A little more

I feel like I'm approaching being fully caught up. I wonder if I just jinxed myself and a meteor will hit my house this time tomorrow... Surely my clients would be understanding if I got hit by a meteor, right?... Right?!

Day 301/365

"Wahoooooooo!!!", said the Slough family. Thanks Heidi for letting me tag along!

Day 302/365

Evelyn & Yuly

Day 303/365

The Moyes family. Again, thanks Heidi for letting me tag along :)

Day 304/365

This is what it looks like when I wind up to my first frame on either of my new film cameras (the Holga and the Diana F+). I'm REALLY excited about showing you these! I'm going to be scanning and posting images from my film rolls soon. "Soon" as in soon after I check with NASA to make sure I'm not really getting hit by a meteor. (iPhone photo)

Day 305/365

Beads... (iPhone photo)

Day 306/365

Ok I have to talk about my personal favorite shots of Jennifer Klekas.

First off, Jen is a beautiful and immensely talented actress. I've seen her perform and she's just stunning.

She dabbled in modeling when she was younger, apparently deciding she wasn't any good at it. I know I know, "but look how beautiful she is!!!!". Well, yes. But believe it or not, beauty isn't everything in modeling. How you move has a lot to do with it. You shoot enough models and you start to get a feel for how models move just by looking at their portfolio, which is filled with STILL pictures. Don't ask me how, you just develop a feel for who's got it and who doesn't.

Jen was kind of rusty but more than anything lacked some of the confidence she needed to move the way I knew she could. We still managed.

Anyway, the reason I wanna talk about Jen is because I got something that I'm really proud of.

And there it is:

In the one on the left, her hair is a bit of a mess, she looks uncomfortable in her own pristine environment, her expression looks stunned. She looks out of her element. This is before the guests arrive.

In the other, she's poised, in control, clean as a whistle, confident; she could get you to buy her a villa in the south of France if she felt like it. This is the only face you ever see when you're around her.

Visually, the contrast is relatively subtle. But the contrast in the mood of each image is so stark, they're unmistakably different.

So woohoo!! I'm excited to have pulled that off :)

And here's the rest that I loved:

Day 307/365

The mountain range across from my house, for the bazillionth time (iPhone photo)

Day 308/365

Trinity

A tender mother-daughter moment... Awww...

Day 309/365

Don't tell ME to slow down!!! (iPhone photo)

About a week's worth

Ok, here's some of what you've missed out on.

Day 293/365

If it weren't for this shot, I would have forgotten to take anything that day. I thought it interesting that a chair was just out there (iPhone photo)

Day 294/365

Family shoot.

DISCLAIMER: Both my good friend Heidi and I were shooting with my camera that day. On the same memory card. For those who have been following my blog, her gear was stolen recently, so she needed loaners as she worked to get back on her feet - which she is now; she bought all the new gear she needed! Yay!! Anyway, what this means is that I'm not completely sure these are all my shots. I'm pretty sure most of them are, but I'm not 100%

Day 295/365

I can't post pictures of Kenzie's bridal shoot until after her wedding on December 16th... But I have a good deal of cool stuff to show you when I'm allowed. Put it on my tab!

Day 296/365

Scouting for new locations. Best day of my life.

Day 297/365

I absolutely LOVE being on movie sets!!

This was from a goofy short film a friend of mine wrote and directed called "Takito: The Quest to Save Rivendork". It was, believe it or not, a prequel to another short film he wrote and directed called "Takito: The Revenge of Dreyfus".

Yes, it's a spoof. It's a joke film. I mean... "Takito". We're alluding to taquitos.

It was a spoof on a largely unknown feature film called Shikito, by Utah Wolf Productions. Now, I'm not one to talk smack about other artists, but these people make some truly, TRULY atrocious films... As if that wasn't enough, they've willfully infringed on an unbelievable number of copyright laws while insisting that you don't infringe on theirs.

Andrew (the writer/director for Takito) and I found this incredibly funny. Particularly because Utah Wolf Productions seem to take themselves so damn seriously. So Andy decided he wanted to make a short film out of it last year. The original Takito film. I found this to be dangerous, not just because he's stealing the movie from Utah Wolf Productions, who are stealing things from giant corporations like Sony, who probably stole their ideas from some schmuck in Arkansas, but also because... Well, how do you spoof a film that sucks? Make it suck MORE?... Andy decided to make it more obviously silly (ie. make it a comedy) while making the cool stuff cooler (ie. better production values).

Regardless, it was enormous fun shooting on set. I shot on days 2 and 3. On day 1 I wasn't available.

Kim wasn't an experienced actress. She needed some reassurance.

Director Andrew James overlooking the work of his DP (Director of Photography)

Day 298/365

Day 2 for me, day 3 for the production of the film. The last day of the shoot.

Fight scenes!!

The ominous bad guy, Dreyfus.

Look! Kanye West!! "Yo Andrew, I'm really happy for you and I'm-ah let you finish, but STEVEN SPIELBERG IS ONE OF THE BEST DIRECTORS OF ALL TIME!!! ONE OF THE BEST DIRECTORS OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!"

