Catching Up

I am slowly getting caught up on my work after being away for a week. I cannot wait to start posting photos from Andrea + Ravi's awesome Trinidad wedding!

While you patiently wait, here is a lovely image from one of the most beautiful places on earth - Tobago. After the weddings, I enjoyed four glorious days on this island swimming with the fishes, eating delicious foods and gaining many new freckles.

Greece Train Holgas

A three hour train ride to places unknown. The sunset and it was dark by the time we arrived.

Lake Prespa, Greece

A winding drive through Greek mountains. One final bend in the road and the lake appears. Lake Prespa: pristine still water, perfect mountain reflections, shared by three countries (Greece, Albania + Macedonia). A kilometre long bridge takes us to an island where we discover a 10th century Basilica, a 16th century Monastery, a group of grazing cows. Perfect bliss that felt like no other place.

Wedding in Kratero, Greece

I was merely a guest at this wedding and it was such a pleasure to be (although I wish that I was the official photog because of all the photo opps!). Friends got married in Kratero, Greece which is a tiny village with a population of 80, situated a kilometre from the Macedonian border. It's surrounded by mountains and not much else. It was a trek to get to the wedding but incredible when we arrived! The groom is Greek-Canadian and his father grew up in Kratero. The bride is German and her parents drove in an RV from Germany for the wedding. There were 230 guests - 50 came from Canada, 50 came from Germany and the rest were local Greeks.

The night before the wedding, some cousins of the Groom went around to all of the houses in the village to officially invite them to the wedding. They were invited and then had to do a shot of some homemade moonshine. The day of the wedding, there was a live band and a flag bearer that picked up the groom and his family. They did some dancing then got the bride and her family. The groom's parents gave her gifts and then everyone (all family/guests) walked through the village to the tiny church near the bottom of a hill. Only about thirty people could fit inside so everyone else filled the street. Afterwards we all walked back up the hill to the square of the village where the tables for the reception was set up. Once everyone was seated, some people in traditional costumes came out with a roasted pig on a plate and they did a dance with ouzo and knives. Then the eating and drinking began.

The wedding was incredible and every few minutes, I would say to Ryan, "can you believe that we are here?! Never again will we experience something like this!" Anyways, I loved it and here are some images from it all. Congratulations Claudia + Tim!!

Here's us!

You really cannot capture the feeling of the reception without the music so here's a little video.

Kratero, Greece

Kratero, Greece. Located a kilometre from Macedonia - as in "just over that mountain". A history that includes being burnt down three times. Chickens roam free, cows are ushered into yards, strangers invite you in for beers.

Life is Great

I saw this lovely scene while visiting near the Sea in England: a retired couple with their dog, enjoying fresh fish + chips and a mini bottle of wine. Love it!

Florina, Greece

A three hour train ride from Thessaloniki took us to the mountains and the lovely town of Florina.

Pretty England

Suffolk is all about thatched cottages, climbing roses and narrow twisting roads.

Abandoned Spaces

An old mill on the Norfolk-Suffolk border bought by two brothers to be converted into a dream home.

Southwold

Southwold is on the North Sea in Suffolk, England. I love the little beach huts that line the shore. While visiting here, I could not help but remember the hilarious sketches with Emily & Florence from Little Britain - "we are ladies".

First Stop: Italy

A few days were spent in Monza, just outside of Milan. Italy is all about: delicious food, stunning cathedrals, narrow cobblestoned roadways.

I love Ontario!

When you live in Ontario, nothing beats spending a weekend in Muskoka. It is so beautiful up there!

Palm Tree Holgas

Happy Monday!

Mexican Holgas :: March 2008

I had such a blast in Mexico touring around with my sister who lives in Mexico City. We traveled around the City, Metepec in the State of Mexico and beautiful Veracruz.

Mexican Holgas [sneak peek]

I am very excited about my Holga results from Mexico. Here is a sneak peek of the first one that caught my eye.

