Amps

Tonight I shot the uber talented sound designer/engineer Jason Hausman, for headshots that will go on his fabulous new website.

In addition to shots of him, I went bananas shooting all the instruments in his shop as well - full on shots and detail (macro) shots - personally my favorite kind of photography!

While I have still got some editing to do, I wanted to post these 2 images of 2 amps that Jason owns.

Argentina Favorites

In earlier blog, I mentioned that to celebrate our 3-year wedding anniversary,
Juan and I hopped on a plane and went off to Argentina for a few days.
I have already posted my ABSOLUTE favorite photos (tango), but here are
a few other neat images I captured while in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

All I can I say is "I WANNA GO BACK!!"

I thought this shot was interesting. There's one uber modern hotel, right
next to - literally - a very very old residential building. I like the modern and
old contrast in this image, as well as the beautiful purple flowers on the tree.
These purple flowers were EVERYWHERE and in full bloom wherever we went.



Juan is standing at a street called Avenida 9 de Julio.
Now I can safely say that I have traveled a good bit, but NEVER had I ever
seen a street that had TWENTY (20) lanes of traffic.

YES, TWENTY!

Juan is standing smack dab in the middle of the twenty lanes of traffic.
Behind him is the obelisk.



While exploring, we made our way to Puerto Madero, which
- if you know Charlotte -
reminded us a lot of the South End District. This place underwent major
renovations back in the 80s, after being abandoned for several decades,
and there are 11 residential buildings, which used to store corn.

This is a very cool bridge in Puerto Madero.



And how could I resist? The rest of these images are from our
trip down to La Boca, where we watched some incredible tango dancing.

Chile Favorites, Part 2

Here are some more of my favorite photos from Chile.

This is a photo of the Pacific Coast - we continue our trip with Sandra and Renee up and down the coast, visiting many small towns,
including another one Pablo Neruda's homes.
These trees are something I've never seen before and seem very specific
to this part of the Chilean coast.
They're almost like perfectly drawn swirls and circles that one sees in graphic design work.




As we continue down the coast, we found ourselves at Quintay, which is a small
village that lived off whaling. The kind where sailors caught whales,
killed them, processed them and sold much of their parts.
Fortunately, just a few decades years ago, whaling was banned and
this place became a museum, with photos throughout the area, showing
images of what this whaling plant used to look like in the 1800 and 1900s.







I caught this awesome blue door on our way out, after having
explored the Quintay whaling museum.



This colorful convenience store advertised french fries and rotisserie chicken



One of the great things about visiting Chile (the Southern Hemisphere, for that matter)
is that we went during our winter, which is their summer.
That means that the sun didn't set until around 9pm, so we maximized
daylight hours down to the very last minute.
This is a sunset photographed from Sandra's house.
What amazing rich golden yellows and reds.



Once back in Chile (after our Argentina getaway), we celebrated
Javiera - Sandra's youngest daughter's First Communion.
Sandra hired a chef to cook some incredible meat, and with
many family members, we celebrated Javiera's special day.

Chile Favorites, Part 1

I am finally ready to share my favorite photos from our trip to Chile!


This is where it all began, waiting at the Charlotte Douglas International
Airport, for what would be a Charlotte - Dallas and Dallas-Santiago de Chile
trip. It was an overnight trip, thankfully, which meant we got *some* sleep
on the flight. We left Charlotte at 3pm on a Friday and arrived
at Santiago de Chile on Saturday morning, 9am.


This is Herman, my brother-in-law, explaining the exchange rate
for Chilean Pesos versus American Dollars. I did my share of asking
Herman "y cuanto es esto en dolares" - so much so that he
actually had a dream in Chile where I was asking him the
same thing "so how much is this in US dollars?"!



After we arrived at Sandra's house, and semi-unpacked our stuff,
it was already time for lunch, so off we went to a very
cool sushi place. I shot the table while we
were waiting for food.


This is La Moneda, the Chilean equivalent the White House.


I love the simplicity of this photograph.
We walked around Santiago one day and walked into one
of several churches. This particular church had a courtyard and
this nice arrangement of plants.
I get a sense of peace while looking at this image.
It's very Zen.


Now this is one very cool leather couch. A very cool RED leather couch.
I shot this in what used to be a train station, and has now been
converted into an art gallery space and reception hall.



This is Bella Vista, a section of Santiago de Chile that is very artsy.
There are a large number of walls that are painted as the one below.
In this district is one of the many homes of the amazing poet Pablo Neruda.


Herman's guidebook for Chile.

Ah yes. Sandra and Renee took us to the Chilean coast, where
we visited Valparaiso and Vina del Mar.
All day - we drove up and down the coast - and stopped for lunch
at this restaurant that's been in business since 1968.
They served some of THE BEST empanadas I have ever had.



Did I mention they were HUGE?



So there you go. Part 1 of my Chile trip highlights.
Hope you have enjoyed reading and seeing these images as
much as I have putting this entry together!

Sandra's House

In Chile, we stayed with cousin Sandra and her two daughters Javiera and Francisca.

One of the first things that caught my eye at Sandra's house was this boogie board, which sat next to the pool. I took a ton of different angles of this board, and here I posted my favorite.


This is a bowl filled with blue pebbles - this bowl sits on the outside dining room table. I love the texture and holes in this bowl, the combination of the yellow table cloth with the bowl's pattern and how shinny the pebbles appear.

