new and improved blog!

danielleashley — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:29:44 +0000

hey guys, if you’re reading this right now, then you need to click on the link below to get to our new and improved photo blog. See you there!

http://danielleashley.net/blog/

paris day two

danielleashley — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 21:42:30 +0000

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

danielleashley — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:14:26 +0000

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

danielleashley — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:50:06 +0000

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…

danielleashley — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:26:00 +0000

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

danielleashley — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 12:37:55 +0000

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

danielleashley — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:16:39 +0000

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!

a few more

danielleashley — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:29:17 +0000

I know that the New Year has come and gone, but I still have some Christmas photos to show you–better late than never! Jason snapped this first one as we were driving along taking in the sights (we did stop and get out of the car; not even Jason has that steady a hand). He likes his sunflare shots, and what can I say, he’s darn good at them. The second and third shots were taken while we were walking around in Salzburg, Austria. If you look closely at the yellow building there you will see that it reads “Mozarts Geburtshaus”. Mozart was born here on January 27, 1756. This just goes to show how cool people born in January are

These next three photos were taken at a coffee shop we stopped at on our way to Kufstein. We weren’t in Kufstein yet, but I can’t remember exactly where we were…Tyler, Antje–chime in if you know! If you notice below, Jason managed to get a shot of all four of us! The white and yellow church was right across the street from the coffee shop.

This last shot was actually in Kufstein. Jason took it while we were on our way to this cozy little restaurant for a bowl of the Knoblauchsuppe that Tyler kept raving about. It was very delicious, but that wasn’t the best part. The owner of this restaurant was quite the practical joker. When he brought out Antje’s hot tea, he was holding a decoy teacup and saucer in his other hand and he proceeded to drop this one in her lap, with the most horrified look on his face. Needless to say, the cup was empty and was connected to the saucer with a piece of string. We all laughed hysterically after we realized that Antje was not actually burned by boiling water. In case we didn’t already love the guy, he had another trick up his sleeve. While we were all enjoying our Knoblauchsuppe, our table suddenly lifted up from the ground a few feet. Jason’s first reaction was to push down on it, thinking that it might be tipping over. That night is one I’ll always look back upon with a big smile. All-in-all our time in Bavaria (and Austria) was absolutely wonderful and went by much too quickly, but hopefully we can visit again before too long! Thanks for looking through the last of our Christmas photos!

christmas in bavaria

danielleashley — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:06:56 +0000

Jason and I had such a wonderful time in Aschau, Bavaria. We took so many pictures and I’ve only posted a few of them so far below. I will post the rest of them in a little while. We were able to spend our Christmas holiday with Antje’s amazing family. Her uncle has lived in Bavaria all of his life; he and his family were so hospitable and generous to us. The evening Jason and I arrived we were greeted with hearty hugs and a “Grüß Gott” from each one. The first shot below is of my hubby standing in the beautiful field that was right outside of the apartment we stayed in. Next is the church that Antje’s family went to for the Heiligabend service before we arrived.

On Christmas day we went to a cute restaurant where they had set aside a whole room for our group. Jason and I got to eat the traditional goose meal and it was delicious!

Here is a church that Tyler, Antje, Jason and I walked to from our apartment the day after Christmas. The sunlight was streaming into one of the windows, which created some beautiful lighting.

Finally, here is an amazing shot that Jason took of a beautifully decorated, traditional Bavarian building. We were driving by the building when Tyler asked us if we wanted to take a picture of it. Sadly, I must admit, I dismissed the idea as I couldn’t really envision how I could photograph the building, with all the cars and shadows from the sun behind it. Jason, on the other hand, jumped out of the car and took a few shots. When he came back with this one I was truly amazed. He has such a great eye and our perspectives differ greatly when photographing. It is always good to have my eyes opened by seeing the world through another’s.

sternschnuppenmarkt

danielleashley — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 19:04:31 +0000

Here are a few shots we took at Wiesbaden’s Christmas market, called the Sternschnuppenmarkt (or shooting star market). Christmas markets are full of colorful lights, delicious food and drink, booths filled with awesome Christmas stuff to buy, and tons and tons of people. They usually start at the end of November and finish up on the day before Heiligabend (Christmas Eve for us). At this market, Jason, Antje, Tyler and I enjoyed some Glühwein, bought some awesome Christmas candles, ate crepes with Nutella, and tried to stay as warm as possible. I’m sad that the Christmas markets are over now, but this means that Silvester (New Year’s Eve) is just a couple days away! “Why is New Years Eve called Silvester?”, we asked Antje’s mom the other day. “Warum nennt das Tisch**?”(why is this called a table?) she shrugged and said matter-of-factly, referring to the table we were sitting at. She has a point…

**these may not have been Karola’s exact words, as I think my mind translated it to English before storing it and I had to re-translate to write it here in German