Like most people, I enjoy traveling for work. I think that the change in routine, combined with a little stress and some distance from an ongoing “to do” list does wonders for one’s mind, body and soul. The sad reality though, is that I don’t often have a lot of downtime to get out and explore the areas where I travel. So I do what I can, which is usually snap photos from a moving vehicle. Photographing from a moving vehicle is challenging and also, very efficient. You can really see a lot of interesting things in a short amount of time in a vehicle. And if you’re not tasked with driving, you can completely focus on the world moving by your window. The following photos were taken late last year and early this year during work trips to Philadelphia and New York.

Today on the blog: A (rather large) collection of images from recent travels to New York and Pennsylvania. This was a 2 week work trip, broken up in the middle by a weekend in New York City. And we made the most of it. Along with really good food, really good drinks and miles and miles of walking, I successfully made the pilgrimage to the photo/video Mecca, B&H Photo. And I did not walk out empty handed.

It’s no secret that our beloved downtowns are filled with cool alleyways. And as our downtowns continue to grow and revitalize, the traffic in our alleyways is slowly increasing. Late last year, we collaborated with Downtown Rogers Inc. to turn one of our alleyways into an art gallery. The goal was to emphasize the fact that as our alleyways get more foot traffic, the need to keep them clean and safe and even make them more inviting is increasing. To make it even more personal, the art in the gallery was made up entirely of images created in that particular alleyway. Today, we’re sharing some here on the blog.

Happy #throwbackthursday

Happy #throwbackthursday. Today on the blog, a visit back in time to 2010 where an entire day as spent exploring and photographing the ghost town of Picher, Oklahoma. Enjoy.

Food and beverage photography is quickly becoming one of my favorite jobs to work on. Part of this newfound love lies in the fact that I…

It's been a busy start to the year, much busier than this time last year. This time last year, I couldn’t have handled it. Professionally and personally, I was drained. So drained in fact, that I started 2017 by taking a sort of sabbatical. Owning AND operating a business is hard. And this whole balancing life and work thing is a learning process that is ongoing and ever-changing. In this season of life, I have been lax in my blogging endeavors. I hope to remedy that in the coming weeks, as I’ve got some fun things to say and some cool work to share. In the meantime, I thought I would share a very quick update on where I'm at a year later and how taking a sabbatical has changed my work life. 

As I was driving through a town recently, I was struck by this building with no roof. I promptly stopped and parked. As I walked around the premises quietly surveying the remains, I realized that what it lacked in functionality it more than made up for in personality and character. As best I can tell, it was an old automotive store/shop. I'm not sure what happened to the roof, or portions of the actual building. But I can tell you that I felt right at home there. 

In lieu of being on the road all week, I'm sharing an image of the Buffalo River Valley from a few years back. I remember this day perfect, as I was alone and hiking through the woods on a cold, cloudy, and rather damp morning. Sometimes, those "less than perfect" conditions are in fact, the most conducive to a thought-provoking, inspiring and altogether, perfect day to be outside. Cheers to the weather in all seasons and to being outside regardless of it.

After incredibly busy Spring, Summer and Fall seasons of work and life, I am starting 2017 by taking a self-imposed "Creative Sabbatical." This simply means that for the first 2 months of the year, I will be accepting work on a limited basis with the intention of using the rest of my time to decompress, recharge, learn some things and rework some aspects of Novo Studio. I will also be taking more time to focus on creating personal photographs. (Translation... more driving, exploring and trespassing). I will be posting a few updates here on the blog and on social media. As for my personal work, you can feel free to follow along on my website, on my Flickr page and on my Instagram page. Cheers to a New Year, see you soon. 

Philip Thomas // Novo Studio

In anticipation of a very busy upcoming season, I'm taking some personal time this week. If anyone needs me, I'll be in my kayak, on my mountain bike, or around the campfire. Cheers. 

Lately, I've been dreaming of a photography road trip to some abandoned destinations. My recent schedule has afforded me many bike rides but no real time to travel and shoot. And while I plan to remedy that in the next few weeks, nothing I find will probably compare to the town of Picher Oklahoma. I shared some of my images here on the blog a few years back but this week, I happened to be revisiting them and I decided to make a quick little slideshow with some of my favorite images. Enjoy. 

No, we didn't go to Chicago recently. But a few years ago, we did. Did we have fun? Not really. Mostly because unbeknownst to me at the time, I had Mono. I think without having Mono though, it would be fun. Not as much fun as New York City of course, but fun nonetheless. One of our early 2015 tasks is backing up and moving files around at the studio and yesterday, I happened upon these pictures. They were made before we ever launched this site but I still felt compelled to share a few here on the blog. Enjoy. 

