I don’t feel exhausted, though.  I feel relaxed and grateful.  New York is warming up, it feels like summer already, and I’m so excited for the month of June to come.  It’s going to be an incredible month, I can feel it.

Meanwhile I’m continuing to get caught up on past shoots and blog posts.  Back in November I had the pleasure of documenting and attending my good friend (and colleague) Ira and his wife (and good friend) Andrea’s wedding.  I’ve shared the video on here, but I haven’t shared some of the images I caught in between shooting.

Ira’s brother (and good friend, and fellow photographer-extraoridinaire) Samuel Lippke co-documented and took care of photography end of things.  You can check out his photos of the week here.

This was one of the most fun weeks of my life.  Enjoy!

I spent the weekend in Santa Maria, CA with 25 friends– old and new– for the 3rd annual Fauxchella. It’s our own gorilla music festival where we hang out, eat, and collaborate making music for 48 hours– culminating in a Saturday night concert and dance party.

You can see last years post from Fauxchella here, and I’m sure Laurel will have a big blog post of her photos soon.

I didn’t take a lot of pictures throughout the weekend (although the ones I did were apparently mostly of Ashley), because I spent the weekend filming everything along with my good friend Todd. So I’ve posted a little video from Saturday night of Josh performing. More to come.

Meet Angi Welsch. (And meet Levi, and the rest of a mixed family of 16). I wrote a lot of stuff that I decided was bollocks. Just enjoy this tiny preview of what really needs to be seen in person. At the very bottom of this post is the piece that I traded with her for. Love LOVE it.

Me making a mess at age 25.

Me making a mess at age 2.

Levi making a mess.

(This was written a few days ago, as you can tell):

I’m actually now on day 6 of my trip to Turks & Caicos (which clearly puts me 3 days behind… oh well). After 3 solid days of hard work, we’ve had 2 days of serious rest, and I must say it has been so inspiring and rejuvenating. It actually has me prepared to head back to the craziness of life in Manhattan and try and live a little better– as these trips tend to do. I feel peaceful and serene.

But as much as I have enjoyed myself, I can honestly say I feel very excited to be back in Manhattan– with Spring in full bloom, and a new apartment to finish settling into.

The documentary from this last week’s wedding event will, I hope, be an incredible one. Stay tuned for that.

And enjoy a few (albeit cryptic) pictures of the high-profile wedding day, as well as a shot in the middle of my video setup (which is considerably more complicated then my photo setup).

We are currently on Day 4 of our trip to Turks & Caicos (although these are images from Day 2). It has been incredible– although I must say that my ENTIRE body is sore from shooting with a huge camera rig, 70-200mm lens, as well as sound equipment. Ira and I just finished shooting video and photography for the most elaborate and extravagant wedding I’ve ever photographed. The resort and private estate here in Parrot Cay have blown the St. Regis, The Montage, The Pierre, The Plaza et al out of the water. From the incredible gourmet food, to the beach parties at a private estate, to the Oscar de la Renta dress… literally no stone went unturned in the planning of this incredible affair.

And now, with a hard drive full of footage, it’s time to relax for about 36 hours before heading back to crazy New York. Is it possible to build up R&R time, and save some for later?

A month ago my good friend Ira Lippke got married to the wonderful Andrea (now) Lippke. It was an elaborate and beautiful elopement. My part? Well, I traveled to Brazil to document the whole event (along with Ira’s brother, talented photographer Samuel Lippke). I also designed poster/announcement/save the dates along with Ira that included photography from the event and custom screenprinting. Additionally I put together a blog/website to house the photos, video, and story.

Surpassed only by a fashion line and historical exhibit I put together for my alma mater a few years ago (which took months), this job has been the most elaborate job I’ve yet taken. But so fun and SO fulfilling. Zac from Kayrock Screenprinting in Brooklyn handled the custom screenprinting and I would recommend them a thousand times over (as well as commend them for working with such a complicated project). The photo printing… well let’s just say that Ira and I weren’t happy with the original proofs so we hopped on his motorcycle, bought a printer–which we both hauled home on his motorcycle– and worked for 24 hours straight to print all 150 double-sided posters (as wells as 150 8.5×11 mailing labels).

But now I can breath a sigh of relief because (most of) the project is behind me, I’m excited with how things turned out, and THE SECRET IS OUT. Ira is married. I’ve linked photos from the printing process below as well as the (rough cut) of the video.  Enjoy!

