Willow River

On the last day on our trip, Dave and I woke up at 5am to go shoot at Willow River State Park. I was really looking forward to shooting there, as the waterfalls and cascades are absolutely huge and gorgeous. Keep in mind that when we shot this image, there was a fisherman about 100 yard from us, no doubt more distracted by the fact that we were disrupting the fish then there's a young nude woman posing upstream. He didn't even look at us when we passed behind him on the way out.

An important note to mention: The hike in is pretty easy, but the hike out will definitely take your breath away, even if you crawl back.

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I love being in nature, especially near water and in these wonderful settings. They are so peaceful and awe-inspiring. The roaring white noise of the water almost forces you to concentrate on your surroundings and to be in the moment.

I think I'll be taking Erin here. There definitely wont be enough hours in the day when she's here.

_________________

Dave Swanson.

sometimes...

I feel like an alien









...with too much bush.


___________________

Zeitgeist Photography.

Olaf Starorypinski.

RIP Michael

He was a great performer back in the day. Some of his songs still really get to me.

Rest in Peace Michael. You were the soundtrack to many great memories.

the nerve

I need to try to look at the big picture more often.


I'm feeling very contemplative tonight. I think I might go for a walk in the neighborhood. It will probably be a short one though. I'm a scaredy cat when its dark. Especially when I'm in N.E.

I used to walk out in my neighborhood all the time when I used to live at my house in the north suburbs where I grew up. At least twice a week during the summer, I would sneak out of my house and walk out to the nearest sod farm, which was only a 1/4 mile away, and lay down and stare at the stars for an hour or so. They're so much easier to see when you live 30 miles outside the city, as opposed to 5 miles. I miss that house and neighborhood so much. Hopefully my Papa will get out of the hospital soon so he can live back in it.

When looking at the stars its so easy to feel incredibly small and unimportant, yet so complete and connected to the world. It's an eerie sort of peace. Or perhaps unnerving.

I get a similar feeling when I look at this image.




______________________________

Scott Nichol.

One Photo From Each

of the awesome photographers/friends that I worked with in Allentown.


George Schmauch/Zeitgeist Photography




Scott Nichol






Bill Earle/Lightphile Studios






Olaf Starorypinski

On the Ground

After a loooong weekend of floating.

I've never had a shooting trip, where I've worked with multiple photographers, be so fun and stress-free.

Scott Nichol was a magnificent host, and he and Bill Earle were the catalysts to providing the opportunity for me to travel out there in the first place.

It's the place to be, and I will be there again soon. I will make sure of it.


I will write more very soon (I'm always saying that), but I need to get some things in order and go visit my Papa in the hospital. He has a wonderful surprise! He has a voice machine, so we can actually talk together now, instead of me trying to lip read! I'm so excited!!

Then after that, Matt and I will be dining at the Ecopolitan tonight. I love that restaurant, and its been a while since we ate there. I'll have to show it to Erin when she comes in August.

Edit: a photo of my "surprise entree." It was really fucking tasty.





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From yesterday, by Scott Nichol.

Twilight Galaxy

Did they tell you, you should grow up
When you wanted to dream
Did they warn you, better shape up
If you want to succeed
I don't know about you, who are they talking to?
They aren't talking to me

I'm higher than high, lower than deep
I'm doing it wrong, singing along

Did I ask you for attention
When affection is what I need?
Thinking sorrow is perfection
I would wallow till you told me
There's no glitter in the gutter
There's no twilight galaxy

I'm alright, c'mon baby
I've seen all the demons that you've got.
If you're not alright, now c'mon baby
I'll pick you up and take you where you want
Anywhere you want
Anything you want


Metric. Which I didn't get to see. (Sad face.)




Surrounded by wonderful company, I still feel awfully alone without that someone special.




fyi: I have my facebook account back!

____________________

Christopher Ryan

Allentown, PA

who knew it was so cool?

Lela Rae is such a wonderful and beautiful person, inside and out. And so are the super cool and amazing photographers who reside here: Scott Nichol, Bill Earle, Olaf Starorypinski and George Schmauch.

Last night was crazy fun. That is all.


These were taken last night by Olaf Starorypinski. Its just me in the first one, me and Lela in the second, and Yarrow, me and Lela in the third.

I absolutely love them. There's more to come, in time.





I will award a virtual brownie to anyone that knows what the projections are from.

Coming and Going

I'm back from my vacation!






Matt and I had an amazing time, despite the so-so weather we had. Every day, save maybe one, there was rain. But not to worry, it was not nearly as bad as one would think especially as most of those days it also cleared up and were wonderfully sunny and beautiful.

