Antiques from the Apartment
November 12th, 2007
Before moving from apartment to house, I wanted to capture some of the antiques we’ve had the pleasure of living with.
Serious Portraits
November 10th, 2007
Trick or Treat
November 5th, 2007
ISU Cheerleading
November 3rd, 2007
After spending years as a flyer with a private team, my younger sister Ashley started cheerleading for Iowa State University.
Halloween 3
October 27th, 2007
Finally, late as usual, I have the last installment of the 3 part series of Halloween on Court Avenue in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. Since I was a “photographer” I could carry some lighting equipment with me, and not get so many weird looks. It works out great because I can achieve much better lighting than with standard on camera strobe flashes.
A facial costume of sorts, if you will.
She means business, let me tell ya. Couldn’t even crack a smile out of her.
They had some girls line up on top of the pool table for me. They probably mistakenly identified me as Arturo Fernandez again. I didn’t ask, I just started snapping away and requesting more tinsel… more wind… oh and while you’re at it call the Zoo, some wild animals would look spectacular right over there.
I didn’t want to ask.
As in “Seriously, this is my costume.”
By the end of the night, apparently I started having trouble figuring out who was in costume and who wasn’t. While walking back to the car I snapped off this shot while we passed these two gentlemen. I thought they were in costume as a Farmer and a Lawyer. In my own embarrassing defense, the street wasn’t well lit… and what men dress up to go to Court Ave? Maybe it was a wedding, a Halloween wedding. I don’t know, but nevertheless I sincerely apologize for the mix up.
Halloween 2
October 27th, 2007
This is the second installment of a three part series from Halloween 2007 downtown, where I’m continuously mistaken for Des Moines Juice photographer Arturo Fernandez.
Nuked ‘em with flash. Oops. I can take horrible photos if I want to, I work for myself, remember.
This guy has been waiting for this picture for a few months, sorry man. I have a feeling someone’s myspace icon will be changing soon.
Des Moines IA MMA girls
Bars, Des Moines, Downtown, Greatest Hits, Holidays, Night, Parties, People
Halloween 1
October 27th, 2007
This Halloween we did something different for a change. Richards Dad and step mom previously hosted awesome annual Halloween parties, but decided that it’s too much work to continue. We were forced to find something else to do, so we hit up downtown Des Moines. This is the first of three posts from this night.
Just getting started at Johnny’s downtown
My beer maiden.
Richard had to see the butt doctor, lucky for him they had one on staff.
The humor that this suite invites is limitless.
I really enjoyed the idea of this taken out of the context of Halloween. Imagine just stumbling upon this photo somewhere. It’s just something so strange you have to stop and think about what’s going on or where it is. In case you haven’t picked up on it, I’m “into that stuff.”
It was one of those back and forth downtown nights. We wandered between a few court avenue bars, trying to satisfy most everyone (or the loudest spoken) in our entourage.
Pee Wee spotted, hide your children. Get that damn cellaphone out of my way.
Liars Club, Court Ave Downtown Des Moines on Halloween.
Excellent costumes and attention to detail. They could have used a drink though.
Yes, a ballerina tu-tu tranny with penis in hand. I’ve seen everything now.
I was managing to survive with getting tapped on the shoulder every other second with some desperate chick begging me to take a picture of her in costume. But this is different. These girls weren’t even in some poor attempt of a costume. Nothing, zip, nada. To pour salt on the wound, the begging “me me me, my turn, my turn” chick on the left wouldn’t stop staring at my remote flash. I’m sure you’re brilliant in your own ways, but the lens is down here sweetie.
Much more still to come…
Bars, Des Moines, Downtown, Greatest Hits, Holidays, Night, People
An Apple a Day
October 21st, 2007
Tommy the Cat
October 10th, 2007
Tom is in the process of moving from Des Moines to the Omaha area. Here’s some photos of him attempting to play The Awakening by Les Claypool on his bass guitar. Awesome song, I must add.
Rock Creek State Park
September 29th, 2007
We went camping at Rock Creek State Park near Kellogg and Newton.
Ken busted out the slack line to test everyone’s balance.
Abe found a pair of “Antlers.”
Interesting findings along the nature trail.
After patiently waiting for them to align at the right moments, these random kids made decent subjects.
I needed a foreground object to place against the sky colors. Unfortunately it was chow time and the sun was setting fast. Ben and Abe became victims of chow face syndrom.
Halo 3 Release
September 25th, 2007
The much acclaimed Halo game franchise has concluded with Halo 3. Hundreds of stores nationwide opened at midnight on the night of Monday the 24th for pre-sales. In select larger cities the festivities included store sponsored parties, prize giveaways, and in-store game matches. Above shows the Halo 3 release line at Game Stop in Urbandale Iowa at 8pm, 4 hours prior to the release.
Best Buy Halo 3 line at 8pm on Sept 24th.
Zoom forward to 11pm.
All kinds of people attended. One guy brought his cat with, while a highly bearded guy appears to be praying.
Free Red Bull for everyone waiting in line. It helped everyone stay awake long enough to get some games in before going to sleep. Well, for those of us that went to sleep this night.
? 
This guy that works at ColorFX is a huge asshole. Can I say that here? Of course I can. I don’t like to bust people out, but this is a valid exception. Anyway, bigshot here is apparently more important than everyone else. He employed this clever game of making small talk with someone ahead in line then walking in front of them, two or so at a time. Very slick. If you’re bigger than this ogre and see him in a dark alley, you know what to do.
Hugs 25 Cents
Let the journey begin, or end… Halo 3 Trilogy.
4 Wheels Off Ground
September 23rd, 2007
So it started like this: Minding my own business enjoying my duty free Sunday, I receive a frantic phone call. It was Richard. He asks how fast can I get down to the banks of the Des Moines River in West Des Moines. Realizing my plans for the day didn’t even include a trip outdoors, I was stumped. Then Richard says “Well dude, me Dion and Kelly are 4-wheeling along the river. It’s awesome, bring your camera.” Ok, Ok, I’m there. No one happens to mention that I can’t get there by car. I have to ride over a levy, across a highway, and through a mile or two of trails on the back of a 4 wheeler with two bags of gear. Luckily it was well worth it.
Urbandale Skateboarding Competition
September 22nd, 2007
Kegger Success
September 14th, 2007
A good kegger doesn’t always just happen. Sometimes the right variables are finessed to create better than usual results. This was one of those times, and with some help from the cold weather, everyone was forced to cram into the house and be more social. It wasn’t the biggest keg, but what really mattered was everyone had a great time. Many more came after I couldn’t hold the camera straight anymore. Sorry, you’ll have to come earlier to get on this bandwagon.
I gave a flash to Shuey to experiment with. He pulled some pranks on people and luckily nothing was damaged in a fit of anger. If you look around the room, especially at the ceiling, you can see the peach tint from light reflecting off his skin. He literally nuked the hell out of this guy’s face.
Enough of that, I’ll hold the flashes myself.
Waiting in line for the bathroom. This chick wondered what the hell we were up to. I wasn’t about to leave my camera laying around so I continued to shoot a couple random shots. I entertain myself quite well thank you.
To smile or not? The never ending question.
I had crappy shadows all night because I didn’t hold the flash high enough. It’s honestly not easy holding a heavy camera with one hand and your beer and a flash in the other, while trying to move around the room.
Chad came and posed for a money shot. Uhh, you know what I mean. He’s trying to push forward in his photography post-processing career.
Lucky for me, models tend to show up wherever I go. On this fine day I didn’t have to deal with any models that aren’t approved.
Crazy Joe practiced his disco dancing, I think he’ll win the comp this year.
