The Farm (part two)

I think these are possibly two of the most handsome cowboys in all of Central Utah, maybe even the whole of Utah. I hope I'm not embarrassing you boys, but Lord knows it's the truth. A huge thank you to Libby and Justin who invited right in their home and shared their piece of paradise with us. They were exceptionally gracious and hospitable. Our time there truly made our visit to the area one to remember.

Down on the farm

Rodeo

Bull Riders

There's a very surreal quality in the air back in the shoots with the bull riders.

This was one of the funniest stories I've heard in a long time. Not to break any confidentiality, but it was about a one armed bandit, a real one.

This was one of the most beautiful cowboys I had laid my eyes on. I don't know what is was about him that made me want to see him win so badly.

Davis County Fair

Happy Fourth

Boyz Only

Twelve water guns: $12.96
Twelve camouflage bandannas: $12.96
Plastic Bin: $4.25

Your son's best birthday ever: priceless

I made it very clear to the boys to shoot the water to the side of me or above me, but definitely not at me.

The boy in middle made a conscious effort to douse myself and my new lens.

He thought it would a make a "better shot" he told me later after.

I told him he was "lucky" it was his birthday.

Project

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye".

- Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

In the fraction of an instant an image is captured through the lens of a camera. Eyes wide, smiles big, trying not blink in our favorite picture pose, we hope in one moment our best selves are exposed. But a quick glance at the results often assures us that person on the paper is nothing like we feel who we truly are. The camera itself, does not possess the ability to reveal the spirit of a subject, but a good photographer does.

The hall mark of a good portrait is not only an image that is well crafted, but one that tells a story. But whose story does the image really tell? We understand that photography portrays an individual's point of view and that's what makes the art so incredible and marvelous because others see and percive so differently than we do. It amazes me how a group of photographers can shoot the same scene and yet the results are so varied. I hoped that in doing this project I could step outside of my world and portray individuals as they see themselves.

This project has been an effort to compare and contrast the idea of a simple snap shot and an image that in essence materializes a part of an individual’s soul, qualities that hearts may see but eyes do not. The following series is some of the work I've done for this project. The subjects are children of a dear friend who husband was recently diagnosed with cancer. I asked the kids to sit for me and give me their best "school picture pose" and then I shot an entirely different session with each of them.

I thank Ashlee, 19, for her kindred artistic non-conformist self, Stephen, 16, who put aside his shyness and shared his gift of music, Matt, 14, for being brilliant and dramatic on and off camera, and for my autumn fairy, Kirstie, 12, who dreamed with me. I thank them for letting me be a part of their world. If only for a moment.

The beauty of my son

It never fails. The beauty of my son always takes my breath away.

He has been increasingly reluctant to let me snap his picture. Tonight he came home late and had a bit of an attitude problem. Feeling a little repentant later on, he agreed to a quick photo, as long as I didn't tell his dad.

He wants to get his hair cut this weekend.

Sometimes artists have to make sacrifices.

Roundy is the House!

Congtualtions to Nicole!

She swept the nationals with silvers in almost every event but one in

which she took home the bronze.

This girl's star is rising!

Stevie

This is Stevie, Ash's and Matt's brother.

Here he is playing his grandfather's Martin in his room.

This guitar in this place is pretty much his world.

Ash

This wall was scheduled for demolition this past week along with a building that was covered in beautiful colorful graffiti art. I was sad to see it go but am grateful I got a chance to shoot there before it was gone. This is my young artist friend. I think she's looking pretty good.

Shaun Who?- Nicole Roundy

So, what did you do today?

Nicole Roundy is the first above the knee amputee to compete in snowboarding. She's doing what she was told was impossible. Get used to seeing her name, you're going to be seeing it a lot more in the future.

Park City Living

Last weekend we were up in Park City for a shoot and we stopped by after to visit some of our favorite people in the world. Bryan was commenting on living in Park City and the lifestyle they have created for themselves, "Sometimes I just can't believe how great my life is." After a year like this, what snow lover would complain?

Eryn is one on my best models. She just knows how to connect with the camera. The reindeer outfit was her idea. Her sister, Teia, skis double black diamonds. Yeah, living Park City can be rough.

How far is heaven?

