Oh, and she plays the banjo by the way.

I first shot with her a year ago. That was the first time I’ve ever gone out of the ‘hide in my cave’ comfort zone and asked someone if I they’d mind a little photo shoot. I’ve come a long way since then and this second time around helped me realize the journey I’ve been on with this here photography thing. Here’s a handful of my favorites, all polaroid and film.

Hope you enjoy!

I’ve been out of town for a whole week. In Anaheim for NAMM 2012 with DPA Microphones. I have a very hard time being away from my family. The day before I left for this trip I took this photo with Impossible Projects PX680. I’m happy to be heading home tonight:)

So, I was pretty excited when Chris Brown of Refueled Magazine contacted me about some photos of mine that he really dug. He wanted to pull some polaroids and digital shots I had taken with the super rad Natasha Terry for his 8th issue. There’s a little spread above for yah:) He placed a hand full of shots smack in the middle amongst some great stories you just have to check out… I happened to already be familiar with Roy Slaper of Roy Denim and photographer Laura Dart so to say the least, Im very honored to be in the midst of these artists!

Check out the latest issue HERE and keep up with Chris on Facebook! The guy has a great sense of art and style.

Last year I grew out of my 10 year phase of only wearing black and white Chuck Taylors. I was even got married in them. Anyways… This past year was met with both a pair of brown Ranger Mocs and black Ranger Boots from LL.Bean Signature. I absolutely love them, most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn… but both are made for spring, summer and fall. Not so much for winter, my feet end up cold and wet from the snow.

In comes the hunt for a pair of Loggers. Yah see my brother got a pair of Nicks a few years back for wildfire fighting and ever since I’ve wanted a pair. Price is steep though, coming in at around $450 a pair. Then again its a pair for a lifetime but I just wanted something to replace my lame Timberland hiking boots and to keep my feet dry and stable in snow around town or hiking through the mountains. I found these Chippewas at a local place and they happen to carry one pair of loggers, they happen to fit and I happen to have enough Christmas cash to buy’em.

Can’t recommend a pair of loggers enough. Its a whole different world of boot. It lengthens your gait and gives you a couple good inches of height. You’ll want to charge a mountain and swing an axe or better yet fire up a 48″ chainsaw while your beard grows at double speed.

Where’s my flapjacks?!

The first polaroid above was on his third birthday. He was proud:)

Been in one of those nostalgic moods lately. After getting back from hangin with my brother I started going through photos… old photos…. new photos. Came across a few of Olive that I just totally love. It surely captures her spirit. The girl lives in such a magical world, and it is. This place. I feel like as adults we can so easily forget that. Lets remember what its like to be the princess or the hero. yah?

Long story short this is a tip of the hat to my brother. An upstanding man whos heart is for God and family and works harder than anyone I’ve ever met. The boy is a forest fire fighter that risks his life and can run a 42″ chainsaw for 16 hours straight and not complain about the $16 an hour. I miss the hell out of him and hate that we live so far apart right now. We’ve got one of those bonds that in unexplainable and I tend to think that had to do with the way our parents brought us up. We were always together, always best friends, got in and out of many many predicaments.

So… last week we spent about 4 days in the beautiful mountains of Montana with a house full of kiddos which was just awesome and humbling to think we’re in charge of these little ones for some years. The wives had some good bonding time cooking up an amazing Thanksgiving dinner and me and Matt were able to go out hunting one morning and two afternoons, hiked up and down steep terrain covered with snow, came across wolf tracks and finally got us a deer.

Here’s a couple polaroids.

Just can’t believe my baby turned four this past weekend. So weird. Doesnt make sense! Literally feels like yesterday I was working construction from 6am to 3pm then at starbucks from 6pm to 10pm to get me and tess ready for this little baby that was on its way. Well, now we’ve got three:) All beautiful. All so happy. All so adventurous. This little girl, she has my heart.

End it with a polaroid. Shes so proud:)

These two on Polaroid. They love each other so freakin much its beautiful. See next post for some fun lovin digital shots. These here were shot through my trusty Polaroid 195 although the last two are through a Cambo Large Format beast of an awesome camera:)

This camera… I have just started shooting with it and figured I’d throw down a blog post.

So whats so special about the 195? It’s one of Polaroid’s ‘PROFESSIONAL’ models. Ohhhh Ahhhhh. Okay, but how good  can it be? Polaroid Film is dead, right? Nope. Heck no. First off check out the Impossible Project, second off, Fuji still makes peel apart film. Both the Polaroid 180 and 195 were their professional models, meaning the lens is top notch compared to their other models, sharp lens with a much wider aperature. The 195′s got a f3.8 going which will give some some great bokah. The other big thing is that the shutter/aperture is completely manual. Manual is good because that means you are in control. I’ve always loved both my model 100 and 250 which were automatic and can produce awesome results but the control of this camera takes peel apart film to another level.

I’m really stoked to shoot this more often!

For those who may be dipping their toes into photography or polaroid. Here is a couple of examples of what Im talking about as far as having the ability to control exposure.

