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This image was taken about 30 minutes after I captured this one. The sun came out and was hitting the trees very nicely. By this point, Andrew and I had driven around Emerald Bay so that we were facing west and the sun was just over my right shoulder.

As I mentioned in my last blog post, Andrew and I woke up really early to capture this image. 4 am west coast time so about 7am east coast time which isn’t so bad if you put it in terms of time zones, however by this point we were already adjusted to the west coast time. When I told my family the night before what time Andrew and I were planning on waking up and to go take pictures, they seemed pretty shocked. To be honest, people in general are shocked when I tell them what time I wake up to go take pictures. If you had told college-age me that I would be waking up that early, I’d be shocked too. But at this point I’m used to it. And when we’re home, Andrew usually wakes up early too. I don’t make him wake up early with me when were traveling but he’s just a good supportive husband who wants to make sure I’ll be ok so he’ll come with me too <3

But it’s funny because soon after we came home from this trip, Andrew and I went to a conference to listen to Robert Herjavec (among other people) speak. He talked about how he’s an early riser just so he can get things done before he has to go to work. Everyone thought he was crazy too. But the funny part of it was when he said people would ask him, “but aren’t you tired?” And then Robert said, “of course I’m tired! But I gotta get it done!” LOL so true Robert, so true!

If you ever get the opportunity to see Robert speak, I’d highly recommend it. He was funny, entertaining and inspiring.

My camera settings for this image is F7.1 at 1/100th of a second at ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

 

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We spent 4 nights in Lake Tahoe, 2 nights were spent camping while the other 2 were in my sister-in-law’s sister’s cabin.  It was my first time going as an adult. I had been before when I was much younger. I don’t remember much about it except we went for a ski trip. To be honest I just remember sitting on bus coming home from skiing and being super hot in my snowsuit. That was pretty much it. So it was basically my first time visiting. And it was Andrew’s very first time visiting too!

Driving around the lake we were both so surprised how built on the area is. I guess I’m just used to Lake Anna where there’s not much around and you have to drive like 30 minutes to the nearest grocery store. As opposed to Lake Tahoe where there’s a Taco Bell right across the street!

On our last day in Tahoe, Andrew and I woke up around 4am to drive from North to South Tahoe. I wanted to catch the sunrise from Emerald Bay and I was really hoping the water was going to be that aqua blue that you see in the pictures on pinterest. Unfortunately I think it only turns that color in the afternoon time. Something about how the sun hits the water or something like that. Oh well, I still love how this turned out. Funny enough, everyday except the first day that we were in Tahoe was a cloudless sky. In the end, I think it worked for this image because it’s all about the simplicity and the contrasting colors. I also love the sailboats that are docked by the shore. So cute!

My camera settings for this image is F4 at 1/1000th of a second ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom lens.

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We had a change of plans to our original travel itinerary. When we arrived in Santa Fe, New Mexico we were exhausted! Like barely can hold a fork up to my mouth but I’m so hungry, kind of tired. Luckily we were able to switch hotels up and stay one extra day in Santa Fe. We just lost a day in Los Angeles which is no big deal since both of us had been before. That allowed us to sleep in the next day and explore Santa Fe a little more. Neither Sue or I had been anywhere in New Mexico but we immediately fell in love. Santa Fe is such a cute little city with so much character and charm. I also liked how there weren’t a lot of people there and you felt super safe just walking the streets. So we were happy to be spending an extra day there.

Using her pinterest skills, Sue found this place, Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. It’s about an hour away from the city but so worth the drive. It was a beautiful hike around these amazing white rock formations. If you’re thinking about going, try your best to make it to the second half of the trail. That’s where you encounter all the slot canyons and at the end you will see the ‘christmas tree’ rocks. Rocks that look like little tents or christmas trees 🙂 It was beautiful. But HOT! Bring plenty of water. What was also nice was standing in the middle of the slot canyons. There was just enough shade to protect you from the sun but the breeze through the canyons was unbeatable. It almost felt like air conditioning. ALMOST.

As soon as we were done with the hike we drove immediately to the gas station for popsicles. The most excellent reward for such a hot hike.