a great lunch... an embarrassing lunch

So, I just had one of those lunches today that you walk a way from feeling like it could have some major impacts on your life. The kind of lunch you find yourself changing outfits a couple of times before cause you want everything to go just right. Well, today’s lunch was with a local photographer that I have admired for years, a photographer who really shapes much of the wedding market in Lancaster and Central PA, and well, to be honest his studio has an impact on the entire Northeast. Through some crazy events we met, he offered lunch, and I gladly offered to pay. It was great… I’m excited about the possibility of the things I’m dreaming about coming true. We'll just have to wait and see... ohhh the drama.

But here’s the embarrassing part. He went to check out my blog, which I was not expecting cause I thought we’d look at my laptop if he even wanted to see pictures, and what I realized as he was scrolling through the pages is that I haven’t updated in weeks. I’m currently looking at seven, yes 7, blog entries needing to be written.

So in good embarrassment fashion, I’m going to get my blogs up to date. Starting NOW.

or after I get back form running an errand for my wife, and going to class in philly, and... well I'll hopefully catch up tomorrow, yeah, I'll do it tomorrow.

so until then, here's a couple of teaser pics of things to come.

a really cool workshop and a really long shot.

So think of your hero.

Ok, I'm not talking about your dad or grandmother... although both of those really could be your hero (and secretly they'd be mine as well, and of course my amazing Mom would fall in there too), but what I'm talking about are those people who are in the same profession as you, and you find yourself watching what they're doing. Observing them, copying them, learning from them... secretly wanting to be them. Well, one photographer I look up to and love looking at her work and style and put a lot of weight on what she says and does is Jasmine Star, so if I ever wanted to be a west coast chick with a small dog, it'd be her...Ok, that may have been a little too much.

Anyway. Jasmine is doing a killer hands on workshop in New Zealand, yeah that's right New Zealand, and she's offering to give a way a seat. All you had to do was take a self portrait with a "star" in the picture, get it? Jasmine Star, a star in the picture... oh well never mind.

So here's my entry for a trip to New Zealand. I'll admit it's not the worlds most creative picture, but for having only an hour window to snap a self portrait, which was harder then I had planned on, it was what I was able to do. Pearl said I looked a little holocaustish... I think that means she liked the picture?

So one last crazy idea just to throw it out there, you know for kicks and giggles, if I don't win this thing... I guess I could let one you get it for me for Christmas, you know it's "only' a little trip to New Zealand, I hear plan tickets fit nicely in stockings, elbow elbow wink wink.






ps - I think I was only suppose to submit one image for the contest, so Jasmine I guess I'd use the top one, but if you like one of the other ones better feel free to use that one instead. Seriously, I'm ok with you doing that.

A happy heart…

So I find myself editing like a mad man today. I’m learning what the priceless words of “Time management” mean and can give you first hand examples of what it doesn’t mean. Basically I scheduled more shoots then I was able to turn around in my target edit time and I literally found myself looking at close to 15,000 photos needing to be narrowed down, color corrected, fine tuned, fixed, and to have zits and the like removed. So for 7 hours or so today I’ve edited, deleted, and edited some more.

But here’s the strange thing.

I’ve found myself strangely smiling. Not stocker looking at your family photos strangely smiling, but a true from the heart, no from my soul, smile. A joy or happiness that seems to seep out as I look at beautiful pictures of families being beautiful together. Of what love looks like, of what acceptance looks like, of what it means to have a safe place and caring home, and shoulder to cry on, for little boys to be fully boys and turn every stick around them into a sword, and then for “little boys” to grow up into dads who then play with their kids. To see what a family was meant to be.

So to the family who are loving and living as family’s should, live on. And may the love you live continue to ooze over to those around you, and may Pearl and I know that love, show that love, and wrap our family (no we’re not pregnant, but someday, hopefully not soon, but someday) in that some love.

I-85...

During a recent trip to Georgia to visit family I found myself in the passenger seat of my dad's jeep rolling down I-85. We were taking my Nephew to his bi-weekly enzyme treatment for Gaucher Disease (pronounced Go-shaa). If you've never heard of it don't feel bad only around 10,000 people in the world have been diagnosed with it, so it's not extremely common to hear about. Anyway, back to the jeep, I-85 and me in the passenger seat. I found myself during this particular trip holding my camera (surprise surprise me with a camera) as I was working on compiling some images to help retell Gabe's journey with Gaucher. Well, as I was editing the pictures from that morning I discovered these pics that had been snapped along the way and thought I'd share them. There's something about them that makes me like em. Something about the heaven's colliding with the rough oddity of man. Or the simplicity of curves, or the contrast of the colors, or something. Needless to say, I like the pics, and I hope you do as well