play the majority of their shows to an all ages audience was that they had to show up in these city stops a few hours earlier than normal. So the pressure to keep moving was even greater.

This band traveled 13,000 miles, over the course of 46 days, and played 43 shows. Wrap your head around that schedule for a minute.



What did these guys see while they were out there to make them want to keep going on a schedule like that? What was the big payoff? Have you ever seen a little kids face come to life and fill with light from the sound of music?



Do you recognize all those Bumble Bee shakers the kids are waving around like mad? The owner and creator of B. Toys fell in love with the band and donated a TON of toys for Rabbit to give out on the road. It was a great ice breaker to show up to these gigs baring gifts for the kids.

So why the aggressive tour schedule? They set out to see if they could play their shows at family friendly venues, like ice cream shops, and toy stores, and community centers, and keep a focus while they were out there on learning as much as they could about the withering arts and music programs in America. They got a first hand look at the faces of the kids and parents that are involved in their communities, and that are doing what they can on their own to bring music to their towns, and create hands on music programs for their kids. The people are finding a way is what it boils down to. This tour has spurred the band along to conceptualize and create a bigger initiative to help infuse more money into these programs that are doing what they can to keep music in kids lives. It's a big deal. You can't go around taking music away from kids. You just can't, but it's happening more and more these days at schools all over America.



The band has a brand new album out, that dropped just a few weeks ago while they were touring, It's called Go For It! and if you have never spent 9.99 before to have a soundtrack for limitless dance parties with your kids, or perfect driving music for the entire family, than you aren't spending your 9.99's very well. So go right now and get yourself their new record Go For It!. These guys played a ton of free shows and just kicked the crap out of themselves to pull this tour off, and I am so proud of them for doing these shows... so on their behalf I am "passing the plate" around here, think about buying their new album. HERE IS THE LINK

It is just about the best all around feel good fill your soul with smiles music that has ever been made. I'm not even joking. I absolutely love what this band did this summer, and am so excited that they took the time to reach out to communities around America and have decided to try and do something to get involved in the fight to save music programs for kids. It's good important work, and I can't wait to see what they do next.

How's the music and arts programs in your community? Have you seen a steady decline? Do you have great programs in your area that have emerged since kids aren't getting music in schools? We would love to hear about it. The band will be checking comments here today. Thanks, and be sure to say hi to these guys and gals.

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Let's Try That First Again

First Day of Pre-K


First Day of Kindergarten


First Day of First Grade


First Day of First Grade (Round 2)


I want to honor our decision not to share The Littlest Buddies life stories here in this space in any major detailed way, but also find it impossible not to give glimpses. I wasn't sure how to approach this years "first day of school" post since we have taken the intimate details of LB's life out of the spotlight, but Cole has made it simple for me to tackle this one, I can simply just focus on her for this. Today is as much her first day as it is for him. She fought for this first day. This first day is one great big heavy sigh and soft whisper to the Universe that LB please, PLEASE, have a better year at school.

Cole has been busting all week! I have never seen her more eager to send LB off to school in all the years we have been sending him on his way. Let me back up.

At the top of summer, both Cole and I were so frustrated with how emotionally beat up LB would be by the time he got home from school each day, that we knew we had to figure out a new situation for him. Let's just say things were not going well within a chaotic system. It was too much, too many, too loud, too random. And so Cole set out searching for a new scenario for him... she dug around the internet, and read, and asked around all over, and found an incredible private program for him to test into. So she spent the better part of her summer doing all the hoop jumping, and paper filling out, and records transfers, and interviews, and tests, and talks, and finger crossing, and financial wizardry, and with just a few weeks of summer left, got the boy into this school. Thankfully from all of her diligent battling and defending of his special needs at his previous IEP meetings, fighting to not only keep, but obtain new services, he had such a high Matrix score that the scholarship he was eligible for made it possible for us to send him to this school. Had she not been so on top of things, we never could have afforded this school. Now that we know of its existence we have both set out to make sure that lack of funds is never the reason he cannot attend this program. I will not feel that shame, and with the way the debt chatter keeps evolving, relying on things like scholarships is not a wise thing.

