Ah, Seattle … how I miss you already.  The music stores, coffee shops, the baristas who tell me they don’t serve drip coffee — only americanos, the cocktails, the thai food and sushi, the cupcakes, the market, everything local and organic, the neighborhoods — especially Ballard and Capitol Hill, the people and their senses of style, the views — mountains and water all-around, and well … I could go on.  Those who know me understand that my absolute favorite thing to do in a new city is walk around all day long, eat amazing food, and photograph that amazing food.  Good conversation with friends who are willing to do the same makes the time spent in a new place even better.

Here are a few frames from my time walking around Seattle with good friends Laura and Eric (both college friends from Madison).  We walked, ate, drank and talked.  Perfect.

Is it possible to cram too much goodness into a single week?  My week in Seattle was one of the most ideal weeks of my life … crammed with goodness, overflowing and awesome.  For three full days — with 19 other talented photographers –  I got to experience Jesh de Rox’s Life As An Artform workshop.  This workshop isn’t about your camera or the technical aspects of photography, but rather about truly experiencing life and photography … bringing the artistry of our work into the rest of our lives.  I won’t write much about it because if you are a photographer and one day get to experience this crazy three day ride (which you should) — I don’t want you to have preconceived notions.  Because this workshop was, at its root, about breaking down our preconceived notions … the ways in which we label things and live on the periphery of true experience.

I left the workshop with beautiful new friends and new tools for how to fully experience my art and my life.  It’s so liberating to rip-off labels we have placed on people and situations.  Labels have a shelf life … as Jesh explained so well.  When people in our lives change, often for the better, it’s only scary and disappointing because we have already labeled them to be a certain somebody.  If we can constantly remove labels and experience people anew with each interaction … we’ll most likely be happier and more free.

Below are some highlights from those 3 days … my new friend Johanna, my favorite musician Damien Jurado (he played a surprise intimate set and then we each got to photograph him alone for a bit), some frames from the experiential photography exercises, and Jesh playing his awesome music.