Results tagged “Nature Photography” from Destination Wedding Photography - Destination Wedding Photographers, Arizona

My best friend in the whole world :-), Daniela, came out from her home in Chicago to help me out with a wedding (more on that in the next posting) in November.  She was only here for 3 days and it was the first time she had ever been out west.  She is originally from Brazil and given the fact that her time spent in the US has always been on the East Coast or in the Midwest, the Wild West was a little different for her.  She loved it from the moment her plane touched down in Phoenix!  Given the short time span I had to show her around, I had to be selective about where to take her.  The obvious choice was the Grand Canyon, so off we went, straight from the airport to the canyon.  She was mesmerized, as most people are who see it for the first time!  Here are a few shots we took while we were there.

 

Daniela and I at my favorite tree :-)!

Back in late October we went to Florida to photograph Lisa and James' spectacular wedding in West Palm Beach.  While visiting south Florida, we took a few days to explore the Everglades and a bit of the Florida Keys.  Here are some of the highlights!

 

Yes, this is a Pygmy Rattlesnake ... and yes, I am using a wide angle lens, which means I was probably way too close.  Don't try getting this close to a poisonous snake unless you know well how to read their body language.  This one remained very calm and I took a lot of time to ease up to it to get the shot.

In late September we traveled to Puerto Penasco, Mexico, otherwise known as Rocky Point to photograph a wedding.  Aside from the actual wedding day, we spent a couple of extra days in the area exploring and having a little fun!  One of the highlights was renting ATVs and riding them around the nearby dunes.  The only downside to this was the intense heat.  From what I was told, September is a hot month in general, but they were having a freak heat wave that week which made the temperatures almost unbearable at about 105 degrees with 100 percent humidity.  We still had a great time though!

 

Purple Bill & Greeny being tourists :-).

This was the winter storm to end all winter storms as Arizona standards go!!!  It swept in Monday, January 18th and lasted through Saturday, January 23rd.  It came in waves and brought with it record rains for Phoenix (nearly 6 inches in places) and record snows in Flagstaff and the White Mountains (nearly 5 feet at the base of the mountain in Flagstaff and almost 8 feet at the peak.)  I personally have never seen this much snow at one time in my entire life.  Love it or hate it, you couldn't help but stare in amazement!!

WOW!!!  That's almost all I can say.  This was an intense storm - howling winds, electric out most of the night and nearly three feet of snow on the ground by Tuesday morning.  But what a beautiful sight :-)!!

 

Monday.

This all began with the booking of a destination wedding in Michigan for Labor Day weekend.  We decided that rather than fly, it would be a great idea to drive and see some areas of the country we have never seen before.  Thus began the planning and execution of the Great American Road Trip!

 

We really wanted to visit Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park so those were our first big stops.  We spent 2 days in Grand Teton and almost 4 in Yellowstone, both of which far exceeded our expectations!!  We spent much time in the company of bison (my new favorite animal), sometimes finding ourselves within 20 feet of the 2000 pound animals.  It was great!  The rut was in full swing so we got to see plenty of spit-flinging, snot-snorting fights which was also great!  We loved the many geological features of Yellowstone, but not the smell so much :-).

 

We then headed across the heartland through lovely, and flat, North Dakota, picking up plenty of bugs along the way.  We finally ended up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where we spent a couple of days exploring Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore along the wild shores of lake Superior.  I have always wanted to go there and it was well worth it!  From there we headed down into lower Michigan for the wedding and then continued on to Chicago to have a very quick visit with my friend Daniela (she photographed our wedding last year.)  We left Chicago on Monday knowing we had to make good time ... we had to be in Tucson on Thursday for another wedding.  We did spend a little time in Taos, New Mexico on the way home which was really cool.  After the Tucson wedding we headed straight home so we could be at a wedding in Sedona by Saturday!

 

So there it is!  Three weeks, 15 states, and 6500 miles later we came full circle on our Great American Road Trip.  Some of the highlights included spending a lot of time with bison, being charged by a male Pronghorn who confused us for a male he was catching the scent of over the ridge, a raging thunderstorm over the plains complete with american symbols in the foreground like bison and bald eagles, seeing the world's largest cow, Salem Sue, seeing my friend Daniela and those are just to name a few.  It was an amazing trip and I am so glad we decided to do it!  We took thousands of images while we were there, but these five emerged at the top!

 

Bison grazing at Sunrise

After this trip my new favorite animal is the bison!!  I completely fell in love with these giant lumbering creatures.  We had many amazing opportunities to be in the company of, get way too close to, observe and photograph bison in both Yellowstone and Grand Teton.  We were there during the rut and that was definitely something to witness.  Side note: don't find yourself in the middle of two rutting bulls - bad, bad idea ... we are OK though :-)!  We also saw and photographed Pronghorn, mule deer, elk, coyote, bald eagles and much more.  It was nice to concentrate on wildlife photography ... something we haven't done in way too long!

