Being from Denver it's hard to get very excited over an inch of snow on the ground, wake me up when there's 3 feet. It certainly doesn't warrant the local television channels cancelling the national news feed for interviews with Joe Blow on the corner laced with repeated video of the same car sliding into another. That said, I have to admit there was something cool about the excitement surrounding our brief winter encounter last night. Residents of our building could be found outside throwing snowballs at each other, and for those not familiar, you cannot even make a snowball in CO because the snow is so dry. This morning I even found the remnants of a 1-sphere snowman. All this excitement combined with being in a new place got me excited and I headed out for a short walk with my iPhone and grabbed some shots.

Spent a much needed 2-weeks in California with family for the holidays. Now it's back to work getting settled in the new apartment and getting the biz going. Let's go 2012!

I'd like to thank Peter Clark at Wonderful Machine for doing such a great job with my logo marks and typography. I also have him to thank for steering me towards Virb.com, a great website provider where I was able to get everything I wanted at a great price. I've really desired a website able to show my images large while maintaining easy navigation.

If you live in the Denver/Boulder area and like pizza, you’ll love Pizzeria Locale. You’ll swear you’re in Naples, Italy when you dive into their Margherita. As you can see, I finished mine.

On the web: www.pizzerialocale.com

Earlier this summer after the house was sold, but before we moved, I was looking forward to doing some street photography around Denver with my Nikon point and shoot. That plan met a quick demise when cleaning up after our garage sale the Nikon hit the floor. It wasn’t a spectacular explosion of a million pieces of plastic that only Hollywood could dream up, but rather a small thud I gave no notice to at the time. Soon afterwards I noticed it on a small piece of carpet on the concrete floor of the garage, and immediately that small thud came to mind. I quickly grabbed it and turned it on, so far, so good. I turned it around to look at the screen and it was on, but blank. Everything else on the camera worked, focus, zoom, shutter, everything, except the most crucial part. My hopes of walking around Denver with a inconspicuous camera were quickly dashed.

After moving my wife and I began to take part in the local fare of downtown Denver dining at new restaurants all around us. I had my iPhone on me and remembered a camera app that seemed cool when I bought it and I started making photographs. It soon became clear to me that this was the camera I should be walking around Denver with. All of a sudden I saw new things in new ways and an undiscovered corner of my creativity was awoken. I hope you enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed making it.

Here is a link to the app in the iTunes App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hipstamatic/id342115564?mt=8

Did some scouting shots of the Kitchen Aid mixer I plan to shoot this week. These were quickly shot to test angles, lighting, color-processing, and background color.

When a photographer shoots for their portfolio it’s called testing, and this shot is proof. The original idea wasn’t quite this, but this is what ended up happening. I can’t decide if I like it or not. It’s cool, but is it cheesy-cool? Wait! I have a thought. Hold on…

I was thinking to myself, “What is bothering me about this and making it cheesy?” (yes, I thought is was cheesy) It was the black in the corner making seem as though this tunnel of keyboards was some astrological feature rather than just a composition. I went in and made that space white thus removing the Star Wars feel. It’s still a little cheesy, but more Aged Vermont Cheddar than Limburger. Now I’m hungry, till next time…

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon TS-E 90mm Tilt/Shift
Light: White Lightning Einstein 640 in Chimera Med. Softbox back-right, White Lightning Ultra 1200 with Tough Spun left

Zappos went from zero to a company with sales of one-billion dollars in 8 years, all with no traditional marketing, just outstanding customer service. I kinda lust over Zappos because their success was built around positive company culture, amazing customer service, and happiness. Here are their Core Values and of course, the Happy Wrap.

