I am stoked to unveil to you guys MY NEW BLOG. Into the Darkroom did a fantastic job creating this for me and we truly had an open conversation about what it needed to be. So swing by my new blog and break it in by leaving some love in the comments!

Subscribe to my new blog in your RSS reader. Your life will immediately, measurably improve in ways you never thought possible. All the cool kids are using RSS. You'll never miss a post again unless you do something silly like unsubscribe.

This blog will stay live and serve as an archive. See you guys at the new place :)

So I've created a fan page on Facebook...come one, come all (and no, I do not have to have had personally met you in order to be friend...I know, I'm difficult).

Pacific Weddings (a well respected wedding publication circulated heavily on the west coast and in Hawaii) is holding their Last Word Photo Contest right now. They've been gracious enough to choose one of my images as a finalist...the rest is up to you!

Now would be an awesome time to help make that bad birthday/burglary experience a distant memory. The winner receives a full page ad (est. $4K) in the upcoming Summer/Fall issue of Pacific Weddings.

We have a few spots left for the Lab workshop April 21-23 in Glen Rose, TX. You can swing by thelabworkshop.com to find out more info and sign up.

We're three photographers who love what we do and want to share it with others. Come hang out with us and learn how we work, how we shoot, how we interact with clients. Come be stretched technically and inspired creatively. Change the way you think and look at your photography and leave with the knowledge you need to continue growing and some killer images to add to your portfolio.

Fred Egan: Portraits
Amy Coffey: Kids
Michael Norwood: Weddings


WHEN: April 20-23, 2008

We'll get together Sunday night to meet, eat and get to know each other. Monday morning everything begins with some classroom time covering marketing and the technical side of shooting. After lunch we'll head out for a live shoot and then to dinner. Tuesday we'll cover post-processing and the artistic side of shooting. After lunch we'll head out for another live shoot and then to dinner. Wednesday's schedule looks the same... classroom time, lunch and the workshop concludes with the last live shoot.

WHERE: Glen Rose, TX... a little town outside Dallas with a lot of charm and a million places to shoot. You'll stay at a charming lodge on the bank of the Brazos River.

COST: $1500

Tuition includes 3 days of in-depth training with Fred, Amy and Michael, lodging and all meals (heck yeah!), 3 live shoots, one on one portfolio critique.

We'll cover the technical and artistic aspects of shooting (camera settings, composition, seeing the light, being inspired, working with clients during the shoot), workflow (from raw files to finished product), post-processing, marketing, getting published.

Space is limited so reserve your spot soon! Email info@thelabworkshop.com

I am proud of you. I am proud to be associated with you...those that have placed bids on the Thirst Relief auction. All of you...not just those who bid on me. It is good to report that you and me together have raised almost $250 so far to ensure those much less fortunate than us have clean water to drink tomorrow.

Before I shamelessly ask you guys to drive up my going price, I want to share with you why I'm doing this. I believe in the God who gives the warmth of the Sun to both the saints and the sinners, the God who expresses love with the rain that falls on both the faithful and the wicked. And I'm thankful for that since most days I'm more the latter than the former.

These people that need our help didn't choose to be born where they were...God did. He orchestrated that so people like me could be a blessing to them. That is so hard to see through the smog of our American mentality. Our resources, our standard of living...are our greatest assets as Americans, yet we often hoard it for ourselves. If you make over $45,000/year you actually make more money than 99% of the 6.6 billion people on this planet...can we sit here and deny that we are rich?

Money changes people. That is a fact. Money changes me. And I want money to change me in a positive way. The only way I can figure out how to do that is to give away as much as I can and gradually loosen its suffocating grip around my heart. Giving makes me a better person, that is why I do it. And who knows, I could just as easily be the one who needs that cup of cold water one day.

With that said, I'd love to spend 90 minutes with you over dinner for the benefit of these kids, fathers, mothers, brothers...sisters.

BID HERE BEFORE 8PM TODAY.

* * * * *

Every 15 seconds someone dies of a waterborne illness.

This March I'll be flying into Vegas for WPPI again which will be an exciting time. What I'm even more excited about is the opportunity to help Thirst Relief International by auctioning off 90 minutes of my time to mentor someone while in Vegas.

My dear friend Davina approached me about this project and without thinking about how much money my name would bring in or how bad I would look if hardly anyone bid on me (or how good I would look if they did), I volunteered. See, I've had a desire to get clean water to the many Africans who are fighting HIV/AIDS ever since I was introduced to Blood:Water Mission. They can't fight the virus without clean water.

You can pre-register here for the auction which will take place from February 9-February 12. I'd love to raise as much money as humanly possible; however, if I raise only $5, that is worth the 90 minutes of my time for that African who will now have clean water to drink. So if you're going to be in Vegas for WPPI, I'd love to spend 90 minutes with you.

If you are reading this, that means you have an internet connection and a computer. And that means you are rich...you are wealthy, you have so much more than the majority of people on this earth. You've been blessed to bless others.

* * * * *