Chile Abstract

here's another cool shot from our Chile trip.
for as long as i can remember, I have always been drawn to curves of all sorts,
all places and of all sizes.
on our first day - our first lunch, actually, in Chile, was at a cool sushi restaurant.
this was the floor decor, which i thought was pretty neat - simple yet telling.
i love the combination of the lines, the scratches on the wooden floor, the nice curve
the concrete makes, along with the contrasting white and the small rocks
inside this circle.
it's fun to see what you can discover when you look down :)

Abstract

here's an abstract shot i recently took. see if you can figure out what it is.

PDN in NYC!

Talk about C-R-A-Z-Y!

I just spent the last 22 hours in one of my favorite cities in the world,
New York City!
I flew up for the last day of the 25th Annual Photo District News Expo, which took place at the Jacob Javits Center. There were hundreds of vendors, from the Canon and Nikon killer booths to the album and printing and binding companies, to world-renowned photographers giving presentations about their work and technique, to web hosting companies and SO much more!

I went in part because several album vendors I've been researching had booths up there, so it was great to get to touch and feel some books and ask the vendors a million and one questions. It was also great to go to an expo in the industry in which I want to grow my business.
I also went because, well, I love New York and I'll take any opportunity I can to go there!
I brought back a flood more of information and have plenty more homework to do on my end!

Here are 2 quick shots i took at the expo.



this is the Canon presentation area, and as I walked into the expo, they were demonstrating the new 5D, which not only do still digital images, it also does video at 1080i and allows for still frames to be taken as well. A 5D that does film AND video. Freakin' incredible. I think it's safe to say that all watching this demo, yours truly included, were drooling over this new 5D.

this guy is the awesome Jerry Ghionis, an Australian wedding photographer

At the end of the expo, my heart was set on doing some vintage
shopping in the Greenwich Village.
Generally, I rock with and have a good sense of direction, yet, somehow, this sense of direction disappears when I'm in Manhattan. So i walked in the rain (drizzle - it wasn't too terrible), and asked directions to make sure i was heading in the right direction. I pretty much wasn't :)

I hit a drug store to take some shelter from the rain, and asked a group of NYU students where the Greenwhich Village was, and since they happened to be headed in that direction,
they let me tag along for several blocks until I was in the right neighborhood.

After we split, i happened to walk by a church and saw a group of gospel singers moving, clapping and a crowd standing in the pews......so I have to say that i have ALWAYS wanted to see gospel singers perform in person and here was my invitation!!!

I asked one of the people by the door if i could come in for a few minutes and i ended up staying for nearly an hour. The Middle Collegiate Church was having their Gospel Choir Festival and i caught the last 2 groups singing, and i was moved to tears. Literally.

The music, the signing, the people standing, lifting their hands, shouting out "Amen!" and words of encouragement - this environment enveloped me and moved me. It was AMAZING.

Here's what i saw from where I sat - the very last pew of the church
(this was the last song, where all the choirs sang as one):


I managed to get my camera out and gather up enough courage to walk up (ALL the way from the back of the church) to the front, right to where the choir was singing, and took this shot.
I wish i knew her name. She was INCREDIBLE.



The entire choir - ALL of the choirs - were absolutely amazing.
I only hope to have another chance soon to be witness to this once more.

After some shopping (I got some kick-ass clothes!),
I headed back to the bus station on 42nd to catch a bus to NJ,
where I spent the night with some friends.

Here's a cool work of art in the station:


It was pouring at this time, but i still decided i had to take some shots of a rainy 42nd Ave,
so I grabbed these shots, while constantly wiping my camera and lens dry :)



And that, my friends, was my 22-hr trip to the big apple.

I LOVE NEW YORK!

Details

hi there!

here are some detail minis i took at the David Williams seminar in Raleigh a few weeks ago.

Juan and his GOLDEN shoes

My husband, Juan, has an awesome sense of style.

Here we have his latest shoe purchase, one of many eclectic pairs he has owned.

Let me tell you that this pair is the craziest, most unique i've seen him wear.

They are GOLDEN Puma shoes and I must admit he looks damn good wearing them!!!

Christmas in July!!!

It's here! It's here!
My super wide 16-35mm f/2.8 lens is here!!!!
I've been savoring this moment and waiting for this moment for quite some time!!!!
Since going full frame to a 5D several few months ago,
I was itching for a wide lens that will be great to travel with, shoot weddings,
food, abstracts, people......pretty much anything, really :)
What a beautiful beautiful lens!
I will put it to good use right away!!!
(can you tell that I am THRILLED?!!!!!)

and how could i resist a self portrait...........

Take My Breath Away

I could not believe my eyes when I saw this beautiful sight - after lunch in the entry just before this blog - i happened to press the wrong floor to go down to the lobby and I literally lost my breath when facing this beautiful staircase with amazing dim lighting.

more posting hopefully soon!

-Catalina

Italy, part due

some images of Lovere and the surrounding area....

Volpi is my dad's cousin's clothing store.

 

this is Paola, my dad's cousin's daughter - i think she is the 4th generation working at Volpi and selling fabulous, high-end clothing

downtown Lovere

and now for some abstract and different images......Lovere and nearby cities....

that is all for now. hopefully more tomorrow evening.

enjoy! let me hear from you! comment! share!

-Catalina