rockin’ rockies…
I almost forgot to post this one first!!! Obviously, we had to fly over the Rocky Mountains to get to California, but I was beyond excited about this. See, getting to see a “rocky” mountain (as opposed to the “softer” Appalachians out East) was one of the things on my “Must Eventually Accomplish/See In Life” list. What better way to start a trip than to tick off an item on that bucket list?? Little did I know that it would be the first of many tick-marks made on this trip!
A little info on the photo: Taken at 37,000 feet with the maximum zoom on the Canon G12. I used Adobe Photoshop CS5 to make the photo black and white to bring out all of the detail in the mountains. A very excellent few hours of flying: sandwiched between a view of the Rockies and a boyfriend who thought my continuous excited squeals about seeing them were endearing and not annoying.
If you’re going to San Francisco…
Well, world…I finally did it! I crossed the USA to the other coast!!! Think of it as East meets West…coast, that is. My friend from med school was getting married in Santa Rosa (shout-out to the happy couple!), so Jay and I figured, heck, if we’re going that far away, we might as well make a vacation out of it!!! Thus ensued a week of fun in the sun!
Our amazing itinerary was as follows:
Land in San Francisco (got to see the Rockies & Yosemite from the plane!)–> eat lunch in Sausalito–> drive up the Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) to Santa Rosa–> Wedding!–>Trek to Sonoma Lake in Napa Valley plus some wine tasting in the Napa Valley 
–>Drive to San Francisco–> Sight-see!!! Take Photos!!! Quality BF-GF time!!!–> Drive to Pillar Point Beach to collect sea glass–> Drive south on Hwy 1 to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in Big Sur (stay tuned for the amazing views from here)–> Continue on Hwy 1 until encounter massive landslide–> take 4 hour detour through a military base at the top of a mountain range (via a one lane road clinging to the edge of the mountain…without a guardrail)–> finally arrive in Long Beach, CA and stay on the Queen Mary for the night (!)–>Ferry to Avalon, Catalina Island!!–> ZIPLINE 500 feet above ground between mountain summits (!)–> beach–> LAX–> Home (got to see the Grand Canyon from the plane!)
Soooooo much fun!! I’ll try to post photos in the approximate order that I took them so I can slowly tell the story of my travels This one is out of order, though, as I will be posting a photo of the Rockies (so excited to finally see real “rocky” mountains, not the worn (but pretty) tree-covered mountains of the East).
Can’t wait to share my trip and photos with you! I truly believe it is impossible to take a bad photo in California!
Quick story behind this photo: En route to Sausalito, I realized that we were driving across the Golden Gate Bridge. After many squeals of excitement that may have left Jay partially deaf in the right ear, I started snapping photos like a mad woman. Luckily I got a nice skyline shot. The Bay Bridge is at the left-most edge of the photo. Naturally, there was a ton of fog in the Bay, so I adjusted the contrast in Photoshop CS5 to sharpen up the photo. Taken with the Canon Powershot G12!
ENJOY AND STAY TUNED!!!!
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!!!
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!
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!
city of bridges…
“Pennsylvania’s Watersheds and You”
Check it out!! I was contacted a while ago by a Pittsburgh engineering firm–they wanted to use my photography on a conservation poster that they were creating! Well, just click on the photo above (or the link underneath it) and have a look! I’m so excited that my photograph is on a real publication that will be hanging in real places!
The photo is of the Pittsburgh skyline in May, as seen from the banks of the Allegheny River (directly across from Point State Park). It was a river-fest with free kayaking…hence all of the little banana-like things in the picture. And yes, I did kayak. And yes, it was great fun.
The image was taken with the (now stolen) Olympus Stylus 820. Post-processed in Photoshop CS3 for contrast.
DON’T POLLUTE YOUR WATER SUPPLIES!!! Keep them fresh and safe for yourself and generations to come.
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!
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!!
mermaid…
Well, here’s a change of pace. I usually photograph things, places, and my cats…but….omigosh! Its a person!!! My sister and I were having a bit of fun in Playa del Carmen, Mexico a couple of years ago by staging a teensy “America’s Next Top Model”-esque photo shoot out in the water. Naturally, she looked gorgeous. And she’s ready for her close-up now…or at least to have her photo on my blog! You go, pretty sister!
Taken with an Olympus Stylus 820. The photo was played with a bit in Adobe Photoshop CS3 to add a glow, fix contrast, and create a sepia tone. It was then converted into an HDR photo. Enjoy!!!!