 

Yellowstone Bison

If I were to try to find words to describe Yellowstone National Park - and believe me, words will definitely escape you when you lay eyes upon this place - they would be somewhere along the lines of primordial, surreal, sublime ... especially sublime.  This place really did leave me speachless.  I haven't felt a sense of peace like this since Africa.  I didn't want to leave.  We are already planning another trip back.

 

Old Faithful

Quite frankly, the Grand Tetons smack you in the face with their immense grandeur!  They are simply jaw-dropping!  Of course, you know you are in for something special when you first enter the gateway of Jackson Hole.  What a pristine little mountain town.  We only had a few days there so we concentrated on the grand landscapes, old barns and wildlife the Tetons are famous for!  We will definitely be back!

 

The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is very remote and wild and I have always wanted to visit it.  A wedding in Michigan provided the perfect excuse :-).  Within this peninsula lies Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  Resting against the rough shores of Lake Superior, it is a true gem for nature lovers.  One of the highlights for us was trekking 3 miles throught the woods to emerge on an amazing beach with towering sandstone cliffs!  Its name is Chapel Beach and it was spectacular!  We took photos past sunset ... and yes we did hike the 3 miles back though the woods, in the dark, as the light of a full moon danced through the trees :-).  It was a magical experience!

 

The water's of Lake Superior were so amazingly blue!!

Photos and moments captured along the way!

 

Utah

Phuong is one of my dearest and oldest friends.  We met in North Carolina in High School (which was in the late 80's for timeline references) when I was a senior and she was a junior.  Seniors had the privilege of leaving campus for lunch and I would always sneak Phuong out with me.  We also loved to go to those rowdy high school parties together and we ditched our prom dates to hang out for the rest of the night together ... which was much more fun given who my date was :-).  We also would just get together and head out to the beach (a 2 1/2 hour drive away) on a moments notice just because.  We always had fun together - and I loved going to her house to have some of her mother's Vietnamese cooking, yum - and no matter how sad I might be Phuong always had a way of making me laugh ... she just has that kind of personality!

 

The one thing about Phuong is that her love of travel and adventure is only matched by my own - and perhaps her husband's :-).  This is one of those major things we have always shared in common.  The last time I saw Phuong was in 1999.  That was also a "Tina & Phuong Adventure Trip", along with some other people - spouses, etc.  On that trip we spent a month together in Kenya, a week of that living with the Maasai when I was initiated into their tribe.  We had such an amazing time, but I didn't realize when I said goodbye that I wouldn't see my good friend again for a decade ... and she only lives in San Francisco, go figure.

 

I was so super excited when she called and said she wanted to visit.  After picking her up at the airport we headed up to Flagstaff and the first place I took her was Snowbowl.  This was mid-April and it was still barren on top of the mountain.  We took a photo on the last day she was here and it was all green and beautiful.  Before arriving she asked what she should pack in the way of clothing and I told her to expect temperatures from below freezing to over 100 degrees ... I think she thought I was crazy, but she soon learned what those of us who live here well know :-).  She stayed almost 5 weeks and in that time we visited many areas of the state, she assisted me at weddings, she fell in love with our dog, Yoshi, and laughed a lot at the antics of our crazy bird, Ziggy.  We had many new adventures and a great time reminiscing about adventures gone by ...

 

Until the next big adventure Phuong ... hopefully it won't be another decade away :-)!  Love you always!!

 

The first day at Snowbowl.

Fossil Creek in Strawberry is a spectacular creek with its stunning blue waters and falls.  We also found the most curious thing ... a set of three old, yellow chairs, positioned in the creek facing towards a 20-foot plus waterfall.  It was hilarious and it was even more hilarious when Phuong and Kevin sat in them to pose for the camera :-).

 

Devil's Bridge is located in Sedona and it is simply amazing.  It takes a bit of a vertical hike to reach it but is well worth the effort!  Phuong and I really freaked out some pour woman from New Jersey who isn't used to seeing people walking out to the edge of a rock with a very long drop on the other side of it ... to that woman, we pass along our apologies :-)!

 

Some fun graffiti we found under a bridge at Fossil Creek.

We had a great time exploring Antelope Canyon and a little of Lake Powell.  Kevin and I had never been to Antelope Canyon before and we definitely plan on returning for some serious landscape photography!

 

Heading out to the slot canyon.

