Here is a little Slideshow of some of the lovely weddings I've shot over the last few years. It has been a wonderful opportunity to get to know these couples and be there to document these special moments. I'm now living in Grand Rapids, MI and would love the opportunity to photograph your wedding, whether it be in West Michigan or anywhere else in the World. Please contact me for any further information.

My Pilgrimage into God's Heart

The last two weeks have been spent in a spiritual reflection of my own personal journey with Jesus. Seeking His presence in a new way, finding myself (though sort of cliché, true) and starting to realize my role in the Kingdom of God here on Earth. I've been located in the high desert region of Montrose, CO in a 'Hermit-Hut' built by a man named Evan Howard on a piece of his land.

The cabin I was in was about the size of a standard bedroom most of us live in, it had a small table, a desk, a bed and an old inefficient wood stove.

I had a hard time adjusting to my new hours of operation because there were no lights or electricity at all. I eventually got acclimated to being awake when the sun was rising, and going to sleep after it got dark. I brought lots of canned food, beans, fruit, vegetable etc. So if I wanted to eat I made a fire waited for the coals to get hot and put the beans or boiling water for rice in this small oven and waited for it to get warm. I also brought a wrought iron skillet given to me by my aunt, and I brought pancake mix and had a real fun time trying to cook those over a fire.

So as you can imagine I was having an AMAZING time simply living a unique day to day. Evan and his wife have been living this way for about 15 years now on this land, though they do have electricity they live a very different and simply life. They are inspiring to say the least. They have an amazing Godly relationship and I am honored to have had the opportunity to learn from them.

They have a dozen free range chickens, two angora goats, two female dairy goats and one male for breeding with the dairy goats. I actually had the privilege to milk Heidi and Jesse, and I learned how to tease and spin the mohair of the Angora goats, and she showed me how to make soap.

Now Evan was called to help people find a rhythm and relationship with God, primarily focused on a "new monastic" lifestyle of fleshly sacrifice to Jesus Christ, this specifically came to him in a dream where the Holy Spirit revealed this to him(it's a great dream). I was learning about The Franciscans, The Benedictines, The Dessert Fathers, Pachomious, The Celts, The Boiler Rooms, and many other groups and people seeking out God in a radical way for their times. I was learning how to balance life on Earth with a real relationship with God. Learning to use these four basic methods in my day to day life; prayer, ministry, study, and work. He has been gifted with a teacher’s heart, he's had the opportunity to study and earn many degrees. He has been trained in spiritual direction, spiritual direction is the practice of being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with the Holy Spirit, or to learn and grow in their own personal spirituality. He would listen to my telling of the ways the Holy Spirit was speaking to me, through prayers, dreams, and visions, then he would ask me questions, what was happening. When I experienced this most, what this was saying to my life and what I should then do with these experiences. He also taught me different ways to pray, he showed me the Jesus Prayer(Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner) which is practiced in part by breathing in and saying the first half, and breathing out and saying the second half, helping you make this prayer as natural and as necessary as breathing. (While I was sweeping up before I left I saw this message written on the floor, these two clippings were cut by me in Africa out of a newspaper and must have fell out of my journal, coincidence? I think not)

We discussed the Lord's Prayer. I was wondering why this was what Jesus told us to say when we pray, but while reading that verse over and over I noticed that Jesus said "pray 'like' this." It really covers what we should be praying to God. Praising Him (hallowed be thy name) submission to His all knowing will (your will be done) our unending need for His presence in our daily walk (give us this day our daily bread) our need to have a penitent heart and to confess our sins and to forgive others (forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who sinned against us) and our need for His help against the serious temptations of this world (deliver us from evil and lead us not into temptation.) Evan also taught me a "centering prayer" where you focus on one word or short phrase that will help you be in the presence of God, to simply be with God and not to use so many words, remembering that Jesus also told us that we don't need to use many words when praying, for God already knows what is on our heart. It is a practice of meditative prayer. He also taught about meditating with the scriptures, where you do just that, take a passage from any part of the Bible you feel lead to and read it over and over imagining it, reflecting on what it means in your life and allowing God to speak to you through it. I Heard God speaking life into me, breathing confidence in me, reminding me that whatever I do, as long as I am doing it for Him, He will be proud of me. Reassuring me not of what I will do, but that I am his beloved child. He is inviting me to learn that I am His son, not a slave. I learned a lot, I was alone with God a lot, and I am so glad I went on this pilgrimage. Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts.

