The Impossible Project blew my mind when they got ten packs of their latest film to me just days before my trip to Texas with A Boy and His Kite for SXSW. To say I was excited to have this much instant film packed wouldn’t do it justice… I almost crapped my pants. And now I am very honored to have them post a little write up for their Viewfinder post along with a handful of the shots I took while I was on the road. They are a company that is driven with passion and keeping instant film alive… I have a special fondness towards them as instant film was my gateway to photography.

Please take a look HERE! for the post of photos.

Some months back… November 2012 to be exact Mr. Jov Novosti took an airplane from Portland to Colorado for a collaboration of imagery. He is releasing a set of songs here very soon, April 13th to be exact. Honored to have a sneak listen and it will be a wonderful album. His sound is rich and earthy and I myself can’t wait for the final album. Getting to know the depth of this mans mind and heart was very eye opening, he is a true mad man and I mean that in a good sense. He takes what he does very seriously and labors over the intentionality of every aspect when it comes to his art. Commendable to say the least.

We brought in wonderful Jill Carter for styling and got Jov shirtless on a day where the high temps were probably 20 degrees Here are a few frames from each part of the day.

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Polaroid 195 w/ Polaroid 669 and Fuji FP3000b — Mamiya RZ67proii w/Kodak Portra160 & Portra800 — Polaroid SX70 w/The Impossible Project PX70

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So at the end of last summer I was contacted by Jason Nava, who is now a very dear friend, about doing a really short and sweet shoot for his latest Tees which you can find HERE. We had a couple of fantastic models and a good style concept… throw in a killer Colorado location and it turned into a great way to spend the last hour of a summer day. I’ve waited quite some time to post these photos as Mint Mag picked them up for their Spring 2013 issue! 

Turn around time for the shoot was short… talking a day or so. Whereas I normally shoot 100% film I eneded up shooting polaroid and digital so that I could deliver within a day. So that is what you’re seeing here… the last 5 shots were on the RZ67 ’cause I just had to shoot at least a roll of film for my own sake

Styling- Jolene Nava  Models- Morgan T. Gales & Annalise Lundeen

-— RZ67 ¬

Can’t believe I never posted shots from this day! It was a cold day back in November or December… I’m not even sure now… but it was for a couple Tees by CX City and I got to shoot with Ms. Manda Hesterly who is an absolute sweetheart. We got a ton of great stuff and braved the cold for probably a bit too long but it was worth it.

I’d write a bit more, but its 1:00am and I’m hitting the road for SXSW in a little while so I need to get to bed…

I picked this string of shots cause of the centeredness. I kind of like them.

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RZ67 Kodak Portra160 & FP100c

Polaroid 195 w. Polaroid 669

Take a peek and listen  >>  A boy and his kite

You pull a group of creatives together and some awesome things happen… first and formost you have fun and second, you make some good art. Here is a string of shots for CarolAnn Wachter, some of which were in my living room and some in the hills.

Model: Marianne Hagstrom w/ Q Models   Styling: Jill Carter    MUA: Katelyn Simpkins    Hair: Graham Nation  

Special appearances by Jill, Graham, and Drew Willingham (Drew shot a ton of rad BTS stuff)

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Mamiya RZ67ii w/ Portra160 & Portra400

Contax G2 w/ Portra160

Polaroid 195 w/ Fuji FP3000B

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I chose this leading image for a good reason. You see, I stumbled on Ms. Emily‘s facebook at one point through a series of random facebook friends and was caught by her look. The majority of what I saw was a very serious and blank face but with just enough mischief and wonder behind her eyes. So I was intrigued and reached out to maybe set up a little shoot and of course I wondered what this person was all about. Well, some time went by and I had a trip planned to Colorado Springs and asked if she could meet for coffee. I walked in half expecting the very cool and collected artist (as hard as I try not to project personality on internet people, I do … i just can’t help it!) but was met by just the opposite, a super fun and light hearted soul where that mischief and wonder was actually right there on her sleeve. She never stopped smiling and hence… this lead image.

