{VENICE, ITALY}

One of the most beautiful and fun places I have ever been to photograph is Venice, Italy and one full day was not long enough to take everything in. This is a place that I really want to go back and visit again someday, especially before is sinks into the water! Venice is an island that is man made and has been around for hundred's of years so you are surrounded by rich history, such as the original painting of The Last Supper and Casa Nova. It has narrow walk ways and is filled with canals of water which is what many people use for transportation. If you can look past the stinky sewage smell that lingers around much of the city, I know you will fall in love with its charm!

Here is one of my favorite photos that I took during the day I was there. This is another one of those 16x24 canvas prints that hangs on my wall. This is what "Venecia" is all about. Small canals, gondolas, laundry hanging out in the open... this was my first encounter with Italy. Not to mention hearing a lady up in her kitchen break a plate and yell "Mama Mia!" and a gentleman farther down the road singing a deep baritone Italian opera song. I can't make this stuff up people! I felt like I was walking through a movie.

One thing that completely disgusts the Venetians is when the foreigners play with the dirty filthy disease ridden pigeons. Just like my girl friend and I are doing in this photo here. :-) It's no wonder I usually come home from traveling with some new strange foreign disease. It's to the point that every time I go to the doctor the first thing out of her mouth is "so, have you been to any countries lately that I need to know about this time?" Hey, it's once in a lifetime, I figure I might as well live it up! 

Here is a photo of San Giorgio Island from the shores of Venice. I would have loved to have visited there. As you can see it is not far away at all and the architecture is beautiful. Plus, every photo looks better with a gondola in it. I would love to take a ride in one of these some day.

Since there are endless scenes to photograph in Venice, I'm sure that goes for painters as well. So many artists line the streets of Venice. Their work was so beautiful but way out of my budget and completely justifiable. Amazingly talented people! For some reason this photo has a special place in my heart. I always feel a little guilty photographing people, especially when they know I'm doing it but haven't asked, so thank you Mr. Painter man!

Partway through the day the clouds moved in a bit which made for this dramatic photo. You can see a little bit of how colorful the buildings are in this city. Like I said, I can't wait to go back. There is just so much to photograph that I didn't get to take advantage of and you can't forget about the food. The sea food is amazing!

ROMANIA {CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS}

The most unique and memorable part of my visit to Romania was my adventure to a small village in the Carpathian mountains where my friend's grandparents lived. This village was like none I had ever been to. It was like stepping back in time to Little House on the Prarie. The homes were made of dirt and hay, they lived off of what they could grown on their small bits of property, and there were no modern comforts. The grandparents had a well for water and this water was the most delicious water I had ever tasted. There was no plumbing, almost no electricity, and they used animals and wagons instead of cars. A very simple life. They managed to live off of $10 a month.

Here is a Romanian car being driven by a cute little old lady. You can see how weathered her skin has become from years of working in the sun. The roads were all dirt. Few people had jobs. It was one of the poorest places I have ever been, yet they were some of the happiest people. There is a lot to be said for being thankful for what you have as well as not knowing what you are missing.

We took a long walk one of the afternoons up to a lookout. One thing that I love when I am traveling are puffy clouds. I get really excited and literally jump up and down giggling puffy clouds! puffy clouds! Because they make the photos so much more interesting. Wouldn't you agree?

During our walk these three ducks kept following behind me right in a row like this. Aren't they cute! I think they wanted their picture taken but they were probably just hoping I had some food for them. Everywhere we went there was so much to photograph. I got more photos in one day in this village then I did in the rest of the two weeks of my trip.

Back at the house I played with their chickens. They were very cute. They had lots of them and they were all different colors, shapes, sizes, and breeds. I asked what this little fella's name was and they laughed and me saying, "we don't name our food!" Oh! and that's why if I had to kill my own meat I'd instantly become a vegetarian. No way! Could not handle that. While I was there I learned how to call a chicken. You say... Poi Poi Poi.

