by Amy | Sep 15, 2013 | Blog, The Art of Adventure, The Art of the Moment
I’ve come to realize that there are two basic types of hikers. Those that find a trail and hike it…when they are done, they are content to do something else, maybe something a little more lax. And…those that make a list of trails. They set out to do as much as possible, and as long as the sun is still up and they still have feet, they will continue hiking until they literally cannot take another step.
Derek and I are the latter.
We get a rush when we are out hiking, exploring, seeing beautiful, rugged places. As long as we are feeling “pretty good” we will keep trucking…because we are awful at relaxing and taking it easy. So we will push it to the limit until the sun goes down. Really, we don’t know what to do if we aren’t moving with intention.
That’s pretty much the story of our first day at Glacier National Park. We started with a single trail that we wanted to hike. Then we just kept adding things on to it. It’s easy to do here. The trails are all well marked and the whole park is just gorgeous. So we kept going. Kept exploring. Kept walking, and climbing, and descending, and hiking. I’ll just go ahead and admit that we over did it.
But boy, oh boy, was it a lovely over do. Here’s what our first day looked like.
We started by driving to Siyeh Bend via Going-to-the-Sun Road. {Fun fact…GTTS Road was featured in The Shining.}
Once there we started out on the Siyeh Pass Trail. The trail takes you, well…to Siyeh Pass. But it’s touch getting there. There’s just about 2100 feet of elevation gained along the way, and a lot of it comes up very quickly on you at the end. Really up until the rocky climb at the end, the trail ascends steadily and isn’t too bad. Along the way we had a close encounter with some lovely femail Mule Deer…which was just magical. We stopped at the top and had some lunch while taking in the view. Round trip this hike is just over 9 miles {from where we parked.}
After lunch we headed back out. When we got to a split in the trail we decided we were still feeling “pretty good” so we took the fork toward Piegan Pass. This one was less strenuous. Only about 1900 feet gained, 4 miles round trip. Unlike Siyeh, the Piegan trail ascends very gradually. The payout at the top is big. We got our fist glimpse at one of the turquoise glacial lakes in the park as well as an up close encounter with a group of lady big-horn sheep.
After we got back to our car our feet were tired, but we still had some solid daylight. So we decided to power through a few short hikes to see some waterfalls. If you are keeping track…we are up to 13 miles so far.
First stop: St. Mary’s Falls. This is an easy hike. Just shy of 2 miles round trip, it’s very well traveled by all levels of hikers. But there is good reason for that…it’s beautiful. Just look at the color of the water! So, stinking awesome!
After St. Mary’s we made the short drive to Sunrift Gorge. That’s a short hike up a series of stone steps, about 0.5 miles in all. Then we hiked downhill to see Baring Falls {that’s the bottom right photo above.} It’s another very easy hike, only about a mile round trip…but by the time we got to the waterfall, we knew we’d done a bit too much. By the time we got off the trail and walked back down the road to where we had parked we totaled a 17 mile day. Now, I’ve done more…but this was some hard hiking. {Or I’m a whimp. Or maybe a bit of both.}
By the time we got back to the park entrance it was way past dinner time and we were both pretty slap happy. But for me, that’s a good thing, because it makes all my jokes even funnier. Let’s just say we downed a pretty massive amount of food and topped it off with huckleberry cobbler a la mode. The kind of eating that would make Ron Burgundy “…not even mad. I’m impressed!” {If you don’t get the reference, you should probably go rent Anchorman stat.}
I’ll be posting more from our trip as the photos get edited. Hopefully more tomorrow. But it’s Sunday, the day of rest, so we’ll see.
Amy
by Amy | Sep 6, 2013 | Blog, The Art of Living, The Art of the Moment
I met Bethany a bit over a year ago. At the time, I was brand new to Practically Canada…and she had been here over a year herself. As we chatted over some delightful Qdoba I learned that she and her husband were in the process of becoming foster parents. They were young, fun and longing for a family. Not to mention, awesome people who would make great parents. After our lunch date she was headed to Target to buy a few things for some respite foster care they had volunteered to do. {Respite care just means that they looked after a couple little ones while their foster parents had to be out of town for a few days.}
Shortly after that, Bethany and her husband Austin had the opportunity to care for a beautiful little girl who had been put into the foster system. They learned that this precious child had an older brother and sister and fought to bring all three children into their home. Those three children have been there ever since. Soon after their arrival Austin and Bethany began actively pursing a formal adoption of all three children. Since then they have been loved and cared for in a way that I know in my heart of hearts makes Jesus smile.
Then, nine months ago Bethany became pregnant. And just eight days ago beautiful baby Briggs was born. Yes, folks in less than a year these two willing parents have gone from “just the two of us” to a nest full. Let me say, it’s a lovely thing. When I went over to their house to take some family photographs and some portraits of their newest addition the house was full of action, laughter, a little scolding and a whole lot of love.
Families come in all shapes, sizes, colors and timelines. As you look at this one, I think you’ll agree that no matter how the pieces come together the puzzle is always uniquely perfect when it’s complete.
Amy
by Amy | Aug 6, 2013 | Blog, The Art of the Moment
One hundred years. Can you even fathom that? I certainly can’t. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have seen and remember when telephones became commonplace. Then to see them transform into something cordless…and something that we now carry everywhere with us. To remember the earliest of records and the invention of the MP3 player. To have probably known people who fought in the Civil War {or at least remembered it} and have lived through many, many others. If you were 100 years old you would have lived through Charles Lindbergh’s flight…then seen a man walk on the moon.
