Behind the Scenes: Tie-dye Photoshoot in Valley of Fire

It had been one heck of a whirlwind weekend... We drove out to Mesquite and explored the area, checked out a new fishing park they had, scoped out some of their local casinos, then gone out to St. George, Utah, and played in the beautiful Historic Downtown park and water facilities, checked out a crystal and gem shop while discovering where Vanticore won't fit (the hard way), climbed upon a giant rock, driven through so many little off-freeway towns and rural areas... and now, at the end of our second day road tripping (yes, it's only been two days!), we found ourselves at Valley of Fire state park trying to squeeze in that damn photo shoot I'd been angling towards all day. Not to say I didn't enjoy the rest of our day- I absolutely did! It was so much fun exploring the new towns and areas, seeing a side of our state and the Southwest I don't normally get out and see. Absolutely awesome! But all play and no work makes Nau go cray. So despite the odds, and the waning sunlight, and the packed campsites and scenic areas, we found a place to pull over and guerilla-style shot the shirts. It went pretty well, and we made a point of it to be well out of the road long before any cars came close- which was exceptionally easy to manage because the place we stopped had excellent views (and acoustics) so we not only heard the cars long before they approached but were able to spot them, too. It's not unusual to come around a bend in the park and find a family posing for a shot in the middle of the road, and we did NOT want to be those people. Like, I get it- the photos in the road look cool. But you've got to plan for them, and plan for the fact that roads are primarily intended for cars to travel upon. Don't stand around a bend, where cars won't be able to see you until it's too late. Keep your ears and eyes open and be hyper aware of your surroundings. Not only are there cars, but rattle snakes, scorpions, random places you could trip or hurt yourself. It's wild out there, so be smart, my friends. 

We didn't have long to work, and the moon was bright long before we were even halfway through our quick shoot. Antho was able to get some photos of the big pearl in the sky which aren't half bad considering he didn't use a tripod and it was taken with my little point-and-shoot digicam. Someday I'll invest in one of those fancy, expensive, cameras, but this trusty little Casio has been through the ringer with me and keeps on clicking so I've got no complaints. If you like what you see, the shirts are available in our Etsy shop!

Road Tripping: Scenic drive through Valley of Fire State Park

If you've been to my blog before, you might have noticed that we've got a bit of a love affair with Valley of Fire State Park. We've gone camping there a few times during the cooler winter months and have returned for day trips several times, too. It's not far from Vegas, only about an hour down the freeway, and has such stunning stone formations and scenic views that it's hard not to be blown away by the beauty anew with each visit. There's always something new to discover or see, and the serene seeming desert hides a complex ecosystem full of life, from adorable ground squirrels skittering about the campsites to coyotes and mountain lions lurking in the distance during the deep, dark nights. You can catch the glow of Vegas peeking out behind the mountain ridges at night, as the stars come out to glisten, but despite the distant glow it's easy to feel almost entirely cut off from the rest of humanity on some far and distant alien planet (with conveniently paved roads). 

We were quickly running out of sunlight and wanted to stop and get a photo shoot in, since we've accumulated a huge backlog of ready-made shirts needing to get added to our inventory. I'm sure if I weren't such a perfectionist we'd have an easier time getting them online- because we can't sell what people don't know we have, right? But first I need to process the photos we've already taken, add those to our inventory, sort and organize our standing inventory to make room for the new additions, measure, post... it's an entire process, my friends, and it's a time consuming one. It's worth it in the end, though, because each time we sell one of our tie-dye shirts there's so much joy and pride!  Some day it will be my day job, but you've gotta build it from the ground up first and that's going to take a lot of work and effort. It's not always easy trying to start your own business, and I'm grateful that I'm in a situation that allows me the flexibility to work on it and grow it in my free time while still bringing in an income to support our basic needs.  

Even though I definitely had work on the mind, it's hard not to marvel at the scenery when in Valley of Fire. The massive stone formations jutting out of the ground in bright, stark colors contrasting the sands and shrubs surrounding them with the endless blue sky above can take your breath away. Even just driving down the roads and enjoying the view from the comfort of your air-conditioned car is well worth the trip from Vegas! During our trip this time we passed a wedding party posing for photos, so that was an unexpectedly romantic thing to spot. There was also an art installation involving mirrors that we saw in passing, but that was only there for a very short window of time. It was gone by the time we could've gone back out to inspect if closer... shame, but that's the ephemeral nature of things sometimes. 

Luckily for us, photos can help us capture the fleeting moments in life and preserve them.

Good thing, too.

Art: Tie-dye photoshoot in Valley of Fire

Happy day-after-Valentine's day, guys!

