I used to do this thing called "photography"

Yeah, lately I feel so deprived. Granted, I am doing my photography work related freelance projects but there is something missing in my photographic life. Am I feeling nostalgic for film? Am I missing the sound of the shutter and the film run? I miss the darkroom, that's for sure. I miss the smell of chemicals not washing off my hands. I miss the sound of the running water and those barely luminescent red lights. I feel nostalgia for a time gone by...

This image was taken circa 2004 with my old Nikon 35mm.

Riding About It

Oh hello everyone, I am (finally) here to show you images from my bike ride from Amsterdam to Antwerp. Ok so there are a few things I should mention. I know it is a SUPER late update but this was impossible to avoid. For one, I lost my backpack (promise this story is coming) and inside it was my journal which had detailed documentation of my trip and now I must rely entirely on memory but now the issue I am facing is that as time continues forward, the less accurate my memories become. Secondly, I have been so insanely busy taking care of personal matters that it has left little time to update my blog. Also please check out my new goal, I am ready to repeat this trip and take myself a little further...ok, a lot further than last time.

On the bright side, I got a lot of great shots but I am selfish and I think I will only share a few. I am thinking that I might link up my blog with some sort of photo viewing site so that I can share more pictures (uploading pictures here is a little annoying) and then you can make comments on singular images. Any suggestions of what I can use? In the past I used photobucket but I don't know if there is something out there that is better.

So without any further hold ups, here are my most beloved images with captions:

Day 1: Commencing the journey

Obviously, since I am in another country there are different types of warning signs for cars, pedestrians, and bikes. Now in retrospect, I really wish I had taken the time to photograph each one that I liked but unfortunately I didn't. Between you and me, I really hate looking like such a tourist photographing everything I see! Anyway, the sign that you see on the left is one of my favorites because the man is wearing a hat. I mean, how cute is that? A figure in a sign wearing a hat?! Makes me think of Magritte's Son of Man. At the time that I saw this sign I had no idea what the top part of the sign said until I used my magical language powers to decipher it (ok, ok it was google translator) it reads, "No Admittance". I am not sure if they are talking about people or cars but in any case. I walked on the pathway, innocently, to look at the house that had been converted from an old castle (image #2).

Cool, huh? Cooler still is that it had it's own personal draw bridge not because of a moat but due to the fact that a canal ran behind it and boats have to be able to pass through (image #3). The man in the image is bridge keeper, meaning he had to lift the bridge each time that a boat was trying to get by, the boat pays him €2, and they are able to pass. This man was the first experience I had with a Dutch person that did not speak English. And from what I learned, many people in the countryside don't necessarily speak English unlike the Amsterdamers (as they call themselves). 

These were the first images that I took outside of Amsterdam and I have to admit that the Dutch landscape is quaint and tranquil, just as I always imagined it being. There were plenty of windmills and dairy cows...and endless farm landscapes. For being such a small country it does have a lot of open spaces.

A little bit about American History, New York before being New York was actually New Amsterdam. Why you may ask? Well, the answer is very simple, during the colonization of the United States the Dutch actually had colonies in the present-day New York area. In fact, much of the area stretching from present day New York to Rhode Island was under Dutch control and was initially called New Netherland (Nieuw Nederland in Dutch). Therefore some names in this area, take for instance Harlem, are carbon copy names from Dutch cities that already existed at the time--Harlem was once upon a time spelled Haarlem, until the English took control of the area. Anyway, the following images were taken in an abandon warehouse in Breukelen, pronounced like Brooklyn (Get it? It was Dutch too). I just really like this location...I love the look and feeling of abandonment because in truth, what appears to be abandoned is never truly ignored. Mariana Philosophy 101.

Day 2: Exiting Holland and entering Belgium

As much as I would love to remember the name of this little town, I don't know it. In fact, even if I looked on a map, I probably could not remember the name. Sadly, this is some of the information that I lost along with my journal (don't worry like I said this comes in a later posting). At least I have some images to remember the location.

Don't you just love the bike road? I am in love with Holland's bike roads. 

Near the border with Belgium, there were many strawberry farms near the bike road. I could smell the strong scent of strawberries as I rode along. This was far too tempting and what better reward after riding for many hours than to enjoy the sweet little perfections sold at this particular location, if I am not mistaken is somewhere between Rijsbergen and Zundert.

 

View Larger Map

Anyway, look at the beautiful and perfect little strawberries below that were super cheap (only €2) for a large basket. I had bought a jar of jam but when I arrived into Antwerp, I broke the jar. Sad face. I was going to bring this jar with me back home remember these strawberries and possibly share with my family but I didn't even get to keep it in my possession for a day and I think the most I tasted of it was a tablespoon because I could not bare to throw the whole jar away without trying a little bit.

Crossing the Belgium border...

Day 3: Arriving in Antwerp

We all know how much I love graffiti.