Incredible.
I could go on all night. It just blows my mind.
That’s why several weeks ago when a friend who comes to my fitness classes approached me about taking some formal portraits at a family reunion honoring her mother’s 100th birthday…I was all over it.
So I showed up with my camera to her {stunning} home. The garage door was open and there was a woman sitting in a wheelchair surrounded by family. As I walked up the driveway I figured that this must be another relative. Someone probably in her mid-80’s. She chatting and asking questions about the evening. This didn’t look like a 100 year old woman. For goodness sake, she was sharp as a tack and beautiful.
“You must be Amy. This is Jean…our guest of honor.”
This was her. In all the years that I’ve been blessed to live I’ve thought about time a lot. In school I learned history. In elementary school we counted out the days. Evey year on the 100th day of school we were supposed to bring in 100 of something, to give us an idea of what 100 “looked” like. I’ve pictured 100 in pennies, elbow macaroni, crayons and even Kleenex. But never have I seen 100 look as brilliant as Jean.
Being able to photograph these precious family portraits was a great honor. I’ve still got some editing to do…but here is a sneak peek for you.
{Jean and her four children}
{The whole gang. 38 in all!}
{Look at all those beautiful great-grands}
by Amy | Aug 2, 2013 | Blog, The Art of the Moment
You remember Lauren and Ricky {oh, and Samson of course}?! Well their beautiful baby has made her debut and I had the grand pleasure of taking sweet baby Evolet’s first set of portraits. Just like her parents, she is great in front of the camera. So photogenic, so laid back. She doesn’t even know what it means to pose, but she’s pretty darn good at it.
Recently I added these super adorable vintage nursery scales for my prop collection. Don’t you love it?
Shooting Evolet’s session was so super fun. And I do mean SUPER. Lauren and Ricky are a fun, quirky couple and I’m all over that. So when Lauren pulled out a pair of daddy-daughter super hero capes that she gave Ricky for Father’s Day {how sweet, right?} I was more than excited to shoot a few {okay, a few dozen} frames of the two disguised as their alter egos.
Tomorrow I’ll be putting together a birth announcement for this exciting addition. Be sure to look for Evolet’s full session on the Facebook page next week!
Amy
by Amy | Jul 9, 2013 | Blog, The Art of Faith, The Art of the Moment
This is Kate and Jacob. Aren’t they precious? They are getting married in October and I am so very excited for them!! Kate and I have gotten to know each other over the past year through our women’s Bible study at church. This is what marriage is about people…two people, committed to loving each other and glorifying God through their union. It’s awesome.
Now, I must say, this was one of the most adventurous sessions I’ve ever shot. We started our session in a local park. But that didn’t last long because the mosquitoes chased us away. They were so bad I couldn’t even stand still to take a single shot. They were flocking to my fingers, my legs, my hair. They looked like clouds of gnats…so gross!
So we ditched that idea and headed to a sandy bank by the river. I laid out some plastic and a quilt for the happy couple to sit on. When I was finished laying out the quilt I about pooped my pants when I saw a special visitor right next to us…
YIKES! It’s a GIANT snapping turtle! So scary. {I’m a whip, okay?}
So again, we took just a few and left. But first we picked up a couple cans of bug spray.
We smelled bad, but at least we didn’t get any more bites. Okay, now to the real stuff.
Jacob is a golfer and soon, they will be taking up golf together. In fact, the couple is so enthused, that Jacob actually hid Kate’s engagement ring in a set of clubs he bought for her birthday. Adorable.
As I alluded to earlier, one of my favorite things about this couple is their deeply rooted faith. I can tell you from experience, a couple who lives in the Word will grow to have a strong marriage. When their wedding was 150 days away Kate and Jacob began reading one Psalm each day together. On the day of their session they chose to do their daily study in front of the camera.
You can see more from this adorable session tomorrow on the Facebook page!
Amy
by Amy | Jul 2, 2013 | Blog, The Art of the Moment
I’m so glad I was invited to capture a homecoming. Photographing this magical event was my honor and privilege.
There is really no way to describe what it’s like to see husbands and wives; kids and parents reunited after months of separation.
So happy Fourth everybody. I truly pray that God continues to bless America.
by Amy | Jun 28, 2013 | Blog, The Art of the Moment
The first time I met Lauren and Ricky I knew we’d get along. They are avid DIY-ers who love a good yard sale, auction or thrifting expedition. We chatted at length about their knack for picking {yep, like “American Pickers”} and all the treasured they have rehabbed. These are my kind of people. They are expecting their first child and I cannot wait to see photos of their adorable DIY nursery. From what I’ve heard, it’s just exploding with cuteness!
Just over a week ago this fun, photogenic couple invited me to capture the excitement of the upcoming arrival with a maternity session in the open air of Minot, ND. Did I mention that this is a super fun couple?
by Amy | Jun 26, 2013 | Blog, The Art of the Moment
Let’s all say hello to a doubly adorable session! Ava and Aiden are twins that I recently had the pleasure of photographing. I’ve never shot two babies at once, so this was quite a treat. It was adorable how the crying stopped when they were moved closer together so they were touching. Probably because they spent nine cozy months together already. Just amazing.
As you can see, Miss Ava was wide eyed through most of the session…while her brother was sound asleep! Love those curious eyes.
I was lucky enough to also have the opportunity to capture Ava and Aiden’s first family photos. Both of their grandmothers were in town, so of course we got a few with babies and grammy. What a precious, growing family! Look for their full session on the facebook page next week.
Amy