It was unspeakably cold up there, and the wind didn't help.

Day 299/365

My new price sheets! (iPhone photo)

Day 300/365

Location scouting again

Lots more going on

First off, let me thank all of you for your support in what has been one of my friend Heidi's hardest times in her life.

According to Dustin Izatt, the fundraiser has generated close to $2,000!! Thank you!! Thank you for your donations, thank you for your kind words of support and for you pro photographers out there, thank you for your generosity in offering to lend your pro gear! Support poured in non-stop and from the farthest places.

She's slowly recovering and as I've told her before, I'm convinced next year is still going to be great for her. If you need a phenomenal photographer, she's your girl; go check her out! Although uh... At the same time... Please don't skip over me... Gimme a chance man! :)

That was number one.

Number two, I'm very very excited to announce the introduction of a new line of albums that I'm calling the "Starving Artist Albums"! Prices start at a scant $90 for a 7x7! I've just placed orders for album samples, but if you'd like to check them out online before you come in and see them for yourselves, online samples are available by invitation only, so please send me an email (or provide me with your email address) so I can send you a link and/or we can discuss details of what you might want for yourself.

And finally, not really news, I turned 30 on October 31st! In sad news however, my doctor tells me I have about 50 years left to live... What do you even do with news like that?...

Blog, that's what!

Day 288/365

It was unbelievably cold out at the Salt Lake that day. That wind was beautiful on her dress, but not so much fun to shoot or be shot in (no pun intended haha).

Des & Eric:

Day 289/365

Who says Halloween pumpkins have to look scary and angry at the world? From the day-before-halloween party (iPhone photo)

Day 290/365

October 31st, 2009! Halloween! My birthday!

I was out at the park with my little boy when I realized that if you try really hard, you can actually get what looks like shallow depth of field with an iPhone! (iPhone photo)

Day 291/365

Right! As in, "Take a right!" or "I know, right?!" or "I'm right!" or just plain old "Right!" (iPhone photo)

Day 292/365

I only WISH I'd taken this shot... Alas, it was taken by Heidi using my iPhone. I just loved it so much I had to show you all. The composition, the movement in the shot, the nostalgic feeling as if on a roadtrip... Really really cool. I'm jealous! Gimme back my iPhone! (iPhone photo)

And my shot from a bunch of kids waving glow sticks around!

Fundraiser for Heidi

As I mentioned briefly yesterday, my very close friend Heidi was robbed of her camera bag and laptop yesterday.

Since then, many have come to her aid. In fact, Dustin Izatt setup a fundraising effort in the hopes of generating enough money that Heidi can at least get back on her feet.

As he says in his blog, every little bit helps. So if you can spare a couple bucks, a donation of any size would mean the world to her.

I'm going to be donating my own share right now.

Another

-- BEFORE I BEGIN --

I want to mention something very quickly. I'm adding this after I wrote the blog, so that's why it's a bit out of place.

My close, close friend and amazingly talented photographer Heidi, from Heidi J Photography, was robbed of her livelihood today. Her photography bag, with all her camera gear, and her MacBook Pro, about $20k all in all, not to mention pictures she'd taken for clients that were on her Mac, were stolen today...

This comes at an already difficult and painful time in her life. Please go visit her blog and leave her a comment, lend her a hand, do what you can so she can get through this.

Heidi, you're smart, talented and hardworking. Add persistence and determination to the mix, both of which you have in spades, and I'm convinced you'll get through this.

I'll leave you with a quote:

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men of talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

- Calvin Coolidge

Back to the blog as I wrote it before getting the news from Heidi...

----------

I noticed I accidentally skipped a day, but the overall day numbering is still right. So I'll pretend nothing happened.

Here we go.

Day 279/365

Ray & Crystal. These guys were a ton of fun to shoot with and I'm really happy with how some of those shots turned out. Thanks for letting me tag along again Heidi!

Also, I just have to tell you the coolest thing Crystal said after wrapping the shoot.

We're outside this abandoned house. It's dark. I'm packing up my gear, Heidi and her assistant Kaity are helping me do so and Crystal is standing around making small talk with us.

And then Crystal says, "Can I just say something weird?" At this point, I'm still looking down, packing my gear, so I just kind of assumed she was going to say something to Heidi, Kaity and me. Just, you know, to the group.

"I really like your nose."

And still not looking up, I remember my first thought being "That's true, Heidi does have a nice nose."

But then everyone went silent. I look up and everyone's looking at me...

"Whu-- Who me???????" They all laughed at my surprise. I couldn't believe it! She was talking about ME????

That was, without question, the most flattering, even uplifting thing I'd ever heard about myself! I'm still giddy just thinking about it! Keep in mind, that compliment came from someone whose hair is naturally that curly. Yeah. Go back up and check out their pictures. She was made fun of in school for her hair like I was made fun of for my nose.

"They're just jealous", she said. "They don't have anything that distinctive about themselves."

And that knocked me out too. I came out of my past experiences with a negative image of myself because of my nose. She came out of hers with a magnificently positive attitude.

I love that. I think we can all learn from her.

