Winter in Wisconsin sucks.

It’s hard to get out and shoot without loosing fingers to frost bite. I’ve been battling a wicked cold this past week, but I needed to brave the chill and let my lungs hit that fresh air.

Today, my dear friend Brett joined me to hit the streets for the simple sake of shooting. GOYA-style (Get off your arse!!). The task was simple. One camera. One lens. One CF card. One hour. Five final black and white photos.

No people. Just things.

These were all shot on a Canon 5D Mark II using a Holga lens. ISO 100 – ISO 6400. Straight out of camera + black and white conversion in ACR + levels adjustment + crop.

OK… so I posted six. Well, so did Brett. And he included a “people”.
~dave

I’ve begun to dig into some personal work. We kicked it off tonight.

Shelley.

More to come..
~dave

Since we moved into the studio two weeks ago, our heads have been constantly spinning. We’ve handled well over 19 photo shoots, developed and launched our portrait workshop, begun work on conceptualizing a new body of personal work and managed to keep the place clean. No kidding. It’s clean.

As a reminder, we are throwing a Studio Opening Mixer here at DAVIDEJACKSON//STUDIOS in Appleton, WI on February 5th. More details can be found HERE. Show up, eat our food, drink our beverage and just simply hang out. It doesn’t get easier than that.

I’ve made it my personal goal to continue my blogging hustle this year, but expect to see fewer photos. Yep, less. I will do my best to showcase only my best work here. Unfortunately, not every client may get featured on the blog. But it’s vitally important for any photographer to focus his/her work down to key images in order to help define personal style through choice presentation. With that said, below are a few photos spanning the last few weeks:

Last week I had Amy Gaerthofner of Ardent Photography in the studio to shoot some fashion-oriented maternity portraits. Hands on the belly? No. Portraits of Amy while she is pregnant? Yep. It’s how we do..

Kevin Michael dropped by too.

Jadon & Katie

John & Melissa

Derek & Jeanna

And of course, my girls. Like the joke goes, “A blonde, a brunette and a red-head walk into a bar…”

~dave

We have finally settled in to our studio space and have since handled well over 15 photo shoots. Transitioning into the space has been as uncomfortable as an awkward first date, but we have steadily grown use to the new digs. When we first decided to pull the trigger on a studio, we didn’t exactly know what we wanted. Our first priority was a functional space to shoot in and keep the budget low. We eventually cut the budget in half, then in half again and in half once more.

We toured plenty of studios and decided on the needs that would suit our business at it’s current state. And we did it on a budget. I can’t stress that enough. We found a joint that was low in rent, sustainable with our current client base and a place we could call home. We were creative with how we spent our money and designed the layout. We cut corners, but did it effectively. Even our “faux” white seamless wall cost us $105 and was made from linoleum flooring. We grabbed some white wall paint still hanging around and BAM! Done. Many of my dear friends helped out with the entire process, whether it was advice, painting, climbing on ladders or setting up computer networks. Many thanks and a ton of love go out to our dear friends Steve Wagner, Brett Stoddart, Dave Heid, Zack Arias, Jeanna Reiter, Amy Carden, Trevor and my wife Melanie.

Below are some before and after shots of the studio. In mid-December, we walked into the an 1800 square foot warehouse space…. which was essentially a large, smelly garage. It was previously home to a carpet cleaning company and most recently a skateboarding shop. We worked with the leasing company, bought some friends a few beers, put in hours upon hours of elbow grease and knocked it out in under 3 weeks… start to finish.

Have a look..

As a reminder, we’re throwing a Studio Opening Mixer… and everyone is invited! The event will go down on Friday, February 5th, 2010 at the studio. We’ll have some hors d’oeuvres, wine, beer, soda and good music on hand. Here are the details:

WHEN:
Friday, February 5th, 2010
7:30pm to Whenever..

WHO:
Friends, Clients, Photographers, Vendors, Business Associates

WHERE:
DAVIDEJACKSON//STUDIOS
101 W Edison Ave
Suite 190
Appleton, WI 54915

(Located in the Edison Center off Olde Oneida Street, next to Pullman’s/Trolley Square.)
No need to RSVP. Open house all night.

~dave

Here I am. 11:07pm just sitting down to the computer for the first time today with a fried mind, an overload of work to get done around the studio and little energy left to get out of my office chair.

