windmills of your mind…
…a great song by Sting. 
So, this photo. Modernized Holland? Nope! Presque Isle State Park on Lake Erie! Who would’ve thunk it? 
So, I was relaxing in the sand when I noticed the windmill (wind direction/speed monitoring thingie?) behind me. Naturally, I grabbed my camera. Thus began my mission to get a stinkin’ photo of the thing without the blades blurring! I can’t even begin to express how many photos of this darn windmill I took!!! Luckily, I was satisfied with the minimal blur in this one and fortunately, it also had what I felt to be the most pleasing angle for the windmill jutting into the photo.
Taken with the G7. Obviously. Contrast fixed in Photoshop.
Enjoy. I hope it…”blows”…you away.
“…Round, like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel.
Never ending or beginning,
On an ever spinning wheel
Like a snowball down a mountain
Or a carnival balloon
Like a carousel that’s turning
Running rings around the moonLike a clock whose hands are sweeping
Past the minutes on it’s face
And the world is like an apple
Whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind…”
small sandy stonehenge…part 2
Ok, ok…I know: its about time I posted Part 2 of Small Sandy Stonehenge! So, here it is. Taken at Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA. Gorgeous beach. Lovely daytrip with my mom. Enjoy the photo. Short & sweet.
Taken with the Canon G7. Contrast fixed in Photoshop CS3.
sunset seagulls…
I’m baaaaaack!!! Oh my gosh…I can’t believe its been 1.5 months since I’ve posted!! Rotations and other things have just kept me so busy lately that my photoblog got shoved to the back burner. But, its officially Winter Break now, so here I am!!!
To help ward off the winter chills, here a warm and glowing sunset shot taken from Presque Isle on Lake Erie during the warmest days of summer! I shot this one during a much-needed daytrip with my mom. We stayed for sunset (both to see the sights and to justify another round of fudge milkshakes at Sara’s Camground, as our previous round happened only a few hours prior) and the seagulls were extremely active. They kept rising up in flocks off of the breakwaters offshore and streaking across the sunset as silhouettes. Gorgeous.
I cannot even begin to tell you how many photos I snapped of the seagulls at sunset. The number is a bit obscene. But it was just so pretty! With such vibrant colors!! I couldn’t help myself!!! Luckily, its not like I’m wasting film!
So, enjoy the photo and warm yourselves up a bit! And if you’re ever on Presque Isle, visit the diner at Sara’s Campground right at the park entrance: Best. Milkshakes. Ever.
(Of course, taken with the Canon G7. Contrast improved in Adobe Photoshop CS3.)
Happy Holidays!!!
midsummer’s midnight blooms…
So, I know I promised “Sandy Stonehenge Part 2,” but I’ve been so antsy to post this photo for quite a while. Why not build a little anticipation for the second stonehenge with this picture?
I took this shot back in Philadelphia during one of my riverside jogs-turned-photo-excursion. These little white flowers were blooming everywhere on the ground by the Schuylkill River. They were lovely on their own, but I couldn’t resist the temptation to add in a “midnight filter” in Photoshop to really make them into something special. I love the bit of a fairy-tale glow that they now have!
Taken with the Canon G7 and “made extra-special” with Photoshop CS3 & the Midnight Filter.
Stay tuned to for Part 2 of Stonehenge!
small sandy stonehenge…part 1
Its an itty-bitty Stonehenge! A small, sandy stonescape!
Over the summer, my mom and I took a girls’ Saturday day-trip up to Erie to chill out on the beach at Presque Isle. What a lovely day! Towards the end of the day, my overly-relaxed brain apparently regressed to that of a 3-year-old and I built a tiny Stonehenge in the sand. Then my brain snapped back to photog-mode and I realized that, heck, my small and sandy Stonehenge looked pretty neat up close! Thus, this picture was born.
Of course, it was taken with the Canon G7. Slight sepia tone and contrast fiddling were done in Adobe Photoshop CS5 (yes, you read that correctly…I now have the immense pleasure of using CS5!!).
