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May 6th, 2015
After completing some last minute details, Karen and I departed Pittsburgh midday, heading towards Columbus, OH. When realizing that our cross into West Virginia was our first state line (of many to come!), we stopped at the West Virginia Welcome Center.
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This past weekend was the delightful combination of Strasbourg, the Forêt Noire, Germany, and a tour of a family run vinyard. These excursions are built into my program, and they're always quite enjoyable.
Alsace is a small region of france, but it is densely populated. Throughout history, there have been wars, political decisions, and other such factors that have effected the owning country of the region. It used to be German for many years, then French again, then German again, then French. It's all quite complicated. Because of this, the people of Alsace speak Alsatian and French.
Strasbourg is the home of many European institutions. The Council of Europe, including the European Court of Human Rights, meets here, in the heart of Europe. The quiet city centre is a UNESCO World Heritage site, but that's almost old news in Europe. It almost seems that anything worth its salt is a UNESCO World Heritage site in Europe these days.
The streets of Petit France, their most touristy quarter, were beautiful.
After a particularly lovely train ride (I must admit that there isn't a better way to travel than by train), we arrived in Strasbourg for the duration of Saturday. We ate a dish of the region, a creamy chicken dish with noodles, which ended up being like my Mom's cream dried beef on toast but with chicken instead. A little bit of home in Strasbourg
Notre Dame there was beautiful, too. I've come to find that Europe has a plethora of stunning cathedrals. So no big deal, right? (Actually, it's still a pretty big deal.)
Hey, thanks, pigeon, for hopping in the photo
I love the canals of the cities I've been fortunate enough to visit. They're so calm and romantic. This canal had locks. Ohhhh, fancy.
After our stay in Strasbourg, we traveled to Fribourg, Allemagne (Germany). We didn't have too much time in this small town, and most of the shops, museums, etc. were closed cause it was Sunday morning. We ended up getting cheap and delicious coffee and paired it with apfle strodel. (I have no idea how to spell those in German.. Looking for a little help on that one.)
The square was pale, lovely, and so calm. What a great little introduction to the day.
The Münster Cathedral had services since we were there Sunday morning. Some of the group went into the church, but I felt like I couldn't just pop in for 6 minutes or so.
They used to pattern the sidewalks based on what the shops would sell. So you can see that this shop sold shoes (and still does!). It was used in large part to assist the public since most of them couldn't read.
And then we traveled to the Black Forest and Lake Titisee. That'll be up on the blog next!
Thanks for stopping by :)
Due to an unfortunate lack of internet, my blog posts have been sporadic this past week -- though much has happened!
Monday and Tuesday were filled with classes as per usual, so I didn't make it to a museum either day. (But I did have my first falafel!)
Wednesday offered me the opportunity to go to the Petit Palais, one of Paris' free museums. The museum was originally built to display the works of art for the World's Fair at the turn of the century. It was supposed to be demolished after the event, but it ended up staying (just like its nearby buddy, the Eiffel Tower). It sits across from the Grand Palais, one of the museums on the agenda for this week!
My museum buddy, Rachel, and I will be doing a presentation inside the Petit Palais this upcoming month. It was quite a delightful trip to get close to the pieces we've been studying in class. What a GREAT place to be taking an art history class. 
Keep in mind that they were planning on tearing this down. I'm thrilled that France has a tendancy to keep this "impermanent" structures.
Later this week, in an attempt to find the Youth Events in Paris Office (you'll discover why I was there this weekend!!!!), my friend and I happened upon this beauty. We ended up having to scurry away, but to think... I just ran into the Arc de Triomphe while running errands. Ridiculous.
One of the highlights of this week was the delightful conversation, drink, and food (of course... we are in Paris!) I got to enjoy with my former boss and lifetime friend (but actually, this gentleman visited me in the hospital when I was born). As it turns out, he's been at nearly every big Harley family event since the early 90s. I was thrilled when he told me that he was taking his wife to Paris as a birthday present. Not only that, they decided to spend two evenings with me -- precious time in Paris. It ended up being one of my favorite nights in Paris thus far. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Gatti, for the excellent conversation and company!
Friday! My routine for Fridays appears to be the most delightful combination of friendship, art, and school. My friend, Rachel, loves art, so we decided that on Fridays we'll head to the art museums (since they're free to residents of the EU who are students between the ages of 18-25). Afterwards, we'll go to cafes, discuss the art, then head to our Sorbonne classes. This is EXACTLY how I had hoped I would do Paris.
Today, Rachel helped me (thank you thank you thank you) do a money order in France. For those of you who have done a money order in America, you have probably tried to avoid money orders since. Well, my helpful father sent me a money order since there was a problem with my card here in France. Rachel helped me navigate the French money order process all before noon.
