Ketchum, etc., Idaho. And my new-found skillz.

Can we all just acknowledge the fact that I suck at blogging regularly? The sooner we accept that, the lower our expectations will be, and life will just be all-around better for everyone. K? K.

A few months ago (see? I'm not even going to hide the fact that I'm posting about something so far after the event), Casey and I went away for a weekend trip with our good friend, Ian (who was also our wedding officiant!). We packed up our camping/outdoor gear, grabbed our dawg, and headed on up for a 5 hour drive to the beautiful Ketchum, Idaho.  

You would think that the drive through Northern Utah/Southern Idaho would be quite bland (shhhh- don't be negative). On the contrary, I saw some scenery that was so picturesque, I actually found it worthy of being captured by my iPhone camera.  

Pretty, huh? 

We happened to be driving during a crazy thunderstorm that evening, which made the sky look absolutely stunning. There were massive bolts of lightning all over the sky- it was SO cool! I love lightning/thunder storms.

During the month of August, the weather is always warm, sunny, and just perfect, right?
False. Very false.
Apparently this particular weekend, August decided to be stupid and give us freezing, wet, cloudy, 30 degree weather.
It was cold. Ugh.
But we braved it, anyway, and set up camp in the cold. Hi Ian!

Here's our gigantic 9-person tent we received for our wedding. It is almost as cool as those Harry Potter tents. Almost. Ok, not really. But it's still cool.

I never see this dog so happy as when she's outside playing.

The next morning, we drove through the gorgeous canyon with this guy:

and saw some super cool wildlife, such as this:

We drove to Stanley Lake (in Stanley, Idaho) to get our fishin' on. It was cold. 

You guys, this place is gorgeous. Right??

(I want to frame this.)

Aw, we're cute.

Aw, they're cute.

We fished pretty much all day. Maddie couldn't seem to control herself near a lake, and kept scaring all the fishes away by romping carelessly through the water, so we had to tie her to this big log. (It's our fault for bringing a golden retriever near water and forbidding her from going in it.) Sorry.

Total loot= 4 fish caught, but one was a super-fish and wriggled his way off the stick and back into the safety the water, so... we had 3 to take home. (Please note, I caught zero of them.)

GAH! The beauty is just too much. I can't handle it.

Sigh.

Ok. A photography lesson on lighting...because even though I really don't know much about photography, my mom does, and I like pictures, and that's pretty much the same thing.

Lesson: lighting matters.

These two pictures were taken in basically the same place, about 10 minutes apart (no photo editing on either of them):

6:50 pm

7:00 pm

See the difference? WOW, right? Perfect example of how much lighting can change a picture.

You are welcome for your photography lesson of the day. Stay tuned if you want to read more of my ignorant and unsolicited BS.

After fishing, we went to eat at a nearby restaurant. I took more scenic pictures. Because now that I'm a photographer, that's what I do.

 When we got back to camp, we (ok, not me. But the boys) cooked up the fish for an evening snack.

Fish heads, fish heads, roly poly fish heads...

Bon appétit! 

Before we braved the 5 hour drive back home the next day, Ian let us play with his crossbow.

So guess what, guys. Not only am I now a professional photographer, I'm also the next Katniss Everdeen. So don't worry- I got your back.