It’s been a banner year, and I’m so very grateful. Putting together this highlights reel was a bit cathartic– almost surreal– as I thought back through all of the projects and places that this year has taken me. Dozens of shoots, 13 countries (if I’m counting right), and a broad range of stories. Frankly, I’m overjoyed and humbled. And I’m so excited for what 2012 has to offer.

90% of what you see in this little piece are from the last 12 months.

Here’s to another adventurous, inspiring 12 months!

Music. Well, that’s the video below. Publicity. It’s been a good couple weeks for me – with a New York Times shout-out, an interview on the BBC program “The World Today,” Glamour Magazine, Vera Wang, and Martha Stuart. And then work. I’m always busy but always aware that I’m blessed to be doing work that I love – and with great people (images below and above are of Nate Smith and Denise Cermanski at a recent shoot in Tribeca).

The videos I’ve been posting of “Fauxchella” are a part of a long-term project – a music film tentatively called “The Sound and the Wind.” Not sure when that will be wrapped up, and I don’t feel any pressure to set a deadline on it as I’m just too consumed with all the projects at hand (including a short film entitled “Stay” which I’ll be sharing about within the week). In the mean time, enjoy the consistent leaking of videos until the final piece is put together. You can check out additional videos on my Vimeo album for the project here.

Just spent an incredible weekend in the California desert (Joshua tree) with some of my closest friends (and a few great new ones) making music and putting another notch in a 4-year running tradition. I’m really excited about all of the footage that has come together from the last 3 years of music-and-merry-making. Many thanks to everyone and especially Laurel Dailey for all the hard work that has gone into this event.

You’ll be seeing more footage throughout the next year as I begin to piece everything I have (including a grip of interviews) into a music-documentary, but in the mean time, check out the small clips below and then head over to Laurel’s blog for more great photos and the whole story from this years festivities.

I’ve seen the sun rise 3 out of the last 6 nights. I sortof feel like I’ve been living in a cave (with the exception of a crazy night out dancing Friday night… my legs hurt). But it’s been good. Cathartic. Coffee is keeping me going, even though my eyes are burning from staring at a computer screen.

It could be reminiscent of my time in Art School when I would be up in my studio going just a little bit coocoo making Facebook pages about my sweatpants to distract myself from finishing an overambitious, last-minute projects (or staring at photos in the darkroom literally forgetting what time of day it is). But it’s not. For some reason I just feel really motivated… I have a lot of deadlines and they’re all basically… next weekend. So. Here I am. Tired but thankful.

Check out this video… every year a group my friends gather for a weekend of music-making. Two weeks from now we’ll do it for the 4th year in a row. So excited:

“Do not hurry; do not rest.” -Goethe

I’m back in New York. I feel the sigh of relief of– of letting go of a summer that just was so long and… interesting. And after a week in Peru (sorry for no blog posts of that yet – I’ll work on that…) and a shoot in LA, I’m back back back to stay. I’ve also managed to get a sinus infection just in time for my first weekend free of shooting in a long time. So I’m attempting to accomplish work while swimming in a sea of dirty laundry, suitcases spewing their contents, and cough drop wrappers.

On to photos and video: Bottom line is, I have some very talented friends. And a chunk of them were collaborating on an unnamed-unclassifiable-nondescript music project. It was exciting to see them working. I snapped a few pictures of them (below).

And also… I’ve been leaking some footage from this documentary I’ve been working on “The Sound and the Wind.” Well, it’s (as with every film project I’ve worked on so far) taking me WAY longer then expected to complete. Additionally, the final piece that I will be sharing soon will actually be “The 2010 Cut” because I will be documenting the 2011 Fauxchella music-making-happenings to complete the documentary in the summer of 2011. So that being said… below I’ve posted the “Official Unofficial ‘The Sound and the Wind – 2010 Cut’ Trailer.”

Trailer:

Photos:

I went with Bonnie to see the The Young Veins play on a rooftop 48 floors up in midtown.  St. Germaine, music, beautiful weather, with a good friend.  The night felt like a smile and a sigh.