I’ve been working on a side project for the last 6 months that is now finally (beginning) to come to fruition.  After 1 photo shoot and a very brief video shoot, I’m moving forward with an international “blogumentary” project entitled “Shake The Dust.”  The documentary, which will ideally be shared in the form of videos, words, and photos through Loose Luggage, will also be cut into a final mini-feature documentary.  It will cover break-dancing and b-boy culture in countries across the globe– from Brazil, to Uganda, to the Middle East, to Cambodia.

As I move forward with this project, which, I confess, is my heart, I must appeal to you all, my friends:  we need funding.  We are shooting next week here in New York City to work on putting together our first webisode as well as a promo to help us begin raising money.  In the mean time, we’re working on researching everything from grants to commercial partnerships to make this happen.

I’m already so excited about the potential of this project– not only as a stand-alone piece of art, but also as something that pushes the future of this blog.

Right now this page will operate as the “Shake the Dust” homepage.  I need a few things from you all:

1. A web designer.  I’m looking for someone with web design experience who wants to jump on board and VOLUNTEER (in hopes of future pay once we get funding).  If you’re interested, e-mail your resume/examples of work to adam@shakethedust.org.

2. Funding!  If you know any grants, public or private donors, or great brands interested in commercial partnerships (or just want to donate a bunch of money yourself) please let me know.  All of our funding is being run through The Harrison Center for the Arts who are acting as our fiscal agent.  They will be insuring that all of the funds are handled properly and with integrity as well as helping make any donation TAX-WRITE-OFFABLE.  Again, e-mail me at adam@shakethedust.org.

3. Dancers/Connections!  We’re working on developing connections with B-boys and street dancers across the planet.  We’re excited to partner with people in places like Cambodia, Korea, Uganda, among many other places.  We’d love to hear from you dancers– and anyone else that is involved in the break-dancing/b-boy world.  Once more: adam@shakethedust.org.

4. Follow me on twitter.

Before I show you a little preview of things to come, I’d like to introduce my partner and cinematographer: Mr. Patrick Jones.  You can check out his reel here.

Thank you all for your continued interest in the things that I put up on here.  I look forward to exciting days ahead…

Cat’s out of the bag:

Shake The Dust from Adam Sjoberg on Vimeo.

This one is from a couple months back.  At the end of August I took a bus, a couple trains, and a taxi, to a little place on the coast of Massechusettes to shoot a wedding with Chad.

Check it out…

Trev & Kass from Adam Sjoberg on Vimeo.

And some more that I recently added to another post:

“We want to hire a social media whiz (your title will be “Murphy-Goode Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent”) who will report on the cool lifestyle of Sonoma County Wine Country and, of course, tell people what you’re learning about winemaking.   Did we mention that the compensation was $10,000 per month Plus accommodations in a beautiful home in picturesque Healdsburg, a popular vacation destination in our neck of the woods. Working hours are flexible. And all you have to do is experience wine and good living…”

Now out of around 2,000 applicants, I was selected as one of the top 50.  But it only get’s more competitive from here.  So I need your support in a couple of ways so that I can get this amazing job!

1.  Please please please Watch and favorite my video.

2.  Follow me on twitter if you don’t already @LooseLuggage and RT about my video.

3.  Subscribe to this blog.  Tell your friends about LooseLuggage.com

4.  If you have a blog, re-post this link to your blog.  I can use all the publicity I can get.  Not that people need an incentive, but any blogger that posts this link to their blog will get a bottle of wine and t-shirt on me IF I GET THE JOB.  Just let me know you posted it so I can add you to my wonderful list (first 20 bloggers I should say…

5.  And lastly— if you really believe this would be the job for me, tell your friends, loved ones, enemies, co-workers, etc. etc. to watch my video as well.  If you can’t remember all this information, just tell them to go to www.tastethegoodelife.com (that’s GOOD with an E).

Big gigantic thanks to the Pelz’s for pushing me to do it and believing in me like crazy and to Marcy Guevara for her amazing encouragement and camera-holding ability in the production of my video.

And remember, you can just tell people to go to TASTETHEGOODELIFE.COM.

Tyler & Jess get hitched from Adam Sjoberg on Vimeo.

Best Wedding singer(s) (as well as best-dressed drummer:

Best group of slightly intoxicated bridesmaids:

Best dancing dad:

Best vendor food (the food for us photographers). We got fed TWICE!

A couple more highlights:

Well Sean and I kept in touch every once in a while through Facebook, and when I heard he was coming out for another fund-raiser here in New York, I was excited to stop in.  You can check out Sean’s organization, Falling Whistles, on facebook here, or read his inspiring blog entry (that started it all) here.  Also, check out their tour schedule here.

