iTunes Store Australia (Publicity)

Yep. iTunes Store Australia is promoting Port O'brien with an exclusive single. Although it's a little distorted, I'm still excited! I have no idea how Van finds these things. Good job Van!

iTunes Store Japan (Publicity)

So I was lurking some blogs tonight, and I found on Port O'Brien's blog, Van posted a screen shot of the iTunes store in Japan. Port O'Brien is the free single of the week. And best of all my picture of them was used as the icon (I guess that's what it is?). Anywho, this made me really happy to see. Good job Port O'Brien! The new album "ALL WE COULD DO WAS SING" is out soon, and is going to be GLORIOUS!!!

Royce and Kristen (Engagements, San Rafael CA)

What an awesome past 3 days! Royce and Kristen are the best ending to a perfect weekend.

Ryan and Leigh Anne (Engagements, San Francisco CA)

Um... where to begin? Well.... Ryan and Leigh Anne have a lot in common. For starters they share the same last name, Williams. Don't worry they checked it out, and they're NOT related! They both work for Apple and iTunes, they love the same awesome music, they wear Obey clothing, and they're both the coolest people ever!!! Oh, and they're getting married in Cabo San Lucas. Yeaeaeaeaeaeaeaah!!!! Viva La Mexico!

Chris and Melody (Anniversary, Vacaville CA)

The Riedell's wedding took place in November of '06. I think its fair to say that they are my first "Official" couple that I've shot (besides friends and family). Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to do an engagement session, so a year and a half later we made it happen. We hung out, we ate food, we played Doctor Mario (which Chris is amazing at, beware!) and we took a couple pictures. Chris and Melody have shaped my business and my confidence in so many amazing ways. It was glorious seeing them again!

Hannah and Brad (Engagement, San Luis Obispo CA)

Wow. I really had a lot of fun this afternoon hanging out with Hannah and Brad. We were on a tight schedule, because Brad had class at 6pm. We made it work, and even if we had all the time in the world, it couldn't of gotten much better than this. Their wedding is going to be glorious! Thanks for hanging out, and I look forward to dinner.

American Salon (Published)

Brook Jones of Reveal Salon submitted some of my pictures to quite a few different salon magazines. And American Salon decide to use an image of mine. Its published in the April issue. I'm really really excited! And just just wanted to share it with you!

Tara and Matt (Wedding, Santa Barbara CA)

Cameron Ingalls asked me to assist him on this beautiful wedding at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. Of course I was like "Done and done" Its always a privilege to hang out and watch Cam work. He's amazing, the way he interacts not only with his couple, but with the wedding guests, and other wedding vendors. I always learn a lot observing a Cameron in action. Ingalls jingles your awesome! Thanks for having me lurk your wedding! To check out the wedding in full, view Cam's blog here.






Party Cam playing to ever famous camera guitar. Well done sir.

Road Trip (Highlights)

I just thought that I'd share a few photos and memories with you. All of these pictures are taken on my Canon... not the iPhone. Anywho here's a few of the highlights from my trip.






Seattle WA. Aunt Heidi and Uncle Steve.



Yellowstone WY. Wandering bison.




Mount Rushmore SD. Washington's profile.



Nashville TN. Mike and Ollie jogging near the Parthenon.





Rome GA. The top of Ray's mountain.




Rome GA. Tucker and Christian hanging out on the back deck.






Rome GA. Chad and Shana Taylor being cozy.







Grand Canyon AZ. Now that's a grand canyon.



Unknown. Wherever the road takes us.

Road Trip (Part 3)

Wow...dirty windshield. What a trip! So from Rome, GA it was North to Tennessee, then West bound on the I-40. Ricky and I had no desire to stop anywhere except to get gas. We drove until dark, when we reached the western outskirts of Oklahoma City. We planned on camping at a KOA, but right when we pulled off the interstate, the rain caught up. Deciding that setting up a tent in the rain would be a bummer, we did what we do best: Drive.



Here's Ricky the day before in GA, where we took Tucker (Chad's yellow lab) down to the creek for a swim.



Tennessee highway, a Johnny Cash rest stop.





A long stretch of highway leading towards the Grand Canyon.




We camped at the Grand Canyon. In the morning we woke up to a white sheet of snow covering everything. It was really cozy. By the time I took this picture, most the snow had already melted.



And of course.... VEGASSSSSSSSSS! Oh Vegas, what to say. We were going to stay the night, but four hours were enough, so we headed home.


PS

All photos from the past three "ROAD TRIP" blog entries were taken on the amazing iPhone camera. What a cool little device.

Road Trip (Part 2)

Day 5 Nashville TN.



It was pretty awesome getting a private tour of Nasville. Music Row, 12th St, East side, Downtown, and all the coziest coffee shops and cafe's thought possible. Nashville has such a history, and a vibe that makes anyone want to pick up a guitar and start a band.



