My own Private Idaho

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A great weekend to give thanks.... for such a fabulous life!

Retrospective - Marsing, ID

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After a shoot in lovely downtown Marsing, Idaho - I decided to take in the countryside, which is chock full of orchards, wineries, and dairy farms.  I was in a bit of a retrospective mood, and the photos I ended up taking reminded me of olden times. 

I created these using Photoshop CC and a series of layers to create a 19th Century look and feel... 

China Cat Sunflower

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Look for awhile at the China Cat Sunflower, proud-walking jingle in the midnight sun
Copper-dome Bodhi drip a silver kimono, like a crazy-quilt stargown
through a dream night wind

Krazy Kat peeking through a lace bandana, like a one-eyed Cheshire
like a diamond-eye Jack, a leaf of all colors plays a golden string fiddle
to a double-e waterfall over my back

Comic book colors on a violin river, crying Leonardo words
from out a silk trombone I rang a silent bell
beneath a shower of pearls in the eagle wing palace
of the Queen Chinee

Sunflower harvest, Boise, Idaho

Sunflower harvest, Boise, Idaho

Shenandoah Court

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Inspired by the high desert rock formations of Owyhee Desert’s Leslie’s Gulch, this house was designed with the philosophy of using the site,  a dramatic steep slope and trapezoidal shape, to define the house.**

What fun I had shooting this one!

**excerpt from troutarchitects.com

Out of Focus -- back in five minutes!

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Over the Labor Day weekend, I sojourned at a friend's cabin in Cascade, Idaho.  I had big plans to do some long exposure photography of the night sky as there is NO light pollution and the moon was no where in sight.

Well, I blew it!  I made a fundamental mistake.  Cameras don't focus without light.  DUH!  And, manual focus doesn't work either cause ya can't see a darn thing at 1:30am.

NOTE TO SELF: Focus the shot before it gets dark, dummy!!

OOF Milkyway over Cascade Lake, Idaho

OOF Milkyway over Cascade Lake, Idaho

A Few Garden Shots......

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I used my longer Nikkor 18-140mm lens and noticed that I need to clean it.  Oh well.....  hope you enjoy the photos!

A Wow Moment...

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Everyday holds a surprise.  I believe that we each create our experiences every day.  Today, I was totally surprised by the chain of events that left me feeling incredibly inspired and totally hopeful for the future.  

Today I met Stephan and Sheri Purdy.  It was just another photo shoot, just another day.  Much to my surprise, I was completely changed by this chance encounter.  Their home was beautiful and I had a great shoot. 

It wasn't till later that the beautiful package unwrapped itself for me to appreciate.  I googled Amy Purdy.  Earlier, Stephan had asked me if I watched Dancing with the Stars.  I don't watch much TV, but was inclined to say yes, as I'm sure I had watched an episode or two from the corner of my eye.  Turns out that Stef's daughter, Amy, had been a contestant this season - and almost won!  I didn't think much of it at the time, other than, DAMN! - Dancing with the Stars?

 Well, turns out that Amy isn't just another daughter -- of a couple that I met -- on a shoot that I did.

At age 19, Amy Purdy contracted Neisseria meningitis, a form of bacterial meningitis. The disease affected her circulatory system when the infection led to septic shock. Both of her legs had to be amputated below the knee, she lost both kidneys, and her spleen had to be removed. Sepsis is when an infection (any infection) causes an inflammatory response, leading to organ failure and/or clinical shock, and is a common cause of death. In Amy's case, she went into septic shock in less than 24 hours of getting sick. Doctors gave Amy a 2% chance to survive since her sepsis was so advanced. Two years later, she received a kidney transplant from Stef, her father.

Amy began snowboarding seven months after she received her leg prosthetics. About a year after her legs were amputated, she finished third in a snowboarding competition at Mammoth Mountain. Subsequently, she received a grant from the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF), a non-profit organization. Through this grant, she was able to compete in several snowboarding competitions in the U.S.

In 2003, Amy was recruited by the CAF as spokesperson, and she moved to San Diego to be closer to the CAF headquarters. In San Diego, she continued her pre-amputee profession as a massage therapist. She also became involved in the modeling and acting industry. In February 2003, she played a model in a Madonna music video. Later in 2003, Amy started working for Freedom Innovations, a prosthetic feet manufacturer, as Amputee Advocate.

She has gone on to co-found her own non-profit organization, Adaptive Action Sports, a chapter of Disabled Sports USA for individuals with physical disabilities who want to get involved in action sports (snowboarding, skateboarding, surfing) or art and music.

What did I come away with?  WE ALL NEED TO STOP OUR BITCHIN! We can meet, face, and overcome our hurdles, our fears. We are all incredibly powerful beings and need to start to own it.

Seriously.

I only hope that I can be as good of a parent as Stef and Sheri has been to their kids. And to be as compelling of a human being as Amy has been - and - well, currently IS!

Below is my INSPIRED photo shoot.  I'm absolutely sure that the Purdys will sell their house in lightning speed!

Humphreys Way, Boise, Idaho

Research on Amy borrowed from wikipedia. Amy's website: www.amypurdy.com, www.adaptiveactivesports.com.

Stef Purdy's website: www.stefpurdy.com

Settlers Way

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A lot of my shoots are in, what I would call, the far reaches.  I get to travel to distant lands (well sort of, but not really, but it sounds good!) to photograph houses -- in hopes of helping the owner/agent to sell their house.

I was fortunate enough to travel north on Hwy 21 to Idaho City to shoot this'middle of nowhere' house that was just an excellent road trip. 

My assignment was to shoot the exterior shots, while my boss, Tony -- the Wizographer of Middle Earth, shot the interior.  

An exceptional home, in the middle of Nowhere!

How lucky am I?