She never existed before.

The woman existed, but the mother, never.

A mother is something absolutely new.

~ Rajneesh

I spent Saturday morning with this stunning mom-to-be.  Sarah wasn't sure if she wanted to do a maternity shoot. She said she would feel way out of her element, but I am so glad she changed her mind. Having pregnancy portraits done is a way to remember and celebrate your own experience and the little being inside of you. One, soon to become two.

If you are going from the Moab area to Rocky Mountain National Park, make a stop in Hot Sulfur Springs, Colorado at the Hot Sulfur Springs Resort and Spa. They have over 20 hot springs to soak in. Many look like little stone pools, but find the one that looks like a cave and has a natural spring running into it.  If you get a hotel room, the rate is very reasonable and includes the pool pass for the entire stay.    We used this stop to soak, shower and re-organize before going into Rocky Mountain for a few days. 

As soon as we entered the park, we saw a  moose and a field of elk. As we drove further up the mountain, we saw nothing (well, a lot of fog and even wet snow).

Driving along Trail Ridge Road. It was 38 degrees at one point...

Fortunately, the rain stopped by the next morning and we had this view of the mountains on our hike to Emerald Lake...

Emerald Lake...

Later in the day, we drove back along Trail Ridge Road to see what we had missed the day before.  This guy was near the road on the way back...

This was taken at the start of my favorite hike the next morning,  which was to Cub Lake...

We saw this along the way. Eek...

And this guy on the way back...

We had a wonderful trip and can't wait to plan our next adventure!

Cheers!  Scott and Heather

After dinner and a good night's rest, we were ready to spend the next day hiking. We started at sunrise and hiked until early afternoon in Arches. There was a point where we went "off the beaten path" and did not see anyone for over an hour!  Here are a few arches from our hike...

Tunnel arch

Pine Tree Arch

Double O Arch

We debated on where to hike for sunset on our last evening in Moab.  Corona Arch won when we knew it would be less busy than Delicate Arch(a very popular sunset spot) and all the reviews said not to leave it out.  The hike did not disappoint...it included a  ladder to climb, railroad tracks to cross and steel cables for handrails. At the end of the evening, 2 guys repelled from the top of the arch, which may or may not have been allowed, but it made for a good photo.

Corona Arch...

This hike was pet friendly and Hazel wanted to hang out with us earlier that evening when she realized we had snacks.

Sunday morning was our last day in Utah. Before we left, my husband wanted to rent mountain bikes and bike the Intrepid Trail at Dead Horse State Park. It was so much fun and definitely a great workout.

Click here for part lll and photos of Colorado.

Here is a photo of "Bob"...

Our first stop was Mesa Arch in Canyonland National Park. I was hoping for a perfect sky to photograph the stars and possibly the milky way, but to my luck, it was partly cloudy and very bright from the almost full moon.  We pulled into the parking lot around 12:30AM and made the short hike out to the arch in the dark. Night hiking is very quiet, calm and peaceful. 

This was a photo of the night sky at Mesa Arch. Moonlit and long exposure...

We slept for a couple hours nearby and headed back out to the arch at 5AM. By 5:30am, there were about 15 of us lined up in front of the arch waiting for sunrise.

Sunrise at Mesa Arch...

Behind the scenes. This was after many photographers had dispersed...

We didn't stay long after sunrise because we had a jeep rental waiting for us in Moab, which was an hour away. Canyonland Jeep Rental supplied us with a map of the trails and suggested the best route to take within our time frame. We left "Bob" behind and headed out on an all day off road adventure.  Here are a couple photos taken along the way...

By early evening we were both ready for sleep, but decided to drive into Arches National Park to catch the evening light.  Arches is beautiful and has one of the most dramatic entrances of any park we have visited.

Click here for part II of this blog post.

HLWimages had a great time participating in the 2017 Nurture RVA baby fair at the Richmond Science Museum. We met so many wonderful people and loved visiting with all the vendors. As part of the event, we had a drawing for a free photography session (worth $200) and a $50 gift card to Babies R Us. We want to thank everyone that stopped by to see us.

Drumroll please...

We are happy to announce that the winner of the free session is Rajshan Spady. 

The winner of the $50 gift card is Michelle Heisler.

Congratulations to both winners! 

When my Mom retired, she said she wanted to go on a cruise.  Alaska came up in a few conversations and three years later, seven of us boarded a plane in Richmond to head West and meet up with the rest of the family. Sorry mom, but better late than never.

We started out in the beautiful city of Vancouver. Since there were 13 of us, we thought the best way to get a quick tour of the city would be to use the "hop on hop off" trolly with the Vancouver Trolly Company.   We stopped at Granville Island (the indoor market was amazing),  walked and shopped in Gastown and the West End and spent time walking around Stanley Park.  It was a beautiful day for a walk around the seawall.  We then ventured on the water taxi to Lonsdale Quay Market. (TRAVEL TIP: The day pass for SkyTrain also includes the water taxi.)  The market was a perfect place to meet all the food needs of the group. Then we ended the evening at the Bella Gelateria They claim to have the best gelato in Vancouver (or was it the world)? Either way,  I wasn't sold, but the lavender gelato was tasty.

