Britt

I had the shortest shoot I've ever done last night with Brittany: there was this great wind and, I hoped, a storm brewing, so we decided to go out, find a hill, and see if we could get hit by inspiration and not lightning. I'm pretty happy with how it went, on both fronts. I didn't get the storm clouds I was hoping for, but the wind was so, so fun... except for Britt, who was FREEZING. She was a trooper, though, and hung in long enough to get the shots we were both hoping for.

Here are a few of my favorites!

You can see the rest here.

Stela

So, operation "build portfolio" coming along well - better, unfortunately, than operation "find day job without oil & gas experience". Oh well. These ones are from a shoot last night with Stela, and feel a little different than most of my other work. I kind of like them.

You can see the rest here. Enjoy!

Brandon

This is especially for Kat(i)e, who noticed last time when I put Brandon's name on Jordan's pictures. These ones actually are of Brandon, so you can expect the title to be more or less static...

There are a couple more here. Enjoy!

Victoria

I had a shoot with Victoria last night, and I think we got some good stuff. It's so nice to finally have a bit of warm weather to work in! And we even had a visit from the deer who live in the park...

You can see the rest here.

David

I took some shots of my brother at Christmas. You can see some more here.

Create

I am in a deeply creative mood today... tried to go out to take some pictures at lunch, and couldn't find good light anywhere. Aaargh!

Tonight I will edit some pictures, I will play my bass, I will sing... it's going to be good. I can't wait to get some of this out, to do something wonderful with it. It's funny though, how it comes and goes... I hope that someday I can develop some discipline, not to bring down the peaks, but to try and limit the impact of the valleys.

Oh, and I may have found the hardest thing in the world. It's having a little girl in bed, in tears, saying, "Daddy, come back... Daddy, need a hug" and not going in every time. It kills me, and even though I know she needs to learn to sleep well, every fiber in my being wants to hug her and comfort her and give her that sense of being treasured, protected, and loved, more than anything in the world.

The Wedding, Part II

Well, I had a chance to show the wedding pictures I took to the bride and groom this week.

They liked them. That makes me happy.

I was reflecting over the last couple of days about the joy I feel in creating, but how it is amplified so much when I can share it. It's funny - I used to think I was in introvert; I used to feel pretty content living a very internal life. But I've discovered that even a very solitary kind of experience - taking pictures of wildflowers at dawn in a deserted park - is not truly solitary for me.

I love the sight that inspires me to try and capture that beauty in the first place, even when my eyes are the only ones that see it. I love the activity of waiting for the light, finding the angle, getting the focus, and making the shot. I love the feeling that comes when I look at it and know that, somehow, what I have is more than a reproduction of what touched me, but that the beauty is truly there, and that, sometimes, it's even magnified in the act of being captured.

But what I love the most is sharing it. I love it when a picture or song or piece of writing moves someone... I want to be a creator, but not just a creator. I want to be a participant in people's lives, and whether it is through a talk, a meal, or a piece of art, that's what I'm really longing for.

And sometimes I'm lucky enough to get it.

Stockholm: Design

I'm slowly getting caught up.

There wasn't as much "nordic design" as I had anticipated in Sweden. Perhaps it's just because Ikea is ubiquitous that I don't even recognize it any more when I see it, or maybe they're just past that whole thing, but I kind of wish there had been some more. It's like going to Disneyland only to find out that Mickey doesn't live there any more. Kind of a bummer.

In any case, I have some design shots online now. You can see them here, but these ones are my favorites.

[EDIT] Added the link... sorry!

Hurricane

Well, my mixer is still in the shop, but I figured out how to rig up my other interface to do a bit of recording, so operation "Fix The World's Incomplete Recordings" continues.

This time I added backing vocals on a tune called Hurricane, by Mindy Smith. You can download it here.

Okay, so it doesn't really fit me lyrically, but it's a gorgeous song. And she has space all over this album for me to sing along, so this won't be the last duet we do. I think I may be in love.

Creativity

I got this quote from a friend, and I like it a lot, so I thought I'd put it here:

“Somehow,” notes Os Guinness, “we human beings are never happier than when we are expressing the deepest gifts that are truly us.” Now, some children are gifted toward science, and others are born athletes. But whatever their specialty, all children are inherently creative. Give them a barrel of Legos and a free afternoon and my boys will produce an endless variety of spaceships and fortresses and who knows what. It comes naturally to children; it’s in their nature, their design as little image bearers. A pack of boys let loose in a wood soon becomes a major Civil War reenactment. A chorus of girls, upon discovering a trunk of skirts and dresses, will burst into the Nutcracker Suite. The right opportunity reveals the creative nature.

This is precisely what happens when God shares with mankind his own artistic capacity and then sets us down in a paradise of unlimited potential. It is an act of creative invitation, like providing Monet with a studio for the summer, stocked full of brushes and oils and empty canvases. Or like setting Martha Stewart loose in a gourmet kitchen on a snowy winter weekend, just before the holidays. You needn’t provide instructions or motivation; all you have to do is release them to be who
they are, and remarkable things will result. As the poet Hopkins wrote, “What I do is me: for that I came.”

