Being outdoorsy

Living in Utah has a great perk for those who love nature... 

Lots of open space.

Just within a few minutes drive of my apartment, there are dozens of lovely trails to play on, so I go out with friends to enjoy hikes when possible.  These are some pictures from the first hike of the summer season.

This is Landon.  He decided it was a good idea to eat live ants...

... And Dallas joined in the feast.

We squirmed into a couple of small caves, but since we hadn't brought flashlights, it wasn't possible to venture in too far.  Cell phones only illuminate so much.

So, yeah.  This is me and some friends out hiking.  That's all.

There's just something about food...

Below are a few more tantalizing creations from Leland Spindler.  He was catering an event this weekend, and I got to come ogle the food through the camera (and eat it, as well).

Something like home

Have you ever stopped to look at just a small part of a thing?

Take houses for example.  A house is full of complexity, from the foundation and inner structure, the heating and water pipes, to the different functions of the visible exterior.

On my way to another shoot back in March, I found a crazy old house.  The whole place was beat-up and old cars were parked on the lawn.  I particularly liked the weather-beaten old roof with a skeletal tree behind it.  I liked it, so I shot it.

I didn't think much of the image until I started working with it, then decided to make a Van Dyke Brown print out of it in the darkroom.  The lone rooftop soon became several, and a series was born.  The personality of all the different houses drew me in, and the particular effect of seeing just the top - away from the doors and lawns where you expect to see people - seemed to turn the houses into beings in their own right.  Alive, but empty by themselves.

The prints are the final product, and you can see them right now at the Harold B. Lee Library at BYU in Provo.  They are housed in an exhibit on the 1st floor of the atrium with work from several of my classmates.  After June is over, the next chance will be in August in Ephraim (details forthcoming).

Until you can see it for real, here is one digital version.  It looks quite a bit different in person.

Once upon a time with a packrat...

Remember that time I went to New York?  We stopped by Jay Maisel's studio for a visit.  He built his studio/home in an old bank on Manhattan Island, and has a floor devoted entirely to curious objects he's collected over the years.  Not only did he give us a great presentation about his views on photography, he let us wander around to photograph his stuff!  Just a few of the pretty things I found in (and on) his building.

Real life, personal thoughts, and pictures

For anyone who knows me personally, you may know that it is ridiculously hard to get ahold of me sometimes.  And even when I'm there, I get a little distracted sometimes.

For those who don't, just realize that during the summer, I work full-time, practice my photography, work freelance in addition to my job, try to work out regularly, have some level of a social life, and keep my apartment clean-ish.  I also keep up with other obligations, including (but not limited to) active religious participation and hopefully starting to work with a mentoring program soon.

This is not the school year.  This is the "off season."  It can and does get worse.

After going through a couple years of over-burdened workaholism, I realized that with all the strides I've made in art, one thing was missing...

... a real life.

And I'm out to fix that.

 

A couple weeks ago, my roommate and I went out for a cruise in my brother's new Jeep (which he's quite proud of).  It was one of those random little things that he was excited about, but with my schedule I might have declined or put it off in the past.

But I went.

And Rachael went.

And we had fun.

The really monumental thing is that I took my camera with me.  Often, the sheer volume of photos I work with made picture-taking a burden, because in an effort to be "productive" and "disciplined" I had upset the balance between practicality and living.  I had to get things done rather than doing things for people, and do things right rather than explore and create.  I wouldn't take pictures unless I thought they would be amazing or fill some requirement.

That mentality does not work out in the end.  I've spent a lot of time trying to DO so much that I became numb and tired.  Now it's time to LIVE.  That means making time for people that matter, for really getting connected spiritually, for personal work, and saying no to things that I just can't manage to do.  It'll take some work to re-balance everything, but I'm looking forward to the challenge... and the resulting imagery.

Ohio Sunset

Another little tidbit from the trip home.

 

My mom and I were driving home at the tail end of a rain storm, and the half-covering of clouds was too good to pass up.  I pulled into a shopping center on the edge of a cliff (not kidding about the cliff) and took this picture over the side.  It's so simple and clean that I couldn't bear to mar it with a watermark.

 

Just don't steal it... deal?

Hello, Ohio!

So, I spent the better part of the last two weeks visiting my parents in the greater Cleveland area of Ohio.  I have to say, even though I love the mountains in Utah, I come to crave the trees and rivers of the Midwest.  Here are a few photos I took around Ohio while satisfying that craving:

To tell you the truth, the first seven pictures were captured at a park where my mother used to take my brother and I to play often as children.  It was a nostalgic moment.