Category : Personal

Dr. Theopolis Brings Down The House In Portland, Oregon

My mother would say that classical music is the only music to listen to.  Being a professional opera singer I guess gives her some credibility and her thinking is: hey, isn’t classical the only form of music to still be around after 100’s of years?  My father’s a bit more open to the idea that just because it was created in the last century doesn’t make it all that bad…..Joe Cocker, Johnny Cash, The Stones…..maybe it has something to do with the fact that a few in his family, including himself, played the drums.  The bottom line is that music provides us with an outlet to express ourselves regardless of how we’re feeling.  Ah, therapy!

It’s hard not to want to express yourself listening to the band I went over to Portland to see and photoshoot last weekend.  I first caught wind of this 9 piece funk/rap band named Dr Theopolis back in 04 and have yet to find a band that always seems to be having more fun than the crowds they pack in.  What would you expect from a band that’s named after a computer that sat around a robot’s neck in Buck Rodgers?  Is there really a better way to shake your booty dancing while a group of extremely talented musician friends who’s catchy lyrics, as I’ve said before, are like Weird Al Yankovic’s on crack?  Nope.  Wrap this all up with a guy named, “Mr Fabulous” who’s job is to essentially dance with all the ladies in the crowd and you have the making of one solid night of entertainment!  If you ever hear word of them coming to town, you’d be a fool to miss a show and if your willing to, “let your hair down” for a night, this might just be the therapy you need…..bring on the doctor!  Please check out their website Dr. Theopolis to find out about shows and listen/purchase the music.

Mr Fabulous doing what he does.

How do they fit everyone in such a tight space?  6 of the 9 getting their groove on!

Frontman Ezra Holbrook

Till next time…the antics of Dr. T

Miles Of Fun As MLK Service Day Kicks Off For Volunteer Connect

Man, yesterday was stressful.  My wife says I’m sensitive but when I was going over to the vet to pickup Miles from having his “lumpotomy”, (he gets this non-life threatening tumor growing on his side and when it gets to grapefruit size it’s time to lighten the load for him), I was really, really happy to see he was wanting to get out of the cage!

We’ve had our two dogs Miles and Dizzy for 12 of their 13 years now and XC skied, mtn biked, ran and played literally 7 days a week with them.  So yea, I was stressed I’d loose my terror of a lab that has done everything from destroy a new 4 month old couch, to eating 2 full boxes of chocolate fudge Cliff Bars (remember Ben?), to endless counter robberies of steaks, Costco apple pies and anything else that resembled food.

Between dropping Miles off and picking him up, the one redeeming event that allowed me to have a semi-productive day and not let worrying about my dog fill all thoughts was volunteering to shoot some images for the Volunteer Connect projects happening around Bend, Oregon during Martin Luther King Day.  Helping out the community, seeing old friends and laughing with others took my mind off my furry friend. Cheers to all those hard working volunteers!

In the end, both my dogs lay next to me while I write this and I can’t help but wonder when they’ll be ready for the next adventure….Miles, get your head out of the trash dude…..yea, things really never change.

This is our Miles. He definitely has attitude and this shows it!

Paw’s R US

Not trying to play favorites, I needed to include Dizzy as well.

Friends With Flowers volunteers creating love for terminally ill patients in Central Oregon

Over at the Bethlehem Inn, volunteers fixing bikes for a good cause!

At the Bend Community Center volunteers work to create blankets for the homeless.

This young dude was a rock star, putting air into all the bike tires and doing bike maintenance!

Why Am I A Photographer?

You could say that I really liked picture books as a kid.  All those colors….Seriously though, I’ve always been one to enjoy creating the story in my head while looking at the photo rather than vice-versa.  I love how a photo can draw you in and whether it’s complex or simplistic in nature is irrelevant-what matters is the connection the viewer makes between the image and his/her past experiences.  It’s trying to change your perspective on those past experiences that makes photography such an amazing tool.  Photos speak differently to each one of us and since they are subjective, (like all art) the viewer gets to create their own reality.  My teachers in elementary school were not far off when they said I was a daydreamer!

I love how photographs can change people’s perspectives on even the most ingrained concepts!  How many of us have seen one “good” photo of ourselves (not even spectacularly great) and consequently not only gained an immense amount of confidence from that image but reversed years….OK, more like decades of panic when a cameras pointed in your direction.

What was the title of this blog anyways?  Oh yeah, the bottom line is that I’m a photographer because it challenges me to look at our world in ways the average person might not, or even care to.  When we get older we think we’ve figured it all out and I want to blur the lines to give people options for creating their own personal realities….which are, of course, amazingly wonderful, productive and positive realities….right?!  Random thought, “What would interest newborns if they could take photos?”

