You should meet Rick

Rick Wargo is a guy you should know. His job is to help people have a great time becoming fit, and he's made some terrific programs to make it happen. If you'd like a fun way to get in shape and really LIVE then you should head over to Club Sport and talk with Rick. I see him at Lake Oswego Chamber of Commerce events, and it's always a pleasure. His smile is infectious and you'll be looking forward to living life more fully in no time.

My Friend, Jonathan

Panasonic GH4, Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens, f/6.3, 1/200s, ISO 200.

This is Jonathan Puskas, and I think you should know him. He's a Navy man, and a he has a powerful business mind. His is the first portrait I made this year.

His wife, Rachel, and I are both on the board for the Young Professionals of Lake Oswego (a division of the chamber of commerce), so she introduced us, and I'm very glad that she did.

Jonathan has Efficiency and Proficiency, with capitals--you can just see it in the way he moves and talks and the twinkle behind the sparkle in his eye. It's clear that whatever he puts his hand to will become successful. Plus, he's a dedicated cyclist and he uses cycling to move more than his heart rate. I hope to be involved with him in some charitable ventures later this year. I'll keep you posted.

Panasonic GH4, Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens, f/6.3, 1/200s, ISO 200.

Panasonic GH4, Leica Notcicron 42.5mm f/1.2 lens, f/5.6, 1/200s, ISO 200.

Panasonic GH4, Leica Notcicron 42.5mm f/1.2 lens, f/5.6, 1/200s, ISO 200.

Mother's Day

Where would you be without your mom to laugh with you?

Nikon D800, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII lens @150mm, f/3.2, 1/200s, ISO 100.

Nikon D800, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII lens @150mm, f/3.2, 1/200s, ISO 100.

Aim High

This is B., and she's a pilot, and a cheerful, yet determined person. She's also in the running for Miss Cache Valley, which draws the most talented women I know.

Nikon D800, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII lens @ 160mm, f/8, 1/160s, ISO 100.

Harbinger

If you look through this blog, you won't see newborn babies in pea pods dangling from a snagly branch over the raging surf during a beautiful sunset. It's not that I don't think that wouldn't be a beautiful (if insanely dangerous) picture...it's just not my style.

My style is usually mom and dad with their little kiddo, brother and sister with the new sibling--these pictures I love, and I can interact with and make a more real picture. There's only so much emotion I can elicit from a crocheted owl touque.

But I do enjoy making pictures with meaningful objects, stuff from the family, stuff that might be with the kid for a while. Grandma's blanket, dad's christening clothes, mom's teddy bear, the blanket auntie made. These things have more meaning, and help tie an image to the past, to the family. I dig that.

And this little guy sure dug it, too, when we swaddled him in dad's high school football jersey. Something about all that old sweat and grass stains must be comforting.

Nikon D800, 70-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 98mm, f/5.6, 1/160s, ISO 640, Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

Creoles, et al.

This is the Chef at one of the restaurants we had breakfast at in New Orleans. My favorite image of the trip.

So much has been happening, and so many things are in my mind to share with you. Do you ever get paralyzed with so many things? Ever feel that you just don't have time right now to do a complete job, so you just put it off a little...and a little more...and it just snowballs into a ton of things that you don't have time for and you end up not doing anything?

Me, too.

So, I went to the Caribbean.

Took a vacation. We've actually planning it for months and months. My wife has been excited for ages, but I couldn't get excited until we were driving to the airport for all the things going on and all I had to finish before we left.

These are pictures I made of some of the people I saw and was involved with during our Cruise. This is a quick share, with more depth coming soon. I'm still working on preparations for the Seven Secrets imaging conference this weekend. Hope to see you there!

Gary Bird and J. were compatriots on this excursion

Trumpet.

Photog from North Dakota.

Trombone and photog. THese guys were heading to Washington to perform.

Cool artist--cafebabyneworleans.com

Another favorite.

When I shot this I thought it was cool that there was a guy in the window...turns out to be a bust of JFK!

These guys are listening to the Saints game--iPhone + Sousaphone = P.A. System.

This is Chris, a fellow SMUG leader. He showed us around in NO.

Gary and Chris working it from the Ferry.

Gary works the Shrimp burger--half a pund of ground shrimp patty-fied. A little salty. Gary couldn't finish--it was that much shrimp!

In Costa Maya.

J. in New Orleans

Gary in New Orleans.

J. in Costa Maya.

Guy painting our ship. It's gonna take him a while.

Gal sweeping the street in Roatan, Honduras.

My new pal, Darfuss--that's his green house right behind him...see it?

This vaquero was riding his bike up the street, and I was photographing something else. As soon as he saw me he made this salute and held until he had passed Gary and me. We obliged him with a picture.