I’m back! I spent a few lovely days at a cabin (and by that I mean trailer) in Siren, WI. And I completely shunned the geek in me and didn’t bring the laptop. I rather enjoyed being able to log off and just enjoy the outdoors, the lake, the birds and grilling, pontoon rides, campfires and s’more makin’ with good friends. I didn’t enjoy the ticks quite as much but I think I’ve removed them all now.

Four days seems a bit like forever. Days spent outside are so much longer than days spent parked in front of the computer. But alas, I am back in front of the computer and have lots of catching up to do, emails to return, albums to assemble, etc. But I gotta say, having a real toilet again is AWESOME!

Just a few quick images for tonight. I had the opportunity to shoot a wedding with Scott Bolster a few weeks ago, down in Winona. The weather threatened rain on and off on my drive down there and this is what it looked like when I arrived.

But the weather cleared up and we were able to get some great portraits.

Across the street was a great old house (tudor style I think? I don’t know my house styles very well) that was covered in ivy and had a yard full of beautiful trees so we “snuck” over there (turns out one of the groomsmen knew the people who lived there and was able to call and get permission) to do some storybook portraits.

It did start to rain shortly after that so we spent some time waiting it out under the tent but it cleared up nicely in time for Dad to walk the bride down the aisle.

I had a great time shooting with Scott (who kindly took a tentroof full of water for me) and his beautiful assistant (and wife). Unfortunately, the circumstances that brought me there weren’t so ideal. Scott was originally to be accompanied by Julie Steiskal, an accomplished local photographer and dear friend to many. Sadly, Julie lost her life several days prior when trying to pull a younger girl from the Temperance River. Just a quick Google search of her name shows the number of lives she touched in her short time and the positive ways in which she’ll be remembered.

From her website…

“we need a renaissance of wonder. we need to renew, in our hearts & in our souls, the deathless dream, the eternal poetry, the perennial sense that life is miracle & magic.”
e. merrill root

Someone has been neglecting the blog a bit! It’s not entirely because I’m spending all my time with my beautiful new iPhone but I can’t say that I’m not already loving it. Okay, I’ve actually been really busy taking photos, preparing print orders and working on a few fun, upcoming projects.

Last weekend, Julie came over to my home studio so we could do some maternity photos. She arrived with a bagful of wonderful wardrobe and accessory options so we did a little bit of inside and a little bit of out.

Her husband came with her and we grabbed a few photos of him too before he did some serious studies on the comfort factor of my new hammock.

I know the sex and name of the baby-to-be but I’m not sure if the J family is sharing that publicly yet so I’ll just say that it’s a super cute name. Thanks for coming over guys and congrats on your new addition!

Sometime this weekend (hopefully), the new iPhone 3G will be mine. All of the local AT&T stores in my area have already sold out and I’m debating whether a trip to the one of the Apple stores is worth my time. But sometime in the near future, I hope to be holding a shiny, beautiful iPhone in my hot little hand.

Because this will require switching not only phones but providers, if you call me and something weird happens or you don’t hear back from me, please try contacting me either via the blog form or through the contact section on the Glimpses of Soul Photography main page. I don’t want anyone getting lost in cellular land!

As summer flies by (can it really be July already? Am I really working on Christmas card session plans now? I am! More on that later), The Great Minnesota Get Together (more commonly known as the State Fair) grows closer. That also means that the deadline to register for the Fine Arts competition is even more rapidly approaching. Just like yearly fair attendance is a tradition for many Minnesotans, yearly application (and for many of us, subsequent rejection) to the Fine Arts competition is a tradition for local photographers. The Twin Cities is chock full of talented artists and acceptance is difficult - there were over 2200 applicants last year and only 300+ pieces were accepted.

I’ve entered the competition three of the last four years. My first entry was this photo, taken at Peacham Pond in Vermont. It was sort of a last minute decision, made on a whim just as I was preparing to leave town for several months, and I didn’t really realize the caliber of the competition. Not surprisingly, it was not accepted.

I missed the registration deadline the next year so did not enter. The year after, I entered this photo, which I don’t actually like much. This was also taken in Vermont and my parents have a large print of this hanging in their house. I entered it because, despite my dislike of it, I’d gotten several compliments on it and figured with my luck, I’d be successful in entering a photo that I didn’t like. I wasn’t.

(It doesn’t actually look as bad as this version.)

Last year I entered this image. I printed it quite large (30×40) just because I wanted to. It was the most obvious of my images that I could think of that would do well in a competition. The judge apparently felt differently. It did hang for several weeks at the Lake Elmo Regional Art Center and currently graces the March page of 3M calendars everywhere. I got tired of looking at that photo though so it now resides on the mantel in my parents’ house.

I’m not sure what or if I’m going to enter this year. The results of my previous entries haven’t deterred me but I think picking an entry this year would be difficult and likely time-consuming so maybe I’ll save the fair for various foods on a stick. We’ll see.

A belated Happy Fourth courtesy of the Stillwater, MN fireworks. They did a great display, complete with firing of cannons. It seemed like most of Minnesota was there and had arrived earlier than our “let’s get there early!” but we were able to secure a pretty good vantage point down near the water anyway.

Giving some thought to attending the fireworks in Hudson tonight. There’s no such thing as too many fireworks, is there?

The weather is gorgeous today and I did get a chance to get out - over to Edina to have lunch with Scott and then for my first trip to Sonic which opened nearby recently and has been insanely busy ever since. (It was still too busy…it’ll be another few months before I go back there, I’m sure.) But I’m home this evening, working to get a bit caught up before the holiday weekend festivities begin and with the nice weather and the sound of early fireworks outside, I feel a bit like everyone is out having fun and I’m missing it!

So a little bit of fun between work. I saw another photographer suggest that we post ten random things about ourselves that people might not know. So here are my ten.

1. I drink Diet Cherry Pepsi for breakfast.
2. I spent several summers teaching archery and even got my certification to do so.
3. I’ve also been certified to work for a private investigation company.
4. I camped alone overnight in the woods in Pennsylvania with only a poncho, flashlight, lighter and harmonica. It rained the entire time and it was a very long night.
5. I like to drink from plastic cups, not glasses.
6. I don’t like a lot of very common foods (like tomatoes) but I loooove sushi.
7. I saw Michael Jackson in the airport once when I was younger and he was popular in the good way.
8. My first job was at Creative Kidstuff. I started off as a seasonal worker and my job was to wrap gifts. That’s a dangerous skill to have because your family will want you to wrap all the gifts they are giving, too.
9. When I got my first computer, it had to spend a lot of time in the shop because I loaded drivers for the wrong operating system on it twice in a row. Now I can build my own computers.
10. I would really like to go to India someday.

Now you should all share one or two or ten random things about yourselves in the comments! And then have a happy Fourth.