This last Sunday, I got to blaze up a mountainside in Little Cottonwood Canyon with Seth and Ed. They are hard core rock climbers and enjoy night bouldering in the summer because the rocks get so hot during the daytime.

Since I have only been rock climbing a handful of times in my life, my skills were not up to the level they needed to be for bouldering so I mostly just hung out and took pictures. I did try to climb for a second, but have no idea how they pull into the rock. It’s insane.

Lit by only a couple of lanterns, these boys pieced together the rock and learned the best places for hand & foot placement. It was cool to see them take it hold by hold. Maybe someday I will be awesome enough to try bouldering myself….

And, maybe someday I will have a camera that can handle shooting in really dim light without giving me super noisy pictures. Sigh.

A few weeks ago, my family had our annual family reunion up at Bear Lake.

The water in Bear Lake is freezing! This did us no good on Friday, since it was windy, cloudy, and not very warm. Saturday was a perfect day, though (which is the day I took all these beach photos). Sunny, hot, and perfect weather for a swim in the icy blue. So refreshing!

The first picture is an HDR shot I took next to the cabin we were staying. It was a beautiful night with mesmerizing clouds and a soft breeze. Oh, and tons of mosquitoes

So…I still consider myself an amateur when it comes to photographing fireworks. It’s not too difficult in theory, but I feel like it’s a crap shoot & hope something good comes from the 300+ pictures I snap. The fun thing about shooting fireworks is that you don’t know exactly how they will turn out. All you do is aim and shoot. You don’t know what the composition will be, the shape or size of the firework, and you just gotta guess on how long to keep the shutter open. The uncertainty makes it exciting and since I already love fireworks so much, I enjoy these pictures….even if they’re not the greatest fireworks pictures ever taken.

Enjoy!

On our second day at Island Park, instead of driving into West Yellowstone again or the Tetons (which were hours away), a group of us ventured to Mesa Falls. Again, it was a bit overcast & chilly but the rain held up and we were able to enjoy a wonderful afternoon at the falls.

It starts out with the main overlook close to the parking area. Then, there’s a short hike to another waterfall with some gorgeous scenic overlooks. My friends are good sports for letting me photograph them. What a fun weekend!

A couple weeks ago, I went to Island Park, Idaho, with a bunch of friends. After arriving late Thursday night, we woke up to a beautiful, picturesque scene right out the back door of the cabin we were staying. A gorgeous lake with its own mini dock complete with a paddle boat & canoe, billowing clouds with brilliant blue sky peeking through, and the whistle of a breeze blowing through the trees.

I was waiting with bated breath for the rain to come, but we lucked out! Despite some clouds & wind, we had great weather for exploring West Yellowstone. It was my first time up there and I LOVED it!

Unfortunately, when we went to see Old Faithful, we just barely missed it. We waited for an hour and froze as the temperature had dropped & the wind was blowing even harder. It wasn’t too spectacular with the gray, overcast skies. But, now I can cross it off my list, right?

On our way back to the cabin, we stopped by some old buildings by the side of the road. It looked like a garage, restaurant, and mini motel that were completely abandoned. We made it back to Island Park just in time for an intense, gorgeous sunset overlooking the lake.

Last week, I found the first blossoms in Salt Lake! (or at least I’d like to think I found the first ones)

I love Spring and everything that comes with it: the blossoms, the sun, the rain, and all of the sweet smells.
Definitely one of my favorite seasons

This past January, I made the spontaneous decision of flying to San Francisco two hours before my flight left.

Was I crazy? Probably.
Was it a little rash? Probably.
But was it an experience I’ll never forget? Most definitely.

I arrived in San Francisco late that Sunday night and was picked up by Dustin Bess who is currently photographing all the LDS Temples. We kicked off the night by driving to the Golden Gate bridge and photographing its majesty and glory. We were bombarded with heavy, chilly winds but I was having the time of my life. Spontaneity brings out my giggly, laughing, crazy side which sometimes doesn’t come out enough in ‘real life’.

