For the past week I was lucky enough to spend time with my family out in Vail, in Colorado. I managed to get my first taste of snowboarding as well as snow, since I technically wiped out a few times doing it! For anyone who has never been, Vail is a town that in the winter, makes it feel like the essence of Christmas. Traditional styled stone buildings with fairy lights intertwining between them gives the place a cosy glow in the evenings and all sizes of Fir and Pine trees scatter the slopes and surrounding mountainsides.
Flying from Dublin and eventually arriving in Denver after a few connections made for a very tired PJ. There's nothing like jet lag after nearly 4500 miles of travel to make you get up at nearly 5am each morning, despite hitting the slopes for about 6 hours a day! We spent our time in the Lionshead region of Vail which is in the western part of the town. Staying at the Ritz-Carlton hotel (swish) we were right by the gondolas and lifts, so it made for a tiny commute to get up the mountain in the morning.
Needless to say, after a hard day at the office, a soak in the hotel's hot tub is well required!
I had intended to shoot a lot more candid photos of my family while we were out in Vail but after an exhausting day on the slopes (and copious amounts of whiskey), we were typically all in bed by 8pm. However, the morning before we left, I managed to quickly grab Louise out for a few portraits out behind our hotel. The area is really beautiful and although I knew when we needed to get out for the shots I wanted, I was lucky that the mountains didn't obstruct the sunrise. Needless to say, I'm really happy with how the half hour shoot went and the shots really capture Louise and her wonderful personality.
This whole venture was a deal made between my cousin and I on condition that I achieve a 1st in my degree and I can't thank his generosity enough for bringing me out for the trip. Hopefully this won't be the last time I'll get my feet on a board anytime soon or even return to the beautiful Vail slopes!