Oh yeah. This captures the feel of my weekend well.No, your computer screen is not broken. This is one of many photos I took that ended up being corrupt resulting in file loss. Not the best thing when you're photographing sixteen children, eighteen adults and three dogs. Luckily, I figured out the problem (I think), and the files were all saved (after much stress and computer work).But, you know, this isn't the only stress right now. If only.+ In case you are hearing more about the alt-right lately, and are wondering what they are, I've been researching like mad and this is a pretty good summary. And yes. It's terrifying.+ And why would you be hearing about the alt-right? Because Stephen Bannon has been promoted to Chief Strategist to Trump's campaign. Previously, he was in charge of Breitbart.com, a site that publishes stories like: "Birth control makes women unattractive and crazy." So yeah.+ And this article about First Amendment Rights is terrifying and important.+ But I cannot end on that depressing note. So here is something to make you laugh.

It has been such a hard week.I didn't blog yesterday because 1) I'm not sure you would have wanted to read what my mind was thinking and 2) I needed some time to clear my head.I think now that the anger has passed, and I've moved on to just sadness and reflection, the waters are safe again. At least I hope so.What helped me to move forward more than anything was seeing President Obama's speech after the election. That man possesses more strength and grace than anyone I have ever known, and he inspires me daily to be a better person. I can only hope my son has a president of such magnitude in his lifetime (or one that he will remember, rather).Here are a few things I have done in the last day to make myself feel better.

1. I have signed up with several volunteer organizations in town, including this one. The best way I know how to fight ignorance and racism in this country is by raising my own son in a fashion that shows him the importance of charity and kindness while teaching him to respect all people no matter their race, gender, religion or sexual orientation. I will also be teaching him to stand up for those who are discriminated against and to bear witness for those who need it.
2. On that same note, I have set up a drive to help this organization gather goods for single mothers working hard to get their families out from under the poverty line. If you would like more information on how you can help, please shoot me an email.
3. I am working to order these beautiful signs for my neighborhood showing that we welcome everyone, and this is a safe place. The signs were designed and created by my wonderful friend Jaime.
4. I am donating to the ACLU.
5. I have used more patience than I ever knew I possessed to discuss racist and inaccurate postings on Facebook. Some posters have ignored me, while others have rewritten their posts or corrected them and thanked me for the civil dialogue. This has been the most difficult thing by far, but I encourage everyone to give it a try. Be nicer than you want to be, but make your points strongly. Racism is never acceptable.

And now that I have that off my chest, please enjoy these photos I took while we were on the North Shore last weekend. That blissful retreat seems like last year, so I sure am glad I took photos to remember it by.

I need some time to recover. And to gather my family's passports.In the meantime, here is an image from the north shore I took this weekend.

