Engagement photos for my niece

Rachel and Steve at the Dallas Arboretum

We spent last Sunday taking pictures. The weather was really pleasant, and it was a great time. Special thanks to my other niece, Rianna, for assisting.

Tour through Monument Valley 3

Tour through Monument Valley 2

Tour through Monument Valley 1

FJ at Monument Valley

Moon Over Marble Canyon

Marble Canyon, AZ

I took this on the way back home from vegas. I traveled along a road that stretched across northern Arizona, southern Utah, and northern New Mexico. There were incredible views the whole way.

Fry Thief

But you have plenty of delicious vegetables

Taken today at the Au Park shopping mall in Bratislava.

Lake Mead

Lake Mead from an overlook on the way to Hoover Dam

Getting started early

Taken at Sandy Lake Amusement Park

close up at the flamingo

This is from Vegas too.  We were hanging out at the atrium in the Flamingo.

The Flamingo in Vegas

chillin in the gazebo

The Flamingo has a garden in the middle of the complex with fish ponds and pink flamingos. We spent an afternoon there exploring.

Meghan Katarina Taylor newborn photo gallery

From Meghan Katarina (click for gallery)

Valley of Fire Road

The main road

Glyphs at Valley Of Fire State Park

taking closeups of the glyphs

I ran into another photographer in the valley and had lunch with her and her husband. He was an IT Director or something from california, and they were on a month long holiday. It looked like they were on a camping trip.

I ran into 3 other photographers on a Tuesday morning. Must be a popular place for picture takers.

Misha shopping

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada

Valley of Fire

The same morning I went off-roading at Nellis Dunes, I drove out the this state park. The rocks are a stunning hue of red-orange. And many of them have native american petroglyphs (which are carved as opposed to painted like a pictograph).

Wheelin @ Nellis Dunes

Offroad at Nellis Dunes

During the week in Vegas, I went out one morning to drive on the hills at the Nellis Dunes recreation area. 

Dagmar and Misha on Fremont St

We "experienced" Fremont Street in Las Vegas.  My mother-in-law, Dagmar, is happy to hold Misha anytime.

The flash fill is from the on-camera flash, and I have the exposure set to manual to make sure the ambient light from the background comes through.  The lens I have mounted is very slow.  I couldn't get the focus I wanted, so I applied some tricks in my favorite photo editor.  The foreground is isolated, and a blur gradient is applied to the background to simulate a fast lens.

Lions at Play

Lions At Play

While in vegas we stopped at the MGM Grande to view the lions. It's a pretty cool exhibit. It has a glass tunnel that you can walk through to get a full view of the lions. The standing lion is trying to entice the other into playing.

Cadillac Ranch outside Amarillo, TX

Cadillac Ranch

I'm always keeping an eye out for interesting textures.  The paint on these half burried cars definitely counts.  The flash is being held by my brother-in-law and triggered remotely.  I would have like to spent more time here; but it was impossibly cold.  You can't tell because the crazy kids aren't wearing jackets.

Pool Fun at the Berry's

Our friends threw a pool party, and my baby daughter went for a swim.