I’m SO stoked about this senior shoot. Not because we were in a place we were apparently NOT supposed to be and were literally RAN off the property by an employee, but because Caitlin hands-down ROCKED the shoot. WERD!

Thanks to Trevor and Adam for helping out on this one!

~dave

Check out Dustin Snipes’ blog post of 70 Basketball Portraits in 2 days. Awesome lighting set-up! Ahhh, yes. Alien Bees! I’m looking to snag an Alien Bee rig soon. Dude can control his light!

~dave

What an awesome morning. I think the highlight was taking Tobin to Pre-School. We typically talk about all sorts of cool 4-5 year-old topics. She even manages to teach me stuff, I kid you not. But today was different. We enjoyed our 10 minute drive while listening to some of Tobin’s favorite songs. Which oddly enough includes “Smack That” by Akon and a variety of Choo Choo Soul tracks. We sang, laughed out loud and wrapped it all up with a hug and kiss before leading her into the classroom.

Although cheesy in our own little way, sharing special moments like those with Tobin or Zoee mean the world to me. I’ve spent the last two years getting completely and horribly lost in a world of business planning, career identity, constant creative development and the need to deliver sooo much – so fast – to my clients. As a result, I tend to loose focus of the most important aspects of my life and drown myself in a sea of “being sooo busy.” It’s hard to see that happen, but I think it boils down to “life focus.”

Last night I was watching a Rob Bell episode entitled “Shells”. For those who are not familiar with Rob, he is a pastor at Mars Hill Church and has released a series of awesome devotional DVD’s via Nooma.com. He summed it up best by saying “Being busy is a drug that a lot of people are addicted to.” He went on to say, “Obviously there are seasons in our life. We must examine the rhythm of our life if we are ever going to will the ONE thing.” The ONE thing is our faith, life direction and meaning.

I think we all need to focus our lives every once in awhile in a direction that maintains balance throughout family, work, business, friends, love, etc. Being in a “season” of my own life right now, I have finally begun to identify that focus after losing sight. I’m by no means perfect in every aspect of my life, nor can I make sudden changes over night. But making the excuse of “being soooo busy” is no longer legit. The romance of being a photographer and business owner does not define who I am. My life focus does. That stuff will always be secondary, because Melanie and my little girls are at the front of the line and I wanna see us grow together.

Are you too busy?

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Here’s my week’s BLOGROLL! These are some blogs and websites I have been visiting over the past few weeks. I’ll be sure to throw some BLOGROLL updates here every once in awhile.

Joey Lawrence
What more is there to say about Joey. He’s 18 and his stuff rocks!

Joe McNally
Awesome editorial and off-camera lighting photography. I’ve been following Joe’s work ever since Rob turned me onto him.

Canon Rumors
Yeah, I’m pathetic. But I’m anxiously waiting for Canon to release their new line of full-frame pro DSLR cameras. Im hoping for a cross between the 5D and the 1D Mark III.

Michael Howard
One of my favorite wedding photographers out there and a good friend. I’m hoping to shoot with Michael and sleep on his floor in January in Nashville, TN.

Greg Sampson and his Buffalo Nickels
Close friend and pastor of my church, San Damiano. I gotta get on Greg’s case to post more on his blog!

Michael Spotts and The Open Life
Good religious blog and a cool photographer!

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Eden playing with her mobile.

~dave

DANNY & BRIANNA
August 9th, 2008
Mill City Museum
Minneapolis, MN

I’ve known Danny for a few years as a result of shooting some promotional material for his band The Farewell Circuit (See the MUSIC section on my website. Yup, he’s in the shots looking like a nerd playing a toy piano and getting soaked with the band in Matt’s backyard). We were so excited to shoot his wedding, especially since Adam and I were traveling to the Twin Cities for the wedding weekend. There is always something about going into a wedding where the groom and/or all the groomsmen are musicians from a band I’ve worked with, that somehow makes for an awesome AWESOME day.

Our trip to Minneapolis was stellar. Adam and I had a blast and somehow walked away with Russian accents. Yeah, we’re not sure how that happened… But it did. We stayed in The Depot Renaissance Hotel downtown Minneapolis, which was a converted Milwaukee Road train station. FIVE-Star joint for sure! Adam swears the place was haunted, but I never heard anything in our room. We even managed to make a WAY WRONG TURN whilst getting uberly lost downtown trying to find Pizza Luce at 11:00pm, driving straight down trolley tracks. (Thank you very much Garmin. I hate you. I appreciate your undying accuracy in times of need. You will be tossed out the window at a high rate of speed soon. F!@#$%!!) But hey, we eventually ordered Luce into our room at about 2am. And lemme say, it was hella good! If you’re in the cities, look ‘em up. I totally dig their website.

The wedding was every bit of intensely emotional awesomeness as would have been expected. Both the ceremony and the reception were held at the Mill City Museum. It was probably 1/2 the reason I was so stoked to shoot downtown Minneapolis. It was an abandoned flour mill, converted into a museum about 4 years ago. This place is unreal and one of the COOLEST wedding venues I’ve EVER shot in! Check it out..

Photo: Adam Koepke

And check out this AMAZING shot by Adam. I X[HEART]X Adam!

~dave

Yeah, I’ve been busy.

Sam

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Dillan

~dave