Since LB got the green light to go to this school, there hasn't been a night since that Cole hasn't read me something about this place filled to the top with complete hope and delight-- The way they deal with every little subtle nuance and moment of each day is thoughtful, and designed around a set of kids that break emotionally when expectations are not met. It's all impressive, but beyond the structure, there are glimpses of boyhood. "They have a baseball team, Ryan!" she says to me. "He gets to just be a boy sometimes at this school. Like do real actual boy things." and she says these things with such a sweet new voice and I hear them, and I know that many of these hopes are ghosts from his life before the diagnosis. Things that died when we read the list of symptoms and characteristics, and case studies, and we would search for nights on end for one case of someone with SMS that grew up, and has an independent life, and a wife, and babies. And slowly you start to cross things off the list, and here we are now, trying to find out if there is any kid with SMS that can just simply ride a two wheel bicycle. Ugh. This year is so full of hope for him. I am so sick of hope being a great big huge phony thing, this thing that you just blindly say and do. This year Cole took control of our hope, she basks in LB's calm and his smiles, and as we brace for the transition to this new schedule, here is to hope.



P.S. Of course you all noticed the red cast (LB picked it out by himself) He broke his leg this summer. He let curiosity conquer his common sense, and he stuck his foot into the front wheel of Cole's bicycle when they were on a ride together. He took his feet out of the foot pegs on the bike, and swung his foot around and poked it into the spinning spokes. That is pretty much all you have to do to break a leg. He will be out of the cast in 3 weeks. He runs around on the thing like it isn't even there. He still goes on bike rides, he is no longer curious about the spokes. Things like this will happen.

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Peeling the Curtains Back - Disappointing Hotel Views

After spending a little time on the road this week with my friends Rabbit! traveling across scenic highways and soaking in some sights of this gorgeous country, I realized something about the reality of road travel, and I came up with a new picture project, and so today I am here, proudly introducing a brand new photo series for you all called... "Disappointing Hotel Views in America"

Nashville, TN -- "Where Innovation Sings"

The City of Asheville, NC -- "Something for everyone"

Of course I'm joking, but there was something hysterically funny about peeling the blinds back each morning and revealing our new shitty view and saying something like, "Ahhh beautiful Nashville, the crown jewel of the south."

There was silly talk in the van of starting a Tumblr site called "Disappointing Hotel Views" dedicated to this project where people could post their shitty views and list the locations they were at. Not sure how funny it would be over time (it gets pretty slap happy in the van), but I do love the reality of what people are really seeing on the road when they stay at a hotel versus the idea of what is advertised on brochures and the expectations of post card views. I mean the views I pictured here, is what the majority of people are seeing when they stay at a hotel, but nobody wants to show this little glimpse of their vacation. What keeps coming to mind when I think of this project, is what I usually see when I stay in NYC and get the view of the alley, or a wall of bricks from the next building over, I love those the most.

I had a great time with Rabbit! and am really excited to tell you all about it more, I will be back next week posting on the regular again. It's the last weekend of summer break for us here, so we will be enjoying every little scrap of it. School starts on Monday. Yikes. Good luck everyone getting your kiddos to school on time and encouraged to conquer a new school year.

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The Road to Asheville

There was a point in my life when I thought I was going to be on the road the rest of my life. I was in love with the constant motion. I used to sit and imagine myself not calling anywhere home, and just finding tours, and bands, or inventing holidays to keep me moving and seeing the world. I guess that's the Sagittarius in me? Finding and falling in love with Cole really sucked the aimless wanderlust right out of me, and now I find myself sick with homesickness minutes after pulling out of our driveway, so it was a big damn deal for me to decide to pack up my camera gear and hit the road with my friends Rabbit! for a few days this summer. Granted I was planning on being gone much much longer, and finally wimped and whined my trip down to just these three dates. I really wish I could have went to that Portland show at that rock camp to witness 300 kids chanting Rabbit! How fun.