Well, here we are.First off, I took this selfie (a true rarity for me) right before heading out to the polls this morning. In other words, it was shot with my phone, so excuse the image quality as it's a bit off.But I digress.What I really want to talk about today is not so much the election, but how it has affected the press. This is the first presidential election that I have not worked in a newsroom, and it has been very interesting. First, because I'm finally allowed to post my opinions and be free with them (more on that later) and second because with so many people attacking mainstream media, it's really got me thinking.There have been a lot of people holding the "mainstream media" out as a giant conspiracy, and I need to be clear, that is complete bullshit. And if you don't believe me that the media has become a target, take a look at this Trump supporter.For the twenty two years that I worked in newsrooms across the country (red states, blue states, wherever), the main focus of every political story we covered was to remain objective. Now, before you get upset, I need to clarify that the OPINION PAGES (usually located at the back of the A section or the B section) are used to voice the editor's opinions and those of the community. These opinions sit in a specific, cordoned off area of the paper. You also need to know that those editors whose voices are used on these pages also sit in a different, cordoned off area of the newspaper building. They do not attend news meetings, they are rarely, if ever, even seen in the newsroom, and they have zero say on how stories are "played" in the regular paper. They work on those two pages in the paper where opinion is allowed, and that's it. For instance, in all of my years in various newsrooms, I never even saw the editorial cartoonist (or didn't know if I did). And I'm an art director! That's how separate the areas of the paper are kept.I think a huge failing of the internet is that so many "stories" are shared via email, facebook or wherever, and they are not blatantly marked as coming from the newspaper's opinion pages. They are not coming from the mainstream media. They are coming from the opinion pages. These two things are very different, and please remember that.Also, every single newsroom I ever worked in had rules that as journalists we needed to appear objective and we were not allowed to post our opinions in public forums or display yard signs or anything like this. It almost killed me during the Obama elections. But! Contrary to popular belief, we are not all democrats! I have wonderful friends from my years in newsrooms who are deep-rooted conservatives. And they, too, had to keep their opinions quiet. So it sucked for everyone!Now, back to the "regular" newspaper. I cannot tell you the amount of time and energy that is spent in a newsroom making sure coverage is equal of both parties. From photo size, to photo selection to amount of story that appeared on the front page to graphics to headline size. IT ALL MATTERED. Because we wanted to be as fair as possible and we didn't want any visuals to sway how people thought.Clearly, I'm not a reporter or editor, but considering how much attention was paid to my headline sizes by the various editors in chief that I worked with, I am certain that same level of attention was paid to the word selection in the stories. Also, you should know that we knew we were doing our job right when we got 100 angry calls from Republicans saying we were too liberal and that same day got 100 angry calls from Democrats saying we were too conservative. When you are pissing everyone off? You're doing things right.But now that I've given you a little background, I want to talk about how times have changed.I was stunned when I studied in London back in 2008 and saw how the papers there didn't work to be objective. How the conservatives had their paper and the liberals had theirs. And I liked that system better. I felt like we were working so damn hard to be objective back in the states, that we weren't presenting the news in the right way for fear of angering one political party or another. Sometimes in an effort to be "fair" you forget about things that are important and might need more coverage because it's the right thing to do.But then TV news took a turn, and the networks became just that. They started catering to the parties, and all of a sudden, it felt like people in general were less informed. People watch what they want to watch, and they ignore what they don't want to hear. And that, my friends, is dangerous.Another great example of this is Facebook. My own feed is "curated" by the company, and I see almost all liberal points of view. But when I do see my conservative friends' posts (yes! I have lots of conservative friends! They are smart, thoughtful and wonderful people!), I always click to read them. I want to know how "the other side" sees things. I want to know their point of view.But as the election has grown nearer, I don't see those posts as much. Because Facebook is showing me what it thinks I *want* to see. And having papers with blatant political slants would be the same.As you can tell, I don't really have the answer here. What news sources will I always trust? The Washington Post and the New York Times. I know it's different for everyone. But I am begging people not to fall into a trap of thinking that the mainstream media is in on some sort of conspiracy. They work so diligently to bring fair and balanced coverage, and also to work in the best interest of the people. And if they are a tad slower reporting the news than Twitter or your favorite blog? It's because they are confirming the facts first (VERY IMPORTANT!) and they are working to get a voice to the other side of the issue (aslo, VERY IMPORTANT!). I've seen it in action for years and years and years. And tonight and tomorrow night? These are the toughest shifts of their lives.Don't buy the hype that the media is a conspiracy or a machine with an agenda. The "mainstream media" is working hard to keep everyone informed of the facts. Even if they disagree with them. I promise. 

Oh man, you guys, we are so blissed out up here.I shot this on our first morning here at the north shore. Jamie came in and woke me up around 7:30, apologizing for stealing me away from delicious slumber, but promising me I would be sad to miss the beauty of the lake that morning. Was he right or WHAT? Those clouds look like they are on fire!We have had another majestic weekend up here on the north shore, and we'll be heading back home later today. Somehow, Ezra being all screwed up by daylight savings and waking us up at FOUR THIRTY in the morning doesn't seem quite as bad when this is the view you are waiting for. (That said, dear sweet Jesus can we get him back to "sleeping in" until 6:15 am, pretty please?)I would probably stay up here for a lot more time if there wasn't something important I need to get done on Tuesday.

Hey guys! We are taking a quick jaunt up north this weekend, so I'm short on time to shoot/post today! Really quickly, my amazing friend Margaret took some gorgeous shots of our family a few weeks ago, and I thought you might want to see them. (Plus? Easy work for me!) So here are a few of my favorites! Second, I shot the Rural Alberta Advantage last night at The Entry, and you can see those photos over here, if you'd like. If you are unfamiliar with the band, here is my favorite song.And that's it! Have a wonderful weekend, and I'll catch you next week!  

I met up with my dear friend Meredith this morning to take some new head shots of her (and her dog!). How cute is this girl!?!? And let me assure you, she is a great way to start the day. I've been having a hard week, and she had me laughing and smiling like crazy. We all need friends like that.Why am I having a hard week, you ask? Nothing major. I'm pretty stressed out about the election, to be honest. Ezra is in the throes of toddlerdome and potty training, and if you didn't know, that shit is hard. And the two of those things together are keeping me up a bit at night, which means I'm cranky.  Hopefully (fingers crossed), this all gets a bit easier next week.But how about some internet shares to cheer us all up, eh?+ Did you hear Dessa is going to be on the new Hamilton soundtrack? How bananas is that!?+ Have you heard about these solar roofs? Man-oh-man I hope I win the lottery so I can get me one of those.+ This site shows you where your last name is most common. Mine is most popular in Germany! Which is nuts because none of the American Plessers I know will willingly set foot in the country that killed off their ancestors.