Category Archives: Personal

Cinque Terre Italy – Vernazza – Travel Photography

Have really been wanting to post more photos from Italy…but it’s just been too crazy busy lately. However, I could not go without blogging about place.  It’s been 3 months already since we were in Italy, but better late than never.  Well…If Cinque Terre is like heaven…I’ll be fine going there.  Cinque Terre consists of 5 little towns that are built into the cliffs bordering the Ligurian Sea.  This place is nothing but beautiful.  A trip to Cinque Terre is like taking a time machine back 50 years.  Old ladies spending the day on a bench watching people pass, clotheslines draped across the narrow streets, and rustic architecture.  There are virtually no cars and very few bikes in this area.  Travel to the 5 towns requires you hike or a take a train.

Em and I spent two days in Cinque Terre just hiking and absorbing the natural beauty found there.  Although we did visit all 5 towns, we still wished we would have had one more day there.  It was amazing!  We stayed in Vernazza…it was like a dream.

 

This was our place…we stayed in a hostel.  The image to the right was the dark stairway up to our place…awesome! 

Cinque-Terre-Italy-1 Climbing a million stairs is part of the charm of Cinque TerreCinque-Terre-Italy-2 Cinque-Terre-Italy-3 Cinque-Terre-Italy-4 This is Vernazza!Cinque-Terre-Italy-5 The first day we took the long, rigorous hike into Monterosso! It was gorgeous, the only mistake we made was to hike back as well instead of taking the train back to Vernazza.Cinque-Terre-Italy-6 Cinque-Terre-Italy-7 Cinque-Terre-Italy-8 Cinque-Terre-Italy-9 Cinque-Terre-Italy-10 Cinque-Terre-Italy-11 Cinque-Terre-Italy-12 Cinque-Terre-Italy-13 Cinque-Terre-Italy-14 Cinque-Terre-Italy-15 Cinque-Terre-Italy-16 Cinque-Terre-Italy-17 Cinque-Terre-Italy-18 Cinque-Terre-Italy-19 Best Ravioli I ate in Italy!Cinque-Terre-Italy-20 During our first night in Cinque Terre, we both awoke about 4am to the smell of bread baking. Turns out, we sleeping just above a bakery in Vernazza.  It smelled like heaven…so for breakfast we ate fresh baked focaccia for breakfast.  Honestly, I don’t think I have ever tasted anything better in my life!Cinque-Terre-Italy-26 Cinque-Terre-Italy-27 We walked through the Tunnel of Love…it is a place where lovers once met up between the towns. Cinque-Terre-Italy-28 Cinque-Terre-Italy-29 Cinque-Terre-Italy-30 Cinque-Terre-Italy-31 Legend has it that if you bring a lock with your lover to this tunnel, you will stay together forever.  Could not believe how many locks there were.Cinque-Terre-Italy-32 Cinque-Terre-Italy-33 Cinque-Terre-Italy-34 Cinque-Terre-Italy-35 Cinque-Terre-Italy-36Cinque-Terre-Italy-37 This was the last I saw of Vernazza as we left early the next morning…Cinque-Terre-Italy-38

Minneapolis Photography – PUG Model shoot

It’s a given that I love photography.  However, a large part of what I love about photography is networking with other photographers.  I enjoy sharing and receiving the passion of photography with other photographers.  Sharing that common bond makes for awesome discussion and good times.  I love attending photographer networking meetings for the previously noted reasons.  Monthly, I attend the Minneapolis Pictage User Group (aka PUG) meeting.  The PUG allows a bunch of photographers to get together every month and learn from other photographers and mingle.  It’s always a good time and I make every effort to attend each month,

This month’s PUG meeting was unique as we had a model shoot.  It was great to go out and shoot with a bunch of photographers and try out new ideas.  Makeup artists, Dresses, Awesome Flowers, and Models were brought in.  Here are the credits for the shoot:

Dress Designer: Kaja Foat of Foat Design
Makeup Artist: Collette Harrington
Hair: Aly Zacher
Florist: Lacie Swartzendruber of Pearls and Lace
Models: Rachel Petrie and Haley O’Brien (In Order of Appearance)

Minneapolis Pictage User Group Minneapolis Pictage User Group Minneapolis Pictage User Group Minneapolis Pictage User Group Minneapolis Pictage User Group Minneapolis Pictage User Group Minneapolis Pictage User Group Minneapolis Pictage User Group Minneapolis Pictage User Group Minneapolis Pictage User Group Minneapolis Pictage User Group

Diane Reeves - August 26, 2010 - 5:22 pm

Mr. and Mrs. A. Aasand: Just sending you a note on how much I enjoyed your wedding. I havent been to a wedding like yours in a long time. I really enjoyed the fireworks. They were great. The Dweeb band was alot of fun to dance to for everyone. The girls sure looked beautiful in there blue dresses. I wish to you a happy and long marriage to last forever. Diane Reeves

Gregk - August 26, 2010 - 10:52 am

I meant to say I love the use of the lit stacked crates as texture on the wall, kudos.

