I was somewhere around the edge of the desert...

It's a rare occurrence for me to have a full week off during the month so when I was contracted to do some filming in Arizona I jumped on the chance to drive myself there instead of fly and take a week photographing the deserts of Nevada on my way down.

Having time to explore I opted to stay off the interstate and take roads that had far fewer people on them, some of them not on my map.  At one point I realized I had traveled for nearly an hour on one stretch of road and hadn't seen another soul.  Well that's not entirely true, I stopped and said hello to a couple cows.  They weren't much into talking.

Below are some photographs taken during the trip.  Shot with a Nikon FE.

Engagement Session: Capitol Campus

With the last vestiges of fall still clinging to the trees we met Travis and Gianna at the Capitol campus in Olympia for their engagement photography session.  The rain held off just long enough for us to capture their looks into each others eyes - their excitement to be together was palpable.  Their wedding is set for next year and we wish them the best of luck during the wedding planning process.  We'll see you next year at the wedding, enjoy your engagement!  (As part of their wedding photography package Travis and Gianna also received an engagement session.)

Wedding: Stacey and Stryker

You couldn't ask for better weather for a wedding, sunny, gorgeous blue sky, beautiful.  One of those days that are so warm and bright that they make you almost forget that winter exists.  And so it was that beautiful day that Stacey and Stryker got married.  It was an Irish affair, right down to the handfasting ribbon at the ceremony and the Irish cornhole bean-bag games.  From my standpoint behind the camera everything went off without a hitch.  Except for the part where two people actually did get hitched.

Never mind the creaks, this is a wedding!

Shotgun weddings are not out of the ordinary.  So when I got a call from a friend asking me if I was free to shoot one that same day I told him I was happy to, I happened to be free that evening and it was for a friend.  But I became more interested when he told me where it was taking place: in a treehouse.

I've been to casual weddings before but this one took the proverbial cake.  I might have chosen to think it was a joke if I hadn't seen the marriage certificate myself.  You know the minister means business when he shows up in a hoody and a stocking cap, looks at the walls and says, "I hope this thing can hold this much weight."

Here, in front of a wall tapestry and underneath a plywood ceiling the bride and groom provide some comic relief mid-ceremony.  Not that we all needed any, nobody was taking themselves too seriously that evening, not even the photographer.  Especially since we all got out alive.

Ever the spectacle, Spring again walks the red carpet

 

As the curtain closes on old man winter's performance spring again takes the stage.  Ever the heroine she again manages to avoid typecasts and deliver much needed comic relief countering the drama that was ever so sullenly woven during the months preceding her arrival.  From the cherry blossoms to the dogwoods everyone dons their theater tailleur to usher in her performance. 

Ever reluctantly the weather is changing and we found ourselves dodging hailstorms between basking in the sunlight on this morning's walk.  Spring is less than three days away but the trees don't pay heed to our calendar, they tick by another clock.  One that is spinning ever faster as winter releases his dark gray cloak and spring begins to recite her lines, much to the delight of the frozen and windblown audience.  I smile when I remember that Nature's theater doesn't have a dress code barring sandals.

16 and 4

 

Does art for the sake of art need a reason to exist?  If it exists solely for the sake of itself is it serving any purpose at all?  Art exists to benefit people in ways that are different for everyone.  It doesn't have to be appreciated, it doesn't have to be hated, it doesn't even have to be seen.  But if it's not seen does it exist?

Olympia rehearsal for V-Day's One Billion Rising

I was asked to shoot the rehearsal for the One Billion Rising dance that will be happening in Olympia on Thursday Feb. 14 and all over the world on Valentine's Day.  The dance is sponsored by V-Day, an organization started by Eve Ensler, who is best known for her play The Vagina Monologues, and is aimed at raising awareness of violence against women and girls across the world.

These Olympia area women (and men) were in great spirits and fired up, eager to learn the moves before the big day. 

The dance will be at Heritage Park next to Capitol Lake in downtown Olympia at 3:30, Feb. 14.
I'll be there at 3pm doing interviews if anyone wants to share why they are rising that day.

 

#1billionrising #vday

Sometimes Photographers Get to Relax Too

We live in a world of immediacy, a hive of distraction where everything comes at us all at once.  While we can choose for ourselves how we respond to this stimulus there still exists a place where we can forget it all, if only for a fleeting moment.  A place where we can live in our own intention, our own aspiration, in our own contentment.  For some that moment manifests itself in a massage. 

A massage is a place in time where we can release anguish and worry and instead focus directly on ourselves and on our own well-being; far from the anguish of our existential life.

For me that moment lasted a full 4 hours and involved no less than 3 models and 80 degrees Fahrenheit.  It wasn't actually that hot (I don't carry a thermometer with me on shoots) but the sweat beading off my forehead told me I couldn't have been far off.  

Between thinking to myself "this is taking far too long" and "I should have worn more deodorant" I did my best to portray the moment.  A moment in which the models were experiencing pure bliss in the midst of doing their job and the exact moment where I could say for myself that finally - I was doing the exact same thing.

Thank you Mandy Zabohne, LMP, Olympia, WA

Some photographers shoot weddings. I don't.

It's not everyday I attend slaughters.  It's just one of those events I rarely find myself at.  They aren't like concerts or baseball games, you don't buy tickets, grab yourself a cold one and find your seat.  But this morning some friends were gracious enough to let me attend their "event" (if such a moniker fits) and shoot some images for an upcoming project I'm working on.

Dan greeted me warmly as we forewent the obligatory handshake due to his blood stained hands.  The spatter on his face was the first indication I was in the right place.  The crew was already hard at work.

The scene before me was not what I expected.  It was tidy, orderly, everyone doing a job.  The slaughter itself was fastidious, timely, an exercise in efficiency aided by modern technology - not the 'swinging axe, chicken running around with it's head cut off' stereotype that most of us probably envision.

A slaughter, whether it's of a single animal or many, as was the case today, is a necessary action to procure what most of us take for granted: a neatly wrapped chicken breast in a supermarket, conveniently affixed with a recipe for easy preparation at home in the comfort of our kitchens.

This is the reality.  Something we're far removed from in our modern society.  This is where it comes from. Work is involved.  Blood is involved.  Killing is involved.  Most of us will never see it.  It's not disgusting.  It's not repugnant.  It's life - and death.  A reminder of our distant past, one where killing was a way of life.  One where death was a necessary and visible component of the sustenation and proliferation of our own species.

This morning chickens gave their lives for the betterment of humanity.  There does not exist a more honorable death than that.

We all get hungry, even on the moon.

There I was again, shoving a scone in my face, a piroshky melting in my mouth, wondering if I'd washed my hands after petting those goats.  All while gazing longingly at the elephant ears strolling past carried by eager hands who at that point would probably do anything their owner's mouths asked, including reaching into their wallets to purchase more fat and sugar-filled delectable morsels of fair food.

Ah, the Fair - late summer days, warm summer nights, more good food than you can shake a krusty pup stick at - but wait, this wasn't summer, it was spring, it was almost 80, and there were more people walking around in Puyallup with smiles on their faces than there were after it was announced that the Beach Boys were no longer touring the fair circuit.

As I munched the last of my piroshki the light beaming from behind these floating bubbles caught my attention and I felt like I was on another planet.  That is until another waft of cinnamon and sugar filled the air and I was off in search of the source, the thought of goats long gone from my mind.  But maybe I'll wash my hands just to be safe.