How far is heaven? Well, one group of boys wanted to know so badly they crooned those words into an iconic pop song that still reverberates in my mind. The title words are the only ones I can remember and as far as I know, they never answered the question. Our quest for nirvana, is a universal and timeless pursuit that we just can’t seem to figure out. Some religions hope to settle the question, but for as much as I attend church, the whole eternal salvation idea seems somewhat overwhelming. I’m not really sure how it will play out and frankly I don’t think I want to. I mean, I have a hard enough time just making it through the day, having to live another one of my lives, is just not fair. I would be more content for reincarnation, maybe as a less advanced primate, a chimp or even better, how about a lemur?

If the route to heaven through the afterlife seems tricky just try finding it here. Entrenched with consumerism, we do a pretty good job at convincing ourselves that heaven on earth is in some exotic location like a beach on Antigua at sunset or even better at Bloomingdale's where on the clearance clearance rack every item is your perfect size. In fact, I think I’ve just convinced myself. Some of us don’t have the need to travel to far and distant lands like New York City for a slice of utopia, a Saudi supporting SUV or a home which would house fifteen families in Calcutta seems be the divine manifestation we are looking for.

For Jay and Heather, heaven on earth, is simply the end to a five and half year wait. An end that means in Mormon suburbia they won’t be the only childless couple on the block. It’s an end for Heather having to sit through a Mother’s Day church program with a hundred children half singing and half screaming "Mother, I Love You" to all the other women but her and smiling so she doesn’t cry. The end for Jay asking God why every woman in the neighborhood, but his wife, can bear children like a litter of puppies. Their wait climaxed as Heather was taken from Jay's arms and the pool of blood that surrounded her by his fellow EMT's. As she was airlifted away, he could not help but wonder what would become of his life. Endless prayers concluded with a dream that was finally realized with the birth of a beautiful baby girl.

When I went to do this shoot, I felt the bliss and serenity of their celebration envelope me and for a moment I was able to forget that my fridge was empty as usual, my eight year old son had two hours to do a lengthy book report plus twelve pages of make-up work, my hard drive was dead and all my photos were MIA, that our political system appears hopelessly irredeemable, that billions of humans, other than myself, face poverty, hunger, and warfare on a daily basis, and that the purposeful destruction our habitat has become our own ironic damnation (Dante, anyone?).

In the revolution and rotation of the third rock from the sun where billions of lives breathe, there in that home in the suburbs of Salt Lake City, all of the chaos of life faded away and the only thing that mattered was this one human baby and the love of her parents. It’s moments like that give my little mortal brain a glimpse of what heaven might really be like. Who knows, in another a hundred years most lemurs will probably be zoos.

Passion Project

Here are some recent shots from a shoot that I did. Aren't these ladies lovely? Mikell was generous enough to let me take some pictures of her and her daughter for an ongoing project that I'm doing exploring the pursuit of passion. Of course, her other daughter was too irresistible not to take a picture of as well.

Come to Jesus

I find myself staring at the screen of my computer not being able to think of a single thing to say...no...nothing... I can hear my mother's voice in the background,

"Not a single thing to say? How utterly amazing."

Being new to the blogging arena, it seems daunting to think I can just write whatever I want and post it for the whole world to see. The effect is somewhat unsettling and I feel perhaps a little brazen with myself. What do I have to say? What do I know of blogs? Almost nothing, except I did find a very handy trick to unclog a toilet on one. At any rate, I am beginning this blog as a means to share some of my photography with my friends and family. I hope it will also to keep me shooting and pursuing my personal work.

Of all the pictures I've taken over the last few years, I'm choosing to post one that I took while I was in Santa Fe this summer while attending a workshop. A classmate and I had seen a tattoo parlor downtown that had fabulous funky lighting and we headed there one night after a presentation to ask if we could take some photos. The owner was very generous and accommodating and we spent a number of hours there chatting and experimenting with our camera equipment. As we packed up and were leaving a young man (I think of him as young, he was in his twenties perhaps) approached me with his hand open and arm extended and asked, "Don't you want to take a picture of my Jesus?". He speech was not entirely clear, but his intent was obviously sincere. "Absolutely" was my reply. I took two shots as he was, with his arm outstretched to show me his tattoo.

It wasn't until much later that I noticed the similarities between the tattoo and the face of the man himself. The man whose life I seek to emulate was embodied on the arm and in the face of a stranger that I met at a tattoo parlor at one o'clock in the morning on the wrong side of town. The irony of the situation still makes me smile. If somebody told me, "Hey go down to the tattoo joint and you'll get a glimpse of Jesus". I wouldn't have believed him, but I tell you, looking at this picture, I felt for a moment I actually did.