Tag Archives: travel

{total solar eclipse}

22 Aug

i drove down to columbia, south carolina to watch the total solar eclipse yesterday… and i’m so glad i made the trek! admittedly, i did not do as much preparing as i would’ve normally done… particularly because it kind of came together last minute. originally i had wanted to go to greenville, sc – which is where i was born {and supposedly where the highest totality and visibility would be}, but it all worked out rather nicely and i’m thankful to have been where i was… especially because it was also my mama’s birthday yesterday.

i didn’t have time to make a pinhole camera, which i really wanted to do, but of course i had a camera. if you follow me on instagram, i hope you saw the story… it was fun to create.

it was important to me not to get too caught up in taking fotos, because i truly wanted to enjoy the moment {two minutes, 36 seconds to be exact} 🙂

i shot these images with a 50mm lense… which, of course, isn’t ideal for something so far away… but i kind of liked showing the sky and having the tiny sun and moon fill up a tiny amount of space. i didn’t have a special filter, so i simply put my eclipse glasses over my lense. i thought about using my zoom lense, but like i said, i was more concerned with being there to truly witness the moment… it’s a hard balance sometimes, as someone who loves to take pictures… but i have been challenging myself to “capture the moment with my mind,” from time to time. this was one of those moments.

i took a few pictures of the crowd as well, but i wasn’t super thrilled with most of them. i think i was just too caught up in the experience to really take very many fotos… and i’m okay with that.

it was a truly incredible event and the sky was perfectly clear for the duration of {almost} totality. the crowd was wonderful, the vibe was awesome, the beer was delicious {i drank a special ‘black ipa’ aptly named, “blackout”.} i feel very fortunate to have been where i was during the eclipse. we reached totality around 2:30 p.m. in columbia, south carolina. the temperature dropped, the moon inched in front of the sun, making it as dark as night… the crowd went wild, people screamed and hugged and kissed… it’s kind of hard to truly describe how marvelous it was to see it all happen. the energy felt very intense to me… and as someone who has always admired and been in awe of the stars, it was a lot to take in… something for the history books, indeed.

i’m still buzzing from it all ❤

       

{mercury retrogrades tonight!}

12 Aug

time to slow it down…

{nyc – through the eye of my camera phone}

17 Jul

i am working on a new volume of “memories in manhattan” and will post one next week… in the meantime, here’s a post about new york to keep the theme going 🙂


i took a trip new york in june… i had been wanting to go back for a visit for quite some time, as it had been about 5 years since i had been there. often times, i think part of me wants to live there again, so i was eager to experience the city once more to see how i felt about being there.

i had a wonderful trip, as i figured i would. the weather was a little ridiculous – as in sweltering hot. but outside of that, it was nice to feel the energy of that amazing city, again. new york has a way of making you feel on top of the world; as if the whole place belongs to you. as an introvert, it’s strange to me that i can be surrounded by people but still feel like i’m in my own little bubble. the “hum” that is always in the background doesn’t feel distracting to me… it’s a strange dichotomy that i have always appreciated.

all that said, i think i realized that i do not wish to live in a place like new york again. i long for a country life – on a farm somewhere, growing food and having lots of animals. of course, that may change – after all, we are human and our desires come and go as we move through life.

it was wonderful to be in new york once more and to walk around and take the subway and just feel the energy… i immediately settled back in to the “way of life” there and even had people asking me for directions – and i knew them! that’s also a good ego boost.

i didn’t pick up my camera too much… i guess because since i lived there for so long, i took so many pictures already and this time i just wanted to kind of experience it in a different way. of course, i did have my camera phone with me – so i captured a lot of snapshots with it.

here is a gallery of fotos from my trip – i hope you enjoy! :

 

until next time…

 

{throwback thursday : manhattan henge}

13 Jul

apparently it’s manhattan henge time… i heard on TV that the big night was last night and tonight it will also be visible.

when i lived in new york, i didn’t think about the fact that you don’t really see sunsets. i guess it didn’t occur to me at the time… but after living in denver and seeing some of the most amazing sunsets ever, i started to realize that i don’t have very many memories of sunsets while i lived in the big city.

anyway, in honour of this twice a year event that happens in new york, i thought i would share these fotos for throwback thursday. i’m super grateful i actually got to experience this… for those of you that may be unfamiliar – only twice a year does the sun line up just perfectly in between the concrete jungle so that it sets right in between the buildings. one can only see this on 34th street, 42nd street, or 57th street… i think i fotographed these images from 34th…

enjoy!


