real estate photography

Shooting real estate photography is fun and different.Usually viewers look at pictures to understand what photographers see, but spending time with a nice realtor last week, I learnt that I need to see from realtors’ perspective and highlight the best of the houses.

pastificio pozzo del Re

Angel is working on a bunch of  beautiful pasta; not cooking or eating them, but shooting them. The rainbow colors are actually created by natural ingredients like spinach, beet, tomato, carrot etc. They are amazing!

thursday afternoon

Angel is playing around at home to get inspiration and idea for a submission

summer 2011

Before uploading the wedding pictures that I have been working on in these couple weeks, I need to upload this image that I took from … Korea!!! just kidding!!! from Nose Creek Park in  Airdrie. I just feel like half of the summer is gone already, but I have not enjoyed the sun enough!!!

charity ck

A lovely Saturday with a very energetic girl

atomium

Atomium is a giant iron atom. It was the centrepiece of the Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles in 1958. It has nine spheres, and six of them are used for exhibitions, restaurant, kid’s program and events. The height of the whole thing is 102 m. It is an awesome art piece. Too bad that I couldn’t get a nice front shot of the iron atom due to the direction of the sunlight; so i ran to the back, and I got this nice shot of atomium with a nice sky  and “seeable” Belgian flag!

mini-europe

Mini-Europe is a park that shows all the major sights of Europe. The models are built to a scale of 1 to 25. Left image shows the Museum of Brussels in Grand’ Place; and the right one displays Munttoren (mint tower) and buildings in Amsterdam.

manneken-Pis

This is the symbol of Brussels, Manneken-Pis, a bronze statue of a peeing naked boy. He is naked most of the time, but in fact, he has more than 650 national costumes in his “closet” which locates in the Museum of Brussels.The first time we saw the boy, he was wearing a pair of  jeans and polo shirt with a mortarboard; and we were so surprised by its size. We didn’t realize how tiny it was since we only saw the close-up shots of him every time we read the travel books.

chocolatier

Chocolates, Waffles and Chocolate Waffles are everywhere in Brussels. But we were disappointed by the pre-made waffles. We imagined the waffles were made right after you ordered, but not just reheating them.

The chocolates are good though. We visited a chocolate museum and saw the process of making chocolates with moulds. I am a very chocolate person, I love all the chocolates that we bought and tried. And the hot chocolate that I had there was so so so thick, just like I was drinking some melted chocolates! The window displays and interior decorations of the chocolate shops are very fancy too, especially Easter is coming.

If you want to try Belgian chocolates, you can go to Godiva in Chinook Centre. It is one of the famous chocolatiers that was found in Brussels 80 years ago. Or try the Cote d’Or chocolate bars that you can find in supermarket.

brussels in belgium

Taking the international train from Rotterdam Central Station to Brussels Central Station, I could easily notice the shift  from Netherlands to Belgium. Although I do not read Dutch and not so sure what kind of language Belgians read, the fonts that have been used for the signs in the countries’ train stations are different. The whole travel time is less than 2 hours. It is easy and fast.

Do you remember I mentioned that Amsterdam is not that “European” to me? When I arrived Brussels and stepped into the Grand’ Place, I was like “This is it! This is Europe!” Standing in the middle of the big open area in the Grand’ Place that is surrounded by the historical and sculptured buildings just gave me that thought.

The country is just different. Comparing to Netherlands, the buildings are older and the streets are dirtier. Less people bike, and people speak in different languages, like Dutch, French and German.