Afterwards, we went to the Rodin Museum and garden. Of course the Rodin sculptures are sitting outside, through the rain, snow, leathers, cold, etc. Theses masterpieces are enduring weather. Not only is that impressive -- that's daring!!
It was the perfect day for a jaunt in the gardens and a quick (and surprisingly cheap) lunch at the Rodin Cafe. From there, we went to our Sorbonne classes. Rachel's started an hour before mine, so I wandered through the Montparnasse Cemetery. Similar to the Montmartre Cemetery that I visited a few days ago, the Montparnasse Cemetery is old, grand, and calming.
It really felt more like a park than an old cemetery. Birds were chirping; people were strolling. There are even seats for reflection and judging on the activities of some visitors -- reading!
In some sort of reverse order, now I'll explain my Thursday!
The day started with class in the Pantheon. We learned about the decorations both built into the building and attached via canvas and sculpture. Unfortunately, the class ended (bummer), but it's just the beginning of what I am to expect from my 19th Century Art: Impressionism and Post-Impressionism course. We'll spend every Thursday in a museum, monument, or significant artistic structure.
Later that day, I had my first Sorbonne class! It was quite nerve raking considering there are 12 different nationalities in my class (including my professor's). I'm the only native English speaker! Yikes. It's fast paced and interesting. I'm hoping through 15 hours a week that I will drastically improve my French.
I quickly ran from La Sorbonne to my program, CEA, for a France v. Espana futbol match. They gave us free tickets, painted our faces, and sent us on our way to cheer on the French! I have several photos from the event, but most are film, so you might have to wait for those!!
Above: The Pantheon -- It's currently under construction
Tomorrow, we'll travel on a mystery excursion. I'll let you know through photographs where I've ended up!!
Until then, love always!!
Sunday included a lazy morning of catching up on sleep, but Sunday afternoon was jam packed with a trip to Montmartre. One of my new friends lives near Sacre Coeur, so we met outside of the metro stop and walked toward the "Butte" of Montmartre (also known as the hill). Since she doesn't have a French cell phone, we have to coordinate our schedules an hour or so beforehand. It's been quite the adjustment from the constant use of your cell phone to basically not at all. Wifi here isn't as readily available as in America and with the price of data here, you'd best believe we're not on our iPhones without it. So, happily, I find that I'm rarely on my phone at all. It's absolutely lovely. Except when you're trying to meet up with people. If there are changes to a plan, it becomes increasingly difficult. Other than that, being without a cell phone has been entirely lovely. I'd recommend it to anyone and everyone.
On our way to Sacre Coeur, we happened upon the Montmartre Cemetery and decided to explore it. The graves are beautifully ornate and impressively old. We stroll along, admiring the markers.
It even had a guard cat!! (If I fits, I sits.) I wanted to pet it, but it looked so content in the planter.
Okay, question!! Dear reader, what metal turns pale blue (see above image)? It was stunning! This robin's egg blue massive grave popping out from the muted natural tones around it. So what kind of metal is it??
Most had stained glass in them. The colors were so spectacular and so bright. This one shown onto the walkway and caught my eye there. Truly stunning.
We weren't the only people in the famous cemetery, but it was quiet. Everyone was respectful, and it had a feel more like a park than a cemetery.
I guess someone had "Regrets" screwed into their marble slab. That can't be good.
After cafes at a cafe, we wandered up to the top of Montmartre's famous hill. It's a bit of a hike but so worth it.
Once we got to Sacre Coeur, the sky had cleared up to present us the grand white church with a blue backdrop. Sacre Coeur is such an impressive building, especially considering its location atop the tallest hill in Paris.
After that, we took the metro to the Champs de Mars to catch up with some friends and a Youth Event in Paris. We ended up being unable to find the Youth Event, but we found our friends. We ate cheese and baguettes, drank wine, took Polaroids, talked about art, film, and love under the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. A magnificent Sunday picnic.
I also had the pleasure of being there for two of our friends' first Eiffel Tower light show. They were quite thrilled! Every night, the Tower puts on a show, but we think the intern was running the lights tonight. They were sporadic, and quite frankly, disappointing. Well, we have four months to see a better show :)
Well, there you have a little insight to the Sunday craziness! Wishing you all the best, as always. Thanks for stopping by!
Bonne nuit from Paris!
While I was shooting the Zolocsik/Boring Wedding, there was a delightful portion of downtime before the bridal party and Bride's family departed for the church. During this time, I was reviewing some of the photos already taken and preparing for the busy afternoon and evening. This was when Mr. Zolocsik approached me with this little 5x7 print. He had me hold it as he said:
"We're going to finish that ride."