This is my friend's grandfather taking a rest after picking fruits and vegetables for dinner. He is so gosh darn cute, I couldn't stand it. I think he was a little puzzled as to why I kept wanting to take pictures of him, his chicken food, his living room, his well, his outhouse, ha ha! Later this day he opened up a sack and handed me some hazelnuts. Apparently hazelnuts grow on the side of the Carpathian mountains and he had hiked up and gathered some. So we sat down and crushed them with a rock and ate them. They were delicious. Funny thing is that I usually have an issue with getting dirty and eating with my hands but for some reason when I travel I luckily am somehow able to put all that aside.

So we of course had to take some family photos since I was here. Here is everyone. My friend and her son, then her niece, her mom, her uncle and aunt, with grandpa and grandma in the front. The are posing in the... well outdoor living room you could say. Sort of a court yard for all the rooms of the house. I love how the background really places them at the village, in the home. This photo couldn't have come from anywhere else. These were all such great people and they were so welcoming to me. I could never thank them enough.

And while I was taking family photos I was making quite a ruckus in the neighborhood. I was trying so hard to get grandma and grandpa to smile who didn't speak a lick of English so I was jumping up and down on a chair yelling and making funny faces yell POI POI POI (calling the chickens) since that was all the Romanian I knew. So the ladies who lived next door had to come peak over the fence and see what I was up to. They were so cute I had to take their photo too.

As we were leaving the village we passed by this lookout. Here is where some of the locals go to fish. The sun had just set, the extreme heat had finally settled down and here was this beautiful view. So peaceful. Till next time Romania.

BRASOV, ROMANIA {DRACULA'S CASTLE}

I can't tell you how much I love it when clients request if I'll come join them in another country for a photo session. Traveling the world is one of my biggest passions in life and when I can get paid to do it or can trade my work for a first hand tour guide from someone who lives in the country, it is pretty priceless. A good friend of mine from Romania did just that. She invited me to visit her country with her when she went home and take family photos for her in exchange for a top notch cultural experience. Unfortunately her visits home are years apart and this would be the first time her family would be meeting her 2 year old son.

Bran Castle

 When she asked me what I would like to do when I was there I didn't have to do much thinking. I said, "I want to experience Romania how you see it... except for one little thing, I also want to go visit Dracula's Castle!" I mean come on! Go all the way to Transylvania, Romania and not visit the grounds were Vlad the Impaler staked thousands of people! Lets go! Unfortunately what I didn't know is that the castle is very difficult to photograph from were tourists could go so this was the best photo I could capture of Dracula's Castle. But it is still really fun to say that I've been there.

The town closest to Bran is Brasov which is the home of the Black Church, "Biserica Neagră." This church used to actually be called St. Mary and was first constructed sometime around the 1400's and is Gothic style like Notre Dame.  But then during the 1600's during the Turkish war a big fire broke out in the city and the church was burned. Much of the inside has been restored but you can still see remnants from the outside of the fire and has been since called the Black Church.

Brasov has beautifully colorful architecture as you can see in this photo of their town square. We were only in the town for a few hours so I didn't capture too many images but it was full of so many cute little shops and fountains. Brasov also serves Dracula ice cream. Now, I can't eat dairy but this I just had to try. It is vanilla ice cream that has been dyed black and then they mix in cherry red POP ROCKS! Yeah! So your tongue turns black and the rocks pop all over your mouth. It was pretty fun. If you ever visit, you must look for it at the street vendor ice cream shops. 

Here is a photo of Buni (Grandma) and Daevon playing in the fountain in the middle of the town square. It was a lot of fun watching them interact. Daevon was just getting to know his Buni and she only speaks Romanian so it was really funny watching him cock his head to the side as his listened and soaked in everything she would say to him. It's interesting how language can really be all irrelevant. Even I had a few hours of time with her at moments without anyone to translate yet it still seemed like we were able to have some sort of a decent conversation. 

