Rome wasn't built in a day...

Why is it that it is always so hard to go out and take pictures?? I mean, really take pictures? Somehow there is always something that I "should" be doing. You know, the responsible thing...

I'm a photographer. I know what pictures I take to make my living and pay my bills. I have no problem with those. In fact, I spend most of my waking hours trying to come up ways to find more instances to do just that. It's the pictures that I want to take that I don't. Does that seem backward to you? It does to me.

Two weeks ago, I went up to Duluth, MN. I went for a family fishing trip. Amazing time! We had a great weather, good fishing and great company. The entire time I was there, I had these thoughts bouncing around in the back of my head. I had wanted to go up to Duluth and spend a photography weekend for ages.

I think that the biggest problem is that that I don't get my income from doing trips like these. At the same time, if I had my choice this is exactly what I would choose to do for a living. To do it for a living, I have to have a bunch in images like it in my library before I start. To have the images in my library, I have to take the trips. To actually do it, I have to have money. To have money, I need to keep doing what I am doing. To keep doing what I am doing, I need to not take these trips. What a vicious cycle!!

What have I learned from all this?? HAVE PATIENCE. Easier said than done, but I'm working on it. Well, that and maybe I should find a way to do one trip a year just to keep me sane.

Sad Day

So, I had some ideas that I wanted to blog about since I missed the last one. Sadly, I had a new topic come up. A few weeks back I let everyone know about Cyrus the Phodographer and Athena. I found out earlier today that Cyrus passed away yesterday morning.

Cyrus was an amazing dog, photographer, and friend to everyone that met him. He was laid back and didn't mind hanging out with you by the steps. His photographs will always remain for the world to see another perspective. I hope that his work inspires the next generation of puppies out there.

For the low price of....

So yesterday I had the opportunity to see how the other half lives. So maybe it isn't ever the other half, more like the top 5%. I've photographed a lot of cars in the past, but never something like this. The images above are of a Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione. It's a really sweet vehicle and it sounds AMAZING.

You know that this car is meant to go fast and I mean really fast when all the employees don't want to drive it, park it, or frankly, touch it. I have to admit, the excitement wears off pretty fast and then the anxiety kicks in. I could have 60 or my Stratus's for the same price as the 8C.

So if you need a new car and this is the one you want. It's at Morrie's Maserati in Minnetonka, MN. Tell them that Nate sent you (maybe I can get some commission). Oh yeah, it's $300,585. Before taxes...

I Voted!!

I know that this seems like it is coming at the wrong time of year, okay it is. Still every vote counts! Blurb books is running a contest for all people's choice award for all photographic books and there is one book that has to win. A DOG AND HIS GIRL by Athena Lonsdale and Cyrus.

Last summer, at RMSP, I was lucky enough to meet both Cyrus and Athena. It's kind of hard not to meet both of them at the same time. Cyrus has one of the most unique views of the world and he's a pretty awesome dog. Athena's alright also. :) More seriously, Athena is just crazy talented. She is one of the most creative people I've met, and you can see her personality in every image she takes. Please vote for their book here. The contest only runs until August 20th, so vote quick!

I have to admit, I'm kind of bummed that I don't have a photograph of Cyrus with his paw print on it. I guess I'll just have to buy the book. I've seen a lot of their work and it really is amazing. I would love it if all of you would go out and vote for their book. Also, if you want a great blog that is guaranteed to make you smile, go to Cyrus's Blog. It's awesome.

Insights from my recent vacation

My wife will always sneak another log onto the campfire when I'm not looking

Cane fishing poles can be dangerous when snagged on a weed.

The full moon is very bright.

Cars don't operate well with radiator problems.

Be very nice to the camp host, you never know when your car will break down with radiator problems, in the middle of the forest, with no cell phone signal and he happens to drive by.

A chipmunk, can provide hours of entertainment.

While camping, always prepare meals near an awning or something that you can dash under when it rains.

When getting out of a lake, make sure the you dry off REALLY well otherwise you could get Chiggers.

Chiggers itch REALLY bad.

Catch really big fish, that way when I screw up filleting them there is still meat left to eat. (Okay, so I'm not THAT bad, but compared to my Grandfather, I'm awful.)

It's hard to catch really big fish.

Life is better right next to a lake.

Always carry your raincoat. Walks aren't as much fun in a down pore when it's cold outside.

You can have a lot of fun with a paper plate over the course of a week.

Be careful of where you put your tent when it rains every day in a week.

Family time and traditions are SO important in life. I cherish every time I get to go to our campground. I don't get to do it often enough anymore and I may not get to do it with all the special people in my life the next time I go.

Just a few things that learned or was reminded of over the coarse of my week. I thought I would help somebody in the future. On a side note, Chiggers do itch REALLY bad. :)

Catching up with the Times

I've been dreaming of it for months. It kind of consumes my thinking. I have thoroughly convinced myself that I can't LIVE without it. Almost any situation that I put myself in the answer is, "there is an App for that!"