• Deliver WOW Through Service
• Embrace and Drive Change
• Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
• Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
• Pursue Growth and Learning
• Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
• Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
• Do More With Less
• Be Passionate and Determined
• Be Humble

Sometimes I look at an image and it just doesn’t work for me, but later on while thumbing through I see it again with new eyes. All of a sudden it works and I’m left wondering what I did, or actually didn’t, see before. That’s the story of this image. In the case of this Adidas shoe I could easily blame either a lack of photographic energy on my behalf, or energy the shoe lacked in my eyes. I now believe it was the former because I saw this image again today and felt a strong compulsion to breath some life into it with some post-production. Originally, the composition included a left profile of the whole shoe on the right side of the frame pointing or guiding your eye back to the shoe’s tread, that went first. I then put about an hour or two of retouching into it, worked with highlighting the edge, and wrapped it all up with some dodging and burning. I am now happy. I’m actually happy enough to consider replacing the image of this shoe I put into my portfolio, but I’m going to sit on that decision for a couple days before jumping. The image in my portfolio is not bad, but I feel this one is closer to my look and feel.

As part of this post I would like to introduce the “B-Sides” Category of posts. Just like music, my B-Sides will be alternate interpretations of previously posted images or even different images from the same shoot.

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon TS-E 90mm Tilt/Shift
Light: White Lighting Ultra 1200 in Photoflex Small Halfdome

This is the original posted image.

Side Note: For those of you who actually follow and read my blog posts, thank you. Writing these blog posts has been somewhat of a challenge to me because I want a casual, open and honest voice, and it will take some time on my part for it to develop. I sincerely hope you find these posts informative and continue reading.

These may be inexpensive computer speakers, but I believe they are beautifully designed and the sound they put out is certainly higher grade than their price point. Back to the design, all black objects can be difficult, especially if they have different textures and complex shapes to be conveyed. In this case, each speaker and the background were lit and shot individually, then composited in Photoshop. Reflections were preserved so the speakers don’t appear to be hovering.

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L
Light: White Lightning Ultra 1200 with Chimera Super PRO Medium Softbox & Einstein 640 with Photoflex Small Halfdome

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” – Buddha

Written by Leo Babauta. Twitter: @zen_habits

Have your ever lost yourself in your work, so much so that you lost track of time? Being consumed by a task like that, while it can be rare for most people, is a state of being called Flow.In my experience, it’s one of the keys to happiness at work, and a nice side benefit is that it not only reduces stress but increases your productivity. Not bad, huh?

When I wrote about the Magical Power of Focus, I promised to write more about how to achieve Flow, a concept that is very much in vogue right now and something most of us have experienced at one time or another. Today we’ll take a look at what Flow is, why it’s important, and how to achieve it on a regular basis for increased productivity and happiness at work.

What is Flow?

Put simply, it’s a state of mind you achieve when you’re fully immersed in a task, forgetting about the outside world. It’s a concept proposed by positive psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, and these days you’re likely to read about it on blogs and in all kinds of magazines.

When you’re in the state of Flow, you:

• are completely focused on the task at hand;
• forget about yourself, about others, about the world around you;
• lose track of time;
• feel happy and in control;
• and become creative and productive.

One thing I love about Flow is that it takes the very Zen concept of being completely in the moment, and applies it to work tasks. It’s a concept I’ve talked a lot about here on Zen Habits — being in the moment, focusing completely on a single task, and finding a sense of calm and happiness in your work. Flow is exactly that.

Why is Flow Important?

I believe the ability to single-task (as opposed to multi-task) is one of the keys to true productivity. Not the kind of productivity where you knock off 20 items from your to-do list (although that can be satisfying), where you’re switching between tasks all day long and keep busy all the time.

The true productivity I mean is the kind where you actually achieve your goals, where you accomplish important and long-lasting things. As a writer, that might mean writing one or two important and memorable articles rather than 20 or 50 unimportant ones that people will forget 5 minutes after reading them. It means getting key projects done rather than answering a bunch of emails, making a lot of phone calls, attending a bunch of meetings, and shuffling paperwork all day long. It means closing key deals. It means quality instead of quantity.

And once you’ve learned to focus on those kinds of important projects and tasks, Flow is how you get them done. You lose yourself in those important and challenging tasks, and instead of being constantly interrupted by minor things (calls, emails, IMs, coworkers, etc.), you are able to focus on the tasks long enough to actually complete them.

