One of Missy Higgins from her show last night in Portland. I shot this while standing at the merch table at the very back of the room. My 70-200 lens and I are gonna be best friends.

A panorama of Otter Crest, along Highway 101 in Oregon. Click through to see a bit bigger.

(Source: brianstowell)

Jenni walking towards Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach, OR.

(Source: brianstowell)

Seaside, OR

(Source: brianstowell)

2010’s been an extremely important year for me. And I couldn’t have done the things I’ve done, seen the things I’ve seen, or experienced all the things I have without a group of friends that I now call family. This one’s for you, Josh, Zach, Austin, Liam, Sam, Darius, Tim, & Dan.

Mostly inspired by “Change Of Time”, “Lantern”, & “Another New World”. All of which are beautiful songs, but each one hit me in a direct and deeply personal way throughout my year. You guys should see this thing in person.

Sorry for the garish watermark. I got tired of seeing my anchor tattoo photos being stolen time and time again.

We talked of the Other New World’s we’d discover
As she gave up her body to me
And as I chopped up her mainsail for timber
I told her of all that we still had to see
As the frost turned her moorings to nine-tail
And the wind lashed her sides in the cold
I burned her to keep me alive every night
In the lovers embrace of her hold

I won’t call it rescue what brought me here back to
The Old World to drink and decline
And pretend that the quest for Another New World
Was well-worth the burning of mine
But sometimes at night in my dreams comes the singing
Of some known tropical bird
And I smile in my sleep thinking Annabelle Lee
Has finally made it to Another New World

Designed and inked by the ultra talented Brian Wilson @ Scapegoat Tattoo in Portland, OR. Visit their shop if you ever get the chance. They’re the world’s first vegan tattoo shop, have extremely talented artists, and are incredibly sweet people.

Today, for a moment, I was King of the Forest.

Click through to check out a set of photos from last night’s Tigers Jaw show in Portland, OR.

My website is currently down due to hosting issues. It’ll be back soon - I hope.

Tigers Jaw are playing the West Coast for the first time and I was very excited to be able to see them last night. I felt a little weird about attending a house show in a city I’ve only lived in for a few months. Jenni and I didn’t know anybody there. But we made our way into a poorly lit, mildewy basement for a 4 hour show featuring some local acts and The Sidekicks and Tigers Jaw. TJ played nearly every song I could have wanted them to play. I was hoping to hear “Never Saw It Coming”, but I really cannot complain since they played past curfew at our request (“Fuck it! We’re punk, let’s do it!”) and closed out the show with my/everyone’s favorite song “Plane vs. Tank vs. Submarine”.

In case you’re not familiar with Tigers Jaw they hail from Scranton, PA and play insanely catchy pop punk. Sure, it’s been done and is still continuing to be re-hashed, but something sets Tigers Jaw apart. Maybe it’s the simpleness the songs hold, or the Jesse Lacey favorite Epiphone hollow body guitar, all mixed with a little bit of nostalgia. If you enjoy Jawbreaker or Promise Ring or Your Favorite Weapon era Brand New you will love Tigers Jaw.

The show was lit entirely by a single uncovered light bulb. I was lucky to get the shots I did with skewed lighting and bodies moving everywhere. But it was fun to shoot, fun to watch, and fun to shout and tear my vocal cords out for. I hope they make it back this way again soon. Check them out while they’re still on tour and grab their recently repressed self-titled record. I spin it atleast once a week.