So Called Myth

I finally had the opportunity to see my younger brother play in one of his two bands, So Called Myth, on July 1st in our hometown of Eveleth, MN.  The lighting was dim, but I managed to grab a few gritty shots.  Here's a sample from the set:

That's my bro featured in the last one.  Nice playing, Trev-man.

Back to work tomorrow

Between this entry and a bunch of recent posts on the Three Peas blog, I've probably been overusing the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone. I can't tell if it's aiding my creativity or stealing it from me, but either way it's pretty addicting to use and I always have my phone with me, so a lot of photos are being generated.

I haven't been writing much of anything lately.  Actually I've been starting and re-starting this entry for six weeks.  Uninterrupted stretches of time are rare and usually filled with more pressing things to do.  Plus, my thoughts have been widely scattered.  Maybe the problem is there's too much to say.  I'm horrible at decisions.  I don't know what to mention and what to leave out.  As a result, you can expect this entry to be a jumbled mess... if it gets finished at all.

I've been on leave from work since early May, which has been great.  I will never forget this time I've shared with Veronica.  She is everything I could possibly want in daughter.  No, that doesn't capture it.  The thousands of photos I've taken of her don't capture it either.  She's this perfect, innocent little being with a personality that is completely her own.  I love the way her face lights up when she sees her favorite book ("Farm Peekaboo").  I love listening to her murmur to herself as she plays with a box.  I love that she laughs at my lame jokes.  I love that she is so curious that she'll try to grab the next thing before letting go of the last.  There is so much more.  She just melts my heart.

There used to be more to this blog entry, but it was too revealing and I ran out of time to properly edit myself.  So I'm scrapping it.  I will leave you with the photos I intended to include. They tell a better story than I can with words anyway.

Minneapolis:

Santa Barbara:

Good night.

Brian and Jenny's engagement photos

A couple of friends are getting married soon and they asked me to shoot their engagement photos. I told them I'm not a professional, which means two things: 1) I couldn't offer a guarantee on quality and 2) I wouldn't accept any compensation.  In the end, they walked away with about 90 shots to choose from (cut down from the 250 I snapped), and I got some experience in the business without the pressure of having to satisfy a paying customer.

Plus, it was fun.  I would do something like this again way before I agree to, say, videotape a wedding, which (at least for me) ends up being a lot more work with less polished results.  I'm not saying I want to dedicate my nights and weekends to volunteer photography jobs, but once in a while I enjoy a creative challenge and I do like the idea of developing my skill set. If you are interested in setting up a free shoot with me, send me an email.

The fine print: I don't have any formal training, I use an entry-level SLR, and Veronica still receives priority booking :-).