Lake Powell, Utah Family Photographer

Lake Powell, is beautiful!  I had never been down to Lake Powell until I got married to my husband.  I didn't grow up in a family that loved the water, or had boats, so this was all new to me!    I am not a water person, myself, but it's something my husband loves.  He grew up going to Lake Powell with his cousins and extended family so it's a tradition that we are trying to keep for our children!  In years past his family had a house boat for their Lake Powell trip, and let me tell you, this was not my favorite thing!  I was terrified with my kids on a house boat running around and playing and sleeping on the water.  Needless to say we only took our little kids once because it was too much for their mom!  Starting in 2015 the family decided to try bringing their motorhomes down to the beach and try Lake Powell that way, this is what convinced me to try it again!  It was so much better(for me)!  I loved it so much more!  The trip was a little bit further then before, I think it took us 6 or 7 h1ours to get down there(when before it was only 3 or 4ish), but it was totally work it in my opinion!  Not having my little kids sleep on the water, having space to run and play, it was so great!

The first morning there my husband woke me up to see the beautiful sunset one the beach!  It was truly breathtaking (but getting up at 5 in the morning was a little rough on me and I was kind of a grouch the whole day).  I am so glad he got me up because every time I look at these pictures of the sunrise it reminds me of summer, warmth and playfulness.  It was worth it to get up but sleep is something that I love!

This is what our camp looked like on Tuesday when most of the family got there.  By the weekend there were people on all sides of us!  The beach get super crowded as the week goes on, so weekends are not the best time to go!  If you want a good camping spot right by the water then make sure to get there early in the week!  

The water, the sun and the family, it doesn't get much better then this!  I actually had a lot of fun!  It was beautiful and seeing my kids playing all day in the water with family!  it is something that I wouldn't want to deprive them of!  

One of the things that made me reconsider the Lake Powell trip again(because I hated the house boat!) was when my little girl and I were shopping at Costco and she wanted to use her money to buy a lifejacket.  I reminded her that we didn't have a boat and probably wouldn't use a life jacket very often this summer, and that's when she informed me that she would need one for the Lake Powell trip!  It reminded me that even though it isn't something that I love, my children need to be given the chance to know both sides of their family and choose the traditions that will be important to them!  I'm trying to make a better effort to get out of my comfort zone and try new things so that my children can choose for themselves and their future families!

Family traditions beautiful!  I am so glad that my husbands grandma and grandpa loved to get outside and explore, and try new things!  These traditions and carrying on through the grandkids and great grandkids!  Family is such a wonderful thing to have and I want to make sure my kids are given the chance to enjoy each other and just play together!

Yay for family vacations and photography to capture these moments and memories!!

Utah Family Photographer Fall

This is my cousins little girl (she's not so little anymore)!  I had taken her pictures once before a couple years ago(for her baptism) and it is amazing to me how quickly they grow up!  Sometimes I feel like life is speeding up, and I just can't get it to slow down!  It was so fun seeing her and her mom again, life gets so busy that its great to have an excuse to pull you out of the every day life and see people you love!   It was a lot of fun being able to take her pictures and see how much she's grown and changed in just a short couple years! 

 This fall was so beautiful, it seemed like the colors lasted a little bit longer the usual and we were able to enjoy them a little longer!  That's the hard thing about winter, the white is beautiful but I miss all the reds, yellows, green, really any color other then white.  This January is killing me, but hopefully it'll help me appreciate the colors the other times of year more!

  

I love it when the light catches the eyes just right!  Beautiful eyes, beautiful fall colors, I just loved these pictures!  I feel so lucky to be able to go out and work to capture beautiful pictures!  I love the light that each person brings to the picture!  Light and life is what really makes the pictures beautiful to me!   

The yellow fall colors in the photo along with her red sweater is a beautiful color combination(in my eyes).  They compliment each other so much and her smile really makes for the perfect cherry on top.  

I say this pretty often but it's my favorite slogan: "Photography is a cure for a bad memory. "  Capture these memories, these moments, this age now!  Get your camera out and make sure you are not missing these special moments because they are fleeting!  This age, this time, today are things you will never have again!  Don't miss out, start today!!

Life is beautiful, family is beautiful, capture it!  Take family pictures!!

Yuba Lake

We ventured to Yuba Lake at the end of July.  We had never been there before so this was an exciting adventure for us!  We were a little shocked about what we found.  For some reason there was not a lot of water when we got there, and by "not a lot" one whole side of the lake was gone!  It was lower then the workers had ever seen it!   That was a little shocking to us!  

