Most of you know about my long-term love affair with China. Well, if you found me via search engine, you probably don’t know. I lived in China during 2009-2010. I studied Chinese & worked on photography projects. Amazing doesn’t even begin to describe it.

If you’re considering getting married in China, I say DO IT NOW! And take me with you. That’s how much I love China.

And if you’re looking for a destination wedding photographer for your wedding in China… I’d love to come along! My Chinese is decent (I can order food like a boss but let’s not talk about tax code) & I’ve travelled to about half of China’s provinces. I’m about as Chinese as you can get without actually being Chinese. I really really really want to photograph a wedding in China. Please take a look at my portfolio & get in touch.

Here’s some of my favorite photos from my time in the Middle Kingdom. Thanks for stopping by :)

More of my trip to the Elkmont Historical District coming soon! This place is so rad.

shew, what a year.

I just mailed the disk out for the last session of the year. It’s been a crazy ride. I’ll be taking a few days off to celebrate Christmas with my friends & family. I’m excited to be spending time with them. The last few months have been a little insane with the whole graduating college while running a business thing, though I am proud to say it’s official. I passed my math final & I am an MTSU graduate. :)

Oh, you may have noticed that I’ve basically re-done everything on my website. That’s another reason things have been crazy. There are still a few things we’ve got to fix, so please excuse the mess while we work out the kinks. I’ll be sharing more about the rebranding next year ;)

I’ll check my email periodically over the holidays- but no guarantees. It’s time to recharge my batteries. Merry Christmas to you & yours!

This might be the creepiest photo I’ve ever taken, but I absolutely love it.

I was in Hotan, West China exploring one of the city’s awesome weekly markets. Hotan citizens are mainly Uyghur, a Muslim ethnicity that you would never think lives in China. When I passed the butcher, I saw these two camel heads. Such an odd thing to see on the ground. I set up my composition & right before I took the photo, that man turned around & looked at me. Perfect. He completes the photo, in my opinion. I don’t remember him looking as mean in person as he does in this photo.

I haven’t written much about my time with the Uyghurs, but probably one day. My trip to Xinjiang rocked me a bit. I love that province & hope to return someday.

Last week my dad dragged my family to go see Joe Bonamassa in concert.

Joe Bonamassa. Have you heard of him? I hadn’t. But I was still excited because I had a photo pass to photograph the first three songs. I have a little bit of concert photography experience from my photojournalism days, but it’s been a while. It was so fun to give it a go again.

Half way through the concert, Joe took a break & started talking. He said, “I’ve made 11 full length solo albums & I’ve written over 100 songs, but I’ve never had a hit song.” He laughed. He wasn’t asking for sympathy, just pointing out the ridiculousness of the situation. He works in an industry where success is judged by number of hit song. Joe Bonamassa has never had a hit, yet his concerts are selling out all over the country. He’s doing what he loves for a living. I call that sucess.

He’s the tortoise. The opposite of a firecracker.

I’m finally at an age where there are lots of people younger than me are doing crazy awesome things. I’m also at an age where success isn’t easily quantified. No more standardized tests & grades to tell me. It’s a weird feeling, but I just keep reminding myself of the tortoise. Alan Rickman had his first real acting break well into his 40’s. Joseph Conrad didn’t speak a lick of english until he was 21. Wassily Kandinsky gave up teaching & applied to an art school at the age of 30. He didn’t even get accepted.

So fellow tortoises, just remember:

(Source: Demetri Martin)

Now onto the photos.

Curious about Joe Bonamassa’s work? Check out Sloe Gin on Youtube.