Stayed tuned for the second part of this itty-bitty Stonehenge series!
P.S.A. Time (and, no, I don’t mean “prostate-specific antigen”): TIME TO GET YOUR FLU SHOT, PEOPLE! I GOT MINE TODAY…NOW GO GET YOURS!
gliding grace…
Ok! All together now: “I believe I can fly. I believe I can touch the sky!!!”
So, here we have a seagull gliding above the Jersey Shore. Avalon, to be exact. Snapped during a lovely day at the beach. Of course, taken with the Canon G7.
And that’s all folks. Short and sweet this time. Check back soon for more posts!
manhattan from the brooklyn…
Manhattan. Such a small little island. So many big buildings! This is one of the views of Manhattan from the approximate middle of the Brooklyn Bridge that I snapped during the much-longer-than-I-expected-a-bridge-could-ever-possibly-be walk. I went with the black and white version of this shot because it just seemed so much more…New York City. I’m also totally excited that you can see the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building all in one shot! Whoopee!
I took this shot last summer during my trip to NYC with the boyfriend, the future Dr. Heather, and her future hubby (congrats, guys!). Lets play guess the camera! Yup! Canon Powershot G7! Stay tuned for more posts!
P.S. Sorry for the few and far between postings lately…rotations have just been eating up my time. And my precious free time is usually not spent on the computer posting pics (sadly, most of it is spent studying, eating, or sleeping). Ah, the life of a med student. Essentially paying to work everyday with borrowed money. Gotta love it.
meet Adorable Anika…
This lovely lady is Anika, one of my family’s “fuzzies.” She is quite fond of being photographed–to the point of pushing other cats out of the way when she sees the camera come out (no joke!). For those of you wondering, she is a purebred Siberian cat and has such a lovely disposition!
This photo was taken, of course, with the Canon Powershot G7. When I looked at the picture on my computer, I noticed that the screen door she is behind gave a canvas-like quality to the photo, so I just played with the contrast a smidge in Adobe Photoshop CS3 and added a sepia filter to give it more of a “painted” feel. Then I had a bit more fun and tried a blue filter on her:
And I just couldn’t decide which to post, so here are both! Feel free to vote in the comments section for the one you like best!
P.S. Sorry for the delays between posts! Third year just keeps me so stinkin’ busy!
footprints in the sand…
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.So I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?”The Lord replied,
“The times when you have seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
is when I carried you.”“Footprints in the Sand”, by Mary Stevenson
I took this picture up at Lake Erie during the Great Mom/Daughter Saturday Trip of 2010. We were walking along the water’s edge when I saw these 2 lone footprints in the sand. No prints leading up to them, no prints extending from them. It instantly reminded me of the poem above. The prints looked oh-so-human, but their isolation on the sand had a slightly divine quality. Besides, the setting sun had cast the loveliest light upon them, so I simply couldn’t resist snapping the shot. Obviously, taken with the Canon G7. Small contrast adjustments made with Photoshop CS3 to bring out the depth of the prints.
Enjoy…and stay tuned!
come under my umbrella…
I’m back! And I survived my surgery rotation! Onwards and upwards…to internal medicine! As a woohoo-surgery-is-finito-and-I-officially-have-time-to-myself confirmation moment, my mom and I took a girls’ day-trip to Presque Isle State Park up in Erie to enjoy the beach. Well, the combination of the beautifully clear, cloudless day combined with the fact that I haven’t taken a single photo since surgery began turned me into a Saturday Shutterbug. So, kind folks, here we have what I like to call “Colors of Summer.” Let’s just say that I pretty much think I have the prettiest beach umbrella ever…and I’m a total sucker for rainbow-colored anything. Enjoy…and stay tuned for more Erie pictures!
Of course, it was taken with the fabulous Canon Powershot G7.
