Good evening, Hive! It’s 1:00a.m. I’m exhausted but I’m still trying to stick to my commitment to make these blogs posts several times a week, if not nightly. I’ve been trying to find work in this new chapter of my life and suddenly, several opportunities have arisen for potential clients; photo, video, graphic design and even web design. I enjoyed a lot of job security as a pinup photographer over the years. I could post an ad for a city I would be coming to and within a few days, I’d be completely booked. This is more like chasing down leads so there’s a lot of correspondence and sometimes it leads nowhere. One recent shoot that did come through was with two of my friends in Minneapolis that wanted fall photos.
I met these sisters about a year ago through the Palestine protest movement here in Minneapolis. Throughout the end of 2023 and most of 2024, this community has become my new circle of friends. I lost a lot of people in my life as my priorities changed and as I measured those around me for their empathy and humanity. I lost a lot of respect for some that were very close in my life but for everyone I lost, I gained others. After all this time, I’ve spend countless hours with these people at protests, at jails, city council meetings — you name it. There have been some really significant moments that’ve formed meaningful friendships and these ladies have become some of the closest throughout the hope and despair of this awful time in our lives.
They contacted me about a photoshoot and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to capture the stunning fall foliage here in Minnesota. It never lasts long but if you don’t drag your feet, you can create some breathtaking images. We met in St. Paul on somewhat short notice. There were some areas that were beautiful in their surroundings but eventually we made our way to high bluffs near the Mississippi River and there the backdrop was truly impressive. The girls sat for portraits on a rock formation near the edge of the cliff and the red and oranges filled in the periphery perfecly with the soft depth of a 50mm prime lens. Even looking at these now, I wish I could shoot every day during the fall.
Now I’ll be reviewing these photos for the next couple of days. I have some other work and personal projects that I’m going to have to give some attention to but this shoot is high on my list to spend time on. Tomorrow, after I drop @guthrie off at school, I’ll pull up a table at the local coffee shop and review all 800 photos from this session. There are some illustration projects I have that are close to being completed as well, and as I always say, this is my favorite part of being a freelancer. I love getting to choose how I’ll spend my day and jumping from project to project depending on what I feel inspired to work on each day. Thanks, for reading. For more photography and art, follow me here on Hive.