Our great friend Mark Cafiero put this slideshow together for us from the trip.

www.sixpeeps.com/SHOWIT/Cozumel2008

Well the last couple weeks I’ve been hanging in Mexico. I had back to back weekends with weddings in Mexico. The first one in Cancun and the 2nd in Cabo San Lucas. I’m in Cabo now getting ready to shoot my wedding in a couple of hours. Since I ws going to be in Mexico I decided to make a little bit of a vacation out of it also. So I invited a few friends down to Cozumel to hangout for a few days. I love Cozumel. It’s a great place to just hangout and take it easy. I also love it for the Scuba Diving. I was here back in June with my daughter. She got certified and it was a blast. Now on this trip it was Stephanie’s turn to get certified. My friend Pete from Generations Entertainment is also a certified diver. So he came along on teh trip with his wife Whitney who joined Stephanie in getting certified.
We had a great group of people on the trip.
Pete & Whitney from Generations
Michelle my studio manager and her husband Heath
Natalie one of my photographers and great friend
Carina from Flawless Faces
Dan for Plug Video
My good friend Mark Cafiero from Colorado

We had a blast. There are so many pics that I would love to blog. Just don’t have the time. But here are a few.

The back yard of the house,not a bad place to hangout

Stephanie working on her tan.

There were some fun toys to play with at the house. Here is Heath going for a bike ride.

Where are Michelle & Natalie going?

Mark taking a dip in the pool with Natalie and Stephanie

Can you believe I actually fell asleep in the hammock next to my wife.

Michelle and Carina

The girls working it in the streets of Cozumel

Natalie playing us a song

Mark & I decided we needed a shot of tequila before we checked out the ruins in the island. We could of past on the ruins.

It was so beautiful out at night. This is right outside of our house.

Time for some diving. How do I look?

I was so proud of Stephanie. She knocked out her certification and was right there with us on every dive. We even did a night dive. Which was a first for all of us.

I had to give my wife a kiss under the water.

Stephanie found a friend

Stephanie always working the camera

We even saw a shark on our last dive. He is hard to see in the picture. Look close. He just swam on by us. Very cool.

I hope to blog more photos when I get home. It was such a great trip. Thanks to all our friends who were able to join us on this trip. I hope we can make this an annual event.

This week I had a chance to take the family to Washington DC. One of my amazing brides who happens to work at The White House invited my family out to DC for some amazing tours. Thanks Susan you are the best!!!!!
I couldn’t pass up the chance to get a tour of The White House and The Capital Dome. It’s our first time to DC. We are having a blast.

We are staying at the very hip Hotel Rouge. I love the furniture in the lobby.

Headed to the White House for our East Wing tour. I wish I had more pictures around the White House. No cameras allowed. Sorry.

After the East Wing tour we got to attend The White House Summit On International Development. Which president Bush was speaking at. I even had a press pass. So who would of thought I’d be shooting images of the President this week.
The conference started off with an African Children’s Choir performance. It was great.

This is such a great city.

The Jefferson Memorial

We did an evening tour of The West WIng. That’s actually the oval office in the background.

This is the entrance to the West Wing lobby.

This is the press briefing room. It looks a lot larger on TV.

This is where the reporters sit.

Our favorite tour was of The Capital Dome. WE actually got to go to the very top of the dome. This is not part of the regular tours.
It was a long way down to the bottom.

It was so cool to be so close to the top of the dome. The art work is amazing.

This is our view from the top of the dome.

This is the original Senate Meeting Room.

This is the view from the floor. We were way up there at the top earlier.

Don’t ask me what Matt is doing.

The Air Museum is a must see.

So is the Natural History Museum.

We also spent a little time walking around Georgetown

After my busy weekend of weddings I had to fly out on Sunday for a wedding I had to shoot in Maui. I decided to make a family get away out of it. So Stephanie and the kids came along. After we shot the wedding on Monday we had a few days of free time. So i talked everybody into Scuba Diving. I’m already certified but I really wanted Stephanie and the kids to give it a try. They were all for it. So we did a couple of shore dives. It was a blast. Everybody wants to get certified right when we get home. Here are a few images from today’s dive.

I’m chasing the fish

Here comes Stephanie and the kids

what’s this stuck to my hand

There is Stephanie off on her own exploring the rocks

I’ve had a crazy week. Last week Stephanie and I took off to spend a few days with our friends Alex & Julie of Elysium Productions. A few months back they told us they were going to be spending some time in London. Alex is from England. He was going home to visit his family. So Stephanie and I decided to join them for a few days. We always jump at a chance to travel. We had a blast. We arrived Monday and returned on Friday. It was a quick trip but worth it. We didn’t take many pictures. We mostly enjoyed just hanging out.

We started the trip out at LAX. We ran into Eric one of my photographers at the airport. He was flying out to shoot a wedding in Hawaii for the studio. He just happened to be at the gate right next to us. So look how we spent out time at the airport.
We are a bunch of MAC addicts!

Now here we are in London taking a picture in front of the Apple Store.