P.S. Thanks for waiting out the photography dry-spell with me! Check back often, as I’ll certainly be more diligent with my posts now!
colorful cardinal…
Story behind this photo: I was talking to my mom one afternoon when I looked out my window and saw a lovely red cardinal sitting the tree of my courtyard. I yelped to my mom that I’d be right back because I needed to take a picture. The funny thing was that it didn’t phase her a single bit and she just patiently waited for me to capture my perfect shot. Can you tell I come from a shutterbug?
Anyhoo, this little red fellow was taken with the awesome Canon G7. I desaturated everything but the bird in Photoshop CS3 and just tinkered with the contrast a bit. Enjoy!!
miles of manhattan…
And the computer is up and running!! I can officially add Tech Master to my skills. Many thanks to Jay for all his help. Pharmacist and doctor-to-be saved a (computer) life!!
Anyhoo, lets get to some photography! This lovely panorama of the Manhattan skyline at dusk was taken from Hoboken, NJ. Click on the image to see it larger. Not much to say about the picture except that it was the grand finale to a weekend in NYC.
Of course, I used the fabulous Canon Powershot G7. I think the image was originally 6 or 7 frames that I then digitally stitched together, adjusted for contrast in Photoshop CS3, and finally, to top off the sundae with a cherry, I transformed the photo into an HDR image. Enjoy!!!
through the drinking glass…again…
So, once again, I was a thirsty med student trying to diligently study…but succeeding at getting distracted. If it wasn’t the cats trying to play with me (Izzie always brings me toys so she can play fetch!), then it was my favorite blue-and-clear glass full of water. I know, I know, you’re wondering why the heck I was spending so much time staring at my water glass. Well, try studying gastrointestinal pathology and drugs for constipation and diarrhea and then let me know what percentage of your time was spent trying to picture anything but the inside of someone’s colon.
So, I whipped out the Canon G7 and shot away. It was quite fun playing with the coloration of the glass and the water level. And here we have it! Contrast enhanced in Photoshop CS3.
Oh, and don’t worry. I finished my studying.
a rose by any other name…
This pretty little bud made its debut in my mom’s garden this past summer. It just looked so lovely after a sunshower that I simply couldn’t resist taking a few snapshots! Aren’t rainy roses just wonderful?
Sorry for the few and far between posts! Med school is a bit demanding right now, especially with my boards just a few months away, so keep checking back for a new post!
As usual, taken with the Canon Powershot G7. Post-processed for contrast in Photoshop CS3. Enjoy!
For Grammy, 11/10/1918 – 2/12/2010. You are loved and missed.
surfacing at sunset…
The grand finale in the “People Series”!!! Once again, a shot of my lovely sister. Everything just sort of lined up perfectly in this shot…her pushing out of the water, the sunset, the sliver of sunlight highlighting the edges of her silhouette, and (my favorite) the sun glinting in the small drops of water falling from her arm. This was taken about 200 feet out in the water at Playa Norte, Isla Mujeres, Mexico (see previous Isla posts for me going on and on and on about the gorgeous water there and how you can walk out about 300 feet…uh oh…I’m going on and on again…).
I don’t think there’s much to say about this photo, except that I think my sister should scrap her career and become a model. Perk of this: she could visit locales such as Isla Mujeres more often. Perk of this for me: perhaps I’d be able to tag along for a vacation when my brain is totally fried from my clinical rotations!!
I hope everyone enjoyed the People Series. I’ll post more shots of people as they come along, but until then, back to random photo posting!
Oh, yes. I almost forgot. The picture was taken with the amazing Canon G7. Contrast fixed in Photoshop CS3. That’s it. No airbrushing needed on this model!
gone fishing…
He’s a man with a mission: to catch his fill of fish! And second to last photo in the “People Series”!! I took this shot down in Puerto Morelos, Mexico while admiring the view from the dock. It was quite a site to see. It was a bit after lunch and many of the fishermen were headed back out to sea for the afternoon catch. One minute all the boats were lined up along the shore, the next, they were zooming off into the distance. I like this photo because its very tranquil with the gradations of blue in the water, but also because I think it shows off just how small people are compared with the vast sea. Whenever I look at this photo, I get a sense of serene isolation and a refreshing dose of perspective.
