In almost 20 years of shooting full time Commercial Photography with Novo Studio, I have traveled quite a bit. But for the life of me, I cannot remember a time when I’ve traveled so consecutively for work. For the last 8 weeks, I’ve been gone in some capacity. This does not make me a professional traveler, but I feel compelled to share a bit about my experiences and lessons learned regardless. Since I’m not a professional traveler, I’ll keep my stories, my tips and my tricks short and sweet.

But first, Coffee.

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

It was a rough week last week as I said goodbye to my beloved Bulldog, Bosco (otherwise known as "THE Bosco"). For the last 6+ years, he's been a staple in the house (and sometimes, the studio). His loyalty, his loving demeanor and his commitment to snoring as loudly as he could has greatly enriched my life. If I've learned anything about him over the years, it's that...

Today on the blog, I'm excited to share some behind the scenes images from this year. The following are a collection of personal memories and work-related images, most of which were captured with my trusty iPhone. Enjoy!

For the past 2 weeks, I've been traveling around Arkansas and into Oklahoma for a big commercial photography shoot. I've been shooting a lot and hardly spending any time on the computer whatsoever. So today, I pulled some images from my recent travels to share here on the blog. Happy Weekend!

Congratulations to Ben and Ryan on their VERY recent engagement. Late last week, we helped Ben plan the proposal and then, hung out behind a trailer and some shrubbery to capture the moments. Here are few images from the evening. Enjoy.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks here at the studio. And as it relates to blogging frequency, that can mean one of two things. Either we blog a lot or we hardly blog at all. Lately, it's been the latter. We have been out and about a little bit, doing some photography work. But a majority of our time has been spent shooting video, editing video, working on a few graphic design projects and continuing our game of catch up on wedding related stuff. So we decided to share some "behind the scenes" images from the last couple of weeks. Happy Monday! 

Yesterday, August 18th, was the official due date for #thethomastwins. When we found out that we were having two babies instead of one, the doctor told us that they would probably come early, just not 2 months early. But such is life and these kids came when they did and we have a whole fiasco of a story to tell them about their entrance into this world when they're old enough to appreciate it. I thought it appropriate to take a blog post to bring all our wonderful readers, followers and fans up to date on what has happened and how things are going with our family. Here we go.  

An update on our life-in-limbo: Summer's out of the hospital, Weston's still in the hospital and we're still here in Fort Smith...

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 the Thomas Twins. Pictured up top is Summer Joy Thomas and below, Weston Michael Thomas. We are so grateful for these two and for their (somewhat) smooth arrival into the world. The events leading up to their arrival however, have been less than smooth and at times, downright crazy. It's been a very stressful couple of weeks away from home but early Wednesday morning, the twins decided that it was time to enter the world and that was that. 

Having spent a little over a week figuring how to do life in limbo and wondering if the kids were going to be born while I was away, I was anxious to...

To say that the last week has been crazy would be a drastic understatement. And yet, here we are with both babies still intact and growing in their womb. This past week, we managed to fit in a...

Father’s day 2014 has turned out to be one that we will long remember. At approximately 12:45am, Kristen’s water broke while she was sleeping. We happened to be staying at a small motel in a remote part of Arkansas when it happened and we managed to cram a 2 hour drive into much less time and make it safely to Mercy Hospital in Ft. Smith.

We checked in immediately and she was started on medications to stop labor or slow it down as long as possible. We have no idea how long that will last and so, we wait. Right now, Kristen is 31 weeks pregnant and the twins are weighing in between 3 and 4 pounds each. Chances are good that they will be healthy and safe if they decide to grace us with their presence in the next couple days. We are however, confined to the hospital in Ft. Smith as a transfer would be risky at this point.

We are in good spirits, very tired, a little (or a lot) freaked out and also, very excited to be on this journey together. And of course, we are deeply moved that so many of you have responded with words of encouragement, love, prayers and support. Thank you and we will keep you updated.

P & K + 2

Last week, I traveled to Celina Texas to create some Bridal Portraits for a beautiful bride-to-be by the name of Courtney Roza. Courtney is an identical twin sister to another beautiful bride we worked with, Kelsey (now Difani). Over the course of the last year, we've become great friends with both Courtney and Kelsey, their significant others and also, their family. Their family has very graciously opened up their home to us numerous times and we always have a great time with them. In fact, they've become like family to us. This past week was especially memorable as we shared stories and experiences about life with twins. Although we can't show you any of the actual bridal portraits for another few weeks, we thought it would be fun to post some "behind the scenes" photos from our time in Texas. Have a great weekend and enjoy. 

Meet Victoria. She makes the best bread around here and she makes it from scratch everyday. She owns a little restaurant across the street and a little bit to the left of our studio space. We like her and her restaurant so much that we've slowly been working out a plan to help narrow her focus of food offerings and rebrand her establishment with her bread as the spotlight. We've had a few meetings with her to talk through details and during those meetings, I've snapped a few photos with my iPhone; partly for inspiration in moving forward with the new vision and partly because I just can't help myself. Enjoy :)

Growing up in Tulsa, my home was about 5 minutes from the Philbrook Museum of Art. I remember taking art classes there as a child but as I got older and busier, I sort of forgot about the place. Last weekend, I went back for the first time in awhile. The place has changed a great deal and yet, it was somehow still familiar. I enjoyed perusing the collections and of course, I decided to try and make some art of my own. All images made with an iPhone 5s. Enjoy.  

Although I've called Northwest Arkansas home for a number of years, Tulsa Oklahoma is where I was born and raised. I've been gone from Tulsa for almost 15 years and yet, I can still get around the city without having to use my iPhone for directions. Last weekend, I used my iPhone exclusively for making images. Here's a few of my favorites. Enjoy.

Typically when I visit a flea market or an antique shop, I’m looking for one thing…old cameras. But recently, I noticed that there were lots of interesting “people” in flea markets. Most of them of course, are not real…unless you count the lady or gentleman running the establishment. But, scattered about the intricate layouts of shelves and booths, you can find very interesting characters indeed. Some of them are downright creepy. Some are sad. And some leave themselves open for interpretation. Here’s a few interesting faces I found recently. All photos shot with an iPhone. Enjoy.

It's always fun to create images using the architecture of an art museum. And as long as you're not using flash and aiming your camera at every single piece of art, the museum workers typically don't mind you taking pictures at all. Awhile back, we posted images we created from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and this past weekend while in Kansas City, we did the same thing with the Nelnson-Atkins Museum of Art. Here's a few of the resulting images. Happy Monday.