Las Vegas Holgas

Ontario Holgas

Anyone who knows me well knows that the Holga is my camera. I absolutely love to shoot with it, especially in my personal work. Every road trip or vacation that I take, my Holga comes along. I recently got eight rolls of film developed that I had shot on this camera. Some of the film was from the summer so I was excited to see what would come from it! Here are some of my favourites from various trips in the past seven months across Ontario.

Near Grand Bend

Near Grand Bend


Near Terra Cotta


The Badlands


Ferris Provincial Park


Southampton

The Hoover Dam

While recently in Las Vegas we took a little trip over to see the Hoover Dam. It was incredible to see and I had no idea how massive it was. The sun was starting to drop which made it perfect for photography.

Valley of Fire, Nevada

Obviously I love photographing people. I could go on talking about how much I love it. About how satisfying it is when you know that you have captured that one frame that truly emanates the moment that just occurred between the people in the photograph. I truly love it.

In my free time, however, I love photographing places. Particularly barren ones. This past weekend while I was in Las Vegas, we rented a car and headed out of the city to discover some new lands. We came across the Valley of Fire and I fell in love with the landscapes there. It was so beautiful.

And one last one of us.

Mexican Holgas

I absolutely love photographing with my Holga camera. It is so much fun to see what you are going to get from it's plastic lens and constant light leaks. While in Mexico, I toted around my Holga everywhere (often when my digital camera could not come). I am excited to get some big enlargements made of these.

Mexico City (from above!)

Mexico City is a wild city to fly into. The city seems absolutely huge, especially to this little Toronto girl! The airport is located pretty centrally in the city so as you fly in, it feels as though you are actually going to land on the rooftop of someone's house. From the air you can see the mountains that surround Mexico City into it's little valley of civilization.

Despite the massive size of the city and it's population, I did continuously see the same people in different areas of the city while I was there. This just goes to show what a small world we really do live in (or maybe I have a few stalkers that I should be aware of!).

Huatulco, Oaxaca

While I was in Mexico City, my friend Toño and I decided on a whim to fly down to Huatulco, Oaxaca for a few days. Let me tell you, this is one of the most beautiful places that I have ever had the chance to travel to. It is definitely a little known gem of Mexico. The locals are extremely friendly, the food is delicious (especially the cheese!) and the mountains frame coasts of virgin beaches. Never before have I walked such a gorgeous beach without seeing another single soul.

If anyone is planning a destination wedding to Mexico, please consider having it in Huatulco (and hire me as your photographer - I can give you a tour!).

Desierto de los Leones, Mexico City

One day my sister and I hiked three hours up the mountain and through dense forest to arrive at the National Park, Desierto de los Leones. It was incredible when we reached our destination - looking at the environment, you would hardly believe that you were still in the world's second largest populated city. The pine and oak trees reached far into the sky and the air was fresh. At Desierto you can find an 18th-century Monastery. I love old buildings like this - with stone that is falling apart and seemingly abandoned spaces.

The best coffee ever - Café de Olla.

Mexico City

Mexico City is one of my favourite cities to visit. The City is constantly awake and bustling with people. The traffic is endless and the streets wind and bend every which way. At times it is confusing and frustrating, especially when trying to figure out just where you parked your car or what bus you need to take to get to your destination. Nevertheless, it is a beautiful city. When I flew into the City, I was happy to see gorgeous trees adorning periwinkle-coloured flowers. From the airplane, I could see them all over the city. It was much more beautiful than the dirty snowy Toronto that I had just left.

Mexican culture is embraced fully in the city. Arts of all kind are praised - along one of the main avenues, Reforma, there was an exhibition of gorgeous photography as well as a series of benches designed by various Mexican artists (my favourite was the bronze one shaped like a sofa!). Books by Latin American authors are sold on the streets as well as handmade one-of-a-kind art. Each neighbourhood pulses with it's own identity. You turn a corner and suddenly you find yourself in a whole new world.

Two special places that I visited this time around were Xochimilco and Teotihuacan. Xochimilco is located in the south of Mexico City and is a series of canals. Here you rent brightly painted trajineras (boats) and spend the afternoon floating along the canals. Other trajineras pass by holding mariachi bands, marimba players and vendors selling everything from flowers to candy apples to quesadillas.

