The Long Road Home...

seems even longer if you decide to move yourself. Is the better question here "Can my life really be packed up into a 16 foot truck" or "does my life really require an entire 16 foot truck?"  I was leaning toward the 2nd question as the movers got all of my crap things packed tightly into the truck.  Truthfully I was a little embarrassed and wondered if I might need intervention from the Hoarders production staff. 

While moving myself via a big truck was not my first plan, my brothers offered to come out to Vegas and drive me back...and then my mom offered and before I knew it, we had a little road trip caravan planned.  It wasn't too bad split over two days and were able to spend a bit of time in Zion National Park along the way. 

Just a little side note here that my awesome brothers drove this beast 800+ miles without incident.  I drove it less than 3 to return it and took out the left side by driving onto the top of the gas station concrete barriers that protect the pump.  Yep, it was a sight to behold (and snicker at). 

Before we left Vegas, a few touristy things with the family....

 From the top of the dam.

Then, from the top of the bridge 

A gantt chart immortalized in bronze.  

And Zion.  I have to say that it might just be the most beautiful National Park I've ever been too.  Since I'm saving most of the photos for a Lightroom class I'm taking, these are minimally edited--the sky really was that blue--photoshopped by God.

You can hike up the river canyons here...I wish we'd had time.

And Utah during sunrise.  Love sunrise. 

Nelson, Nevada

Nelson is a little ghost town just a short drive outside of Vegas.  I've been meaning to head out there to play with my camera for awhile and of course, like most things in life, haven't gotten around to it.  Moving however, gets these types of goals fast tracked.

Truth be told, I was not prepared for the sheer quantity of old cars, buildings and gas stations. I thought there might be a handful but we spent about an hour and half there and didn't hit half of the cool things to photograph.  There was even plane wreckage on site.  A collection of gritty photographic gems like this make this a photographic paradise, so needless to say, we were hardly the only ones there.  For just $10 an hour, you can photograph to your hearts content, and there were about a dozen other photographers taking advantage of this phenomenal site as well.  Even with that many other groups, there was enough space and sites that rarely had anyone in the backdrop of our photo nor did we have to wait to take a photo.

Take photos in a ghost town...check. I'm a little sad that I didn't go to Nelson this earlier...I am kind of itching to head back and try again.  And if you go, you'll come across the small town of Nelson first full of "no trespassing" signs.  Keep going past this town through a windy little canyon.  The ghost town is just on the other side.

Desert Photography Workshop

Last weekend I popped out of bed at 3:30AM to join a group for a photography workshop.  I think I could become addicted.  

Every spring photographers descend upon Vegas for WPPI.  With so many professional photographers in one place, there are workshops galore and I knew I had to take advantage of that before I moved back to Denver, especially since taking a photography workshop is on my 101 goal list. 

I love Charleton Churchill's photography and his style...vibrant colors, artistic lighting and creativity galore.  When I saw he was having a workshop, I signed right on up.  He has a creativity and editorial flair I think that separates his work.  In fact, when I saw the photo he posted from this same shoot I was struck by how I had nothing even similar.  Same models, same space... completely different images....I find negative space a bit overwhelming, he played it up.  

I've been tempted to take other workshops as well but most seemed to either be geared towards "how to use your DSLR" or if they are more photography based, tend to have quite a bit of time on building your own photography business.  All good stuff I'm sure, but geared towards another audience.  Charleton's workshop was a one day shoot with tips and pointers and instruction...he even let us pick his brain during lunch. I was the only hobbyist photographer shooting but felt very welcome and learned tons.  Can't wait to unpack some boxes and play with my off camera flashes.  And of course learn to embrace negative space on occasion.

I took close to 600 photos and with all that's going on right now have not had time to really go through them. Have to say that shooting models is pretty easy as it turns out...they pretty much can't take a bad picture.  Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun!

Spring Mountain Ranch State Park

Spring has sprung in the high dessert so Brooklyn and I headed out to check out a state park I'd had on the list to visit.  The "adventure" had it's ups and downs but after we finally found the place, found a way to pay the entrance fee and found our way around the park, it was all worth it. 

Spring Mountain Ranch State Park is not too far out of town if you live in southwestern Las Vegas as I do.  I hopped on Blue Diamond at Buffalo and it was under 6 miles to the turnoff towards Red Rock Canyon. Once you make the turn it's only another 6 miles from there...I couldn't believe it was so close! If however, you didn't really pay attention to the directions outside of "take Blue Diamond..." you might end up staying on Blue Diamond for a good 40 minutes, passing through the Spring Mountains and finding yourself on the open highway heading who knows where and without cellular coverage before you realize that something is rotten in the state of Denmark.  After I turned around, it was a bit embarrassing to see that I should have turned towards Red Rock Canyon right outside of town.  

Lesson number 1: figure out where you are going before you embark.

Once I did find the state park, I pulled up to the entrance only to realize that it was a "self-service pay station" i.e. put money in an envelope and drop it in a hollowed out 2x4.  This as you can imagine requires cash or check and a writing utensil.  Seriously? The one thing I have learned about Nevada is that the state believes communication is overrated.  They will construct a freeway entrance and place a sign about 1 foot in diameter a few yards before the entrance to let you know this is your new freeway entrance, they'll shut down a major freeway entrance without any detour signs directing you as to how to actually get on the freeway now, and they'll detour entire 4 lanes off a highway onto a side road without signs telling you what to do next.  Not making it crystal clear that you'd need cash and a writing utensil to visit this park should not have surprised me. Luckily there was a little town with an ATM just a mile back down the road.  They also let me borrow a pen.  

Lesson number 2: the boy scouts have it right...always be prepared.  Cash is good.  Pen in the car is probably essential. 

Once we did get there though, it was such a lovely area.  If you head up to the super cute red house, they'll point you in the direction of the different walking trails. 

There was also a cow on property which may not seem that exciting unless you are a city dog.  Then, you're not quite sure what to make of it all...

Down the Ash Loop Trail. 

And then if you head in the opposite direction of the Ash Loop Trail, you come across a turquoise colored lake.  It's just a short jaunt around but there are trails that branch off throughout the park. 

After our little hike, someone came home and passed out immediately at the top of the stairs in the most dramatic fashion possible.  

Lesson # 3: A dog that can outrun me on runs can surely outlast me on a trail.  Never fall for puppy drama, it's a ploy for treats.  

Santa Monica

My parents are still in town and while we've done a bit of Thai cooking, not a lot of camera time has happened...at least not in the kitchen.  I did of course have my camera for our trip to California this past weekend and actually decided to really try out my 70-200mm lens. 

I've loved the few pictures I've taken with it, but this is not a light lens, and because it's so long, you really need distance between you and the subject. This sometimes felt right when trying to capture candid type photos, but made running far ahead of Chipmunk in order to capture her walking towards me quite the workout. This does move goal #33 Take photographs on a beach, over to the completed side. Thanks to my sister, brother in law, niece and parents for allowing me to repeatedly point in their direction and click away.

I could easily get used to watching the sun set over the water.