The Death of Childhood

I shot this after watching a news piece on bullying. The show was interesting because it talked about bullying and how it starts around middle school. From my experiences, it started much earlier. I found it got easier come middle school and into high school. But that's not the point of this photograph. I have two intentions with this photograph. First, I wanted to raise the question, Is childhood as we knew it, dead or has it just evolved? Secondly, I wanted to do something completely out of the ordinary for me. I've come to a major realization that I've had before, but never at this level; I only need to prove something to myself. What other people may or may not like is their personal taste. I can't change that. If I shoot something that they like, great. If they don't like it and think it's rubbish, great. It's not going to matter to me. Simply because I'm shooting for me now. I wrote last week how I'm so sick of the bullshit pressure I put on myself. I am. I am so over it. I'm shooting what I want to shoot because it makes me happy, or expresses the way I'm feeling about whatever it is that I'm feeling at the present moment. If my creativity wants to get dark, I'm going to follow it all the way down the rabbit hole until I get to where I'm going. I'm tired of trying to create/do/say/be what other people think I should be. I'm going to be me. That's all I can do.
I've said my peace.

New Year's Resolutions Are Bad

I'm not a huge fan of the idea of making New Year's resolutions. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. So, rather than calling it a New Year's Resolution, I'm taking this idea and turning it into something that means something to me. With that being said, I'm going to make an active effort to take more pictures. And it doesn't matter what they are, because I'm going to shoot what I want to shoot. And if my camera isn't doing it for me, I'm going to paint more. And if painting isn't doing it for me, then I'll try my hand at making short films, or writing. Basically, I'm going to use my creativity better this year and not put so much damn pressure on myself to become this famous and well sought after photographer. It may come. It may not. Regardless, I'm going to make myself happy by doing what I want to do. One of my friends said the other day that this is the time of year that we get to start over again. In part, this is true. However, we don't need the new year to make that decision. We can do it at any time. So I say that if/when things are looking bleak, tiresome, overwhelming, etc, make the resolve to change it. Change your mental attitude, your physical attitude, change your life to make it what you want it to be. There's no limit to what we can achieve in our lives. We only limit ourselves. I do hope that all of my friends and family have a great year, decade, and life.

The Mattson Kids

While on a trip to St. George, I was contacted by the Mattson family to do some family portraits. Kid portraits to be more precise. These kids were a blast to shoot and I'm so glad I had the privilege to do these photos! Such cute kids...















If you would like to have family portraits or any other photographs done, please feel free to contact me. Let's talk!

The Kids Are Getting So Big...

Homemade Tilt Shift Lens

I'm on a roll. Two homemade lenses in one week. This is my newest creation. A tilt shift lens. I cannot take all of the credit for this design. I have Bhautik Joshi to thank for that. Nevertheless, here are the results. Enjoy!

A Dog Day Morning

Every so often I take my two dogs to the South Ogden dog park. We love this place because they can just run around as much as they want and socialize with all of the other dogs that come there to play as well. Normally I don't take my camera, but I took it this morning because of my new "fisheye lens." Here's what I captured. Enjoy!









If you would like your own pet portraits done, please contact me! I'd love to talk to you!

Making Your Own Fisheye Lens

I made my own fisheye lens for a total of $0. I called up Lenscrafters and told them I was looking for a piece of eyeglass that was thick, uncut and had a large prescription on it. After a little discussion, she informed me that I should just come down and rummage through the box of old lenses that they had that they couldn't use for one reason or another. Here's the best part though, she said that I could just have one. So, Michelle and I went down, went through the box, and picked out two different lenses that we thought might work. (The lady at Lenscrafters was way cool about it. Thank you Marissa!)

I brought them home and threw the glass in front of my lens. While holding it there, I experimented. This way looks okay. This way doesn't. This looks cool. Ooh, right there. After having Michelle measure out how far I wanted the glass, I had to find a way to attach it to my lens. After rummaging through all of my stuff, I found a piece of cardboard that I could cut, mold and tape to the end of my lens. A little tweaking, hot glue, patience and electrical tape and voila! I have a "fisheye lens"!





I hope you enjoy the pictures! I'm going to enjoy experimenting with it!