I think the photoshop action that I used for the above images just describes what I think and feel about Europe.

kubuswonig

We love Rotterdam. Dutch people there are nicer than the people in Amsterdam, and they do speak English too (but people in Amsterdam speak better English). Buildings and sculptures in Rotterdam are very interesting and artistic. The Cube Houses (Kubuswonig, picture on right) which were designed by Dutch architect Piet Blom in 1984 is one of the reasons that I wanted to visit Rotterdam. The houses have been renewed and transformed to a hostel, and we decided to stay there for a night. Unfortunately,  the private rooms were all booked; so we stayed at the Best Western Art Hotel instead (see the left picture, it’s interesting that the closet was decorated like a shower in a bathroom, and it had a door on the wall with shelves). But thanks for the Kijk-kubus, a show home that is fully furnished; we could see the interior of the cube houses.

rotterdam

This time we had a very confusing route, and we changed the schedule all the time. WHY? Two reasons: first, we could not find out the locations and time of the soccer players’ practices until the day or couple days before they happened. Second, the NS  (Nederlandse Spoorwegen, the Dutch Railways) is very convenient and fast for everyone to reach to other cities and countries. Therefore, we had a lot of day trips.

Basically we spent most of our time in Amsterdam, but in between, we went to Alkmaar, Eindhoven, Middelburg, Rotterdam, Utrecht and Zaanse Schans in Netherlands and Brussels in Belgium. Rotterdam is the second city in the country that we kept going back and forth. First time we was there was a half day trip because of the soccer practice. Second time was the day before we went to Belgium. We spent one and a half days to walk around the area and watched the Dutch soccer game. The last time was the day we went back to Amsterdam from Brussels when we passed by it (soccer again! visiting the stadium museum).

The pictures above were taken in the second time when i was in Rotterdam. I used my lovely filter to get the bluish color tone.

alkmaar

The traditional cheese market (kaasmarkt) in Alkmaar is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country, which is held every friday morning from April to September. The cheese is sold by auction. Buyers and sellers use the old-fashioned system called handjeklap which means clapping each other hands to bargain the prices and to auction off the cheese. Once the deal is closed, the cheese carriers who are divided in 4 groups by the colors of their hats, carry the sold cheese on sledges to the weigh house where the cheese is weighed on the scales. After weighing, the check marks are stamped on the sold cheese. Edam cheese and Gouda cheese are two of the well-known local Dutch cheeses.  You can find them in Costco!

dutch clogs

The Dutch clogs are very interesting. They look like they are not comfy and super heavy. But somehow they are important for Dutch people, especially for the rural workers; and they are officially accredited as safety shoes. I was happy that I saw the demonstration of clogs making. Image above shows the steps of how a single piece of wood becomes a clog.

windmills

Before visiting to the Netherlands, windmill was just a symbol of the country for me. I did not know what it’s all about. But having a day trip to Zaanse Schans which locates in North Holland and visiting the typical Dutch windmills, I got the concept of how windmill works. Basically wind makes sails turn, sails make mechanical device which is inside a windmill moves, then the whole action converts to energy. The Netherlands used to have thousands of windmills, but now only had around 1000 of them. One of the most important purposes that Dutch built the windmills was to pump away the extra water from the polders.  They also can be used to produce paint, to saw wood and to extract oil.

canals in amsterdam

Construction of the canal ring started in the early 1600s, and the wealthy people built houses besides the canals. Passing along the Amsterdam Canals, one can see some of the city’s most beautiful spots and many grand buildings which are now mostly owned by institutions. That is why the canal cruises tours are the number one tourist attraction in Amsterdam. The cruise boats are so flat as they need to pass through many low and narrow bridges. Passengers can choose the seats at the back with no roof if they do not want to stay inside the glass room that has a panoramic roof with sliding windows. The journey usually takes 60 to 75 minutes. But most of the cruise companies also offer Lunch and Dinner cruises which include 90 to 120 minutes of sailing time, drinks and meals. The top right image shows the inside of the boat that I was on and the other company’s boat that I saw through the big sliding windows.

I amsterdam!

