YOSHI, COWS AND LANDSCAPES

We haven't had the luxury of leaving the house much lately ... a lot of post-production work to finish ... but we did take a short hike around the mountain about a month back and we just wanted to post some photos from that outing. These are some of the things we really love taking photos of in our off time - Yoshi, our very sweet dog (he is excellent at posing for pics), landscapes, and cows ... yes, we said cows :-). We love capturing images of cows in unique situations. The bull below backlit by the setting sun ranks among our favorites.

MONUMENT VALLEY NAVAJO TRIBAL PARK

OK, I really need to catch up on a couple of blog postings, so here it goes. Last Monday we headed up to the Four Corners region with our friend Yvonne Chavez-Baca of Northern Arizona Wedding Planner and Touch of Tradition, to meet with a new client. Specifically we went to Monument Valley. This part of the world is other-worldly, full of mystical beauty and spiritual harmony.

Our meeting was with Art Ortega and his daughter Armanda Ortega. They, along with the rest of their family own ARTSCO Inc. and are based out of Gallup, NM. They are also the owners of a beautiful new hotel under construction in Monument Valley aptly named The VIEW Hotel. Located just inside the Navajo Tribal Park, the hotel is perched atop a cliff overlooking the famous Mitten Buttes. Armanda and her fiance, Jon will be getting married at the hotel in late December and we are honored to be photographing it!

We were taken on a tour of the hotel and all enjoyed a lovely lunch together. This family was so inviting and we are really looking forward to working with them. This will be such an amazing wedding, and we couldn't ask for a better backdrop. Coming from a nature photography background, having the opportunity to mix our old love, landscape photography, with our new love, wedding photography, is an absolute dream. A special thank you to Yvonne for recommending us :-).

After lunch, Yvonne, Kevin and I headed on a short tour of the park where we took a few shots along the way. The first photo is of Armanda and her two sisters (Armanda is on the right.) The final photo is of the hotel. Look closely at the upper right side and you will see it. I took it this way to emphasize how beautifully it blends with its environment ... just as it should in a land like this!

THE PETRIFIED FOREST AND NEW FRIENDS

After Nathalia's photo shoot, we took a detour through the Petrified Forest National Park on the way back home. It was a pleasant late-afternoon drive and we made a couple of unexpected friends along the way. Our new buddies were a couple of raven's, each with hand ... or would that be foot ... out for any morsels of food that might come their way. One was definitely less shy than the other and I think you can figure out from the photos which was which. Alas, we had to say goodbye to our new friends and make our way back home. We made one last stop along the way to photograph a very funny roadside attraction that we have passed by many times and always wanted to get a shot of - we finally did :-).

THE GRANDEUR OF GRAND FALLS

Over the holiday weekend I spent both days visiting Grand Falls, the first day with a friend and the second day with Kevin and our dog, Yoshi. Grand Falls is located on the Navajo Nation about 45 minutes outside of Flagstaff. It is an amazing and very unexpected sight. In the middle of a flat, barren, dusty, treeless, tumbleweed infested desert suddenly appears a great chasm in the earth and in that chasm roars a mighty river with spectacular waterfalls ... but only at certain times. Dry most of the year, this place comes to life in times of good rain and snowfall. It is also surrounded by the softest, finest, black sand dunes I have ever seen. It was definitely worth enduring the ten miles of purely evil dirt road washboards to witness a little of nature's grandeur!

SNOW - ROUND FOUR

We had another round of snowstorms over the weekend and as usual it was a beautiful sight. We are trying to soak it all in because we know it will probably be quite some time before we see another winter like this one!

WHY WE LIVE IN FLAGSTAFF

Our client's - and friends - often ask us why we choose to live in Flagstaff when over half of our yearly weddings are located in the Phoenix area. The reason is simple ... just look at the photos we have posted. These were all taken in our yard! We had our first major snow storm of the season last night and today, leaving us with over one-and-a-half feet of the white stuff. We love the seasons, especially winter and snow, so today we rushed outside to grab a few shots of our new winter wonderland. The bonus was, while I was setting up the camera and tripod, Kevin looked at me and said "Tina ... there are elk right behind you!" Oh my god, they were so beautiful!!! Need I say more?