Fall Break Adventures

Life never hesitates to throw complications and we have two choices. We can roll over and hope it passes soon, or we step up and push threw. This summer has had many highs and lows but so far, this fall break with Natasha and the boys, has been one of my favorite adventures yet! We love to hike as a family, and I long to complete the entire AT someday. This love for nature, and wonder I am blessed to share with my family, so when we stated talking and planning our trip it only made sense to include a trip outside. Natasha and I have backpacked alone, and I have taken Jaryn on a one night trip as well, but Austin and Atlas had never been. More importantly we have never been all together, so it was time to change that. Upon lots of options weighed, tents borrowed ( thanks Simerly ), we had a plan. We decided to hike the Appalachian Trail from Indian Grave Gap, to Uncle Johnny’s Hostile in Erwin. Speaking of Uncle Johnny’s this is were we started our adventure. We hired them to shuttle us up to the trail head. We ended up hiking in to the shelter which was a double decker beauty and was about 4.2 miles in. The boys did incredible, considering the weather was dreary and they were toting their own bags and belongings for the trip. Once we found the shelter we quickly went to work setting up camp for dinner, and searching for dry firewood. An hour later, we have fire, and the jet boil was up and running cooking a much needed hot meal for the day. We were greeted by a Thru Hiker names Patrick, his trail name I unfortunately cant recall as of writing this, and was happy to share the space. He is headed South to Georgia from his home town in PA. Day 2 was much nicer to hike and we easily completed the 4.1 miles out and to our car. We quickly loaded up Valak and grabbed some lunch. Then our adventure continued to Hickory Nut Gap, North Carolina were we planned to visit Hickory Nut Falls, and Chimney Rock State Park. The weather was dark, and power lines were down, and after some driving around we found a place to stay for the rest of the week. The boys were quick to hit up the arcade were we played way to much air hockey per Atlas’ request. Jaryn and Austin shot pool and the pinball machine was a classic. The small town was very close to being flooded and washed away but luckily it was only a scare. We had some hick up’s but we are tough and unified so on the last day we took the boys to the Park for the views and Waterfalls. The rest you can see below. I didn’t take a camera on this trip so everything is a cell phone shot and I feel that needs to be stated. Thanks for reading

PS. Atlas even pulled a tooth on this trip as seen in the photo below, and I apologize for how random some images fell.

Boone NC with Bex Sunglasses

So as I have happily mentioned many times, I love sunglasses. It might be the only thing I truly collect. So when the opportunity presented itself to work with a new company out of Las Vegas, NV called Bex Sunglasses, I was pumped. I had worked with the newly sponsored model, Miss Olivia prior and when they asked who she preferred to use, well I was lucky enough to be that person.  After speaking with the company over the phone and introducing myself a plan was in motion. I spoke to them about their vision and how I can accommodate it but stay true to who I am and how I work. They were quick to mention I am only 1 of 3 photographers ever to work with them which I take as a compliment in itself. After talking with Olivia and Lorie ( her mom ) we had a decision to meet in Boone, NC to give them an urban look for our first outing. I mentioned it to Wes, and he was quick to agree to join us for the session. This was cool for me for a few reasons. One he has had a session with me in the past but has never really seen my work on the other side of the lens, and I was happy to have the company for the long ride over and back. We met the ladies at Mast General store and we were off.  Unfortunately, I can't share the images from the session as they haven't seen them yet but trust me when I say, I'm excited about how well it went. The Fuji Xpro2 did exactly what I needed it to as it always does.  We spent the better part of 2 hours walking around downtown trying to keep it casual, unposed, and genuine. The company also voiced branching out to the outdoors sports world ( yes please ) so we were also on alert for anything that may tie those together. Unfortunately, the climbing wall I envisioned was closed, but we had about 60 seconds inside Magic Cycle after hours to try a few shots. I admit those will not make the cut. I felt like we were imposing and rushed more than I should have to not wear out our welcome. We used any and everything we could think of or stumble upon. I have 1 more session to knock out prior to starting in on these but then its on. I guess you will have to follow us on IG @throatpunchproductions and follow them @bexsunglasses to see Olivia rocking their gear! Until then, head up and keep clicking that shutter button.
P.S. Coming soon to IG is images from another sunglass company that has reached out to us called @southernmostshades as well as some incredible spices ( for you foodies ) from @thespicebeast.