Some of these pictures are taken with a small point and shoot. So ignore the quality on a few of the shoots.

Here we are riding the tube. I love the underground in London. It’s so easy to figure out where you are going.

Stephanie’s Oyster card was giving her trouble. The Oyster card is your pass to get on and off the tube.

We decided to head to Hampton Court. Stephanie loves all reading all about the era of King Henry VIII. So we decided to go see where he liked to hangout. On the train headed for Hampton Court.

We made it. That’s Hampton Court in the background.

It was such a beautiful property.

These kids were playing in one of the courtyards. How cool would it be to be a kid and get to play in a place like this.

It is pretty cold around England. I can see why they needed such large fireplaces to try to keep the place warm.

The property had some amazing gardens. It’s so crazy to think that King Henry VIII walked around these very gardens.

We were having some fun. Who got the most air. I think I won.

Alex getting a nice shot of Stephanie and I.

Back in the city. Heading for the tube.

Check out this big clock. I think it’s a big deal.

We decided to go for a ride on the London Eye. You can get some amazing views riding the eye.
Looking up at the eye.

Not a bad view of Big Ben.

Back on the ground

I think these guys were a long way from home. The were in town from Africa for a big marathon taking place over the weekend.

Back on the tube.

I would have to answer yes to this question.

Just a random wall in the street.

Stephanie looking cute as always.

We spent much of our time on this trip in Pubs. It was great. We love the pints of cider.

Back on the tube. This is what everybody does on the tube. Read these free papers they pass out everywhere. Do I look like a local?

I love all the old buildings.

Stephanie was inspired for a new dress. She had to stop and sketch it out on the spot.

Exiting another pub. You’re always smiling when you are hanging out at the pubs.

Our last shot of the trip. Our last night out we found this very cool bar. It was located right underneath the street on this corner. It was so small. A very cool place. They have this amazing singer there on Thursday nights. We loved it.

Stephanie and I headed home on Friday. I had a wedding to shoot on Saturday. Alex and Julie continued on with there vacation.

I thought I should give a few details on where we stayed on our trip.

When we first arrived in Peru it was around midnight. So we needed to stay overnight in Lima. We were going to catch a plane to Cusco the next morning. Before we left on our trip I looked into finding the hotel closest to the airport. I came across http://www.solmelia.com/. This hotel is about 20 minutes from the airport. So I went with that. When we arrived in Peru I saw they actually have a Ramada Inn right at the airport. I wish I had known about that before I had already booked Sol Melia. So my suggestion is if you have a flight arriving late in Lima. Just walk over the the Ramada and get a room. It will work out great in the morning when you can just wake up and walk 5 minutes and you are in the airport.
Here is a great website for getting a review on the hotel.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g294316-d672205-Reviews-Ramada_Costa_Del_Sol_Lima_Airport-Lima.html
I actually use this website a lot when I’m looking for reviews on places to stay.

In Cusco we found a great hotel to stay at. www.hotelarqueologo.com/
It is built right along side some ancient inca walls. It is located in a great area within walking distance on the main square. The rooms are very clean. The staff was great. They helped arrange getting us a driver to explore the Sacred Valley. So we didn’t have to get on a tour bus. It was great. There is no TV or phones in the room. But who cares. We were not there to watch TV.

After Cusco we headed to Puno. In Puno we stayed at Casa Andina Classic- Puno Tikarini
http://www.casa-andina.com/peru_hotels/puno_tikarani_hotel-2-8-9.htm
We booked it online while we were in Cusco. They had great rates. Less that $70 per night. It was located right in the middle of town. Minutes from the Lake Titicaca Port.
The rooms were very clean. Had cable TV. The room rate also includes breakfast. Which is pretty standard. Every hotel we stayed at included breakfast.

When we headed home we needed to stay one night in Lima because our flight back home left early in the morning. So we did take advantage of the Ramada Inn at the airport the night before we left.

So I hope that helps with anybody planning a trip to Peru. Feel free to email me with any questions.

Well we are home. We had a long day of traveling. Before we got on a plane in Peru we did have some time to kill. So we just walked around the streets of Puno before we jumped in a taxi to the airport.

A local restaurant

Look at all those potatoes

This van was jammed so tight with people,their faces were pressed against the windows

Here is the city’s movie theater

On the way to the airport we did make drive through a small town and make a stop at another ancient Inca site.

Well that is it. After this we headed to the airport in Juliaca to catch a flight to Lima. We had to stay the night in Lima to catch an early morning flight today. We are sad to see our trip end. We had such an amazing trip. We love getting out in the world and getting to know a new culture. We are going to make traveling a major part of our lives. So be sure to check back often to see where our next adventure leads us.

Yesterday we hung out on Lake Titicaca again. There are a handful of natural islands on the lake also. So we thought we would check one out. On the way out we stopped at a couple more of the handmade floating islands. We still can’t get over these islands.

The kids on these islands are so cute.

The woman hard at work.

Dinner anyone

This is their kitchen

On our way to the natural island

The people on this island live a real simple life.

They demonstrated on how they farm.

