Friday.

Do you ever have one of those weeks that feels like you've been punching yourself in the face for the last 5 days? Man, something about this week has felt epically long. And I can't even put my finger on the exact reason why. Whatever the cause, time has been creeping past. C R E E P I N G. It's not even that it's been particularly bad. Just the usual ups and downs of working for a living (which, P.S., I would really rather not do anymore; how exactly does one become a member of the 1%?). But today is Friday. Making this afternoon officially, as R&B sensation Robert Sylvester Kelly puts it, "the freakin' weekend." And I am, in fact and with due haste, 'bout to have me some fun. So, have a good two days of not-working, people. And enjoy these randomly selected photos, that in no special order show the story of nothing in particular. Weekend. Bam.

Busy week.

Wow. It has been a busy frickin' week. Awesome, but busy. I was all over the map, thematically and literally, and next week shows no signs of slowing down. Plus, summer is now, beyond the shadow of a doubt, in full swing. I can tell because my forearms and the tops of my feet are a deep, swarthy tan. My legs, however, are still the delicate lily white of a man who wears long pants to work every day. If I wear shorts right now it looks like I'm still sporting a snug pair of freshly bleached thermals. The contrast is astounding, maybe even appalling. In photographic terms, I'd estimate the variation to be somewhere in the range of 8 full stops. Yikes. I need to find a little time to get some daylight on those puppies. Now that I've over-shared, here is a random smattering of this weeks photographic highlights. Rock the weekend. You've earned it, people.

 

 

Holy Sh*t, it's September.

Can you believe this, people: it's September. This weekend is frickin' Labor Day. LABOR DAY. That's the end. Finito. Done. Summer=Over. What the hell happened? Wasn't it June 1st like three and half days ago or something? Where did it go? Rough estimate, I only did 2.83% of the things I wanted to do this summer. I'm no math-stronaut, but I can tell you those odds aren't very good. Here-to-fore, I am annexing September into the canon of summer months. June, July, August, September. There, more summer. That feels better. Your welcome, everyone. Enjoy.

P.S. The little fellow up top has been hanging out on our window screens the last couple nights. I like him. I've named him Renaldo. The photo was taken at night using two headlamps from opposing angles. Same thing with the wasps below. Except they don't have names. I don't like them.

 

Random photos, random thoughts.

To all my regular readers (by which I mean my mother, Hey Mom, how's it going?), my apologies for the long gaps between posts lately. I've been shooting a ton of new work, but I haven't really had any time to show anyone. And what's the fun in that. So here's a random smattering of new photos with little to no explanation of who, what, or where. Take them as they are, just some pretty, new blotches of color to peep at.

But it hasn't been all work this week. I also had a birthday. 28. Jesus, I'm not ready to be 28. That's just 730 days (now 725.5 days) shy of the dirty thirty. And as anyone who's anyone knows, 30 is old. I'm not ready to be old. I really need to pack a lot into these next two years. "Make 'em count," as they say, before I begin the long, slow downward creep towards the grave.

Okay, to any of the post-30 crowd that's currently winding up for an epic rant in the comments section-- fingers twitching above the keys with early mid-lifed rage-- I'm just kidding. Not about the "making it count" part, that still seems like sort of a good idea. But I am kidding about the "30 is the end youth" part. Frankly, I think a lot of the 30-something crowd are still rockin' it harder than I am at this point, but I have been thinking a lot about the things I want to check off the list in the next few years. I'm not going to reveal my plan here. I don't want to jinx it. But I am going to start actively pursuing some of my whacker ideas. Why not, right? In the event that any of them pan out, you, my dedicated readers, will be the first to know (I'll also give you call, Mom). Check back for updates from the field. In the mean time, enjoy the weekend.

 

Colorado.

A few photos from an engagement session I shot while we were out in Colorado a week ago. These were shot outside of Boulder. We ended up with bad weather but made the best of it. I love the way the sky looks in these. Also got the chance to be a lame tourist in Boulder for the afternoon. As you can tell from the photos (taken by my lovely assistant Sarah), I really enjoy being a tourist. While tolerant, Sarah was not what you would call impressed. Can't win 'em all.

Coffee vs. Time.

 

This is why one must always remember to empty the office coffee pot before travelling for two weeks. When I was getting ready to leave, I went over my packing lists again and again. I packed lenses, checked my memory cards, charged batteries, counted out clean socks. I had everything. I was ready. But there was still that nagging feeling that I had forgotten to do something. What was it? What did I forget to do?...Oh.

Hmmm, so it goes. I decided to go out for coffee this morning. Other than that the trips were great and now I'm back on my home turf processing everything from the road. And cleaning the coffee pot...

Faces in the Crowd.

Here's a frame from a senior portrait shoot in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Kind of a strange looking kid, but, hey, who am I to judge...Okay, sorry, that was lame, I know. This really is from La Crosse though. It's on top of Granddad's Bluff. Everyone else is up there looking at the Mighty Mississippi, taking in the spectacular view, snapping a family photo, and I'm wandering around taking pictures of the coin operated binoculars. Seriously, what's wrong with me?