The Grand Canyon ... that was our final trip on the "Tina & Phuong take on Arizona" expedition.  We had gone to the Canyon when Phuong first arrived, but that was the Trash-the-Dress shoot, so we decided to end our trip here - a place that Phuong was so excited to see.  We brought Yoshi along as well since Phuong developed such a close relationship with him during her stay.  We stopped by Snowbowl on the way to take a photo illustrating the change in season from the photo taken on the first day, seemed befitting.  It was a fun trip, but at the sam time a bittersweet one.  After ten years of not seeing my high school friend, I had grown accustomed to her presence again ... hopefully it won't be another ten years before we meet again and take on another destination :-)!  Love ya Phuong!!

 

Back to where our trip began ... on top of Snowbowl.  Amazing how different it looked after almost 5 weeks.

A couple of weeks ago we headed out to the Sierra Nevada range of California where we had a destination wedding to photograph.  Kevin used to live in these mountains and has a real passion for them ... especially Yosemite National Park, so this was a real treat for him to go back home, if even for a very short time.

 

I personally have never been to this part of the world so I was like a kid in a candy store!  Every turn revealed something new and wonderful.  We started our trip near Sequoia National Park where the wedding was to be held.  We spent the first day scouting the area and grabbing some nice nature shots along the way.  The day after the wedding we headed north to Yosemite National Park.  We were on a tight timeline as this was already Thursday and we had to be in the White Mountains of Arizona for another wedding by Saturday.  Hence, we weren't there during the best time of the day, but it was specatcular none-the-less!!  As we passed through, we stopped frequently to take travel shots (I used to do a lot of trvel photography and really enjoy it), landscape shots (duh...), and of course those must have, silly tourist shots.  We stopped for lunch at the famed Ahwahnee Hotel and then headed on through the park over the Tioga Pass to the eastern side of the Sierras. A big highlight along the way was sighting a black bear in a field feeding ... a really awesome sight!!!

 

We made our way to Mono Lake, a world-famous lake amongst landscape photographers, for sunset.  I have always wanted to take landscapes of Mono Lake and was quite happy with what we got given the tight time frame.  We had dinner in Mammoth Lakes (Kevin lived there and it is one of his favorite places) and stayed in Bishop.  Before heading home the next day we stopped in at Mountian Light Gallery which was founded by the late Galen Rowell.  He was an amazingly talented photographer.  I once attended one of his seminars when I was in college in Florida and he was nothing short of inspirational.  It was a treat to walk though his gallery!

 

An impressive view of Yosemite Valley.

 

The day before we left Florida, I took Kevin to one of my favorite places ... the St. Augustine Alligator Farm.  Not only does it have one of the most impressive displays of alligator and crocodile species in the world, it also has one of the best natural bird rookeries (a communal nesting site) in all of Florida.  Afterwards, we headed back down the coast stopping one last time along the way to enjoy the sounds of the ocean ... I really do miss Florida!!

 

We decided to play tourists and pose with a young gator ... really, I just wanted to hold one - it was so cool :-).

We spent a week in Florida while there for Alicia and Michael's wedding.  Funny thing was it was colder when we got to Florida than it was when we left Flagstaff - go figure.  It warmed up quickly though, thank goodness.

I lived in Central Florida for ten years and sometimes I really miss it, so it is really nice when I get a chance to return ... which is also why I love booking weddings there (I have two more to go this year in FL) :-).  Plus, this is the first time I have been able to take Kevin there with me and it was nice to show him around the wilds of my old home.

The biggest thing I miss, besides old friends, is the wilderness and beaches of the state.  I used to do a lot of wildlife and nature photography in Florida and it was quite spiritual for me to go into the swamps or to the river or beach and spend time with the big birds and reptiles.  I especially love the big birds ... they are so comical.  We even saw a river otter chowing down on a fish on a river bank.  I have never seen one in the wild before so it was a real treat.  We also got some really cool shots from a controled burn down in Cape Canaveral.  It was really nice to return (and share it with Kevin) and these are some of the photos we got while there.  Enjoy!

Reflections of Florida in Infrared ...

Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is a very spiritual place and there is nowhere else quite like it in the world.  We had the great privilege of spending three days there beginning the day after Christmas for an amazing wedding (more on that in the next few postings.)  These are a few of the lanscape photographs we captured over the course of those three days.

As the storm wound down last Thursday, we decided to take a drive out to Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monument just North of Flagstaff.  We have been to this ancient pueblo several times, but have never had the opportunity to photograph it in the snow.  Not only was it a beautiful way to experience it but for the most part, we had it all to ourselves :-).

We had a very busy weekend down in Phoenix with three large back-to-back-to-back weddings.  Blurry eyed, sore and extremely tired we headed back to Flagstaff late last night only to be welcomed by our first snow storm.  Funny thing is, last year we made jokes all winter long that every time we had a wedding or a meeting in Phoenix we always seemed to have to drive home in a snowstorm ... looks like this year might hold more of the same :-)!