Grateful to share on Photog.TV

When Eric Doggett and Dustin Meyer asked if I'd be a guest on photog.TV I excitedly said YES! Then the nerves sunk in. Sure I'm on creativeLIVE and chat live with tens of thousands of you around the world, but that's about creativeLIVE or the educator or the weather. It's not about me. I'm the one who asks the questions, not the one being asked for answers. That interviewer-question-asker role is my comfort zone. So turning the roles around and being on the "other side of the microphone" was a leap. And a leap that I'm grateful I was offered. Feel free to jump to ~ minute 9:30 in the show where my interview starts... ; )

Thanks Eric & Dustin for giving me an opportunity to share my story and for reading me so well. Travel + photography + karma are subjects I can talk about all day long. Let's do it again soon!

If you love discussing photography, be sure to circle photog.TV on Google+ where their show is broadcast using the G+ On Air live streaming every Thursday 12pm Central!

2012.01.25 Retrospective. Soweto, South Africa.

This one goes back to my black & white film days, before I jumped on the digital train.

2012.01.25 Retrospective. Soweto, South Africa.

2012.01.24 Retrospective. Trisuli River Town, Nepal.

2012.01.24 Retrospective. Trisuli River Town, Nepal

2012.01.23 Retrospective. Boy & Kite. El Hato, Guatemala.

2012.01.23 Retrospective. El Hato, Guatemala.

2012.01.22 Daily Retrospective. Kotor, Montenegro.

2012.01.22 Retrospective. Kotor, Montenegro.

Teotitlan, McLeod Ganj & Srinigar. Daily Retrospective.

2012.01.19 Retrospective. Teotitlan, Mexico.

2012.01.20 Retrospective. McLeod Ganj, India. Home of HH Dalai Lama.

2012.01.21 Retrospective. Srinigar, Kashmir.

2012.01.18 Retrospective. Singapore.

2012.01.18 Retrospective. Singapore.

2012.01.17 Retrospective. Indonesian Cremation Ceremony.

What an experience to witness a celebration of life and death in the northern beach town of Lovina in Bali. I inquired whether it was okay to photograph the cremation ceremony taking place on the public beach. I was grateful that the answer was yes. I was mesmerized and captivated in moment after moment after moment. You know that feeling when everywhere you look feels like the potential for a magical photograph, and yet you want to really BE there too? At some point I had to just put the camera down. It was an experience unlike any I had seen, smelled or heard - ever. Of course that was before I traveled to Varanasi.... Feel free to browse more images from this series.

2012.01.17 Retrospective. Cremation Ceremony. Bali, Indonesia. 

2012.01.15 & .16 Retrospective

2012.01.15 Retrospective. Three Generations. Jocotenango, Guatemala. 

2012.01.16 Retrospective. Olympos, Turkey.

Snow Day, Beach Style!

Quite a Sunday. Snow on the beach. Crazy kayakers & wake boarders take on the snowy waters. Spotted two orcas in my front yard (sorry, didn't get any pics). Fun photographing & processing on my iPhone with new-to-me app Snapseed. The subtle feel & sound of snow crunching on sand is a bit like walking on marshmallows (after being toasted over a bonfire, that is).

2012.01.14 Retrospective. Agra, India.

2012.01.14 Retrospective. Agra, India.

2012.01.12 & .13 Retrospective. Bulgaria & Cambodia.

2012.01.12 Retrospective. Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

2012.01.13 Retrospective. Siem Reap Village, Cambodia.

2012.01.09 Daily Retrospective.

2012.01.09 Retrospective. Ohrid, Macedonia.

2012.01.08 Daily Retrospective. Varanasi, India.

Varanasi is a sight to be seen, a culture to be experienced, an insight into ancient rituals, sounds and smells that pop, a vibrancy of senses like no other.

2012.01.08 Retrospective. Varanasi, India.

Back to Photos of the Day

So..... I took the summer off of my photo of the day project. You forgive me, right? My little brother Luke was in town for Labor Day and he's really digging photography these days. I challenged him to join me in doing a 365 project. Told him I needed some accountability and that if we're both checking in on each other, then perhaps we'll both do it! I'd like to think that I don't need to be accountable to others to accomplish projects I've set out for myself. But I'm human. So thanks Luke for getting me back into photo-a-day shape. I love spending my days looking for "that" image. Now that I have an iPhone with Instagram and Hipstmatic - well, the project got a lot easier!

Here are some images from the last few days - check the rest out on my blog's  Photo of the Day tab or add me to your Circles on Google+!

30 September

29 September

28 September

Humbled by Lighten Up and Shoot

I am sincerely humbled by Andy & Mikey of Lighten Up & Shoot's blog post today - see here. Ok, let's be honest - I am jumping up and down excited with glee too! It was watching Mikey & Andy's videos that inspired Susan Roderick and I to make our own. To think that a month ago Susan and I had never made a video in our lives, and now we're on Lighten Up & Shoot's blog - it's kind of unreal!  I couldn't have summed up what Susan and I are creating with our behind the LIVE community better than Andy:

"Their plan, bring to the world what happens when the creativeLive camera's are off! They get in a little further, more personal, more real and more...well fun! I really love the idea they have for so many reasons! I mean think about it people, they are in a position where they get to not only meet but interact with the best photographers/teachers on this planet! Instead of them being all selfish and keeping it to themselves, they share with the world! Now that's brilliant!" 

