I’m a lucky girl; I have a pretty cool day job. When they’re not making me work for my money, I get the opportunity to accrue travel miles. Imagine my delight when I found out I was Argentina-bound. As The Hubbz’ new t-shirt says ‘Buenos F*ckn Aires’. Yeah, baby!
I have often dreamt of visiting this city and getting lost in its architectural beauty. The dream didn’t include spending hours upon hours locked up in a basement attending a conference, but hey. I’m a clever girl, I found ways to sneak away and play a little.
As I share some of the pictures with you, let me tell you my impressions of Buenos Aires. The layout and architecture reminded me of 2 of my favorite European cities: Madrid and Paris. It especially reminded me of Paris, buildings so ornate and fancy looking. Incredibly wide thoroughfares dissected by tiny-cobbled streets. Plazas at every turn. Locals casually, yet elegantly clad.
I think I’ve mentioned my love of Paris, well Buenos Aires felt to me much the same, but better because I was surrounded by fellow Spanish speakers. There is just something that makes my heart sing when I’m surrounded by Latinos. The guys were GORGEOUS, there are some seriously good genes running through those veins. I hadn’t even made it out of the airport before I was texting my single friends to book their next vacation to Bs. As. Seriously. It didn’t matter what age they were, young teens to old men in their 70s, they looked GOOD! Then they start talking and swoon over their accent. Sigh.
I have often heard that Argentines are stuck up, as a matter of fact, they’re referred to as the French of South America. I’m here to tell you that I didn’t have an unpleasant exchange with a single person in Paris or in Buenos Aires. There was a dismissive waiter at the first cafe I stopped at for lunch, but even the local sitting next to me found him to be a pill. It really was no biggie, though. OK, I tend to limit my advice tidbits to the kitchen, but let me share this little travel nugget: when you go to another country, think of it as going to someone else’s home.
My new bestie!
If you invited yourself to someone’s home, you would go out of your way to be gracious, unimposing and to appreciate their customs and traditions, even if they didn’t resonate with yours. You would respect their space and find enjoyment in their way of living. It’s the same with travel, once you let go of the mentality of the way things are supposed to be, which is probably based on American standards, and open up to the way things are in this new, undiscovered place, I promise you the locals will welcome you with open arms and hearts and your visit will be unforgettable. Trust me on that.
Anyway, no more talking or typing, for more shots, follow this link. It will take you directly to the photostream. It seemed every time I spoke to an Argentinean and thanked them for their help, they had this little reply which I need to commit to memory:
Me: Muchas gracias (thanks so much)
Them: No, por favor! (no, please!)
As if to say ‘it was MY pleasure to help you’, ‘really, don’t mention it’. I will take that with me and make it a part of my repertoire.
Still crying for more Argentina,
Anamaris
No stories, just pictures. Go!
View from the tram.
Mounted Police Superstar.
Bridge.
Cherry Blossoms.
Vista House.
Rainy day @ the Columbia Gorge.
Little fall.
Big fall.
There’s more, you didn’t think I would only take 6 pictures, did ya? Go to the Flickr stream, here.
See ya!
Anamaris
I told you there would be an opportunity for you to play along in the Marx Foods challenge. It’s about that time, my friends. Voting time. Go check out all the incredible entries for the Ridiculously Delicious Challenge, there’s some really good stuff there. Then pick a recipe and vote for it. 15 participants will move on to the next round. Hurry, go vote!
aaaaaaaand…, it’s Wednesday! That means I have an entry for Shutterboo’s photo challenge. The theme this week was Large. What do you think? Go here to see this week’s submission.
There were rides and games.
Largely yours,
Anamaris
PS: Don’t forget to vote!
Wordless Wednesday. Sorta.
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For the final shot, click here.
Anamaris
It is time for the Wednesday shot. The shot I submit to Shutterboo’s Wednesday Photo Challenge. I’ve been looking forward to Wednesdays this year. Well, I guess it isn’t Wednesday per se, just what it means. It means a new theme for the week, another chance to take my little cam out and shoot things. And since I’ve been taking photography classes, I’ve been working on using the manual settings on my camera. And that’s really exciting. It is also terrifying. Which brings me to this week’s theme: FEAR.
One of the reasons I didn’t try harder with manual settings was fear. Fear of missing the shot, of ending up with a blurry shot. Fear of not having a second chance. Fear of failure. I still feel it; every time I press the shutter button. Every time I look at the shot on my camera’s 2-inch display. Every time I hook the camera to my desktop. Every time I wait for the shots to upload.
On our trip to Fredericksburg (post to come), I told myself I wouldn’t shoot in anything other than manual, and so I did. Not all shots were winners, but I didn’t do too badly. FYI–These shots have not been enhanced to protect the integrity of my progress (except for cropping, in some cases).
Here are a few of the shots…, but, you know the drill.