Of course, the photo was taken with the Canon G7. I adjusted the contrast in Photoshop and also converted the image to an HDR image. Enjoy!!
contemplative in kensington…
Hello, world! It has been so long since I last posted an installment in my “People” series! A little thing called exams decided to crop up in med school…and then I was outta Philly so fast for break! Hence, no pics. Oh well. I enjoyed all of the sleeping and holiday eating.
So, this photo was taken at the Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby, which I attended with the wonderful Dr. Heather. This guy was just leaning against an abandoned building for quite a while, looking rather deep in his thoughts. He was quite fascinating to photograph, as I could only imagine what inner workings were keeping him so occupied for so long.
As usual, taken with the amazing Canon Powershot G7. Contrast and hues were adjusted using Adobe Photoshop CS3. Also, the ugly garbage can was cropped off.
On another note, the photoblog has passed the 50,000 hits mark!! Yay!
On yet another note, HAPPY 2010, PEOPLE!!! Let’s make this year the best yet!!!
solo soccer…
Fourth photo in the people series! Este niño jugó fútbol en la arena del campo de juegos, acerca la playa del Puerto Morelos.
Okay, sometimes I just feel the urge to write descriptions of the photos I’ve taken in Mexico in Spanish. C’mon! Its fun!! Anyhoo, for those who think that previous sentence is all Greek to them: “This young boy was playing soccer in the sand of the playground near Puerto Morelos’ beach.”
No, I wasn’t being creepy and watching this kid playing soccer and taking photos. In fact, my sister and I were enjoying the seesaw that was more or less right behind where I was standing to take the picture. Has anyone tried, as an adult, to get on a seesaw? We couldn’t do it! We’d try to keep the thing at a height so we could both get on, but, wow! A lot harder when you’re 3 feet and an undisclosed number of pounds larger than when you first learned to mount that contraption. Anyways, I was taking photos of the brightly painted playground and the kid got in my way. Then I figured, heck, he might be the superstar of the FIFA World Cup in a decade or so, so I’ll take his picture now! Actually, I wish that was what I was thinking. The fact of the matter is, the kid got in my way when I was taking pictures and when I finally looked at them on the computer, they looked nice with a live human in them. Thus, Niño Boy was not cropped into oblivion. Kind of creepy that you can just make people disappear *poof* with the modern photography. Gotta love it, especially when you’re taking a great group shot of your friends at a restaurant and there is inevitably the jerk that has to crash the photo behind the group. Be gone, Photo Dude. *Poof* You’re no longer in existence.
The photo was taken with my Canon Powershot G7. Processed in Adobe Photoshop CS3 to fix the contrast that so easily gets out of whack in bright Mexican sun and to mute the colors a little for the feeling that I seem to apparently be trying to evoke with this photo series. What is that feeling? Emotion. Nostalgia. Innocence. Slight surreality. Take your pick.
strolling down the street…
The next installment in my series on people! I visited the Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia this past spring and was taken for quite a wild ride! The sculptures were absolutely crazy and the whole derby had a cool bohemian vibe to it. Luckily, I brought my camera! Granted, I brought it so that I could better show my mom exactly what this “thing” was, but I got some cool shots as well. As the crowd was beginning to line up at the finish line, I noticed this little curly-haired girl enjoying a solitary stroll down the street with her balloon and little stuffed puppy. Fortunately, she wasn’t walking down the lane for too long, as that was the exact street that served as the final leg of the derby.
