Earth Day 2009

I have been watching this trailer for over a week now and it just simply makes me smile.
I especially love the little duckling who spreads his itty-bitty wings and makes the biggest leap of his life with all the confidence in the world! Watch for it,,,,,it's amazing! It just warms my heart :)
Sit back, relax and take a couple minutes out of your day to smile. Make sure to click on the HD for an absolutely crystal clear picture.

Welcome to the hood

I have a new neighbor as of last night (we share an old home/duplex) and she stopped over for some conversation and borrow of my hammer. She and her friend spent most of the night working hanging pictures, setting up furniture and having fun and I liked hearing all the noises; it's been too quiet since I moved in on my side a few months ago. It was quite the inaugural event, even Hillary stopped by.

My new 50 f1.2L

Recieved my new baby yesterday and haven't been able to shoot it until tonight! Oh my goodness, it has the most beautiful bokeh ever!! I shot this about an hour ago and am heading back out to shoot it all night tonight, so excited! Those of you who know me know how much I love shooting in bars and well, watch me go! Hamburger, fries and beer courtesy of Tiny's Tavern, Billings, MT.
They have the absolute-hands down-best burger in town!! Love 'em!

I couldn't have said it any better,,,,

Found this bit of art by Zack Arias via Troy's blog. Oh how true the words. Zack really brings to the surface for me what I sometimes feel during the winter months here in Montana. It's not so bad if you get to play every once in a while, but I'm usually too busy for that nonsense :) However, I am now rethinking that. I'm learning that my time is precious to me and that I must enjoy it more.
Enjoy the film.

Validation

Thanks to everyone who voted! I've now grown to love the first image, didn't so at first! Send me an email with your address and I'll have your print to you within the next week :)
In the meantime, check this out, a little somethin'-somethin' I found via link on Samm Blake's blog, an awesome photographer you should be checking out anyway!
The following video is an uplifter if ever there was one!
Get some coffee or tea and enjoy....

Some Holga Happiness

Scanned these images from my Holga negs. They were taken in Mexico while attending Jose's workshop.
I'm not sure which one I really like better. The top one with the extra little bit of surroundings or the bottom with the shadow play and simplicity? Help me decide and leave your vote in the comment section. Heeeyyyy wait a minute, I just had a thought! The one with the most votes by Friday will be marked the winner and if you voted for the winner, I'll send you a 5x5 of the winning image! Let's have some fun!

An evening at Mr. V's

The one thing I absolutely love about traveling is meeting people, and last night was no exception.
I found these two beautiful people at a local favorite karaoke spot and knew immediately that I just had to photograph them.
I introduced myself and within a few minutes we were shooting under some awesome red neon lights. Thanks you two for allowing me some time with you!

Victorville, California

Couldn't believe it was snowing here yesterday,,,in the high desert!
Had a good dinner with the family last night then we all headed out for some good karaoke fun,,, pictures coming, stay tuned!

I just love the Grahams!

Jana, a great friend of mine and fantastic photographer called recently asking if I could take some family photos and while I'm usually a bit leery of family photos, yeah, it's not my forte, I jumped at the chance. I've gotten to know Jana, Chris and kids pretty well over the last couple of years and it's always a good time when ever they are around. Thanks guys for hanging out for a bit!

Billings Camera Club

I had the fantastic pleasure of being the judge for the Billings Camera Club last night and their most recent photo contest. Ross, a good friend and fantastic photographer asked me if I'd be the judge for the organization. And the theme,,,,doors. I'll tell you what, it was pretty awesome when I set that page of slides down on my lightbox and the glow of colors just lit up my face and filled my eyes! After the judging I gave my own presentation on some of my work and it was quite fun answering questions. Thanks again Ross and Club for having me :)

