This year’s Northwest String Summit was nothing short of incredible.  It’s an annual bluegrass music festival during which I shot photos last year, but in order to fully enjoy the weekend, I only had my camera in hand for one of the days… the last day.  All year I felt a slight regret for that fact.  This year, my goal was to shoot as much as possible, but still find the balance with seeing the fun through my own eyes instead of the lens.

String Summit is held at one of my favorite places to shoot, Horning’s Hideout in North Plains, Oregon.  To me personally, it’s one of those places that holds a lot of history and magic.  As a photographer, it is one of those places that looks beautiful in even the harshest of mid-day light.  The only problem is that it is also a notoriously dusty place.   This meant that if I wanted to shoot all weekend, I would have to keep it protected.  So I decided to do a test run of Think Tank Photo’s Digital Holster 50.  It’s features also let me keep my camera ready to fire, even with my longest lens, the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8, even with the lens hood attached.  This new bag allowed me to conveniently carry my camera around the festival, with total confidence that it would be protected, but still instantly ready for shooting.  All I had to do was pull it out of the bag and fire away.

So.. camera in hand, I decided my focus would be on the people and scene of String Summit, not necessarily the music. The first of which was the annual String Summit Tutu Mafia, which had grown in size significantly since last year.  I was impressed with the turnout and the abundance of pure style shown within this year’s Mafia.  We managed to get in a photo shoot in at camp before heading to the venue.  The glamor was in full effect as the tutus waved and fluttered in the sun. This year we were treated with tutus of orange, blue, pink, red, yellow, and many other different colors worn by a wide range of people. Which Tutu Mafia member is your favorite?

The always adorable kids’ parade was Saturday afternooon.  The young ones worked so hard creating their costumes and decorations to show off in their parade, and their efforts did not go unnoticed.  Led by Tyler Fuqua in his incredible custom-made dragon costume, they proudly wandered through the crowd.  Some were more nervous than others, but it was my friend Amelia who was shining the brightest, towering above all others on her stilts! How can you not love the kids’ parade?

A couple of tiny lost creatures found their way into our camp at one point during the festival, and I couldn’t resist taking out the macro lens to get some good close-up shots.  One was a small but beautiful butterfly who seemed very interested in our camp flowers.  She fluttered around each blossom, not minding that myself and fellow photographer Carlton Ward fussed about trying to get the right shot. The other was a tiny little inchworm crawling across a friend’s finger.  That little guy didn’t have a care in the world as he slowly explored the ins and outs of his new friend’s hand. We were careful not to drop him as I snapped frame after frame, trying to keep him in sharp focus.  I guess String Summit isn’t always just about the people and music!

Horning’s was as magical as ever through that weekend.  I saw everything from a didgeridoo playing rooster to a team of fun loving people calling themselves Gang Green.  I was honored to receive a green star on my belly by a real-life Sneetch, and I stunningly read our manaquin’s jail release papers. Who knew he was such a criminal?  I left the weekend thankful I live so close to a wonderful scene, fulfilled musically by all the incredibly talented artists, and so very grateful I got to share it with my amazing group of friends.   Until next year, Strummit!

Here are a few more sample photos, but feel free to skip straight to the full gallery!

Whew!  It’s been quite a festival season!  But my third and final music festival this year was 4 Peaks Music Festival held in Bend, Oregon.  It’s a short drive from Portland, so we packed the car and headed to the center of our state for the two day fest.  This one was more of a family affair, as my girlfriend and I brought my daughter Maysen along with us.  She loves music festivals, and this one did not disappoint.

The setting for this fest was breathtakingly gorgeous.  The entire weekend we were treated with an amazing view of many of the Oregon Cascades.  But then on top of that, our Mother Nature decided to bless us with some spectacular sunsets!  I tried to do them justice with my camera, but they only came slightly close to the beauty of being there.  The weather was absolutely perfect as well.  The sun was hot and intense, but it never got overwhelming.  Wind was a factor in the evening, especially on the first day, but that was easily overcome by heading to the stage which was a natural bowl, protecting us from the wind.  Though, at one point, a big dust devil ripped through the upper part of the amphitheater, hurling umbrellas, chairs, blankets, and other belongings high into the air.  It was spectacular to watch!  Though I felt bad for the people whose umbrellas got ripped apart by the fierce wind.

