I took this photo before the concert last night, but I just wanted to point out how amazing the clouds were the entire time we were in Iowa. From soft and hazy to Simposons-esque, they were lovely the entire time. Good work, Iowa.Today we woke up early, grabbed some breakfast, got a car wash (that dust on the way to the barn was THICK), and hit the road. We took larger highways on our return trip, so it wasn't as lovely as the way down there when we saw Amish folk and many small towns and a "milk bar." But today we did stop off at a Monastery to visit the gift shop. What's to see in a monastery gift shop, you ask? Um, coffins. And religious books. And sweatshirts and coffee mugs. It was fascinating.For your internet share, I am just about to finish this book right here and it is wonderful. And here's a tip, not only do they have it at the library, but if you have a Minneapolis library card, you can stream the audio book for free from your phone. HOLLA! And you can also see the rest of the photos from my trip (and the Conor Oberst concert) here. Enjoy!
Today I played hooky from work and drove to Iowa with Meredith to catch Conor Oberst play at one of my very favorite venues, Codfish Hollow Barn. It was fantastic. Such wonderful sound, such an intimate show and just an amazing day. I have a million more photos that I'll sort through and post tomorrow, once we return back to Minneapolis.I love shooting Conor Oberst shows because his was the very first concert I ever attempted to photograph, and it holds a special place in my heart. I shot him in 2009 in Omaha, and Jenny Lewis opened the show. Man was that an amazing night as well. However, these photos are way better ;)No internet share -- I'm off to bed. More photos tomorrow, I promise.
The humidity has finally broken, and we are now in the glorious days of summer. I snapped this photo during last night's photo shoot. I feel like the spoon and cherry are always shot from the side with the skyline in the background, but this was the first time I had spied it from the other side, and I'm not sure why, but the reflection popped out to me more.Tomorrow starts a wonderful stretch of trips and fun surrounding my upcoming birthday, so I'm trying to wrap up as much business as I can in the office today, while leaving time for walks and time outdoors. You should do the same.Here are your internet shares: First, this young couple gets to see 
This week we had visitors from Ann Arbor, Ezra's 9 month check up, one night where we got TWO hours of sleep, an amazing meal at Bar La Grassa, lots of catching up on Orphan Black and lots of vizsla snuggles.
No shots at the Doctor this week, just a general check up to make sure all is well.
It's a real skill to glare with one eye.
And Ezra had loads of veggies this week with lettuces, tomatoes, asparagus, zucchini, potatoes and cucumber (and chicken, turkey, bacon and hot dogs to balance things out). This kid? He loves to eat.For your internet share today, I loved 
I had coffee with a friend from ... oh, I don't know. He's a tour manager with various bands so he's been on the road for almost a full year straight. So yeah. I don't know where he's from. Well, he's from Kansas originally, so we'll just say that.Anyway, we had coffee today because the band he's touring with is in town, and so we hit up One on One bike shop in town (they also make coffee). Anyway, it's one of the few coffee spots in the North Loop, which is sort of an "up and coming" (or already peaked, depending on who you ask) part of town. I really love the architecture down there -- especially all the huge windows. So I tried to capture that in the reflection of the bike shop window.For your internet share today, 
This morning we woke up to dark, cloudy skies and cold, refreshing air from the windows. (And a baby crying.)These are my favorite kinds of days. Wait, not the crying baby part, but the gloomy, wet, dark days of late spring. I am one of those rare creatures who prefers dark days to sunny ones (also? best photo light, for what it's worth).I've been taking my macro lens out more, and I've been loving photos of raindrops lately. Weird, I know. But I'll take inspiration anywhere I can get it. These were a few snaps I got this morning between storms.
For your internet share today, you should go listen to 
This morning I had a photo session with that little guy up there. He's only eight days old, and he is so, so tired. This big beautiful world can be exhausting! It was all right that he was so sleepy though because he had an amazing 2-year-old sister who more than made up for posing in front the camera -- she was delightful!The rest of the day was spent in front of the computer and walking the dog and doing laundry. You know, the glamorous side of Shuttersmack HQ.For your internet shares of the day, if I were hosting a birthday party next week, I would offer