I love your cold nose on me

so there i was, getting fuzzy on wine, sitting on the couch talking on the phone with friends when I decided to call it a night and head to bed. I fell in and buried myself under my heavy quilt loving the weight pressing down on me and with a smothering contentment, I sighed a last sound and started to fall fast asleep. But then, my mind instead of finding quiet comfort, wandered in another direction.
Recently there have been so many goings-on in the local hood concerning our four legged friends. most recently there was the sad story of Shady Lane Kennels and the deplorable conditions in which over a hundred dogs were forced to live. and this week there was the controversial bill in the Montana house proposing a ban on pit-bulls. what bothered me about that bill was not the dogs, or the question of whether or not the ban would make our state safer or not, but the idiocy and backwoods thinking of some annonymous folks who emailed the representative who started the bill. they threatened and harrassed and said some pretty horrible things. I'm sure those same people aren't the ones who showed up at the capitol to go against the bill in proper order, those people weren't afraid to show their face and were there with real voices, unlike the anonymous hiding behind the late night glow of their computer screens. it's amazing how quickly some people can start grunting and throwing things, having a tantrum,,,,makes me believe that maybe evolution is the truth and we are derived from monkeys! anyway, I digress,,,,
All I know is that my heart is heavy for all the animals in bad places. I know, as I write this tonight at nearly 2 am there are pets out there in the below freezing cold and I wish so much that I could help, but where do you start?!! It's frustrating.
I really don't believe the penalties are harsh enough for owners who mistreat and I don't understand why. I was going to say that I'm sorry for going on about this, but, I'm not. I love animals and cannot stand seeing them hurt.
well, I feel a little better getting some of that off my chest, and tomorrow I know i will wake with a new reserve and I will find a way to make a difference.
In this moment, I want to wish a hug out to my friend Roni who lives in the Carolinas who just lost her best pal Lucky this past Monday. It was extremely hard for her and as I read her letter to me tonight I had tears on my cheeks. Lucky was 11 years and as I know Roni, she had a wonderful life, but it's still hard.
I have to say, now that I'm on my own, I do miss having my little buddies, Andrew, Chloe and Kota and it's hard, but I know that I can see them anytime and that they remember me when I stroll through the door. I even think of Miss Ava often, how could you not love her,,,,,plus, she keeps the backyard free of roaming lions.

Roller Bounce Baby!

Skating with Toni and her crew at the local skate rink,,,, awesomeness! What a blast it was, and although I only made the loop a few times, I managed to not fall down! I did skitter a bit though and nearly lose my manly-stance as my feet danced away from me, but all was good in the end :) It's been nearly 25 years since I last put on some skates you know.

They have something called the Snowball Skate where all the boys line the edges of the rink and wait for a girl to pick them to skate with and while we were all standing around watching, remembering our younger days at the rink, we noticed one little cute fella just standing there patiently waiting.  He just looked so shy and small amongst the other boys and so we convinced Toni that she should take him out for a skate, since he was being ignored by everyone else.

It was pure brilliance to see his face shine when she skated right up to him and snatch him out of the crowd!  She just made his day.  And she made my day by inviting me out, I don't think I've had a better Friday in quite the while,,,thanks Toni!

I had a little fun with these images and just went crazy on the retro-tool in photoshop  :)

Snow, Snow, go away, come again another day!

It's not that I don't like the snow really, it's just that I'm not ten years old anymore and now, instead of building snow forts and attacking neighbors with my super-secret snowball formula, I'm shoveling and scraping and starting my car in minus fifteen degree weather while my skin blisters in the bitter wind.

Summer, my dear, please come back to me,,, at least let me dream of you whilst I slumber tonight,,,

White Elephant Party

I was invited out last night by Rick to Kathy's house for a White Elephant Party and even though the temperatures were in the minus zero range I decided I would brave the night's grip to have some fun with friends not seen in a while.
It was low key and relaxing to just hang and talk and well,,,relax! Two special guests, actually they live there, were what I think is a Ball Python and Cajun, a Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog. Cajun was beautiful and until last night I had never even heard of this breed. He was so gentle and happy and when I first went down to his level he graced my cheek with some licks and kisses. He was such a happy dog. There were dips, snacks and vodka soaked gummy bears and worms and all around good company. And I got some fun pictures just for the memories.

It's Friday night,,,,,

...time to be scandalous!



Except me, I'm feeling old and tired and going to bed early!

R . I . P .

Amy and Ava

and some fun in the mountains on one late summer day.

Jen

I love this picture of my sister :) We grew up in a little house way down Harlen Rd out in the middle of the country-ness. She absolutely loved her Raggedy Ann and dragged the poor gal everywhere. Takes me back to simple days and simple ways. Wet mittens, snow in your boots and frosty smiles. haha, check out those buck teeth of hers!! Love ya's sis.

Today Ava . . .

Today Ava sat and pondered a bit.

Decision 2008

HERE is the reason I haven't been blogging but as you can see, I have a very busy couple months ahead of me and a lot of things to get done before November. Vote for me and I promise that every man, woman and child will have a Canon camera in their house.