I had to give them a hand

We had a local family make us lunch at their house.

This island sat right between Peru and Bolivia. That’s Bolivia in the background.

Ther is so much open space on this island. Just land and animals.

Waiting for our ride back to Puno.

Where is the boat

Well we are heading back home tomorrow. I may do one more post when I return home. Peru has been a blast.

Yesterday we had another amazing day. We jumped on a plane to head for the city of Puno. It’s a great starting point to explore Lake Titicaca. We heard about these floating islands that people live on. They call them floating islands because they are handmade. They are referred to as the Uros Islands.The Uros people have been living like this for centuries. These islands are made from totora reeds. They use these reeds to make the islands and their homes. They are also used to make crafts that they sell to tourist. The islands are constructed with many layers of these reeds. They constantly replenish them from the top. It is really an amazing thing to see how they live.

Heading out to the islands. It’s about a 30 minute boat ride from the dock of Puno. Where by the way we had an amazing lunch. Right along the dock there are these small food tents. We had grilled chicken and rice. A great salad and a bowl of fresh fruit and fresh fruit juice. the total bill for both of us was $7.

We have arrived at the islands.

There are about 40 or 50 of these islands. When we pulled in we saw a soccer game going on. ALso a volley ball game.I guess each small island has its own team.
Check out this soccer field.

Here are the ladies playing volleyball

The huts you see are their homes.

These boats are their means of transportation.

This is it. They live jut like this. On these very small islands in these huts. Amazing!

Stephanie just hoping onto the island. It is so weird to walk on. it’s real squishy.

This lady is just grinding up some cornmeal.

These kids that live on these islands are so cute.

We are making some new friends

We met this woman on the island. She has 9 kids. Crazy. But they were so nice. The kids offered us a ride on one of their rafts that were made out of reeds.

This was a large size raft. It has 2 people controlling the raft. These young girls were working hard. There were probably at least 12+ people on the raft.
Our drivers

She looked like she needed a break. So I took over for a little while.

Pulling up to another island. We jumped around on 3 different islands.

What a life all these kids have.

The largest island actually has what they call a hotel. They will rent you these little huts for the night. $6 a night. There is a mattress in the hut and that’s all you get. They have a store on the island and a restaurant. Where the speciality is fresh trout that they catch in the lake.

They even have a phone booth.

Here are the hotel rooms.

They do have schools

The entrance to the main island

One more island to check out.

This is grandma

She has lived on these islands her whole life. She is close to 100 year old. They say the people on these islands live to close to 100. They say it has a lot to do with the fact that everything they eat is 100% fresh. It’s something to think about with our own diets.

Back to the puerto. (Dock)

We needed a quick snack. These ladies had great popcorn.

Our ride back to our hotel.

A couple quick shots on the way back to our hotel.

WE MADE IT TO MACHU PICCHU!!!!
The protest finally ended yesterday. So the roads were opened back up for travel. We still couldn’t take the train out of Cusco. We had to drive about an hour+ to the city of Ollantaytambo to catch the train. So our day started at 5a.m. being picked up at the hotel for our journey to Machu Picchu.
On the way to the train we would see some of the road blocks that were blocking the road the day before. It was mostly rocks blocking the streets so cars couldn’t get by.

This was our view from he train on our way to Machu Picchu

You first arrive in the town of Aguas Calientes. From there you take 20 minute bus ride up to Machu Picchu.
Walking to the bus station.

We have arrived. We were excited!

This is the view from Machu Picchu. Not bad.

We had a blast just wandering around the ancient Incan Ruins. I still can’t get over how they pulled this place off. It is so high in the mountains. These temples are built on the sides of cliffs with massive rocks. I was worn out just hiking around this place. I can’t imagine if I had 100lb boulders on my back.

I loved the wild llama’s hanging out

Stephanie is making a friend

Check out these little guys we saw wandering around the walls

I had to stop this wall from falling

So while wandering around we discovered there is another ancient Inca site even higher up the mountain. It’s called Wayna Picchu. It’s about an hour hike straight up. So we said we have come this far. Why not go all the way. We heard the view was amazing.
Here is Stephanie getting ready to take on the hike.

Almost to the top.

Keep going wife we are almost there.

We made it. Like my friend Mark would say after a long hike. We bagged Wayna Picchu.

Looking down on Machu Picchu

There are these amazing ruins up here also.

When we made it to the top it started dumping rain. It made the hike back down interesting.
A couple quick shots of us just before we started back down. We had to put the cameras away after this. It was raining way to hard.

We made it to the bottom with no injuries. Here is Stephanie pointing up at the mountain we just conquered. We were really worked after that mountain. Hiking at these high altitudes made it that much harder. But we loved every minute of it.

A few more shots before we headed out.
These stone walls are like a puzzle. They made all these stones fit together so perfectly.

One of our little friends had an itch.

We had such an amazing day. This place is a must see. Put this at the top of your places to see list.

Today we jumped on a plane for Puno. To explore Lake Titicaca. More amazing places to see. Be sure to check back soon for Lake Titicaca.