Shot of the Week: The Grandest of Canyons (Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA)

Shot of the Week: The Grandest of Canyons (Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA)

Shot of the Week: The Grandest of Canyons (Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA)

One week into our road trip, and we finally made it to the Grand Canyon! Before this visit, I’d been there for a brief stop along one of my many journeys between St. Louis and LA in college, and Ian had only flown over it in a plane. It was time for both of us to really see this place. And see it we did, in the sun, rain, sleet, hail and snow!

We camped for two days at the South Rim’s Desert View Campground — a deal at just $12/night — and endured cold, snowy weather inside our warm sleeping bags and tent (see more of our camping essentials here). After roughing it at Lake Mead and Williams the two previous nights, I was SO happy to finally be staying at a place that had showers (thought it did require a 20+ mile drive to the other side of the park). It was also the perfect, iconic place to round out week one of our all-American road trip.

This photo of the Grand Canyon was taken on Thursday May 14th with the Sony a7 II and Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 Heliar III lens. (Continue to view full photo.)  Continue reading “Shot of the Week: The Grandest of Canyons (Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA)”

Shot of the Week: Morning Levitation (Trona Pinnacles National Monument, California, USA)

Shot of the Week: Morning Levitation, Trona Pinnacles National Monument, California, USA

Shot of the Week: Morning Levitation, Trona Pinnacles National Monument, California, USA

It’d been awhile since our last trip to Trona Pinnacles. We’d been engaging in a good amount of chatter around photos we’d taken there — one photo now makes up the cover of a Papa Roach single, and three were on exhibit in a gallery in Mexico — but at least 6 months had passed since we’d last visited.

After a month in the city (Mexico City), we were excited to have some dark skies awaiting us when we returned to California. We brought the whole crew — Tiger, too — and headed north to capture our first Milky Way photos with the a7 II. Tiger had an awesome time, as expected, though he did nearly step on the largest scorpion we’d ever seen in the wild (unbeknownst to him). That kinda ended Tiger’s and my frolicking around in the dark. I took him back to the tent and we hung out inside while Ian continued shooting.

Since Ian was in the process of editing his final video lessons for our latest Skillshare class — Levitation Photography — we couldn’t miss the opportunity to get one more levitation photo in this exotic desert landscape the next morning. We hadn’t tried many in direct sunlight, so the shadow was a bit of a challenge, but the natural landscape made for a nice contrast to all the urban shots we’d been getting for the class. Want to know more about levitation photography? Check out our class on Skillshare — at least watch the intro video; it’s pretty cool — and view sample photos from the class over on The Photon Collective.

This photo was taken on April 24th with the Sony a7 II and Rokinon 24mm f/1.4 lens. Continue to view full photo.  Continue reading “Shot of the Week: Morning Levitation (Trona Pinnacles National Monument, California, USA)”

Shot of the Week: Sunset Surfer (Playa Espadilla, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica)

Shot of the Week: Sunset Surfer at Playa Espadilla in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

Shot of the Week: Sunset Surfer at Playa Espadilla in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

Last week we concluded our month-long adventure in Costa Rica and headed onward to Mexico City. But before we left Costa Rica, we paid a visit to Manuel Antonio National Park.

It was the first time we’d ever gone swimming in an ocean at a national park. The sun was shining, the water was warm, and there were tons of monkeys jumping from tree to tree along the shore. We spent three days in the Manuel Atonio/Quepos area (see the place we stayed on our list of preferred accommodations), and we spent time at a different beach each day: the first at a private beach, the second in the park, and the third at Playa Espadilla, just outside the park entrance.

This photo of a surfer heading out into the waves during the last light of the day was taken on that third beach day, at Playa Espadilla, with the Sony a7 II and 35mm f/2.8 lens. (Continue to view full photo).  Continue reading “Shot of the Week: Sunset Surfer (Playa Espadilla, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica)”

Shot of the Week: The Sleeping Giant (Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica)

Shot of the Week: The Sleeping Giant -- Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

Shot of the Week: The Sleeping Giant -- Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

March 2nd was a big day. We had two anniversaries to celebrate. First, it was Ian’s and my three-year anniversary (yay!), and second, it’d been one year since we launched our traveling life and set off for our first destination (Norway).

To celebrate, we took a 3-day trip to Volcán Arenal, a volcano that’s dormant now, after an active period that ended just 5 years ago. Aside from visiting the national park and taking in the marvelous views, we went ziplining for the first time (which was AWESOME). Ian took this photo on the last day of our trip, when we stumbled upon an entry point to Arenal Lake. We spent about 30 minutes along the shore, taking photos of the volcano and what I like to call the “swimming tree” (keep an eye on our Facebook page for a photo of that thing).

Still experimenting with infrared photography, this is an image captured using an infrared filter, and post-processed in black and white. This photo was taken with the Sony a7 II and 35mm f/2.8 lens. (Continue to view full photo).  Continue reading “Shot of the Week: The Sleeping Giant (Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica)”

[VIDEO & REVIEW] Sky Adventures Ziplining, Gondola & Hanging Bridges (Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica)

Sky Adventures review and video at Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

Sky Adventures review and video at Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

Accustomed to urban life after two weeks in Costa Rica’s central valley, Ian and I were eager for a nature adventure.  We set off for Volcán Arenal, a volcano situated among a beautiful rainforest and mountain landscape, near the developing tourist town of La Fortuna.

Our hotel — booked, as usual, through Airbnb — had the best view I’ve ever seen from a hotel room. A list of nearby tourist activities included kayaking, a chocolate tour, rappeling down waterfalls… there was a full page of options. With one day allotted for adventure activities, we chose a ziplining tour. (Neither of us had ever been!) Watch the video here!  Continue reading “[VIDEO & REVIEW] Sky Adventures Ziplining, Gondola & Hanging Bridges (Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica)”

Volcán Poás National Park: An Affordable Costa Rica Tourist Activity (Alajuela, Costa Rica)

Poas Volcano (Volcán Poás) National Park: an affordable Costa Rica tourist activity

Poas Volcano (Volcán Poás) National Park: an affordable Costa Rica tourist activity

*Photo: “Poas Volcano 2” by Sergio Quesada (license: CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. Photo has been cropped and text added.)

A visit to Poás Volcano can be a gamble due to potential view-obstructing fog, but it’s a cheap enough risk to take. Despite thick fog during our visit last week (thus the borrowing of another photographer’s image for this post), Ian and I still had an enjoyable time in Poás Volcano National Park.

Here we share an overview of our rainy visit to Poás, including instructions for how to get there affordably bus, a list of what to take with you, plus photos from our foggy trip!  Continue reading “Volcán Poás National Park: An Affordable Costa Rica Tourist Activity (Alajuela, Costa Rica)”

Shot of the Week: Writings in the Sand (Joshua Tree, USA)

Shot of the Week: Writings in the Sand (Joshua Tree, California)

Shot of the Week: Writings in the Sand (Joshua Tree, California)Last weekend, November 21-22, we visited Joshua Tree National Park to test some new cameras. After a night of photographing the Milky Way, Ian took some photos of me for my new travel fashion blog for women. Once I had everything I needed, he took a few more, just for fun, and this photo is one of them.

The above photo was taken with the Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark IIContinue reading “Shot of the Week: Writings in the Sand (Joshua Tree, USA)”