Day 6 Rome GA



Rick and I made it to Chad's house late Tuesday night. Chad is Ricky's older brother, and has been living in GA for a couple years now. This is now homebase. Such a relief to do laundry, have a home cooked meal, and just watch tv (as lame as that sounds) However our time here hasn't been completely leisure activities. The following day we went to Chad's buddies house, a cozy guy by the name of Ray. Ray's family has live on their 300+ acres since before the Civil War. We had an extended 4 hour tour of his property and houses via ATV's. So sweet!

Road Trip (Part 1)

Day 3:
Just waking up in a cold florescent lit hotel room in Bozeman MT. Energy efficiency replaces atmosphere. It's early no birds, no sun, no noise except our converse crunching day old snow. There isn't anything open early but the Walmart superstore, and even they can’t provide the long johns I need. Upon peaking out the window, a graveyard greets me good morning Montana. We drove until midnight last night when lack of sleep pulled us off the road. Excitement replaces sleep as we embark on Yellowstone park this morning.






9:14am
Sunday March 30th
Leaving Yellowstone, we ventured into the hot springs for a quick walk. 52miles to Leavingston, I’ll catch you up on the past adventures. Leaving San Luis Obispo at 4am Friday morning we made it to the Oregon border by noon. Running into a slight blizzard on Grants Pass excitement running high. Arriving in Portland around 4:30 we had a quick meal at PF Changs. Tripped out by the obscure people in a near by bookstore we fled east to Meet up with Kevin Russ. He was attending a concert and allowed us a few hours to kill. We checked out a couple old 21+ theaters. Deciding to save time, we headed North. Arriving in Seattle around 10ish we hung out with Aunt Heidi at a local Jazz club. Cozy. Next morning we ventured into the city a bit to explore REI and view the bay from the North West side. After that we decided to hit the 90 going east. Spokecan greeted us with its brick and mortar building giving us a feeling of history and respect. East bound. Idaho welcomed us with an overwhelming amount of snow and ice. Slowing to about 35-40mph we cautiously crossed in to Montana. Planning on camping in Missoula. Upon our arrival the East continued to call our names. Scanning the radio we found silence until Butte. 177miles to go. Bozeman arrived just as sleep was setting in.



9:35am
PRAY. Hwy 89 ¾ of the way in, a street sign reads. Pray. Ok, the only thoughts that come to my mind are thoughts f thankfulness. Thankful for Rick, thankful for my camera, for being in Montana, for my work, for vacancies and heaters, thankful for fingerless gloves, and sunglasses and ipods. The world is beautiful. People in love are beautiful.

Ugly Cassanova overwhelms my thoughts, so I’ll take a break.



Day 5. Nashville
8:23am
Woke up early on the dawn of day 5 in the AWESOME apt of Jenny and Mike. They are artist, who work out of their home shared with a pair of kitties and puppies. Cozy. So the culprit for my tiredness isn’t entirely driving for like 12 straight hours, Ricky and I had to say up and see the Nashville night life. So fun, even for a rainy Monday. We’ve seen quite a bit of rain in the past 24 hours. In fact the only time it cleared up was in Illinois thru Kentucky. Even then it was only for a few minutes at a time. The worst weather we’ve hit so far would have to be in South Dakota. After our decent from Mt. Rushmore, we hit a pretty overwhelming blizzard. We followed the 385 thru a National Park into Nebraska. This was by far the creepiest drive I’ve ever been on. Not a soul for hours, just the sound of 100mph winds and empty space in every direction. Looking into my rearview mirror, my tire tracks seemed to disappear almost imminently, leaving no trace that we ever existed in this place. 5 hours of this surreal world left me in a trance as we rode speechless with only the wind and sound of our tires in the snow to confirm that we we’re in fact alive. Isolation is a creepy thing. Upon meeting up with Interstate 80 we drove as fast away from that place as we could. Ricky’s turn greeted him with the hardest rainfall we’ve ever experienced. Nebraska weather forced us to find refuge at a rest stop way before we reached our goal in Omaha. 2 very short hours later, lighting and thunder motivated us to keep moving. The night mixed with rain and little sleep plays tricks on our eyes. It was getting hard to predict where the road was heading, and things that shouldn’t be there started appearing along the shoulder. I guess its time to stop. Yet the only thought was to run as far and as fast away from these things as we could. We arrived safe and sound to the Iowa border. South to Kansas City, then East to St. Louis then a quick break in Kentucky. The rain chased us the entire way. In the time that we lost refueling our selves and the civic, the rain caught us. It took us over an hour to get ahead of the downfall. Nashville became this beacon of safety and shelter from the open road. All I have to say is it was totally worth it.