The next morning, I woke up to this beautiful skyline of San Francisco. I was pumped and excited for a day full of adventures!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. I love the buildings, the angle, and the 2 birds flying above.

One thing I absolutely love about San Francisco is all the old architecture. This old theater was calling out to me with its bright red, dilapidated facade and big, bold letters.

Chess anyone?

The street we walked on was lined with murals and random artwork. So much character and eye candy to behold

Peace.

It was fun experimenting with ‘street photography’. Let’s just say, even though there was plenty of awesome subject matter to shoot, I am not very good at shooting from my waist

This was a pier we found at the Point Reyes National Seashore. All the curvy, windy roads to get there got me a little motion sickness. Ok. A LOT of motion sickness. But once I was able to get out and run around the beautiful landscape, I forgot all about feeling queesy (until we got back in the car to go on the windy roads again…)

We wanted to walk down to this lighthouse but we arrived a minute before they closed off the stairs. Even though we were disappointed, we walked around to visit a beach of seals and found this old building on the dock.

The next day, we spent visiting SmugMug headquarters (a really incredible company I’m now working with) and Apple (located at 1 infinite loop, haha).

We came back into the city that night and walked around Fisherman’s Wharf. We loaded up a bag full of salt water taffy and miscellaneous treats, picked out an oyster which carried a beautiful silvery pearl, and enjoyed being goofy while walking around & window shopping. It was a new experience walking around the wharf in January because hardly anyone was around. All the other times I have been, it’s been overflowing with people. Fun times.

Then, we drove up to the top of one of San Fran’s steepest hills (at least we thought it seemed like one of the steepest) to photograph the Bay Bridge. I don’t think I mentioned this before, but I totally forgot my tripod. I guess that’s what happens when you pack for a trip in a half an hour… Luckily, Dustin had a ghetto video tripod I could use. It wasn’t quite strong enough to withstand the wind in most of my night shots….but I got a couple good ones…

For a couple nights, we stayed with the awesome photographer Robyn Kessler. We’d actually never met but my dear friend April had been wanting us to meet for years. We visited her studio, which was beautiful in so many ways. I loved how it was decorated: the photography on the walls was spectacular, her album samples were exquisite, and it was just great talking with Robyn about her successful photography studio. Robyn shares Verité Photography, which is boutique wedding photography, and she does Dog Photography as her niche.

Robyn and her hubby were kind enough to let Dustin and I stay with them, along with their gorgeous dogs. I know my pics don’t even come close to Robyn’s amazing skills as a dog photographer, but it was fun anyways

As we headed out of the city, we made 2 important stops. One was Bob’s Donuts, which my friend Adam, who showed us around Apple, told us we didn’t want to miss out on. Boy was he right. Can you say sugar overload? Mmmm….

Then, we stopped by the Full House Street and photographed each other on the grassy hill overlooking the row of colorful houses.

Driving towards Sacramento, I saw this sign saying Maryland was 3,073 miles away. I was seriously tickled pink by it all. Dustin was kind enough to flip around, drive an extra mile and a half so that I could take a picture of it the second time around. Makes me chuckle

This shot was taken by the Sacramento LDS temple. I love the grove of bare, dead trees with the subtle colors of sunset drifting in the background.

And, driving through Tahoe, we encountered a heavy snow storm. That didn’t stop us. We pulled over at the ski resort (I can’t remember its name) and did some night shots of the gorgeous trees covered in snow. Too bad neither of us had snow boots…

I almost forgot to mention my adventure driving home in the middle-of-nowhere-Nevada.

After biting into a less than scrumptious apple which I was going to leave on the floor of Dustin’s car to throw away in a proper trash receptacle at a later time, he kindly suggested a better idea would be to throw it out the window. Apples biodegrade, right?

