I was so happy to hear that Graeme McDowell from sunny ‘Norn Irn’ won the US Open this past weekend. It reminded me of a cool shoot I did with him back in 2004 for The Observer Sports Magazine (UK). We spent an afternoon on a Scottsdale, Arizona golf course, just shooting around making pictures, and he was awesome to work with. No publicists, no handlers, just me and him having a laugh. I still can’t play golf though. I guess i never picked up any tips. Anyway, good for you Graeme. I’ve always been keeping an eye on your progress.

I heard today that Lorena Ochoa, the world’s number 1 female golfer ( and has been so since the beginning of time, or so it seems), is retiring right in the middle of the season, and right at the top of her game! I had the great pleasure of being asked by Sports Illustrated to travel down to her home town of Guadalajara, Mexico and do a shoot with her for their end of year portfolio. It was a great trip and shoot, and Lorena was so unassuming and sweet to work with. I can only imagine it’s a temporary retirement ( i.e. a break form the game), as she’s been the queen of women’s golf since she was 8!

Yesterday was a good day. It all started out with a photo shoot with Simon Sinek, a cool, young, new- thinking entrepreneur ( my favorite kind). The shoot all worked out organically. Nice! Then simon invited me to his guest speaking event last night. Now I’ve been reading his book, but the seminar? Words fail me. I think there’s a lot of ‘new thinkers’ out there, and it can be easy to be cynical, but Simon has really hit on something. What was so impactful to me (other than his great story telling ablility) was the simple fact that people/ clients/ whatever don’t come to you for WHAT you do, but WHY you do it. Think about that. You probably think you know the ‘why’, but in reality it’s probably just the ‘what’ and ‘how’ you do what you do that your familiar with. Do yourself a favor, and learn how do grasp the ‘why’. Now i know that probably sounds too simple and straightforward on it’s own, but believe me, you’ve never thought of things with this much clarity before. If you only get inspired by one person a month, consider Simon Sinek next time!

After watching the Saints miraculously win the Super Bowl this past weekend, I began to think about my first trip down to New Orleans, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. I was initially covering evacuees in Houston for People magazine, but once that assignment was over, myself and staff writer Ken Lee decided to make the dicey drive through Louisiana (mainly because ken needed his car back, after it had been stranded at New Orleans airport for the best part of a week). So we stocked the car with four or five cans of gasoline, food and a couple of empty bottles as an emergency bathroom ( you can’t stop once your crossing the swamp). I was fortunate to hook up with a unit of the 82nd Airborne as they patrolled the city, including the Superdome. It was a remarkable sight. There were signs posted outside noting that ecoli was present, which made the experts at the time certain that the building would have to be demolished! I’m happy to say that prophecy did not come true. But the experience of walking this desolate empty space, with just the sound of dripping water, was eerily reminiscant of a scene from a Ridley Scott movie. I just stood there, thinking that this was the sight of so many past great Super Bowls, and every Saints home game, and just a few days ago, the scariest place on Earth. What a remarkable recovery for a team that a short time ago was homeless, just like it’s residents.

i love this shoot we did recently, with Jesse Billauer: quadriplegic surfer, founder of ‘Life Rolls On’, and inspiration to us all. http://www.malibutimes.com/malibu_times_magazine/