{how seashells are like humans… or is it the other way around?!}

20 Jan

seashells-2seashells

i love the ocean. i love everything about it – the movement, the sounds, the life that’s in it, the deep mystery of it… my soul resonates so intimately with all things ocean-related.

one of the things i love most about living in north carolina is the fact that i can go to the ocean in december! last month, just after the holidays, we took a drive to the shore and spent some time with big blue. i love to beach-comb and i have been gathering quite a collection of shells lately.

as i was laying all my seashells out the other day, i was admiring the variety of what was in front of me, and i got to thinking about how similar seashells and humans are. we are all so uniquely different, and yet we all come from the same place, essentially. maybe not the same exact place, as we are all born into different families and have different backgrounds and stories, but we are all born the same way and created the same way, just like seashells.

seashells all come from the ocean, a vast sea of wonder. we, as humans, all come from the same wondrous creative process. we all look different and have different shapes and colours and sizes – just as seashells do. some of us are not fully developed or some of us are broken – just like seashells. some of us have lots of stripes and stories to tell, and some of us do not – just like seashells. some of us are a little more ‘clean cut’ and some of us are a little ‘rough around the edges’ – just like seashells. some of us get tossed around by life, just as seashells get tossed around by the ocean waves. some of us leave the ‘ocean’ a lot sooner than others. we are very similar – humans and seashells.

at the end of the day, we all come from the same ‘ocean.’ we all are born human, and that is what connects us. our differences are what make us unique and give us unique perceptions and views of the world. those differences are what allow us to be able to learn from each other. in an ideal world, we would all appreciate our differences and recognize that those differences are what makes us all able to truly work together, and to formulate this big ol’ puzzle called life into a clearer picture.

my wish for the world is that we truly start to see each other.

 

 

{fire in the sky}

11 Mar

supercoolsunset-5 supercoolsunset-4 supercoolsunset-3 supercoolsunset-2 supercoolsunset-1

Image

{another beautiful sunset}

6 Mar

prettysunset-1

{petroglyphs – “rock art” in moab}

4 Nov

petroglyphs-8

i don’t know if i can find words to express what i felt when i saw these petroglyphs on this huge rock in moab last month… it is beyond fascinating to me.

petroglyphs-3

notice the 6 toes on the right??!!

petroglyphs-6

i’m sure i learned about this stuff in science class, but i was just blown away to see it in person!

petroglyphs-2

petroglyphs-4

so fascinating……….

petroglyphs-5

what were they trying to say?!?!………….

petroglyphs-7

what do you all think about this kind of thing?!  does it blow your mind like it does for me?!

😀

{moab day two : arches and balanced rock}

8 Oct

this place is just so cool… there is so much ENERGY in moab!  i can’t think of what else to say…

arches-1

arches-2

arches-5arches-6

the famous balanced rock…

arches-7

and arches everywhere…

arches-8

arches-9

arches-10

arches-11

arches-12

also lots of phallic shapes everywhere… i know you were thinking it – everyone does. Continue reading

{fossil fun in fruita}

5 Oct

a little alliteration to start your morning 😉

aaaaaand, some pics from way way west-western colorado…

moab-30

to say this state is dry is… well, a gross understatement.

moab-29

moab-5

dramatic sky.

moab-28moab-27

beauty.

moab-24

…fossils – whoa. Continue reading

{fall is for…}

4 Oct

weekinfotos100414-1

wearing beanies…

{crazy over-exposure!}

weekinfotos100414-8

and aspens… !

weekinfotos100414-2

and buying yourself flowers…

weekinfotos100414-3

and eating tomatoes…

weekinfotos100414-4

and squeezing in final trips to the farmers market…

weekinfotos100414-6

and seeing snowfall above 10K feet…

weekinfotos100414-7

and enjoying breezy landscapes…

weekinfotos100414-5

and making {chicken tortilla} soup…

weekinfotos100414-9

and eating {chicken tortilla} soup!

🙂

hope you all have/had a terrific weekend!