We had just passed a truck so I felt like I had to give the apple a little extra ‘umph’ while tossing it out the window. (I have no idea what I was thinking) The second it left my hand, I realized my spoon ring — which I actually got in San Francisco 7 years ago — flew out the window right alongside it. I looked over at Dustin and yelled “My ring!”

He was quick to react and pulled over immediately. Now, I’m no physics major. I have no idea how velocities and trajectories work with objects flying out of a vehicle going almost 80 mph. So…we started walking. We figured if we could find the apple, it would at least give us a starting point to find the ring. After searching for 40 minutes with no luck, I was starting to lose hope. I mean, should it really be this hard to find a shiny, red apple?

Dustin reversed the car to catch up with me. I was pretty determined to keep searching but he thought it would be a good idea for him to slowly drive on the shoulder while I looked out. No sign of the apple. I was feeling pretty glum.

After we had reached the point where we initially stopped (or so I though), I started to put my seat belt back on and said quietly, with my head hanging “Just go, just go.” I peeked out the window and what did I see?

The apple!

I jumped out of the car before it even stopped. I was thrilled. Only problem was, now my ‘haystack’ was just a little smaller. The ‘needle’ was still hidden.

My eyes were combing the ground, trying to scrutinize every piece of shiny metal that glistened in the sun. I was starting to get discouraged. Again.

About 30 feet away, I saw Dustin pick something up off the ground. I started towards him yelling “Did you find it? Did you find it?” Because of the wind blowing in my ears, I couldn’t hear him, only saw his head shaking. He came up to me and showed his finger. On it was my favorite spoon ring. It now boasted a few dings from its fall, but I was on cloud 9. I was blissful. Life was good.

If any of you have been wondering where I have been the last week…I was at WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers International). And, for the record, it’s ok if you didn’t miss me

This is pretty much the biggest photography convention of the year and it always happens in Las Vegas. It’s an intense, crazy, busy week full of education, inspiration, networking, a ginormous tradeshow and parties.

These pics were taken on Monday night with some of my Utah photog friends. It was fun breaking out my lensbaby (which hardly gets used at all these days) and allow myself to be completely CREATIVE.

Rarely do I find the opportunity to do macro photography (except when I’m doing ‘ring shots’ at a wedding…) so this was a fun challenge for me. As I was contemplating what I should photograph, I brainstormed all the things in this world that are beautiful up close and personal. Textures, patterns, flowers and basically everything found in nature. Without wanting to be too cliché, I decided to photograph various fruits and vegetables (and one flower).

Hopefully my images aren’t too ‘overdone’ or boring for any of you. Let me know what you think!

The CamStand was a little awkward to use at first, as I had to find a perfect balance for my camera and the stand structure. I think my camera must’ve been a little heavier duty than many of the cameras they tested on it (according to pictures I found on their website). But, I was usually able to find a balance where my camera could stay without toppling over. I’m also not used to shooting with a tripod because I feel they are constricting, so I had to change my method of shooting and keep tweaking the CamStand to get my compositions how I liked them. Let me know if you have any questions about using it!

Last Thursday night was a memorable one in downtown Salt Lake City. It seemed as if everyone came to the free Concert in the Park at the Gallivan Center. Despite it being 100 degrees in the city & crammed with thousands of people, it was an incredible evening. Okkervil River opened up the show with sweet tunes and an uncanny ability to get the crowd involved. Seriously amazing.

Iron & Wine came on the stage, that is Sam Beam came on the stage, and put on an acoustic, one-man show. He played many of my favorites including Trapeze Swinger, Boy with a Coin, Flightless Bird, American Mouth, Such Great Heights, and many others. My biggest complaint about the night was that sometimes the crowd was more into socializing than listening to the music. I seriously would’ve paid money to hear these guys play and actually be able to enjoy the show without straining my ears.

Here are some pics from the night. I actually wasn’t going to bring my camera, but got convinced by a twitter friend.

Enjoy!