And by losing yourself in them, you enjoy yourself more. You reduce stress while increasing quality output. You get important stuff done instead of just getting things done. You achieve things rather than just keeping busy.

Flow is one of the keys to all of that.

How to Achieve Flow and Happiness in Your Work

So how do you achieve this mystical state of being? Do you need to meditate or chant anything? No, you don’t (although meditation can improve your ability to concentrate). And Flow is anything but mystical — it’s very practical, and achieving it isn’t mysterious.

It can take practice, but you’ll get better at it. Here are the key steps to achieving and benefiting from Flow:

1. Choose work you love. If you dread a task, you’ll have a hard time losing yourself in it. If your job is made up of stuff you hate, you might want to consider finding another job. Or consider seeking projects you love to do within your current job. At any rate, be sure that whatever task you choose is something you can be passionate about.

2. Choose an important task. There’s work you love that’s easy and unimportant, and then there’s work you love that will make a long-term impact on your career and life. Choose the latter, as it will be a much better use of your time, and of Flow.

3. Make sure it’s challenging, but not too hard. If a task is too easy, you will be able to complete it without much thought or effort. A task should be challenging enough to require your full concentration. However, if it is too hard, you will find it difficult to lose yourself in it, as you will spend most of your concentration just trying to figure out how to do it — either that, or you’ll end up discouraged. It may take some trial and error to find tasks of the appropriate level of difficulty.

4. Find your quiet, peak time. This is actually two steps grouped into one. First, you’ll want to find a time that’s quiet, or you’ll never be able to focus. For me, that’s mornings, before the hustle of everyday life builds to a dull roar. That might be early morning, when you just wake, or early in the work day, when most people haven’t arrived yet or are still getting their coffee and settling down. Or you might try the lunch hour, when people are usually out of the office. Evenings work well too for many people. Or, if you’re lucky, you can do it at any time of the day if you can find a quiet spot to work in. Whatever time you choose, it should also be a peak energy time for you. Some people get tired after lunch — that’s not a good time to go for Flow. Find a time when you have lots of energy and can concentrate.

5. Clear away distractions. Aside from finding a quiet time and place to work, you’ll want to clear away all other distractions. That means turning off distracting music (unless you find music that helps you focus), turning off phones, email and IM notifications, Twitter and Growl, and anything else that might pop up or make noise to interrupt your thoughts. I also find it helpful to clear my desk, even if that means sweeping miscellaneous papers into a folder to be sorted through later. Of course, these days there isn’t anything on my desk, but I didn’t always work like this. A clear desk helps immensely.

6. Learn to focus on that task for as long as possible. This takes practice. You need to start on your chosen task and keep your focus on it for as long as you can. At first, many people will have difficulty, if they’re used to constantly switching between tasks. But keep trying, and keep bringing your focus back to your task. You’ll get better. And if you can keep your focus on that task, with no distractions, and if your task has been chosen well (something you love, something important, and something challenging), you should lose yourself in Flow.

7. Enjoy yourself. Losing yourself in Flow is an amazing thing, in my experience. It feels great to be able to really pour yourself into something worthwhile, to make great progress on a project or important task, to do something you’re passionate about. Take the time to appreciate this feeling (perhaps after the fact — it’s hard to appreciate it while you’re in Flow).

8. Keep practicing. Again, this takes practice. Each step will take some practice, from finding a quiet, peak time for yourself, to clearing distractions, to choosing the right task. And especially keeping your focus on a task for a long time. But each time you fail, try to learn from it. Each time you succeed, you should also learn from it — what did you do right? And the more you practice, the better you’ll get.

9. Reap the rewards. Aside from the pleasure of getting into Flow, you’ll also be happier with your work overall. You’ll get important stuff done. You’ll complete stuff more often, rather than starting and stopping frequently. All of this is hugely satisfying and rewarding. Take the time to appreciate this, and to continue to practice it every day.

“To be able to concentrate for a considerable time is essential to difficult achievement.” – Bertrand Russell