Illinois

Last weekend, I went to Illinois to surprise my dad for his 49th birthday. 

I showed up at Longhorn where my sister is a server, and I waited in the booth for my parents to arrive. Mom facilitated the surprise, and dad was thoroughly thrilled/bewildered by my presence at dinner in Illinois.

While there I got to see my sister's and my best friend's (Tori's) new places since they both moved this summer. And naturally, I took dozens of photos while home...

One of the best parts of going home was seeing my dogs, my sisters dog (pictured), and Tori's new kitten.

Headshots

OK, this has been a crazy week.

For starters, I held a contest for a free headshot on Instagram. This is the lovely Rachel, and she won. SO, she and I went around Downtown Chandler this past weekend and did her headshot shoot. The following are the three photos she chose as her prize.

I think she looks kind of like Selena Gomez in that one with the green foliage.

The other interesting occurrence was yesterday. I was at Peixoto drinking my morning coffee and about to head home so I could go to Sedona for a day trip when all of a sudden I get a panicked message from a friend. His boss needed a headshot for a magazine, and he needed it by 6pm (it was noon, mind you). I told him I could do it if we made it super quick, and that is how the following headshot was taken at Peixoto.

Today, I am taking a breather. I showed Rachel her pictures this morning and she picked her 3, and now I'm having a relaxing lunch with my business partner and planning my weekend trip.

Super Paxette at Peixoto Phoenix AZ

I've been spending a lot of time at Peixoto lately, and one of the baristas brought in his film cameras to show me. This one was amazing. It's a German camera from the 50's.

The owners also just got back from Brazil. So, they've been roasting coffee all day, and it's been fascinating to watch.

They were in Brazil visiting the Peixoto family coffee farm. They showed me some pictures of the land, waterfalls, toucans, and the family. It's kind of amazing to see the behind-the-scenes action for the coffee that I'm drinking. 

Boudoir iPhoneography

I photographed my business partner, Nicole's, boudoir session to celebrate her 24th birthday. To put a fun twist on it (and to verify what I already believed to be possible) I used my iPhone 6 rather than my pro gear. This is the second time I have done this (see the other iPhone shoot). The only photography tool I used was the cell phone. There weren't reflectors or flashes or assistants. Simplicity is my favorite.

I need to have her send me a photo of her room to share with you. A dark futon is on the left half, a light mattress on the right half, and mountains of clothes as far as the eye can see. By shifting the mountains and utilizing my mad Photoshop skills we got a final product of a darn clean looking room.

These are not the first boudoir photos I've taken, but these are the first that I have been given permission to share. Maybe someday I'll get to share boudoir photos taken on my real photography gear.