1. Bro Futurists
2. The Salon
3. Avi Buffalo
4. Dan Callis‘s studio opening
5. The Hobo Soul (and soup!)
6. The Winnebago Experience
7. Aaron Belz‘ brilliant poetry. Perfect blend of comedy and tragedy.

Umm… there’s more but just check out these pictures:

Belz reading his poetry.

Brother Dave! Live screenprinting!

Hobo Soul:

Bro Futurists’ old art sale.

Hobo Soul video:

Dan’s brand new studio! Lucky you, Dan!

The Winnebago:

People:

The curator of the exhibit, Amanda Shulman, with her (I believe) brother:

The full coverage of the event:

TENOVERSIX:

Ali Hewson and friends:

Mark “thecobrasnake” with Grandpa (who was awesome) and friend:

I LOVE this outfit…

These guys LOVE Fiji water:

This picture makes me dizzy:

Solar/bio/organic-powered food truck… only in LA. It was gooood…

Some highlights:

Last night I was nursing a cold as I fumbled my way through bus and busy street, up and down hills, finally guessing my way to 411 Hayes in San Francisco. Edun, the “socially conscious clothing company,” had a posh party here in SF and I was hired to shoot the event by my friend Tomo over at Exposure. Apart from being the wife of U2′s lead singer (some guy), activist Ali Hewson spends much of her time supporting various causes, including Chernobyl Children’s Project International. As the creative director for Edun, she was meandering through the crowds of shoppers and socialites. She proved to be incredibly down to earth and friendly.

Ali with the stores owners:

DJ Eug was spinning all night. One of the best DJ’s I’ve heard.

And I couldn’t forget about the food which was provided by Executive Chef Luis Herrera at Organic Chef Catering. I grabbed a few bites and the food was amazing.

All-in-all it was a really fun event to shoot. Now I’m going to enjoy the afternoon in San Francisco, one of my favorite cities, and off in the morning back to Seattle!

Ali and Bono’s made-in-Uganda-organic American Apparel style branch of the company, Edun-Live:

The event was interesting, and at times heartbreaking. Somaly Mam spoke on behalf of the organization that was named after her. She is Cambodian and through broken English and with tears, she told her own story of struggle from her time as a child in the brothels of Cambodia.

“With the vision and leadership of world renowned Cambodian activist, Somaly Mam, the foundation, strives to get to the root of human trafficking. The global vision will allow the activities currently in the United States and South East Asia to expand to other countries around the world.”

I felt strange walking around the massive mansion, seeing the wealthy and beautiful of Hollywood sloshing martinis. I stood staring out over the hills at the skyline below. The Greens mansion sits like a castle atop a kingdom below.

I was hired to capture the event but what most interested me in the end were some of the shots I took for myself at a distance. As soon as the first snooty young french paparazzi guy started picking a fight with me I backed up from the red carpet about 100 feet and began shooting pictures of the whole phenomenon. I found the glowing orb of light from the center where celebrities were getting photos snapped beautiful and strange and it caused sinister shadows to flutter and scurry around the outside of the crowd.

The light/darkness theme haunted me throughout the evening:

Here is a picture of Somaly. She seems to be an incredible woman:

This is magic Joe Rehaume, a Seattle based magician who I met at the event.

There was a regular and silent auction. Miro!:

And hosted by Ron Livingston who has been involved with the organization since before it was cool to:

Jan Levinson I presume:

For those of you that like Entourage, Rex Lee:

This guy? (I couldn’t resist). I showed my friend Johnny this picture and he said in all seriousness “I don’t know who that is.” I thought that was hilarious.

Some more pics:

Drink Mighty Leaf Tea:

The hosts:

It’s important for Hollywood to have charity events and funding from these types of soirees is essential for many non-profits, but I think it was just a little strange to see such wealth and grandier glittering around Somaly and the story she represents.

It turned out to be a benefit show for the non-profit Power of Hope– which seems to be a great organization. The highlight of the evening, for me, was the spoken word performances and rap from two of the students that have attended the Power of Hope’s camps:

The headliner, however, I had mixed opinions of. The music of Gina Sala is eclectic to say the least. She sang songs in French, Hindi, Somolian, Japanese, Turkish, Greek, and some other ancient south American dialect. Oh, and one or two in English. I must say I was impressed at her ability to sing in so many languages. But most of the time if I’m going to listen to ethnic international music, I love to actually be in those countries to experience it.

Gina told a story (while guiding us in our minds along a blue stream at the base of the Himalayas) that she once got lost on a yak trail in the Himalayas and overstayed her visa. I feel like that was more of a metaphor then she realized.

Gina:

As for me, no more “surprise shows” for a while.