When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold

I am now back in Dubuque, IA....not by choice at all, but it looks like I'll be back here for a while so I guess it's time to make the best of it.
I had to drop my Portraits and Lighting class I was going to be taking at COD.
I had to cancel my House Photography Gig at The Metro.
I had to quit my job in Chicago, and just got a job offer from a studio in Chicago doing Pre-School Photography.
All just to move back here....mostly because of all the court and because of the restrictions I will have on me in the near future, like being unable to leave the state, losing my drivers license, and so on.....
I'm really not sure how the system is set up, but it isn't set up right.
I'm disheartened, I'm losing the will....

"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves" - Ronald Reagan

On the other hand,
I just finished a photo shoot with Marcy's baby Brody!
It was my first shoot with a child, and I was pretty nervous going into it, but every went great and he was really easy to work with.
I hope to be doing more work with children soon, because it ended up being a lot of fun!

Here are some pictures from the shoot:







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First Published Photos!

Define The Meaning a National Hardcore/Metal Magazine wants to publish some of my photos from the 10 for $10 Tour!!!!!!
I'm so excited....My first published images...
They will be sending me copies when it gets published....!!
SO STOKED!!!

I wish the future wasn't so uncertain....

updating soon...

I Sold My Soul To The Open Road

Going back and forth between Chicago and Dubuque makes me feel like I don't even really have a permanent home.
It's not something I really mind, it's just hard to get things done.
Everything is moving so fast around me, and I seem to be getting back to town just in time to work, and leaving town to go home just in time to sleep.

Messed around with some natural light pics with my new 5D Mark II.....
I'm in love.



My car broke down downtown on the way home from chicago, and that made everything just that much more complicated.
Fuck that.

I finally finished editing and uploading the warped tour pictures...now I just have to figure out the 10 for 10 pictures. I have no idea who is who....I went through my wallet and my mountain of business cards to find someone to ask who was there, but then i realized i don't even know who is who in my pile of cards.
Kinda frustrating.

I guess the word relax is slowly becoming less and less a part of my vocabulary.


I could speak 'til the world ends
To make up for all that I left out
I'll register with the wanderers guild
And be nomad with a billion words

Brighten - Single Millionaires

There's a man, on the corner, with His hands holding tightly to his Hat so it wont blow away.
With a girl, with her hands in her Pockets, holding tightly to her Money, so she wont blow it today.

Its all the same.
Every day.

When he gets home from work
Theres his children already in bed
Without seeing his face today.
And the girl with empty pockets
Spent her money
She might as well just throw her wallet in the fireplace.

And she is the L and he is the O For us, liars out there
And she is the V and he is the E For the violence in everyone.
And we might spell you, but we're Nothing like you.
Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com

When his kids grow up old and have Children of their own, they swear They'll never wear the same size hat their father wears.
And the girl, now a woman, says Shes happy and thanks god for Jewelry and single millionaires.

And she is the H and he is the O For us, humble orphans.
And she is the P and he is the E For potential in everyone.
And we might spell you,
But we're nothing like you.

I am not sure what to think about my life at the moment.
I'm not really sure what to think about life in general ever.
It's such a roller coaster. I want to be able to capture life in a photo, but I know what life contains is so much more than any one picture could say. If it were to be captured it would be the perfect photograph.

My past is coming back to haunt me,
my mistakes have not gone away.
I thought that part of my life was behind me.
It's now threatening to ruin everything I've got now.

I'm starting to think too much again,
I'm starting to sleep too little,
I'm starting to feel again,
I'm starting to let go of all my old friends.
I feel like I'm almost completely on my own.


I think this is what everyone is searching for



Perfection.

I miss __________
so many things could go there.

Being content with my life is all I ask for.....

I'm not sure I ever will be.....

A couple more updates on the editing process....
Here's some more of the promo pics from Warped.....

Aaron Gillespie Drummer of Underoath/Singer of The Almost



All Time Low and Forever The Sickest Kids