i did not set this up

Every Artist Needs A Muse

These are a few photos i did with Charlotte Martin for her upcoming album and tour promotion. There are lots more but they're going to be on the actual album so i can't show 'em yet. Check out Charlotte's Myspace Page for a pre-released song from that album and her tour dates. There are a few little behind the scenes snapshots from our shoot as well.

swimming bulldog - turn up the volume

Future of Forestry Music Video

The music video i directed for Future of Forestry is currently the featured video on Relevant Magazine's website. Check it out here!
Not sure how long it stays up there...

Roommate Road Trip

Laura and I decided we'd had enough of LA for a day so we took a little trip out to the Colorado River. We packed up the element with some good snacking items, fishing poles, floaty stuff, and your basic swimming necessities.

A few weeks ago i was storm chasing out there to shoot skies for a project i'm working on, and i found this awesome spot on the river called El Dorado Canyon. Its perfect. It was about 100 degrees and the water felt so good! I'd take fresh water over swimming in the ocean any day.

Another highlight of the trip was Laura's mixed CD of 80's power ballads like THIS ONE. Oh yeah, we rocked out desert rat style.

Welcome to El Dorado Canyon


Outside the Hotel Nipton



"Hold on, I need a photo for Myspace"


Jumpin'. And don't even mess with Lo's nose plug style.



Fishin'. By the way, that's not bait, that's the only fish i caught. We named him Timmy and tossed him back.

Future of Forestry Music Video Update

Hey everybody,
So i keep hearing from people who are wondering when the music video is going to be released, and I've been wondering the same thing, but have been met by frustrating silence from the record label. Finally i found out that a few months ago two of the band members decided to leave the band (which is now public knowledge), so everyone, including the label, had to keep quiet while they were on tour. Unfortunately, this also put a halt to the video release. I spoke with the record label and the band, and they both love the video and want to get it up soon, but it's just a crazy time for them now.

Unfortunately, I do not own the rights to video, and it would be a violation of my contract to post it on the internet, so the waiting game will have to continue.

There were many people who worked really hard to make the video happen, and some of them probably check in to my blog, so if you're one of those people thank you so much for your help and sorry you haven't been able to see the fruits of your labor yet.

On a more positive note, showing the video to a few agencies in LA landed me a commercial directing job and another music video. The next music video is with Charlotte Martin and should be ready in early september, so maybe you'll see the second before the first. I'll post as soon as they're out so check in every now and then.

A Quote

Perhaps your own reiterated cries deafen you to the voice you hoped to hear.

- C.S. Lewis

Peter Dawson's Son Beats Peter Dawson At Ping Pong - AKA "This Actually Happened Part 2"

I recently had the awesome experience of hanging out with some musician friends in a recording studio while they were recording an album. It was pretty much the coolest thing i've ever done and i so wish i was a musician! It's everything you think it is and more. Drinks (yes please), cigarettes(no thanks), people talking about the Beatles, etc...More on that later - but - something totally crazy happened.

After being introduced to the other musicians who were contributing to the album, one of them, a really cool guy named Jordan, says to me "wait a minute, are you Peter Dawson the photographer?" So i told him that i was in fact a photographer. So he says "No way! My dad is Peter Dawson the Violinist!"

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Yeah, so there are basically four other Peter Dawsons on Google:
1)Peter Dawson the Dentist/Dental institute in Florida, whom i despise because he has the domain www.peterdawson.com. If you're interested, it looks like their doing a "head and neck dissection" on August 9th.

2)Peter Dawson Band, an Austin Texas based musician. I don't really care for the music, but my friend from Texas went to his show once and mailed me a pair of pink American Apparel women's underwear that have "I LOVE PETER DAWSON" printed on the butt, which i guess this guy sells as merchandise at his shows. I'm saving them for the future Mrs. Dawson.

3)Peter Dawson the Australian Wedding Photographer. Sometimes i get email requests for my "wedding packages." Enough said.

4)Peter Dawson the Violinist Check it out! There's a little audio sample on the site and here's his storefront in Ottowa, Canada. He sells violins too.


So Jordan told me all about his dad - how he was a Russian Immigrant named Peter Zadorozny, and how that name wasn't memorable or whatever for a musician, so he changed his name to Peter Dawson. Jordan's an amazing musician too - check out some music on his myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/abbeyband

And yes, he beat me at ping pong, which is pretty good because i was my dorm champion in college, but i haven't played since then.

Small world indeed....