{moab in fotos : day one}

24 Sep

i had the privilege of taking a little vacation to moab last week. i was desperate for a getaway. when i found out moab was only 3 hours from where i lived, i was super excited to visit.  of course, after my accident in december last year, i haven’t been able to do much traveling or road-tripping like i like to do.  thankfully, i met someone recently who has a similar love for the great outdoors and for adventures on wheels, and we were able to take enjoy a little getaway together…

the first stop was actually near the colorado/utah border, but i’m saving those pics for another time.  i just wanna get right to sharing the images from moab.

moab-32

drive-by {foto} shooting 😉

moab-34

i so wish i would’ve had a sticker to slap on there…

moab-37

moab-35

“castle valley”

moab-36

the landscape in moab looks so awesome in black and white… but the colours are also so bright and vivid. we arrived to our first camp-spot just before sunset.  the light from the evening sun casts the most glorious glow all over the rocks.  we had a mix of clouds during the time the sun was going down, but i can only imagine how that place lights up with full sun…

i can’t decide if i prefer the B&W images or the colour.  what do you think? 

———

moab-39moab-40

moab-41 moab-42

moab-43 moab-44

Continue reading

{getting balanced in moab}

19 Sep

moab-1moab-2

i just returned from a {much needed} camping trip with a special friend and i can’t wait to share more fotos from this awesome desert landscape!  ❤

hope you all enjoy your weekend! 

{travel tuesday : manhattan bokeh}

8 Apr

New York City

will i alway miss new york this much?!?!

 

{missing new york}

14 Jan
view from the top of a sky-rise near 57th and 10th

view from the top of a sky-rise near 57th and 10th

a random  retail window in the lower east side

a random boutique-store window in the lower east side

a snowy doorway

a snowy doorway

whatever.

whatever.

I {MISS} NEW YORK!!

{thirsty thursday – the commuter javapress}

9 Jan

commuterjava-1

how cool is this on-the-go french press coffee maker/holder that my neighbour got me for christmas?!  it was a total surprise, i can’t believe she bought me something, let alone something THIS COOL!

commuterjava-2

and so practical, too! Continue reading

{the time i climbed a 90-foot grain elevator}

5 Apr

do you know what a grain elevator is?!  i didn’t until the time i was visiting indiana, fotographing a wedding… a very special wedding. my cousin, M married his lady, E and and her family has a farm – they are bonafide farmers! experiencing their farm first hand was such an absolute joy!  mister T is one proud owner, and he knows his farm in and out.  from hydraulic garage doors to magic hoses to ceiling snow, the place is just loaded with charm that encourage memories for years.

as i said yesterday, one of my favourite moments of all time was spent on this farm on that wonderfully warm midwest day in mid may.  the rain came crashing down out of nowhere, but the sun didn’t have time to really leave so the air had that yummy glare to it that you just knew was going to create the most amazing rainbow once the clouds parted…

Matt and Emily's Wedding

double rainbow!

Matt and Emily's Wedding

my biggest fan anthony wanted to know the story behind yesterday’s “favourtie moment” shot.  here it is.  i walked through “attic winter wonderland” i called it – insulated craziness balance-beamed between one world and the next… we get to the end and mister T tells me to turn left and “climb in”… essentially, i am inside this box, just on the other side…

Matt and Emily's Wedding

see that little box? i’m in one just like it… i’m just on the other side of the barn. 🙂 so after we got out of this barn, we walked over to the grain elevator. i was beyond scared, but also knew i really wanted to do this…

the grain elevator i walked up looks nothing like the ones in the wikipedia fotos… this was basically a giant ladder… and i kind of have this phobia of heights, and also a phobia of ladders – so this was a big feat for me! Continue reading

{travel tuesday} — train rides

26 Feb

i miss train rides…

Self-Portraits

the sound of the tracks…

Self-Portraits

the views from the window…

Self-Portraits

the sway of the cars…

{foto friday} — day-dreamin’

1 Feb

missin’ the water…

daydreamin-1

{canon beach, oregon}

daydreamin-2

{carmel, california}

{travel tuesday} – letchworth state park, new york

11 Dec

a dear friend of mine took me to this marvelous place a few years back and i fell in love.  of course – autumn in new york is always amazing, even when it’s late autumn.  the leaves had mostly fallen off at this point, but it created a blanket that covered the forest floor and there were traces of colour left on some of the trees.  very enchanting, this place.  i wasn’t sure if the blair witch was going to pop out and scare me or if fairies were going to come in and sweep me away to narnia…

the crispness in the air was memorable and the overcast lighting created a moody effect, so i snapped some artsy fotos with my iphone :

letchworth-1 Continue reading

%d bloggers like this: