Maeser Building

Over the holiday break, we wandered around the BYU campus to take pictures of Christmas lights on the trees. To our disappointment, they were turned off, so we took pictures of the architecture instead.  This is the historic Maeser Building.  I think it's one of the oldest buildings on campus.

Day at the Cabin

Over Christmas Break, we went up to my in law's cabin by Silver Lake Flat in American Fork Canyon. It was a good opportunity to use my new Canon 7D.

Fireworks

Stadium of Fire

Apple Blossoms

BYU is full of spring blossoms every year. The light was hitting this cluster perfectly.

Adam and Arielle

I have a good friend, Adam, who asked me to take pictures of him and his girlfriend, Arielle, as a surprise for her.  I warned him that I haven't done much portrait photography, but he still wanted me to give it a try.  These two are very photogenic, and we had a lot of fun taking photos.  It was a lot of fun to explore portrait photography.

Zion National Park

Going into summer, we knew we were going to be busy. The DAT, dental applications, going to Nicaragua, working, attending school, and church responsibilities doesn't leave much time for much else. However, we looked at our schedules and found one weekend when I didn't have a test and my wife could take time off work to go on a little vacation. We went down to southern Utah to Zion National Park. We just spent 2 days there, but it was relaxing, gorgeous, and much needed.

We didn't go down with many expectations. But for a quick trip with lots to do, photo opportunities galore, and long, peaceful drives, Zion National Park was great. Arches next?

Heber Creeper

While we were on a drive through Provo canyon, we saw this train and thought we'd pull over to catch a few pictures. When we got to the train, we found a group of photographers with some pretty fancy equipment waiting for the train to come around a bend. We think that they were either photographers who liked trains or train enthusiast who liked photography. After they took their pictures they rode off on a different train in front of the Heber Creeper, we followed along in our car and took more pictures at the next stop. Minus the ash covering us when we got too close, it was rather fun to chase after the train and snap some shots.

Nicaragua

Nicaragua is an amazing place. While I was there, I felt like I was in a completely different world. Most of the people there live on nothing. Many live in shacks, and for some, that's an overstatement. Some areas are nicer than others, but corrugated tin was common to almost every home. We visited several of these homes and delivered bags of rice, beans, and flour and gave toys and school supplies to the children. These families were so grateful and it was a life changing experience for me to meet them.

Yellowstone

For our one year anniversary, we went to Yellowstone National Park.  My 55-250 lens was great at taking pictures of the park.  I was able to get close-ups of a lot of the wildlife and geysers without actually getting too close.