As we were driving back to Focsani, where my friend was from, we drove through part of the Caraiman mountains and this here is one of my favorite shots from the entire trip. If you look at the top of the mountain on the right you will see a cross peaking out through the fogged raining clouds but with a bit of sun sneaking through from behind. This cross was built in the early 1900's by order of Queen Mary to show honor to those who served in WWI. When I look at this photo it really warms my heart with a feeling of heaven up in the clouds. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. PS- I took this photo through the car window while driving around twisty turn roads. Sometimes you just never know what you might get!

Paris, France {Famous Places}

If you like history, culture, eating, shopping, taking pictures... there is so much to do and see in Paris. One of the most famous sites being the Notre Dame Cathedral, which in french means "Our Lady." It was built during the 1000-1200's and is a magnificent work of art complete with gargoyles to watch over it. This is the Cathedral that is known in Victor Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." Hugo happened to have lived just blocks away from the church when he was alive. Funnily enough, most of the time I was by the cathedral I kept getting the theme song from the Disney movie stuck in my head. Even to this day you have to be careful walking around this area because they are lots of gypsies nearby.

Being that I studied a little Latin in school, I always enjoy a good Catholic Latin Mass and decided to catch the Sunday service while I was in Paris. What a treat. Apparently they don't have many weekly church attenders because I was able to sit in the 3rd row. It was spectacular.

Here is a photo I took at night when the moon was still low. There were crowds of people hanging out around the Cathedral grounds which was filled with street entertainers. I don't usually travel with a tripod but for this trip I did and it turned out to be a wise choice.

And then here is a reminder from my blog about the Eiffel Tower of what the the gargoyles look like on top of the cathedral. I kept illegally putting my hands over the edge and petting them because they were so cool.

Another one of Paris's most famous tourist sites is the Arch De Triumph. This structure was a little harder to photograph. There were lots of cars speeding around. The Arch is actually a roundabout so it is always busy. I also wanted a photo straight on so I headed out into the middle of the street as fast as I could and quickly snapped a photo before any non forgiving Parisian could run me over. Luckily, it turned out to be one of my favorite photos.

We can't forget Moulin Rouge! Moulin Rouge is a cabaret that has been around since the late 1800's. I REALLY wanted to go here but my brother didn't feel it was a very lady like place for me to go. It costs $100 just to get in so we stood outside watching very rich looking people get out of very nice limos with bouncers going in. Next time, if I go back to Paris again in my life, it will be on my to do list.

On a creepier side of Paris, well I'd like to consider it a more awesome part of the city, they have Catacombs under ground that you can tour. The underneath of Paris is covered in an entire tunnel system, the Catacombs being just a small portion. Some of you may recall Victor Hugo referencing these tunnels as being used in the French Revolutionary war in his book Les Miserables. With Paris being over consumed with dead bodies by the late 1700's the Catacombs were made to solve this issue by digging up all of the remains and placing them in the tunnels. Today these unknown remains seem like a work of art. A special thanks to some person who died a long time ago for letting me touch his or her skull that is shown in this photo.

And lastly, here is a photo from a grave from the cemetery "Pere Lachaise" which is one of the largest and most beautiful cemeteries in all of Paris. It originated in the 1600's and contains rows upon rows of mausoleums and small structures so family members can step inside and pray to their lost love ones. An interesting fact is that when you buy a plot at this site you also by a time limit that your family must renew or you will be dug up when it is up and be moved off site. I believe you can purchase between 10-50 years at a time. But many family members just choose to be added to their relatives graves so it isn't uncommon for a grave to have maybe even a dozen bodies over time added to it. Definitely a place to visit when you go to Paris. I've never seen a cemetery like it. This is one of those cemeteries like out of scarey movies where I wouldn't want to be left there after dark kind of creepy- yet so beautiful during the day light.

