Nicole sadly had to work when we went out, but I got a chance to chat with two pretty fantastic people. Hearing peoples story is one of my favorite parts about being a photographer. I don’t know if you can capture the essence of a person without knowing anything about them. Normally on a shoot we don’t have a lot of time to get to know people, so it was nice to talk art and marriage with some really cool, down to earth people. We went to Sugar Maple and the Palomino to give them a taste of some authentic Milwaukee. As the night went on, I got my camera out and took a few shots of the two of them.

I think that I got some really great shots and I hope that they love these photos. Also, check out and order his amazing work here: http://www.williamkstidham.com/

Some people just have infectious smiles. They smile and the room lights up. You tell them a joke and they have such a genuine laugh that you can’t help but think you are the funniest man (or woman) on earth.

I got the opportunity  to photograph the staff at the Milwaukee Teen Challenge today and Mark had the most amazing laugh ever. Totally lit up the room every time he smiled. I am a funny man, but dang, I felt like Jim Carey or Jeff Dunham. Those are the joys of being a photographer and meeting new, fantastic people.

P.s. Teen Challenge is a great program. If you don’t know anything about them, check out their site and hear what they have to say.

Tryenyse (pronounced tra neice) is an artist in Minneapolis who describes her music as Soul, Blues, and R&B all mixed up. Her and her husband have been a friend of my family for quite some time and it was great to be able to get some awesome shots for the album that she is putting out this summer. Here are a few of the photographs that we took that night running around Minneapolis.

Business branding is not something new and should never be overlooked.  Once you have a good product or service, you then need to figure out how people are going to remember it, hear about it, and spread the word about it.  Comet Branding is in the business of making that happen.  From creating social media networks to promoting your brand through PR and other media outlets, they do it all. Al Krueger and Sara Meaney are not only fantastic, energetic people, but they are also great at what they do and take pride in their work.

Jake and I got a chance to shoot some branding photos for this branding bunch which was a real honor and ridiculously fun.  Here are a few shots from the shoot that you will be seeing on their website and promo material soon.

We started in their office space where all the Comet magic happens.

From there took some shots around the building.

then From there we carried the Comet Chair (Vintagely awesome chair Al does his best thinking (napping) in) outside in the middle of the street in the middle of the day. (Bad idea to shoot photos at High Noon, but we rocked it none the less).

Leave some love for the Comet Cats.
(Oh yeah… Al’s hair is pretty much a work of art. Simply amazing. Discuss.)

One of the things that I really admire about him is that he is good at reading people and encouraging people.  We went to the Tea Garden (whish they had one in MKE), and chatted for a while about Valo and the big ideas we have for our company.  He gave some great feedback to our thoughts and encouraged us to keep going after our passions.  Here are a few photos that we took when we were walking around in South Minneapolis.