Amsterdam is the first city we visited in Netherlands, and we also spent most of our time there. It’s nice city. But I was a bit surprised that Amsterdam was not that “European”. I mean the buildings there have characters, but just not super old and classic, and I didn’t see too many sculptures. So I asked my Italian friend about what he thinks about Netherlands, and he told me it’s like a European-Canada. However, I think most of the countries in there are very convenient. Walking, biking and taking transportation are very easy. Even travellers like us who do not read Dutch, we figured out which trams we should take or how we could walk to destinations. And I think more people bike than drive. Isn’t it awesome?! Seriously, I really enjoyed and missed walking outside in a nice weather because sometimes it’s just not fun to walk in snow.

keukenhof

Watching the European Championship Qualifier soccer game is the main reason that brought us to Netherlands;  but travelling to the country, Keukenhof Park, a largest flower garden in the world which locates in South Holland and a “Must Go” place, is the second reason why we visited Netherlands in April. The garden has approximately seven million flower bulbs that are planted every year. It opens annually from the last week of March to mid-May. Honestly, I do not have much knowledge about flowers; but the garden’s just great! Colorful flowers are everywhere, and I really believe it will be even nicer in a few weeks. Also art works are placed in the garden, most of them are sculptures. However, there’s one particular area that I love most (see the above pictures). A set of very characterful sky blue patio chairs and table is placed under a tree with flowers hanging around in blue bottles that are tied with knit. It’s like a small artistic beautiful backyard that I wish I had.

oranje

Okay, before I am going to show you the pictures that I took and tell you the stories that I got from the trip, I need to clarify why Netherlands is the first European country I visited. It’s all because my husband is a huge fan of the Netherlands national soccer team. Therefore, we spent few days to visit soccer museumSsss & soccer stadiumSsss and to watch soccer practiceSsss & soccer gameSsss in different cities.

netherlands

Angel is back from the “tulipland” ! The trip’s awesome! I miss it already!!!

ready to go

Angel is going to the Calgary Airport to catch a long ………. flight after 24 hours (mar 24). She will be back on apr 8!

lemon poppy seed tea cake

Winter in Calgary is just too too cold, so staying home to bake is a good choice! This is one of my favourite recipes that I learnt from Everyday Food Magazine

maternity shot

My customer would like to have some images of her pregnancy. When she flipped the maternity books, she found some images that she liked. She showed me and requested to have something similar to those images. Above shows one of the styles she liked. The photo shoot was done in January 2o11,  3 weeks before she gave birth. Congratulation to the young couple!

10.10.10

This’s the first time I used iStock’s illustrations to create a postcard. Above is the front. I put it in a transparent photo frame with 4 magnetic in the corners, so that my friend can see the both sides of the card. Thanks for AR’s help!

test shot

My client would like to have some on location images for his website and blogs. So he took me to a running path and tried out the idea that he had. We borrowed some new running shoes from a store in Marda Loop. Last September,  I also shot the Ever Bamboo products with the golf props in the Shaganappi Point Golf Course.

http://www.everbamboo.ca/

Business shot

I was asked to do a business shot for 9 financial advisors on location. I bought all my lighting equipment and camera to one of the Sun Life Financial offices, set up everything, and changed the meeting room into a temporary studio. They were so efficient and professional. It’s fun to work with them.

Time Flies

Time flies. My friends in Calgary are mostly married / are getting married very soon. Some of them actually have kids too. When I just moved to Calgary, I was 18! 18! OMG! But when the time is flying, I have gained a lot of experiences. So it’s good!

I am recently photoshopping the images of a wedding that I did before. I mainly used the canon Fisheye Lens to shoot. I just loved the lens so much. The pictures looked good and happy!

surprise

Most of the travellers google and plan everything ahead, but somehow they still get lost even though GPS are used or google maps are printed. And they usually do not arrive at the time they expect although they feel like the time stops while they are driving and thinking “are we there yet ? ” Having a road trip is full of surprises, unpredictable things always happen. This is why I love Road Trip. So far, my husband and I have driven to few cities in Canada and in the states. But the last trip that we have in Summer 2o1O is the first REAL long road trip that I have ever had. Not having a  rush schedule and going alone, gave us much more free time. We stopped at wherever we wanted. We visited many small and big towns. We pulled over all the time to take pictures.