Gregk - August 26, 2010 - 10:51 am

The crate shot is great John. Love the use of the stacked crates as texture on the wall, kudos.

Jessica Barker - August 26, 2010 - 10:15 am

Great lighting, John! :)

A Bunch of Smart girls!

As many of you know, my wife recently graduated from medical school.  A couple years before graduation, Em told me she wanted a special graduation shoot with all of her girlfriends.  Never imaged the day would come, but it did…so as promised, we shot this session at the U of M campus just after graduation.  That’s right all of these ladies are now doctors and some of our best friends.  Sadly, some of them have already moved away for residency, but at least we have these images to celebrate this exciting time in their lives. 

Congratulations to everyone and best of luck!syncytium-university-minnesota-medical-school-1 syncytium-university-minnesota-medical-school-2 syncytium-university-minnesota-medical-school-3 syncytium-university-minnesota-medical-school-4 I’ll probably be shot for posting this photo, but these girls just really know how to work the camera.syncytium-university-minnesota-medical-school-5 syncytium-university-minnesota-medical-school-6 syncytium-university-minnesota-medical-school-7 syncytium-university-minnesota-medical-school-8 syncytium-university-minnesota-medical-school-9 syncytium-university-minnesota-medical-school-10 syncytium-university-minnesota-medical-school-11

Emily - August 30, 2010 - 7:55 am

Thanks Patty and Morgan! We had lots of fun taking these. And of course thanks hubs for the photo shoot and putting up with us!!

Patty Dickmann - August 29, 2010 - 11:13 am

Love these photos! You girls are looking great! My favorites are the shots in front of the skyline and the new science classroom building.

Morgan Law - August 25, 2010 - 7:27 am

Fun pics! Love them.

Gregk - August 24, 2010 - 6:35 pm

Good stuff John! The blue steel shot is awesome!

A Perfect Day

The perfect day does not come around often, but when it does I try my best to soak it in and enjoy.  Yesterday was one of those “perfect days”. Yesterday was Em’s birthday.  The day was simple and unplanned yet it was perfect.  It was the type of day that makes you happy to be alive.  In an effort to retrace my steps and help recreate more “perfect days”, I complied a list of what made yesterday so memorable and fun.

List of Ingredients for a Perfect Day

  1. Take off work.
  2. Sleep In and cuddle up next to your loved one till 10am.
  3. Refrain from making any structured plans for the day.
  4. Eat a whole pan of Rhode’s Cinnamon Rolls together.
  5. Pre purchase your favorite junk food for snacking on the couch (i.e. Peanut Butter M&M’s and Sour Patch Kids).
  6. Watch a bunch of YouTube videos together.
  7. Laugh
  8. Attend a matinee movie (i.e. Inception) – BTW that movie was crazy amazing! One of the best movies I’ve seen in awhile.
  9. Buy the extremely overpriced large bag of popcorn and drink and don’t forget lots of butter and salt
  10. Go out for a nice dinner (i.e. Oceanaire).
  11. Have your desert lit on fire.
  12. Drive home in a crazy downpour of rain.
  13. Do all of this with the person you love most

As you can see, there is nothing special about yesterday, but somehow…it was the Perfect Day!  Anyone have any other suggestions (ingredients) to making a perfect day?  Would love to hear them.

 

I’m a big believer of the importance of the ‘wow’ factor.  We called Oceanaire about an hour before we arrived and they still had time to print this special message on the menu….Awesome!

P1040547-2  Em’s mom joined us for dinner P1040552-2 Pyrotechnics and desert always play together well. P1040556-2

Janice Creamer - August 19, 2010 - 7:15 am

Adrienne & Aaron are beautiful people. The creative ways the photographer portrayed this couple in a beautiful setting was perfectly done.

John Sharpe - August 11, 2010 - 11:45 am

Had no idea…it was a surprise to all of us.

Travis Johansen - August 11, 2010 - 11:13 am

That’s cute. And that’s pretty cool of them to label the menu! Did you know they’d do that before hand?

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