5 down! 17 to go!

it's time for the goals again...
april has been a busy and quite enjoyable month :)
goals with progress made:

get accepted to a stock photo site
i cannot say that i'm accepted yet because i still haven't applied. but when i attended the world photography awards and workshops this past weekend i picked up a lot of valuable info.
i'm confident i will get accepted as long i as i can get my models to sign the release :)

have a mini book club with steve (maybe 1984)
so, steve and i looked all over northern europe for 2 cheap copies of 1984 - to kill time during the 7 hour train ride to berlin. i found one for 3.25. we couldn't find a second copy. i read it. he hasn't yet.
hopefully he will before i forget the details.

master the use of photographic flash
by trial & error, i finally figured out the way to do the cool photos of dancers that leave multiple images of the movement in the frame (the key is a strobe light)
notice the technique and my cousin's moves:

by no means is this anywhere close to perfected, but i now have the concept down and will probably be renting a strobe light this summer. haha.

goals completed!

organize my harddrives

the beast is finally conquered

& bonus by going through all the duplicate files i found 24 gb of free space on my laptop

iphoto takes waaay too much room.

visit the U.K. and Germany

now, this may not sound like something that's entirely 'goal-worthy' but i put it on the list so that i would remember to save money for the trip. going to london was a great mental vacation and berlin was an incredible city full of things to see. (we also got to go to amsterdam and rotterdam)

i still owe you pics from the berlin chunk of the trip (and a couple stories) so i'll give you a sneak peek of some silly photos and write a complete post next week.

hanging out at the lego store

these cars are really lightweight.

with a small piece of the wall

would love to know how you're doing with your goals for the year!

busy week update :P

this past week has been a little nutty for a few reasons.

steve's parents and aunt & uncle are here for a visit, so our days are filled with mini adventures, touring sights and eating at great restaurants :)

after i realized that the world photography award festival lasts 5 days, i decided i needed to find out what i could get into.  the very nice girl at the info booth said "oh, it's almost over, here's a pass."

*cha ching!*

so - saturday and sunday i was able to attend some shooting workshops with professional models and about 30 other photographers, shooting in and around the palais.  

from there i was invited to the istockphoto party at a really flamboyant hotel. 

and sunday i attended a seminar about the "new business of photography."

some new friends even offered to help me select my portfolio.

all in all, i met a lot of great people, learned some important advice, and had fun :)

lastly but not least - this is my final week of work as a language assistant.  

(i did a little photoshoot, will post more and of the school itself)

me in my little classroom - D408 :)

i've got loads of pictures to catch up on editing, a good-bye dinner tonight, my official "au revoir france" (french themed) party tomorrow night (hard to find party decorations here!) and the last couple days with steve's family. 

i cannot believe how april flew.

april goals update tomorrow!

world photography awards & inspiration

Thursday night, by some stroke of insane networking by my cousin, Katie and I were able to attend the 2010 Sony World Photography Awards at the Palais de Festivals in Cannes. 

this was a major deal for me for a few reasons.

1.  I've been dying to see the inside of the very exclusive palais.  it's where the cannes film festival takes place every year.  it was smaller inside than i had imagined. so small in fact that katie and i sat in the velvet upholstered seats wondering if it had been Tom Hanks or Tom Cruise who had been seated there before us.  Katie sniffed - Tom Hanks.  lol.

2.  We got to dress up! It was a black tie event.  The men were in suits and women wore gorgeous ballgowns.  We had cocktail dresses and were fine :)

Also of note - that most male winners of the awards find it suitable to wear brightly coloured sneakers with the suits.  Ok fine, you think you're quirky and original...but so did the other 35 guys.

Plus you're over 50, get some leather shoes.

3. this is the first time that i've ever attended something strictly photography related.  it was the photographer's oscars.  i was in a room with a lot of incredibly talented people, and even some personal photography heroes!  it was wonderful to hear inspiring speeches about sticking it out in such a difficult industry, about people not giving up and working toward their dream, being brave.

and it worked.  i sat there for 2 hours being inspired.  feeling that yes, this really is what i want to do.  

50 years from now i want to be the one on that stage accepting a lifetime achievement award.  

i want to create images that i am proud of.  

i just want to take pictures and nothing else will do.

lovely amsterdam

the second stop on our trip was amsterdam :)

it really is a beautiful city.  the canals are so peaceful.  

i love that bicycles outnumber cars as the transportation of choice throughout the entire country.

someday when i own my dream house, it will have these trees in the yard.

some silliness

the buildings are really tall and narrow.  this construction was going on over a canal - hence the giant yellow 'crane.'

we had to.

 we spent a lot of time walking around/exploring, and then some solid time sitting along the canal resting, eating lunch in the sunshine :)

 check out what "cool ranch" doritos are called:

(they tasted the same)

 a parkade outside a metro station - truly the size of a normal parking lot.

i fed some leftover bread to this swan, so that i could get a picture of him.  but when i ran out of bread i realized that swans are actually quite intimidating and scary.  seriously.  freaky bird.  

i like you better from far.

