I’m welcoming myself back to Minnesota and to Hive with an update from Viva Las Vegas. I’ve been gone for 9 days. A lot has changed in my personal life. I’ll go into that soon. For tonight, I just want to share some behind the scene photos from the time in Los Angeles and Las Vegas over the last week and a half. This trip is typically half of my annual income. It’s exhausting. Even though I know this looks like a dream job […it is], it comes with a heavy toll mentally, emotionally, physically and creativity. This year was more demanding than previous years, mostly because of personal reasons and a severe back injury I suffered early in the trip.
Reflecting on some of these photos, I’m grateful that I did make it through these grueling nine days without cancelling a single shoot. Believe me, I was close. There is always something that’s lingered for me regarding my career; these images will outlive me. I believe that. When I’m dead and gone, they’ll exist as part of my legacy of what I leave behind. At this point, who knows, maybe they’ll just be prompt fodder for AI dark pinup generated art, but they’re a record of my time on earth and contribution to the world. It’s worth sucking it up on bad days or a sad state of mind. I’m proud of the images I made during this trip.
Over the next several weeks and months, I’ll be sharing more of the new work here on Hive. I shot over 13,000 new photos in both cities. I had some return clients and many new clients that I was meeting and photographing for the first time. I’ll have a chance to talk about some of the trip outside of the shoots as well. I did a book signing for 
In the meantime, please enjoy some of these iPhone captures on the sets of some of my favorite shoots during the last nine days on the road. Tomorrow I’ll be going to 