Here are a few Vancouver photos. See a collection of photos HERE.

The next morning, our arranged transportation whisked us to the port and we began the boarding process to get on the ship, the Star Princess. The long line moved quickly and was fairly efficient. We  stepped on board with our carry on luggage, room keys and a map of the ship.

We soon met Efran, our very nice ship steward for the week, unpacked , had lunch and reported to our muster station for an "fire drill" to learn how to put on life jackets should we have to abandon ship. Before we knew it, we were setting sail on our Alaskan adventure.

Bon Voyage...

The first port of call was Ketchikan.  A very small town known as the "salmon capital of the world".  The free shuttle picks up passengers at the port and drops them off in town. We were there for just part of the day, so we walked around a historic boardwalk called Creek Street.  It is formerly a Red Light District where  "both men and salmon swan upstream to spawn".  Now, it's a quaint area to walk around and shop. 

Here are a few photos of Ketchikan. See a collection of photos HERE.

The second port of call was Juneau. Juneau is only accessible by boat or plane.  This was the view from the boat when we woke up to that morning...

We started the day off by riding the tram to the top of Mt. Roberts. The tram was a short walk from where we were docked and tickets were sold at a booth right off the ship. It was very foggy in the morning, but the pass was good for the entire day, so we were able to go back in the evening to catch the beautiful views.  The highlight of the day was Mendenhall Glacier. We booked the excursion on the boat that morning and the bus picked us up right at the ship. It was a short,comfortable ride to the glacier. We hiked to the best view point of the glacier and right at the bottom of Nugget falls.

Here are a few photos of our adventures in Juneau. See a collection of photos HERE.

The third port of call was Skagway. We reserved tickets well in advance for the White Pass train ride and it did not disappoint. The weather was perfect for our 4 hour ride to White Pass summit. During the afternoon, we walked around the interesting town.

The last two stops, while on the ship, were Glacier Bay National Park and College Fjords.  Both were amazing and the scenery made it hard to ever put the camera down.  Rangers were brought on board to narrate the tour and answer questions. It was a perfect ending before we headed on to Whittier for disembarkment the next morning.

We stayed in Anchorage the last few days of our trip and rented a car to explore the area. We headed south toward Seward and stopped on the way at Summit Lake Lodge for a picnic. The lodge had a small cafe and delicious coffee for the car ride. Next stop was Kenai Fjord National Park to hike to Exit Glacier. It is one of the most accessible valley glaciers in Alaska.  In just one year, it has retreated 187 feet!  After the hike to the glacier, we made our way to the small town of Seward, but then again, most towns in Alaska are "small".  On our way back to Anchorage, we stopped for dinner at the lodge and then the Animal Conservation Center in Portage.  The entire drive south was beautiful.  We drove about an hour North the next day before we flew home, but it was more residential and commercial.

My entire collection of photos from the trip can be seen HERE.  I will end this blog post with a few tips/things I learned as a newby to cruise ships...

1. Take warm clothing!  Dress in layers and take a rain jacket. I was very happy to have my waterproof winter coat and I had it on or with me at all times. Don't forget sunscreen and sunglasses!

2. Take binoculars. Very useful for spotting wildlife!

3. Internet is expensive and slow. but if you are with a group, set up your phone to use the "intranet" on the ship. You don't have to have service or be connected to "wi-fi",  but can use the messenger to text each other. It's  free.

4. Look over excursions ahead of time and reserve anything you definitely want to do. 

5. Taking wine on the ship is easy (one bottle per adult) and we were able to take it out on the deck to enjoy, while watching the scenery.

This is a photo of myself, taken by my husband, during the dART Scavenger Hunt this weekend. It was a first time event with Richmond Riverrock.  We were given a series of clues that led us to 16 street murals in various parts of Richmond. There were also five restaurants that we stopped at for stickers to get additional points. All of this was to be done by foot or bike, so we packed up our bikes on Friday, played hooky from work (shhhhh) and enjoyed a day of riding around RVA.  At each mural, a "selfie" or photograph had to be taken with at least one of us in it. Being a photographer, I decided to pack up my camera and tripod and stage a photo at each mural (good news for hubby, right?!). There might even have been a few times where I was setting the timer and racing across the street in traffic to make it in the photo. Can't wait to do it all again next year!

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I really enjoyed this city. It felt a little like New York but smaller and a little like Montreal, but maybe because we were greeted in french at our hotel. We stayed at the Sofitel and I would definitely recommend this hotel. It's a beautiful hotel, great customer service, great location and the beds felt like what I imagine sleeping on a cloud would feel like.

Here's a list of some favorite places in Chicago...

Lou Malnati's Pizza... Carnival Restaurant for dinner/cottom candy dessert... Eately to shop/eat/drink wine... Lou Mitchels for breakfast (who doesn't want free ice cream after breakfast?). Are you seeing a trend yet? Yes, we ate a lot. in Chicago, but it's a great foodie town. Also Millenium Park( I loved photographing the "Bean" and I made hubby get up at 6am on vacation to get there at sunrise) ... Hancock Building( go to 96th floor for drinks and great views) ... view of the city from the Planetarium.