We have been blessed to be volunteer chat hosts at the coolest creative school EVER - creativeLIVE. As Andy says, we want to share our experiences with YOU - because that's what it's all about. When everyone shares, everyone wins. There are no losers in the creativeLIVE philosophy. Right? creativeLIVE co-founder Chase Jarvis is an open book with his blog and Chase Jarvis Live. I love the concept.


No time like the present to sign up for Lighten Up and Shoot's creativeLIVE workshop - July 29-31. It's FREE - and that's downright amazing. No doubt they will take us all on a wild ride, gringos-who-also-said-adios-to-the-Man-and-live-in-Columbia style!

In the meantime, Lighten Up and Shoot are touring the world teaching workshops - check out the schedule here. But the beauty of Mikey & Andy is that they bring FREE photography education to each and every one of you in the comfort of your own home. They have hilarious and yet incredibly educational videos on YouTube with hours of content about not just lighting, but so much more. I dig their style, and that's an understatement! Kindred spirits? Creo que si!

Check these gringos out on www.lightenupandshoot.com! Subscribe to their YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/mikeyorange?blend=2&ob=1!

behind the LIVE takes off on a helicopter ride with Vincent Laforet

Okay, so before you get too excited, my helicopter ride with director/filmmaker/Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Vincent Laforet was of the metaphorical kind. Vincent is known for hanging out of helicopters with souped up camera rigs, capturing the beauty of the earth from above. He gets to see things in a way that most of us might not have a chance to and then shares that with us through his art and storytelling. I really like that concept - it's what living life is all about. It's what creativeLIVE is all about. What fun or satisfaction is there in keeping an experience or knowledge all to yourself?

A few weeks ago Susan Roderick and I gave birth to our behind the LIVE project. I feel incredibly grateful to be a volunteer in-person chat host representing all of you out there on the internet who are watching creativeLIVE from the comfort of your own homes, asking your questions and passing along your comments to instructors. It's like I win the lottery over & over with each creativeLIVE workshop. Susan and I love getting to know the instructors, students, cast and crew of creativeLIVE courses and workshops and we thought it would be super fun and fabulous to bring the interwebs behind the scenes too! We've done this in the past with stills, but what better way to enhance your behind the scenes experience than moving to video? And what better time to move to video than during Vincent Laforet's workshop teaching still photographers like us how to take the leap to video? 

So we're in, and we're doing it despite not really knowing what we're doing. I have a little HD Flip video recorder and Susan has her new 5D Mark II. Match that up with iMovie on my Mac and we're ready to roll! We figure 6 months from now we'll be sitting back laughing at how incredibly amateur our video skills were. But that's how everyone begins. It takes practice and a willingness to make mistakes and learn from them. We thought it would be cool to show you what happens right after the creativeLIVE workshop ended, when producer Celeste Olds announces "clear!" When the creativeLIVE cameras stop rolling, behind the LIVE cameras start rolling.

Want to see more of what went on behind the LIVE during Vincent's workshop? Check out our YouTube channel for more behind the scenes footage, follow us on Twitter @behindtheLIVE and "Like" our Facebook page too! 

This week I had a another fun idea. I realized that while Susan and I have some interesting questions of our own, there is WAY more content and power in the questions all of you might have. What if Susan and I ask YOU for ideas and inspiration for our behind the LIVE videos? What do YOU want to ask Bambi Cantrell or Jasmine Star or Penny de los Santos that we might not ask during the actual creativeLIVE workshop? As creativeLIVE chat hosts, Susan and I are just a vessel for all y'all out there. So why not do the same for behind the LIVE?! We are excited to gather YOUR ideas and juicy questions to ask instructors, students, crew behind the LIVE in future workshops. Inquiring minds want to know, right? We're not looking for the standard "Canon vs. Nikon," "Lightroom vs. Aperture" or "What's your greatest tip for photographers just getting started?" We're talking reality TV here. How do you ask questions? Well, feel free to send us tweets (@behindtheLIVE) or leave your questions, thoughts and ideas on our Facebook page. 

While my video skills are in their infancy, still images speak a thousand words in the language I am most fluent. I love the intensity in which Vincent teaches and guides his students, whether in person or around the globe. Enjoy!

Thank you Vincent Laforet, Chase Jarvis and creativeLIVE for a stellar ride! Next up - this weekend (Mar 18-20) world renown photographer Bambi Cantrell takes us on a different kind of ride in her free free 3-day Posing and Lighting workshop at creativeLIVE. Bambi will be covering important fundamentals and showing how to apply those techniques in a range of wedding, boudoir, and portrait environments. Don't miss this one - it's bound to be juicy and incredibly spirited! Enroll here for free. I'll see you there!

Gabe the Babe at 4 months - tummy time!

You may remember Gabe the Babe from his newborn portraits (here). Kids these days... they grow up so quickly! I had a blast photographing Gabriel once again for his 4 month photo shoot - the kid is a pro - a bona fide Gerber baby. 'You want me in a basket? Sure thing!' 'You want me doing tummy time? Anytime!' 'Mom and Dad walking with me? Good times!' Whatever we asked, whichever hat we adorned him with, he just chuckled and gave us that adorable smile (and of course the occasional spit up - but that comes with the territory!). ; ) In the blink of an eye he'll be crawling and walking. Let's do this again soon Gabe!