1.

Self-Portrait

2.

At the Window

Late night wrapping up after my very first show with Josh Schroeder at Berbati’s Pan (now the expanded VooDoo). These two had a quick hello across the alley.

3.

This was at the 2011 Portland Pride Parade. The man was brilliant.

4.

Life's on Set

Dress rehearsal for Michele Wylen’s first big show of the year. Choreographer and dancer, best friends and roommates.

5.

The Prize

See more zombie photos from this series here!

6.

Josh Schroeder

Of all the photos I’ve taken of him, his expression in this is one of the best I’ve caught.

7.

A House a Home

The beach was frequented this year–I had no idea how much it could help my head space. It is the most beautiful sunset I have seen. Though, I found the most beautiful sunset I have experienced was in Rockaway Beach last month.

8.

the first time is always different

This was my very first time seeing hot air balloons, and there were TWO of them! Taken at a wedding as they drifted above.

9.

The Farm

This was the property of a location for a PA job I did. Early morning, beautiful countryside. I believe this was the first photo that really had me focus on the coloring of my photographs.

10.

I wish I were he, but don't we all?

11.

The Road the Road Again

12.

Salute

WIN OUR ALBUM! Details below!

A quick post letting you in on one of my band’s contests and thought I might spread the news from here as well. We’re excited to spread the cause of Soles4Souls and the awesome team over at WearsMyShirt–check them out!

Our show to benefit Soles4Souls was one of the best we’ve played–especially given the reason for the event, the fun photo booth, and the team that put this together! Sam Roloff painted lovely shoe portraits to raise funds, we offered a % of our album sales, and all items for sale throughout The Space went to Soles4Souls!

If you missed it (or even if you didn’t), we’re offering a chance to win one of our albums (we’ll pay for shipping, too)! We’ll randomly select a name from those of you who participate. To enter the draw, follow these steps before 12/28:

1) Visit http://wearsmyshirt.com

2) Click “signup” on the top right and “connect with facebook”

3) Go HERE

4) Click “like” to vote for ours!

That’s it! We’re trying to help spread the word of this amazing cause. You can also purchase a shirt from their site which will give 5 pairs of shoes to those in need! Browse around and see what other organizations they’re helping out.

Happy holidays, everyone!

I just spent the past couple days “on vacation” at the Rockaway Beach Resort with Josh and friends Erik Simkins and Jansen Hillis. We walked along the beach as often as we could, day and night, only breaking for food and sleep. I found out more about each of them, a bit about myself, and a lot about my camera. And, of course, I would love to share my photos with you!

I’ve put a select few of my photos up at Society6. They’ve included my photo “salute” in their shop!

Enjoy.

I read every inch of email I receive from my agent, and those last four words gave me the little confidence I had left after reading the former thirteen a needed boost while driving to the audition for this Jeld-Wen Timbers commercial. There were no lines to prepare with, just reactions–which means improv.

I had asked a few people what basic knowledge I should have before the audition day but the facts simply flew through one ear and out the other. I meant to understand. I meant to know. I also am aware that I learn best by doing, and that just wasn’t going to happen in a day.

So, re-reading the email again and again I told myself “it’s not mandatory” and was on my way.

It was a new location for this audition. As simple as it is to show up and wait, adding in a new ‘unknown’ always throws off the balance I’ve built prior to arriving. The only thing I know how to do is to do my best–and even that isn’t definable. Everything is situational. A warehouse of offices, an elevator ride, sign-in at a front desk, a couple actors I’ve never seen before stew in their own heads. I’m starting to realize the work actors do is really before any shooting occurs. It’s a mental marathon before and after this leg of the race.

Two elderly actors are chatting about their love life history as we sit on a couch awaiting our names to be called. It’s a lovely conversation that I get lost in. After a bit they lend my own experiences a voice, though I’m quickly led into the audition room. The short conversation helped more than I could have imagined. Everything and anything normal helps ease the insecurities.

I’m sat in a spinny-chair and was told the flip camera on a tripod in front of me is the “television.” Two people, one the director, sit at a table to my left. Another one mans the camera. I’m to expressively react to the “game.”

