Volunteering in the Rockies

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Hi Everyone

After a busy Friday & Saturday working, it continued Monday & Tuesday.  Thank goodness we're off Wednesday & Thursday.  The shoots have certainly gotten longer and harder.  The families have also gotten larger.  It has been an education and a great learning experience.  I surely did not know how financially rewarding this photography gig is.  I feel I may have chosen the wrong career field.  Friday, Saturday and Sunday, will be crazy.  We have a few families scheduled, including reunions of  56, 97 & 110 respectively on those days.  That is mind blowing and cannot wait to actually shoot it.

The last couple of days Wendy has been playing "director".  Responsible for meeting and handling the families.  She selects the family breakdowns, calls them for the shoot at each studio, and poses them.  She has gotten really good at it too.  I am taking the photographs.  Today I worked in a different studio with more of the snowcapped mountains as the backdrop than I had been using so far.  It appears that I may have found my niche.  The shooting, lighting, angle selections and total package involved that goes into a photograph has come together.  We both work on downloading and preparing the packages that have been purchased, (layout, cropping, adding copyright) on the computer.  The sales have also increased.  It is amazing what these families are spending in purchasing these portraits.  Let's just say that our campground fees for the summer have been paid many times over already and there is more than a month and a half left to go.  A very lucrative business indeed.

Our friends continue to visit campground:




























Wednesday 6/14/17

We just got back from a great morning.  We slept late (for us) and had breakfast.  We packed some goodies and lunch, in a backpack and left for Rocky Mountain National Park.  We hiked a short trail but was rated moderate in one of the brochures.  We took the Alberta Falls Trail.  Only 1 mile from the trailhead.  At the time it felt we were only climbing upwards to higher altitudes.  However, according to our GPS altimeter in our phones, we only climbed a total of 216 feet more than what we started, to a total altitude of the falls at 9429 ft. elevation.  As you will notice in some of the shots below, my mouth is open.  No I'm not smiling or speaking.  I am sucking wind!
Trail to Alberta Falls

First of couple of bridges to cross

From the trail looking down...

















Afterwards, we found a quiet spot away from the trail and close to the river where we had a picnic lunch sitting on a rock.  It was quiet, peaceful and enjoyable.  The one thing we could not capture in these pictures, was the smell of the pines at these altitudes.  Awesome. 


Thursday 6/15/17

Another beautiful day in the Rockies.  Sunny with not a cloud in the sky.  We left camp early today right after breakfast.  Went for a bike ride around Estes Lake.  We must not have recovered properly from yesterday's hike since neither one of us were able to climb those steep hills on the east side of the lake.  Had to walk it up the hill today.  No pics since there is nothing new to show or report on.  Wildlife has disappeared from town and from the campground over the last couple of days.  We hope they return soon.

We'll keep you posted!



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