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A little throwback to our trip to Norway earlier this year.

One of the highlights of the trip was going up to the top of Mt. Fløyen in Bergen. I loved riding the funicular to the top because it seemed like it would have been a pretty steep hike up. The views were nice but for the way down, Andrew and I decided to just do it on our own and walk it. I’m glad we did it that way because we were able to capture the things that we weren’t able to photograph on the way up. Plus it’s a whole lot easier going down then up.

So as we started our descent, Andrew and I were talking about how glad we were to be in Norway. Then I just stopped in my tracks. I saw this scene and knew it was going to make an amazing photograph but it needed a person in it. I asked Andrew if he could stand in the middle and he walked over without any hesitation. It was a little awkward because the city itself is so quiet while I’m over here trying to yell posing directions to him. Sign language worked a bit, but next time I know to pack the walkie talkies. LOL just joking. I don’t actually have walkie talkies and I’m sure Andrew would not like having to carry one, on top of all my other camera equipment. LOL.

The rest of the hike down was easy with a lot of switchbacks making it even easier. So if you ever find yourself in Bergen, I’d highly recommend just buying a ticket to go up and making the trek down.

My camera settings for this image is F5.0 at 1/40 sec and ISO 2000 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

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Speaking of adding a human element in your images... What about adding a puppy element? Dogs make the best models 🙂

We didn’t have much planned last weekend but all of us wanted to get out of the house. Including Frankie. So we ran a few errands and along the way stopped at James Madison Memorial Building. I have seen pictures of it on instagram, but never actually visited. Also, we didn’t get the chance to go inside because we had Frankie, but the outside was beautiful. I love all the repeating columns. They’re really different than the ones you’d see at the Jefferson Memorial or Lincoln Memorial because theres hardly any space in between them. It gives off a totally different effect. Plus these columns are a lot more straight and modern looking than the other memorials.

Frankie was the perfect model. You can’t see it but Andrew was standing just to the left of him in between the columns just to make sure nothing happened. But he just sat there and posed. It really wasn’t much effort at all to get him to sit like that. He didn’t even move until a group of people walked passed and all he wanted to do wag his tail and greet them as if they had walked into his home. To be honest, I did photoshop out his leash. It was just a long, red leash that totally didn’t go with the final image I was looking for. I love how he looks so tiny in this massive environment. I hope next time we’ll be able to go inside.

The day after I took this, I showed it to my nephews. They said that next time I should photograph Frankie on a throne. LOL. I think their dad has been watching a bit too much of Game of Thrones. LOL.

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I know I’m skipping around a lot. I just took so many pictures on our trip that it’s difficult to decide where to start. I’m all over the place when it comes to editing, but this one is another one from Rocky Mountain National Park. Can you tell it was my favorite national park that we visited? I really enjoyed the fresh air and the snow-capped mountains. Although you can’t even tell there was snow in this image. It looks like a beautiful spring day, which it was. And you know me, when I see a puddle, I have to check out what reflections I can see out of it. This one was a particularly awesome puddle. It was huge and so reflective. I got a few shots and decided it needed something else. So I asked Andrew to stand there and model for me. This is obviously his best model pose. LOL.

In case you were interested, this was on along the trail walking to Alberta Falls. It was one of the only trails we could confidently walk on. So many of them still had snow on them. And forget about making it to Emerald Lake. It was the ultimate goal but the elevation was so high and there was so much snow still on the ground that it was impossible. We only had sneakers on so we were slipping and sliding all over the place. Note to future self: Always pack hiking boots. Even when you don’t think you’ll need them, it will just make life so much easier.

The settings for this image are F/14 at 1/80th of a second at ISO 400 handheld. If any of you know of a tripod where you can shoot really low to the ground, I mean flush to the ground, please let me know! I’m always finding myself wanting something that can get that low but just haven’t found one yet.

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There are tons of people at the Tidal Basin during the cherry blossom season. It’s a great time to people watch, if that’s your thing. Well, I standing kind of in the background, trying to find good light hitting the flowers. All of the sudden, I saw a man taking pictures of this beautiful woman. They happened to sit down right in front of me and I just started snapping away. I love how the silhouette of the woman with the trunk of the tree.