Well, I had one of those first impressions where I threw my bag on the table and said with a giant sheepish smile… “I gotta hit the bathroom or I’m gonna pee my pants, I’m sorry.” So after that was taken care of we chatted about life history, art, goals, family and faith. She kept spurting out these bits of wisdom that I had wished I written down. She’s an amazing person who is pursuing the heart of life… she’ll soon be in the Los Angeles area and I’m a bit jealous that she’ll be so close to the coast!

We weren’t at all planning on shooting but I had some cameras for something else and I couldn’t leave without at least getting a few shots of her and I’m so glad we did.

She’s a wonderful musician with a lovely voice (she’s got one track on her site… so check it out) and I can’t wait for her to release some new work…

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Mamiya RZ67 w/ kodak Portra160

Polaroid 195 w/ Polaroid 108

SX70 w/Fade to Black

Ever since moving on from my 8-5 job I’ve had much more time to meet up with folks. Its been real nice, I haven’t met this many new people since college and I realize that its something that I’ve missed. Dustin and I had come across each other through Instagram  by way of Luca. Knowing that Dustin was a manager of Happy Coffee in Denver…  and how much I love good coffee… we decided to meet up where he spends most of his time. Not sure if he was stoked on that, but I was Couldn’t wait to give their espresso a tasting and it was surely fantastic. One of the best cups in Colorado for sure.

Half way into sharing our stories Luca walked in and now we had three photographers and a nice sunny day to take our cameras for a walk. And thats what we did.

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SX70 & Impossible Project Silver Shade

Polaroid 195 & Polaroid ID-UV

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Some days before Christmas these three folks… Parker Fitzgerald, Jay Fitzgerald & Joy Kim took a flight down from Portland to visit family for the holidays. I was of course excited again to see Parker’s name pop up on my phone. It’s always a blessed time hanging with the man. This trip was especially awesome because I got to spend time with Jay and Joy. Jay is another amazing photographer and Joy just kills it with her calligraphy and drawings… not to mention, she’s to thank for my ‘Lantern Room’ logo.

These three made one of the coldest Colorado days a blast and I look forward to our next meeting… hopefully in Portland

The more you get to know me the more you’ll come to realize that I hold family dear. I’ve been getting more and more inquiries to shoot families and I’ve been on the fence about it because of a confused vision regarding family photography. Who am I as a family portraitist? So I’ve been in a state of experimenting with that and the great thing is there are a lot of awesome family’s that are a part of my life. Tess and I recently met the Spahn’s and not only the fact of both of us have four kids but both Jeff and Danielle are awesome and hold many of the same values and struggles as a young family that we do… and among other awesome reasons we hit it off and I took some photos of them. It was a blast. I ran a lot, but the kids ran even more. The mad style was brought to you by a wonderful Jill Carter.

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Mamiya RZ67, Contax G2, Polaroid 195. Kodak Portra160, Efke 25, Polaroid 669. Two frames with the 5dMKII & VSCOfilm

Upon me leaving the security of my 8-5 gig just a few weeks back an email from Dead Oceans came in for a landing asking if I would be available for some press photos with Winston Yellen of Night Beds. A few things lined up well, I was available and Winston was in town from Nashville for a week or so while visiting family. The shoot marked my first week as a full time creative.

Going into each shoot there are so many variables and that is what makes me both stoked out of my mind and nervous to my bones when arriving for a shoot. A few interesting things revolve around this shoot in particular. Mr. Winston had mentioned he couldn’t stand being photographed. We also needed to decide on a location in Denver within a day… I’m not much of an urbanite but was excited to find some good light in and around buildings. Third, is I was out my 5d which I was going to have to use as a main camera on this shoot because of multiple reasons, including cost of film and time of delivery.

Well, Winston was a champ and super easy to shoot with, so that took care of his lack of interest in being photographed. We also found a pretty open neighborhood to shoot in with some natural foliage which I tend to be drawn to. Then the afternoon light was great and we finished off with some shots in a dark bar while toasting with a glass of whisky in hand.

