6 days of adventure in New York City

Meet Julia.
There are no words that could fully explain the sweet, wild, and beautiful woman she is! She made my trip so very fun and memorable.
For a month she lived in a cozy, modern apartment in Greenwich Village while attending a program at Arrojo, sharpening and adding to her (already AMAZING) hair skills.
Together we wandered about the city, visited many parks and historical spots, ate amazing food, found wardrobe treasures at resale shops and boutiques, watched street performers, and admired all that makes New York City the jungle that it is.











Views from the Brooklyn Bridge.
I had a couple of days to explore the city on my own while Julia was in class. I took one of those days to walk to the lower end of Manhattan and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. From halfway across I was able to see the skylines of Upper Manhattan, the Financial District, and Brooklyn.











I love that the city is filled with so many parks, but yet to me they seem small, busy, and crowded compared to the quiet woods I am surrounded by at home. One of the best things about these parks is that they are for people of all different ages, places, and walks of life to come and enjoy. There's almost always someone around performing, whether it be a band, a singer, performer, or any other sort of talent and entertainment. My favorite during my stay was a little jazz band I stumbled upon on Sunday afternoon.

Union Square and Union Square Park










Washington Square Park













A few bits and pieces...
The next photos I took while walking about Greenwich and the East Village (my two favorite neighborhoods)...























These 4 photos I snapped the day we walked all the way up 5th Avenue to Central Park. It was fun passing by all of the big name brands like Chanel, Prada, and Tiffany's (where I stopped to get a photo taken in front of the display window where Audrey Hepburn stood while filming a certain film *wink wink*). We considered going up into the Empire State Building but decided against it when we saw the line and found out the cost of tickets.
Coming back from Uptown we took the subway, but we managed to hop on the wrong train and found ourselves in Queens. We got off once we realized, and hopped on the next train that was headed in the right direction. In the end we made it back, without any more train jumping. :)





My lovely and I. Being the sillies that we are. :)




There was a beautiful sunset on my last night in the city, and we decided to go out on the fire escape to enjoy it and capture some photos. We then realized how close we were to the top of the building, so we climbed up the remaining stairs and ladder to the roof. The view was absolutely spectacular! To the west was the sunset, and to the south a magnificent skyline.
It was a perfect way to end my trip.


A few more random and memorable things:
*Shake Shack is THE best fast food I've ever had in my life. We waited at least an hour. WELL worth it!
*I never realized how easy it is to get around everywhere on foot. I thought I'd be taking sub/cab more.
*I loved how everyone had their own sense of style!
*You can't escape the noise of the city. There is no silence.
*A latte from Abraço is a bit of heaven in a cup.
*It really is the city that never sleeps. People are out all hours of the day/night, every day of the week.
*Cafe Wha? was a fun first night experience! The Cafe Wha? Band was fantastic and we had fun grooving to their covers.

Adventures on a road less traveled.

Last night Bridge and I went in search of a backroad to adventure and take photos on. We saw a "Rustic Road" sign and decided to give it a try. It was a fairly narrow road, and parts of it ran along (what I think was) the Kickapoo river. It was a beautiful little valley! We found an old abandoned barn in a field that we stopped to take some photos at.

I shot some film, but I won't be sending all my film in to get developed until I get back from Chicago and New York City in August.






























And of course, last but not least, the two of us goons. :)

California 2013

I've had the following photos sitting around, waiting to be edited and posted for the last month and a half, and I haven't been very good about shooting and blogging on a regular basis. I love it, and I miss it, but each year that passes seems to go by a little faster than the last. I remember how in my teens it felt like I had all the time in the world, and now most days I don't feel like I have enough. I think in order for me to continue shooting regularly I need to just mount that darn camera of mine to my hand and take it with me everywhere I go. I don't have the time that I used to, doing a shoot on a whim when I've got a streak of inspiration. Days are too full now.
I've booked a trip to New York City for August 1st through the 6th. I'm going to be visiting a friend, as well as making it into a photographing adventure. My plan is to shoot as much as possible and sink back into the pool of love for taking pictures that I've managed to dry up, simply by not making my photography a priority in my life. I also just plain and simple need an adventure in a far away place to fulfill my wanderlust wishes. ;)

Back in May I flew to California for my cousin's wedding. I've visited the Santa Maria/Santa Barbara area a few times in the last few years, but this was the first time I'd been to a more northern part of the state in a long time. I spent most of my days in Sacramento, seeing as that's where my family was, but I took a short trip to San Francisco for Mother's Day with my mamma, aunt, and her grandson.

Begin again.

Sometimes I forget how much I love having a camera in my hands - capturing small, but beautiful moments of life with a weighty piece of metal+plastic that is embraced by my fingers and palms. I especially love when the moments I've captured are ones that usually go unnoticed, or are easily forgotten. Those are my favorite. I often find myself absorbed by those moments, even when I'm not shooting. It's the little things that sometimes mean the most.
I loved this shoot that I did with Beth because it was unplanned, and I didn't really have much of a vision for what I wanted until we pulled off the side of the road and I looked around at my surroundings. It had been a long time since I'd shot, and it took me a while to really get the feel of things again. It was a beautiful evening - a warm wind was blowing, clouds were fighting to take over the sky, and the sun fought back, shining it's beams through the cracks in between, and sometimes losing and becoming blocked all together. It made for some fantastic lighting.
Below are my favorite shots.

Bits and pieces of the last few weeks...

This song, "Promise" by Ben Howard, is currently my favorite. It has fit my mood perfectly the last couple days - with the rain and the spring-ish feeling in the air. Mmmm... so good. <3

The first three photos I took in Madison a few weeks ago. I finally got the chance to eat at Graze, which is right on the square. I LOVE that place! Fantastic food, great atmosphere, and the lighting is terrific, thanks to all of the windows. Pictured below is the sweet potato soup that I got - heavenly! I will most definitely be going back.
All of the other photos (aside from the one of the wood pile) I took at my neighbors farm a week ago.

That's all I have time for today.
Spring, come quick!