Seattle, WA | Travel Photographer

With all of the travel that I am fortunate to be able to do for my job, I try to post my travel photography here relatively soon after it occurs. However, sometimes certain photos slip through the cracks, and it turns out that these from Seattle are on that list! I took these just over 2 years ago, and only recently had the chance to finish editing them and posting them here. Despite the time delay, I still wanted to share as it was nice for me to go back and see them again after so long! Also, even though I think I have grown as a photographer in the past 2 years, these didn't come out too badly - and Seattle is a very pretty city.

Savannah, GA | Travel Photographer

Here is the final installment of the travel photography that I've done so far for 2015 - a day trip that my husband and I took to Savannah, GA in June 2015. It was one of the hottest days I've ever experienced - nearly 100 degrees with 100% humidity, but the city was absolutely beautiful. We took an open-air, guided trolley ride around the city to learn its history and see some of the famous sites. I was able to get some very lovely photos of the buildings through the window.

Butchart Gardens | Travel Photographer

More travel photography! It's nice to finally have the time to show off the places that I have been this year. This one was possibly the most beautiful of them all...while in Victoria, BC in June I took an afternoon trip out to Butchart Gardens. It's billed as the oldest botanical gardens in Canada, and is definitely one of the most stunning that I have ever seen.

Beautiful wide landscape shots, right? I feel like I'm forgetting something...oh, that's right: flower close ups! I would be remiss if I didn't show you those. There were stunning flowers everywhere, and I had a lot of fun in editing them afterwards.

Victoria, BC | Travel Photographer

At the beginning of June I had the opportunity to go to Victoria, British Columbia for a conference for work. It's an absolutely beautiful town, and I had a wonderful time walking around photographing the beautiful buildings (these are my hotel and the capital building).

 

Cherry Blossoms 2015 Part 1| Nature Photographer

I absolutely love photographing the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin in Washington DC. This year, peak dates were delayed due to the cold weather, so I was able to get there during that time (first weekend in April) to take some sunrise photos. I went again with my good friend Kathy; she and I had gone two years ago and photographed the trees at sunset, so we thought we'd mix it up this year and hit sunrise instead. This meant bundling up against the cold, finding a parking spot not too far from the Tidal Basin (which was easier than we thought it would be), and finding just the right spot to get started.

Bar Harbor, ME | Travel Photographer

In my previous post I highlighted my favorite photos from a day spent in Portland, ME. The next day I found myself 3.5 hours north on the tiny island of Bar Harbor. 

Portland, Maine | Travel Photographer

My last post (lighthouse on Cape Cod) was a hit, so I thought I would follow that up with more photos from lovely New England. Last summer while in Maine for work, I had the chance to photograph two different locations: the area around Portland, and then the island of Bar Harbor. Both of these locations were two of the most beautiful that I've had the chance to visit for work. I will start here with Portland, where I had a few hours to kill while waiting for a colleague. I headed to the water front and enjoyed walking around the town (including eating some delicious food!).

Cape Cod Lighthouse | Travel Photographer

At the end of March, I ventured out to the very cold Cape Cod with my family. We didn't really have a destination in mind (sometimes those kinds of trips end up being the best!); we just wanted to see somewhere we had never seen before. We ended up venturing down to Woods Hole, and thanks to Google maps I saw that the Nabsko lighthouse was just outside of town. We were the lone car headed out to the lighthouse, and I am so glad we did. Despite the chill, it was beautiful in the sun, with the ocean wind blowing at us!

R & C Engagement Shoot | Outer Banks Photographer

Over Thanksgiving, I had the pleasure of doing an engagement shoot for my cousin and her fiance while we were all together at the Outer Banks, NC. We found a wide variety of beautiful settings, including venturing down to the very cold beach for some lovely near-sunset photos. I'm so happy for the two of them, and I can't wait to photograph their wedding later this year!

Under the pier, before the storm

As Hurricane Arthur approached the Outer Banks on July 3, I really wanted to head over to the ocean and see how it was looking with the storm on the way. We still had clear blue skies overhead, so I didn't feel we were in much danger.

After seeing the news reporting from Avalon Pier (about 1.5 miles north of my parents' house, on the beach road), I wanted to head there and see if the fog coming off the ocean was as beautiful in person as it was on the news. Turns out, yes it was! Not only that, but the pier itself provided some very cool perspective for photographs.

Embracing simplicity

There's a big advantage to going to the beach in March: very few people meant I was able to capture photos unsullied by the presence of people. The stark beauty of the beach is enough in and of itself.

Blue heron at sunset

About 2.5 weeks ago I spotted a great blue heron walking through the pond during "golden hour". As it wasn't ridiculously cold that night (unlike right now!), I grabbed my 70-300mm telephoto lens and headed out to grab a few shots.

Great Falls National Park

There are so many winter and holiday photos that I want to share here, and plan to, but I know if I don't get around to sharing some from this past summer/fall I will never get them up! So, before I dive into my snow photos from this week, here are some I took in August at Great Falls National Park. I'm sure it looks absolutely stunning now with the snow and ice, but it's also nice to remember how it looks in the warm sun!

The weather was beautiful - I went hiking there with two friends (who also wanted a photography adventure) and we spent a couple of hours just shooting the Falls from various angles and vantage points. I hope to be able to go back in all seasons to see how it changes over the year! I also hope to be able to hike some of the trails, as we really only stayed near the Falls/Potomac River.

Dolphin boat tour

Just before we went to the Outer Banks at the beginning of July, I purchased a neutral density filter and dug out the polarizing filter that I bought and promptly forgot about. On one afternoon, we purchased tickets to go on a dolphin boat tour and I knew this would be the perfect place to try out the ND filter to cut the bright summer afternoon light.

Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean

Every year when we go to the beach, I have grand plans to photograph the sunrise, and every year I never do, as vacation is a time for sleeping in! This year, I swore would be different, and woke up very early one morning, heading over with my dad. It was stunningly beautiful.

Rivers at Sunset

I previously posted a few photos I took on a trip to NJ/Philadelphia in January. In addition to this beautiful hanging art installation, I also had the pleasure to driving past two rivers as sunset neared and taking some lovely shots. The first three are of the Raritan River in New Brunswick, NJ.