Portland & Seattle Trip

This summer trip was the perfect getaway - it gave us a chance to see and appreciate some of the Pacific Northwest, and it left us refreshed and ready for a busy fall here in St. Louis. We had an amazing time sightseeing near Portland. The Columbia River Gorge, lined with so many stunning waterfalls, made for an amazing drive, and our trip to early morning in misty Cannon Beach was incredible. From Portland, we headed up the long way to Seattle, taking a stop at gorgeous Lavender Valley and spending a night at a quaint farm where we slept with sheep just outside our window. In Seattle, we met up with my cousin Gabe and his wife, Joanne, and we had a great time exploring the city with them. One of the highlights of our time in Seattle was an incredible sushi meal at Sushi Kashiba. It was a fantastic trip - can't wait to go back! 

A Trip to the Canadian Rockies

  This July, Andy and I took a long awaited vacation to the Canadian Rockies. We carved out 10 days in our schedules and jetted off, just in time to land in Calgary for Canada Day (we were given maple shaped chocolates upon our arrival - go Canada!). As we traveled through Banff, Golden, and Jasper in our shiny rental Dodge Journey, we stayed in B&B's, stopped at almost every overlook, and pulled over with the rest of the tourists to see bears, elk, and mountain goats on the side of the roads. Super fun. Canada was awesome and almost surreal - huge mountains surrounded by aquamarine lakes with glaciers topping surrounding peaks. A friend asked if we had photoshopped the water in a pic we posted to facebook, but nope - all the colors are real. In fact, some locals told us that they wished we had gotten to see the color of the water in its full glory (as some recent rain apparently made it less vibrant....how is that even possible??). We went canoeing on Moraine Lake, hiked 10 miles at Lake Louise, stood in the spray of Takkakaw Falls, grabbed drinks at the Banff Springs Hotel, chilled in hot springs, traveled by horse, and saw some pretty cool wildlife that I previously had only seen in Nat Geo. Here are some of our favorite photos:

The Soil & the Sun at Plush - St. Louis

 

It's always a pleasure to have our friends in the Soil and the Sun roll into town in their refurbished classic bus (with their delightfully good music and gobs of instruments in tow, of course). The incredibly talented, West Michigan based group played at Plush here in St. Louis before heading down to SXSW in Austin, TX. In case I have trouble planning my Friday evenings in the future, the combo of live music, good friends, and Urban Chestnut Winged Nut is pretty much the bee's knees. Noted. Seriously though, we love watching these guys live. There's something intense yet graceful about hearing a seven member band play together so well. At the risk of using a corporate buzzword, they are a perfect example of synergy. Andy toted along our spanking new 50mm f/1.2 (yes, it is wonderful and I don't know how we lived without it) and caught these lovely images. Sending our best to Soil and the Sun on the rest of their tour!

Check them out here.

Rachel & Noah - Charlottesville, Virginia

 

I recently shot another wedding out in Charlottesville, Virginia with Rachel of A Muse Photography. (Check out a photo here and another Charlottesville wedding here) Rachel, as you may recall, is a dear friend and fellow Italian photography student. Per usual, the trip seemed far too short, but we fit as much as humanly possible into the short trip. Serendipitously, Sunday's wedding venue was a short drive from Rachel's parents' home, and so I was lucky enough to share several lingering meals and genuine discussions with the entire Couch family, all of whom I completely adore (including Rachel's sweet nephew, Conner, who I finally met for the first time!). I could blather on about that part for so long, but I'll skip to the part where I met Rachel's beau, Noah. Noah and Rachel recently returned from spending a few weeks in sunny Belize, and after the high pressure 'meeting-of-the-best-friend,' I'm happy to say he was completely charming, articulate, and suntanned. In between coffee and sushi, Rachel and Noah humored me long enough to get a few great photos. Here are some of my favorites.