Archive for November, 2011

Las Vegas has a very vibrant photographer community, and I am very grateful to be a part of it. Smugmug sponsors a monthly photographer group co-lead by Yasmin Tajik of Shalimar Studios and Scott Bourne, a legendary photographer. As a bonus, Scott is always giving away free stuff at meetings, and this time I won a Honl snoot/reflector for my speedlight. It is a bit flimsy to use as a reflector, and I prefer to use my Demb reflector instead, but Honl is handy if I ever need a snoot.

This month Yasmin and Scott organized a phenomenal shoot-out at one of the dry lake beds outside of Las Vegas. About 40 of photographers got together and took turns shooting Olivia and Kady, our beautiful models. They were amazing even though it was fairly hot outside and very sunny! Here are a few images from the shoot:

Photoshoot at dry lake bed

Pin up shoot by Las Vegas photographer

Pin up model shoot at Las Vegas dry lake bed

Cute pin up shoot by Las Vegas photographer

Dry lake bed shoot by Las Vegas photographer

Las Vegas desert shoot

Weekend in Sedona

November 3, 2011

I’m finally blogging some personal pics! At the beginning of the summer, my husband and I celebrated our anniversary in Sedona, Arizona. I think it only took us about 4 hours to get there from our house. We had such a relaxing time there. I love spending time outdoors but when I am in Vegas, I feel like I am always too busy on the weekends to go hiking and spend time with nature. Sedona has really nice weather and isn’t as hot as Vegas. We were able to eat outdoors for a few of our meals and enjoy the breathtaking views of Red Rock Country.

We did an ambitious hike of Cathedral Rock. The beginning part was really steep and a little slippery. I was super scared and actually climbed back down after 10 minutes of climbing. It was too hard of a hike for me. There was nothing for me to hold onto, plus I brought my big DSLR, so the weight of it made me a little lopsided. I felt really bad going back down but my husband was very understanding and said we could hike an easier trail. As we were going back down, I see a guy holding a baby AND a DSLR coming down the trail, which triggered something in me. I thought, if this guy can climb Cathedral Rock with his baby and his camera, then I can do it too. So I told my husband that I am going to give it another shot. We went up the rock a different way and found it to be a little easier.
Cathedral Rock in Sedona

We made it to the top of Cathedral Rock! There was another couple that made it to the top just before us, and they started walking along the edge! OMG super scary!
Top of Cathedral Rock

Sedona is a very wealthy town and the houses in Sedona are ridiculously huge. Like this mansion with its own observatory. Okay, I’m exaggerating a little, not all mansions that we saw were this big, but they were still very impressive.
View from church in Sedona

It’s strange but I rarely see cacti in Las Vegas. There are much more different kinds of cacti in Arizona.
Cactus in Sedona

We went to a wildlife park near Sedona, but it was extremely windy the day we went and sand kept getting into my eyes.
Zoo near Sedona

We passed by the Cocinono National Forest on the way home and was a welcome surprise in the desert. I can’t wait to go back to Sedona one of these days!
Coconino National Forest