Yesterday we went to eat for my birthday (which is actually today) and ended up having coffee at a nice coffee and wine bar down town. We talked a little about the challenge of making good photos every day with the iPhone. My key has become getting away from my desk. It’s pretty easy to find interesting photos if you start looking at little details. Even though the iPhone doesn’t present a lot of manual adjustment features, I’ve learned a lot about how light will effect the camera.

Taken with the iPhone using Toy Camera.

I don’t normally post photos on the weekend but I kind of like this one.

Taken with the iPhone using Toy Camera.

I swear by Field Notes notebooks. I’m about to fill up another book and start a new one. These things go everywhere with me, so they get pretty beat up by the end. If these pages could talk.

Taken with the iPhone using the Helga setting in CameraBag.

A slightly different take from yesterday’s. I think I like this one better.

Taken with the iPhone using the Helga setting in CameraBag.

Taken with the iPhone using CameraKit.

I’m endlessly fascinated by clouds and the way light interacts with them.

Taken with the iPhone using the Magazine setting in CameraBag.

Becca’s not feeling great, so today I bought and shot soup. I don’t really like the stuff, but she says it’s great when you’re sick.

It’s oddly reminiscent of Friday’s photo of the day.

Taken with the iPhone using the Magazine setting in CameraBag.

Taking an interesting iPhone photo every day isn’t alway easy, mostly because of a lack of time. So occasionally that means shooting while you’re filling up with gas. It’s an interesting challenge to take an every day activity like filling up with gas and finding an interesting photo there.

I like this one because of the way the red and white reflective tape stands out.

Taken with the iPhone using the Helga setting in CameraBag.

I came across this one while cleaning out some old Flickr galleries. I’m sure I’ve posted this photo before but I’m too lazy for a search. No Photoshop, just straight up lighting. It was an SB-800 to camera right with a shoot-through umbrella. Add one cute kid, a balloon and a very stormy night. Mix thoroughly and cook at 350 degrees.

I took this tonight just before my friend Tim and I played some tennis.

Taken with the iPhone using CameraKit.

What you are looking at is our version of a maternity shoot. I don’t do the half-naked mom shots. Sorry. Just a little creepy. Instead we do a standard couple in love shoot. One of the two just happens to be pregnant.

I had a really good time with Emily and Doug. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate their patience. Emily was very pregnant and it was summertime in Texas. You can imagine that makes it hard. What a trooper. They were very comfortable in front of the camera, though, so that made my job simple.

Emily has since given birth to a beautiful baby girl. And if you need a great chiropractor in the Leander/Cedar Park area, I highly recommend Doug.

This is the view I see of my computer about a million times a day. Welcome to my exciting life.

Taken with the iPhone using CameraKit.

Back in May I did a family shoot for Terri Lynn and her girls. I’m just now catching up on posting about a few of these shoots. We had a really good time and they were troopers, following me through waist-high weeds to get some good shots.

I created the above 8×10 from 20 of my favorite photos from my June 2009 daily iPhone photos. I really just wanted to order a print for myself but then I had an idea. I thought I’d run it by you guys.

What if I offered a subscription service where at the middle of every month you received a shiny new 8×10 print like the one above of 20 of my favorite shots from the previous month?

I’d limit it to 20 subscriptions and they would be $12 per month for a six month subscription (basically $72 up front). That would include shipping, tax, and anything else fun I could throw in there at some point. The only reason I’m asking before just outright doing it is to see if anyone is really interested. I like them, but they are my pictures so I’m not exactly objective.

At $12 a month per print I make a solid $5 each. Times 20, that’s $100 a month profit. That’s not exactly worth it when you figure in all the time it will take to produce/package/ship/manage, however, the idea that 20 people would want prints of my random iPhone photos in their house makes me happy. So, $12 per print is about as low as I can go and still justify it. Each print would be produced by our professional lab and be numbered just like the one above.

So I leave it to you. Would anyone be interested in something like that? If you say no, you really won’t hurt my feelings (I don’t even think Becca would pay for it), but I would like to know either way.

Just post a comment with a yeah or nay. And a yes isn’t a commitment, it just lets me know you might be interested if I ever did it.

Today I had a great photo shoot with Tim, Sarah and the lovely little Ella. At this point we were hiding from the rain outside. I was snapping a few more shots of the family. I pulled up one of the photos of Ella on my camera and turned it around to show her. This was her reaction to her own picture.

Taken with the iPhone using the Helga setting in CameraBag.

Yesterday we enjoyed the perfect summer afternoon. Swimming in the evening so it wasn’t to hot. The smell of burgers cooking in the air. Three kids having a blast. Cody, knows how to kick back and relax.

