Mountain Adventures! Vail & Beaver Creek from September

It's about time that I got around to blogging some of my fun adventures I've had in the past few months.  I know that I should really blog about these things when they happen, but it is just so hard to find the time to blog when I am so busy with everything that I do ... grad school, photography, work, etc. ... so now that I finally have a break I am happy to be getting around to the posts that aren't work related. So, near the end of September (yes, I know that was three months ago) Brandon and I headed up to Beaver Creek to stay for a fun get-away weekend.  I wanted to take pictures of the changing leaves, and just spend some time taking photos for myself, and landscapes are the way that I do that.  Although I wish we would have waited a week or two until more of the leaves had changed, I was happy with the photos that I got, and it was such a fun weekend filled with lots of hiking, laughing, picture taking, and gondola-riding :)  This was also the first time that we got to see snow for the new season, which is always my favorite!

Stay tuned ... up next are photos from my fun Holiday Mini Sessions followed by my awesome trip to San Francisco and Fresno to celebrate Brandon's grandparent's 65th anniversary!

Adventure Series #1: Bulgaria

After going on a lot, and a lot, and lot of adventures in this wonderful life of mine, I realize that I am not the best at blogging about them.  Sure, I occasionally posted raw, unedited images from these adventures right after I got back from them or maybe blogged about them a long time ago, but most of you have probably never seen what came of them.  Some of these adventures, especially if they are from over-seas, were never shown on my blog after I edited them.  So I've decided to make a series of blog posts in honor of my adventures.  These blog posts may be from Africa or Europe or Mexico or might even be up the road in the Rocky Mountains or possibly even from my backyard.  Wherever they, near or far, they all tell a little story about myself and remind me of the great times I've gotten to spend exploring this incredibly world that we live in through the lens of my camera.  All these little adventures have a special place in my heart, and that is why I am going to share them with you! First up is a little country that goes by the name of Bulgaria.  Have you ever been there?  I chose to start off my Adventure Series with this beautiful country because it is one of my all time favorite places I have ever been in the entire world.  It's a place filled with beautiful landscapes, wonderful people, loving children, and lots and lots of sunflowers.  I hope you enjoy!

I also couldn't resist posting a few photos of me while I was there.  I spent my time in Bulgaria tasting fresh honey, going on a jeep safari, playing with the beautiful, fun kiddos at the orphanage, and let's not forget, taking a MUD BATH!  Oh how I wish I could go back!

A much needed blog post...

Well, since I have two weeks until I graduate I figured I should finally blog.  The quarter has flown by!  I have been so busy this quarter getting everything done to graduate, focusing on my classes, working, etc.  Here's a little glimpse of all that I have done over the past few months.  Let's see...  I've shot jewelry for an awesome company, August Designs Jewelry, which was started by one of my good friends (You should definitely check it out... you won't regret it!), and I also shot a few head shots of the owners while I was it!  ... I went to California, which I already blogged about ... I hiked around Rocky Mountain National Park, which was beyond beautiful and much needed to soothe my soul.  I watched the sunset over Sprague Lake ... I went on a field trip with my Advertising Campaign class to the Denver Botanic Gardens.  The Kizuna exhibit was going on, which features amazing bamboo installations from two very talented artists, Tetsunori Kawana and Stephen Talasnik.  The exhibit goes until November 4th so if you are in the Denver area you should probably go see it!  ... I went to a rodeo, the Refuse to Lose rodeo that benefits cancer victims and their families.  My cousin, a former bull-rider himself, is now a bull fighter (AKA, a rodeo clown who distracts the wild bulls after the riders fall off), and I was able to photograph him for one of my classes and my portfolio (Yes, he is the good-looking cowboy with no front teeth!) ... I re-built my entire website ... And I even learned how to use Adobe Illustrator a little bit.  It's been one eventful quarter, and it isn't done yet!  Stay tuned for more projects, my portfolios and more photos in a couple weeks!  

San Diego, Bass Lake & Yosemite

I never thought I would see such a gigantic tree in my life.  Brandon and I were driving through Yosemite National Park towards Mariposa Grove of the Giant Sequoias, and I said to him, "How will we know when we see a Sequoia tree?"  We thought that the trees already surrounding us were pretty big.  But when we saw one we knew it.

A few weeks ago, Brandon and I took a trip to California.  I met him in San Diego, where we stayed with his Aunt and Uncle for a few days.  While there, we went to the San Diego Zoo and went kayaking in La Jolla.  The San Diego Zoo was so much fun.  It was by far the biggest zoo I have ever been to, and it was really cool because I got to see Panda Bears, which I have never seen before.  Kayaking was also really fun.  We went on a tour in the La Jolla caves, and it was really pretty.  We saw tons of fish, sea lions, harbor seals and leopard sharks.

After spending a few days in San Diego, we took a 6 hour train ride up to Fresno, where we stayed with Brandon's cousin for a night before driving to Bass Lake to spend the weekend with Brandon's grandparents.  Having heard so many great stories of Brandon's about Bass Lake, I was excited to be there and to experience it for myself.  We spent a few days boating, fishing and swimming in the lake.

On Friday morning, we woke up at 3:30 a.m. in order to drive to Yosemite National Park in time to drive to Glacier Point to catch the sunrise over Half Dome.  Neither of us had been to Yosemite National Park before, and it definitely was a site to see.  I wish we could have spent more time there because it was so beautiful.  After a short nap in the car, we then went to the Mariposa Grove of the Giant Sequoias.  This is was my favorite, favorite thing about our entire trip.  We hiked around the grove, and I was mesmerized by the giant trees.  I have never experienced anything like them before.  If you haven't gotten to see them, I would highly reccomend it.  I fell in love with the Sequoia trees.  Some of them are over 100 ft. in diameter.  Can you even imagine that?

The next morning, we drove back to Fresno where we spent the day listening to live music, swimming in Brandon's cousins pool and relaxing in the hot tub.  We woke up early the next morning to take the train to Sacramento, and from there we flew home to Denver.  It was a great trip and I am so thankful for all I got to see, experience and do while I was there.  Thank you to Brandon's awesome family who took us in and took care of us while we were there!

Oh, and did I mention that I bought an underwater camera while I was there?  We had a lot of fun with this highly unnecessary purchase...