The only kicker is since I wasn’t able to shoot digital I was then defaulting to my main camera, the Contax G2. Well, 15 minutes into the shoot I dropped it. First time I’ve ever dropped a camera and I hope the last. It died right there on the spot which only a few frames taken, so I was left to shoot the entire day with the Mamiya RZ67 and Polaroid 195… since those were back ups I had only about 40 frames left that I could shoot. Enough, but not nearly what the record label was expecting to choose from

Its a funny thing when you’re wanting to refine your process as an artist. Its a hard thing to do especially because most often it means giving up your crutches that are so easily fallen back on. For me that was digital. Well, I was instantly refined in gear which made me further refine my process and zone in on the interaction and relationship between me and Winston which above all else is the most important anyway.

We got some good stuff, I hope you enjoy these.

I was very excited to hear that Dead Oceans were stoked on what was delivered. It confirmed the necessity of refinement for me.

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Contax G2, Mamiya RZ67 all Kodak Portra 160 & Ilford 50. Polaroid 195 with Polaroid 669 and Fujifilm FP3000-B (some being positive scans, some negative scans). P.S. I dearly miss my G2.

I can spend all my time and energy being a child, husband, dad, and creative?! 

My first day being a freelance creative is coming to a beautiful end.

My heart is full and my eyes show the joy.

Augustin from The Photographic Journal reached out to me almost a year ago asking if I’d be on board for an interview, I was honestly reluctant. I was a bit confused as to why he was asking me especially after hearing about who else he was interviewing, artists that I really freakin look up to. I’m at the beginning of my journey into photography so I didn’t really feel like I had much to offer regarding an interview. Through skyping and emails with Augustin I went with the flow and laid down some honest answers and am very excited that it posted this morning especially since I’m launching into this photographic realm full time in the coming weeks!

I’d love for you all to give it a read here! And thanks again Augustin for all the encouragement my man.

Oh Chris and Emily Thompson. I met Chris around 6 or so years ago while working at *bucks. We used to talk about backpacking all the time and for some reason were into Hawthorne Heights. At that point I was still on my way out of my EMO phase… letting my jet black sweeping hair with a bleach stripe grow… and he was devising a plan to propose to his love. Ms. Emily. A little time went by and I was a groomsman at one of the most beautiful weddings up in Estes Park at the famous Stanley Hotel during the Christmas season… which is their favorite season. Obsessed even:) If I were a photographer then I would have freakin LOVED to shoot their wedding!

Anyways. I spent a morning with them this summer. Enjoyed some espresso, beignets, and took some photos… good thing we snuck this lil’ shoot in cause now they’re expecting a little boy in a handful of months! I can’t wait to see that mini Chris running around.

Oh… so for the first time I lost a whole roll of film Bummed about that but non the less… here are just a few from the time together.

Polaroid & Film - 

Luca. You can grab a good read about the man over at TGD. Upon finding his work I was instantly sucked in to a mysterious world. It is evident that Luca has intention behind his images, behind his unique vision. After months of hit-and-miss scheduling we finally grabbed a cup of fine coffee at Crema in Denver. A fitting place for two artists to converge and talk life and art. It’s always encouraging and confirming to talk shop, it can seemingly pull you out of a rut if you’re in one!

I wasn’t going to meet up without bringing a camera or two along nor he. So upon finishing an amazing cappuccino we set off for a neighborhood walk. I took a few and he took a few.

And it was an honor to be photographed by the man. Thank you again Luca! Here are a few…

On one of the hottest of Colorado summer days… 100+ degrees along with a hazy of smoke from some wildfires in the area … Brandon and Christie tied the knot and it was beautiful. Here are only a handful of frames from the day. I second shot for Claire which was awesome and fun. She was cool with me bringing along some film gear as garnish on the digital so… here are some polaroid and film shots from the day. A mix mash.

