Renee Cobb » Travel Photography

Organic Shade Grown Coffee in Jarabacoa Dominican Republic

Renee — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:57:11 +0000

I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the Dominican Republic, mostly in the beach town of Cabarete. There are some really fantastic day trips that you can make from Cabarete to other parts of the country. Iguana Mama will book any of these trips from Cabarete. Jarabacoa is one such area. It sits in a mountainous valley and is much cooler than other parts of the country. You can go White Water Rafting on the Rio Yacque which has some pretty sizeable rapids (Class II – Class IV). You can go horseback riding in the mountains. And if you’re really adventurous you can plan a couple of days to climb Pico Duarte, the tallest mountain east of the Mississippi before you reach South America. Yes really! It’s 10, 164 feet! Perhaps my favorite activity in this area is a tour of the Finca Alta Gracia. It’s an organic shade grown coffee farm owned by famed writer Julia Alvarez and her husband Bill Eichner. Their mission is based on sustainable growing practices and empowering the local farmers with fair trade practices and investment into the community via schools. As you can see the morning views are a dream for a photographer. Back in Cabarete, a local coffee shop, Cabarete Coffee Company, has opened up based on a partnership with the farm. If you’re thinking about a destination wedding or a place for a honeymoon, I would definitely think about the Dominican Republic. If the beauty isn’t enough for you add to that the warmth of the locals and the reasonable prices, and the fact that it’s a quick trip from Washington DC .

Cherry Blossom Photography

Renee — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 01:18:40 +0000

It’s almost that time of year. The Cherry Blossoms will soon be upon us. The Cherry Blossom Festival runs from March 27th – April 11th. Lots of brides are hoping to have their engagement photos taken when the blossoms are out. But there are a couple of considerations. 1.) The weather. It can be very fickle at that time of year. I schedule a very limited number of shoots in order to allow for rescheduling. 40 degrees and raining just doesn’t make for natural smiles and 30 mile an hour winds doesn’t do much for your hair. We usually make the final call the night before. 2.) The crowds. I only shoot in the early morning and even then there are a surprising number of people out and about at the Tidal Basin at 6:45 am. The early morning sometimes makes for some beautiful warm light. By 9:00 am your chances of getting portraits without lots of strangers in the background is pretty much nil. And you will see hundreds of photographers from Washington DC and around the world descend on the area surrounding the Jefferson Memorial. Another factor to keep in mind is the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Race. This year it’s Sunday, April 11th. That can make a short drive over the bridge from Arlington a little more involved due to road closures and parking issues. Here are some favorite photos of the blossoms themselves. These were not taken during an engagement shoot but rather on a lucky beautiful morning a few years back before I did wedding photography – I managed to get out there at dawn. If the weather’s looking clear, I’ll ask if you’re up for a 6:00 am or earlier start in order to catch the breaking red sky. I will be following up this post with Cherry Blossom Engagement Photos.

A Winter’s Drive in Montana (and you thought Washington DC was cold and snowy)

Renee — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:38:24 +0000

On the last morning of our Montana ski trip, my dad and I took a few last minute photos of Lone Peak at Big Sky before anyone else was on the slopes. We then piled into the car for the drive back to Bozeman. Since we had a late flight we stopped and took photos along the way. The Gallatin River was running swiftly and burbling around rocks and ice formations with ice flows moving steadily with its currents. We saw the river change colors, sometimes appearing green, as we craned our heads to see it from the road. “A River Runs Through It” was a constant refrain in my head. If it weren’t 5 degrees outside, we might have been willing to park the care in a safe spot and hike back a quarter mile to photograph the green swirls. As it was, we settled for easy stop off points including a small bridge that headed toward a campground. Next we turned off on Spanish Creek Road toward a state park and low and behold found ourselves driving through Ted Turner’s famed Flying D Ranch (the road itself is public). We saw 5 coyotes and watched an entire herd of buffalo cross the road. The coyotes were extremely skittish and I can understand why photography traps are used to photograph certain animals. I have no aspirations to be a wildlife photographer. Weddings are just fine for me. No sitting in tree blinds for three weeks in extreme temperatures. Nevertheless, I sure enjoy trying to get lucky with animal photos when on vacation. Now back to real life in Arlington where it’s a balmy 37 degrees.