Kevin Meyers Photography Blog

Because of the way blogs work, I've had to post images and stories in reverse order so it seems chronological as you scroll down. It's actually been better to do it that way than I first realized. You see, as I write this NOW, I've already looked through all of my photos and recalled all of the stories of this week.

I'm overwhelmed. This week was such a huge blessing. Catching up with so many friends and meeting many new ones has made me realize something big. Over the last year, I let many of those friendships slide while keeping my nose into the work of everyday business.

I've had it all backwards. This business is just as much about the people I meet along the way...friendships made...but most importantly, friendships nurtured. Keeping my nose in the work of everyday business must include checking up on friends, colleagues and clients to see what they're up to. It's just the right thing to do and it will make life much more fun. :)

The following are just a few stories and photos, but you can click here for many more photos. Shoot me an email if you see something you want for your own blog!

FYI - I've posted so much tonight that you'll have to click "Back in Time" at the bottom to continue. And with that...I'm off to bed!!!

I met Anna at WPPI last year, but it wasn't until this year that I met her husband Michael. They're headed up this way to shoot a wedding soon and hanging out with them in Portland is definitely on my list of things to do. See you guys soon! :)

I've heard about these two and seen them on the OSP forum a lot. And now I know why people talk about them so much. It's because they rock! They are super friendly and I'm so happy to have them as new friends.

Brandy and Sticky...can't wait to see you in June at the Elevate workshop!!!!

The guys from BIG Folio invited me and a number of their other clients to help them out at their tradeshow booth. That was definitely a highlight of WPPI. We met on Sunday night at a house they had rented to hang out and chat about the booth. Their clientele is a veritable "who's who" of wedding photography including names like Joe Buissink, Bambi Cantrell, Jerry Ghionis, David Beckstead, and J. Garner.

Thank you guys for all you do! I can't wait till you head up North. We'll hit the slopes and if you California surfer types don't know how, I'll show you. :)

Nathan and Amber, of Holritz Photography are always fun to hang out with. They've been friends for a long time from OpenSource Photo. Here is the crew celebrating Amber's birthday. Happy Birthday Amber! :)

I had a chance to hang out with two people I absolutely love, Garrett Nudd and his wife Joy. I met them at Mike Colon's workshop about a year ago and it's amazing to see how far they've come in that short time. I'm headed to hang out with him at his Elevate workshop in June and I can't wait to see them then.

Mike Colon, Ray Santana, and I at the airport before parting ways. Miss you guys already!

Ray was a life saver at the airport. We both had a number of hours to kill, so we chatted a lot. Ray has more energy than...hmm...maybe I don't know of anything with more energy! There's no doubt in my mind this guy is going to make a name for himself in photography. Ray, if it works out with your schedule, it'd be great to hop your way from Orlando when I'm there in June.

Mike has been such a blessing in my business and life. We hitched a cab from the hotel together and just in that little bit of time, he gave me some simple advice about some of my recent frustration feeling I can't seem to do enough to improve my business as much as I'd like to. And that's to let go of it all and pray. Any one of my family members could tell how I've felt about this recently. Thanks Mike!

I just returned from a whirlwind week in Las Vegas. I have so much to blog about, it's rediculous! I caught up with many great friends, made many new ones and gleened so much from everyone.

All of that served as a huge reminder that the most important thing in this business is the relationships made along the way. Not just made, but nurtured and maintained, which is where I fell short over the last year. I'm excited to turn that around by sharing and giving back in any way I can. There's so much to write about I'll even have to organize it a bit...so check back often for new pics and stories.

A while back I met Matt Brush through a friend of mine. Since then, I've been helping him out on occasion with the work he does for Q6 which is a modeling agency here in Portland.

Today, we did a shoot down at the waterfront park. There must have been a hundred cherry trees that have the most incredible blossom with light pink flowers that fall like snow in the breeze (since today's weather was so calm, the breeze went by the name of Joy...look at the pics and it'll make sense). :)

Matt...let me know if you want any of these.

