"Sipping Jet Streams"

I just finished up on a very unique assignment to shoot the head Sommelier at The French Laundry Restaurant in Napa Valley, French Laundry (www.frenchlaundry.com). It was a huge treat to be able to be backstage at the U.S.s' number one restaurant. The caliber of talent is as good as it gets for the food and wine world.

Even though it was record breaking heat while in Napa, the images turned out beautiful, Christopher Hoel, Kristine Keefer, and Bertram Whitman did a great job hosting the shoot and were fantastic people to meet and work with.

I Love Shooting Architecture

I titled this up date "Sipping Jet Steams" a quote and film from Taylor Steele http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3548689849710594037# a friend and one the finest cinematographers of surf films on the planet. I've flown seventeen times since I based myself in the Midwest little over a year ago. It's been a solid summer of travel, shooting and meeting some great people. The architecture projects keep coming, taking me back and forth to the West Coast, Midwest, and South. It's been an amazing adventure, pushing my work to new creative horizons.

Paddle West

All of you that know me well, know my love for the water. I'm in the constant search for new bodies of water wherever I travel. While living on the West Coast, I was an ambassador for one of the largest stand up paddle surfing companies out there, "C4", riding there product in the San Diego region. If you don't know what "stand up paddle surfing" (SUP) is you will soon find out. This sport has saved my life being a surfer and living far from waves. It allows me to get on the water on a weekly basis. I've paddled over thirteen bodies of water in the Midwest region, loving ever minute of it.

"Paddle West", www.paddelwestsup.com is in the works. It will consist of lessons, tours of local lakes and rivers, a year round fitness program, and the sales of SUP boards and paddles. I always followed my passions and this is where my next one leads. Stay tuned the next month for Paddle West hitting the Midwest, got to run...Matt/