Road Trip! To WPPI through back-country roads in the winter... WOW!

Hi everyone! Josh and I have been absent in the Blog-World... we know and apologize for it! ;) We have, however, been constantly updating our Facebook Page and hope that you were able to see the updates and progress of our road trip to Las Vegas as it was happening!

Well, another amazing trip to the SW has come and gone. Josh and I visit the annual, giant, photography conference in Las Vegas (WPPI) every single year. Every year, it happens right around the end of February/beginning of March. Last year, we flew down for three days. This year, we decided to drive down! Portland, through back-country SE Oregon, through back-country Nevada, to Las Vegas. Then on our way back, we decided to take a little "detour" to the amazing Grand Canyon, in Arizona. I know... not a "detour" per se, sine it was about 300 miles in the opposite direction ;) It was worth the extra two days on the road... let me tell you!

We are photographers, as you know, so every single time we leave our house and venture out into a world we don't normally find ourselves in, we take our cameras and all of our equipment. Along whichever way we find ourselves in, we are observant and will stop our advancement, as we see interesting and amazing features and views and details to photograph. Our drive south to Las Vegas took three days. We took it easy! We stopped when we came across a little town in the middle of nowhere, where we could find shelter and food and where we could rest up, before getting back on the road during the day. Day-driving is key for us when we are in landscapes we love to observe. It's the only way to see the country, if you ask me! ;)

Las Vegas was simply nuts. All of our photography friends, from all over the country, were gathered there, to see new products available to us pros, and to simply have fun! Our photography lab, Pictage, ALWAYS throws the BIGGEST party in Vegas! Tuesday was the day, at Studio 54. 1400 photographers were packed in there and everyone was dancing and having a great time. A perfect end to yet another awesome WPPI. Just you wait till we talk about the new products Pictage has at our fingertips!! Can I just say: business insurance AND health insurance for us small business owners?!?! WOW!! 

As mentioned above, our way back to Portland, after Las Vegas, took a little detour. We ended up heading the opposite direction from Portland... to the Grand Canyon in Arizona! Josh had never been there before (I on the other hand, had, several times, having lived in Arizona for 8 long and wonderful years). Plus, a large and ominous winter storm was about to hit our planned way back home, so we thought to go the opposite way, to try to miss the bulk of it. We did miss it, by one day! The day after we left the Grand Canyon, it received 2 feet of snow! We woud have been stuck there if we hadn't left when we did (darn it!! lol ;)

On a personal note: Some of you may know that I am an archaeologist. I don't practice the science any more (though I'd love to get back into it in my spare time, which I DON'T have!). During and right after college at the University of Arizona in Tucson, I worked as and archaeologist for 5 years. Along my digs in the SW, I met Blayne and Donelle. They are archaeologists still, to this day, and I hadn't seen them since I lest the field back in 2003. Well... they drove up to the Grand Canyon from Phoenix to meet with me!! It was an amazing reunion for me and an awesome introduction to my old scientific world to Josh! What an amazing time we had! 8 years after the last time I saw them, I ended up meeting up with them at the Grand Canyon, of all places!! :) What a small and wonderful world we live in.

The photos I am posting below are but a handful of all of the ones we took. We also have amaaaaazing panoramas to show you, but can't really post them on this blog! I'll have to figure out where to post them, so you can see... they are gorgeous images of gorgeous landscapes unique to the American Southwest, which holds a huge place in my heart <3

Thanks for looking, friends!!

~ Alice & Josh

Driving through extreme SE Oregon in the winter.

Driving through extreme NW Nevada in winter.

Details of Goldfield Nevada.

Dry lake bed in Death Valley Nevada (this was not quite IN the National Park in California. It was just outside of it!)

Hoover Dam, between Nevada and Arizona.

The mighty Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. Long exposure image of the canyon right around midnight, just outside of our lodge!

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona by day. Its a whole different sight in the winter!

A 3-image stitch of the lowest valley in the Mohave Desert, Arizona, on our way back to Portland.

Here is the Google Map of our entire trip! I've added some of the images we took onto the map itself. What an amazing trip!

View MoscaPhoto's Road Trip 2011 (WPPI) in a larger map