Our trails are CALGARY –> VULCAN –> WRITING-ON-STONE PROVINCIAL PARK –> GREAT FALLS –> HELENA –> BUTTE –> YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK –> CODY –> RAPID CITY –> MT. RUSHMORE –> DEVIL TOWER –> GREAT FALLS –> CALGARY

We  love wild animals. We actually woke up at 5am to go “search” them while we were in Yellowstone park. But they usually appear when you do not expect to see them. The first wild animal that we saw was actually on the first day of the trip. We found a deer wandering in Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park when we just arrived (before we got tons of mosquito bites). It made the trip more exciting! Besides the animals, the springs and geysers in Yellowstone National Park, the full-of-grasshoppers-on-the-ground city Rapid City and the giant heads in Mount Rushmore surprised us too. This journey also reminded me how much I loved photography. Seriously it’s so worth to get bitten by the mosquitos in Writing-on-Stone Park and got poisoned by the toxic gases in Yellowstone Park.

arrival

We arrived the official second destination of the summer road trip. It took a while to the place we stayed from the North Entrance. When we were driving in the evening, we saw a big family of ELKS!!!! They were running around on the open area on one side of the road. Cars pulled over, and people took pictures. We were so excited! This was a very impressive welcome scene.

journey started

The Yellowstone National Park journey started with a really nice weather. The sky was so blue and the sun was so bright. The combination made my pictures look great! The park was separated into different areas, and trails were provided to guide visitors to the viewing points. For me, it was a tough journey. Staying in Calgary, I did not really need to walk, and I was not a hiking person. Plus the levels of hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide were really high in there, the toxic gases literally made me sick. Therefore, I skipped few areas. But it’s a really good trip, and I didn’t mind to go visit the marvelous place again.

geyser

Geysers are unpredictable. Clear pools could become muddy and boil violently, while some of them were like diluted milk.

mammoth hot springs area

Having a long walk in the Mammoth Hot Springs area on the third day in Yellowstone National Park, I was exhausted and my cheeks burned! We had dinner at a restaurant in that area. In the park, there’re restaurants, general stores and diners for visitors to purchase food. It also had clinic and gas stations, it’s pretty convenient. The food in the park was not bad, and the price was reasonable too; but it didn’t have too many choices (well…i was craving sushi, but it didn’t make sense if I could really have sushi there). After the dinner and before we jumped back to our car, a group of deers showed up in the picnic area where it was right beside the parking lot. We followed them, and took pictures, I walked closer and closer until I was scared by a lady. She was not a ranger, and did not mean to scare me, but her tone just scared me. She warned me not to stay too close to the deers because it was dangerous. So I stepped back … for a while and moved toward them again when the lady was disappeared. I was just too excited to stop myself not to approach to them.

FYI: The 37-foot Liberty Cap was created by a hot spring that was active in one location for a long time

thermophiles

Thermophiles are actually bacteria, archaea and eukarya. Because of the temperature and the chemistry changes, the rusty orange communities and green-colored  algae are formed.

chemical reaction

Following the trails, we also found the rusty orange fluids flowing randomly on the ground, were as attractive as the Springs. They were so abstract, and the colors were so catchy.

bison

I saw bisons every day when i was in Yellowstone National Park. They were everywhere. The first night we arrived, we drove very slow to find our cabin that we were staying. It was dark. I saw a huge man with a beard walking toward us. When “he” passed by our car, I just realized it was a bison…

hummingbird

I had never seen hummingbirds before. Driving to South Dakota from Wyoming, we passed by a very small park. We saw people were taking pictures of the red water bottles, and we just did not understand why. So we joined them, and figured out the red water bottles were feeder for hummingbirds. They were hovering to feed.

Mount Rushmore

Mt. Rushmore is the last destination of the road trip. It’s in South Dakota. I love the giant sculptures of the heads of  former United States presidents. Thanks for the artists Gutzon Borglum and Lincoln Borglum and the workers!

mt.rushmore

It’s just so amazing! So I went back there again to enjoy the night view.