Fatherly Bonding

My dad and I do not have the same relationship that other fathers do with their kids, or maybe they do, but bonding with my dad is a little weird. My parents got divorced when I was about 5, and my dad moved back to wisconsin where he lived with his aunt, in the house that he now lives. Over summers and holiday vacations, my brother would go out and visit dad, and we would do construction projects, tear down walls, put up walls, move houses, do roofs, etc etc. i have learned a lot of practical skills about home improvement and construction and electrical work, all of which have come in handy while working on my own house.

While this sounds like good father bonding, the tough part about this is my father is not always the best communicator. he has a lot going on in his head, and sometimes, no words come out, or if they do, it is almost impossible to understand what he is talking about. I do not know if it is a gift or a curse, but I manage to follow his trains of thought most of the time, and with relatively little amounts of confusion, can know what he is talking about. Other people on the other hand, do not appear to be so lucky.

My dad has been working on his house for almost 15 years now. A couple of years ago it was the bathroom, which took a couple of years to finish, and before that it was the entire attic, which my brother and I helped tear apart, but then didn't get finished until last year. This year it was the porch and the deck. The porch was really just a storage unit for old crap, like tv's, clothes, cookie tins, and some treasures.

He found all sorts of toys, and old beer bottles, some glass cars and some old plates, some tooth powder, and all sorts of other things. His house is kind of like a museum, with history from the family and the town displayed all around.

This trip we were supposed to build a deck, but the wood didn't get delivered. So, we did some drywalling, we put in a hardwood floor, and we did some electrical work. We did also go to the Oshkosh Public Museum, and the Paine Art Center, and eat some pizza, cook some chicken soup, and hang out with the family at a bbq.

It was a good visit, and pictures will show up if I can get them off of my phone, which was shorted out by an ocean wave.

Ski Season is here, or so it seems

New skis have shown up, new boots have shown up, and nobody seems to care about the fact that you can find killer deals on summer clothes. I love this time of the year, when people start getting all amped up for ski season, even when we really won't have snow for another 2 months or so.

I used to ski every month of the year, and for 36 months, no matter how much snow there was, i would try and hunt down a place to go, whether it be St. Mary's Glacier, or Rollins Pass or some 14er with a Couloir. Last September I missed my first month in 36, and then my streak was ruined. October didn't see a single day because of the lack of snow, but then november and december blew in some good snow. I am hoping that this year the snow starts early, because I want to go out and get after it.

While looking for photos for ads, I came across a couple from last season that I really liked, and as it turns out, one of the photos that Bent Gate is using for the Backcountry Gear Guide ad is of me in some blower pow. i am pretty excited.

Well, pray for snow, continue enjoying bikes, and start waxing those skis.

Weddings, Travel, and Work

I think i might become a Wedding Photographer. I would of course have to buy some new cameras, maybe some different shoes, and come up with some kind of way to distinguish myself from everyone else, and maybe charge, but it could be a good gig for me. I mean, free food, I get to snap photos of people I don't really know, and its not like there is a whole lot of variation in the photos themselves... how many times are you going to be taking photos of the exact same wedding party. Once you have your system down, it should work.

I recently shot photos for my friends Lindsey and Zac, and it was a lot of fun. I sort of missed out on enjoying the ceremony, but it felt good capturing the moment for them. Looking back at the pictures (and there were a lot of them) was interesting, and the whole decision process on what to keep is WAY harder than actually taking the photos I think.

But then I got to go to another wedding, where there was one main photographer, and about 1000 people with cameras it seemed (even though there were only 100 people or so at the wedding...) I imagine it would be very difficult to try and sell your photos to the family when you have so much competition.... maybe I will make chocolate covered business cards or something to keep all of those "amateurs" occupied.

Traveling is a lot of work. Flying standby is stressful, plane tickets are expensive, and hotel beds are not really all that comfortable. I don't mind it, especially when i get to see people that I care about or would love to see, but I am glad that I do not do it for work right now. Those were different days of living on the road and trying to pick the same hotel chain (courtyard marriots are all very similar, as are La Quinta inns and a lot of best westerns) so you can build up points. Choosing a dog friendly hotel is also way easier than choosing a dog friendly airline (although you now can fly with little dogs that fit under the seat, which leaves out rally) which leaves you with Southwest as one of your only options.

Ok, enough for today.... I just finished up with work, and hope that tomorrow is a little less hectic than today was....
Enjoy some photos from Zac and Lindsey's Wedding!