 Where we had reserved a camping spot there was no lake left.  There was a little stream running down the middle of part of it but it was crazy how little water was down there!  

There were dead big, yucky fish all over the ground,  the "go slow" wake water signs were all on the dirt ground, it kind of felt like the "end of the world" movies that you see on TV where all the water is dried up!  Well, we really didn't know how it was suppose to look so we found fun and new things to do!  We went out on some walking trails and we'd never been in a dry lake bed, so that was pretty different, and new for us!

In the picture above you can see the water lines on the rocks to compare last year to past years!  In the picture below you can see the big nasty fish that were dead all over the ground!  You really had to watch your step while walking down there because those fish were everywhere(EWW!!)

 Eww, this is one of the many dead fish that were EVERYWHERE! EWWW!!

The kids and the adults still had so much fun!  There was a whole lot of mud everywhere!  My kids are not the "play in the mud" type of kids, so it was fun to see them get dirty and have fun with their friends!  They did have stations to wash off around the camp sites so we didn't have to stay dirty for very long! It was fun to be out there, exploring new places and seeing things that we have never seen before!

 We did have one casualty, our friends that we camping with us had just bought new shoes for their 10 year old son, and he sank right in the mud with those new shoes!  We had to figure out how to get them out of the mud and they were super stuck!  We did end up getting them out, but it was a pretty sad sight for those new shoes! 

One of the best things that we did was watch one of our friends go our knee deep in mud and try to catch the big nasty fish that we swimming out there!  The fish were everywhere so he thought it wouldn't be that hard to catch one!  It was super funny to watch him and he was really close multiple times!  It was very entertaining!  It kind of felt like we were on the show "survivor" he was really practicing his skills!  It was so much fun to watch!! 

We did end up finding the lake (YAY!) it was a couple miles down the road!  When we got there it was perfect, except a little windy!  We had a Canoe and a kids Kayak that everyone played on!  The rangers told us that the wind could pull you out pretty far so be careful on those little boats.  The beach was fabulous, the sand and the sun were wonderful!  I am really missing it, especially this time of year when you only see snow all day long! 

Next year we would do it a little different.  We would just camp on the beach instead of in the camping spots, there were too far away from the fun.  I did love having the different views but it was so fun being right by the water.  So next time we would camp on the beach, and we would be ready for the wind, because it gets pretty crazy there!  It was so fun and not very far away, only about aan hour and a half from Orem.  It is definitely on my list again for this coming summer!

Utah Family Photographer

Photographing families is BY FAR my most favorite thing to photograph!  There, really is, a connection between each family member and relationship that is a beautiful thing when captured.  You will never get these moments back.  Time will pass, children will grow, but this time and these relationships will never be the same as they were at these moments at this time.  I feel like capturing these moments and relationships is something that you will never regret doing!  Time doesn't stand still but the photographs(of time standing still:p) can last forever!

I have had the privilege of photographing this family for a couple years now, their mom is a good friend of mine and I've been lucky enough to keep in touch with her and continue photographing her family.  It is so fun to see them grow together, and change!  I can't believe how big these kids get so fast, it feels like life is in "fast forwards" sometimes.   

Each member of the family brings a new and different personality to the table, and it is so interesting to try to capture that.   It is so fun to see the different interactions of each of the children!  Some our loud, quiet, sweet, sassy, and it all comes together to make a beautiful and unique family!  Thank you for allowing me to photograph and capture a little piece of your family!  

The Wedge, San Rafael Swell

The Wedge

Our first trip out in our newly fixed motorhome was Memorial day weekend, last year.  It was pretty scary to depend on a Motorhome that hasn't been working in years, so we decided to try someplace not too far away.  Some of our family talked us into trying a place called "The Wedge."   The Wedge is also known as "the mini Grand Canyon of Utah," and completely awesome!  This is a must see when coming to Utah, in my book.  It's out in nowhere land, so it's completely shocking that these views are so close and easily accessible, and not very well known. 

 It was a great place to camp and let the kids play and explore.   The roads were easily manageable (I'm scared of everything and these roads were good for me:)!)  We did caravan down with

family which is always a good idea(especially with old motorhomes:)).

There were a lot of great camping spots.  We went up a canyon a little bit to find a pretty secluded spot to camp.  The family that showed us where to go explained the area like this '"its like Lake Powell without the water."  The camping spot was a couple miles from the big Canyon views, and the perfect place for the kids to play.  They did some frog catching and some rolling in the dirt:).  This is not my child(below), my children are like their mother and do not like to touch crawling, or jumping things :P, but pretty cool that they found a frog!  We did some hiking around and some exploring and discovering, it was so much fun! 