“Do you know anything about soccer?”
The only answer I can fully and truthfully answer is:
“No. Not really!”
“…ohkaaay. Well, we’ll just tell you what’s going on and you can react to that.”
I feel a helpless sense of disappointment, but I chalk it up to over analyzation.
“Awesome!”

I hold the arms of the chair and lean towards the camera. The guy gives instructions as I go; they’re playing well, they missed a kick, the opposing team got the ball! My brain shuts off and a slur of “come on”s and “let’s go”s and “don’t do that”s and “I could kick that better”s run out my mouth like a leaky faucet. I have no idea what I’m saying. I’m too busy visualizing what this game could look like and pretending some friends are with me that I can’t focus on anything else. Suddenly the “game” gets more and more exciting and in my brain our team has the ball and they’re going for the goal! The guy stops talking and I decide they made the shot, and out of pure impulse and doing the only thing I know they do; I throw my arms into the air, spin myself in the chair to do a full 360 and yell “GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!”

The room is utterly silent.

“I know they do that.” I mention.

“……okay. Well, thanks for coming in.”

I smile the most geniune smile because I know I just embarrassed myself more-so than ever before and I’ll be able to laugh about it eventually, but only after I leave the room to help come to terms with the fact that I’ll never see these people again.

I call a few friends as I sit in my car. I tell them how ridiculous I felt and how red my face was. They laugh with me; they’re supportive. I blast music on my way home.

A couple days later I get a call telling me I landed the role.

Fact Reaffirmed: The world is ridiculous in ways I don’t understand.

I’m reminded again and again by situations like these to “do my best” and “don’t stress.” I’m in a field where I can make money from embarrassing myself, and if that’s what it takes then give me a spinny-chair and let me at it.

Turns out, the commercial is an awesome compilation of local actors and real Timbers fans in support of the new branding of the previous “PGE Park”–now “Jeld-Wen” field. Five hours of shooting later you can see me in the video below for less than a second (from :05-:06) in my lovely Hetterson sweater, but certainly watch the whole spot–some great moments were captured!

Aside: “Santacon: is a non-denominational, non-commercial, non-political and non-sensical Santa Claus convention that occurs once a year for absolutely no reason.”

NY Zombie Crawl: “When there is no more booze in hell, the dead will walk the earth!”

I had just missed the PZW in 2009, but decided I would attend in 2010 and photograph the event. By the time it came around I had just purchased my Canon 50mm 1.8 lens and decided that I could no longer be hindered by the fear of capturing people (I mainly focused on abstract, inanimate objects)–especially because this was a public event where people were dressed up and are almost unrecognizable. They must expect people will take pictures, right? Right.

With the help of the 50mm, I forced myself to get up (relatively) close and really pay attention to the details of the artistic efforts everyone put in towards embodying a walking dead. I had no idea what to expect, but as the day went on and as I chased the wobbling people up and down the city blocks I found there to be quite a number of those who were fully committed to their creatures. I was hissed at and screamed at and chased and quickly had to learn how to work around the ones who were truly involved. And, coincidentally, it was also an excellent character study–and a great challenge to frame the world each had created for themselves.

I can only assume each year will bring on more elaborate garb and offer a platform for humorous ironic societal quips (such as on cardboard signs or shirts, as seen below).

There are those who intended to stay safe, but the inevitable occurs nonetheless…

There are eyes you can’t look into for more than a second…

Limbs are torn and carried as though they were a prize to be won…

There are herds of zombies…

Though some walk two by two…

And of course, those who thrill the world…

It’s an event that is marking my years spent in Portland and one that I intend to experience as often as I can, in this city or elsewhere. I’m continuously finding that people are fascinating creatures themselves, especially while presenting their beliefs, passions, and talents–even if it means they’re the undead.

Select prints of the Portland Zombie Walk 2010 are available. Inquire within! Otherwise, click below to access the PZW 2010 and PZW 2011 sets through my flickr. Thanks for reading, and let me know if you hear of any more zombies on the loose…

I switched off between my dad’s Contax film camera and the Rebel and slowly became accustomed to the speed and ease of the newer technology. Over the years I’ve learned more and more about my camera–sometimes willingly, sometimes out of necessity–and from there I’ve had the opportunity to further learn the incredible possibilities of digital and film: both new technology and old.