Winter Fog Photography at Deschutes River – Bend, Oregon

There are days where the scenery in Bend, Oregon is just plain beautiful.  Recently, the combination of freezing fog on the pine trees and a light dusting of snow made our town pretty magical.  I was looking for a good excuse to grab the camera and experiment with some ideas – and the Deschutes river was the perfect venue for tinkering.  It’s pretty rare that we focus on shots that don’t include people!

In a few hours of shooting down at Big Eddy and Dillon Falls, I ran into 4 other photographers (tripod and all) – one all the way from Seattle – with the same idea.  We were almost vying for the ‘best spots’ without being too impolite; it was rather funny.  We’re used to working around others with cameras at weddings, “the paparazzi” Byron and I like to call them (those with point and shoots and basic SLRs) but that’s the last thing I expected with this casual nature shoot!   One photographer even took a shot of me shooting at Dillon Falls (since I was hopping on the slippery rocks to get as close to the falls as possible, hoping I wasn’t going to slip!).  If he does end up sending it our way, I’ll post an addon!  Enjoy these winter pics; we wish everyone a spectacular start to 2010.

-Wendy

I fell cold just looking at this photo   Brrrrrr…

Just a subtle bit of color to spice up this image…don’tcha think?

See those footprints?  Yup, I was out on the edge jumping from snow patch to snow patch.

All that jumping for a view like this – worth it!

I couldn’t take my eyes off of the intricacy of this tree root…weird but fascinating!

And this one’s for you – Byron <3

Phoenix, Arizona And All The Festive Cheer One Could Ever Imagine

Wendy and I just got back from spending a week visiting my parents down in Phoenix.  For one, (and I’m not saying this because they’re going to read this) my parents rock, and the older I get the more I realize this and love them all the more.  They have so much positive energy it’s easy to understand where I get my love of life!  I’ll tell you though, I wasn’t expecting much from the weather, (because it usually ends up getting cold just as we arrive), but I really was hoping for temps in the 80’s.  Nope, yet again a cold front flows in and 50-60 temps prevent me from getting that tan I desperately wanted.

The images below are from a number of different moments during the trip.  My parents live fairly close to some amazing hiking trails call the White Tanks, so I took a camera with me and spent about 10 minutes photoshooting Wendy next to this huge cactus.  I love walking around in areas that are nothing like where we live.  Super picturesque and amazing colors!

The other images are of my parents church choir prior to mass beginning.  My mother was a professional opera singer prior to the birth of my brother and I and she continually amazes everyone with her voice.  My father has been singing in the choir for a number of years and seems to have found a new love in his voice!  The final images are of this house that wins the Christmas Spirit Award…enough said.

That’s Wendy getting a little too close to a LARGE cactus.

My mom, Ninfi Roe, dazzling hundreds of Midnight Mass goers with her soprano solo.  Just beautiful…

My father, Byron Roe, Sr., in the gray suit – singing baritone with the fellow choir.

The most elaborate house of Christmas lights I have EVER seen!

…it made the Phoenix news….did you know their electric bill is $800 for the month of December?

First Friday Showcase and Cyclocross Nationals in Bend, Oregon

As some of you know, we live in Bend, Oregon because the outdoors are a fingertip away.  In fact, our house is within a 5 minute bike path to the head of Phil’s trail, the mountain biking haven.  We ski, we climb, we bike.  Cyclocross in recent years, a unique segment of the sport that is biking, has flourished in this area (especially Portland, Or) and includes dirt, dust, mud, snow, stairs, barriers, hills….etc.  It’s the dirty kind of biking.  My biking/racing habits have been overcome by photography recently; however, we still participate in the biking community of Bend, Oregon.

Footzone was the host of this month’s First Friday Art Walk in downtown Bend where we showcased black and white photos of recent years local Cyclocross madness. Combined with next week’s ‘Cross Culture art + bike’ showing (in honor of Cyclocross Nationals in Bend), we’re deviating from the clean images of wedding photography (just for the moment) just to show you some fun.

Here’s a few from last night’s gathering!  If you couldn’t make it – join us next Friday to kick-off Nationals   Grrrrrrr…

A good crowd the whole night of friends and random art walkers…

The racer, Angela Mart, looking in the mirror – okay a photo of her

Truffles and wine – my favorite   Any food is really my favorite….

Good friends Chad and Sarah with their family swung by for a visit (that’s Ethan in the middle).