Yes, I REALLY want an IPhone. Somehow I just can't pull the trigger on one of those massive phone plans though. You see, I'm old fashioned, I still use the most basic old cell phone possible. I'm still on the same plan we originally signed up for 5 years ago. Heck, I don't even have a camera phone in it. You'd think that I would at least have that covered. :)

This summer I've been having a very hard time getting these blogs up. I would love to post a picture almost everyday, or at least some thoughts everyday. Somehow whenever I sit down in front of my computer, I always tell myself that there is all this important editing that needs to be done for my clients. The blog can wait!

For the next 10 days, and the second week in the last three, I'm going to be in an area where there is no Internet. All though, I have heard suspicious rumors that I MIGHT be able to pick up a random wireless signal. That has yet to be confirmed... I have a TON of pictures that I want to put up on here. I'm convinced that it is going to happen the week I come home. All next week, when I have the time, but not the Internet, I'm going to be thinking. I have a cell phone signal. I KNOW, there's App for blog writing!

My kind of work...

I've been absent again. This time I have a great reason! I spent a week at Brookside Resort. It was great to be outdoors for a whole week just to be concentrating on photography. Let me tell you, photographing resorts is a gig I want to do a LOT more often!

This place was great. I have to say that it is probably the quintessential family resort in MN. The tradition that this resort has is great. They've been in business for 30+ years and the whole time I was there I every guest had a story of coming there since childhood and are now bringing their own children. Spending a whole week there made me want to have kids just to bring them there!

I'm going to upload a bunch of pictures that I shot for them later on, but for now you are just getting one. This one is all about the perks of the visit. Of course, I had to take a round after Andrea did, no pictures of me though! I don't have half the talent for it she does and even that may be stretching it.

All I can say, is that I want to go back.

Watch your fingers!!

For all of you out there playing with explosives.... have fun! I wish I could be right there with you blowing up stuff! Unfortunately here in MN, we aren't allowed to do anything fun. Something about safety and forest fires.....

Once in a Lifetime...

There is one day a year where I am reminded that sometimes good guys do finish first. That isn't the way that the saying goes, I know, but it is the way it worked for me.

Last week was my anniversary. 5 years!! I know that isn't a lot, but it is crazy. I don't know how its been 5 years already! It really seems like yesterday when we were exchanging our vows. I was crying and trying so hard to hold it back that I messed them up. Tiff on the other hand looked at me and decided that she should hold it together. Seriously, isn't it supposed to be the other way around?!?!

The past five years have been amazing. I find myself getting closer to Tiff each and everyday. I don't know how many couples can honestly say that. I really hope that everyone gets the chance to feel the way I do.

This pic was taken about a month ago. It was the the first day that Tiff was determined to start understanding this photography thing. Hopefully some day she will be able to shoot all my weddings with me. I really wouldn't have it any other way if it was my choice. There's a fun little story behind this shot. Someday, I may even tell you...


To Tiff, I just wanted to say, Thank you and I love you. Here's to the next 70.

Cabin fever no more!

So all winter this year, I worked hard, but unfortunately it was almost always at my desk. I'm not a big sitting on the computer fan. On top of that, I tend to not be inspired by the fruits of all that labor. Why is paperwork a necessary evil??

Thank God season's change though! It's so wonderful to always want to be doing something. As I have aluded to in previous posts, I've been busy. Really busy. I'm exhausted at the end of everyday and I love it. It seems like everyday, right now I there is some deadline or another that is coming the next day. I wouldn't change this pace for anything right now. In fact, I think I am drawing energy from it. I hope that every one of you have something that you love doing.

Summer time is here. It took a while to get here in MN, but it finally arrived. It's great to see color everywhere again! The past couple of days I've been inside editing shoots from last weekend, which I will post here soon by the way, dreaming of the out doors.

We were driving from my mother's last weekend and I had to stop and photograph this tree. Thankfully, Tiff gave me 10 minutes to go run around in the field.

Summer dreams

This is just a quick shout out for a friend of mine. Scott is an amazing guy. He and his fiance met at RMSP and fell head over heels for each other. Scott stayed on to become one of the most valuable people for future RMSPer's, the tech guy. What would I have done without him last summer??? Who knows.

Everyone just watch the video please. They are trying to get one of the coolest summer jobs ever. Karma kind of owes them after their Mexico wedding got called of due to the swine flu. Besides, if somebody is going to make a living by living on the coast in a hotel it may as well be somebody who deserves it!

technical difficulties!!

Hey Everyone!

As a photographer, I find that I am dealing with more gadgets and gizmos than you would believe. My goal was always to post pictures with my blog and that still remains to be true. Unfortunately I am having some major issues with pictures and what colors they end up when I try and upload them to anything to do with the internet.

