2018
Here it is, nearly midnight on New Years Eve of 2018 & I'm publishing my first post since the summer. I had a goal to do weekly updates at first & they didn't really last, but I also wasn't the biggest fan of them. One reason Facebook & Instagram are such a common sharing platform to use is because they're both so simple & I know for me personally, it seems like there's less pressure to write something super creative & insightful. A blog seems to have some kind of expectation attached to it & not being completely confident in my writing skills, its really quite intimidating for me. However, I appreciate the practice, its also leading me toward potentially co-authoring a book about using the creative arts in the Church next year, which is something that has suddenly come up rather unexpectedly & we'll just have to wait & see what happens with that.
As some of you may know that have actually followed this blog, we made the move from San Diego to Murrieta, CA this summer. The whole time building up to the move I was pumping myself up and thinking it would be a great opportunity to expand my business, I would be closer to certain clients in LA & Riverside counties & it just seemed like a good thing in my head... however, there was no real way to KNOW that it would work out. Well fast forward 6 months later & it really is working out! Every month I've been constantly blown away by the amount of new clients that are approaching me to collaborate on projects or hire me to do photos & video, & each opportunity seems even greater than the next. I had the chance in the past couple of months to be the Director of Photography for two music videos with one of my favorite bands of all time, Switchfoot, & I was insanely busy during the Christmas season shooting family photos for people locally here in Murrieta. Did I mention I also have a new office in one of the best parts of town here? Everything seems to be working out even greater than I had imagined & I'm anxious to start the new year in a few hours time. Another unexpected thing going on is I'm getting ready to start a new gig with a client that will be more of a full time thing, and I'm excited to see where we can take their brand in the next few months, big meeting with them in the morning, so we'll see what that leads to. Switchfoot Native Tongue Video:
Switchfoot "Voices" video:
Also, in January I will be heading to the Philippines to help create videos for a charity called The Sum Of One. Their goal is to be involved in rural villages throughout the Philippines & help advance the education system there, so the people of those villages can learn how to gain life skills to better their chances of survival & success in the workforce. Having lived there as a child, & being half Filipino myself, I've been wanting to make a trip out there to learn more about my culture anyway, so this is an amazing opportunity to partner with a Charity that is doing amazing work. So many cool things are on the horizon, & I'll be getting started straight away in the morning. The dad interviews may not be as often for 2019, but it was such a cool experience getting to interview like-minded dads this year that are doing this same balancing act as me & seeing how they manage the chaos. As far as content for The Creative Dad Network, I'm hoping to find a better way to make content on a weekly basis. Thinking more on the lines of simple creative tips for multiple creative disciplines on the same day every week. While this blog isn't something that has gained thousands of followers, I've been extremely grateful for an outlet to push myself in ways I'm not as creatively comfortable in. So many of my dad interviews were never finished in my head, but the discipline of learning to not over-think every piece of art that I'm doing is something that I need to practice more. So many content creators out there are doing great work & while its not all perfect, the concept is there & they're pushing themselves on a regular basis. Getting myself out of my comfort zone is definitely something that I learned this year & I'm looking forward to another year of pushing myself even further. 2018 marked 10 years of marriage for my wife Sara & I, & also 10 official years of doing photography & video as a business. In that time we've built a beautiful family & have owned two beautiful homes including a relocation to a new town that seems to be the best decision of our marriage. I'm so excited to see where life takes us in the next year & the next decade. It hasn't always been easy, but putting our trust in our faith, being open to change even when we're confused, & trying to live a life with purpose has been working so far, here's to 10 more years of adventure. Happy New Year! Check the blog posts about the Switchfoot videos from Adventure Vision here: https://adventurevision.co/blog/2018/10/18/loves-your-native-tongue https://adventurevision.co/blog/voices And all 12 episodes of the Creative Dad Interviews on the Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZVh-4qI5BN8gF2nWE1zzlQ/videos