Last month I went on a road trip all the way to Arizona. It was a brutal drive but the end result was worth every sleepless second. If you know me, you know I require 9 uninterrupted hours of sleep per night…and maybe an occasional nap. I did NOT get my 9 hours per night on this trip.
I got a total of 3 hours of sleep before this sunrise shoot with Sarah. I relied on her for the location selection since I had never been to Arizona before. We shot at Papago Park in Phoenix.
I don’t often wake up early enough for a sunrise. If I AM awake that early you’d better believe I’ll have a camera in my hand and a pretty model standing in front of me. It’s really the only way to lure me out of bed that early.
After the sunrise shoot I took a 3 hour nap and then drove to meet with some Tucson models at Gates Pass. It was a two hour drive in 100 degree heat and the car I drove there had no A.C. I was born and raised in Cleveland. I don’t deal with 100 degrees very well so I stopped every 30 minutes to sit in a gas station and cool down. At one point, my best option was a McDonald’s. I stopped in and tried to order a slushie. Apparently McDonald’s doesn’t sell slushies….
I arrived at Gates Pass about a half hour early. I decided to check out the International Wildlife Museum…and by check out I mean sit in their A.C. (there’s a pattern here.) The woman at the front desk was so passionate about the museum. I couldn’t admit to her that all I cared about was not sitting in my 100 degree car. I paid her the $10 admission fee and pretended to go look around. Why am I like this?!
The museum is lovely but the water from the water fountain was not (totally irrelevant.) I spent all of five minutes there and then met up with my first model, Kimberly. She hiked the mountains with me, dodging the cacti WHILE WEARING HIGH HEEL BOOTS. That was terrifying. But everything worked out and we got some killer shots.
Next, I got to meet Skyler and we shot together before the final group of models arrived.
I didn’t stay for sunset because I was a little worried about driving on the winding, mountain roads at night. I know the shots would have been stunning but I decided not to risk it. The drive back to Mesa was reallllly exhausting. But guess what I got on the drive back?! A SLUSHIE! And it was the slushie sent straight from the heavens, I promise you that.
I got a few hours of sleep and woke up bright and early to do another sunrise shoot at Papago Park. This time I met up with Kaecy at Hole in the Rock. If you want to see a cool place, definitely stop by there! It’s so amazing! And a perfect spot of photos. It’s a really easy hike so it’s a nice place to bring kids too…there just may be women in lingerie walking around.
And to conclude my stay in Arizona, I did a shoot with Shea and Dani. These ladies are amazing! They brought a ton of great outfits. We ended up with an amazing gallery. It was the perfect way to end my trip. I made my way to Phoenix airport (and in case you're wondering, they DO NOT have a Starbucks accessible to every gate so good luck with that), hopped on a plane (you couldn’t pay me a million dollars to drive back) and headed back home to my favorite place in the entire world – CLEVELAND, OHIO <3<3<3