Taken with the iPhone using the Helga setting in CameraBag.

You are looking at one of the coolest presents I’ve ever been given. My mom and dad gave me that autographed Nolan Ryan baseball for Christmas a few years ago. Growing up, Nolan Ryan was my hero. In a lot of ways he still is.

So what’s the coolest present you’ve ever received?

Note to everyone who’s ever given me a present, yes, I loved your present too. But come on, this is an autographed Nolan Ryan baseball.

Taken with the iPhone using the Helga setting in Camera Bag.

There are times when I want to shut everything down. I want to close my business, go get a job and just work for someone else. I know ultimately I would be unhappy working for someone else, but the temptation is there. The temptation of more reasonable work hours and a steady paycheck.

It usually happens on weeks like this one. Challenging weeks when I work 15-hour days and yet still no checks come in. Just a typical week of owning a business, but after four years, I’ve had enough of those weeks that they wear me down easier. Deep down, I know this is what I’m supposed to do, and I know I’ll probably get enough checks in next week for an entire month. That’s how it works, but I get tired. The real problem, though, is I’m looking to the wrong things for peace.

Ultimately, I want to work less hours, so I can rest more and have peace. I want a steady stream of money so I can be comfortable and at peace. I’m reminded that ultimately Christ is the only thing that will give me that peace. His peace transcends money and time and all the other worries that plague me.

Why is it so much easier to give in to worry than it is to give in to the peace Jesus offers?

This is Steve, one of the kitten’s from Becca’s latest litter. As manly as I am, I still think these things are kind of cute.

Taken with the iPhone.

Taken with the iPhone with the 1962 setting in CameraBag.

A shot from the river.

Taken with the iPhone using the Helga setting in CameraBag.

I took this out at my in-laws’ land. It doesn’t really have the full effect unless you are standing under the blazing sun in 100-plus degree heat.

Taken with the iPhone using the Helga setting in CameraBag.

Today’s photo isn’t overly exciting, however, I’ve had a few requests to see our new promotional material I made for this weekend’s bridal show. The top is a 5.5″ x 17″ brochure with all our pricing information and a little about us. The bottom card is a 4″ x 4″ card with our contact info. I know most people normally hate oversized business cards (at least according to my informal Twitter poll), however the purpose of these is to stand out when people take home their bag and we’re in there with hundreds of other vendors. They aren’t really for daily use.

Both did turn turn out great. I’ll post some better photos one of these days.

Taken with the iPhone.

Having a few clients out of town, there’s a specific two-hour stretch of road I drive quite often. I don’t particularly like the driving, but I do like the opportunity to just look around and enjoy the view. Say what you will, I think Texas really is a beautiful state. Maybe you had to be raised here to appreciate it, but I love it.

Taken with the iPhone with the Magazine setting in CameraBag.

Today’s photo was actually taken last night with the phone dangled precariously over the pool that would have happily swallowed it alive.

Taken with the iPhone with the Magazine setting in CameraBag.

It really isn’t my intention to just post pictures of food. It just so happens that Becca made some amazing bacon sandwiches that I twittered about non-stop for an hour. So, by popular demand, here’s the sandwich. Two slices of bacon broken in half. Yes, I said broken. I like my bacon crispy. Add a little real mayonnaise to the toasted bread and a small hunk of cheddar cheese and you have a meal.

Taken with the iPhone with the Lolo setting in CamerBag.

I call this one Texas Wedding.

They had two really beautiful cakes. I loved his beach cake, which turned out to be a surprise for him.

Wendy had an amazing dress too.

How appropriate. The guys group shot in a walk-in cooler, and the ladies in a beautiful room.

We always end up with huge wedding parties.

This was one of my favorite shots of the day.

Thanks for letting us be a part of your wedding. It was an absolute blast.

A sweet gift from Becca to sooth over a bad day.

Taken with the iPhone using the Lomo filter in CameraBag.

“Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaasssseeeeee Dad!” Colton pleaded for the fifth time, “We always get to eat candy before we take our nap.”

“Not on my watch, you don’t,” I responded.

“Sounds like your watch is broken,” he said.

If you’re like me, your desk is covered in piles of stuff. The coolest thing on my desk right now is a thank-you card sent to me by the fine folks at Less Accounting (who I highly recommend, by the way, and that has nothing to do with the receipt of said thank-you card, although it did make my day).

Darth Vader was supposed to guard the Starbucks card that was inside. Unfortunately, Becca is faster than the plastic Dark Lord.

So what’s the coolest thing on your desk right now?

Taken with the iPhone, then I bumped the exposure level slightly.