Only until recently, thanks to a select few who have reached out and written me, have I seen my photography as something other than a personal collection. Step by step I’ve built up the courage to post my photos, then to print them, frame them, and finally hang them. Slowly I’m feeling a change in the way I view[finder] the world. Having the ability to physically show what I see is an amazing change from posing for a camera or speaking someone else’s words.

Truthfully (as some friends have pointed out) I’m behind the camera more often than I am in front of it. I’m always taking pictures. Most don’t see the light of day, but thanks to three Terabytes of content I can now tell I’m more serious about it than I thought. At this point I’m not sure where it fits in my life, but I’ll continue to shoot and learn as there’s still a long way to go. Plus, I need to raise money to buy a new camera because the digital noise on my 6 year old baby is ridiculously awful! Someday, someday.

Anyway. I recently completed framing one of my favorite sets (Portland Zombie Walk 2010) and documented my process, which you can view below if you so choose!

Feel free to view some select photographs at my tumblr, or see sets and series at my flickr. View my personal favorites below :)

That’s an introduction, right?

Truthfully, we (Parker, Emily Tebbetts and I) met for coffee just prior to our drive and he told us of his newest addition to his apparent and rather lush cacti collection.

Then through random mumblings as we drove, Parker got hold of “Planet Music” (the new Josh and Mer CD) and played it the whole ride.

While wandering on location, he and I spoke of our interactions with Amanda Seyfried when she was in town filming “Gone” (he shot her, I acted with her), and shared a mutual respect for the quality of work she has produced. If you haven’t seen his photos of her, please go check them out).

Finally, between the two of them taking picture upon picture, I eventually had to sit on Parker for Emily to get the shot she wanted. So I reckon it was a much better situation than I had originally written. However, it was still the first time we met and was only a little awkward.

:)

It was a gorgeous day; perfect for shooting though a bit on the chilly side. Emily let me borrow her sweatshirt between shots and when Parker was re-loading film. It is really amazing to see the differences between each of their photos of the same person, in the same outfit, in sometimes the same pose. They each have such a distinct mood they carry with them, and I let my emotions while being shot change with them.

I can’t get enough of the results. Parker’s are below (more at his blog), check the last entry for Emily’s.

We’re to drive to Fort Stevens State Park and shoot at the historic shipwreck and military bunkers. Although late upon our arrival, we were lucky to have perfectly timed our shooting spots as every other person staying in Seaside appeared en masse as soon as we were done.

The day was gorgeous. Alongside this shoot, friend and brilliant creative John Campbell was shooting behind-the-scenes for a short documentary about Rio and her work. You can’t beat a sunny day on the coast with people who live to create.

Preview the shoot here:

Find more here. More images to come!

Two years ago I met miss Emily Tebbetts for the first time in Boston. I had seen her photography throughout my wanderings online and decided I wanted to shoot with her while I was in the new city. You can see the results of our first shoot here, or read about my time here!

Then I had the opportunity to visit again a year later, and spoken plans foreshadowed a visit to the west coast sometime within the following months.

It seemed as though only a month had gone by since I last saw her (really, 10 had!), but then here she was, camped on my couch for a week while we tried to figure the most important spots for her to see. We hit Washington Park, the Arboretum, the Columbia River Gorge, Seaside/Canon Beach/Manzanita, Powells (of course), the Gorge again, and wandered aimlessly through downtown and other parts of the city. Really, I had done more wandering around Portland that week than I have since I arrived! It helped force me to appreciate the outside world from my continuous work flow and let me focus on more creative aspects without putting pressure on myself to finish this or that. It was a great creative stay-cation.

There will be multiple posts about this, as we did multiple shoots during our multiple adventures!

One of the first, however, was a double-shoot with Emily and local-photographer Parker Fitzgerald. Here are Emily’s photos–more are soon to come! Don’t forget to peek at the behind-the-scenes…Parker took one for the team. It was a lovely day :)

1) writing a song
2) rebranding
and
3) a network in Canada

Add a band called Josh and Mer and what do you get?

Playing on Canadian television everywhere, the BBC Kids/Cbeebies network has a new theme song…that we wrote!

We are certainly more than excited that we had this opportunity and can’t wait to see what else is to come! You can check out what else we’ve accomplished on our film/television section of our new site.

More experiences to come, but for now, enjoy!