As many of you know, we are currently living a life-in-limbo. For the past few weeks, we have called Fort Smith Arkansas and the Mercy Hospital here, home. We've slept on hospital cots, hospital beds, a few different hotel beds and finally, a more permanent (and comfortable) bed at the Candlewood Suites. Our hotel is about a 2 minute drive from the hospital where our kiddos are currently living. We have settled into a bit of a daily routine and today by way of images, we thought it appropriate to walk you through a typical day and also, give you an update. Off we go. 

Say hello to Kristen Thomas. Many of you know her beautiful face from weddings over the years, where she would help photograph and also assist me. And if you’ve spent any time at all with her, you also know her sweet spirit, her contagious laugh and her absolute love for children. It’s probably good that she loves kids so much because she’s got two of them.

If you’ve been following our story at all, you know that last weekend, I rushed her to the hospital in the middle of the night because her water had broken prematurely. Right now, she’s on permanent bed rest until the twins get here. I’m so thankful we took a day last week to venture out into the great Arkansas outdoors and create some maternity photographs of her. She was a trooper the whole time and often ventured around against my wishes (typical).

Here are a few images from our treasured time together. Thank you again for all the love, the prayers and the support you have shown the two of us and our two kiddos. Pretty soon, they’ll be here! 

While on a recent commercial shoot, I was approached by someone working on decorating VIP/dressing rooms rooms for the new Arkansas Music Pavilion (The AMP). I was asked if I would be interested in creating some photographic art to help decorate these rooms and to be honest, I don't even think this person had even finished asking the question before I said yes. 

The AMP has been around for awhile. Prior to it's permanent structure being built in Rogers, a temporary version of the facility was setup in Fayetteville in the back parking lot of a shopping mall. Recently, construction began on the permanent structure and in just a few short days, the venue will hold it's first concert. My idea for the project was to create abstract images of the actual venue. These images would then be printed as gallery wraps or framed art and used to adorn the walls of the VIP rooms for the venue. I spent a few hours one weekday morning and an additional few hours that evening walking the venue, looking for interesting angles, textures, and details that I could capture as art. 

For me, this job is a perfect compliment and balance to an already busy season of work and life. Taking the time to slow down (or in some cases, stop), to look around and notice the beauty in the details is a great way for a creative person to breathe deep in the midst of seasons of life where air might be scarce. The resulting images were well-received by the clients and I thought I'd share a few of them here on the blog. Cheers. 

If I had to pick one word to sum up the year, I don't know what it would be. I suppose you can't pick just one word to sum up anything. They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  And this blog post, with it's "20+" images would mathematically be more words than I would care to list out here. But hopefully, these images in some small way, begin to describe how much fun we've had being creative in 2013 (and quite possibly, late 2012). We're truly thankful for this last year and we're very excited for the next. Onward and Enjoy. 

Sometimes, you just need to get out of the office and take a hike. Enjoy these images from a day of exploration, rejuvenation and solitude.  

Sometimes, you just have to get away and unplug. For me, it often results in some extended time outdoors. Most recently, it was a camping trip. My time away was filled with lots of pretty fall colors, cold air, good food, good conversation with good friends, an acoustic guitar solo exhibition, roaring camp fires and absolutely no cell phone service whatsoever. I did however, pack my little Fuji x100s and used it religiously. Here's a few images from my time away.

Happy Weekend.

If you've ever read the bio page on our website, you'll know that I'm a huge Mumford & Sons fan. So it was a real treat this past weekend to travel to Guthrie Oklahoma for their Gentlemen of the Road Stopover. The Gentlemen of the Road Stopover is a huge 2 day festival with lots of great music, food and festivities. The idea behind these festivals is to setup in a small, mostly unheard of town, enjoy music from a wide variety of bands and to embrace the local culture. Of course the townspeople get into it as well (most of them, anyway). Despite the intense Oklahoma heat, our time in Guthrie was super fun. Some of my favorite bands were Bears Den, Alabama Shakes and of course, Mumford & Sons who ended the event on Saturday night. Here's a few images from our weekend away. Enjoy.

They call Paris the "City of Light". Some people call it "The City of Love". But I would simply call it "The City of Awesome". We had the same game plan in Paris as we did in London....a "no agenda", whatever we felt like doing vacation. We didn't go to the Lourve. We saw it on a subway map though....and on postcards. We went to the Eiffel Tower three times, once to just see it, once to eat a picnic lunch in front of it and, once at night to see it light up. (magical) The Paris Metro was easy enough to navigate and according to the subway map, there was very little of the city we didn't visit. 

Having been to Paris before but without a decent camera, I was excited to return with one...and also, with my wife who had never even been across the ocean. Paris was very much as I remembered it and yet, it still took my breath away. The architecture is ancient and stunning. The atmosphere (for the most part) is laid back much less hurried than what I'm used to. And in spite of what I’ve always heard about the French, they are friendly, if not chatty and down-to-earth. We spent our time walking the streets, studying the terrain and soaking up the culture. We ate at cafes or bought bread and cheese from a nearby market. And of course, we made images with our cameras. Here’s a few of my favorites.

Have a great weekend everyone.