He proceeded to tell me about baby Priscilla and the circumstances of this particular photograph. But I found their last ride to be such a heart warming and moving adventure. Maybe it's just because I am such a sap for father/daughter things, but I loved this.
When he put her in the car on her wedding day, it was one of those instances when I knew just how fortunate I am to be able to photograph these moments.
The beautiful bride and her loving father's reflection in the car they've been speeding around in for decades
My sweet and stunning roommate Emmiley let me photograph her, and not only does she make a mean pizza quesadilla, but she is also an amazing model! Without a doubt and limited instruction, she knew how to work a camera. I'm so grateful to have people in my life that continue to support me and my photography -- Thank you, Emmiley!!
Lately, my courses have been encouraging me to experiment with color film photography. It's been incredibly fun, but I've had mixed results. I love the look, the feel, and the abilities of film. It has a realness to it that digital just can't quite match. These images are scanned negatives that I photographed for a monochromatic assignment in my color photography course. Huge thank you to my roommate for being my model!!
The Community Facilitators (basically RAs) of Point Park University needed new portraits for a recent event held on campus. I was thrilled to take the 13 portraits that were needed, and I got to utilize side, studio lighting. Look at these young (and responsible) studs!
As you may know, I am currently enrolled at Point Park University, majoring in Photography with minors in Entrepreneurship and French Studies. Sometimes, my courses ask that we publish our work on our blogs or websites to keep the online world in the know with what we're up to. I've been doing a lot of my recent work and projects in the darkroom using film supplies, but those projects aren't quite ready to see the world yet! So I'll entertain you with some of the digital images I've been grabbing this semester thus far! Some of the projects I'm working on can't be seen yet (they're a secret!) so be sure to stay tuned for updates! Thanks for stopping by the blog as always!! :)
Oh, yeah, did I mention that it's been a chilly winter thus far?? (But I've been loving it!)
This past week, I got to welcome home my new camera. When it arrived, it felt like all the Christmases combined. I almost cried when I opened it. You know why? Because it was a tangible item that represented my dream. This whole website is dedicated to my dream of doing portrait photography, so of course, you understand this! And not only is it a beautiful machine, but it takes wonderful pictures! Before I bore you with the details of the camera, my love for it, and how lucky I am to have it, I figure I'll just show you some of the pictures I have taken the past few days!
As the academic year winds down, I'm excited for the summer. But I have to reflect on the semester! I've created a gallery that has some of my favorite images from this semester.
Of all the photo walks I went on, the one with Lydia was by far the best 15 minutes. She's from California and has rarely experienced snow. She was so happy to experience to fluffy white stuff, and I loved the images I got out of that short little session!
To demonstrate light, I pointed to the sky. For me, this photo showed a continuous reaching to the sky as the skyscrapers disappeared into the white sky. This is the PNC building with a large living wall.
The next photo (with the leaf and the red door) was done for a color assignment. I was proud of the composition and use of color. It was unexpected. Normally, green leaves are paired with more green. The red was unexpected and exciting.
In the alley way, we checked out the rarely visited street. I thought it was interesting to see the boarded up windows with light reflecting on them. If they were open, they would've been able to enjoy the sunshine. I also found it interesting that windows were built into the building, implying that the alley way wasn't always so dark and gloomy.
The Roberto Celemente Bridge is one of my favorites in Pittsburgh. Plus, the view from it is fantastic. I used the techniques we learned in class to do this panorama. Since I moved to Pittsburgh, I have fallen in love with the skyline (in part because my home is a part of it!), so any representation of the Pittsburgh skyline to me brings me happiness!
One of the cool statues I've seen in the many museums in Pittsburgh. A very triumph calvary man and his horse enjoying the comfort of a museum!
Emma is one of those incredible people that I've met here at Point Park! She used to dance (and from what I can tell, quite well) and is also one of those very kind people. She is my neighbor and is more flexible than most people I know! I've really enjoyed the composition of this photo and how easy she makes it look. Despite the impressive flexibility, I am always looking at the lines in her face. It seems to be a very classic look in my opinion.
Ahhh, multiple exposures! I enjoyed the assignment. It wasn't something that I immediately thought of while photographing, but it turn out to be an interesting concept.
Panoramas were especially exciting for me, and I enjoyed extending the scene. The day I took this, it was quite chilly, but it was nice to photograph in nature (for a change!).
Overall, I was able to enjoy most of the assignments we had this semester. It was nice to experiment with a variety of styles and techniques!