Captain's Log: Sonora Photoshoot

I recently had the wonderful opportunity to do a family portrait shoot for one of the manager's at the company I work for in beautiful Sonora. I've never been to Sonora and was captivated by the farm land and scenery around me as I drove over rolling hills in the bright morning sun. There was a time when that much greenery made me irritated. I remember making the 8-hour drive from my hometown in Stockton to my dad's childhood home in Glide, Oregon, and being upset that I was so far away from a big city. I'm a city girl, through and through. I'll take horns, gunshots and siren sounds over frogs and crickets any day. I even got to the point where I hated the color green because I would see so much of it on a trip. I loved seeing my family, but I hated the surroundings. These days, I have a better appreciation for nature. You still wouldn't catch me camping in the "great" outdoors, but I'll always have that urge to pull over at a view point and snap a few photos. That's what I loved most about making this trip alone, I didn't have to worry about inconveniencing someone else to stop for five minutes on the side of the road and take photos.

Towards the end of the shoot, one of the family members pointed out that a deer had wandered up and was watching us. I quickly, without shame, tore myself away from my paying work to snap a few shots of the deer. When we realized that the deer wasn't moving, I starting walking up towards it. I got almost within arms length of the fence line and it still didn't move. It was like it wanted to take pose for me or it was terrified out of it's mind and was like, "what the hell are you doing, woman?" It was pretty incredible. The Cucuzza family treated me to lunch, which I greatly appreciated, at their favorite Mexican restaurant in town who's name escapes me. They had the coolest decor at the entry way! It really was just the neatest experience. I can't wait to do my next family portrait!

PS: I would like to point out that I had no idea there was a bee near the flowers I had taken a picture of. I'm pretty stoked that the little guy showed up in the photo!