A few weeks ago, I  photographed a model along with a couple of other photographer friends. We all had a great time. Its so nice to work with other photographers to see how they interact with the models. Char has a great earthy/vintage look that photographs so well. She is an awesome singer/song writer as well.. check her out at www.singerchar.com 

This is my favorite image from the day. I love the look on her face!

It has been a whirlwind of a last few weeks to say the least and life is not slowing down yet. Mexico was a wonderful trip, full of many experiences, flavors and memories. A couple days before we set on the long road trip home, Ali and I had the amazing, once in a lifetime opportunity to photograph the Native-Mexican Yaqui people. The Yaqui are very private and have been photographed only a handful of times in the past.

Here are a few images from that evening that are my favorites.

We watched this woman make tortillas, her hands moving faster then our shutter could capture, squishing the tortillas and making them into the perfect circles. Her daily chore is making 100 tortillas from 10 kilos of dough by hand which takes several hours and lasts at most 3 meals. The tortillas are cooked for mere seconds, atop their down turn cultivator disk, an important commodity in any of the Yaqui villages.

When we said good bye to the Yaqui people I was sad yet full of happiness. Sad to have to say good bye so soon after arriving, before I had time to get to know them, yet so glad I even had the opportunity to meet them.

On the trip home, we made overnight stops at the Grand Canyon and in California. The Grand Canyon is amazing to see, I never imagined that it could be that large. We also didn’t realize that it could be cold at 7000 ft so we had not packed for… SNOW! Driving up to the Grand Canyon we drove into a snow and hail storm which luckily finished before we went out the next morning to the Canyon. We got a few hours of not so restful sleep at the hotel before photographing the sun rise in the canyon.

In California the weather was gorgeous again and the beaches sure looked inviting! We picked some lemons off the tree in Ali’s in-laws yard and made the best lemon aid I have ever had. The lemons smelled so wonderful and fragrant, much better then anything at the supermarkets here. It was hard to leave the State I love so much. 

Keep your eyes out for lots of activity on this blog in the near future. I will be posting a video that Ali and I created for a multimedia class on the Yaqui people and our experience with them, the wedding I second shot this past Monday and several bridals that I am photographing later on this week.

Yesterday was an interesting day- we’ve seen such varying landscapes from Oregon to Northern CA vineyards and farms to Los Angeles and then the desert again. We settled down for the night in a hotel in Tucson for a few hours of rest before we pressed on into Mexico this morning. It felt wonderful to lay in a bed for a few hours after 30 hours of driving (2900 km’s). Today we drove yet another 500 km to reach our destination.

San Carlos- the city we are staying in is gorgeous! Right now it is the perfect temperature with a slight breeze cutting through the air. We just got back from eating at Sauce de la Polla, a classic Mexican restaurant. It was delicious and the portions were way too big. 

Here are some photos from our drive down here taken on my Sony p&s. Its hard to get in focus pictures when driving 120 km/hr.

This is somewhere in Washington State

Northern California

and this is Nogales, Mexico right after crossing the border

Yesterday, my friend Ali and I set off for a road trip to Mexico. We are currently driving through Sacramento, California after driving all night through Washington and Oregon. We are going to continue driving to LA and then cross into Arizona for the night. Tomorrow morning we are entering Mexico, going to Ali’s aunt’s house. We just may be crazy for going on a 36 hour trip per way.

The rolling hills and farms are just gorgeous here and reminds me of the East Coast, but with smaller hills and less trees. Here are some photos taken on my Sony point and shoot camera from the car while driving along.

Whilst in Mexico, Ali is going to be photographing for her portfolio since she is a NGO/Travel photographer. I will be taking pictures for my self and enjoying the sun and beaches, fresh fruit and Mexican food!

To all my clients- I will get back to you asap while I am away if I have access to the internet. I return on April 19th and have a wedding to photograph on April 20th but after that I will be available to answer your phone calls and e-mails all of the time.

Keep posted for more posts about our adventures in Mexico that I will post when I have access to the internet.