This is the Cathedral of Our Lady

Statue of Barbo in Grote Markt

This is the lovely Ellenita, my sweet friend and penpal. She is the one I am referring to in my past blog Thoughts on a Flight Black version 2.0. This girl is rockin' fun and probably one of the sweetest persons one could ever meet! I miss her so much and I can't wait until she comes to visit me in California. Ellenita, I know you are reading this...see I put this in a blog so now everyone knows you will be here so you better come!!

And so these are the images I have to share of bike trip from Amsterdam to Antwerp (which by the way is spelled Antwerpen in Vlaams aka Flemish in English). I have a gazillion images on my hard drive but if I posted all of them, it would take me hours of storytelling and editing. If I told you how long I have been working on this blog, you wouldn't even believe it and I know it doesn't seem like much. In any case, my time in Belgium was much too short and I am determined to visit again and see more of it. I hear that Gent (Ghent) is amazing and I want to go to Bruxelles (Brussels) to visit the Magritte Museum, and more importantly, I want to see my friend Ellenita again in her element. Maybe by then I will be speaking the secret language Dutch, although you should know that the people of northern Belgium speak Flemish not Dutch as I have been kindly told. Amai!

So what images are in store for us next? Amsterdam and the World Cup Finals. Until next time!

Studio Light Fun

Before my dear friend Naomi left for her "Great Escape" I asked if she planned on selling her studio lights because I was very interested in purchasing them. After having them in my possession for over a month now, I have finally been putting them to good use. I have to admit that although I am a lover of natural light, studio lights open up the opportunity for I-feel-like-doing-photography-but-there-isn't-enough-light photo shoots (haha, were you able to follow that?). And so, I have been photographing many different things at many different times and these are some of the fun projects I have been working on:

Some photos for Imagine All That Vintage:

Now just for fun:

The following two pictures are Yasmin and her Tia (aunt in Spanish) Dana:

Our rendition of "Hear no evil, speak no evil, and see no evil"

The following image is a satirical self-portrait of my opinion of the times we live in. Notice the cell phone, the bad habits (smoking), and the casino coffee mug. The text was added in by my sweet penpal Ellen, who said she would print this out to put in her kitchen.

Riddle: What happens when you put two artists in an art museum?

Answer: You not only spend over four and a half hours in the museum but you also look at, discuss, and create art in the process.
The art museum is the amusement park of artists and yesterday I went to one of my favorite local amusement parks in San Francisco, with my artist friend Justin Buell, the Museum of Modern Art (better known as the SF MoMA). I think I have finally found my art viewing soulmate in California. We had way too much fun and it was wholesome geeky art goodness. These are the images that document our adventure:

La Négresse blonde - Constantin Brancusi

Photographing the shadows of sculptures

Lichtenstein through Lichtenstein

My favorite (newly discovered) art pieces (trust me it was hard to narrow this down):

Ten, A - Richard Tuttle

Untitled - Barry McGee

Museum Views

People

Photos I took of a couple Watching a film:

Watching a film through my hand

Justin

Ghosts of artists

Man mimicking nature

The view from the MoMA

Where's Waldo?

Post museum relaxation at Dolores Park...

But creative minds never stop

Italia: Castelfranco di Sopra, Siena, and Firenze

Ok, so if you think it's bad that I only took a few photos in Amsterdam, you are going to be disappointed with the results in these three beautiful cities. Castelfranco di Sopra was not exactly the village I was staying in while I was in Toscana but it was pretty darn close. I have to say that the countryside in Italy was absolutely relaxing and the village of Castelfranco di Sopra was exactly was I always imagined a tiny Italian village to be like. Thank you to my friend Andrea, who allowed me to stay at his vacation rental there. I loved exploring this provincial landscape and it was a great opportunity for me to speak Italian because no one in this village knew how to speak English (at least who I spoke to). 

Lucky for me, Andrea was my tour guide in Siena and Firenze. In Siena, I learned a little about its history and the famous horse races that take place each summer. When we got there it was night time and I didn't have a tripod :( but I still think you can see the beauty of the architecture of Piazza del Campo. In Firenze (Florence to us in the English speaking world), I visited the Uffizi which has some the most famous Italian Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque pieces. I got to see my favorite paintings, Primavera and The Birth of Venus, from my favorite Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli. I also visited Galleria dell'Accademia where I finally saw the real statue of David by Michelangelo. Yes, Firenze is filled with art! I finally got to see all those infamous works of art that I have learned about in my art history courses.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see everything I wanted to see but I figure it's ok because something tells me that it will certainly not be the last time I am in Toscana. I hope you enjoy the few photos I have of this beautiful region.

I love these random religious figurines located along the road.

An old abandoned elementary school building

Piazza del Campo

Andrea

Firenze

I thought this was so cute and I had to photograph it. It says, "Genio, I really hope that one day I can show you this dedication...and we can laugh about it...together."