Of course, this photo was taken with the Canon Powershot G7! I used Adobe Photoshop CS3 to remove the company logo that was splashed across the balloon (it was so distracting!). I also enhanced the contrast and lighting in the photo for a slightly more dramatic “solitary” feel. Enjoy! Stay tuned for more in my “People Series”!
playing on the “playa”…
Second in my series of people photography!! Now, I know I said that the Mexico series was done with, but, surprise! More Puerto Morelos pics! Were these strategically saved for this series or did I just forget to put them with the other series? You’ll never know. Anyhoo, its fun to photograph kids doing their kid-ly things. They always seem so completely absorbed in what they are doing and bring such a fun, carefree-because-they-don’t-have-bills-to-pay feeling to the photo. I find that looking at pictures like this always makes me remember how much I liked to do (blank) when I was (blank) years old, long before medical school sort of owned my soul.
So, this boy and girl were playing in the sand on the shore by the Puerto Morelos pier in Puerto Morelos, Mexico. They are in front of the original lighthouse that was transformed into the Leaning Lighthouse of Puerto by Hurricane Wilma. Since it’s more or less non-functional now, there is a new lighthouse a bit further back from the shore. It is much taller and, personally, if I were a sailor, I’d be glad Wilma killed the old short lighthouse so that I could guide myself home with the more modern upgraded model.
The photo was taken with the Canon Powershot G7. I used Adobe Photoshop CS3 to adjust the contrast a bit and to bring out the slightly sepia tones in the picture to help create a more nostalgic feel and to highlight the angle of the sun.
surf’s up…
So, this photo is the first in a series I will be posting featuring people as subjects. I’m excited, as I usually do landscapes/macro/anything-but-people!
I took this photo while at the Jersey Shore over the summer with my boyfriend (see previous post for more another product of that trip). Avalon Beach was lovely, fairly empty with lovely water. I love to body surf, so I was quite content. Some areas had larger waves that surfers were taking full advantage of. I was lucky enough to snap this shot, right as the surfer hit the top of the wave. It wasn’t until I looked at the larger image of the photo on my computer that I realized he was also touching the top of the wave. Cool stuff.
So, anyhoo, this shot was taken with the Canon Powershot G7. Contrast was fixed with Adobe Photoshop CS3.
Surf’s up!!
hasta luego, mexico…
Well, I do believe that this is the last photo I’ll be posting from Mexico…time to move on (until it is the dark, cold, middle of winter and I find it imperative to post something warm and sunny). This photo is a shot of Playa Norte’s crystal clear water at sunset (hence the yummy pink cast on the sand!). Playa Norte on Isla Mujeres, Mexico is such a gorgeous place–truly what comes to my mind when I picture a tropical paradise. I hope you have enjoyed traveling to Mexico with me through my photos. Stay tuned!
Why, of course it was taken with the Canon Powershot G7. Contrast was fixed using Adobe Photoshop CS3.
tempting tranquility…
So this little slice of heaven was taken at Playa Norte on Isla Mujeres, Mexico. Have I mentioned how much I loooooove Isla?? I did? Oh, yes. That’s right. I found it impossible to drink in all of the serene shades of blue so I snapped tons of photos to help me in that quest at a later time.
I love the blue gradient in this photo…from the turquoise of the water all the way up to the sky’s blue hue, with an interspersing of fluffy white clouds!
To help you slip into this tranquil moment, picture the breeze gently blowing, waves softly crashing on the soft white sand, and the bathtub-temperature water enveloping your increasingly relaxed body. Ah, there you go. Now you’re there.
Yup. Taken with the trusty Canon Powershot G7.
radiance…
Alright. I’m not going to say much about this photo, except that it is one of my favorite shots from my trip to Mexico this summer. It was sunrise at our hotel (Ocean Coral and Turquesa) and the sheer serenity of the world in front of me was breathtaking. Luckily, the (amazing) Canon G7 has a fun little feature that lets you select only one color in your photo to show through the black and white. Well, I found the perfect shade of sunrise and photographed away!!! This shot is pretty much straight from the camera!!! Only needed a smidge of contrast fixing. I recommend using this picture for a 5 minute mental vacation…it definitely works for me!! Enjoy and bon voyage!!