Sorry, single friends, if our cheese is a little disgusting to you right now. I understand, I really do, but it's also a cheesy romantic time of year and we're a couple of sappy bastards so I couldn't help myself but to at least have some nod to romance here. And, not to sound too vain, but I think we look kind of cute in these photos. 

Here's something else to look at so as to ease your urge to vomit.  Our campsite out here at Arch Rock campground in Valley of Fire state park was quite photogenic and we found what was the perfect spot for us. The lighting was good for much of the morning and we were visited by an array of cute creatures over the hours. 

While we had spent the night previous relaxing and enjoying each other's company and a fire-cooked meal away from the city, once the sun rose and I had an adequate amount of caffeine and spontaneous cuteness in my system it was time for us to get to work. Luckily for us, the work involved here is modelling some of our finished tie-dye creations among the beautiful landscape. While in the past we've opted to keep our photoshoots on the simpler side so as not to draw too much focus away from the shirts, we realised that this approach is also a bit boring and doesn't convey much about our personalities or the kind of vibe we want our clothes to have. Since we're going to go camping anyway, why not bring along some of our stuff and snag some shots when the lighting is good? We were still able to enjoy most of our morning and the photoshoot didn't take so long as to keep us occupied longer than we would have been comfortable with. We were back in the city and the comfort of our own home by mid-afternoon, and that's even with the stop we made along the way... there will be a separate post on that, though, as it was too hair-raising for me to want to include among the outtakes from the photoshoot. The ones that we used for the listings are all up and visible on our Etsy shop, along with the items being modelled themselves!  

Lips by Lime Crime.

More photos below!

Vegas: Van-Camping at Valley of Fire Arch Rock part one

The rock above is not Arch Rock, in case you're curious. This pointy photogenic fellow just happened to be close to our campsite at the Arch Rock Campground in Valley of Fire state park. The park is about an hour's drive from Vegas on the interstate and we've gone several times now and love it out there, including our overnight campout recently in Vanticore (our van). We had so much fun during our camp out that we wanted to get back out there as soon as possible, in fact! My schedule has been all over the place lately due to restructuring going on at my job, while Antho's remains reliably consistent- he works bright and early at 6 in the morning to 3pm with the same days off almost every week outside of holidays... but due to my schedule being a bit wonky, my days off have been less predictable. When it lined up that I had two days in a row- meaning we had an early evening off leading into a full day off together the next, we decided to make a go of it and go camping after Antho got off of work, spending the night relaxing then handle the business aspect in the morning. 

Last time we went I got pretty stressed out trying to squeeze in all the tie-dye photography I felt we needed to get done in the dwindling light that remained by the time we got there... the next morning we were able to squeeze in the rest, but it was cold and the harsh afternoon light swept into the area quite quickly, plus I had to work that evening in the city and felt a bit rushed to get everything done in time. The campsite we found here at Arch Rock camps was far more secluded among the stones and getting there was a little nerve-wracking (or butt-clenching) with the narrow, one-lane road winding along at perilously sharp angles and occasional inclines in the dim-light of evening. We found an ideal site, however, and quickly went about setting up for dinner. Antho was kind enough to pick up firewood, steaks, skewers and veggies so we could grill on the designated fire-pit the park provides. Our food was delicious and we spent much of the evening listening to the fire crackle as we made s'mores and snuggled under blankies under the stars. 

We have collapsable tie-dye chairs for just such an occasion. It was wonderful.

Because we arrived at night, we didn't actually have any real idea what our site would look like come morning. I mean, we saw silhouettes and shadows, but most of it was mystery. Sunrise brought with it surprise and beauty.

More photos below!

Vegas: Atlatl Rock at Valley of Fire

Atlatl rock is an ancient structure standing in the Valley of Fire national park. The stone itself is riddled with petroglyphs, which unfortunately some of our modern human brethren have tried to improve upon with their own additions...but the original art adorning the rock is still clearly visible and now fairly well protected to prevent any additional future defacing to these valuable historic treasures. The stairs leading up to the petroglyphs can be a little intimidating, perhaps, and once we got to the top I found a previously unrealised fear of heights made me want to get lower (closer to solid ground) as I approached the edges of the platform. Antho was there to encourage and support me the whole time, holding my hand and offering gentle words as he encouraged me to step closer to the precipice. This, it turns out, provided a bit of foreshadowing to our future camping trip to the park, as he somehow managed to talk me into walking close to the edge of a cliff for a photo... not something I would normally have felt comfortable doing these days. It's a bit funny, I used to work on the 108th floor of the Stratosphere tower at the now defunct caricature stand and the heights never really bothered me that much, even winds or a bit of mild earth-quaking would cause to sway just enough to cause my pens to roll off an otherwise horizontal table. It's been quite a few years since then, though, and I suppose my inevitable mortality has started to sink it a bit, jangling my nerves.  

We didn't stay terrible long here, as there were a lot of other visitors passing through and we didn't want to hinder their visit or photo opportunities any.  I also had the unfortunate designation of having to go in to my day (or, in this case, night?) job later on. This meant our adventure had a bit of a limited time constraint from the get go. It was still a lot of fun and we got quite a bit accomplished, so I'm quite proud of us for making it work while still managing to adult. 

More photos below!

Vegas: Van-Camping at Valley of Fire

Valley of Fire is a beautiful national park area that is a relatively short drive outside of Vegas. We've gone and done the drive before but couldn't stay overnight on that particular outing, so we made a point of it to venture out when we had the time and check out their camping.

After making our usual stop at the little convenience store at the turn off, we made our way towards the campsite. We knew we were off to a good start when we saw this purple haired young lady biking about near the turn for the campsite road. There are two distinct pay stations in the park when you're planning to stay overnight- there's the initial entrance where you should pay your $10 entry fee, then once you enter the camping area there's a separate pay station where you should pay your $10 overnight camping fee, or more if you're staying in an RV as there are separate stations for RV campers with electrical and other hook-ups needed for the long-haul traveler. There is the option to get an annual park pass for about $200 if you intend to camp more than 10 times throughout the year and it's really worth it for the savings. We've gone twice now, which is $40 or one-fifth of the annual pass...we could easily make the trip another 8 times, so we'll probably be getting that pass here soon. It applies to multiple parks, not just Valley of Fire, so there's more practicality to it than you might initially think.. 

This trip went really well and we had a great time, though we didn't get to fully utilise our campsite because we were a little under-prepared. There are fire pits at every campsite so you can easily set up your own little toasty s'more station and tell spooky stories under the stars, though we didn't have any firewood this time... We made sure to bring some next time through, though! We spent most of the evening star-gazing and talking, which was really nice. There's no cell phone reception in the park so even if my work had tried to get ahold of me they wouldn't have been able to. We listened to a lot of the Lord of the Rings trilogy audio-books on CD while driving which was fun. Antho hadn't really ever delved into the series much prior to our dating, but I made sure to watch the Trilogy together when we had the chance. The books have a lot more detail and some additional characters, and the CDs Antho found were a bit older so they had a fun charm to them. Overall we had an excellent trip and a great time! We went back at the first available opportunity and will be back again soon enough.

More photos below!

Vegas: Valley of Fire part 4

This will be the last in the series of Valley of Fire posts I'll be doing for now, so if you're sick of seeing all these pictures of pretty rocks you can rest easy as the posts on this blog will soon be back to different subject matter. As for me, I absolutely love Valley of Fire and am excited to get back out there again soon and take more photos! Anyone with access to a camera can be a photographer, really, but it's the practice and personal perspective you bring to it that defines you from the rest- at least in my little ol' opinion. Everyone has a different way of seeing the world, as is especially clear when asking others to take photos for you when you have a particular vision in mind. My camera is nothing terribly fancy, at least compared to those massive lensed things I see the professionals using, and I've had it for years yet I'm still learning how to fully utilise all the functions it has at it's disposal and am always finding something new and interesting to try. So far it has worked well for my needs and I'm grateful to my past self for picking it up on a whim back at that shopping center in Shin-Urayasu station. Every day, every outing, is a new opportunity for exploration and experimentation and documenting it along the way helps to preserve those memories for years down the road. As long as digital media remains I can literally scour digital impressions of my memories. I think that's pretty amazing. 

And Valley of Fire? It's beautiful. I highly recommend going if you're ever in the area. We didn't even set foot near their visitor center, but if you have the time you can learn a lot about the area and it's history. By this point in our stay the sun was starting to dip lower in the horizon and we were starting to feel a bit of a crunch for time. The park is open from sunrise to sunset, and once the sun goes down it gets dark out there- very dark. The city lights of Las Vegas are miles away and the winding roads are only sporadically lit with street lights, making it a bit of a nerve-wracking drive if you're not careful. By the time we neared Lake Mead it was far too dark for photos as the distance between pools of light grew and their pale beams barely pierced the shadows. 

What photos remain will continue after the cut!