Teotihuacan is what remains of an ancient city that dates back to about 200 BCE. It contains the Pyramid of the Sun and Moon and is an absolutely incredible site. While I was there, we climbed the Pyramid of the Sun which is the second largest pyramid in the Americas. It was a steep climb but the view from the top was well worth it!

There were a bunch of dolls and toys hanging from these trees. I am not sure why they were there but it was definitely a little creepy!


Yes, those are people on the top of the Pyramid of the Sun!

Mexico, Part 4

When I went to Mexico I took along one of my favourite cameras - my Holga. The Holga is a cheap plastic camera that uses medium format film. It is basically a toy camera and because of this, light leaks in and the photographs are not always sharp. You never know what you are going to get when you shoot with it. Because of all these things, I absolutely love the camera. I love playing with light to get nice flares and I love the softness of the images. Here are some of my favourite that I took while in Mexico.

Mexico, Part 3

For the second weekend that I was in Mexico we did a lot of driving. Since it was a long weekend for Mexico then, my sister and Bencar decided to take an extra day off of work so we had a four-day holiday to the Pacific Coast. A friend named Toño joined us as well. We left Mexico City around 11pm on the Friday night and arrived at the ocean in the state Nayarit at 11am on Saturday. The roads were winding as we drove through the mountains. The landscape was much more lush than the other states that we visited - there were many palms and fruit trees. After such a long night spent in their small Renault Clio, we were all in a daze looking for a hotel to stay at. We found one that was located right on the ocean that had kayaks. That night we went for a paddle at sunset. We then had a beautiful dinner outside at a restaurant in the main square of San Blas. It was fabulous sharing a bottle of wine and watching the people wander about. The next morning we woke up early and kayaked around a long pier to a beach that was barren of any sign of human life.

We then drove to Rincon de Guayabitos which is another town located on the coast except that it was a lot more full of tourists. The ocean was warm and the waves were high so we enjoyed a night there. On the beach you could buy everything from jewellery to inflatable water toys to temporary tattoos.

The next morning we piled in the Clio and drove to the state of Michoacan and it's capital city, Morelia. Michaocan is the state where many of our Monarch butterflies migrate to in September. Morelia is a beautiful city that really shows a footprint of the Spaniard influence in terms of the architecture found there.

Behind Emily and Bencar's place is a beautiful cemetery. One day while I was home, I happened to look out and find a funeral percession.

Emily and I visited the Anthropology Museum in Mexico City. The Museum was incredible and was so big that we did not have time to see it all!

Mexico, Part 2

For the first weekend that I was in Mexico we travelled to two different states: Tlaxcala and Puebla. For each of these states we visited their capitals which are called the same name.

Tlaxcala is the smallest state in Mexico. In the capital we visited the largest market that I have ever been to and ate lots of delicious food that was made before our eyes. We spent the night and ate breakfast the next morning outside at a restaurant in the main square of the town that had a view of the mountains.

We then travelled to some pyramids in the state of Tlaxcala before heading to Puebla. Puebla was a much larger city with all the hustle and bustle that comes with it. There were clowns, people selling hellium balloons and the sun was hot for this pale Canadian skin.

Mexico, Part 1

My sister Emily lives in Mexico City. She moved there six months ago with her boyfriend who is from there. I visited her there for the past two weeks; exploring her new home and culture. Most of my time was spent in the City - in the area called San Mateo where they live, in Santa Fe where they work and along Paseo de la Reforma. The city is bustling with energy and enough cars to take anyone wherever they dream. You risk your life every time you cross the street because stoplights are irrelevant and crosswalks are not apparent. It is a challenge to live there but I can see why she chose it.

I left my digital camera at home for this trip and instead opted to take three different film cameras. It was fun to shoot as I used to and I have been eagerly waiting for the film to develop in order to see what came from my clicking shutter. Of course, I took a ton of photos so bear with me as I narrow it down to post an appropriate number here. For the first batch, here are some photos from around Emily's home in San Mateo.