I walked into the office today around 11:00am, far later than anticipated after picking up prints for the sterile studio walls. My daily schedule fills up quick and moves with the ease of mud. I was quickly bombarded with a mile long “MUST-DO TODAY LIST” from Trevor and a small chunk of my soul spontaneously dried up. I can’t blame him though. He keeps the coffee pot warm, keeps me focused and gets me on track with everything business. It has seemed lately that the hustle of moving into a new studio space has left me void of creativity in my photographic work and all-around exhausted, given the endless pile of work ahead of me. But the show must go on, right?

Everything came to a sudden and grinding halt early on after I received an email from one of my most beloved wedding clients of this past year, telling me one of the flower girls from their wedding had passed away after a short and heroic battle with cancer, a brain tumor to be exact. It wasn’t three months ago that I received the below email from Nancy, the mother of the bride from my July wedding:

David,

You photographed Laura and Erik’s wedding. Nadia Smith was one of four flower girls in the wedding. (Remember, we couldn’t leave anyone out?) Nadia was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor called a Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma. The prognosis is grim; less than 12 months. Nadia was diagnosed less than 2 weeks ago and is now wheelchair bound and unable to speak. Last Thursday, I sent out an email to all of the teachers and staff at my school about Nadia with your photo attached. The email spread all over the country. (There are Amish praying, don’t they NOT have the internet, or for that matter, electricity?) Thousands prayed and a miracle occurred. Below are both emails and attached is your photo.

+++++

I was told that Nadia was diagnosed with a Brain Stem Glioma. This is a fast growing inoperable tumor on her brain stem. Even with the 5 times a week radiation for the next 6 weeks, Nadia has been given less than 10 months to live. She is 5 years old, and just started Kindergarten. Nadia’s diagnosis is grim and her treatment is terrible. I ask that you pray for Nadia, and while you’re at it, pray for a miracle. Please bring her up for your church prayer lists and put her at the top if you can. Send this email to anyone that you know who will pray. This little girl needs prayers from all over the world.

+++++

Dear All,

I think a miracle has occurred. On Thursday, 10/8 Geoff, Nadia’s dad, sent out a blanket email to everyone in his email account. A man who had helped to dig holes for his landscaping called him on his cell phone Friday morning (10/09) with the phone number for the head of oncology at the Mao clinic. Geoff postponed Nadia’s radiation to get a second opinion at the Mao Clinic. Nadia was to have her first radiation treatment at 8:00am on Tuesday 10/13. She woke up slightly sick, and a voice inside Geoff’s chest told him “It’s ok, postpone her appointment to later today.” He did, and at 8:30, the Mao Clinic called to say the FDA had just approved new drug within the last 24 hours and she was to meet the Mao Clinic doctors at St. Jude’s Hospital. They arrived in Memphis three hours later and Nadia has started treatment with a drug called Vandetanib administered concurrently with local radiation therapy. If Nadia had taken her radiation that morning she would not be a candidate for this special treatment. YOU + PRAYER = MIRACLES!

+++++

David, The road is still long, but we do see a tiny glimmer of hope. Your photo helped to compel others to pray.

Thank you,
Nancy Kula

Nadia was strong. She fought an amazing battle that most adults would fear. She received treatments, persevered struggles and endured much over the last few months. Nancy sent me the following email today:

David,
After a heroic three month struggle Nadia Smith passed away on December 27. Your photos have taken on incredible significance to her parents. Along with soil from Nazareth, (her family came from there) she was buried with a photo taken at the wedding. Keep doing the wonderful and significant work that you do.

Sincerely,
Nancy Kula

Nadia was the same age as my daughter Tobin, having just started Kindergarten. I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that Nadia is gone. A five year-old…

When I came home today, I sat on the couch and began telling my wife Melanie about the photos we just picked-up for the studio walls. I was void of any excitement. I realized that moment, none of that superficial crap matters. A moment later I broke into tears, sobbing there on the couch. How can something like this happen?? She was five! She was Tobin’s age, forging her way through Kindergarten. She’s supposed to be full of life, terrorizing her sisters, making messes and being a kid.

It’s just not fair.

But I think the most important part of Nadia’s life was love. Love for family. Love for being a kid, full of life. Love for seeing life in a vibrant and new way. And love of keeping faith.

As fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters… never loose sight of what’s truly important in life. As photographers, never underestimate the power of your photographs.

Ever.

My heart goes out to Nadia and her family. God bless her sweet soul.

~dave