It’s early in the morning on Memorial Day. My wife and the dogs are still asleep. I usually get most of my office work done early in the morning. Once the day starts, sitting down and editing photos or writing is next to impossible. There is always too much going on this time of year: weeds to mow, horses to shoe, or ride if the day goes well. Having a horse facility and owning horses will keep you busy nonstop. Always something to do.

This summer is looking like it’s going to be busy. I am about to enter a new chapter in my life. In a couple of weeks, my oldest daughter and my son-in-law, Mason, will be welcoming a new baby girl into our family. I’m a little bit in denial that I will now officially be called a grandpa. Because, let’s be honest, my mind still thinks I’m in my prime at twenty-five. But reality says otherwise. I’m excited for this phase of my life, but morn what life was. Nothing in life ever stays the same. We mature and evolve and are never the same person from the beginning to the end. And if you do it right, life gets better as we go. That I can accept.

My youngest daughter, Ashton, is getting married at our house in September. It’s a good venue for me, and it will save me some money because I won’t have to pay for one. But I will still pay emotionally. I have posted a few videos of our yard on social media lately. It is close to being Better Homes and Garden worthy. And it’s my wife’s baby. So she is a full-on crazy lady about everything being perfect for the wedding. Alyx, our oldest daughter, got married in our yard a couple of years ago, and before the wedding, a couple of tall flowers in one of the beds didn’t survive a bad wind storm, and I wasn’t sure if my lovely wife was going to survive either. I’m praying that we don’t have any bad windstorms this summer.

It’s also going to be an exciting summer for photography! Besides my commitments with my family I am dialed in on creating as many images as I can. Print sales are humming along. I have the workshop I am co-hosting this fall. That’s a new one for me. I have been contemplating the idea for a while but have not followed through with it because of the logistics. But Jen Rogers from Wild Horse Photo Safaris reached out to me to see if I would be interested in co-hosting one with her. She gives tours to see the Onaqui’s for photographers and anyone who wants to see them. She knows the horses and the dynamics of the herd as well as anyone and is a great photographer in her own right. She wanted to offer her clientele a workshop where they could photograph the horses for a couple of days and then have another experience in the Western world while they were here. I think it’s a great idea, and I’m excited to be a part of it!

I am also experimenting with some new photography paper for my prints. It’s a FineArt Photo Rag Baryta paper from Hahnemule. As I get more into the fine art world of printing photos, I’m learning how to create fine art pieces. My goal as an artist is not to just churn out as many prints as I can but to create art that people want to collect and pass on. I want the work I do to be relevant for a long time. Not something they buy and then throw in the trash the next time they have to move. I know it’s a lofty goal, but I’ve never taken the easy road with anything I’ve done in my life, so why start now?

I guess I better get going. Some horses just showed up in my barn to get shoed. My wife and dogs are awake. It’s time to get the day started!

Until next time!