Another adventure with the love of my life! The incredibly talented photographer, Heather Woolery (who took some last-minute engagement photos for Chris and me that are SO MAGICAL!) was on the hunt for a couple to take some artistic photos with down on the river. Chris is such a champ and said yes! We headed down and prayed for some rain, but was stuck with some overcast, which was still moody and lovely. We took photos up on the rocks and ended our session with Heather by getting into the water. It was an artistic shoot, so we do not have any photos back yet, but you can bet your boots I'll share photos on Instagram when Heather gets a chance to edit them!

Anyway, while down in the valley, I went ahead and snapped a few shots of my own. I'm working to improve on my landscape photos, as I've always leaned towards photos of people. Expanding those skills, trying new things - you know, just trying to be even more uncomfortable these days.

While I was out photo-journaling the smoke, I stopped by a park and found a number of ducks swimming around. I sat on the side of the pond and worked on my nature shots. The ducks didn't seem to mind, but after I had overstayed my welcome they started to get out of the pond and head in my direction. With no bread or other snack to provide, I jumped up and headed on home. The smoke was starting to upset my lungs by then, anyway. Stay inside, folks. And stay safe.

This smoke is truly something else, isn't it?! With all the wildfires in the region, it was only a matter of time until the smoke showed up. Once it moved in, I went out to relive my photojournalism days and capture this event in history.