I’ve started putting together these little videos here and there.  Each video takes about 40 minutes to piece together.  I guess it’s sort of a creative exercise that you guys get to be in on… I didn’t plan to do any recording so I didn’t get good sound of the actual show… but I put together a little something anyways.  I think that last little shot of Bonnie is lovely.

I went to a show the other night that was really nostalgic for me. A couple years ago when I was first posting photos from my time spent on the road on this little blog, I went to see a couple of great British imports– Johnny Flynn, Mumford & Sons, and Laura Marling. I was blown away, and sort of fell in love with this wave of Brit-folk that was coming from across the pond.

I’ve continued to follow all three bands (along with Noah and the Whale), and have photographed Mumford & Sons’ live a couple of times since. It was a blast to see Laura again the other night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. She’s such an old soul, with incredible music-writing ability and an impeccable sound. Above is a little (shaky) video I made of her song “Hope in the Air” from her album “I Speak Because I Can”– which you should buy now. I also am posting a little recording (below) of a cover she did of Jackson C. Frank’s “Blues Run the Game.” Really beautiful.

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I’ve now logged 100+ hours on the project I’m currently working on. I’m terrible with spoilers… but I can’t help it.

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.

A little video from their myspace page:

Mumford & Sons / Little Lion Man video

Mumford and Sons | MySpace Video

and then photos I snapped:

Enjoy these images from deep within the audience. I was infatuated with all of the handheld cameras poking out of the crowd.

While on the bus to the odd Tiki Bar we went to in Staten Island, all 7 of us took a turn on my iPhone to have a listen to the song you’re about to lay ears on.  A song sent to us from friends on the West Coast.   Thanks to Jess, Josh, Emily, and Josiah for sending this our way.  Ladies and gentlemen, “Lay Your Burdens Down.”

Lay Your Burdens Down

Read more about it on Emily’s blog here and listened to more of Josiah’s music here.

“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.

So sorry for my absence here lately. But I do have about 15 posts on deck to start shooting at you. Among the things that have gotten back-burnered in the last weeks has been a video I’m putting together of a musical weekend we had a couple weeks ago in LA. It’s becoming a yearly tradition with my friends in Long Beach. Here is part one of two posts. These are the photos of the weekend. The next post (in a few days) will be of the video. Enjoy.

Tonight I fumbled my way through a crowd of bouncing Brooklyn hipsters and music geeks to see what turned out to be an excellent show.  I was in there on a press pass, so I was somewhat confused by the following interaction:

Zach Condon says some nonsensical tuning-in-between-songs band banter.
Tall, sinister man standing next to me: “It doesn’t make any sense.”
Me: “Yeah I know.”  I lift up my camera to take a picture.
Tall, sinister man standing next to me: (seeming irritated) “I SAID it doesn’t make sense.” Covers my lens with his hands.

Turns out Tall Sinister man was a security guard whose unhappy job was to (quite unambiguously) move through the crowd and stop people from taking pictures of the concert.  I’m not sure what “it doesn’t make any sense” was supposed to mean, but I felt bad for the poor man as I saw a forest of glowing cell phone cameras snapping away throughout the crowd.

We were all pretty packed together, and after a few minutes of unsuccessfully stifling contraband photo-taking, Tall Sinister Man was beginning to look flustered.  He leaned over to me and said, somewhat desperately, “I can’t get out.”  So I helped him out of the crowd and that was the last I saw of him.

Meanwhile I glanced over my shoulder and saw the Press section.  “So that’s where I was supposed to sit.”  I saw camera’s snapping photos and hipster girls flipping through notebooks jotting down thoughts about the show… way up high in a cramped nosebleed balcony… the kind of place you think would be great seating until you actually go to a concert and sit there.

Though my picture taking ability was limited where I stood, I was glad to just bounce with hundreds of other non-press people, let the cinematic and sweeping music of Beirut wash over me (joined later in the evening by an entire orchestra), and be one in a crowd of many.

Did manage to take take a few pictures though.  Don’t tell Tall Sinister Man.