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.
tequila sunrise…
This seaside sunrise panoramic was the fruit of my efforts to arise before sunrise after a week of fun in the sun in Mexico (no small feat, especially when bedtime was 2am!!! Darn DeGrassi reruns in Mexico that hooked my entire family!!). I can’t truly convey with words how tranquil and silent the sunrise was…no vacationers on the beach yet, no playing in the pool…just the sun, sea, and the lapping waves. Simply stunning.
This photo was taken at the beach of the Ocean Coral and Turquesa Resort in Puerto Morelos, Mexico. I merged two sequential photos into one panoramic image using Adobe Photoshop CS3. The panel was originally 7 photos long, but that caused a large curvature in the image…plus one of the images contained a gentleman strolling the beach in a Speedo, with all his glory bathed in morning rays. Yup. The panorama was reduced to the two panels that I thought came the closest to doing the sunrise justice. Obviously, taken with the Canon Powershot G7. Contrast and color saturation enhanced in Photoshop to make the photos look as much like the original sunrise as possible!! Enjoy!!
heaven on earth…
Okay, folks! Back again! I have to apologize for my scanty postings…second year of med school is crazy!!! But, I’m ready to make up for lost time.
This photo is from my trip to Mexico this summer. My family and I visited Isla Mujeres (everyone must go there! GORGEOUS!) mainly for the white sand beaches (will post beach shots soon!), but we found the town was simply amazing to wander around in. A cemetery on Calle Lopez Mateos was particularly eye-catching. I can’t even begin to describe the intense colors of the monuments and how densely they were packed in there (hmmm…perhaps I’ll just have to post visual evidence). However, there was one monument that towered above many others and that was this particular angel. To my luck, when I looked at the photo I had taken, I noticed that the flare of the sun combined with the angel looked just like a tiny glimpse of heaven! How…divine!
As usual, the picture was taken with the Canon Powershot G7 (oh, what fun we had in Mexico!). I then cross-balanced the image in Photoshop CS3. Enjoy and stay tuned! More photos to come, I promise!
New York City: Part 2
Second photo in the series! I decided to have a little fun with this one. I wanted to take a panoramic shot encompassing all of times square. Thing is, the only thing tall enough to see over the heads of most people (tripod didn’t quite cut it) was Jay (the boyfriend). So, I kindly asked him to stand super-still in the middle of times square while I put my camera on his head and carefully rotated around, snapping shots. 12 photos and many strange looks later (oh, what one will do in the name of photography!) I had my prize. I stitched the photos together with the G7′s provided computer software when I returned to Philly…only to find that my rotating was not quite as good as a tripod’s, hence the funky curve in the image. But, with the magic of Photoshop, a funky curve can be transformed into a “bowl” of sorts for a funky title. So, this picture isn’t pure photography, but I think its fun nonetheless!
As usual, taken with the Canon Powershot G7. As not-usual (unusual?), taken with the help of Jay’s noggin (I always knew that head was good for more than just pharmacy and remembering anniversaries!)
through the drinking glass…
Allow me to fill you in on the birth of this photograph. I was studying for my Block 6 Pharmacology/Pathology/Immunology final (fun, right?). At the same time, I was enjoying a nice cold glass of grape juice. Drinking the grape juice was infinitely better than studying, so I sat there and finished it in one shot. Placing the glass down on my desk and looking inside of it to waste yet more time, I noticed that, “Heck, this could be a cool photo.” Translation: anything, including photographing grape juice residue, is better than studying for this darn final. Grabbed the trusty Canon G7 and had a small photo shoot with my glass. Then I popped the picture into Photoshop for some contrast adjustment and bleaching effects…and there you go! Amazing timewaster…I mean, piece of photographic art!
Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, yes, I did pass that final and successfully completed my first year of medical school. Yay!
when life gives you lemons…
Ah, yes. My first foray into the wide world of still life! These were the lemons that I purchased at the Philadelphia Italian Market…10 Meyer lemons (the really yummy kind) the size of grapefruits (no joke…I have a photo to prove it) for $2. Yes, you read that right. 10 for 2! So, I used the lemon rinds to make some homemade limoncello. If you are interested in trying to make the stuff, just check out Michael Chiarello’s recipe on FoodNetwork. Its much simpler than most online…perfect for someone who has never made liqueurs before. So, the limoncello left me with 10 naked lemons. As mother always said, “when life gives you NAKED lemons, make lemonade.” I did just that…with the whopping 3 cups of juice I got from these gargantuan lemons.
Now down to business. I plopped the lemons into a lovely large blue bowl that I have, hung my afghan over a bookshelf, placed the subject on my ottoman, and went shutter-happy. I know…I’m working with such high-quality props, right? I used my amazing Canon G7 to capture the lemons and did a smidge of post-processing in Photoshop (namely a “bleached” effect). So, pucker up and enjoy some lemons!
