Oh man, it was so good to be back at a good old fashioned rock show tonight. Kids, it has been way too long! And it was just what I needed after some very long work days and a country music show last night. At one point there were six guitars being played on stage, and I was surrounded by my friends and I just was grinning from ear to ear. Good times.The band we saw tonight is called Diarrhea Planet. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree it's about the worst band name ever. But these guys are so amazing live. I saw them for the first time back at SXSW in March, and tonight was their first show ever in Minneapolis. I should also mention that The Lovely Bad Things opened, and they were stellar as well. You can see a full gallery from the show (SO MUCH HAIR) over here.And for your internet share of the day, I'm cheating and sending you to see the Brad Paisley photos over at the Star Tribune (since I know a few relatives will want to see them). Enjoy!

Today I actually shot a Brad Paisley concert. This was the first of thousands of shows I've been to where my mother a) knew who the artist was and b) I think might even be excited to see my photos! But because I shot it for the Star Tribune, they own the photos (not me) so I can't post them here (booooo).  But I'll shoot you the link when the gallery is up later, deal?So instead I thought I'd show you another cutie from yesterday. Damn, have I mentioned how much fun that was? Dream job.And since I shot for a newspaper today, I decided my internet share would be to this French paper who ran an issue earlier with no photos to illustrate how we all take journalistic photography for granted. Many of you might not know, but earlier this year the Chicago Sun-Times laid off its entire photography staff and said it could just use images shot by reporters on their mobile phones and such. That was quite a blow, and man can you see it in their day-to-day coverage now.It seems that with the many cuts newsrooms are making around the world, the visual and production teams are getting hit the hardest, and this paper wanted to recognize it. Bravo.

Oh man, how adorable is THIS guy? And his name? JETHRO. I photographed more than 25 dogs today, and I am beat. Seriously. But you guys... you guys... I loved it so dang much. I cannot even believe I am lucky enough to have this career. And I absolutely cannot wait to show you the photos. I'll get 'em done as fast as I can!For your internet share of the day, I'm sending you over to the most amazing parents and their project that involves dinosaurs and igniting imagination. If I ever have kids, this is the kind of parent I would want to be.

So! Remember when I asked you guys if I should offer a dog calendar or a nature calendar for the holidays, and I asked you to email me or comment to help me decide? Y'all tied. Ahem.And I figured since I was making a dog calendar for my Man for the holiday anyway (oh, um, SURPRISE honey!), I would offer both. WHO LOVES YOU!? I do, obviously.So on the left in each image above is a page from the dog calendar, the right is from the nature calendar. The paper in these calendars is DELICIOUS. It's thick and matte and so dang pretty. It would make for lovely framing after the year is finished. I hope you know I would never, ever, ever sell you anything that was less than fabulous.Each calendar is $38, and that includes shipping right to your door. You want one? Or two? Or seven? You can buy them here. Oh wait, do you want to see more of the photos before you decide? Sure thing! The dog photos are here, the nature photos are here.I would love to have my photos hanging in your home. I hope you would like it as well!*Gift idea  no. 1 is the dog photo sessions that are happening TOMORROW (Nov. 15) at Woof Central. That is a seriously good deal, people. Gift idea no. 2 is the photo workshop that is a perfect present for anyone in your life wanting to learn to take better photos.