Well I had a little problem today with my eye, well for a while now and got it taken care of today. My right eye does not produce enough water so my dry eye problem caused the ducts in my upper eye lid to clog up and then get infected. After a couple weeks of a very swollen and red and painful eyelid I was left with a Chalazion or a lump in my eye lid. Since I use my eyelid slightly in this amazing artform I figured it was worth trying to get it back to its normal shape and size so under the knife I went.

Laying in the chair at the eye doctors office was not a problem, I had been there many times before having worn glasses since early highschool days, but this time was a little different. The Doctor, who is a strange fellow himself, leaned the chair back, much like a chair at the dentist office, and then told me to look down. Slowly but surely coming at my eye was a nice long needle that when stuck in my eye felt like a bumble bee stinging me in the eye. After that the rest went easy, a little pressure here, a little blood there and then a nice patch and I was done. So enjoy my nice little eye pic, its about all I could do without getting dizzy

Well it happened but the photos must go on!

In a very dark neat bar with only video lights as a light source I slightly caught on fire while the shooting the boys before their wedding. Again in a GREAT little bar in the middle of nowhere East Texas the boys were doing what boys normally do, having a few drinks (which were VERY good I must admit) and throughout the day somehow – someway the boys decided to have some flaming dr. peppers for everyone in the house. Now I have been around the world a little bit and I have had my fair share of flaming Dr. Peppers but this was a first for me. The first hint should have been when the boys were about 15 feet from the bar when the bartender was lining up the Flaming Dr. Pepper shots on top of a glass half filled with beer but nooooooooooooooo I did not pay attention I was more interested in capturing the shot at the best angle I could find. Where was that angle – well I choose to neal down on top of the bar about 5 feet from the shots.

The bartender started off by lighting a little 151 rum on top of a glass turned up sidedown, then poured some 151 on his fingers and in his mouth (and I mean ALOT in his mouth) then lite his fingers on fire. After that he turned into Gene Simmions of KISS and choose to blow fire about 12 feet surrounding the bar (remember I was about 5 feet from the drink) and well the rest is history. Though the flames surrounded me I continued to shoot the scene. Now before you go WOW Mike’s a real photographer, he shoots no matter what is going on around him….. NO I was so freaking shocked the flames went around me and it happened so fast I just frooze and luck for me when I frooze up my finger was pushed on the shutter which continued to get the shots. So reality is I WAS LUCKY

So enjoy these photos of a REAL Flaming Dr. Pepper with a slight singe of MyKey!!!!

Here the bartender (AKA: Gene Simmons) is setting the drinks on fire

Here the bartender is setting MyKey on fire

Cleaning off the rough edges of the flames

Starting the domino effect of the shot glasses into the beer glasses

The shots are starting to fall

And they are just about ready to drink while still on fire!

We had a great time in Iowa assisting Lori Nordstrom with this amazing wedding. From the amazing couple to the stunning venue in downtown Des Moines. Both Mike and Cody stepped out of there normal routine when shooting this wedding. They both captured moments from the groom and his best men. Unlike weddings of their own, Mike is the one who always shoots the grooms and Cody focusing on the lovely brides. Needless to say this was a fun wedding to assist.

The Bride and Groom

Here is Cody with the Groom and one of the guests

There were literally so many guests at this wedding that the parking lot of the church was filled with people trying to catch a glimpse of the newlyweds leaving. This defiantly made for a challenge for us to capture this special moment.

The exit shot from behind angle

The exit shot from the front angle at 200mm

Exit from the front at 16mm

Here is Cody standing on top of a car in order to capture the exit shots from the front.

Got to love those kids and their school dancing. Going to see my daughter’s first school dance brought back a lot of memories, creating lots of smiles and just gave me a great feeling and some fun laughs in the process.

Here is a small video clip from the event, nothing spcial but hey I love it so I wanted to share

Had a GREAT time at our main lab Miller’s in Pittsburg, Kansas teaching their annual Wedding Workshop. With the class selling out in about 4 hours we were not sure what to expect when we got there. I must admit we had an AMAZING group of people with such an egar attitude to learn, share and just welcome a new and exciting method to wedding day photography. I would like to personally thank Ted, Lisa and the others at Miller’s for taking a chance on some “non-traditional” wedding guys to respresent their amazing company!

I think we changed a few wedding photographers lives by showing them a new and exciting way of thinking and seeing light while on the go during the fast paced wedding day. As one person stated;

“Wow, what a cool couple of days! You guys changed some of my perspective on things! My wife and I learned soooo much from you guys and we are boiling with new ideas. Thank you very much for giving us so much information!”

Arriving in style on a private jet, I must admit Miller’s took care of us from the moment we stepped onto their jet to the moment they dropped us off at our local county airport.

At the local county airport with the Miller’s Jet and a few images from the flight

Myself, Cody and Ted, TriCoast’s main guy and reason for being with Miller’s is truly more than a rep but a true and honest friend!