You might recognize some of my favorite spots in the photos below. The windmill shot is the first time I’ve ever had good light in that location – and it was pretty special this time.

Not wanting to miss out on all of the iPhone photography fun – I decided to pull out my twice-dropped-badly-cracked original iPhone and use it as my iPhone camera. Problem solved. Here are a couple iPhone clicks from this morning.

Our shy cat Tyler covers his junk (or should I say unjunk) so he doesn’t end up as a centerfold on some kitty porn site.

Our doorbell button broke and when the wind blows it actually rings the doorbell. Go figure. Since I haven’t fixed it yet and the noise drives my son Zak crazy – he took matters into his own hands and silenced doorbell man. Good thinkin’ Zak.

If you’d like to see some good iPhoneography, check out these guys – Chase Jarvis, Sionfullana and fellow photodude Chris Ralston.

To get from the back parking lot to my building – you have to walk down the alley. If you’ve never been down Downtown Lawrence alleys, well, you’re in for an all-senses-stimulation (good and not-so-good). Of course, we have run-of-the-mill taggers defacing brick and stone and stucco – but we also have some art that’s a little more clever. Aimee over at artsyville has been capturing the red hand tagger at several places around Lawrence. I’ve shot several red hands, too, but I can’t find the images. So, I pulled up one of my other faves from several years ago – multiple barneys.

I have an appointment at the Apple Genius Bar on Monday to finally get my iPhone camera fixed. There are so many people doing some really cool iPhone galleries, and I’m excited to join in. My first project will be an iPhone alley art gallery. Let’s hope the Genius Bar guys are really genius.

Meet Brody – our main talent for a new TV commercial we’re working on. It’s always a big risk writing/casting a TV spot that includes little people – because they don’t worry about clients, budgets, schedules or anything other than their happiness right then. And that’s why I like little people so much. BTW – Brody was a champ. He smiled and cried and spit and played right on cue. It was a good day.

Becoming a dad was/is the best thing that ever happened to me in my life. My three boys are in college and high school now – so it’s fun spending time with little people again. I miss the curiosity, laughter, and simplicity of toddlers. I don’t miss diapers, naps and hissy fits in the grocery store.

The Obama team has reinvented everything about political branding. This morning I ran across the The Official White House photostream on Flickr. How cool is that? Not only does it feature great photos by White House photographer Pete Souza, but they post full-res images and you can even order prints (for flickr members). You should check it out along with the nifty White House website.

© Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

Jeff Carson sent me this link with the words “Holy crap, this is good!” I’m thinkin’ Jeff is right. The short film “Last Day Dream – The Last 42 seconds” was done by a guy named Chris Milk. He shot the movie on a Canon 5D Mark II with Lensbaby lenses. His short reminds me a little of the Robin Williams movie The Final Cut. The beer bong shot (along with others) brought back some memories (good and not so good).

You can see a better-than-youtube-version here.

We just changed things around in our office – and I now have the cool back office that looks out east and south. The windows don’t have screens, so when they’re open on warm, rainy days like today – it’s almost like having an open air office. I haven’t had one of our friendly pigeons fly in yet – but I’m hoping that will happen very soon. Here are a couple views out my window.

What do you do when you hear tornado sirens go off? If you’re me, and you’re working at your office in downtown Lawrence – you go to the roof to check it out. Seemed like an exhilarating idea at the time. After two or three bone-shaking lightning strikes – I reconsidered. I made my way to street level to join many other people who chose to go outside and look up rather than seek the safety of a basement or storm shelter. The sirens went off several more times, but the tornado never made an appearance in Lawrence.

I didn’t know I got this lightning strike until reviewing the photos later. It’s not spectacular – but when I stitched it together for a rooftop panorama it made for a good little weather shot. And thankfully, I didn’t get popped by a bolt of lightning. I’m a native Kansan, so I grew up watching severe storms from our front porch. And later as a TV photojournalist, I spent many Springs and Summers chasing tornados across the Midwest. So, going to a three-story roof in severe weather didn’t seem like a totally stupid idea. But, we all know it was stupid. I just wonder if I’ll be up there again during the next severe storm. SEE PHOTO BIG

The publication decided to give my subtle evening sky a boost of blue and clouds. That wouldn’t have been my first choice – but then again I’m not the art director. I’m sure other photographers experience similar situations and you just have to roll with the design punches. It’s been great working with the Kansas Farm Bureau folks, and they plan to use more photos in upcoming projects.

The photo features Jewel Country rancher Bryan Reinert and his daughter Faith. The photo was part of a bigger campaign featuring Kansas Cattleman.

I’ve had several photo assignments to shoot cemeteries. Lucky guy, huh? I know cemeteries give some people the creeps – but I actually like them. As a kid, I remember going to the cemetery every year on Memorial Day and helping my mom put peonies, iris and lilacs around relatives graves. It wasn’t sad or morbid and still isn’t. I always thought they should have more benches in cemeteries so you could sit down and visit with old friends.

My photo assignment was to shoot some memorials at Oak Hill Cemetery for Lawrence Convention & Visitors Bureau. The old sections of the cemetery are especially interesting and they just reek with history. If you like old cemeteries, this one is worth a visit. You can download a self-guided tour of Oak Hill Cemetery here.