(more on flickr if you like)

a few more london randoms

we were walking in this beautiful garden for all of 3 mins before they closed it for the night and booted us out :(  i like this picture though. thanks steve

the phone booths really smell awful. snap a photo quick.

cool underground stations.

if i'm bored someday i might photoshop and make these last 2 into movie posters.

about spies.

lovely london

luckily enough steve and i were able to enjoy or whole trip in northern europe - and make it home - before the volcano erupted and caused chaos in airports all over the continent.  we even managed to catch a train back to cannes during a strike that's been lasting days.  whoo hoo!

our first stop on the trip was london.  we've both been before, and have seen the major tourist sites, so we were able to spend a bit more time simply enjoying our own language and wandering around. 
after 8 months in france it's a mental vacation to know exactly what people say in the street, how to read directions/newspapers/graffiti, menus without having to think about it!!

we spent a lot of time in bookshops, shopping and eating foods we missed.  i'm slightly embarassed that our first meal outside of france was airport burger king.  but onion rings! haha

i also was able to meet with charlotte, a happy mail partner of mine - but that will get its own post.

without further delay - some fave snaps of london :)

(as always - even more on flickr)

i found the lomo store completely by accident, while steve was trying on a pair of shoes. !! 

i tested an adapter and diana lens with my 5d - on the fence about if it's worth getting - didn't buy it there. first shot is with my usual lens, others with the diana fisheye.

 this bus driver called me over to take a picture of him, and then wanted a kiss for payment.
uh, no thanks.

yay, we're cute!

cheerio :)

giveaway winner!

 first off, thank you to everyone for the lovely compliments on my photos, and welcome to any new followers.  i look forward to getting to know you better :)

I am pleased to announce that the winner of the giveaway - via the random number generator is: 

which means (after i counted backwards and forwards through the comments)

Rachel!  - whose lovely blog I follow :)

i'm off to continue sorting through photos.  i'll post something or other from my trip tomorrow. 

enjoy your friday night!

back!

hello hello!

i am officially home from our whirlwind trip.  

my feet are tired.  

it feels like it's been soooo long since i've seen the internet. 

anyway, i thought i'd pop in with a quick hello.  i am alive, and will have the giveaway tomorrow!

lots of pictures to sort through, we had a wonderful time :)

giveaway add on

london is great. I got some postcards from liberty (of London) to add to the giveaway below :)

Giveaway & Blog-iversary!

hello!! 

i am only days away from the 1 year anniversary of my little blog :)

but i won't be near my computer when it happens! steve and i are traveling.  we're headed to london tomorrow morning, then amsterdam, rotterdam and berlin! 

we'll be back in just under 2 weeks, i am so excited! i'll have tons of new pictures later ;)

in the meantime, you can enter the giveaway!

the goods:

3 prints of photographs by yours truly :)  (some sample photos)

this necklace and earrings set i love, from my fave french boutique and i have to share (i have 1 too)

 this orange blouse i found while thrifting, which is too small for me but deserves to be worn!

and any other treasures i may find in the UK, Netherlands & Germany!

how to enter:

follow my blog

pick which 3 photos you would like to win as prints (my flickr)

and let me know :)

if you want more than one entry (!)

blog or tweet about this giveaway, leaving a comment each time

become a fan on facebook

ask a photography related question - i may start how-to posts in the future, if you're interested

leave a separate comment for each thing you do because i'll use a random number generator to pick a winner when i get back! (april 16th)

i'll miss you blogland, see you soon!

p.s. i've changed my comment moderation for this one, so if you see offensive spam it's not my fault :p

Bon poisson d'avril!

happy "April Fish" if you translate it directly...

today in france is similar to april fool's day in north america, with tricks and jokes

but they also have a cute tradition that we don't!

i'm not sure on the history of the fish - children will cut out fish shapes and tape them on each others backs with jokes, teasing remarks, etc. on them.  

i asked my high school students if they do anything and yes, they will sneak notes onto people's backs in a not-so-pleasant and more-like-high-school manner. not so cute.

fill in the blank - i am _______.

at the end of the day i noticed a little fish fall to the floor, facedown.

uh oh.  i don't work with cute little gradeschoolers!

but look!

"i am beautiful." awww! i was so excited!

it may relate to what i was originally going to post today...?

i love seeing other people's wardrobe posts, and this is a little bit DIY too.

i bought this little shirt at a thrift store - totally vintage, a bit ho-hum...

so i changed the buttons and it got some drama ;)

which took 10 minutes and was entirely worth it.

 love my floral tights :)

shopping stats: necklace, shirt, buttons - thrifted in france

headband - dollarama, lol.  skirt - joe fresh (love!)

boots - L&B (france.) belt - Mim (france.)

tights - random corner shop in cannes that used to be a candy shop, was an accessories place for a couple months, then luggage and is now under construction. 

yes, i have only been here since september.

anyway, that's what i wore today.

hope you had a happy 1st of april!