Lady and Ricky's Adventures Across America...

So I gave myself a photo assignment as I went on this trip to make a little coffee table book or kids book about lady and ricky's random little adventures that they get in. I have lots of pictures from the different parts of the country that we've been to so far, but here are a couple from my hike with my friend Charla that we went on today. We climbed a good bit of Mount Evans near Idaho Springs Colorado.

Here are the pups standing on the ice of Echo Lake

Every Rick has a silver lining

Ricky and Lady trying to figure out where they sit on the whole "Occupy" situation.

Just a Few Pictures From Ohio

My new friend, Drew Troyer, and I were driving from his house to my Aunt Tricia's early one morning, and as we drove over the peak of this hill, a glorious sight was revealed to us. We both knew that stopping to marvel at this sight was absolutely necessary. And though this picture is not bad to look at, I was not able to capture even a fraction of what we saw that morning. God is good.

This is the spider that my aunt told me was "the one to watch out for." I think she meant because it is slightly poisonous, but I just wanted to take a picture of her. Look at how the design on her back looks slightly like an elephant. What a magnificent creature.

Occupy Denver; A Fight Towards Justice For All

Today I am in Boulder Colorado, and for the first time I actually caught the snow instead of it catching me. It is absolutely beautiful here, the mountains are snow capped and they are beckoning my name. The dogs were so funny when they got in the snow for the first time, I think it came as quite a shock to just all the sudden be in the snow. We arrived last night around 10:30 local time, and the friends that I am staying with told me they were going to "Occupy Denver" to continue shooting for their documentary in the morning. So we woke up early, before the sun was blessing us with its warmth, we wanted to get there early to film the people sleeping in the park, covered in frost, tarps, sleeping bags, and anything else they could find to stay warm. So this morning I had the humbling opportunity to witness a unique piece of history. Whether you believe in what these people are doing or not, it is real, it is happening all across America. These people are standing up as fellow Americans for something they believe is right, that they believe is worth standing up for, freezing for, being arrested and violated for. I ask you to view these images with respect and a peaceful heart, to have compassion for these people, they are lost and scared, and they are crying out "Who can help us?"

Sun rise in Downtown Denver

Real Eyes Realize Real Lies

The early morning fire shift, in charge of keeping the fire going. Though the fire is primarily for warmth, the police said if the were going to have it in needed to be for cooking, so they through some baked potatoes in.

Here is the clothing and sleeping gear donation table.

Make like a tree

Chelsea and Rob, founders of ~Free to be TV~ started interviewing people asking them why they were here and what the hoped to accomplish.

This man is called David Blessing for a reason

Here they interview Frizz and Jay Frost.

Frizz kept telling me how cold he was, he said "I want to fall asleep so bad but I just can't"

Here you see the frost built up over just one night of sleeping out here.

This man considered himself one of the organizers of this rally.

They thought that though obviously the first was relevant, the ninth amendment had a large part to play in what they were standing up for.

Two people just waking up, meeting them turned out to be a pretty funny story

As we were talking she asked where I was going, I told her "Montrose", she said "no way I from Montrose, why are you going there?" I told her "I'm going on a silence retreat for two weeks being mentored by a man named Evan Howard" She of coarse then says, "no way! thats my dad!" Haha, yeah, we had a pretty good laugh about that. So will Evan when I go see him in a few days.

Here is the food station, we brought some fresh fruit and we saw some other people come with donations too. They were much appreciated.

A very worn down quote from Abraham Lincoln.

Fortunately this isn't what it looks like. Chelsea asked him for an interview, but he said a PIO would be willing to come out and answer any questions, so he was writing down our number to call us later.

But while he was standing there Chelsea just kept asking him questions and basically got the whole interview from him anyways, a true journalist.

Here they are, and don't the look ready and eager to protect and serve.

This man had very sad eyes. Like they've seen a lot.

Finally. A patriotic kitty!

I thought this was an appropriate place to end, with a light note. But these people aren't stopping, they've been there for months, and they plan on staying. I just hope they find what they are seeking for, that people listen. I pray that these people don't die out here, but they said at least they are fighting for something they believe in. They have passion and beliefs, and they are willing to stand up for them, and that is more than I can say for a lot of people I've met. These people will be in my thoughts and prayers.