Rice Fields Without Rice? Hmm... Interesting

Welcome back beautiful people! This weekend, I tackled the hike of Rice Fields, though to my disappointment, had no rice...but that is a different discussion for a different time.

There are so many things that make life beautiful, but sometimes, it gets ugly. A rough month, week, or day can lead to feeling lost or down. It's a depressing thought, but that's part of the cycle of life! Good days followed by bad days, followed by more good and bad days.

In the end, we all keep going. 

What better way to spend your Saturday than freezing your fingers off, tears flowing from your ice cold eyes when the wind slaps you in the face, almost going into cardiac arrest the entire way up, and looking for rice that is non-existent? Nothing, absolutely nothing.

I've been told that i'm quite obsessed with dogs...

who isn't? 

Cute, cuddly little creatures with smelly breath?

Sure, sometimes they have a habit of slobbering all over you, sticking their tongue in your mouth, licking themselves every minute of every day with the likelihood of hacking up the layer of fur they've licked off themselves...

But, they're man's best friend (also lady's best friend but I won't get technical...), 

aiming to please, love, eat, and drop turds in the back yard. 

Simply, they're angels!

   When I get my first dog, he/she will be the center of my photographing career.

Poor thing...

I will make sure that my dog sees all of the beautiful aspects of life. He/She will be able to crunch millions of leaves and kill many bugs. 

And no, I am not promoting bug murder...Jeez people, don't be so quick to assume...

I realize this post has turned in to me sharing my dog obsession. Maybe I should tone it down a bit? You can let me know.

The view from the top of the mountain was well worth the climb to the top.

This hike falls close to the Virginia/West Virginia border, which is super cool since i've never been to WV!

Mountains are beautiful, that's for sure, but man was it cold at the top... We call this, on planet Earth, "Fall", but up there it's Winter. That's what it feels like. That wind up there is brutal...

But, the wind didn't push us off the mountain (it's the small victories that count).

 .                 
      

On that note, if you've learned anything from this blog, I hope it is that you should pet and say

hello to every dog you see, for me.

Dog lover up and out!

Did I Sleep Walk Up a Mountain?

McAfee Knob

I see you've returned for a snazzy, Sunday blog. Very wise decision you've made.

Yesterday I did something that i've never done before and did not think I would survive: I decided, no not by myself you don't need to worry, to get up at 3am and go hiking in Blacksburg, Virginia.My flashlight did help minimize my fear of not knowing what snakes, bears, wolves, mountain lions, and other flesh-eating monsters were hiking among us, but luckily the only animals we encountered were spiders, and not just spiders, but many, many, MANY spider webs. For this fact alone, I was grateful to walk in the back of the line (no spider webs for me). 

WE MADE IT! Were you suprised? Yeah, me too.

With about 30 minutes to spare until sunrise I think to myself "There's no way i'll be able to fall back asleep after we're back home." I never knew my body was capable of going through such hard manual labor before 4am. I probably slept walk the first hour on the way up, but I did make it to the top without dying.

Thankfully, none of the other hikers fell off the knob (the top) or got injured while we were there, which is good because that would've put quite the damper on our adventure. 

I never knew mountains could continue on forever- leaving this hike, I now know they can. They absolutely can.

To answer your question, No i did not sleep walk up McAfee Knob, there were too many mosquitos pinching me awake.

Stay tuned for my next probably not at 3am adventure, through a lens. 

Waterfalls All Day Every Day

     "Even photographs can't do nature justice."

I hope this is an original quote, and if it's not, sorry to whomever I stole it from... (insert copyright for that unidentified individual who will hopefully not beat me up, here). That would be awkward. But anyways...

Hey everyone, Welcome back!

The past couple weeks of I have been traveling to Lake Lure, North Carolina, and Nashville, Tennessee. If any of you haven't been to either, you should seriously consider going. 


Whether you take a picture and your ISO is set to automatic and you don't realize it so all of your pictures come out grainy... Or take a really amazing photo, there is nothing that compares with seeing nature in person, hands on. So all you can do is try your hardest to capture nature, the best you can, through your lens.


And that is what I tried to do here...

Like anything else in life that holds importance in someone's life, putting your photographs out there in the world for everyone to see is nerve-wracking, without a doubt. It isn't easy. But it is also how you grow and get better at your art. Plus, these little butterflies and fluffy clouds deserve the attention.

The views looking out from Party Rock and being able to capture the most massive waterfall I have ever seen reminded me that doing what you love is worth it.

...even through the hours spent hiking and being completely out of breath from forgetting your inhaler, also getting to the top of the waterfall and having the water completely soak through all of your clothes that you now get to wear for the 3 hour hike back down...

It was well worth carrying my camera in my squeaky camera bag everywhere I went on these vacations, because with every step I took hearing the side of my bag squeak as it hit the back of my leg, I was going out into the world, bonding with nature, and probably scaring some of the little critters with my constant "snap-shot" sound when I took each picture.

I hope these butterflies and plants of nature are honored to see themselves on my blog the next time they have internet access, because I am honored that they are in mine as they posed so nicely for me.

Off to find my next victims, I mean models.


Stay tuned.

Let's Get This Blog Started

So, you've made it to my blog, Congratulations!

My name is Emily, and yes you've guessed it, i'm a photographer. I've always loved being in and taking pictures, so I have decided to give my friends and family a break from my "constant picture-taking", and share them with you all instead.

In February, I decided to treat myself to a Nikon d3400 camera, which did take some time to save up for, but was well worth it. Here is the blessing and the curse with photography; not only is it addicting, but you find yourself wanting to be the best right the minute that camera falls in your hands. It is unrealistic. I will rephrase that - it was unrealistic for me. 

Going from my iPhone 7 camera to this large, black object with a million and a half buttons was scary, honestly. It felt as if my camera was speaking to me, saying "Emily, i'm ready to go! Work your magic, press a few buttons, and take some killer shots!" So I gave in, and have been "working my magic" ever since, or trying to at least.

Will I complete my quest of photographing and capturing all things beautiful? Stay tuned...