Iowa Scenes

Iowa, oh Iowa, how I love thee... This is my second trip to Iowa but this time I had the pleasure of spending my time in the north western part of the state. I carried no expectations about anything only excitement rushed through my veins. I had two purposes on this trip... One was to get to know all I could about my client and his businesses so I could come home and design his sweet logo. The second was to spend time photographing with my buddy, classmate and forever great friend Bob Blanchard ('09 AI, SI RMSP Grad). Check mark on both!

After taking over 750 photographs on the entire trip to Iowa here are a few that I feel capture the scenes where I was so very lucky to spend a short time in the fall of 2009.

Blue Angels

This is dedicated to my Gram, Rainy Curtis. My best friend, the woman who made me who I am today, my biggest influence, my Angel... I will see you again... Until then I'm letting you know via blog, as odd as that might be, that I think of you everyday and sometimes still believe you will be calling me to pick you up for another one on one dinner. I miss you but when I look up into the sky I know you are there keeping a close eye on me and all the others you loved so deeply. I love you and thank you for everything.

My photographic exploration!

It's true I'm on a treck to find out just what my style of photography is at this point in my life. One of my classmates nailed me the other day when I sent him an image to critique... He asked "what does this mean to you?" Ah, ah, duh... was my internal thought which resulted in a couple days of complete frustration while I frantically tryed to figure out that question. And finally the answer is... I need to dive into my work even deeper than I ever have before!

In my research of photographers and works that I love I have found that I needed to add to my software filters. Thank you to Richard Cornelius, a fellow RMSP '09 SI grad and his most amazing photographic skills some of my troubles were helped immensely. (Please look up Richard's work, you will all be very impressed!) He has like interests in subjects and also post editing. Without him I would still be scratching my head and asking myself, how do they do that? Thank you from the bottom of my heart Richard, you have saved me.

These are a few photographs that came out of a shoot a handful of RMSP students went to capture, including Richard who nailed it and made one of the most beautiful and original art works I've ever seen!

If you're wondering just how did I create this work here you go... First off, I went to the best photography school in the USA, possibly the world. (Yes that's my opinion but seriously if you go you will think the same thing!) Second I used Lightroom and Photoshop CS4 to capture the global edits that I needed. Lastly I used the Topaz Adjust filter made by Topaz Labs to create the final edit look and feel that you see bellow. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did while creating them every single step of the way!

To the local Missoula skaters and wonderful models, thank you.

Siblings

I've been doing a lot of thinking about my own family and how much they mean to me... One of the best things that ever happened to me was having my sister as my sister! I can't describe the relationship because everyone is different and has their own sibling connection or even disconnect. The ladder, I will never understand but then again everybody is different even if you share the same genes.

I have been blessed to have the sister that I have. We are both lucky to have the Mom we have. She raised us to stick together no matter what. And let me tell you a lot of 'no matter what's' have happened but we are still together!

This next series is an exploration of siblings. I'm feeling that in my photography future siblings and family will be a huge focus for me. Here is an introduction!

(The portrait of my sister and I was taken by my Bro-In-Law and edited by me. It's a little on the fuzzy side but I give him props for being so interested in snapping the shutter!)

Challenge Yourself

So I've been doing a lot of research on other photographers and noticed something about my work... I need to challenge myself more. Push the envelope. See, feel and photograph more and diverse subjects. Follow my heart.

Buildings have been a large part of my life... Mostly because my Dad is the best contractor to ever walk the face of this earth. Lucky for me he raised me on the job site. I learned so much from him and his crew I know for a fact my creative eye would not be the same without that experience. Unfortunately my Dad is out of the business. Who would want to be known as a contractor after what has happened in the industry in the past 10 to 15 years? It's just too bad because my Dad is so very talented but never received the credit that he deserved... And or never allowed himself to receive the credit that I and others like me gave him. He was lumped into the pile of SO CALLED 'contractors' who threw up a house in less than a month with less than quality work put into every second of that tiny building time period. So I believe this is where my next photographic interest is coming from. I'm not sure where it will go but buildings and construction is in my brain.

Today I went out and photographed a few different old abandoned houses that are still standing in downtown Boise. I'm also not sure what my statement is quite yet... This has been an idea in my head since I was a youngster while swinging the hammer and or shooting the nail-gun building strong sound houses. I know for a fact that I'm kicking myself in the butt for not documenting my Dads amazing work. He should have a coffee table book, who knows someday he just might!