4 Peaks was a very small festival, which was a welcome change after High Sierra and the largest String Summit ever.  There really were no problems with crowds, and it allowed us to meet some new friends.

A man named Bip, who is well-known among the festival community, was there and spent much of his time as he always does, bending long metal rods into beautiful shapes for anyone who wanted one.  These pieces are incredible examples of art.  Each one rings with a beautiful tone when tapped against something rigid.  At one point, he was surrounded by a big group of kids (including Maysen) patiently waiting their turn to get their shape created.  Some wanted stars, others wanted roses.  I was incredibly impressed to watch as Bip took all the time that was needed to make sure that every single kid got their piece.  I got a chance to sit under a mister during Izabella’s set on Saturday, and we had a great conversation about his past experiences, as he has been a part of this scene for a very long time.  He originally made Maysen a rose (as seen in the photos), but unfortunately she lost it.  Bip was kind enough to make her a new piece in the shape of a star.  While making it, he proclaimed, “This is by far the coolest star I’ve made all weekend.”  Maysen was very proud.

Since my daughter was with me all weekend, I didn’t get much time to take photos.  But at times my girlfriend would spend time with Maysen so I could go do my thing.  Especially when the light was perfect for photos.  On Saturday, this just happened to be during Blue Turtle Seduction’s set, so they were really the only performers I managed to shoot.  The amazingly talented guitarist from Izabella (one of my newest favorites from this year’s festival season) joined them for the second half of their set, which was an amazing treat.  I was glad to get some shots of them all together.

Outside of that, I really enjoyed wandering around finding the intricacies that make 4 Peaks one of my favorite festivals I’ve attended.

There is always magic at Horning’s Hideout, and this year’s Northwest String Summit was no different.   Those of us from Portland always feel so lucky to live near a place like Horning’s.  In the past, it has been the ultimate setting for some incredible stories, experiences, and adventures.  We expected nothing less as we rolled into this year’s String Summit, the annual bluegrass music festival that is held at Horning’s Hideout every year.

First we had to survive the scare of losing our tickets!  My girlfriend Christy and I searched through both our places for about 2 hours before we finally realized that they were gone for good.  Luckily we made a final effort call to the box office, planning to beg them to replace our tickets so we could get in.  But there was no begging required!  They re-issued our tickets and left them at will call for us.  Disaster averted!

We manged to find a good spot up in the hills at Horning’s, close to our group’s regular spot.  We were a bit more spread out this year, but that was okay.  It gave us some good excuses to wander around to visit people.

This was my first String Summit without my daughter, and it was definitely a whole new expoerience.  The one aspect of the festival I was able to really take advantage of was the performances!  With all the distractions of Horning’s, my daughter usually likes to go wandering most of the time we’re there, and then catch a set or two of music, as long as there is hooping involved.  This year, I was able to really enjoy the music, and dance like crazy!  The dust bowl that is created at Horning’s is stuff of legend, and this year didn’t let us down.  I must have breathed in a whole hand-ful of dirt and dust.  Did I care?  Hell no.  I was having way too much fun!

The festival ran from Friday through Sunday, and bookended our trip with two more nights.  On Saturday, I wandered around with my camera, hoping to capture the feel and the warmth of the weekend.  There were so many great kids to shoot at the Kids’ Parade, as well as all the crazy and free people dancing to the bluegrass music.  Late Saturday night (or should I say early Sunday morning), a few of us wandered down to the lake, hoping to catch some of the sunrise bubble making that goes on across the lake.  While we found no bubbles, we turned the journey into a peacock feather hunt that lasted until the sun was high in the sky.

Overall, the weekend was full of great moments with close friends, powerful and energetic music, and lots and lots of hill walking.  Our feet and bodies were tired, but it was all worth it!