On the Oregon Trail

Hiking at Mount Hood

Joe and Sebastien

I confess, I'm a four-bars-of-service kind of girl. If my phone dips below three bars, I start to get very nervous.

So, my jaw dropped when our GPS told us to turn down an "Unnamed Road" in Oregon and my phone started beeping loudly, warning me that I had ventured beyond connectedness, 2,588 miles from home.

It was a good experience for me to be disconnected for an entire weekend. It was surprisingly refreshing to toss my phone into a drawer and leave it there.

Thanks Joe and Marilyn for hosting us in your home, peacefully perched off the beaten path! We can see why you guys chose to live here. After two visits this Fall, we've fallen in love with the Pacific Northwest. I'm dreaming about starting a winery in the Willamette Valley. LaCour wine sounds pretty cool!

Today was the ShootQ Set-Up Party in Portland. Thanks Kevin Meyers for getting everyone together. Darcie Radtke let us use her beautiful new studio for the party! Thanks guys for reaching out to your fellow photographers to make the ShootQ set-up so successful.

Kevin is wonderful...and I look silly!

Two Days, Three Time Zones

Rachel and I can't remember what time zone we're in. We were in St. Louis for my sister's wedding, then we did a ShootQ setup party on Tuesday there, and returned to Atlanta that night to sleep in our own bed for about 3 hours, and then left for the airport at 6:45 to catch an early flight to Seattle, where we are doing a 3-day commercial shoot.

The flight attendant asked me if I had drugged Rachel because she slept for the first 3 hours of the flight. I think she misses our Tempur-pedic bed!

I realized that we are going to be in all four US time zones twice this month!

My Sister's Wedding

I'm a proud older brother! My sister, Katie, and her fiance Mike were married on Saturday in St. Louis. For the first time in recent memory, Rachel and I were on the other side of the camera! It was a surreal and fun experience. I actually got to be a "bridesman" and stand on Katie's side of the aisle with Rachel and our youngest sister Sudie. Mark and Erin did a fantastic job photographing the wedding and shared a sneak peak with us this morning.

Congratulations Katie and Mike! We love you both and are excited for you to continue your life together as partners and best friends.

Photo Plus Expo

We had a great whirlwind trip to New York for PPE. Check out these photos from Leica and Livebooks. Thanks everyone for stopping by and catching up with us. I don't have much time to write, because we're off to St. Louis for my sister's wedding!

Come See us at Photo Plus Expo in NYC

The LaCour team will be in New York City this week attending the Photo Plus Expo. Here's the schedule, including where we're speaking. Come by and see us!

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18th

• Leica Booth, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. : Andrew will be at the Leica booth. Come see some of his recent photos that he's made with his Leica M8.

• LiveBooks Booth, 10:30 a.m. : Mark will give a presentation entitled Accelerating Buzz

• Photoshelter Party, 7 p.m. - 11 p.m. : Join at Lotus Studio for the party! Click Here to Register.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19th

• Panel Discussion, 3:45 p.m. - 5:45 p.m., How to Get Started in Multimedia : Mark will join a panel of multimedia experts who will explore the basics of multimedia storytelling and production and how to apply storytelling skills as photojournalists or wedding photographers to the mediums of audio and video.

Additional Fun:
Ron Dawson of Cinematic Studios interviewed Erin and Mark last month and just posted the podcast on his new site: F-Stop Beyond : A Journey Into the Heart of the Visual Artist. Ron has interviewed some great photographers on his new site, so be sure to check it out. Look for Andrew and Rachel's interview soon.

*Click Here for Mark & Erin's interview.

Incredible Bebbinar

I returned late Thursday night from attending the 1st ever Bebbinar. I've been in awe of Jennifer and Stephen Bebb's amazing photography for quite a while and when I saw them on Dane's Photo Minute, I knew that I wanted to meet them. And sure enough, they completely blew away my expectations.



Genuine Inspiration: I am completely inspired and energized after meeting Jennifer and Stephen Bebb. They exude such a rare passion for life and you can see it in everything they do. they're not just two of the best photographers in the world, they're two of the best people in the world. Both of them have a magnetic personality and a true desire to help others. Their seminar is about "defining your own style, building and living your unique brand, and providing your clients with an amazing and consistent experience from start to finish." They're living proof of how this works and they'll show you how to do it. Get on their waiting list for their next seminar.

Strategy Avenue: I met Laura Novak at the Salt Lake City airport waiting for our flight to Vancouver. We ended up sitting next to each other on the flight up to the Bebbinar and we talked the entire time - a lot about business, but also about our dogs. Look at Laura's cutie-pie, Art! Laura was a featured guest speaker at the Bebbinar and she guided the class through a day-long presentation on how to optimize your photography business. Laura really challenged me to think hard about my own goals and helped me figure out some solutions to help me achieve the goals that I want. If you're struggling with how to grow your business, or what direction you need to go, or how to take your business to the next level, call Laura right now! She offers resources for photographers ranging from workshops to DVDs. So check out Laura's Strategy Avenue.

Warhol's Wit & Wisdom

My Mom grinned at me yesterday when I told her my current favorite book is WIKINOMICS. She knows that I used to avoid business books like the plague. I majored in Art History and my bookshelves are crammed full of artist's monographs and art theory books. So, it's funny to see my business books and my art books sharing shelves side-by-side these days!

Here is the newest quote on my wall, posted alongside the art and business books:

Business art is the step that comes after Art. I started as a commercial artist, and I want to finish as a business artist. Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. During the hippie era people put down the idea of business - they'd say 'Money is bad,' and 'Working is bad,' but making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.

Roots Workshop

Our good friend, Emilie Sommer, sent me the link to the article in my previous post about the photographer who aided law enforcement officials in apprehending a criminal and I wanted to share with everyone something very cool that Emilie has created. She's founded the Roots Workshop, which is aimed at helping wedding photographers (or any photographer, really) improve their craft of storytelling with documentary photography

This workshop is going to be a one-of-a-kind experience. All the workshop staff and students will be staying at a sweet house on the coast in Cape Cod for the week of July 13-17, 2008. She has lined up some great faculty for this workshop, including Greg Gibson, Tyler Wirken and Jennifer Domenick, all who I've personally learned a lot from.

Go check out the Roots Workshop Website and see what you can learn to improve your craft of documentary storytelling!

Sometimes I miss working for a newspaper

Especially when crazy things like this happen to you as a photographer: Fugitive Caught in Flash

Anniversary in Seattle

Andrew and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary in Seattle this weekend. I have always loved Seattle's character and wanted to share it with Andrew, since he had never visited. He loved it! So, we now have two favorite cities: Berlin and Seattle. We would love to build homes in both cities.

Last night, Me Ra and Brian welcomed us and Jen and Stephen Bebb into their home for a fun evening of dinner and fellowship. It was hilarious to watch the dynamic between the 3 couples! I laughed so hard and didn't want to leave, even at 1 AM as the candles finally burned out! Thanks guys for a fantastic finish to our anniversary weekend!