Anyone that wants to come out and see Rabbit! put on their show, I will be at the following dates listed below, so bring yourself, bring your kids, bring everyone. Be the super hip and in the know parents on the block that brings everyone to a cool show. I am doing some shooting for a little road film about their experience playing shows for kids and families, and if you live in the area I highly recommend you seeing this show. You can't help but smile the entire time... unless you are just seriously addicted to hardcore Screamo and HAVE to rage to your music, then maybe skip this one. Rabbit is steeped in sugar pop riffs and dreamy four part melodies designed to make fairies and woodland creatures blush from the sweetness. Kids adore it, but the band manages to keep it sophisticated enough for the parents to bob their heads along without feeling shame or nausea. So this is where we will be, come see all of us.

08/15/11 Nashville, TN Popo Cool Kid Stuff Time: 5:00pm Admission: FREE Age restrictions: All Ages
Address: 4017 Hillsboro Pike Suite 309A, Nashville, TN 37215. Venue phone: 615-269-6964.

08/16/11 Knoxville, TN Razzleberry’s Time: 6:30pm Admission:FREE Age restrictions: All Ages
Address: 223 Jackson Sq Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Venue phone: (865) 481-0300.

08/17/11 Asheville, NC The Hop Time: 6:00pm Admission: FREE Age restrictions: All Ages
Address: 640 Merrimon Avenue, Suite 103, Asheville NC 28804. Venue phone: 828-254-2224.

So happy to share this gig poster for the Asheville show that one of my most absolute favorite photographers on the planet Jen Altman arranged to be made for the show by a local artist there in Asheville named Katie Daisy who I highly recommend you spending some time oohing and ahhing over her illustration collections, I am absolutely going to buy a print for Tessa's bedroom re-model and want Katie's piece titled "Over the Water." So much in that one to stir Tessa's imagination. Go on GO LOOK. I will wait...

I am actually going to be doing some posts about a few artists I have found that Cole and I are saving up the bucks for to get some art on these walls around here. We are slackers and have no art, and no prints up. Such slackers. We have made it a priority. Ugh, tangent.

So Jen made a comment on Twitter about wanting to see a Rabbit! show with her girls, so I got her in touch with the band, and they put together a FREE show on her home turf at this really great ice cream shop called The Hop that hosts bands and kid acts all the time. Can't wait to get a taste of their homemade ice cream while I am there. So it is because of Jen that I am the most excited about this show, she put a lot of work into making this show happen for her community, and I just love that she got so many talented people together. I have heard similar stories of people who read here, that have orchestrated great shows for their kids and neighbors. Like this one HERE that made me so happy to hear about.

So I will be shooting my quick trip out on the road with Rabbit! and really excited to witness the joy this band has been putting on the faces of the kids and parents they play for. I have heard nothing but good things from everyone that has heard about the shows from this blog and gone out and saw them play. If any of you have ventured out and caught a Rabbit show this summer because of reading about them here, please leave a comment about your experience, I would love to hear about it.

Let me know if you're coming out, and please say hi.

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Shooting in the Dark (shooting tips for the dark times)

Last week I was in San Diego, it was my third invite to come and shoot the Sparklecorn party held at the Blogher conference and hosted by the fun time pop culture gossip blog Mamapop, this year I think I read that there was something like 3,200 attendees at Blogher? Maybe more. Who knows. Regardless of the number, that is a whole lot of women bloggers all in one place. The party this year was open to everyone, and the formula for success was repeated, there was a great cake made out of unicorn blood, danceable music (this year provided by DJ Skribble), and a portable polyurethane lacquered dance floor plopped down in the heart of the ballroom, and even more importantly hosts that seem to propagate fun and silliness, and with parties past, they have created a safe environment to dance with reckless abandon.

I always end up getting decent footage and still shots from the party, and I love the chance to shoot it each year, however it never fails to intimidate me every. single. time. I walk in and see the finished party set-up and realize that I don't have a shred of light to work with. I usually panic and act like a baby for a good 30 minutes, and then find vodka, until the scared look disappears from my face. This isn't a dance club with a hundred lights, and ambient glows around the fringe with hot sexy lights covered in gels and diffusion floating and spinning in the middle of the dance floor action to help create contrast and aid you in any useful way. There are no pretty pockets of light to hang around and catch cool shots at. It is a convention center ballroom, with some shitty dimmed house lights, and a tiny bit of wash from the stage. So it is basically shooting in pitch black dark. So that means turning to my Speedlight. I had a few people walk up and ask what my approach to shooting in these conditions were, and so I thought it would make a decent post. A kind of tips for shooting in the dark thing.

