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paris day two

Welcome to day two!  After our delicious Valentine’s meal and a good night’s sleep, we were ready for our second day in Paris.  It was a busy day, and we visited many different places.  First off is the Palace of Versailles.  We got there just as they were opening, so it wasn’t too crowded to start off, but by the time we got inside, it was packed.  Jason rocked the camera on that day–he took more than half of the pictures I’ve posted here.  See if you can guess which ones!

Our next destination was Napoleon’s Tomb at Les Invalides.  For such a small guy, he’s got a pretty spacious resting place.

Next, we went to the Musée du Louvre.  We bought a museum pass, which provides access to more than 60 museums and monuments.  Because the Louvre is huge we decided to pick a few sections to explore from our little map.  Of course, we couldn’t leave before catching a glimpse of the Mona Lisa, and taking a couple quick mug shots in front of it!

These next two were taken at the Musée d’Orsay.  The building used to be a train station and is now the home for many works of impressionist art in Paris.  The second photo below shows a scale model of Paris built beneath a glass floor.

Here is a shot of the famous Moulin Rouge.  Jason and I happened to walk by it after dinner that evening.  The final photo below was taken during our boat tour on the Seine, the river that runs through Paris.  The tour gave us some great views of the city just as it was getting dark.  Stay tuned for photographs from day three!

paris: day one

And the answer is…the Winged Victory of the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France.  We had a wonderful time in the “City of Lights” last weekend.  If you ever get the chance to go there, do it!  It is such a neat place full of history and amazing artwork.  We spent three days there and were able to see quite a bit, but there is still so much more to discover.  The following three shots were taken very early on the morning of our first day in Paris.  We walked through the park in front of the Louvre and came upon the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, the first of Napoleon’s two triumphal arches.  Look at the beautiful shot Jason took of the Louvre with its glass pyramid.  We realized later in the trip how amazing it was that we were able to capture these shots–completely void of people.  Each time we were around this area later on, it was always swarming with visitors.

Just a couple hours later, this is the first view we got of the Eiffel Tower as the sun was coming up.  See that little spot in the sky to the left of the Eiffel Tower’s base?  That is indeed a bird.  I so often wish that I could post larger pictures on my blog for you guys, but this is as big as they get with my blog template .  If you click on the horizontal images you can view them slightly larger.

We walked around the area surrounding the Eiffel Tower.  As I was taking this shot I thought, “hmm, the lucky Parisians on this street get to wake up each morning to this lovely view.”

As we were roaming around town, we came upon the Old Opera House.  We walked around to the side to practice some statue impersonations and to soak up some sun–I know it looks warm and sunny in these pictures, but it was quite windy and chilly.  Later that evening we went out for a special Valentine’s day dinner.  Jason’s favorite part was that they served cheese as its very own course between dinner and dessert.  Photos from day two are coming soon!  Thanks for looking

off to work

In my last post I told you that I would take the camera along on my way to and from work, just to capture some everyday shots.  Jason and I so often pack the camera gear up when we go on trips or to an event, but it’s not often that we just take it along during our normal routine.  Here are the shots I got.  I must say, I was so excited about this little project that I even set the camera out on the table the night before so I wouldn’t forget.  Then, when I stepped out of our apartment the next morning I was greeted by some lovely rain and wind.  Ah well, I decided to make the best of it and took the first shot below from the cover of my umbrella.

Jason and I went on a bit of a trip over the holiday weekend, and we came back with so many photographs that I am excited to share with you all!  Here is the first shot I edited.  Can you guess where we went?  (No spoiling it for the others if we already told you!)  I will be posting a few at a time in the days to come so keep an eye out!

just one for now…

I must confess, it has been a couple days since I picked up my camera.  I’m going to blame it on the yucky weather, but really there is no excuse.  Great photographs do not always come from ideal conditions.  I think a great photographer is someone who can take a seemingly ordinary setting or situation and find the beauty in it.  With that being said, I am going to let my camera be my buddy for the next few days as I take it along with me on my daily routing–bus, work, life after work, etc.  Maybe I can find the beauty in a setting that has become routine.

Here is one photograph for now.  This was taken at the Biebricher Schlosspark, a park that is walking distance from our apartment.  What do you think, color or black and white?

fisheye fun

I borrowed a fisheye lens from my volunteer job for a shoot this last Saturday.  Well, needless to say, we couldn’t help but play with the thing a bit.  It is a very fun lens, and I enjoyed being its temporary owner over the weekend.
Please notice Jason’s ease-of-jumping in the shot below–the ample amount of air, nice form, etc–this was his first, and only, attempt.

I, on the other hand, am apparently meant to keep my two feet firmly planted, because it took four tries to capture my less than stellar jump shot below.

These two amazing portraits were taken in our apartment Friday evening when Tyler and Antje came over for enchiladas.  I think Antje snagged that shot of Tyler.  The lighting in our little kitchen area is horrible, but these were just too funny not to post.  It was actually quite difficult to stay focused while editing these, and I kept laughing to myself randomly–Jason thinks I’m an odd one.

And here’s one last shot from the courtyard as we were walking back inside.  That’s Jason’s beanie in the air.

a familiar face

Allie, a good ol’ Flagstaff friend, came to visit us for the first few days of 2009.  She was officially our very first guest!  Allie and I took German classes together at NAU, and she is currently living in Spain teaching English.  Go check out her blog, here.  Jason took the first shot below while we were enjoying our Brötchen and tea Saturday morning.

Later that same day, Allie and I walked just a few minutes to the Biebrich Schlosspark.  The little pond was frozen, and we admired it from the side.  We walked through the park and then down to the Rhine.

On our way back again we noticed that there were a lot of people playing on the pond and ice skating, so we figured that if they were doing it, then why not give it a try?  Below is Allie standing on the frozen pond, which wasn’t too slippery because of the layer of snow.

And finally, here is a photo of Jason and I at a local Italian restaurant called Vapianos.  We went there for my 23rd birthday, and it was yummy!