NorCal Tough Mudder

Ever heard of the Tough Mudder?  It's a 10-12 mile obstacle course that only the tough (and slightly crazy, in the opinion of yours truly) can finish!  The British Special Forces designed the event and it's caught on like wildfire (err, pun intended) since it began last year.  Tough Mudder is an official sponsor of the Wounded Warrior Project, and to date, participants have raised over $2 million.  With such a worthy cause, and with the event billed as "Probably the toughest event on the planet", well, who wouldn't go?

My brother Chris has done the TM twice, and my dad joined him for the one in Southern California last spring. When Dad saw that there was going to be a Tough Mudder at Squaw Valley in Tahoe, he decided to get a team together.  So after months of training, the twelve members of Team MudShark descended on Squaw last Saturday, and tackled the course...and of course this photographer went too!

Gotta say, after skiing quite a bit at Squaw, scrambling all over the mountain in the summertime with a bunch of heavy camera gear made me a bit lonesome for snow and skis.  ;) But it was easy compared to what the Mudders were doing, haha!  Plus Squaw is so beautiful in the summer.  There were tons of wildflowers, several pretty little snowmelt creeks, and of course Lake Tahoe views from higher up.  And the weather was just about perfect -- lovely September sunshine.

So here are some of the 16,000+ Tough Mudders who ran the course last Saturday.

 

Chernobyl Jacuzzi -- tanks full of ice water. The guys had to dunk under the board in order to get to the other side.

 

It was COLD -- they were constantly dumping chunks of ice into it.

 

Mt. Everest -- a curved 14' wall that was greased so it was almost impossible to get up on your own. Definitely a teamwork moment.

 

Some of the teams had hilarious costumes...

 

Monkey bars (and yes, these were greased too!)

 

Gotta hand it to this guy, whoever he is.  Apparently he did the course barefoot.

 

There were still quite a few snowfields on the higher part of the mountain.

 

It's beautiful at Squaw in the summer! :) (Next time I ski there, I'll be thinking of all the wildflowers that lie slumbering underneath the snow...haha...)

 

Berlin Walls

 

Walk the Plank

 

Boa Constrictor

 

 

Electric shocks (10,000 volts, I'm told)

 

Almost there!  Joan gives her husband Dennis a high-five near the finish line.

 

Jay on the balance beam (another obstacle with a cold pond underneath!)

 

Scott and Caleb after successfully making it across

 

My mom gives her friend Lisa a hug near the finish line

 

Dad navigating the nets

 

Uncle Mitch just rolled across...

 

Matt

 

Chris, never one to do things normally, exited the high nets head-first...and then...

 

...did a push-up at the bottom.

 

And he pulled off some ballet moves on the way across the balance beam. Grand battements are probably a little harder on a wobbly 2" piece of wood, eh?

 

Some of the team, alas, ended up in the drink.  So in a spirit of true camaraderie Chris joined them.

 

Chris takes on the final obstacle -- shocks. (Just after this photo, he got shocked and knocked to the ground!)

 

Marissa

 

Across the finish line! Bananas, t-shirt, and an official Tough Mudder orange headband.

 

Vince

 

Sarah, you were there! :) The team carried this rock the whole route!

Caleb, Jay, and Dennis

 

Scott's little daughter was passing out flowers...which these guys made good use of...

Chris, Scott, Tom, and Mitch

 

A very happy spectator with her Tough Mudder daddy

Want to become a Tough Mudder?  (Of course you do.)  Here's the link.

I'll post more photos soon in the Facebook album and on my online proofing site.

- Kelsey

Discovering beauty...

Kelsey Schweickert  |  San Francisco Bay Area wedding photographer
Visit my website  |  Email me  |  Follow me on Twitter  |  Like my photography on Facebook

Cloe and friends

One of the many things I love about photographing weddings is all the little kids I get to work with.  They're so full of life.   You never know what they're going to do!  They're quick to accept you as a friend if you're sincerely interested in them.  They're usually not afraid to let you know exactly what they think, and they have an amazing amount of energy.  The world is a very big place to explore when you've only been in it half a dozen years or so... and I love watching them navigate the exciting new experiences involved in being a ring bearer or flower girl.

Cloe was one of several adorable children (flower girls and...escorts? what do you call multiple iterations of what you'd normally call a ring bearer?) at Steven and Grace's wedding in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico. She's the oldest daughter of Natan and Julie Terrell, who do missions work there in Chiapas. (You can check out their website here.)

Hanging out with the groomsmen at the rehearsal

Bubbles and cute flower girls just go together perfectly :)

Cloe has two cute little sisters!  Here's baby Brennah, with John, one of the groomsmen.

Later at the reception with her mommy, Julie...enough excitement for the day.  :)

With her good friend Chris (my brother)  :)

Cloe and Gabi

My brother Chris and I were staying at Nathan and Julie's that weekend, so naturally, I have lots more cute photos of these three cute sisters to share with you...later!  :)  Meanwhile I'm in the process of posting the rest of the photos from this wedding here.

Till next time...

- Kelsey Schweickert


Discovering beauty...


Visit my website  |  Email me  |  Follow me on Twitter  |  Like my photography on Facebook

randomness...from Peter and Mandy's wedding rehearsal

So, amidst editing and organizing photos today, I came across a few more Peter-and-Mandy photos that I haven't posted...and because it's Saturday and I'm feeling exceedingly random, here they are. :)

I love these two...they're so hilarious!

Chris (my bro) and Dave (Mandy's bro) rehearsing on Friday. They were joined by Olivia Fredrickson and her brother for an awesome cello quartet -- you should have heard the warm, rich sound of four cellos playing together.  It was beautiful.

Here's a funny moment.  This is Mandy's mom, Chardell, at the rehearsal -- preparing to walk down the aisle with John McPherson, who was standing in as "Peter" for the rehearsal.  ;)  Now that was a crackup for sure.  (John was also my second shooter for this wedding -- he's an awesome photographer!)

One of my favorite photos from the day.  This is one of Peter's (and now Mandy's) little nephews.  Is he cute or what!

I love all the personality that comes out at weddings.  There is so much life and joy and everyone is wearing their emotions on their sleeves.  It's a fun challenge, because everything's happening at once and you have to work fast!  :)

That's all for now.  I have to get back to [surprise] editing!  Have a great Independence Day, everyone!  :)

- Kelsey

Discovering beauty...

Visit my website  |  Contact me  |  Follow me on Twitter  |  Like my photography on Facebook

Some Texas "lilies of the field"

Hey there faithful blog readers...I have a TON more Peter and Mandy photos coming...I promise!  I'm just trying to crawl out from under the deluge of stuff demanding my attention right now.  Can't be everywhere at once, unfortunately.

So in the meantime here's something pretty to make you happy.  I found these on the way to the airport after Peter and Mandy's wedding.  Chris won the Kind Brother of Photographer Award for the day and stopped the car so I could grab some photos!

With our friend Rob Bennett, who came to Bonham for Peter and Mandy's wedding too.

He's a fellow photographer, and a Nikon shooter, but I don't hold that against him.  :D

Hehe.

And with that...I'm off to bed.  Wish I could sleep for a week, I'm so tired.  Have a great Friday night, folks!  I'll be back in the blogging business very soon with more images of Peter and Mandy's lovely day!

- Kelsey


Discovering beauty...

Visit my website  |  Contact me  |  Follow me on Twitter  |  Like my photography on Facebook