Thank you Bethany! (funny story)

Ok, so about 2 years ago Bethany and I road tripped out to Grand Junction, Colorado and stayed at our friend Natalie's parents house. I decided to hop in the shower and while I was in there, apparently there was some cool clouds outside so Bethany and Natalie went out driving around taking photos. Bethany spotted this really cool yellow tree in a green field, and she waited there for an hour for the light to hit the tree just right. It never hit quite right... so she came back to the house eventually and showed me the pic on the camera's LCD. I was like "whoa thats cool, where is that!?" and she's like "not far, a mile or so away" so we went back. When we got there, the light was hitting the tree just right, so we both started shooting away basically standing right next to each other. So technically, Bethany totally scouted this shot and saw it first, and I totally snaked it from her. Good thing we ended up getting married and now were a team...

So the funniest part is that this photo I snagged from Bethany is getting around. I used it in a bunch of my graduation cards, Risen Magazine used it in a double page spread last year (below) and I just found out today my stock agency UpperCut Images sold a $1,840 license on the image. It will run on the cover of a financial companies brochure.


So I just wanted to say thank you Bethany for seeing that shot first and taking me there to get more pictures. I totally owe you a nice date at a spendy restaurant! :)

Published in Womans Day Magazine

I recently picked up Womans Day mag (something I don't usually read... promise) because my photo was supposed to be in there this month. Sure enough, it is! Page 126 of the July issue. It was used in a small article about how to effectively move your dog to a new house. Kinda cool to see it in there.

awesome lightning!

One of my favorite things about coming to Michigan in the summer is the crazy storms and especially the lightning. Yesterday there was lighting all day long, and I couldn't wait for it to get dark, so I could start shooting! I always have such a blast shooting lighting and just being in the middle of a huge storm. It's so intense when lightning is flashing everywhere and even striking nearby lightpoles and trees.
It's always a challenge photographing it too, because it's usually raining and super windy. Good camera gear is usually water resistant, but if you get water on the lens it messes up the image. During this storm I had a plastic trashbag over the whole camera, with the lens poking a hole. Even with this setup I had to stop shooting for about 20 minutes because it was raining buckets of water. I got totally drenched.

All in all, I was out shooting for about 3 hours and I didn't get that many good photos. But it's always such a great experience, whether I get a bunch of amazing photos or not.

Here are a few of the better shots-



I also took some video with "digimon" that is kinda cool. I edited a bunch of little clips together so it's like constant lighting strikes. Bethany said it's boring... So maybe it is. If you are into lighting like me, you'll think it's cool.
**Click Here** for the video.

**Click Here** for the video.

boiling pool of water, Yellowstone

This pool of water was spectacular. It was crystal clear with the most intense blue color, and steam rising off the surface.

yellowstone river

This is the Yellowstone river, flowing with lots of ice on the surface. It was making lots of cool crackeling noises.

trees in Yellowstone

sunrise in Yellowstone

Bethany and I camped in the park the night before and got up while it was still dark. This was shot at sunrise with beautiful light. Those are geyser basins steaming in the foreground. What an amazing place.

self portrait x2

A self portrait of Bethany and I taking a self portrait at our favorite camping spot in the Alabama Hills, CA.

Epson Printer Ink Lawsuit

For all you folks out there who bought an Epson printer between 1999 and 2006, read on:


About 6 months ago I took the picture above because I was mad at Epson and I wanted to address the issue I am about to tell you. My Epson 2200 printer wouldn't print anymore because it said the magenta cartridge was out. So I took it out and put a new one in (at 12 bucks a pop). I was about to throw out the old one when I noticed there was ink still swishing around in there, so I pried the thing open and about 40% of the ink was still in there! What the heck? I told my wife Bethany that Epson is ripping people off and making us buy a lot more ink than we have to.

Well, it turns out I'm not the only one who noticed something fishy because Epson has been nailed with a big class action lawsuit about the ink issue. Epson America has agreed to settle the class action lawsuit. The suit alleged that Epson inkjet printers and cartridges indicate that cartridges are "empty" and suspend printer function, even though substantial ink remains.

Check out this website to get directions on what to do and fill out a claim form. Hurry because the deadline is June 22!