200,000 Miles of Memories and Our 2017 Year in Review

Over the years we've sure put on a lot of miles going down the road so it didn't come of much of a surprise when we turned over 200,000 near the end of 2017. Some of you might remember when we bought the Crown Victoria LX Sport, and here we are now with 200,000 miles. We didn't blog about 100,000 miles because that really doesn't even get our attention any more. The miles seem to fly by. Our last Crown Victoria took us 325,000 miles. Added to this one, that's a half million miles in our journey, which is funny considering we know exactly where the journey ends. The Sport is actually part of our blog's title image.

There have been some really cool adventures with the Sport, and some truly memorable moments. Here are a few things that stick out in our minds when we think about the last 200,000.

1. Kansas, some of the best barbeque and Moon Marble
2. Nashville, the Opry, the Music Hall of Fame and the Loretta Lynn Ranch
3. Florida, Big Cypress, the Smallwood Store and the smallest post office
4. Illinois, photographing weddings for two Georgetown Fair Queens and sitting with the family of another at college graduation, not to mention all those queen pictures
5. The Southernmost Cat

2017 has been a hectic year for us and we are hoping for calmer skies in our future. Between hurricanes and other hardships, 2017 just really didn't pan out to the be the kind of breakout year we'd hoped, in a number of ways, so as our journey continues we might be looking at changing our path. There were some really good moments in there for sure so count on us to push forward building on that success.

So after all of these miles we sure hope there are many more in front of us, but if we've learned anything its that the road is long, parts of it are unforgiving, and persistence is rewarding. In the meantime our best advice is that "patience pays - only 3 minutes to passing zone" and please slow down in the Key Deer habitat just like Josh and Joe Travels!

Keys Love Festival benefit for hurricane relief at Truman Waterfront in Key West

On December 17th we went to the Keys Love Festival at the new Truman Waterfront amphitheater stage, and Joe was thrilled to get to see Coffee Butler, Cliff Sawyer, Clayton Lopez, Mr. Albury and others. The Keys Love Festival was put on by keysstrong.org which was founded to provide relief after Hurricane Irma. Even though Hurricane Irma is no longer on cable news, many Keys families are still trying to rebuild and get back to their normal lives. We were very lucky to be spared the worst of the storm in Key West, but other parts of the Keys suffered severe damage, and since the national guard and emergency workers left the Keys months ago, help is still needed in many Keys communities. We hope you might be interested in supporting the ongoing relief effort in the Florida Keys, and if you are please take a moment to visit keysstrong.org, the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, or your favorite organization to find out how you can help. And remember the Keys are open for business, so shop local and help put money back into the community like Josh and Joe Travels!

Southernmost Car Club Key West Christmas Car Show and Shine at the Historic Seaport

We love going to car shows, so when we heard the Florida Keys Southernmost Car Club was doings its December show and shine at the Historic Seaport in Key West we knew we had to go and take a look at the cars. The Southernmost Car Club is open to all makes and models, and someday we hope maybe we'll have time to join. Some of you might know how much time we spend detailing our Crown Victoria, but we like to say its parade ready and not show ready.

The Christmas show and shine at the seaport was really cool and it was great to see so many owners bring out their cars for the last show of the year. You might remember we've been to some pretty big car shows, like Crusin' the Heartland in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and even the Autogeek show in Stewart, Florida, but the Southernmost club's show and shine is still one of our favorites. So if you happen to drive by and see us waxing the Crown Victoria, we might just be getting ready for our first show, so be sure to stop and say hello when you see Josh and Joe Travels!

Georgetown Fair Queen Holiday Portrait Session with Heather Simpson

We are having a lot of fun photographing Miss Georgetown Fair Queen 2017 Heather Simpson, and this year we were excited to get to do a holiday portrait session. These pictures are likely to turn up on things like Queen Heather's Christmas cards, plus some of you might already have spotted some of Heather's favorites on Facebook. Over the years we've made some really fun pictures with the Georgetown Fair Queen and these holiday theme pictures with Heather are sure to be some of our new favorites.

The fair building was being used the day we lined up to do these pictures, so Danielle Brown Turner and her family came to our rescue and welcomed us out to the farm where we set up the white seamless for this session with Queen Heather. We used our standard white seamless set up which puts four speedlights into the background, one in a large deep umbrella for the main light, and one more in a medium octa for fill, and thanks to Heather we think the pictures turned out really nice.

