Local, neighborhood, friends....It was so nice to work with a friend who is an amazing acting teacher and who puts on local theater. We created 3 images to go with her plays for the upcoming season.

Her studio, Shaking the Tree, is a wonderful organic space for kids to express themselves. 3 beautiful child actors who were so easy to work with. It don't have to be fancy!

I am excited to be opening a show of a group of portraits I shot over 3 months on a street corner. Alberta Street, here in Portland, has a street fair on the last Thursday of every month. The scene there is so uniquely Portland. People dress up in costumes, eat fire, play music, sell their art and basically have a street party every month. I set up a 9 ft seamless backdrop on a street corner and created a little studio for myself among the chaos, the wind and the masses. People were excited to pose. I found if I just told people to stand on a spot and be themselves, without directing them in any other way, amazing insight happened.

If you are in town come to the show. Opening June 5th 7-9p @ Newspace Center for Photography.

Yesterday I spent time, on the Columbia River, riding the sea lion hazing boat with Indian fishers from CRITFC . The men were shooting off bombs and large underwater firecrackers trying to convince the sea lions to head back out to the ocean. The controversy is heated here in Oregon and Washington.

The sea lions aggressive... the Tribes determined... the salmon endangered. No clear solution to the debate. The tribes depend on the salmon run to feed their families and even they are torn as to how to handle this problem that was created by the building of the Bonneville Dam.

I am heading out to the Klickitat River today to photograph the fishers.

No sea lions were injured in the taking of these photos.

No bad luck?

Spending the weekend on the beautiful Vashon Island, at a Buddhist family retreat overlooking the Puget Sound, we discussed the intertwining of good luck and bad luck. Sometimes things we think of as bad luck lead us in a direction toward good luck. I had a chance to experience this philosophy on our trip back from the Island.

We were directed to the Southern tip of the Island to catch a ferry that would take us South of Seattle and save us about 45 minutes driving. Good luck!! I was happy to shorten my 3 hour drive home but...When we arrived at the ferry, it had just left and we had to wait 45 minutes for the next one. Bad luck!! (although we had a great time snacking and telling really bad jokes in the car)

We finally got on the ferry and were parked behind a wonderful family including Vi (age 10) and his adorable baby brother. They were enjoying the beautiful day while crossing the Sound. Great luck!! Such a nice moment. Sometimes it just works out that way.