So we are back home to our California winter, to the sweaters and jackets. Looking through our vacation pictures it’s hard to believe that somewhere not that far away it’s hot and humid right now. I think that the warmer the weather the better, so the only thing stopping me from moving to Florida are all the wild animals rescue shows which we watched on TV while staying in Miami. While California’s version of the show usually features people rescuing cats and dogs – Florida’s version has people calling about crocodiles in their backyards. I wouldn’t want to find one of these in my own backyard!

Honestly, Miami didn’t leave a great impression on me – it was big, flat, and a bit too showy. Even the famous Art Deco architecture of South Beach left me feeling a bit indifferent. I’d love to come back to Florida again and may be check out some of the other parts and maybe drive through the state along the coast. Here are some more photos from the trip!

The beautiful Everglades:

Would you want to find this guy in your backyard?

We got to see baby crocs up close following the Everglades boat ride:

A real photographer on vacation :)

Absolutely loved the quiet and village-like Key West:

A male relative of the chicken family from our last post:

Just loved the light here! No wonder they call it the magic hour:

We’re very excited to have recently been featured in a professional photographer magazine in regards to our awesome print-fulfillment service: Zenfolio. We’ll be glad to share all the details with you in the next few upcoming days. Woo hooo!!

Natasha

What do wedding photographers visiting Florida do after an intense 4-day convention? Visit Miami, of course!

This was our first time checking out Miami and we’ve really enjoyed taking a few days off to unwind. We’re staying in South Beach, which is Miami’s most popular vacation area packed with restaurants and shopping areas. The beach is about a block away and the weather has been beautiful in the upper 70′s.

We took a day to visit the Southernmost part of the state (and continental US) called Key West. This city practices a more relaxed approach to life and is known to be full of artists and craftsmen. An interesting peculiarity are the wild chickens which walk around many streets and act as if they belong as much, if not more then the local people. The 4 hour bus ride to Key West from Miami was absolutely gorgeous as it took us through the rest of the keys.

Another highlight of our experience in Miami has been a trip to the Everglades National Park. We took an adrenalin-filled tour on an air boat with crocodiles swimming to the left and right of us. Afterwards we had a chance to actually hold a baby croc. We were both full of awe at the beauty of the Everglades: it’s an enormous expanse of untouched and serene wetlands.

Alas, all good times must come to an end and we’ll be back in the Bay Area this Monday. You can look forward to part II of our post about Miami and more photos in the next few days!

Mike

We had an awesome time with some of our friends over New Year’s weekend in Lake Tahoe. It’s not often Natasha and I check out the snow-country just because we usually like it much warmer :). We had a great cabin and I think we definitely got lucky with the weather. Had we been there just a week later, it could’ve been quite a different experience.

I love to snowboard and have spent many seasons enjoying some of the resorts we’re blessed to have in Tahoe. My favorite ones are North Star and Kirkwood, but on this trip we decided to take it easy, relax, and check out some cross-country skiing instead.

Now, usually, it’s a peaceful and relatively easy experience, but Natasha definitely figured out a way to make it exciting. The cross-country area we’d chosen had many hills, and while the uphill runs turned out to be quite arduous, the downhill runs were simply terrifying. Cross-country skis are really not well suited for the hills and slowing down became almost impossible.

At one point while descending down a slope, Natasha had suddenly realized that she’s gaining more and more speed, and because of a lack of downhill skiing experience, she was unable to turn or even slow down. As the road turned, she found safety in a large pile of fresh snow as she realized that it’s probably a good time to crash land before kissing some evergreens :) Some concerned passersby were relieved when they heard Natasha’s laughing.

Here are some photos from the trip:

Some of the decorations we set up in our house:

Enjoying a beautiful and bright time out on the lake:

We hope your New Year’s was fun also!

Mike