I have tons of new stuff to show you soon. I just need to get these issues sorted out. I've had a fantastic test shoot, two weddings are coming up this weekend, and that's not counting all the spring pictures that have caught my eye! Hopefully, I'll get some these issues taken care of soon and I swear, I'll post here right away!!

I swear I'm still blogging!

Sorry about the lack of posts lately. I've been having technical problems with it. For whatever reason the pictures that I am posting are getting their colors changed and when I am posting a photographic blog that is a big deal. I think I am getting them straightened out. We'll see! Thanks for being patient with me!

This a building in SW MN that I have driven by all my life and I've always been captivated by the the old bottle caps in the windows. They've been there as long as I can remember. This town is TINY. While I was stopped taking my photograph, a resident came up to me and couldn't for the life of her figure out why I was taking a picture of this. Just goes to show you that the more everyday an object is to you the harder it is to notice it.

Spring!!

So it's been a while again...

I've been doing a lot of commercial photography lately and between that and enjoying the weather, I've found it a little easier to ignore my blog again. It's time to add the blog into my weekly workflow again.

After a long cold winter in MN, it's pretty amazing to see all the people come out of hibernating again. When I was out photographing in the cold, I was always theonly one (unless somebody was with me). Now it's so different. There are people everywhere! Its really great to see. People provide inspiration that I could never have on my own. Take these boots, they were adorable!

New Logo!

After considerably too much time, it is FINALLY time to show everyone my new logo! I am now trying to incorporate my logo into any and every thing that has to do with my business. You'll notice some changes on my blog, website, and about everything else that I have had previously to make things current and cohesive.

Branding is really important now days. You want people to look at any part of your business and get a feel for who you are. The number one way to do this is with a logo. Your logo should communicate who you are, what kind of work you are presenting, and it should appeal to your target market.

I tried to make my own logo for MONTHS. Somehow, the right one always escaped me. Finally after more hours than I care to admit I hired a friend of mine, Arno Enzerink, to design my logo. Let me tell you one thing graphic designers deserve every penny they earn. They have to do a lot of revisions! At least in my case. I am still amazed that I spent all this time and couldn't come up with anything, but Arno could come up with my logo after a few questions and a few weeks. Amazing.... just goes to show you I am not a graphic designer.

Thanks again Arno!

We all need a little help

I didn't know if I was going to get one of these in this week! This week has been CRAZY! I have been preparing for a show and a job possibility. The job possibility ended up being an offer. I was hired by Morrie's automotive group, along with two other photographers, to photograph all the cars in their inventory and then once that is finished continue to photograph all the cars new cars that come in. What a relief it is, to have reliable work in the present climate. I'm really thankful.

For all you other photographers out there, I would have never gotten this job without networking! I was recommended for the job by Jason Gallus, another photographer in the area and for that I will be forever grateful! Also I've always been somebody who is more than willing to help out a friend or colleague, it was amazing to have him take time out of his busy schedule to help the myriad of questions I've been shooting his way since I've been home. All this does, is reinforce my attitude about helping out people who come to me.

One more notch...

As all of you just found out, I have been working on logos, watermarks, and all the other things that go into branding yourself. This has been a LONG arduous journey that is almost at a close and I am so happy to have it finished. I'll talk more about that later though...

Last weekend, I went back to my Grandparents farm. Normally when I am there all I do is eat, maybe that is pretty much still what happened but, this time I did manage to take a few pictures. Two of these images I actually left a crab dinner to take. I wish I could control when the sun rises and sets!

What is a family eating a crab dinner for in the middle of a MN winter?? It's an excuse to get together!! I love this tradition, maybe someday we'll come up with one that doesn't revolve around food, but until then I am always happy to head to my grandparent's house to gain a couple of pounds. :)

Snow Day!!!

I don't know how many of you know this but, I am from Minnesota. Go figure that here in the North we get some major snow. For the most part this year has been exceedingly light in that department but, Thursday we finally get a storm. I had been kind of complaining about how I haven't been shooting as much as I would have liked so well everyone else was busy trying to avoid the weather, I called my friend Kim and we went out to embrace it. It was great to get out shooting again. Here are some of my favorites!

Working on a series

This is part three in the RMSP series. After we got down to classwork one of the first big assignments that we received was to build a slideshow. It had to contain 25 images. That is a lot of images when you are looking for quality!! I worked on a couple of prospects and actually built two different slideshows. This is a series on plantlife. I don't think that they were expecting a perfect slideshow from anyone, all they really wanted to see was that you were willing to spend the time on a personal project. As photographers, we have to be working on projects as much as possible. I can always go out and take one picture but, being able to put them together into a cohesive theme or story is ESSENTIAL. Instead of selling one picture, I can sell a series of four or five for a lot more money. Also when a client gets more options they are usually happier. This group of images really doesn't have any story or narrative since we weren't required to do that but, if you can do that it always helps!