It’s July. It’s about 95 degrees, the tomatoes are out in force at the Farmer’s Market and shoes have made their exit. Wandering Goat has been holding a lot party a month and hopes to continue through the summer. It’s a great time to hang out, drink some damn fine coffee, nom some mashed taters and chase it all down with a refreshing MGD.

The holidays have passed, the show I’m working on at the theatre is in tech, and I have a couple seconds to breath. 2008 was a year of change here in our household. We moved from Seattle, Washington to Eugene, Oregon in search of greener pastures and I lept into the exciting world of professional photography. I am honored by the fact that people will pay me to capture their moments, that people will buy my fine art prints and hang what I see on their walls. The upcoming year will bring all sorts of things, including some revamping of the site and dealing with some pressing business concerns. I’m hoping to pick up some new toys, and I’ll be exploring new techniques and following around people I admire in hopes of catching them in *the perfect* frame!

So, dear internets, I’ve compiled my favorite photographs from this year for you to peruse. There’s a bunch of them. It was a hard task. The following are my absolute favorites, and the slideshow contains the full collection. I really wanted to go back and reedit some of these, but I refrained.  Enjoy, and thank you for your support. If you like what you see, please leave me a comment and let me know you stopped by.

This is Mazikali. She’s half lion, half rottweiler and the puppylove of my life.

We were in a burned out cabin. Grete was in her wedding dress and her wedding anniversary was the day before. Her divorce papers were going through the courts and I kept having to wipe symbolism off my lens.

My brother moved out to Oregon with us for a few months. This photograph was taken in the early fall outside our favorite pizza place. I love this shot because it captures the moment in time so vividly. It’s the first picture I’ve taken of Michael in adulthood.

Hyper realistic, and yet surreal at the same time, Haunted wins the prize for my favorite photograph of the year. For me it’s a capstone of most of the techniques I’ve been exploring through 2008.

I know, I know, I haven’t posted a new blog in a while. It’s been busy around here!

I’ve been taking a break from shooting, and looking back over the last few months of photographs, editing and submiting to this competition and that competition. It’s good for me to put down the camera for a bit and recharge that part of the process. I may be quiet on here for a little while. Never fear, I’ll return.

I have been doing some portrait work for Christmas presents, here are a few of the recent ones:

The dog, the boy and I are heading up to the Sound to spend the weekend with family. I’m thankful for that! I lead a very blessed life, have a roof over my head, food in the pantry, some cute shoes, a wonderful dog, great friends all over the country, a loving family, and a partner who not only puts up with my shit but is with me because of it. Thanks for all those things, and thanks for all of you. May your holiday be warm and your belly full.