Late November State of Mind

This year is rolling out in a matter of weeks and it's once again become clear (like it does every year at this time) that I have a lot on my plate that I want to finish.  It's actually kind of amazing that the first few months of 2012 seemed to drag on for me and then suddenly things snowballed the further in I got.  With so much on the go, I thought it would be nice to share some updates. 

At the moment I'm shooting lots of photography for Weddingstar, working on a new edit for Stream, continuing to develop my Around the Hat photo series, and working on the overdue release of Searching Salvation.  After a handful of trips to Local in the last few weeks I feel like I've had a lot of discussions about all of these things, but then realized that I hadn't really written a what-I've-been-up-to post in a while.  Here's the rundown:

Weddingstar has been doing a lot of revamping this year as the company has continued to expand.  As the in house photographer for the website, this has meant a lot of last minute shoots for the magazine, photographing extra images for new products, updating old images, and a few how-to videos thrown in for good measure.  It's been busy, and admittedly more repetitive than in years past.  

Stream Media has really slowed down in this second half of the year as it was expected to, however another edit has popped up this month.  It's nothing gripping, but I still like having video projects on the side.

Speaking of on the side projects, Around the Hat has been a really exciting undertaking for me this year.  The response has been great so far and I am still searching out locations and interiors from around the city that I'd like to feature.  There have been a lot of seeds planted with the potential for big things in the new year, but one of the best things to come from the series so far is the relationship I've established with Medalta. They've been great at getting me access to closed sites throughout the local clay district and have helped promote my sets as I've shared them.  If this is a sign of things to come then I think I'm on the right track.  I'm seriously exploring opportunities with government grants as a way of exhibiting and sharing the complete series.

And then there's Searching Salvation, the short about the death of my friend Dave and our trip to Salvation Mountain in California.  I've been dragging my feet on this one for the last year because I've been struggling to sum it up and have it feel exactly the way I want it to.  I haven't abandoned the project though, it's just been a long editing and fine tuning process.  When it's ready I don't want to have any regrets about it, and because I see so much potential in what it can be I don't want to feel arbitrarily pressured.  All I can say is that it's coming along and I'm getting closer.   

Throw in Christmas prep, and it's going to be a busy next few weeks.  I think a few more pints are going to be in order to help get me through it.