If you ever hear ______ National Park, you should just go. Joshua Tree is no exception. This place blew me away. My mind was overloaded with thousands of plants I had never even heard of before, rocks the size of houses, and one beautiful view after another. Most of the park didn’t have any tree’s (Joshua Trees aren’t actually trees), until we got to this oasis after a 3 mile hike. Then there were about 50 palm 75ft palm trees all together. I will go back there in my life for sure.

Oh yeah… and we got chased by a 2ft long lizard. That was a scary moment.

I have been taking so many photos on this trip, that I need to just keep posting fast, or I never will. I still have a ton of Brazil photos that no one has seen also! It’s crazy to be a photographer and then travel for 4 months straight. I have gotten really really backed up on all of my photos.

Tucson was a really special place to me. I feel like something clicked on in my head when I saw the Tucson Mountain Range. I’m sure it gets crazy hot there in the summer and that might make it a little unbearable, but I just can’t believe that everyone isn’t screaming all day long about how beautiful everything around that city is.

Jackie and I are following up our Brazil trip with a road trip around the west of the United States. Brazil was a lot more about getting to know the people and the culture of the country I was born in, and this trip is more about getting to know the landscape of the country I grew up in (it could be something completely different for Jackie, but that’s what it feels like to me). Our friend Shannon came with us for the first week and it was really good to spend time with her before she moves to Denver. This has already been one of the most intense experiences of my life. I feel kind of cheesy about how much the landscape of the United States has affected me. I cannot not express how beautiful I think this country is (see what I mean about cheesy?!).

Anyway, I was really happy when Ryan asked me to take these pictures, and I’m really happy to show them to the blogosphere.

Andy and Molly are getting married in Warrensburg MO next fall, and I can’t begin to explain how excited we are to hang out with them again. She’s a graphic designer, he got his degree in music (bass player = bonus points). They are way cooler than Carlos and I, to say the least. We had a great time during their engagement shoot, no matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t stop laughing.

Santos is the best city we have been to. It’s one of the oldest cities in Brazil with 532 years of age (we were there for its birthday!). This place was so awesome. Super cool beach to hang out on, lots of good running paths and free music and things to do at night. It’s also the first city in Brazil that we could safely go out after 11 with no serious warnings about how dangerous it is. This place was safe, clean, and just really beautiful. The old part of downtown is a place everyone should see. Also there were about 30 soccer games going on all night every night on the beach. It was lit up every night so they could play. We were treated so well by my parents friends Paulo and Vera (even though I broke 3 of their cups, a bowl, and a floor drain [I know... I was on fire {I just wanted to add another one of these}]). We will be back here for sure.

Rio Claro is a city of about 200,000 people that sits about 2 and a half hours west of Sao Paulo. My parents were born in this city and it is very special to me. Jackie and I have spent the past two weeks here hanging out with various relatives. There’s not really much to do here, but this city is exactly the reason why we came to Brazil in the first place. It has been two weeks of just hanging out at home with my family members. People that I have only seen once in the past 18 years. People that I care a lot about. This has honestly been one of the best weeks of my life and I’m so happy Jackie has been here with me. Here’s some stuff I’ve seen.

P.S. We went on this walk around my cousin’s college campus and picked mangoes, pomegranates, and three other delicious fruits that I had never even heard of. Jackie was loving her life that day.

We had a great day exploring Lee’s Summit with Doug and Jillian a few months back. Nick and I always go too far making fun of each other in front  of clients, and by the end of the day, Doug was getting in on the action too (I think he was mostly making fun of me though). With that being said, it was an easy day of work spent with two extremely easy going people whom we are excited to work with again coming this June when we shoot their wedding.

My wife Jackie and I left for Brazil last Thursday. We’ve been saving up for a couple of years and we’re gonna spend 3+ months getting to know the country I was born in. I couldn’t be more excited than I am right now! This week has already been a dream come true, and I wouldn’t pick anyone else to travel around with. Right away when we got here, a very close family friend, Irene (the Japanese lady in a couple photos) took us to this amazing beach in a town called Guaruja. It was so beautiful! Here are some photos from our first weekend in Brazil.