- So with these two shots below. An automatic exposure will get you the shot on the right. The whole foreground is nice and exposed, detailed and such… which looks great but say you wanted to really catch the depth of the scene and bring out the mountains further out there… which brings you the shot on the left… technically underexposed over all… but there is some drama that is brought into the scene.

- These next 3 shots of my kids. I had them just inside of our sliding glass door. The sunsetting light was catching their face and bodies and the dining room behind them was fairly dark. If I would have shot with with an automatic exposing camera their faces would end up being overexposed, blown out and undetailed because the majority of the frame is the ‘darker room’ behind them so that is what the camera would most care about. With the manual exposure I exposed for their skin which ends up bringing that room completely black.

By the way. These are all shot on Polaroid Chocolate 100 film. Its hard to get, I think The Impossible Project has some left. I love the film. It can give you some great contrast and amazing sharpness.

Thoughts? Are posts like this helpful? Let me know!! Drop a quick comment.

And hey! Thanks for reading!

Sunset Glow

Aimee and Casey. Amazing people who have such a fun love for each other. Aimee is an artsist with some awesomely long dreads… check out her ceramics here. Casey, he’s got a killer beard that would make any man envy. Their love runs deep and is connected by a very true, humble, and strong love for God, their families, and their friends. With 30 or so of their friends and family they rented out a lodge up near Breckenridge Colorado for a few days. Amazing setting to say the least. Leading up to the wedding they made memories by way of foosball, snowshoeing and laughter over coffee while staying comfy in their pajamas (by the fire!) Shoot what a perfect setting for quality family time and a close intimate wedding!

So anyways…Here is a little preview to this little wedding I shot last weekend! Some polaroids for you to check out as I finish up sorting through the many many other shots from the day.

Some real Polaroids for ya with a cam that was off focus. yet i still love these.

I was nervous and slightly intimidated. I’ve never worked with models before. I didn’t know what to expect and was also struggling with the feeling that I had to live up to these girls expectations… they’ve worked with some amazing photographers! Ah the pressure. But its cool. I’ve been able to overcome my fears in situations like this with a humble attitude and remember that Im there because I love to capture honest images. I’m up for the challenge to get that spirit, that something which speaks through a photo and to the viewer. More than anything though Im there to hopefully connect on a relational level with people and have fun. Its all about the process. I feel like I learned a lot this day since we had time to relax and just shoot.

It was an awesome collaboration with photographer Shannon VonEschen from Shalynne Imaging, Natosha Cooke from Aphrodite Affairs, gowns by Alisa Benay, Brandice Rodriguez throwing down killer hair style, Cassandra Rose Events for some charming outdoor decor, and models; the stunning Brytny Shea Marquez,  Luccia Cafiero , and Austin David Schott. 

We took a few hours and shot inside the Boulderado Hotel in Boulder, CO. Great place, great light and vibe. They were awesomely accomodating too! Then we decided we didnt want to be warm and cozzy anymore and would rather freeze our butts off so we moved outside just before sunset… drove up Flagstaff Mountain and had a little setup on a picnic table in the snow! That was sick for sure. Cold… but great. Don’t wear TOMS in the snow… its the same as going barefoot. Literally couldn’t feel my feet for an hour! Anyways… here is a preview by way of Polaroids! My favorite medium. I took some 35mm and digital shots too… I’ll post more soon.

These here are all shot from my Polaroid 250 on some nice and old ID-UV film. Magic. What do you think? The polaroids lend a sense of mystery, eh? More and more I’m understanding the fact that light is the most important tool and so freakin dynamic. It’s never the same. Light is fantastic.

Offering single packs too. Boom. Jet to the shop!

Sarah Rose

Here’s my little boy Boston on Impossible Project PUSH film. The film is finicky but beautiful for sure. People are getting some good pastel colors coming through by overexposing a bit or using a flashbar. The photos will start turning cyan fairly soon so theres some folks peeling apart the film to let the chems dry out to prevent that from happening. Find some notes on it here.

My humble Winter 2010 Roid week submissions. I like this shot on the left. It hit flickr Explore top 10. Both of these were shot with an SX-70 and Impossible PX600 If you want to see some amazing Polaroids head over to the group and scan through the pages. Great stuff by a lot of talented Polaroid lovers.

Congrats to Ashley for winning a set of handmade Polaroid frames! You can check out her blog here, go take a look! And here’s a bit about her…

My name is Ashley E. and I take photographs. I take them with film, with digital, with just about whatever I can get my hands on.

I also write. So I started a blog.

My blog is about love, laughter, joy, sorrow, challenges, and explorations. In other words, it’s about life, specifically my life as seen through my camera. Sometimes there are other characters from my life who will show up in my blog. Most notably my fiance Mike, and our cat, Spandy. Also, sometimes my family.

I grew up in various places all over Canada. Most of them small dots on the map that no one as ever heard of. Now I live in a big metropolis and challenge myself to find something similar to small town life in my adventures in it.