How many people here are afraid to use their flash? Or maybe you aren't afraid, but you hate how flash looks? First things first everything I have ever learned about using a flash, I have learned FROM THIS SITE. It's the best resource out there. They should have their own TV show on TLC. Someone make this happen.

Like everything in photography there are many approaches to getting desired results, so keep in mind anything I suggest, there are 20 other ways to do it. For me, it is important to have total control over my source light (my flash), and especially at a wild dance party I want to be able to move my light around easily and redirect the wash of light where I want it as subjects whip and spin themselves around. When you are using a bright ass flash in a very dark room, it is very easy to use it to paint your subjects with a wash of beautiful glowing soft light, and create a nice rich contrast by making the background go stark black. So for me, I couldn't live without having my flash on an external cord. I live by the cord, it is a life saver for me. There are a few ways you can get your flash away from your camera and in your hands to wield as you wish. For me I don't mind having it on a cord. They range from fifty bucks to a hundo. Depends on your camera, and how you feel about buying pro end gear.

The drawback with having your flash in one hand, and the camera in the other, tethered together on a cord is-- focus! Ugh, it is cumbersome if you need to make a major adjustment to your focus, so make sure you have big hands. OR, you will figure out ways to maneuver both. It does take a little getting used to, so don't be surprised if you run with this setup for the first time, and hate it. For me the results are worth the trouble.

The other essential for me is diffusing the light coming out of the flash, so I run with a handy little medium sized soft box that mounts very easily onto my Speedlight. They are also reasonably priced, between eight bucks and seventy. There isn't much to get into with this, they mount easily onto your flash with velcro tabs, they fold down flat and fit easily into your bag, and they can work well in this situation, but there are limits. They are not great/bordering on useless for full body and large group shots, there just simply isn't enough coverage. It's important to know your limitations of your gear when you approach a shoot. So for this party situation, I know that I want to stay tight, get close, and make faces pop, since the coverage is all about capturing the fun and seeing who was at this event. So the mini softbox is essential in this instance, because I am shooting in a giant cavernous ballroom with nothing to bounce light off of, the walls are a mile away, and the ceiling is too high, so in these situations if you are used to just bouncing your light around to clean it up, you're out of luck. Another important thing to note, is that I dial down the power on the flash to 1/8 power so that I can get the flash super close to my subject and the background remains unaffected, that way I can have that nice clean super black dead space as a canvas, and if anything sneaks in it is minimal and simple to clean up in photoshop.

** On the crowded dance floor I tried to shoot from the inside out, so that I was shooting into the void, rather than into the crowd. It helps keep things clean and prevents any ridiculousness in the background making a great shot feel awkward, remember people are dancing and sometimes dance-face caught at the wrong moment isn't flattering.

Another important thing to note is that I shot these images on my monochrome setting, I bumped up the contrast, and added hints or tints of color all in camera to get the desired effect I wanted. In the first example photo below, I had added a little pink, and then switched to more of a gold tint. I felt like the gold look fit more with the parties "sparkle" theme. Doing this made my post production ultra fast. I added a tiny bit of diffused glow at like 8% to enhance the soft light wrapped around the subjects, and I cleaned up some of the background with the clone stamp tool to keep that black background intact if I needed to. Other than that I was good to go straight out of the camera.

So here are a few shots as examples to this approach. I couldn't shoot from far away, because my light wouldn't reach. So I knew I had to be close to use my flash setup properly. So I mounted my camera with a small zoom 17-55mm so I had the ability to dial out and squeeze in a few people, or zero in and make some nice portraits of just one subject.

