Uspallata, Argentina

Today we went for a long drive ... as you can tell in this next picture. We headed way up in the Andes mountains with our rental car to visit a town called Villavicencia.

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They bottle water up here and as we got out of our car we were greeting by a man that works for a company that handed us a bottle of water. It was some good tasting water and a beautiful place to visit.

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Here is their water. After we left we drove up to see this awesome looking hotel shown on this bottle (picture 8).

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I found this little guy scrambling around, but he couldn't out run my camera ... I think he actually stopped to pose here. This a wild hampster - awesome. I had a few of them growing up, but I've never had the chance to see one outside of a cage.

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The drive up to the hotel was awesome as it was full of colors and a little bit of snow.

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We were told by the man that gave us water that the road continuing on past the hotel would be snowed over and to not risk it. Well we found it just fine.

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The routed was named "Road of the Year," not because it's the best road of any particular year, but rather because it has 365 turns. HAHA! It was an awesome drive eventhough it was foggy.

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We came across this German lady was making the same trek that we were. It reminded me of something out of the Banff Mountain Film Festival that Amy and I went to watch last semester. She was just peddling along this road and I was really impressed with her will power to climb this great mountains up in the Andes.

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As we got to the top of the mountain we were surprised to find clear skies.

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As we continued on our way Uspallata we found lots and lots of wonderful trees covered with neat fall colors.

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We stopped to eat there and really enjoyed this place and its beauty and then headed back to Mendoza to watch around town.

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I found some greaet parks to take night pictures at. Since learning about leaving the shutter open for a longer time and iso and f-stop I've been able to not be afraid of the dark and take these pictures.

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Tomorrow I fly back to Santiago, Chile and start work. I am not sure when I'll be able to take pictures, but I'll find some time and share some more of my experiences with all of you.

I appreciate all of your comments that you have left me. I am excited to hear what you have to say about these pictures. Let me know which ones you like.

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Boating at Lake Berryesa

This week at home has been great, I've been able to put in a four days of work with my brother doing construction and then I went boating today. It was an all day event and was the only way to spend my last day in town. This was kind of a little send off party for me - two of my brothers were there along with two of my friends - 5 of us in total.

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Hans started us off with some wakeboarding and pulled off some sweet jumps.

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Aaron took his turn and showed us all how to do it pulling off some 180's ... yeah we're just learning.

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We broke out the new inflatable and wiped eachother around the boat. Jim made it's maiden voyage.

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We brought out the knee board and had some fun. I hadn't ever done knee boarding and found this really fun.

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After I did it for a while, Aaron got on and once again showed us how the tricks are suppose to look.

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We took a bathroom break and while my brother Jim was in the bathroom my brother noticed that there were handles to move it so we messed with him a little ... sorry Jim - it was funny at the time. :)

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We stopped and made a little fire and skipped rocks on the lake while the sun went down.

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One of my favorite times to take pictures is when there is little light and I can use a slower time elaspe. These next few caught the beauty of the moment.

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It was a great day full of wakeboarding, kneeboarding and tubing. The camp fire just completed the day and made it really memorable. I am excited to see what all of you think of my pictures, so leave a comment and let me know.

Going Away Party

It sure is hard saying goodbye to friends, but I know that I'll see them all when I get back from my internship this summer. I'll be leaving to Chile this Saturday and last Friday (before I left the area) my friends threw me a party. I have some wonderful friends and I'm gonna miss them all this summer, but I hope to keep in contact with them through e-mail.

They're all goofy and fun in their own ways.

Some enjoy their picture to be taken a bit too much.

But they all have one thing in common - we all just love to have fun ... I suppose that's no different then any other college student.

As Shakespear wrote in Romeo and Juliet - parting is such sweet sorrow.

Nick and Maggie's Wedding

Well it's official - I am now a wedding photographer. This last weekend I shot my first wedding of my two friends Maggie and Nick Jensen. Nick was my roommate fall semester of 2005 before I went to Mexico. We've kept in contact over time and he asked me to do his wedding.

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It was a smaller wedding and a good one to start with. There was about 40 people at their wedding at a local church building in Pleaston Grove, Utah.

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Sealed with a kiss and a few signatures on a paper the couple was married. It was a joyous event for all those present.

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Some how as I was taking their pictures the leaves were lined up perfect that I got this alfalfa look. Fun!

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The cutting of the wedding cake represents a ritual that was seen as a dramatization of the male's dominance. At first, the groom directs the bride's hand to cut the first piece as proof of her submissiveness. The bride then offers the groom the first bite, symbolizing the partaking of her body. Then, as a act of revolt, she pushes the cake into her husband's face; however, he endures all without losing face. Finally, showing that she is obedient to her husband's wiser judgment, the bride wipes the icing from his face. Nowadays, most couples do not go through this ritual, and consider the cutting of the cake more as a good luck for marriage.

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So here's to good luck!

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I wish the two of them much happiness throughout their lives together. they are both wonderful people and I was honored that they asked me to take their pictures.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think of them and perhaps offer some advice or ideas that have worked for you.