Fawn Near Rock Creek

I made this image a few weeks ago early on a Sunday morning while looking for black bears. I spotted the doe with her fawn on the side of the road as I drove. I pulled off, got as close as I could without disturbing them and made a few pictures. This is the only one I'm somewhat happy with. It lacks emotion or anything that makes the image feel more than just an image on a generic airport-style wall calendar. I'll keep trying. The search for black bears continues...

Watching Movies

Krista's New Bike

We picked up Krista new bike a few weeks ago. I made this with my camera phone. I've been trying to make more pictures with it lately. Not too bad. Having bikes is pretty amazing.

Medium Format Film = Summer Project

So much going on. I hope I'm able to burn through this film this summer.

States Project Image on NPR

Received an email today from a friend letting me know my first image from the 50 States Project was featured on npr.com along with images from the other photographers. I'm heading to Eastern Montana this weekend to shoot the next assignment. This assignment has really made me look closely at my work and how to capture the assignment in one image. Our next assignment, Habitat, has me thinking animals, especially living in Montana. But the way some people live out here is remarkable. I can't help but be drawn to their lives and the places they call home.

Karaoke, Songs You Can Dance To!

There's nothing better than when a karaoke house party! Sing it Tina! We stopped by Jim and Tiffany's house before heading home from Seattle. It was great seeing our old house, being in our old neighborhood and spending time with our friends.

There's Something Special About Hotel Rooms

I was a room service waiter in college. During the day I would go to class, study and then at night I would enter another world. I loved it. I met so many people, mostly business travelers, that would longingly invite me into their home away from home and share their life story with me. So many lonely people. I stay in hotels whenever possible. I love the mystery and how, for whatever reasons, you can pretend to be someone else for a few days or weeks while living in your home away from home in a foreign city. This is our hotel room from last weekend: shopping bag explosion, unmade bed, magazines and unpacked duffel bags. Our upcoming travels include the Ace Hotel in Portland and yet another hotel on "the strip" in Las Vegas. There's no room service at the Ace but there will be in Vegas. I can't wait...

Jake's Cafe in Ritzville, Wa.

We've been home just about week since our first real trip to Seattle since moving last fall. I miss it. Seattle will always be home, there's no doubt about that. I loved seeing all our friends and family and visiting our old neighborhood. What surprised me the most was just home much I missed the ocean. I could smell and taste the salt water in the air. The air in Montana is dry like a dusty dirt road. Every time I get out of the car in Montana I get shocked by the static electricity. It was nice to have a few days where that didn't happen.

The trip was fast, too fast. We arrived at the hotel around 4 p.m. and then by 5 p.m. we were walking downtown, window shopping while making our way to meet friends for dinner. It was great. I didn't make many pictures. I made these four on our drive out. We stopped for lunch at a little diner called Jake's. It was good. I could have spent all afternoon there making portraits of the staff and people eating. It's about five hours from Missoula so I don't think I'll be making a day trip to make more pictures but we'll be stopping there for sure when we return to Seattle this summer. I can't wait...

The Contents of My Refrigerator

I started a new project today with the 100 plus rolls of expired film given to me last summer by a friend just before we left Seattle. The film has been sitting in my fridge for the past 8 months - most of it expired five or six years ago. I'm shooting it through my Holga, inspired by Christopher Anderson's book "nonfiction", capturing nothing except for what catches my eye. I want to make some changes to my work. I want to find something in my work that has been lacking the past 8 months. I can't quite put my feelings into words. I'm thinking about taking my website down for a few months while I work on a few things to re-introduce my latest work. I keep hearing Laara's words run through my mind...

Land of the Lost

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, mostly about Place and its role in our life and how so often Place defines you. Your house or apartment, city or town, favorite coffee shop or bar, all these places go into who you are and how you live your life. I think it is important for me to admit that as long as I am in a small mountain town I will always be longing for "metropolitan cultural pursuits" and that's OK. As Caleb Moss, owner of Bacchus Books & Cafe in Golden, British Columbia says in an article in the Kootenay Mountain Culture, "You can't have it all in one place." You have to build your happiness wherever you call home. Sometimes I forget that and I begin to feel like I live in the Land of the Lost and all I want is to run to where the grass appears to be greener. The Grass Is Never Greener On The Other Side. Or is it?