Congrats Brandon and Christie, you two are wonderful! Btw… Brandon is a base jumper, no big deal.

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For the photogs: Polaroid 195 with expired polaroid 108, Mamiya RZ67, Contax G2, Yashica T3. A mix of Fuji 400H, Kodak Portra160, either Tmax3200 or Iford 3200 (forgive me on forgetting!), and some very expired Kodak Gold.

Been wanting to do a bridal inspired shoot for a while and after working with Jill Carter, feeding off her enthusiasm, awesomeness, and creativity we nailed down a definite ‘yes’ to go bridal. I had Julian held in the back of my mind for a bit and she was down for shoot… the location fell in to place soon after.

This whole thing was quite the learning experience for me as we had a few vendors on board which lent to some pressure I’ve never felt going into a shoot before. I had a much broader playing field as far as what I wanted and needed to capture with this shoot than I normally do. And with the intention by everyone to get this published… after the shoot wrapped and I was reviewing photos… I realized I missed some important aspects to shooting an inspirational shoot such as this.

One of the best and most frustrating things about photography is that it seems like I ALWAYS walk away thinking the… ‘well, what I should of done was…’

Its the best because I learned something. It means next time around I’ll be a tad better at what I do, I’ll be a bit more refined.

The frustrating part is, well, I have that emotional-rollercoaster-artist kind of mind and heart so I can be pretty hard on myself.

Anyways, some tidbits of learning on my end… the shoot as a whole missed some key detail type shots that are very much needed for publication. Second, I was more preoccupied with the look of the whole dealio rather than interacting with Julian on the level that I would have liked to.

What about the photos?? I do love’m, there’s some epic-ness with some of these. And most importantly the time we had out there was a blast, it was over 100 degrees and at one point we had this CRAZY dust storm blow though, we had to pick everything up and run to the cars thinking a tornado was forming! It was fun for sure.

Here are some of my favorites from the day.

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Model: Julian Machann / Style: Jill Carter / MUA: Natosha Cooke / Bouquet: Robyn Rissman

For the Photogs: Mamiya RZ67 400H shot at 200, Contax G2 400H shot at 800 pushed 1, Polaroid 195 expired Polaroid 669. Dev & Scan Richards Photo Lab. I’ve been wanting to underexpose and push 400H for a while now, it doesnt hold up as well as Portra, def muddies up the shadows, lends to sepia shadows and massive grain. I like it for what it is and will surely use it for certain projects from now on out. 

I met Luke a handful of years ago. It was just after Tess and I tied the knot. We had just moved to Longmont, CO from Las Vegas and were wanting to connect with a local church. Through a string of events and ‘people meetin’ we landed at Vinelife Church just outside of Boulder, it was here that I met Luke. At the time we attended sporadically and eventually were called to a church closer to our house… all the while, this dude stuck in the back of my mind. He’s one of those people that draws you in with an authenticity that is hard to come by these days.

Fast forward about 5 years… we’re once again attending Vinelife as a family and this dude is back in my life. Can’t tell you what an encouraging soul he is, not to mention an insanely gifted communicator and musician. Being an associate pastor and worship leader has surely shaped his speaking skills and his heart for God is the evident fire behind it all. He’s also one of the leaders of the Resound Conference which you can look into here, the next conference is coming up in November.

He mentioned that he’s turning some focus to writing more intentionally through his blog and was wanting some photos so naturally we met up for coffee to talk faith, art, and family while I had a couple cameras hanging around my neck. Here a few of my favorites.

Hope you like these and I’d say you should bookmark his blog.

Round two with Marianne Hagstrom & do all stylist Jill Carter.

We had this idea that was very particular that had to do with a small boat and a sunny sunset… and then we were met with a dry river (which was full days before!) and a nice stormy evening. Hah. So it goes most of the time. Nontheless we had a fun time making images while trying not to get too soaked. Here are a few random picks from film, polaroid, even digital since it was the most weather proof of my cameras.