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Archive Page 3
14
Jun
traffic
14
Jun
hotel
If you like my photos of flowers and other plants, you can purchase and download the licensed photos on istockphoto. Check out this lightbox of my personal favorites.
04
Jun
Cavalier King Charles
24
May
Bonjour de France!
I arrived in France last Tuesday. I arrived in Paris and didn’t think that I was exhausted until I laid down for a nap and didn’t really wake up until about 16 hours later. Nevertheless, a good sleep was exactly what I needed. I met up with three istockphoto photographers in Paris. One lives in the suburbs of Paris, one was visiting from the arctic of Canada and another was visiting from Portland, Oregon. We spent one day wandering around in Montmarte, which happened to turn into le tour de Amélie Poulin by happenstance. We had a coffee at le café de 2 moulins and also saw the vegetable stand of Monsieur Collignon. Amélie has been my favorite movie so visiting these spots was definitely a highlight.
I have not been to France for 17 years. When I was in high school, we had a French girl stay with us for six weeks during one summer. After I graduated high school, I came to France to stay with the same girl and her parents for six weeks. I stayed in the northeast part of France for 3 weeks, one week in Paris and two weeks on the Riviera. I had taken French in high school, but my visit to France really helped me learn a lot in a short period of time because her parents did not speak English. However, since I have not spoken French for so long, I have forgotten a lot. For being here in little under a week, I can often understand what people are saying, but there are many verbs that I do not remember. In addition, my Spanish was much better than my French when I arrived last week. So I would think in Spanish, but translate from English to Spanish to French. And I’d often find myself mixing up sentences like, “Si, c’est bon!”. And there have been situations where I am the translator between the Americans and the French and it is very difficult for me. And being that English is the most difficult language, I can only imagine how difficult it is for non-English speakers to learn it.
Anyway, I came to France for the wedding of my “French sister” which was held in northeast France on Saturday. I got to see my French family for the first time in 17 years and my own parents got to meet them for the first time. It was very special because everyone knew each other through stories and photos, but never spoke or met before this weekend. In addition, the other American family that my friend had lived with had also come to France for the wedding. So we also got to spend time with them. It was a special time for everyone. Many tears of happiness were shed. This is a photo of me with my French family and my American family…
Since arriving in northeast France, we have eaten a lot! I think that we drank all of the wine and champagne in the last few days. But it is so good!! There was a croquembouche for my friend’s wedding and it was the first time I have had it. SO SO delicious! It is now my favorite French dessert!Today is my last day in northeast France. Tomorrow I will ride in the car to the south of France where I will spend some time with my French sister and her new husband. Unfortunately, they will not be taking a honeymoon now and need to work. But I will have some time to relax! Afterwards, I will go to Catalunya in Spain to visit some other friends before heading back to the states.I haven’t had much time to look at my photos from the trip, but here are a few more from Montmarte.
14
May
Red Rockalypse 5
Last week I was in St. George, Utah for Red Rockalypse 5, an annual istockphoto event held every year in southern Utah. I love southern Utah. It is one of my favorite parts of the country because it is so picturesque, colorful, and quiet. But this was my first time attending one of the RR events. We shot in a few locations and had access to quite a few models. I was mostly there to see friends and meet up with new ones from all around the world, but happy with the photos that I captured. We had a great time even if it was in the 90s and very dry everyday. My little body isn’t acclimated to the desert climate anymore!
In addition to the locations that we visited during the event, I also visited Zion National Park for the third time. I hadn’t been there in about 9 years and it has changed a bit. Public access by car is limited within the park now and there’s a tunnel and a shuttle to take you to various locations. I don’t remember these things being there in the past, but maybe my memory is failing me!
I also visited the ghost town of Grafton, Utah that was first settled in 1859 and is now preserved through a heritage partnership. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were filmed on location in 1969.
Here are some of my images from the istock event, Zion, and Grafton.
30
Apr
word to the wise #24
“Photography is nothing - it’s life that interests me.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson
29
Apr
self portrait
I’ve never been one for self-portraits, but I sure do love the Hipstamatic. After I have a decent collection, I think I’m going to print a book of them. Fun little memoirs.
27
Apr
a little hello!
So I’ve been in LA for a little over 2 months now. It feels like it has been longer than that. Probably because I miss my cat like some crazy cat woman (he is staying with my parents). I have done many things and been to many places in the short time that I have been here. I had been to many of the same places in the past, but went back for a revisit. Here is just a brief list off the top of my head:
- concerts: The Magnetic Fields, Metric, RJD2, Citizen Cope, Vampire Weekend
- The Getty Museum
- San Diego: Balboa Park, Ocean Beach, Little Italy
- Santa Barbara: Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens, and a random drive there for dinner
- Santa Monica (x3)
- Venice Beach (I realized I never posted the photos!)
- Mulholland Drive
- LA County Arboretum
- The Huntington Library & Botanical Gardens
- Photo shoot in abandoned hospital
- Botanical Gardens at UCLA
- Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve
I am currently staying in the guest house of a house in the Hollywood Hills. The Hollywood sign is across the way right outside the door, I’m close to all of the touristy Hollywood things (not like I’ve been to any of them), the Hollywood Bowl, and close to many other things, really. The guest house is really small. Smaller than my dorm room in college at a whopping 12′ x 12′ (and that includes the bathroom). (No joke.) It has an outdoor deck and an outdoor jacuzzi that are quite nice. When the weather is decent (it has actually rained a lot since I’ve been here!), I sit outside to do work.
Unfortunately, I have not been doing much photography in recent weeks. I’m trying to regain the motivation to start doing photo shoots with people again, but I’ve found it a bit frustrating to do shoots here in LA. The industry seems to really have a hold on most things. So if there is anyone out there from the greater LA area reading this who would like to do a free photo shoot with me, get in touch!
I am heading to Utah in a couple of weeks and then to France a couple of weeks later. I am throwing around the idea of visiting some other areas as well, but haven’t exactly set anything in stone yet. I really hate planning when it comes to traveling. Planning takes the fun out of everything!
Anyway, even though I haven’t been shooting much, I have become a bit hooked on this sweet little app for the iPhone called Hipstamatic. Surely you’ve heard all about it. Anyway, I’ll leave you with some of my favorite photos from that, which is all I’ve got for now!
