Thursday, July 29, 2010

europe 2010: trip #1

Reality #1 of life as a graduate student: procrastination happens.

Reality #2 of life as a graduate student: procrastination doesn't happen as often as you'd like.

But a peek at my life lately will show you this lovely shot taken at the Vienna Opera House.  This spring I had the opportunity to go to Vienna and Berlin as part of a graduate seminar I took in the Art History department.  Even though I've been to Europe many times and even lived there for a little while, this was my first time in Europe with my Nikon D-80!  Trip #2, incidentally, will be starting next week!

Life as a photographer-turned-graduate-student is good.  Busy, but good.  Not as many picture-taking opportunities (really, who wants to see pictures of all the papers I write?), but I am enjoying the new direction life has gone.  Photography still happens, it is just much more under-the-radar these days.

Before I sign off, I will share a few more photos.  Here is a VERY truncated survey of some of the pictures I took on my trip.  Reality #2 keeps me from uploading more pictures and writing more blog posts about it, but I have put all the images on Flickr in case any of my former readers wish to see more.  Enjoy!

 
The Postsparkasse, Vienna -- everything inside is in black-and-white, so this picture almost looks like real life.
 
The streets of Vienna -- quite lovely!
 
Though there are some interesting signs -- any fun commentary on what this one might mean?  I think my favorite interpretation is "no heterosexual couples."  (Incidentally, these are all over the old city of Vienna.)
 
And graffiti -- I always take graffiti pictures.  Odd taste of mine I suppose.
 
Inside the Rathaus -- gorgeous, right?
 
One of my favorite shots of the Vienna streets.  I like the lighting and the colors in it, plus how overtly European it feels.
 
Another shot, taken during a brief lunch break.
 
Walking through the Belvedere gardens.  Snazzy in black-and-white, yes?
 
En-route to Berlin!
 
The sign on our very hipster hotel in Berlin.  Cracks me up!
 
Museums.  This is representative of where we spent most of our time.
 
Inside the Berlin opera house.  Have to get as many opera-related pictures in as I can :)
 
View up to a monument.
 
Berlin streets.  This is one of the very nice neighborhoods.
 
A model of the famous gate in Berlin.  There was an exhibit with a model of what the city used to look like, and it was a neat way to access an understanding of the historical city.
 
Another Berlin neighborhood.  A bit different from the other shot, yes?
 
Outside the city -- water and openness was nice after all the time in urban areas!
 
Picturesque, I thought.
 
Love the three doors here and the warm colors.
 
Quite enjoyed my macro lens on this excursion!
 
Potsdam!  Great fountain in the square.
 
Love it.
 
Our breakfast table from the aforementioned hipster hotel :)  Wish my breakfast table always looked this fabulous!
 
Love the gallery shot.
 
Reminds me of a picture I took close to my old apartment.  But this is clearly much more fabulous :)
 
Hope all is well for my readers!  Auf Wiedersehen!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

photoshoot: X and Z


Two of my favorite kids, X and Z are both adopted from China -- and don't they have the coolest first initials?  I've posted some pictures of X before and since that post, she and her family went back to China to adopt Z.  X has grown up so much and is becoming such a beautiful young lady, and Z is just the cutest little guy ever.  I've known their family for years now, so it was bittersweet that I moved several states away just before they got Z.  But in the short time I've had to get to know him, he has totally claimed a special place in my heart.  How could he not?

We got to do a short photoshoot this afternoon -- and by short, I mean short.  We were done in about 10-15 minutes.  This is my favorite shot of the afternoon.  It's faces like these that make leaving so hard.
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iTunes: Cavalleria rusticana

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

roses are red...


Roses on Valentine's Day are nice, aren't they?  It's a toss up whether I like the roses, the chocolate, or the champagne best.  It was a pleasant treat to have all three this year, thanks to a great group of guys who got together and made a lovely dinner for the ladies!
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My iTunes: You Belong to Me by Carla Bruni

Friday, January 22, 2010

special delivery

3 months and 7 days since my last post.  Clearly, I have been shamefully lax in my posting.  Sadly to say, I have also been shamefully lax in my shooting.  What can I say -- the life of a graduate student is busier than I expected.  I'm hoping to do more shooting this term now that I have my feet under me.


The start of a new term inevitably means purchasing books.  In the past two weeks, I think I have come close to literally purchasing my weight in books.  I love it.  This special delivery, however, practically screamed to be photographed, so I grabbed my trusty Nikon off the shelf and had some fun before opening it.  I wish all my mail looked as great as this package:



In the end, it was graduate school that kept me from my camera and graduate school that compelled me to get it out again.  Ironic?


But speaking of graduate school, I have to go read that book that I opened yesterday...
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iTunes: Figli del mesto cor by Handel, performed by Jochen Kowalski