Of course, I had this vision that while we were there, I would shoot all sorts of stock photos, maybe hire some models, scour every inch of the islands (Tahiti and Moorea) for the best shots, possibly to shoot a story..I wanted to make the most of my time there.  And I did make the most of my time, but not in the way I had initially thought.  Ultimately all I did was hang with my mom.  Partly because I was too worried to leave her alone, partly because, well, we were on vacation, but mostly because I genuinely enjoyed spending all that one on one time with her.  I will cherish that time with her more than I ever would the “perfect” shot.  Sitting on the beach watching the sunset with her, while she gets a little tipsy from one piña colada, listening to her tell me stories about her life..that’s the stuff that matters.

I’ve mentioned it before, my mom is not a fan of me pointing a camera in her general direction BUT, I can’t help it, I love photographing her.  I imagine there is some psychological component as to why, but I’m not ready to explore that just yet.  For now, I’ll chalk it up to the fact that I love her dearly.

So here is a little montage of some of the shots I took of her with my handy 1st gen iPhone.  Most of these were shot using the Hipstamatic App and a few were shot with the ShakeItPhoto App.

Stay tuned for another iPhone Tahiti post.

Here are a few pics of my family in Germany last summer.  They are part of a long term personal project I’ve been working on over the last several years.

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Snowshoeing is my favorite winter activity. Well, other than laying on the couch with Cec, next to a warm fire, reading a book, while puffy white snowflakes are falling outside. Anyhoo, I digress. Over Martin Luther King weekend we rented a house up in Breckenridge with a group of friends. Breckenridge a favorite winter spot of ours.  It’s not too far of a drive from Colorado Springs/Denver and there’s a lot to do which is great when your spending the weekend with 16 people.

This shot was taken on the Lily Pad Lake Trail, which technically isn’t in Breckenridge, it’s closer to Silverthorne. Great trail, the dogs loved it!

Just started editing and scanning a ton of film that I’ve shot over the last couple years. Sadly, some decent stuff has just been wasting away in the closet. These are a couple shots from an old abandoned mine outside of Victor and Cripple Creek Colorado. I think as I scan I’ll make a daily post of a couple of my favorites.

Yesterday I submitted a collection of 12 images to an art gallery to be considered for their 2009 Portfolio Showcase. It’s the first time I’ve ventured into the “art” arena and I’m a little nervous about it. I’ve never thought of myself as an artist. The collection I submitted is from an unintended project of doors and windows I’ve photographed. Below are a couple more of my favorites from the project:

Over the years I noticed that I had been taking a lot of photos of doors and windows. It’s not something I go out and consciously look for, it just sort of happens. Usually, I’ll be out shooting an assignment or scouting a location and I’ll see a door or a window that makes me stop and think. When that happens, I take a few photos. Initially I thought my attraction to them was about the shapes and patterns that the architecture created. But the more I thought about it the more I realized that what I am doing is capturing a reflection of how I see myself.

Without getting too deep, I’ll just say doors and windows provide the possibility of there being more.

When I see the strong lines, the shapes that fit together in a nice little package to create this shell of an exterior I look to the doors and windows and think to myself, what’s inside. Wondering if everything is all tidy and perfect, hoping it’s not. Hoping there is something more interesting, more personal, more out of control, really the antithesis of structure. That’s how I feel about me, I’m so structured, rigid, conservative, not in the political sense, but more “let’s not do anything crazy” sense, I think way too much. But often I feel like there is this other me inside struggling to get out, to burst through the front door, streak the neighborhood, sit on the front porch ball my eyes out while gorging on bon bons, then sell everything we own and spend the next two years traveling the world. But see even as I type this I am thinking, who’s that crazy and besides what would we do with our dog and cats.

To see the ongoing collection of photos from the project, check out my gallery at PhotoShelter.

The Olympic Sculpture Park is one of my favorite spots in Seattle and for me it’s hands down the best place in to sit and enjoy the sunset. Whenever I shoot there, I always take a few minutes for myself to sit and enjoy the moment. The park itself represents one of the things I love about Seattle: valuing green space and creating a balance between nature and big-city concrete and steel.

The last shot above is of my favorite sculpture in the park. It’s a lone, isolated, stainless-steel tree seemingly trying to blend into nature. In complete silhouette, you can’t tell that it’s not an organic tree. I find myself wondering if the tree feels anything when people realize it’s not a “real” tree. It may sound strange, but I can relate to that on a personal level.

Window over isle, for sure. This is the view over somewhere in Texas while on my way to Austin last month. I thought the clouds looked pretty cool.