Lately I’ve been realizing how easy it is to accidentally become the thing people know you as.
For me thats been a “director”
And while I’m incredibly grateful for that path, I’ve felt this pull to get back to something simpler.. making things more often. no big production, no expectations, no waiting on permission, budgets, of the perfect treatment. Just creating. I started as a photographer and dp before the word director ever found me, and if I’m being honest, that hands on act of seeing, framing, and lighting is what I’m most passionate about.
Today I started a residency at @goodfriendatx and it was my first day in the space, walked in with zero pressure, just intention, curiosity, and excitement to see what might happen.. no client, just me and the studio.
I started with a self portrait, which felt fitting. It felt like a quiet way to begin this chapter by turning the camera towards the person who’s usually behind it.
I want this season to be about experimentation, discomfort, play, stillness, movement, product, people, stories, and whatever happens when I stop trying to define what it “should” be.
Less “what am I supposed to make”
More “what happens if I just keep making”
Feeling stoked for what’s to come.
MAUI….but not the version you plan for. Rain, reroutes, slow mornings BUT a great trip! We made the most of every window of sunshine and every stormy reset. Dropping all the spots, eats, and experiences that made it special below.
Hotel:
@paiainn
Restaurants:
-Flatbread Company
-Tobi’s Poke and Shave Ice
-Island Fresh Cafe (they have yoga too) and on the way you’ll see a line of colorful windsurfing boards
-Mama’s Fish House
-Momona Bakery and Coffee
Activities:
-Day Pass to the Sheraton Maui on Resortpass.com
-Cliff diving at Black Rock
-Watercolor on the beach
-O’o farm tour with lunch
-Enchanted forest
-Honolua Bay Access Trail to Enchanted forest
-Twin Falls on Hana Hwy (we obvi would’ve done the entire road to Hana but roads were shut down from flood damage)
Rent a road bike from Cyclery Maui
-Shop at Mana foods in Paia to make your own meals
-Maui Ocean Center (for rainy days)
-Pacific Whale Foundation (whale watching)
Best Beaches:
-Baby Beach
-Ho’okipa Beach (turtles)
-Big Beach (Mākena State Park)
-Black Rock Beach
#maui #vacation #vhs #hawaii
@kimlewisdesigns had me our to Aspen for a quick lifestyle/food shoot at one of her teams latest projects @opensesamebagelshop
Grateful I get to create alongside my wife
Bagels look better with grain
Food has quietly become a favorite subject lately
I stepped away from here for a couple months. Not to disappear, just to reset my relationship with it.
In that space, a lot of good things grew. I fell deeper into cooking, photography, fitness, and nutrition. I found cycling and logged almost 900 miles. I lost 20 pounds. More importantly, I became more present as a believer, as a dad, as a husband.
I compared less. I encouraged more.
Somewhere along the way, I had stopped creating for me. As a filmmaker, everything started to feel heavy like I needed the right gear, a crew, a plan… and if I didn’t have all of that, it wasn’t worth making. So I either created only for work, or not at all.
One small but meaningful shift was giving myself permission to simplify. I picked up a tiny action camera and a point a shoot, and it’s been freeing. Capturing moments instead of producing them. Letting things be imperfect. Letting them just be mine.
Stepping back from sharing took the pressure off. It reminded me how fulfilling it is to sit with moments instead of immediately posting them for affirmation.
I’m coming back, but differently. With more intention. More presence. Hoping to be social here, not swallowed by it.
While other families baked cookies on a rainy day, we made a psychological thriller.
Made this whole thing start to finish in just a few hours. Proof that simple and scrappy is sometimes the most fun.
