I must be doing something right! (feedback)

I love it when married couples write in to tell me these kinds of things. I must be doing something right! We'll see...

>Very cool. Are they the original size? We'd like to make a big photo
>out of a few! Thanks again, those are great photos! 'Chelle and I may
>just divorce, then get remarried so we can get better wedding photos
>from you!

Back to my roots: South Dakota in the summertime! (portraits)

Last week my family made our yearly trip to Aberdeen, South Dakota, to celebrate my Grandmother Lolly's 80th birthday! The whole extended family was there, as was all my camera gear. These are the best mint fudge brownies in the western hemisphere, made by my Aunt Becky::



Grandpa Bob & Grandma Lolly, two of the the happiest people I know::


What's great about family reunions is the rare chance to connect with my younger cousins, who are about to become actual adults! I want you to meet the quirkiest kid in the whole lot, Chandler::


The star of the whole bunch is the ultra-cute Lucas. I spent half my trip photographing this guy. Bob owns a successful dairy farm in Aberdeen, so we visited the calves. "Hi, cow!" Way, way cute. You should have been there.



The most precocious boy I've ever met. He played tour guide to a T at the farm.


My father! Not from South Dakota, but from nearby Mexico::


Lucas is really curious everywhere he goes::


He LOVES trains. And he loves that they're all his! His father Bill says, "Okay Lucas, let's go home." "Nnnnoooooooo!!!" Freakin. hilarious.



He likes to play with his new sister, Lindsay, my youngest cousin. That's 28 years between oldest and youngest. Yikes.



Kids and more kids!





During the birthday open house at my Aunt Becky's amazing country house, my dad played a violin recital to a bunch of Midwesterners he hardly knew. Love it!




Girl talk.


The weather wasn't that bad. I have nightmares of humid atmospheres, as I live in humid-free Denver. But it wasn't too bad when I was there. Except for the mosquitoes. I don't like mosquitoes.

Coming up next week, another wedding! Co-shooting with my photog-friend Nicole Roche. Stay tuned...

Some of the most nutritious foods in my new diet, Part One

So let's go back to November 2002. At that time, I was a chunky guy. I had a 42" waist. 225 pounds of sass. For a guy who's 5'10", that's big. Overweight. Nearly six years later, through some major changes in diet and exercise routine, I'm down to a 33-inch waist, weighing just under 190 lbs. (195 with my afro). That's huge! I haven't been that light since the CLINTON Administration.

And there's still some weight to loose (haha, just kidding), LOSE. I'm not going to gloat here any further; instead I'm going to give you some point-blank recommendations on certain foods that are essential to healthy eating.

If you're human, they're good for you. If you incorporate these into your diet, and eat them on a regular basis (some, every day), you'll be much better off than if you just went about without any sort of dietary plan. They're so good for you. O my god. Okay::

• • Spinach. Calorie for calorie, spinach is probably the most nutritious food on the entire planet. Super-rich in Vitamins K, A, C, B2, B6; high in manganese and magnesium (strong bones), folate (supports red blood cell production), iron (helps transports oxygen throughout your body. And it's cheap! Don't like the "irony" taste of spinach? Mix it with romaine (also one of the more nutritious greens) for the best of both worlds.

• • Salmon (and other fatty fish). Super-rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, protein, Vitamins D, B3, and B12. Fatty acids are very heart-healthy and helps control blood pressure. Don't like seafood? Take fish oil supplements. Or load up on walnuts and flaxseed (more on that below).

• • Tomatoes. Tomatoes not only have lots of Vitamin C, but also contain lycopene, an antioxidant. These are anti-aging and anti-cancer. Whether you drink Low-Sodium V8 vegetable juice or load up on the tomato sauce, you're getting that precious lycopene to work against signs of aging! Lycopene is better absorbed if you heat it up, so tomato sauce will be that much better for you. Mmm, tomatoes... Don't like tomatoes? Get your lycopene from tropical fruits like guava, watermelon, papaya, and pink grapefruit. But none of them are as highly concentrated in lycopene as tomatoes.

• • Extra-virgin olive oil. Full of monounsaturated fats (one of the good fats) and polyphenols, all extremely heart-healthy.

• • Green tea. I'm convinced that if Americans drank as much tea as they drank soda, cancer rates in this country would be lower. Tea leaves are naturally high in antioxidants and polyphenols, which are nature's free-radical scavengers (fewer wrinkles! anti-cancer! anti-inflammatory!), and it's calorie-free. It is said to help break down fats and increase metabolism. It helps thin the blood and prevent blood clots. And it's super-cheap!

• • Nuts. Especially walnuts and flaxseed. Both are super-rich in Omega-3's and provide lots of protein. Don't be discouraged by the fat content in walnuts. It's all good fat that work for you and not against you. Eat 12 walnuts a day. If you want to get exotic, try Brazil nuts. They're super-rich in selenium, an essential trace mineral that your body needs for certain functions (much like you need trace amounts of copper, zinc, etc.)

BUT... selenium can be toxic in large doses. So limit yourself to 2-3 Brazil nuts per day. Why is selenium so good for you? Lots of studies show that selenium helps protect against breast cancer and prostate cancer. Cancer is not good, you dig? There's a reason why the Japanese have the lowest prostate cancer rates in the world, and why they tend to live the longest. Traditionally, they eat a lot of fish and seaweed, and they get their carbs from rice—not breads and pastries and pasta and tortilla chips. Now you know why so many Japanese octogenarians just love to climb Mt. Fuji for their afternoon walk.

Flaxseed is better absorbed when milled (ground up), so keep that in mind. See my earlier post on nuts and seeds for more info on these essential foods. Props to Gary Fong for inspiring me to get obsessed about seeds!

Coming up next, the other foods that will make you feel years younger. Stay tuned...

A Merry Happy Fourth of July to you, to all!