PARIS, FRANCE {OUT & ABOUT}

One of my favorite things to do when I'm visiting other countries is to sit outside at a coffee shop with my camera relaxing and photographing the culture of the city as it passes by. My favorite spy lens to do this with is Canon's 135mm F2 L. I won't travel without it. There is just something about the look of the photos that the lens produces that is pretty amazing. Quite often when people are curious enough to ask what I used to take a photo with, the answer is my 135. I have on occasion joked that when I die I would like it to be buried with me.

Here is a fun image that I took while hanging out at one of the most picturesque parks in Paris, the Jardin Du Luxembourg. This is a park that may Parisian's choose to hang out at.  It was even an inspiration for Monet. It is filled with romantic benches, water fountains, flowers, children's play areas, and I even saw some horse drawn carriages pass by too.

As you walk around Paris there are many beautiful corner parks to stop by and rest at so you can escape inner city life for a while. Many of them have beautiful water fountains in the middle such as this one you see above. It was hard not to stop and rest at each one but this city has so much to do and see that there was no rest to be had!

Everywhere you go in Paris you are surrounded by street performers. The are on the streets, in the subways, at restaurants, every place but in your hotel room and they all want money. Some of them are really good and some of them are horrid. A few times we were riding the subway and groups of them started performing during the ride. Sure it was fun to watch but then you are pretty much forced to give them money or they get upset with you. It got quite annoying after a while but you have to give them credit for finding a way to make a living.

Here is one of those coffee shop shots. This guy is pretty amazing. I love everything he has going on- hair, outfit, big belt buckle, white tennies, cigarette hanging out of his mouth, head phone in his ears. So awesome! Thank you awesome dude for letting me capture a memory to remind me of how interesting the Parisian's dress. Let me tell you, I was feeling pretty out of place. Even in my high end name brand clothes I brought along, I still stuck out like an American sore thumb yet THIS guy fit in perfectly.

And ohhh the food. There is something Paris has going for itself. I don't know how the models keep themselves from eating all the deliciousness that surrounds them. If I lived there I would be a very fat person. The put so much love and care into everything they make. Even their so called convenient food shops. It's like you take a bit and rainbows and unicorns spill out of everything you eat. I ate courses at restaurants that to this day I have never forgotten the taste in my mouth and day dream about someday eating again.

Let's not forget that they are known for their sweets. Every day I passed by numerous shops that sold these adorable little handmade desserts. They each looked like art. One night I was out working on some photo work and when I was coming home I couldn't resist any longer. I walked into this shop and bought like 3 or 4 little desserts and carried them home. The guy who rang me up eyed me up and down probably thinking- do you really need to eat all of these you larger than a size 2 American girl. Why yes, yes I do! Each one was carefully and artistically wrapped up for the journey and I felt like I was opening Christmas packages when it was finally time to indulge. Everyone was so amazing and I had a terrible stomach ache but it was sooo worth it. Thank goodness I do not live by a shop that looks and sells things so tantalizing as these.

PARIS, FRANCE {EIFFEL TOWER}

Ever since I was a child I have seen this pointy metal structure called the Eiffel Tower showcased in books, in painting, on home decor... you can find the symbol on practically anything yet nothing prepared me for what it would be like to see this beautiful monstrosity in real life. In 2009, I headed to Paris to do some photo work and landed upon one of the most photographic cities I have ever been to. Oddly, even so- it is also one of my least favorite cities as well because I found myself surrounded by rude, smelly, judgmental people which greatly dampened the atmosphere. Ok, back to the tower. I will never forget the first time I saw it. I was touring the city with my brother Cake, who was living there at the time studying cooking. He took me there by subway. We came out of the subway station, walked up a flight of stairs until we reached the sun and I turned to my left and stopped dead in my tracks. This was the scene in front of me:

The photo still doesn't do the sight justice but it's the best I could do without bringing each of you there with me.  I've always had some odd fascination with this structure. My living room is covered with Eiffel Tower things. This was pretty darn exciting. I sat there for a long time just staring at it.