With any luck we'll be doing pictures with Queen Heather as she heads to the state fair queen pageant in January, so be sure to check back for new pictures of the Georgetown Fair Queen right here with Josh and Joe Travels!

Georgetown Fair Queen Portrait Session Behind the Scenes with Heather Simpson

It's been a busy fall for Josh and Joe Travels and we've made several trips to Illinois to photograph Miss Georgetown Fair 2017 Heather Simpson. As the official photographers of the Georgetown Fair Queen we are responsible for producing the queen's official portrait and headshot for use at the Miss Illinois State Fair Queen Pageant, plus we do lots of pictures with the queen for promotional purposes.

Earlier this year we shared with you some behind the scenes with 2016 Queen Sarah Sigmon, so we wanted to give you an update with 2017 Queen Heather Simpson. We've mentioned this before, but shooting white seamless on location is challenging and takes a ton of gear, but we think it is worth the effort and we can't wait for you to see some of the pictures we've been doing with Heather. In our recent shoots with Heather we've started using a large 53 inch deep umbrella with front diffusion as our main light and we like the results. We've been combining that deep umbrella with a medium octa for fill, plus you'll still see us move in the smaller rapid boxes at times. When it comes to the white seamless we've been putting four lights on the background, with two of them up high into umbrellas. The other two are low and pointed across the lower section of the background and flagged with black foamcore.

We can't wait for you to see more pictures from our recent shoots with Queen Heather, so keep an eye on the Georgetown Fair Queen website, the Georgetown official facebook page, and check back right here for pictures of Heather with Josh and Joe Travels!

Georgetown Fair 2017 Fair Week with Queen Heather Simpson

Miss Georgetown Fair 2017 Heather Simpson just wrapped up a busy week at the Georgetown Fair and we were thrilled to be with her for a few days as Queen Heather's official photographers. Queen Heather got to see most of the showcasing entertainment and grandstand events, but we think one of her most exciting moments had to be going up in the Danville Fire Department ladder truck at ping pong prize drop on Friday. With Queen Heather safely back on the ground we spent the day with her on Saturday and wrapped up with a portrait session in the midway at dusk. The Georgetown Fair Queen is one of the busiest local fair queens in Illinois so be sure to say hello to Heather Simpson when you see her out and about in the community, and keep checking back for new pictures right her with Josh and Joe Travels!

Georgetown Fair Queen Heather Simpson at 2017 Illinois State Fair County Fair Day

The first Friday of the Illinois State Fair is County Fair Day, and one of the special events is a luncheon on the director's lawn for all of the local fair queens and directors. Its not just about queens at the luncheon because they also give out some special awards. This year Georgetown's Bob Fender was recognized for 30 years of volunteer service to the fair. So if you wonder why we travel so far to work with Georgetown, its because they have people like Bob Fender.

As the official photographers for Miss Georgetown Fair Queen 2017 Heather Simpson we got a few pictures of her with the other fair queens, including one shot with at clydesdale that had us back and forth to opposite sides of the state fairgrounds in less than an hour. And we got the most important shot of the year - Queen Heather with the butter cow. Which maybe doesn't seem like much and is a long walk on the grounds, but its one of our traditions, and we've photographed a bunch of Georgetown fair queens with the butter cow. Queen Heather has a lot planned this fall and we are excited about doing her official portrait and state headshot, so be sure to follow Queen Heather right her with Josh and Joe Travels!

Georgetown Fair Queen Heather Simpson Crowned Miss Georgetown Fair 2017

Miss Georgetown Fair Queen 2017 Heather Simpson was crowned Monday night at the Georgetown Fair, and official pageant photographers Josh and Joe are so excited to bring you these moments from Queen Heather's crowning moment! Heather Simpson is the 17 year old daughter of Richard and Dona Simpson of Hoopeston, and Queen Heather will spend the week serving as the official hostess of the Georgetown Fair. Be sure to say hello to Queen Heather when you see her around the fairgrounds this week, and keep checking back for more pictures of the pageant and fair week right here with Josh and Joe Travels!