A while back we mentioned that we may be doing some traveling in 2010 to a few different parts of the US of A. We are happy to announce we have the dates set for our trip to Los Angeles, California in mid-June!!  We have availability for sessions June 13-15.   We also have plans in the works for a trip to New York City, and Albuquerque, New Mexico!

Here are tentative plans for photography session dates:

Los Angeles: June 13-15

NYC: September 3-6

Albuquerque: Mid-October

(WOW, I think that is the most I have ever had to write the word Albuquerque in my life.)

If you are near these areas and are interested in booking a photography session with us, please email me at info@studio3z.com to discuss!

We can’t wait to explore, meet and photograph new people!  :)

~the Z’s

Ever gone on a wildflower expedition on a day when severe thunderstorms are expected?  If not, I highly recommend it.

Let me preface this post with this: If you have a dislike of spring, unique wildflowers, nature, or the color green- this post is not for you.  If any of these things sound like music to your ears, then feast your eyes on God’s natural beauty below.

My Dad and I made a trip from Cincy down to Southern Kentucky where my Grandma lives, with the hopes of doing some trout fishing and wildflower hunting.  When we heard that huge thunderstorms were expected last weekend, we decided we would still try with the wildflowers, and headed South last Friday night….just me and my Dad.

Saturday morning at 7am my Dad woke me up and said we had to get moving.  Judging by the weather channel, we had a couple early morning hours before the storms picked up.  I rolled out of bed, and we were quickly on our way.

There are so many things I would have loved to photograph…we were trying to rush, and we didn’t have as much time as we would have liked.

Our hope was to find COLOR.  We made that our focus.

We began in Grandma’s back yard.  My Dad found this gorgeous trumpet vine growing on her shed and we weren’t sure if it was wild or not.  Sure enough Grandma said that my Grandfather found it a long time ago in the woods, dug it up, and planted it back there.

Then we began driving and exploring.  If we saw something on the road, we got out and took some shots.  Here is a wild Columbine we found.

Love these little sweeties, but don’t know their name (anyone know?).

We then began our descent to Yahoo Falls.

Along the way we saw so much beauty.  These are beautiful purple Trillium.

Indian Paintbrush were scattered here and there….

This unique flower is a Jack-In-The-Pulpit.  By the way, my Dad knew the name of everyone of these flowers and taught me.  :)

Even though it was about 9 in the morning, it was getting darker and darker as the clouds rolled in.

My Dad shot using his ring flash.  I thought this shot was cute.  ;)

Then we made it down to the beautiful falls.

My Dad walking behind the falls.

Loved the pattern of this leaf canopy overhead.

After we left that area and drove on, the rain began.  We didn’t let it stop us.  We continued looking for new types of wildflowers, and my Dad was especially in search of a rare wildflower called a Yellow Lady Slipper.

Driving in the pouring rain and looking out the car window for flowers can be challenging…but we had no where else we needed to be, and we had the “Sinatra” XM Radio station to keep us company.  :)  So we pressed on.

My eyes had been scanning the sides of the road for yellow.  THEN I SAW IT!

My Dad pulled up next to it and said it wasn’t the lady slipper, but another Trillium, of the yellow variety this time.  Drats.

Now I was determined.  We spotted flowers here and there, driving around in the rain- stepping out to shoot on occasion in few-second intervals.

I took this shot over my Dad and out his window of more Indian Paintbrush growing off the hillside.

Then we saw this narcissistic little turtle crawling down the street, begging for a portrait.  I graciously obliged.

We also saw an owl in the road which flew off as soon as we approached.  My Dad suspected the animal world was acting wacky, sensing that a big storm front was rolling in.

Supposedly, rumor has it, that when I turned my head my Dad saw a small black “panther” like cat race across us.   Well, it began as a weasel or mink, and grew to a panther.  ;)

This was a wild trumpet vine that was so vibrant.

By this point it was really raining and was so dark out (I had my camera up to 32oo iso).

We saw this gorgeous tall and slender tree that resembled a Magnolia or something in the Rhododendron family.  If anyone out there knows the name of this tree, would you mind commenting and sharing?

We were driving along and I screamed, “STOP!  Back up! I FOUND IT!!!”  I cannot repeat all that my Dad said at that point, something like “You gotta be sh**ing me.”  I got out and pointed to a yellow spot through the woods….

It was it!  The yellow Lady Slipper wildflower.  As I looked over the hillside, I found another, and another, and another.

I waded through what seemed like a field of poison ivy, and pouring rain, to try to get up close to this sucker.

I make no claims to how this flower ended up following us home….but I can assure you, the plant itself was not harmed in any way (don’t kill me Green Peace!).  My Daddy’s 93 yr. young mama needed to see what we found.

Please excuse how utterly “tres chic” I look after wandering through thunderstorms.

I thought this picture was cute.  See that little wallet photo by the vase?  My Senior photo.  ;)

Rain and all, my Dad and I had a great time taking a little breather from every day life, and just exploring for the fun of it.   :)  Can’t wait to do it again.