You guys, I am always so dang happy when I'm at a Titus Andronicus show. Tonight's performance was sloppy and a bit ranty and then excellent and then slow and finally WONDERFUL. But I was still so thrilled to be there shooting it. At the end of the night, they covered several Replacements songs, and it was fantastic. The Replacements are the *one* band who I have never seen live and who I would LOVE to see, so covers by Titus (or Deer Tick) always please me to no end.OK, because it's late (or early, depending on your point of view), I'mma wrap this up. But first, your internet share of the day. This one is so rad.Go check out this map that shows major metropolitan areas broken down by race. You can totally see the segregation lines (especially in Detroit holy moly) and the cities that are well mixed (Sacramento!). Anyway, it's fascinating. And make sure you get to the full country map at the end to see the "plantation belt" and how that affected where races fall. I could look at this kind of data all day long.Oh! And if you want to see the rest of the photos from the Titus Andronicus show (holy sweaty man-crowd batman!), look over here.
Dang, it sure is pretty here.I don't want to say the heat broke today, but the humidity seems to have done just that -- and it was all that was really needed.I had a photo shoot with a high school senior over on Lake Harriet tonight, and I stayed around afterward to watch the bats come out and the sun set. I absolutely love having a few different lakes in the neighborhood. And what a great start to the holiday weekend, eh? I don't have any huge plans this weekend other than a concert or two and *maybe* a trip to the state fair. Otherwise, I think I'll sleep in and catch up around the house... which sounds marvelous at the moment.Check out these photos of abandoned Finnish cabins that have been taken back by nature. I love the squirrels! (First and last time you'll hear me say that, btw). You can see them all 
Late last night, after my day of shooting photos at Caldrea, Jamie and I headed over to First Ave to catch Desaparecidos. This band is a side project of Conor Oberst's, a musician that I have loved dearly since I found his music in the misery that was Miami. Many of you know Oberst's work under Bright Eyes (which I also am quite enamored with), but this side project and its punk-rock roots is my favorite to see live for several reasons. First, it makes great photos. Second, I love angry punk shows. And third, while I think Oberst is a *phenomenal* lyricist, his voice is not always... shall we say perfect (which I still love). But because of that, it is fabulous for a punk show when it's mostly screaming anyway!The best part of the show was all of the energy both on stage and out in the crowd (so much moshing!). The worst? The typical Oberst rant about politics where he manages to make me feel like the most conservative of Republicans (which we all know I am far from).Anyway, it was a great show and I was so happy to be back shooting at First Ave. And I get to go back this weekend! Woot! To see a full photo set of the show, you can go 
I got to spend the day taking photos over at Caldrea HQ today. You guys, it smells SO GOOD in that place (of course). I have been a big fan of these products for a long time, and I can't tell you how fun it was to photograph the women behind the magic, as well as the lab where it's all made! And better yet? I left with about the most amazing goodie bag ever. My house is gonna smell great until the end of time.This photo is a wall of windows in the lab where they test the color fade of both the product and the labels against the sun, because they realize we all keep their stuff in our kitchen windows. Smart, eh?Oh, and I should mention that their office has floor-to-ceiling windows on every wall. The light in this building was spectacular. If every shoot could come with this light!For today's internet share of the day, I'm sending you over to 
So today was crazy! I had a job over at the Star Tribune (more on this later, when it publishes) and this was one of our behind the scenes shots that I loved. Plus? Whenever I get work over at the Strib I get to see all my old work buddies, and I don't have to log into that piece of crap computer system! Win!And for my internet share of the day, I'm sending you to 
One of the things I love about this little twerp is all of the cowlicks all over her body. I'm sure my other dogs have had them, but because their fur was long, you couldn't see it as well. Not the case here -- look at her chest and armpits! How adorable is that!She had quite an exciting weekend with Mom and Dad in town, and today after they left she fell into the throes of depression. Until 8 pm when she demonstratively demanded that we take her for a walk despite the tropical heatwave outside. So out we went, for about five blocks. It's all we could take.This will probably be the first and only