Maegan

Georgia

Alli

Eden

Kelly

And yes, sometimes, JUST sometimes, you can get away with a winner of a shot when you simply hoist all your gear into the air and aim it into the middle of the party and fire away. I got lucky this time, I don't encourage this approach, but it can yield some good results if you aim right. Notice the falloff in this last photo, how quickly that light falls apart and goes black, again works wonders for small groups, and single shots, but it can still produce good images, in this case since I was farther away and holding my camera and flash in the air, I increased the power on my flash to give me some more punch.


pictured on the right Liz (Mom-101) and dancing friends Yvonne and Betsy

** I also set some rules up for myself when shooting in a party setting, if someone ducks away from the camera I don't shoot at them. I'm not there to ruin anyones fun or make someone feel uncomfortable. It's obvious but finding the people that are dancing like nobody is watching will always end up being the best subject for a photo, because they are able to just do their thing without feeling self conscious enough to stop what they are doing and pose. It should feel like you're dancing with them, not stopping their fun for a picture.

Hope this was helpful. To see all of the pictures from the party you can do so HERE. and a giant thank you to Tracey and Amy for bringing me in each year for this.

ALSO- Was this post helpful in anyway? Would you like me to do this more often? Was this too basic? Not enough details? Just shut up already and post pictures of your adorable children?

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Morning Hair & Marker Caps

When people ask: "well what do you miss about them?" I would never think to say: "Morning hair and marker caps" but these are precisely the kinds of things that come into my head on plane rides home when I sit blinking out the window. The next time I fly, I'll be thinking of Cole and how gorgeous she is each morning, big funny thick pretty hair, sleepy eyes, and playing with Tessa, (who woke up at 5AM today to see me). One of the first things Tessa told me this morning was that she had "hut myself." Apparently while Cole stocked The Littlest Buddy up on his small fortune in school supplies, Tessa got some fancy new coloring markers. The caps on these suckers are pretty seriously committed to staying on, and so she had smacked herself in the head trying to yank the suckers off when her hand would fly off the end and she would slap herself in the face. So she kept rubbing her head and telling me she "hut myself."

So as I sat there this morning laughing at the marker show, still tired from San Diego, loaded up with fresh stories to share with Cole about stuff like, Canadian friends, and a Black Hockey Jesus, hugs from Ree, meeting a Woolf, handshakes and back smacks, secret vodka stashes, theories on not carrying business cards, and so much more, I just kept thinking about how it's these funny little moments like morning hair, and watching Tessa fight with a marker cap that makes me hate being away.

Sometimes when I travel, I will notice the people sitting alone, staring off in a daze, and then their face suddenly breaks into a smirk like they just remembered the funniest joke, or the warmest memory, and I imagine they must be thinking of home, or someone they love. I mean, who knows they could just be sitting there thinking of a real good fart joke, or how crazy the stripper cops ding dong was on the second floor of the Keating hotel. Stuff like that. But I like to think they are thinking about people that love them.

Enjoy the marker show. No foreheads were smacked during the yanking off of this cap...

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All Three

Some of you long time readers might remember when everyone around here went click crazy trying to win Cole one of those gorgeous Madsen Cargo Bikes that she still dreams about. We did not win. Obviously. But that daydream of hers has held fast -- mainly because of The Littlest Buddy, we have not (as of yet) heard of any cases of kids with SMS that can ride a two wheel bicycle. Cole still holds out hope for LB, and intends to get him riding, but for now, he needs to stay attached to one of our bicycles somehow so they can all ride together. This is MY SETUP for him, that I have blogged about before. It is such a great bike for us, but there is no way to attach Tessa's bike seat to the back of it. The Madsen is still the dream bike, (I think. At least this week anyway) but I need to book a couple few more dozen jobs to make that happen. These cargo bikes are all so expensive. The one I liked the best was some European thing with a shark face and was like the price of a Hyundai.

It has been a really big deal to Cole to have a way to ride both of the children around on her bike when I am not home. I have been out of town on shoots a bunch, and so she has had to scratch bike ride off the list of fun stuff the kids do this summer. Which sucks because it is pretty much her favorite thing to do with them. So she has been obsessing over bikes. And I mean obsessing. This girl can talk about some freakin bicycles. Mostly those dreamy european numbers that have all the gorgeous accessories for toting numerous kids around on one frame. So she was so very excited to order this little bike seat doohickey from a UK company that attaches to her top frame, and that LB can comfortably perch on. Also comes with the foot pegs. Adorable.