As I continued on my adventure in Paris, I would photograph any image I could that allowed me to put the tower somewhere in the background. I have always thought this image to be fun. Somehow I always seem to capture birds flying off of sculptures when I go places and I never even know I did until I get home and look at the photos.

This is my favorite photo that I took of the tower. When I took this I was standing at the top of Notre Dame Cathedral. It took climbing 400 very steep spiral steps to get this image. What I think I love is that unless you look closely at the cars and buses, you could places this photo in practically any time period from when the tower was built. It's ageless. This is another 16x24 inch canvas that hangs on my office wall. It is so beautiful blown up.

And here is one more from the top of Notre Dame but this time you can see a gargoyle off to the side. When I got back from Paris I said it was the first place I have ever been that I didn't feel the need to ever go back to but the more and more I look at my photos, the more I want to go back and take more. If only I could take away my sense of smell while I was there and if people would just be more nice. Another big this was how expensive everything in the city was. It would be a great place to go if you were rich but I wouldn't recommend it to a poor college student.

And then I must include a photo of the tower at night all lit up. When it gets dark the lights on the tower go on which is the yellowish orange color you see but every hour on the hour the tower then also sparkles like crazy for a few minutes. It looks like a tower of glitter and that is the white areas you see around the arches. It is quite a scene. There are huge crowds that gather to watch. It was really hard picking some of my favorite Eiffel Tower photos to post. I have so many more. If you would like to see more, please feel free to contact me and I'd love to send you a link. 

~Kristen~

OAHU {HAWAII}

Continuing on through the islands of Hawaii, we hopped over to Oahu for a few days. Oahu is much more commercialized than Kaua'i was but it was still very beautiful. Our first stop, which everyone must make when they visit this island, was Pearl Harbor. Everyone learns about this tragedy in school but for me at least, I don't think the reality of it really sank in until I went there for myself. As I was standing on the memorial looking down at the ruins of USS Arizona, I was filled with so much emotion and couldn't hold back the tears. I think this in one place that every American especially should make a trip to visit during their life time.

As you look out over the waters while standing at the memorial, the USS Missouri remains parked, which is where the treaty was signed that ended WWII. Above is a photo of this incredible ship. Not many people know this but I have an enormous fear of large ships so for me to handle going to this memorial and being so close to this large vessel without melting down was quiet a feat.

On a sweeter note, we then ventured out to the Dole plantation to learn how pineapples grow.  Wow, I was in for a shocker! I didn't know they grew like this. They are so CUTE! They grow on a tiny little bush close to the ground and it takes three years for a pineapple to finish growing. That explains why they cost so much. Pineapple is one of my favorite fruits. Looking at this photo is making my mouth water. Oh I should mention... finally the sun decided to join us, only two weeks into our adventure. Hooray!

Later that week the winds started to pick up which brought in some incredible waves. We had a lot of of fun sitting on the shore watching the surfers ride the waves. I also am not a huge fan of going in the ocean or of water in general- perhaps I am part cat. So I sad from the sidelines and took my photos.

My littlest brother though thought he was tough enough to beat the waves. See that tall white thing behind him? That is the wave that came crashing down and ate him right up into the ocean just seconds after I took this photograph. My dad had to jump in and get him. He gave the entire family a heart attack, no lie! and was picking sand out of every inch of himself the rest of the week.

This guy however, knew what he was doing. I had a lot of fun photographing him. I submitted this image to Jones Soda and for a brief time it was published on their bottles. The look on his face as he is doing this flip is so awesome. Well there weren't as many crazy adventures on Oahu but we still had fun, got some sun, and ate great food. However, if I ever go back to Hawaii I will make sure that Kaua'i is on my list of stops. That island is unbelievably breathtaking and not so touristy! Highly recommend!