I spent some time wandering around downtown with Brian and Karla. When I first rolled into the area, there were about thirty cops milling about Starbucks preparing for the war protests. We lucked out though and had NO problems. In fact, it was another perfect day for shooting.

We hopped on the "ever-so-euro" Portland Streetcar and rode a few blocks up to Powell's, the world's largest bookstore. Brian, thanks for finding that spot upstairs. I would have gotten us lost!

The coolest part was finding this high-end rug shop whose owner was nice enough to let us take a few shots in front of rugs that were hung up.

Thanks guys...that was fun and you were so easy to take photos of. Looking forward to your wedding! :)

Last night was our monthly Pictage User Group (PUG) meeting. It was fun to sit around with Brian Beazely, The Photographers (Jaysun and Jos), Bo Baumgartner, Alice Sikora, Doreen Wynja and Darcie Radtke and chat about the industry and how we're all going about navigating our way up. It's been really helpful for a lot of us looking to get together with other like minded photographers and business owners. I'm excited to see where this takes us in the long run!

Of course we followed it up with some Bingo action at a nearby bar...definitely fun...but this going to sleep at 2am thing kinda stings. :) But I finally won my first round of Bingo and got a t-shirt! Granted, its one I ought not wear it in public...but it's rare that I win anything.

The title of this post reminds me of "Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey"...but anyone who knows me, knows my thoughts tend to be more random than deep. lol So I guess my choice of title is more appropriate. :)

It's an amazingly warm sunny day in Portland...amazing because we're usually wading in rainwater this time of year. So of course, I keep staring out the window and thinking about all kinds of things.

Today, my mind's topic is what I'm about to experience within the next month. I'll be fixing up my house which will be going on the market, moving into the Pearl District and creating a studio space from which I can operate my business, and attending a convention in Vegas for a week. All of this BEFORE April 10th!

Think I can do it?! Thanks to a number of people, I know I can. See...this is also about the same time I met some incredible people at a photography workshop one year ago. It's been inspiring to watch their progress in business and in life. Quite often I feel like I'm moving at a snail's pace in comparison...but all that I'm facing in the next few weeks gives me a huge opportunity to work hard and accomplish all that I need to...and to feel that satisfaction of knowing my strides are big too.

The best part of all of this is the timing. I'll get to see all these friends in Vegas and time spent with them is going to make this a piece of cake! :) I'll take pics along the way so come back soon!

Sunday afternoon, I hung out with Chris and Jen for their engagement session. We bummed around the Pearl District finding all kinds of cool spots...it's loaded with great walls and doorways.

You guys did a great job even though you said you were a bit camera shy...I think you were just messin with me. :) Anyway, I'm looking forward to your wedding. Sounds like it'll be a lot of good fun!

When I first decided to post these pictures, I figured it would be a quick task. But as I recall moments from a week of mountain biking and camping in Southwest Utah with great friends, I can see this is worthy of more than just photographs.

A couple years ago, four of us left our homes in Portland, LA, and Montana with bikes mounted above loaded cars and decended upon Moab. I don't think any of really knew just how incredible that trip would be. We ate like kings and queens, yet we still managed to lose an average of 15 pounds each during the week. We biked the famous Slickrock Trail and visited some of the most incredible natural architecture I've ever seen. You'll see from the pics below that we saw all kinds of weather. Both photos of my tent were taken within 24 hours of each other. That's the scene I woke up to camping in the Canyonlands National Park.

I've always had this misconception that in order to see the most amazing things while traveling, I'd have to leave the United States. This trip proved me wrong! I can't wait to go here again or see what else the US has to offer. Anyone with me?! :)

This month's Pictage User Group meeting was one of the best yet! J Sandifer, was in town on behalf of Livebooks which is a web-design company with a new offering for wedding photographers. I met J a long time ago while attending Mike Colon's workshop down in Newport Beach so it was great to hang with him again and show him around Portland a bit. There's not a whole lot you can do in one day...he was off to Seattle the next morning...but if you mix a little wine and some logo tattoos made by The Photographers, well...you're bound to have wild night. lol

Thanks everyone for a great time! (see pics below...some were left out for content!) j/k