The last few days

have been a ride.

This past weekend Matt Scherfenberg and I went to the North Shore for a getaway out of the city, and to shoot some lightpaintings out on the North Shore. We weathered 2 evenings of torrential downpour, and disappointing shooting due to a forgotten tripod. It could have been feasible to shoot lightpaintings if we didn't try to haul a four foot latter and a monopod creatively attached to make an (unsuccessful) quadpod up into the rocks, through tricky paths and footings... in the dark and drizzle.

We both agreed that it was a three person job. Him, me and Dave Swanson. We cheerily reminisced about last summer quite often this weekend. No one shows you a better time at the North Shore than Dave.

Despite the weather, mosquitoes and the circumstances, we still had a lot fun.

***

Erin was also in town this weekend, so as soon as I got home Monday, she came over and we were able to spend a couple of spectacular days together. I tried to make our time as relaxed and memorable as possible, as she has been bogged down with mountains of stress, and that was the last time I will see her in quite a while. She's moving to London to be with Danny.

Her stay overlapped with Dave Levingston arriving in Minnesota yesterday, so the 3 of us had a lovely dinner out.

Bright and (way too) early this morning, Dave and I headed west. 10 hours, 2 cat-naps, and 2 stops (for shooting along the highway) later, we made our final stop for the night in Wall, SD. I couldn't do 10 hours of driving by myself and not get sick of it. Dave has made the trip wonderful thus far, and I expect nothing less for the next two weeks. What a generous and great person he is.

Of course, we had to go to Wall Drug (which was oh so packed! Oh and, the "homemade" pie is anything but, I do NOT recommend it). Somewhere along the way there we saw a sign for "Garden Burgers - Wall Drug" which I got waaay too excited about and waaay too hungry for. But, no luck, there was no such item on the cafe menu.

The highlight of the evening was shooting in the badlands. Sometimes I surprise myself with how gun-ho I am to shoot outside in public, high traffic areas. I suppose if I can shoot in NYC in Columbus Circle at 8am, I can shoot in a busy National Park at sunset where at least I have the chance of hiding.




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Dave Levingston. From tonight at sunset.