the [cape] escape

being new to the area, there are many three hour road trips i could take and not have a clue what i would find.  last weekend my fiancee and i took one of those three hour trips to visit cape code.  we were attending a wedding of a friend but took time on either side of that event to explore the cape.  i could go on and on about how i'm still blown away with the amount of history there is here on the east coast and how looking out at the sea is still an incredible experience for me, but by now you all get it. so for this post i'll just hope the pictures speak for themselves.

side note, this was a trip were i purposely brought my dslr camera which has been absent in my life the past few years.  i absolutely love the instant social gratification the iphone gives you, but in a world filled with camera pics, the warmth and feeling of a better camera is priceless.

i'm curious if anyone else can tell the difference.

lens [life]

i'm not a professional photographer, nor do i claim to be....but i will work for chipotle!


some friends of mine know this fact; and they've asked me to take their photos for several years now.  what started out as a few engagement pictures have now turned into family photos.  not only do i get to practice my portrait photography, but their gift cards and cash have kept me full of those amazingly delicious burritos for the past four years.

it's been wonderful watching this couple go from dating to engaged to parents of a two year old.  maybe by the time he's five i'll have figured out how to get kids to look at the camera.

see the other sets here:

engagement
new born
one year

...like you've been [here] before

last week a group of us traveled to lawrence to watch [the lumineers] perform.  the show was incredible and having that many friends around only made it better.  naturally i was going to blog about the show, but as i was reminiscing about the concert and uploading photos, it occurred to me, i had taken nearly identical pictures several years earlier when i attended my first lawrence concert.  finding my old ticket stub, i realized it was almost seven years to the day since then.  reading back over the blog i had written about that show, i had to chuckle at how similar the situation's were.  a road trip with friends, running a little late, great music, eating dinner on the sidewalk of mass street, and ending back at home around 2am.

on the surface a lot has changed in the seven years between these two shows.  people have come and gone into my life, experiences gained, memories made...lessons learned.  however looking at these photos side by side makes me wonder if not as much has changed as i think.  i've still got amazing friends who enjoy great music, always up for a road trip and apparently don't mind eating dinner on the sidewalk.

maybe it's true what they say, the more things [change] the more they remain the [same]...except technology. it was extremely more convenient taking these photos with my iphone instead of the 2 megapixel brick i lugged around back then.

also, for the lumineers show, we all opted to sit in the balcony instead of standing all packed in on the floor. this might be a sign of older age, but it really was more comfortable.

weekend[wooderson]

much like wooderson in "dazed and confused" i went back and relived a bit of high school this weekend.

my old high school was playing for the football state championship. when i was in high school, our team only won one game, so i was excited to root for my alma mater when we actually had a chance to win, and for an important game no less.

even though over a decade has passed, it was funny how easily i slipped into the same routine i followed in high school. being on the yearbook staff, most of the time i would find myself on the sidelines taking pictures of the plays, players and fans. sitting in the stands this weekend, i found myself feeling out of place. within a matter of minutes i left the stands and started walking around the stadium looking for the best angle with the best light. i'm sure there were those in the stands watching the game, reliving their glory days playing on the football team. well, i was no different. this weekend i relived my glory days as a yearbook staff photographer. this weekend also made me thankful for the digital technology we now have, as i don't think i ever took any "great" football pics with film back in the day.

rose hill ended up winning 21-0 becoming the 4A state champs!

...and that's cool...all right, all right, all right.

[signs] of summer

the other week found me taking a road trip to visit some friends at the lake of the ozarks. with the summer of 2011 producing a sweltering number of 100+ days, it didn't take much convincing for me to drive the 5 hours east. as enjoyable as a few days wading around in lake water is, the best part of the weekend was the company. time was spent catching up, and reminiscing with old friends, getting to know a few better, and making new ones. all of them wonderful people.

i had driven this road to the lake three years ago and had fallen in love with the little rural towns dotting its path. wanting to extend my weekend a bit longer, i took my time driving back home. stopping in any little town that looked interesting, i wondered the streets searching for old signs to photograph. just like my friends, some of the signs were familiar, a few i got to know better, and a few were completely new. all of them were wonderful

a little [hoarfrost]

[freezin'] in the moonlight

it was freezing, and late, which made me cold, and tired, but who could pass up an event that hasn't happened since 1638! with a camera, tripod, and a thermos of coffee, i drove out to lake afton at 2 a.m. this morning to witness a winter solstice eclipse. it was worth it.

my [second] engagement

if you measure a business in how much free chipotle it gets...well then, business is a-boomin'.

after seeing the engagement photos i took last month, some recently engaged friends of mine asked if i'd take theirs as well. with the promise of free chipotle, i agreed. it ended up being a real quick session, but my friends were wonderful and patient with me while i tried to figure out how to pose them. although i'm happy with a number of the shots, i'm discovering there's still a LOT to learn. one thing i have learned however, is to end the photo shoot near one's favorite bar. happy clients tend to pay for the drinks.