She watched the mail for days. Pounced on this package when it arrived, and immediately fixed this seat to her bike, strapped LB in, and off they went.

Mission accomplished.




Oh and since we are talking about The Littlest Buddy anyway, the boy lost a couple things recently. Oh. My.



** P.S. I finally caved to pressures from online villains and got Instagram on my phone, I also decided to start a Tumblr site for it, inspired by my little buddy Mike who sent me a video clip of 300 kids chanting Rabbit over and over. He is out on the road this month with our friends and heroes Rabbit. I will be joining them later in the month to experience all of this adorableness first hand. It really is so cool they decided to spend their summer doing this. Their new album dropped today which you can find HERE Enjoy it with your family. It's perfect music for all of you together.

I am going to use this new Tumblr site to blog a little more leisurely and casual. It's just stuff that happens when my fancy camera isn't in my hands.

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Hanging Around The Drawing Board

When I was in CA on a job a couple weeks ago, for the first time I took along both my digital setups, and for fun I brought along my favorite image maker-- the Polaroid 600SE (The Goose). My job was to shoot the event, and to do some basic step & repeat shots at a fancy party, and then just shoot coverage of a bunch of hair stylists doing their thing. It's always an exceptional experience to be surrounded by a bunch of creative types being pushed to be more creative. While I was there I had a few extra minutes to shoot some of the presentation models that they used to parade around some great hair color. So I thought I would shoot one still image on film, and one on digital, and see which result I ended up liking the most.

All this experiment did was confuse me more, because I like them both, but for completely separate reasons, but it did keep me pointed down a path I have been standing in front of ever since I bought The Goose. I played with both images in post, limiting my editing to the bare essentials of a dark room, the exception being the gradient I laid down on the digital images. And that decision became the big difference maker for me. The film shots I liked right away, out of the camera, and after scanning felt like the only thing I wanted to do was make up for my terrible scanner. The digital shots on the other hand, I had this desire to keep doing shit to them because I could. There is so much latitude to make subtle changes, and the images are so clean, I feel like they needed some grit, and so I realized that I am always disappointed in my digital shots lately, I feel like they are never finished, because I want them to look like film, because once I started shooting The Goose, I want all my pictures to have that look. Once I started holding prints in my hand, I wanted to get that same feeling when I look at my pictures I take on my digital camera.

So I decided that the next job I get paid on, **tangent (which takes forever these days, anyone else in freelance notice that the 30 day cycle feels WAY more like the 90 day cycle, and all you do is watch the mail box and sweat it out while your bank account gets thinner and thinner, waiting for your damn checks to get to you? Anyone? I don't like it. Not at all.) So where was I? The next job I get paid on, I am going to buy a medium format camera and start down the path to making the switch to film full time. Just using my digital setup for video work. I think I have settled an old Mamiya 645 with the 80mm lens, you can always find one on ebay that is clean and fires right for around $500. It feels like a good start and a good workhorse to get me back into film mode.

With all the new technology being put into consumer cameras, I can see in a few years that point & shoots will be able to basically photoshop all your shots as you take them, and turn them into idiot proof perfect shot machines. I can feel myself wanting to just put my cameras down for a career, and concentrate on photography solely as a passion, and get back into the dark room. There is a really great camera shop, and dark room opening up here, that is totally affordable, and I am really excited to spend some time there. I would say 90% of the work I am asked to do in the last two years has been to make video, and I have really fallen in love with it. I would like to feel the same way about the photos I am taking.

Remember THIS POST? Well, I am excited to say that I have been planning ever since, and Cole & I and a whole team of creatives are going out the last 4 days of August to my favorite places in Florida to make some pictures. I got tired of sitting around and looking at magazines wishing someone would give me the chance someday to take shots like them, so I am going to go and prove to myself that I can shoot on a high level. It's a big test. And I am so ready to take it. I'm not afraid of failing because I quite like the drawing board, every time you walk away from it, you get a little bit better.

Here are the shots that set me down this path.

These were taken on the Polaroid 600SE shot on Fuji FP 3000-B




These were taken on the Canon 7D

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