Vegas: Valley of Fire part 3

The stones jutting from the earth like skeletal fragments from some long forgotten titan range in color from deep purple to fiery red along with the expected ivory of sun-bleached bones depending where you look. These color variations can occur in the very same stone in intermittent layers or will dominate the entire form depending on the composition of the stone. Eons have gone into the formation of these beauties and their stacked layers tell tales of our planet's history for those with the eyes and ears to listen. Personally, my understanding of mineralogy and geology are pretty limited, but growing up I would hear how oceans once dominated the desert and marvel at images of trilobites that had through a confluence of fortuitous factors found their way through the weathers of time to leave their shape for us to find. It's not hard to imagine this as some alien world with the bizarre and preposterous shapes and shades some of the stones have found themselves in...that is, of course, until you find some trash some jackass left behind or some other detritus of human activity. We found several examples, from a discarded silk glove (ponderous) to oodles of trash...all of it shameful. A sacred rule for any outdoor activity is LEAVE NO TRACE!  We always carry a bag with us, whether it be my purse or a backpack, and take our trash with us so as not to sully the landscape for others.  This isn't just practical environmental stewardship- there are hefty fines if you're caught littering or otherwise defacing the environment. Valley of Fire is a state park, after all, and these grounds are under protection. As I've said, there's a lot of history throughout the 40,000 plus acres here and please be respectful of that when visiting. Enjoy your stay and take lots of photos, but take your trash with you when you leave. Let's keep these places photogenic for the future generations who may someday visit and witness the vestiges of our civilisation. 

More photos after the cut!

Vegas: Valley of Fire part 2

Valley of Fire is massive; the kind of expansive that would make an agoraphobic clutch up their hands and shriek in abject recoiling panic. 40,000 acres is a lot of land, and there's a lot of sand, stone and sky occupying that grand space. We spent the majority of our day here and still didn't see a fraction of everything there is to find or photograph. Every step we took was temporarily recorded in the sand, only to be blown away with the next strong gusts as we dipped our toes in the ocean of desert. The same was true for all sorts of life- we found a complicated tapestry of prints scattered among the bushes, a rich story of the creatures making this harsh environment their home. Even with all the tourist traffic and human footfall entering the area the local inhabitants seem to be doing quite well if the scattered piles of scat and abundant variety of tracks were any indication. Given the ephemeral nature of prints in sand and the frequent gusts we can get out here, we can only presuppose that the prints we witnessed during our trek were fairly fresh, maybe not within the hour but likely sometime in the same day or the night prior.  This is in contrast to the petroglyphs and ancient artefacts of prehistoric civilisations and species that also abound throughout the valley. History lingers while life invariably goes on, legends of the past looming on stone faces above a web of interspecies interaction. I doubt the rabbits care much for our stories, but who knows? Maybe they see human prints in their sandy home and contemplate their origins, coming up with their own tales of mysterious bipedal giants who occasionally stumble through.

More photos after the cut...

Vegas: Valley of Fire part 1

Valley of fire, a relatively short drive of about an hour from the Las Vegas valley on the interstate, is a state park with over 40,000 acres of beautiful desert landscape full of a variety of lushly coloured stone formations, petroglyphs dating to over 2,000 years ago and all sorts of other wonders. There's a small fee of $10 to enter the park but it allows you access to all of the hiking trails- of which there are definitely too many of to try to conquer them all in one day. You can also opt to camp for up to 2 weeks in any 30-day period, which is handy for those people living out of their vans or RVs or even just locals looking for an extended staycation. The ancient artifacts and glyphs are protected by state and federal law, so please be respectful when visiting and don't deface anything! It's happened before and caused an outcry as the perpetrators were sought out to be charged.  There's some serious history among these stones, so with that in mind enjoy your stay and have fun! 

This post is mostly about our trek to get there as it was one of our first real journeys stretching Vanticore's legs. The van is an older model but new to us, so we're still breaking her in and trying to get a feel for how she handles. There's been some hiccups and a few trips to the mechanic along the way, but such things are to be expected with any vehicle, especially one that's been on the roads for more than 140,000 miles. On this venture she held up well and Antho drove her for hours - from leaving Vegas to get to Valley of Fire to later taking the scenic route around to Lake Mead and then all the way back home. We spent the majority of our day in the van, so of course we had to stop and grab some snacks along the way! There's a market along the two-laned road to the park where you'll see a lot of semitruck drivers refueling for the next stint of their journey as well. Inside you'll find a plethora of tempting snacks and diversions from dangerously hot jerky and sauces to a vast stockpile of fireworks. People the world over love their fireworks and Americans are no different, though the laws vary from place to place and the actual use of some of the fireworks for sale in their warehouse may be frowned upon when you get home. We didn't make any explosive purchases this time and stuck with dried fruits, jerky and beverages to power us through. 

More photos after the cut!