For the winning shot, you gotta go to the photo challenge page here or you can go to the Flickr photostream with the rest of the participants here. Also, you should totally check out Brooke’s blog, Shutterboo and sign up for the challenge. It’s a lot of fun!
Come back next week, I wonder what the theme will be…
Click, click, clickingly yours,
Anamaris
Hello there! Guess who’s playing hooky? Yep, that’s right. The Hubbz, the pup and I are taking a few days off and enjoy the Texas hill country. Unfortunately, things were so hectic at work the days leading up to our break, that I never got around to writing a post. Sorry.
Not all is lost. If you follow me on Twitter, I’ll be sharing the sights and tastes throughout the day. You can find me @chefityourself or just click any of the Tweet links on the sidebar.
PS: I’ll be hitting as many vineyards as humanly and humanely possible.
Relaxingly yours,
Anamaris
Let me start off by saying, I don’t know the answer to that question. I know nothing, or rather, I understand nothing when it comes to camera functions. I don’t really know how the camera does the things it does or how, as the camera operator, you make the camera do certain things. OK, I may be exaggerating a bit, but not much. I understand what the camera does: it controls light and speed to create an image. But I don’t know how that happens inside the shell of my Sony Cybershot. I know what terms like aperture, shutter speed, DOF (depth of field) and macro mean, but I can’t really say I have much experience in manually making these things work for me. I can’t say I’ve had much success with it either.
A few years ago, I attempted a photography class, one of those offered by a local company that specializes in leisure classes for adults. I went to class for 5 weeks, at the time I was using a manual camera. I shot picture after picture trying to utilize the manual settings and was dismayed when I saw the results. Lots and lots of blur and things out of focus; a tantrum ensued and I didn’t make it to the last class, the one when we would have to ‘show’ our work. And, I quit trying to use the manual settings and continued taking pictures I was happy with, and even proud of, using my camera’s auto function. But I still longed for the ability to do more with my camera. The funny thing is, I held myself back. I cheated myself out of the joy of learning because of my fear of failure. Ain’t hindsight just grand?!
So, this year I decided to sign up for another class and I vowed to stick to it no matter what. The first class was… overwhelming. Lots of talk about mechanics and technical stuff. One thing I did learn was that my lighting sucks hard, so over the next few weeks I’ll be working on that. The second class was much better, still lots to do with the ‘how things work’, but more having to do with how your camera works. I did find it necessary to ask the instructor a typical Anamaris question. Is there a magic setting one can use to take foolproof pictures? I’m sure you know the answer to that one. That’s a big NOPE! I could feel the darn butterflies begin to fly around my stomach and I could see and hear the evil fairy on my shoulder taunting me with ‘nah nah na na’. That bastid!
This past Saturday I took heed of my instructor’s advice, threw caution to the 45-degree wind and started fidgeting around with my manual controls and shooting picture after jittery picture. No manual shots allowed. I was very excited about some of the shots, then I got home to see this.
and this…
Believe me when I say, that is not what my myopic eyes saw when I shot the pictures. Not all was lost, though. I did manage to make some shots work. Mind you, I intentionally haven’t enhanced any of these.
and this
I was still disappointed, but also pleasantly surprised. I have to say digital is a godsend and I will probably never shoot with a manual camera until I’m close to perfect using a digital camera. Sunday I went to a place called Forbidden Gardens here in Houston. Mark, our instructor, had mentioned this place will be closing their doors permanently and that there might be an opportunity for some interesting shots. Off to see the warriors I went.
And you know what? I scored! A few times. Still miles of room for improvement, but…, tell me what YOU think.
The theme for Shutterboo’s challenge was repetition this week, here are 2 of my runner ups.
this too.
But, I won’t show you my final pick. For that one, you’ll have to go to my photo challenge page, or to Shutterboo’s flicker stream. You can also see a few other shots I took those 2 days, here.
I wonder what next week’s theme will be.
Manually yours, (does that sound dirty?)
Anamaris
Here it is, another Wednesday, another shot. If you’re following my photo challenge, you’ll remember that all the shots for Shutterboo’s challenge are here.
This week was all about color. Here’s a tease, but to see the shot I submitted, you’ll have to go here or here.
See ya next time!
Anamaris
There’s a picture challenge shot!!! This isn’t really a post, just a teaser. Go see my shots AND don’t forget to see all the shots from all the participants here. You should really join us, really.
This week it was all about CONTROL, you know, the kind that makes you go check out the shots. Go.
In my head I’m actually saying ‘pictcha time’, it sounds funny in my head, it probably makes no sense to you. And you’re probably wondering why I’m rambling in a nonsensical manner and why don’t I just get to it. So I will. Except, you know the rules, you have to go over there. You know where. To the other page where the pictured things happen.
You can see my shot here, but you should totally check out the work of the rest of the group here.
This a weekly challenge, lots of pretty pictures.
Anamaris