Self Portraits at Wet Beaver Creek

First look at the self portraits and images I took while in Arizona. I have so many, it'll take a while to edit through them all.  I want to sit down and watch more courses on editing while I have down time this winter. This winter I'll catch up on a lot. I have a lot of admin work that comes near the end of the year. This year will be especially tricky since new policies have gone into place arond small businesses and health insurance. I am positive that I will be experiencing some good changes in the future. It is near the end of the year, and I'm excited that I basically acheived my goal for this year. I wanted to accomplish a certain number of bookings and travels to prove to myself what I could be capable of. It was hard, but I gained so much more knowledge and experience. I'll likely journal about it for a while until I come up with my plans and ideas for next year.

My friend wanted to hike in Arizona. Since I'd be in the area, I offered my car and we decided to explore the areas in northern Arizona. We had our first shoot together about an hour outside of Las Vegas, where I picked her up. After driving through sprawling desert, a make up of brown dirt and yellow brush with the ocassional muted green cacti, we drove up to these small red mountains. I'm not sure what would classify as a mountain, a hill, or a rock. I suppose these are large rocks made from mummified sand. They look very similar to the rocks in the photos posted here, but the ones in the photos are part of a cliff face. These rocks looked like scoops of ice cream dripping over each other in the heat. They look like red ocean waves frozen in time. They're soft to the touch, like chalk. Posing in them covered us both in a fine red dust that we'd have to scrub from our ears and scratch off our scalps. Getting dirty during photoshoots is what it takes to model. If you can't get on the ground or cover yourself in something, I don't know how you get into this profession. I feel like I naturally transitioned from sky diving and waterfall repelling to modeling. 

We then drove through the nothingness to Page, Arizona. Page was pretty as well. More red rocks, bigger ones. So many canyons! We drove around a lot that day with only a loose idea of what to see. My friend had made up a list of locations to see, and from there we might stay and explore or try out another spot. I don't think we walked much the first few days, other than walking through the strip of Vegas. We walked up and down the casino halls and in and out of hotels made up like museums and amusement parks. Vegas sparkles through the day and night. The lights from the casinos twinkle aginst the shinying floors and glittering chandeliers. Some hotels are made up like palaces. We walked through rows of arches held by detailed white stone columns to hallways gleaming with forests of metallic gold trees. On one side there will be stores for designers I've only heard about, and on the other an indoor river carrying gondolas. The extravagance could be gawdy, but the attention and care to the artstry is mesmerizing. It's an inspirational dream becasue the harder you look, the more you can appreciate the time, money, and creativity that went into every nook and cranny. 

The desert was less inspiring to me. Maybe it was the arid and dusty climate or the heat that put me off so much. I do love the deep reds, pastel pinks, and lavenders the rocks would turn at sunset. In the distance there was always an appearance of fog that I think is just dust or the way heat messes with light. I enjoyed the textures the rocks, canyons, mountains, and cliffs would form. Every one was like a cake, pastry, or ice cream. They had such creamy layers folded aginst each other. But in the light, the colors were off putting to me. Those reds, pinks, and purples, were tired. The shadows were sharp against muddy reds and yellowy oranges. Desert brush poked out from everywhere like the sprouts growing out of potatoes. Dirt crumbled quickly. We'd hike 14,000 steps one day, 22,000 steps another day, etc. I enjoy hiking. I enjoy the walks pushing my body. Although I guess I'm out of shape becasue every morning, I'd spray myself down with icy hot. I felt to sore to stretch out after or before. I missed the humidity as I walked. It was like I never got a full breath of air without it. And our bodies itched all over from the dust and drying skin. I suppose at least I wasn't wiping and dabbing sweat off myself all day. I think there are benefits to either, but I've grown accustomed to humid hikes where we walk faster to avoid the mosquitos under the shade of trees. The views were obviously better in the desert because there weren't walls of trees obstructing the view in every direction. 

I appreciate home more when I'm gone, and I appreciate the new and unusual places.  My adventure and tour had been colored by the pain I've been feeling the last few months. My chronic pain came back to badly in October. I've now watched it slowly dissipate. I woke up one morning and found that it was gone, only to have it come back immediately from drinking a coffee and eating a breakfast with bacon and toast. I think the exercise helped, and the food triggers it. While traveling I'll hav eto figure out a better system for eating and getting food that I can eat. It is hard to handle the stresses of work and travel otherwise. Arizona was beautiful. I'll probably give it a last try before I determine my feelings on it completely.  I like all the animals and the funny ways the saguaros grow. Before it hurt, I loved picking the grapefruit trees and I became fond of grapefruit juice. While the bugs are treacherous in the East coast, the plants are cruel on the west coast. I got scraped by something I'm allergic too and you can't take a step barefoot without being stabbed several times!