This is an incredible talk that I’ve had on my mind the past couple of days. I’ve watched it about 3 times, and I get something more out of it each time. It’s 20 minutes and he makes some really poignant remarks about the current state of our education and where it needs to be. Even though it’s a talk about formal education, I think the topic relates beyond just parenting or a broken educational system. (I think we tend to blame the system too much anyway.) The ideas he communicates in this video have made me rethink the kind of learning I emphasize for myself.

From TED’s website:

Why don’t we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it’s because we’ve been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies — far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity — are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. “We are educating people out of their creativity,” Robinson says.

It was an incredible privilege and honor to be asked to do a family lifestyle session for my good friend and gifted photographer Natalie Moser. I shoot with Natalie all the time, at a variety of event and weddings. I think I actually shot one of her last weddings before giving birth to her son, as well as the first wedding she shot after… so I’ve gotten to see this boy grow. And boy, has he grown (22lbs at 7.5 months)! Anyway, I am a bit speechless at this point. I feel like these pictures say more than I can with words about how much love I have for this family. They have a beautiful energy and I hope these pictures communicate that with some clarity.

Who’s up for a little competiton? I’d love to see some of y’all out there compete in WedComp08 with me. In addition to some cool prizes and it’s for a good cause: Thirst Relief International.

Follow the image link for more competition details.

I got to attend this wedding as a guest - my first in quite awhile, I must admit. Jeannie is a friend of Yumie’s, so I was the date. The wedding was at the Los Coyotes Country Club in Buena Park and I brought along my camera and 50mm lens. I wasn’t sure what I’d be able to shoot, but I figured it would be nice to shoot just for the fun of it.

Anyway, here are a few from the wedding that will hopefully supplement the memories of their wedding. The first picture may seem out of place, but it was the first picture taken of the day - sitting in traffic on the exit ramp.

Last night I had the opportunity to photograph an event in Los Angeles encouraging people to go out and vote. The event was at Les Deux and hosted by Brooke Burke of Dancing With The Stars fame. It was so different from a wedding, so it was nice to do something brand new. While brand new to me, everybody has seen the red carpet photos from things like the Oscars and other events. I joined in with that crowd of red carpet photographers to make sure I got my shots, but I also got to try some other stuff. My friend Jeffrey Neal came to shoot the event with me. He got to shoot inside the club while I was shooting the red carpet stuff.

It’s actually really difficult to get away from the existing aesthetic of red carpet photographs, but I just wanted to share a few things I tried to do a little differently. (No, I didn’t crawl on the ground, or climb any walls this time.)

On a more serious note, I want to encourage people to go out and cast an informed vote next week. It’s an exercise of our citizenship, honoring the freedoms in this country that we take for granted. Wars have been fought for this right, and we neglect it in this country because of our ridiculous sense of entitlement. As far as the presidential race goes, don’t vote for a candidate just because of perception. Read up, understand what each candidate stands for before voting. And don’t forget about third party candidates, i.e. Ralph Nader, Bob Barr. You’d be surprised how much more you might agree with their platforms than the Mc’bama choice.

Even if you aren’t fired up about the presidential elections, there are still tons of propositions to vote on in California. My guess is that everybody cares strongly about at least one of the issues on the ballot. So get off your lazy ass, fire up that world wide web, get educated on the issues and exercise the privilege of voting on Nov. 4.