Nature is important to me. I think it’s beautiful and it gives me so much joy. Sadly though, I’ve never had much of a green thumb, but I try and grow things none the less. I’ve had the most success with herbs.

My favorite book is “A Wrinkle in Time”. But I enjoyed “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” very much. Really, I enjoy just about any form of the written word.

My favorite colour is blue, but yellow is slowly starting to overtake it. My favorite hot drink is Earl Grey Tea with honey. My favorite cold drink is Orange Fanta.

I like to bake cookies, cakes, cupcakes, bread and other yummy treats. I do not cook.

I like to try new projects. Right now I’m learning to crochet.

I like to see the positive side of things, and take great pleasure in little joys.

Instant film. Means the world to me. It was 3 years ago when I accidently found out that I could get some film for my old Polaroid Automatic 100 camera that I had sitting on a shelf because I thought it looked cool. From then on it became somewhat of an obsession. Ask my wife about our refridgerator and how much room is left for food. Is quite hilarious actually:) No but really. Over the past few years I’ve gotten some of the most amazing images by way of instant film and specifically my Polaroid SX-70. The camera is a gem for sure. I spend a lot of time with my family, my kids Olive and Boston only know cameras that whip and whirr and spit out film for them to watch develop. I love that. The charm. The analog realness. I feel like polaroid film, especially expired, can capture part of the dream that is this life. I could go on and on… if you’ve shot the stuff then you know what I’m talking about, if you havn’t… please! do yourself a favor and get an SX-70 or Polaroid 680.

Needless to say I’ve got boxes and boxes of hundreds of polaroids chillin in my closet. In all honesty I’m just too cheap to spend some major bucks on a nice plain frame and matting to hang this stuff in my house. I leave that for my super hot polaroids that I’d die for. But for 90% of my other shots (that I still love!) I wanted something that would allow me to interchange my shots easily… so pulling from the carpenter blood in my family, over the last couple years I’ve made some wood frames to easily slip the ‘roids into. They’ve worked out amazing, made a bunch for people just inquiring through flickr. And… so what we have here is the latest, polised version. (actually, there’s a slight change with the newest newest ones but havn’t taken photos of those yet).

They’re handmade by yours truley. Cut and sanded so smooth, painted white and finished with an ACID FREE sealant. Theres a little hole drilled into the back for flush hanging against a wall. They’ll fit Polaroid 600, 779, ATZ, Time Zero and the Impossible films! (*note: look at the pics, the final product only has white on the bottom part, to simulate the actual polaroid)

To add some handmade charm, I’ve screenprinted the mailing boxes and also screenprinted the backs of the frames:)

They’ll come in packs of 3 and a discounted pack of 10. I think:) This is a preliminary post just to celebrate winter ‘roid week!!

Anyways… what do you think? like’m? Give a shout out in the comments. They’ll be release soon…. ohhhhhhh the mystery and anticipation, huh? Maybe they’re not that cool

To win a pack of 3 frames before they’re released you need to Tweet the following EXACTLY!!

RT & Win a pack of 3 handmade charming #polaroid frames from The Lantern Room. #roidweek rocks! Info at: http://bit.ly/ciVaZq

I’ll pick a random winner on the last day of ‘roid week! 11/5. You can enter once each day:) Peace out and Love you guys!

Well… Last fall some changes came about along with the cold weather kicking in. Because of some major health scares I had realized that life is too beautiful to waste away during the winter because “Thats how I am” “This is what I do every winter” “Wah wah, I’m a cry baby.” The selfishness in that hit me across the face and I became so much more grateful for life, for opposites. If there wasn’t the cold, I wouldn’t love the warm sun as much as I do.

Point being here… Reach for a different perspective. Life is good. Love is eternal. God created all these things for a reason. Lets enjoy it all:)

Here is a polaroid I took yesterday evening. Actually its two, one transparecny on top of the other. Impossible’s PX600 and Polaroid Fade to Black. It looks a little depressing, but really its not:)

–If you follow music, art, and culture of the American South, sooner or later you’re bound to run into the letters, images, and unmistakable “look” of Hatch Show Print. We’re one of the oldest working letterpress print shops in America, and over the years our posters have featured a host of country music performers, ranging from Country Music Hall of Famers Hank Williams, Bill Monroe, and Johnny Cash to contemporary stars such as Garth Brooks and Wynonna.

“Advertising without posters is like fishing without worms.”
- The Hatch Brothers

We’ve done it all without losing that irresistible appeal of turn-of-the-century Hatch posters, which were used to promote vaudeville, circus, and minstrel shows across the country. There’s a reason why music lovers, Americana buffs, graphic arts collectors and designers, and commercial advertisers of all persuasions continue to turn to Hatch for inspiration. We are, indeed, a tonic for the information age.–

So anyways. That place is awesome! Coolest people working there, so freakin nice and polite:)  The designs are so classic and have got me very interested in printing press especially since I recently picked up a GOCCO printer. I’m on the look out now for a table top press:)

Also here are a couple polaroids of Olive and Boston from about a year ago… taken on Polaroid 600 film through my Polaroid SX-70 cam.