Manual Mode

Practice makes...better. I've been taking an online photography class from an amazing photographer, Sheye Rosemeyer, her explore eye candy workshop, and today I finally got around to practicing a little bit. The first week focuses on the equipment--primarily understanding the functions of your camera and using it in manual mode. I have a pretty good understanding of how the camera works, but today was just the second time I've ever used our Canon in manual mode. I normally have it in AV mode (aperture priority). Using the camera in manual mode is actually really easy once you understand what's happening inside that fascinating piece of technology. I love fall, and all the leaves are starting to turn here, so I thought they'd make for good manual mode practice (well, leaves and some flowers too). For these pictures I used either a Canon 50mm f/1.2 lens or a Sigma macro 105mm f/2.8 lens. The course covers photoshop too, but alas, my computer and photoshop don't like each other right now, so I've processed these in Lightroom2. 

Barcelona

We're back from our road trip now, but we had a great time (so did Lois, as you can see from her big smile above). Our last stop was in Barcelona, where we spent 2 full days. We mainly strolled around and at tapas. Here's a peek at Barcelona.

The Sagrada Familia. 

Pretty buildings along La Rambla. 

La Rambla, with its wide pedestrian walkway. 

The narrow, winding streets of the old town (which was my favorite part of Barcelona).

A lot of the bars, cafes, and shops in the old town are itty bitty. 

We saw a handful of Antoni Gaudi buildings. 

The Barcelona harbor. 

One of my favorite parts, La Boqueria, a fantastic food market!

Red figs! I love figs and these looked so pretty that I had to get some. They were delicious. 

Ahh, sangria and tapas! Yum. We ate lots o' tapas. 

And tried some paella. 

Lois tried a few new things too. Barcelona was great, and I hope we get to go back one day and see more. 

Greetings from the Road! France and Spain

Greetings from the road! Our road trip has been a wee bit stressful at times with the little bundle in tow, but still a lot of fun, and daddy's done a great job driving. We started in Marseille and made our way south to Barcelona, where we are now. We explored Marseille, took a Mediterranean Sea voyage, explored Carcassonne, drove through the eastern Pyrenees Mountains, hiked up to Chateau de Peyrepertuse, stayed in a cute little town called Cucugnan, then made our way into Spain and stopped for tapas in Girona, and now we're in Barcelona. Whew, we've done a lot in a week and have one day to go. Here's a bit of what we've been up to so far...

In some places the Mediterranean Sea just looks fake it's so beautiful. We walked along the coast and took in the view. But we needed to refuel and had something sweet on our minds. We bought some very good orange blossom cookies from the bakery below. 

Lois had her first boat ride! (Oh wait, it was her 2nd boat ride!) We cruised along the coast to the calanques. 

Before heading out of town we checked out the local fish market. 

Then we headed to Carcassonne, a really neat medieval fortified town. It was very touristy, but we still enjoyed it. 

Back on the road, we stopped at Chateau de Peyrepertuse, one of the Cathar Castles. We hiked to the top  and took in the beautiful view. Lois had her first real hike, and she was a trooper!

Driving through the Pyrenees was really fun and a little stressful at times, like when we encountered this big truck o' logs. Tiny narrow road, on the side of a mountain--we were just praying for cars not to come, but they did anyway. We had to back up for this truck but we all survived. And we weren't even in the BIG part of the Pyrenees. 

We stayed in a cute little town called Cucugnan. Just look at these pictures! Adorable. Below is sunrise in Cucugnan and the valley just below the town. 

After leaving Cucugnan, we headed for Spain. We stopped in Girona where we had some yummy tapas. 

To be continued, from Barcelona. 

Road Trip

When I haven't been playing with Lois or trying to calm her from her little toddler temper tantrums, I've been looking forward to our upcoming road trip. This Sunday we leave for Marseilles, France where we'll rent a car and drive to Barcelona, Spain over the course of 8 days! Above is the general route we'll take. We've planned a few things and have hotel reservations in a few different cities, but for the most part we're winging it. We'll pick out places to eat, and things to see and do as we go. Hopefully I'll take some good pictures along the way too. Won't you join us? We leave Sunday. Better get packed! (The links below are for the sources of where I found these images.)

Marseilles, France. 

Carcassonne, France. 

The Pyrenees, along France and Spain. 

Barcelona, Spain. 

Around London Town

Oh my, I'm a terrible blogger, letting days and days go by! I've lost my blog mojo lately, which I imagine is not very nice for my friendly readers, now is it? It's not your fault I'm in a blog slump. I haven't been feeling too chatty lately, but I'm usually knee deep in pictures, or get that way once I've been out and about on the town for a few hours. So to keep you entertained until I have something more exciting to share, here's a bit of what I've been up to: strolling around town, walking along the river, and having tea. Sounds nice and looks pretty in pictures too. Oh and I did get a fun new lens, a Diana lens and adaptor to use on our regular camera. It's supposed to give off a soft focus or dreamy effect, and so far it's really fun. The first two pictures are with the Diana lens and the others are with my iPhone.

Walking along the Thames in Richmond. 

Strolling around London, crossing the Westminster Bridge, looking at the London Eye.

On the bridge, in the other direction, Houses of Parliament. 

Oh yes, and I had tea at Haymarket Hotel, which I posted about recently. Unfortunately the conservatory room was unavailable (that's the room my friend recommended, the one she said was like having tea inside an Anthropologie), but it was still great. I've become sort of an afternoon tea junkie.