Unbeknownst to us, Omaha was home to one of the better zoos in the country. Ben and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get exotic safari-type photos without the hassle, expense, and potential injury of an authentic exotic safari.

If there is a heaven located anywhere in the hell that is Southern California, it's got to be Ventura. Situated about an hour up the coast from L.A. (or more, depending on the size of the traffic jam that you get in), its mountains trap the cool air off the ocean and keep summer temperatures in the mid 70s. Mmmmmmm.

I made the trip out to California for the Advanced Platypus workshop, taught by Dirck Halstead, PF Bentley, and Chuck Braverman at the Ventura campus of the Brooks Institute of Photography. It was an opportunity to learn the ways of the video business, designed to supplement the skills I have as a visual journalist with some knowledge of how to make some money and get my video work shown in places where lots of people will see it. Plus, it was an opportunity to meet lots of really great people from the business and do a little networking. All told, it was the most relaxing week of solid classroom time that I've ever experienced.

Welcome to the Warped Tour. One of the few remaining summer festival concert tours, it features more than 40 bands across several stages, and thousands upon thousands of punk rock fans (most of whom look to be in high school). It was my first big assignment to shoot for the Austin American-Statesman, which is graciously offering me some freelance gigs before I start as an intern there this fall (a very unpaid intern, mind you). I got to spend all day shooting everyone from Wichita Falls natives Bowling for Soup to the Dropkick Murphys, a punk band with bagpipes.