There are also some amazing Indian writings on the rocks.  It was so fun seeing all the different pictures, showing the kids and guessing what the meaning behind them is!  The writings are all over the canyon walls, it's pretty cool.

  

I can't believe I had never heard of the Wedge before!  Maybe, because I'm not really outdoorsy or an explorer, but I thought I'd heard of the most of the big places to see in Utah(because I've lived her my whole life)! It seems like the more you explore the more there is to explore! This place was beautiful and I am so glad I got the change to see it!  It isn't super far away, about two hours from where we live in Utah County.   For us it was the perfect way to start our adventures in the Motorhome.  It was beautiful and we are definitely going back!

Week 2 of #TPE52 Week Challenge

Here is my second week of the 52 Week Challenge.  The challenge is "indoor light."  I just took this next to my front window while is was snowing, so it gave a nice soft light!  I enjoy this challenge to keep me on my toes and looking at different light in different ways!  Super fun!!

Olympic Park, Park City Utah

For New Years Eve this year we drove up to Park City.  My mom and sisters love shopping at the outlets up in Park City but my husband and kids do not love the shopping as much!  This year instead of only shopping in Park City we decided to go check out the Olympic Park(then go shopping:)).  We've been up to the Olympic Park in the summer but never in the winter, so this was going to be an adventure for us.   My kids loved every minute of it!  It was not crowded, which is always a plus for me!  We explored for a good 2 hours!    

One of the first things we did was watch the bobsledders go down the track.  It was a little tricky to figure out how to see them because to preserve the bobsledding track they had most of it covered,(to keep the sun and the elements off the track).  We learned that you can only see the bobsledders at the beginning of the run and at the end.  It was so fun to see the sleds go so fast!  The kids loved watching it(and the adults did too).   Watching the bobsledders was my favorite part of the whole day(that includes shopping:))!  I didn't take as many photographs as I should have:(.  I didn't bring my good camera, so I ended up taking pictures with only my phone.  It was pretty fun to play around with my phone and  try to capture the bobsledders going down the track without using burst mode one the phone camera, they were super fast.  

After, watching the bobsledders, we went through the museums in the main part of the building and took some pictures with the fun Olympic memorabilia.  We also walked down to the ski jump area because the Ukrainian ski team was suppose to practice their jumps, but the mountain wasn't ready for them so we didn't get to see any jumps :(.  I think that would have been the coolest thing but all in all it was totally worth the drive!  If you are around Park City you should stop and check it out!  Every day they are doing something new there with different teams from around the world.  

My little family loved being up there and seeing all the different Olympic sports.  That night we went home and watched "Cool Runnings."  We will defiantly go back again!  There were so many things to do for no cost!  If you are looking to spend money there are fun things for you too!  We are so lucky to have such amazing things here in Utah!  I want to go up again and have my  good camera and takes some great photos, sorry to only leave you with these two pictures, I'll do better next time!

Utah Family Photographer

This weekend was COLD!!  I took these family pictures this past fall, and I miss the nice temperatures and playing outside all day long.  I am glad we have winter too, but after Christmas I just wish it was warmer:).  

This family is one of my favorites, love them, love them, love them!   I met the beautiful mom of this family in Spain, when we were both serving missions for our church.  She is one of my best friends and I am so thankful that our kids are best friends too(and WAY too much a like if you ask me)!  This beautiful family is like family to mine and we love them all very much!

I love capturing the family bonds and all the different personalities of every member of the family!  It is one of my most favorite parts of being a photographer.  It is so fun to see each member interact with one another with their own attitudes and personalities!  I love trying to capture each moment, and relationship with each different person!  Being a photographer has made me see the world a little differently.  It has opened my eyes to light and life that I would never have noticed before!  I am constantly on a journey of improvement in my life and in my photography(so no judging:))!

Utah family photographer!

New Year 2017

Happy New Year!

I love New Years!  I love making lists (my husband thinks I'm crazy with all the lists I make!)! I love looking at all of all the things I can improve on(and it's kind of a lot:)) and breaking down the topics and trying to see the day to day differences I can make to try to reach my goals!

I enjoy taking time to reevaluate my life and the improvements I want to make.  There is such optimism at this time of year and all the new things a new year can bring.  Looking back on the past year and seeing the things that went well and the things that didn't go as well and making a plan to do better!

I hope 2017 will be full of excitement and meaning!  I hope that passion for new and exciting things will carry on.  I'm just going to list a couple of my goals that I plan on keeping this year!