Oh, how we long for this—for a great endeavor that draws upon our every faculty, a great “life’s work” that we could throw ourselves into. “God has created us and our gifts for a place of his choosing,” says Guinness, “and we will only be ourselves when we are finally there.” Our creative nature is essential to who we are as human beings—as image bearers—and it brings us great joy to live it out with freedom and skill. Even if it’s a simple act like working on your photo albums or puttering in the garden—these, too, are how we have a taste of what was meant to rule over
a small part of God’s great kingdom.

(John Eldredge, The Journey of Desire , 152–54)

I read this and realized how much I have to be thankful for. God knows I'm not perfect: I could come up with a list of proposed changes pretty quickly. But I think of times when the greatest dilemma in my life seems to be that I want to write, to create music, and to make beautiful pictures, and I just can't decide which one to throw myself into at that moment. For a time I do one, then the other, then switch back before hungering again for the third. What a problem to have... too many outlets ready to accept whatever creative energy I have.

It makes me look back to a time in my life when there was very little of that... I was listless, aimless, and living in black and white. What a difference! How alive I feel, now... I can get out and walk for 8 hours seeing the amazing variety and beauty and also the dark side of nature, of people, and of what we have created without even thinking about the time. I can sit at my mixing desk until 3 AM aching just to record one more part, to see a song moving from a whisper to a roar. I can close my eyes and sing my heart out and reach for that high note without holding back. And I see that my creative life and my spiritual life go hand in hand... the more I exercise my creativity, the more I am reminded of how and why I am the way I am. And the more I draw close to God, the more value and beauty and purpose I find in the things my hands naturally seek out.

So my prayer for tonight is not just, "thank you, God, for music", but "thank you, God, for the music in me". For not just one but many great endeavors at my feet. I'm blessed.

A Few Pictures

I've been updating my photo site, but, in case you haven't seen it, here are some recent shots I'm fond of.

Wednesday Is Graffiti Day

Well, I can't find the one I wanted to post today. But at least I remembered.



Next week will be extra good, I promise.

Fine Art

I'm going to a Sound Of Music party tonight. I realize that half of you who are reading this are checking the url and wondering if you've somehow landed on the wrong page. But no, it's me, and I'm going. And I'm going to have fun.

It's gotten me thinking. How does one prepare for a SoM party? Are there Rocky Horror Picture show kinds of rituals that I should be prepared for? Should I wear the costume I got cheap on eBay from some guy called "Prnc_Hrry"? Break out the lederhosen? In any case, at the urging of my therapist, I've decided to leave all my firearms at home. And you know, I think she's right.

Eurovision is coming up in the next week, and I am super pumped about that. I don't think that the semi-finals on Thursday are going to be broadcast in English, but hopefully the finals on Saturday will be. By the way, when I find out what time they are, you're invited.

And finally, I've been in a total Klimt mood lately. Color, texture, hints of gothic masterpieces... this guy had it going on. Does anyone know of a museum with a decent collection?

Got to go. I need to make myself a suit out of my curtains.

Wednesday Is Graffiti Day

Or was. Sorry - that's two weeks in a row *hides face in shame*

Here's one by the toughest gang in Lugano. To join, you have to be willing to cut off your own legs at the knee. They don't catch many people, but if they do get a hold of you, you're in deep trouble.

Wednesday Is Graffiti Day

Or, was. A little late, but close.

Yesterday Was Grafitti Day

Whoops. Missed it.

He was WAY cooler before someone put gum on his nose, but still, I like it.

And More Pictures From Lugano

Did I mention that I really like this camera? I managed to get a few more after work. My goal is to have the first page of my blog completely inaccessible for anyone with a slow internet connection. And I think it's going right according to plan.

They were doing construction on the front of this store for ages (it's between my hotel and office). I love the new look... nice in the day, but even better by night.





I KNOW I'm not the only one who finds this amusing.


Cleaning up at the end of the market day.






Here it is again, at night - it makes the whole square glow, which may turn out to be kind of hideous in the long run, but since this is the first time I'm seeing it, I like it.

Lunch In Lugano

The fun with the new camera continues. Still a little cold, but some better light today...

My New Camera

Well, I got the camera, and decided to take it for a spin tonight... cold wind, encroaching darkness and lack of knowledge or not. Here are some of the my first shots.

Stubby trees along the lake.



Some flowers with the lake, the city, and the Jura behind them.



Public toilets. Inviting, eh?



The stubby trees again, but in the hood of a Merc.



In the park across from the lake.



I like the texture.



LOVE the design of this window. Gorgeous.



A garage.



Nothing says "we only sell heirloom-quality jewelry" quite like a clown with a drum.



Watches and bars.



More watches and bars.



In a cafe near my home.



By the little dog statue, as my little chick knows.



My street.