A couple of the nights were clear and absolutely amazing. Thursday night Matt and I went out lightpainting on the shore, and we got to witness a spectacular red moon rise. It was one of the best moments on the trip, by far.

The trip wrapped up quite wonderfully with the arrival of Dave, Roberta and jolly ol' Lasha. Some of the best company in world. They were kind enough to feed Matt and I, and I think I kind of shocked Roberta with my Sriracha consumption.

Matt and I had the pleasure of introducing Dave to a new area on the north shore that he had never seen before. I think he got a real kick out of it. We shot there all of Saturday late afternoon and night. It was absolutely wonderful, expect for the mosquitoes. I still have itchy bites all over me!

So I'm home for a quick respite and then Thursday I'm off to Allentown, PA until Tuesday. I'm very, very excited for the trip and shooting with some fabulous photographers, and hanging out with them, but I'm equally excited to see my utmost favorite band, Metric, live for the very first time Friday night in Philly, hopefully accompanied by friend and fellow art model Lela Rae. It will be awesome!


Here are some photos from my shoot with Christopher Ryan, a fantastic art nude photographer from Lakeside, Montana (one of the only photographers of such high caliber from that huge state!). We had an amazing shoot, and I think it really shows from our photos. I'm so very happy with the results and having the opportunity to meet with and shoot with both Chris and his wife 'Tina. We will work together again, that I can promise you.






On a side note, my Facebook account got disabled for "misusing" the terms of their Code of Conduct. Which is completely oppressive and utter bullshit, but I'm purposefully being a pushover in order to get my account back. Here's a copy of what I sent them.

"I think my account was deleted by mistake. "Our Code of Conduct outlines the types of content we do not allow on the site. This includes any obscene, pornographic, or sexually explicit photos, as well as any photos that depict graphic violence." Your code of conduct does not apply to any of my images, as they are artistic in nature and none of them are obscene, pornographic or sexually explicit. Nor do I have them viewable to the public and have them restricted to only my friends that are also in the same photographic field as I am. But if this is still not acceptable, I will take down all my images of that nature, and will stop importing my blog to my notes.

Please let me know what I have to do to get my account back."

Grrrrr.

Abandon civilization

I'll be gone camping on the north shore for a week and a half.

It's going to feel great! I'm greatly looking forward to it.



Then 3 days after we get back, the 18th, I'll be flying off to Pennsylvania.










I'll leave you all with Strength and Grace.


_____________________

Matthew Scherfenberg

Silences of Late

I desperately want this on my wall. It's gorgeous and I love it. It reminds me so much of me and Erin. I think it really looks like us too.





This is painted by my friend Scott French down in Atlanta, GA, whom I'd love to pose for and create art with.

Please visit his blog and his Etsy shop.

my safelight

I really think I should just camp away from civilization for a few months. Being with nature really calms me and gives me focus. But then again, creating art does too. Maybe that's why I feel so exhilarated when both are combined.

Being back home is an overwhelming reality check, and I wasn't ready for it. My beast (as Claudia so rightfully names depression) has come back to bite me in the ass, despite me being faithful with my pills, and despite the wonderful adventures I just returned from. I just hope I can scamper back off to the woods and shake it off before it clamps on for good and causes me to backslide. I'll have to prepare myself more diligently before I come home again.

I must have been crazy, but Matt and I shot this the day I got home. Yes, this is a lightpainting and I electively chose to do an intensely hard pose. It was back-breaking. Remind me again why I always try to do the impossible?

Oh yeah, it's for art. He tortures me sometimes, but he's always worth it.

I'm home!...for a couple of days.

After 15 days, 4000 miles, and over 60 hours in the car, I am finally home!!

I saw some amazing sights, saw some incredible wildlife, and got some amazing workouts from the hikes in the state parks.

But I could go on an on, but what good would any stories be without accompanied photos? Not very, me thinks. I'm a total tease, I know, but all my travel stories will come in bits with pictures, I promise.

I haven't even started to copy Dave Levinston's onto my computer, and I wont get Dave Swanson's until we meet up again June 13th.

Starting this Friday until we meet up with Dave, Matt and I will be on our vacation camping at a few of the state parks up on the North Shore, with no access to the internet. I'm very excited to get away and relax with no agenda or schedule.


Wow, you can tell I haven't been blogging in a while, everything sounds so disconnected.




But... guess who's photos I finally received? And guess what makes them even better?




sometimes, life has perfect timing.


I hope your L.A. shoots are going perfect, Erin! I miss you.

______________________

James M. Graham. with Erin.