1.  Spirituality

I know this seems weird to talk about on a photography site but sometimes I don't know how I need to improve or what would be better for myself and my family.  I feel like spirituality makes us whole in a world that constantly tries to bring us down and pull us apart.   It seems like every time I focus on letting the Lord guide my life things have always gotten better!  I want this year to be the best year yet and I know that the best way to make it happen is by letting my Heavenly Father guide and direct me to the best solutions to my problems!  For me, the small goals to help me achieve the big goal be "being more spiritual" are: better at personal prayer, and personal scripture study, and my temple attendance.

2. Quality Family time.

We spend so much time together as a family but life really gets in the way of enjoying each other!  I tried to start this last year, but I want to do better this year!  I want to do fun things as a family!  Playing games, watching movies, talking, outings are all things that I want to do better at.  School, work and life make being together hard because when we're together there are a milling things we should be doing, but hopefully if we make each other a priority then being together and spending quality time together will get easier!

3. Get Outside

This past year we fixed out Motorhome and started taking our family out on adventures.  This was my most favorite part of the year!  Almost every weekend in the summer we tried a new place to glamp;).  I am not a camper, I need toilets, showers, and sleep.  Camping usually takes all of those away from me.  With three little kids and the dirt and bugs that come along with camping its just too much for me!  The motorhome solved all those problems!  It was so much fun to be away from the internet and phones and really connect with each other while exploring our wonderful state!  It was so great!  I'll be posting about my trips last summer and trying to keep up with the activities we do this year(hopefully).  I am not an explorer.  My parents weren't and that was passed on to me!  All of this is really out of my comfort zone.  I love being out in the mountains but I am also scared of everything, so this has been so good for me, to try to rid myself of my fears and enjoy this beautiful world that has been given to us!

3. Document, document, document

I love photography and taking pictures is sometimes the easiest part of the whole process.  There are so many steps to keep up with photography and I want to break each down and work on all of them throughout this year!
I want to keep a camera on me at all times.  Even if it isn't my big DSLR camera, sometimes my phone will do, but I want to make sure I'm not missing the moments that we love and want to remember!  I do regret not bringing my big DSLR on some of our outings this last year because I didn't want to worry about it and bring it all around but now that I can't print some of my pictures as big as I would like I think I'm going to try to bring it around more often!  I strongly believe any documenting is better then none, and I'm going to try not to beat myself up about how much better I could have been, but try a little harder every time to do a little better!
I want to keep my computer pictures organized and accessible!
The last thing to help me keep this goal is PRINT MY PICTURES!  That is probably going to be the hardest part about it, because printing costs money.  I figure if I save and plan then printing should not be as hard!
The last thing I am going to do for documenting is a 52 week challenge with https://thephotographerselement.com/  I'm hoping this will keep me focused and creative throughout the year!

Wish me luck on my resolutions, and I'm really hoping that keeping up my blog will help me stay accountable!

 YAY FOR 2017!!  It is going to be a great year!!

TPE 52 Week Challenge WEEK 1

I really want to improve my photography this year, and the key to getting better at anything is practice, practice, practice!  I'm really seeing as I get older that things do not come easy to a lot of people, but the harder you work at it the easier things become!  It is definitely the same with photography.  When I am practicing and working on improving there is such a difference in my work! I decided to try a 52 week challenge through The Photographers Element to make sure I am taking pictures every single week!  One of the best photography classes that I ever took was taught by a girl named Brooke Snow the assistant of her class was Sarah Allred, so I was excited to learn that Sarah started the TPE!  I decided to jump on board with the things they are doing over at The Photographers Element.  I'm excited to be back at work and trying new things with my camera(and iphone:))!

The first challenge is Self Portrait!  Holy cow, this challenge started out a little more tricky then I thought it would!  A self portrait is not something I try often, umm. . . Or ever!  It was pretty fun trying out some new things with the camera.  I ended up using my iphone and I definitely do not know how to "rock my iphone" as they say but maybe I can get some skills at I keep working on it!  With this week being so busy with family in town and the kids home from school, I didn't have the time to get my big camera out and mess with the timer.  I am hoping once things slow down here at home then getting the camera out won't be as hard!

Here is the picture.  I sat in front of a window as the snow was falling and the light outside was pretty bright.  I tuned it into black and white in the photoshop on my phone and bumped up the contrast a little, and this is the end product!

#TPE52 Week ONE of the 52 week challenge is done(I'm totally keeping up on things:))!  Yay!