I know I love it!

Five hours on a mountain in negative ten degree weather with thirty pounds of photography gear and very little movement and a whole lot of waiting, you start to ask yourself questions. Your purpose becomes challenged by nature and your body. Having not experienced a cold like this or conditions anywhere close to this, I have to admit I was challenged, but by no means did I feel like I was pushed to some extreme or that I over-extended myself. On the contrary, I felt more conservative than I usually am and I wish I had experienced more and challenged myself more. I left with a desire to spend more time out there both on my own and taking photos of my family skiing. The pain in my hands and the lengthy wait times in between seeing family only made me think of ways to do it better and have a better plan for the next time. The experience was much more of a tease and an introduction than a pain or a bad experience. At the end of the day on the mountain, at Canyons Resort, we stumbled upon a freestyle ski and snowboard competition, I had packed my gear and was ready to go home when I saw the competition. I spent an additional hour just watching and taking pictures of the awesome stunts that I had been hoping to see all day on the mountain right in front of my eyes with no wait time in between tricks. I love it.

Family Vacation Park City, Utah

First family vacation as a photographer, it began as a realization that this was a family vacation, and that I would not be going off on my own to explore the awesome scenery, and that not many others in the family would be interested in trekking for hours through rough terrain or stopping at every picturesque setting to get some epic pictures. Fortunately, the family vacation was in Park City, Utah, and the mountains surrounded us. While I did my best to soak up the family and take in the vacation part of this trip, from the moment I caught glimpses of the beautiful surroundings I was having feelings of frustration about not being able to go explore and find some great pictures. I made up for this frustration by spending time taking photos of my cousins' kids experiencing this amazing weather and environment. The last day in Utah I spent all day on the mountain taking pictures of skiers and snowboarders and a little bit of the scenery. Although I came away with great pictures, I am still not satisfied and I can't wait for another chance to get back to the mountains again and explore. The trip was awesome and the time spent with family was excellent, the picture opportunities were plentiful just with family alone, this will be one of three posts, the first being mostly of family on our trip in Utah.