First off, this is the start of my blog! {My updates might not come with enormous regularity at first but they will come. So check back.} I am a photographer and this is a blog. You basically know what you are getting, so I'm just going to jump right in.

For my recent birthday, my special lady-friend surprised me with a camping trip to Shenandoah National Park. I love this park. It's a quick drive from DC and there are a couple Five Guys along the way as well as a place called Moo Thru if you take the right route. Needless to say, we were happy campers when we got there so we pulled off at an overlook to take it all in and snap a few obligatory photos. Now we're really having fun because we have photos to prove it! ;-)

After pitching our tent, we headed out on the Appalachian Trail from Spitler Knoll Overlook without really planning where we were headed. We stumbled onto a summit trail that turned out to be the highest peak in the park, Hawksbill. Easy hike with fantastic views and very recommended. While we were hanging around the summit a hawk came by to enjoy the view and I caught a couple of photos with it.

The next day we set out on a formidable 8 mile canyon loop. It's my new favorite hike in the park. Here's the map to follow along or try it out. You can start and end from a number of places but we parked at the Hawksbill parking area and headed down Cedar Run Trail. After passing Cedar Run Falls, we cut over to White Oak Canyon Trail and blasted up to the lower falls for lunch. The climb out is steep and dotted with beautiful falls. Perfect.

I didn't do a lot of shooting around the falls but I did a lot of thinking about how I would like to do that in the future. It involves a lot of gear. Anyone know a good photo assistant in DC who is also a sherpa?