Winter Break

This winter break, my family and I drove to Arizona to see my grandparents for Christmas. While we were there, we road tripped around the state and visited the Grand Canyon, Williams, Fountain Hills and Scottsdale.

There is a wildlife sanctuary in Williams, AZ that is a popular tourist spot. It's called Bearizona, and is home to all sorts of wildlife. You can drive through the homes of wolves, caribu, bears, bighorn sheep, bison, and many more species. There is also a small zoo-like area where they have other animals and of course, more bears.

I had a great time, and although shooting through car windows was a challenge (as we had to roll the windows up for the wolves and bears), I got some pretty awesome shots.

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  Aspen the Elk

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  Stitch the Red Fox

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  Remington the Bobcat

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  Shadow the Alaskan Tundra Wolf

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  Arctic Wolf

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  Libre the Jaguar

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  Trash Panda

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  Raven

After visiting Williams, we made our way to the Grand Canyon South Rim. We stayed at a beautiful hotel just outside the park and enjoyed the northern Arizona winter weather. We went into the park twice and walked the rim trail, stopping at look out points and visiting various studios located on the edge of the canyon. Although there was no sunset or starry sky due to the ominous presence of rain clouds, we went back into the park after dinner for one last trip to the rim. Here are some photos I shot of the canyon and my family on our hike.

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  View From South Rim Trail

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  My Parents

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  My Parents and Little Brother

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  The Edge of Vastness

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  My Mom and My Little Sister

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  Grand Canyon Railway Tracks

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  Deer

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  Bright Angel's Trail

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  View From South Rim Trail

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  A Hotel On The Rim

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  A Juniper Titmouse

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  View From South Rim Trail

During the last week of break I got the chance to take some self portraits using a flash. I took them in my room, using my wall covered with book pages as a backdrop. It was fun to get to experiment with different ideas until I got the shots I wanted.

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  Self Portrait

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  Self Portrait

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  Self Portrait

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  Self Portrait

Overall, I had a great break and enjoyed my time working on photography as well as hanging out with family and friends.