So Crystal, if you're reading this, thank you thank you thank you!!! Not only for your compliment, but for displaying such a positive spirit. It's contagious. And I hope everyone whose life you touch gets infected with it.

Day 280/365

My alarm system might someday turn against me... (iPhone photo)

"I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that." -- HAL 9000

Day 281/365

Books that have been sitting on my desk forever... (iPhone photo)

Day 282/365

Wandering around the neighborhood with my camera and long lens, trying to see the same old things with a fresh perspective.

Day 283/365

Anthony & Rose's formals. I just realized something. These types of shoots are basically bridals with the groom thrown in. So in the past I've jokingly called them groomials. But some people call them formals.

So I have an idea... How about froomials? Anybody? Anyone?

Froomials it is.

Here's Anthony and Rose's froomials:

And here's a quick shot I grabbed on my way home from said froomials (iPhone photo)

Day 284/365

Ok, so earlier this year I shot this really beautiful muslim wedding. I'm at the reception and one of the bride's maids walks right up to me with one of those and pins it on my chest. Someone objects, "Hey these are only for friends and family." The bride's maid responds:

"He's our friend now!"

:)

I love shooting weddings (iPhone photo)

Day 285/365

On my way to the store, I look over and notice the colors of the clouds. In a rare vocal display, "Wow" slips right out of me. I pull over and snap this.

It doesn't even remotely do it justice (iPhone photo)

Day 286/365

The first day of snow came down hard this year! (iPhone photo)

Day 287/365

These are the 4x6 postcards I send out to future brides. A lot of times, they come back to me. Maybe the bride forgot to include her apartment number, maybe there's no forwarding address, who knows. But they bounce back to me.

So instead of chucking them, I usually blot out the names and addresses and slip the cards inside bridal magazines at the Walmart on 5600 West and 6200 South (just in case any of my readers live nearby and go to that Walmart too - in which case, HI!!).

I figure hey, if you're looking at bridal magazines, you're probably getting married. Here's a postcard :D (iPhone photo)

FUNNEH!!!

Nothing new to report, and I'll be blogging with new images soon, but I just thought of something kinda funny and had to share. Hope you get a good laugh :)

I made some tabouli the other day and messed it up. I must have been distracted, because I forgot that the onion, for some reason, can't be thrown into the food processor. You have to just tough it out and cry through chopping the onion.

What happens when you throw the onion in the food processor is that no matter how hard you try to fix it afterwards, the whole thing ends up being way too bitter.

Lesson learned! Throw the parsley in the food processor, leave the onion out and chop it up instead.

This concludes another exciting episode of...

DON'T PUT THAT IN THERE! <--- FUNNEH!!!

A little catching up

Day 276/365

Selling my old copy of ProTools and the MBox 2 interface along with a bunch of other discs. ProTools is music making software that a company called Digidesign sells. It can only be purchased if you buy Digidesign's hardware (the MBox audio interface in my case).

So long Mbox. So long ProTools. I'll miss you both.

Wait... No I won't... You were terrible! You crashed non-stop on my copy of Windows Vista 64-bit, Digidesign wouldn't support anything on my version of Vista, ProTools refused to support VSTi, the software's user interface was old and clunky, nothing felt intuitive, and on and on...

I hope your next owner treats you like crap!

Day 277/365

The Novell building in Provo (iPhone photo)

Day 278/365

From Bryce & Dawna's wedding at the Bountiful temple! I'm trying to change my workflow to include previews of the wedding on the blog. Here's my first attempt.

I should mention something that I think all brides should be more aware of.

A lot of temple weddings take place right around noon. The most beautiful part of the day to our senses, but the absolute worst light of the day for a camera. If you're planning a wedding and considering when to be sealed or married, please, do yourself a favor and plan for everything to happen as close to sunset as possible.

Dawna was well aware of this and planned her day accordingly.

Anyway, here we go!

I love that this feels like some of my open field shots. Believe it or not, this was still on temple grounds!

I tried nailing this shot a bunch of times... Bryce & Dawna looking just right, sunset behind the mountains before it was gone and everyone's reflection to accompany the newlyweds.

I can't begin to tell you how beautifully this opera singer performed her rendition of "Over The Rainbow"... Really, I was at a loss as to how to capture it.

Jason and Heidi wanted me to do some family photos during a lull in the preparations earlier in the day. One of the many advantages of unlimited time and locations you get when you book me ;)

This last one doesn't fit anywhere but I really like it. Nostalgia probably. Reminds me of old pictures of myself when I was that age that my dad used to take.

Day 279/365

Heidi let me tag along on a whopping 3 shoots that day. Thanks Heidi! Here she is to start things off. This is what it looks like when beauty, talent and intelligence coexist :)

Sisters:

Apparently, all these girls have to do is bat their eyes and ask a random canyon driver if we can use his car for a few shots and he'll say yes.

And you can see why!

Later that day... Family shoot #1

I believe it was Heidi that pioneered "Upside-Down Baby":

Mock engagements:

And then one last family shoot:

Day 277/365

IT'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've already pre-ordered mine!!

Day 278/365

Look at the license plate... "866 USA" huh?... Then why are you driving a Toyota? (iPhone photo)