Vacation around the corner....

So next week I am headed to Costa Rica for a week vacation. I (and my camera) could not be more excited. We have a week full of fun activities including kayaking, ziplining, hiking, snorkling, and beach dwelling. In thinking about our vacation I was looking through some of my travel photos and found a few I wanted to share.



The first two were taken in Zanzibar - which is an island off the Tanzanian Coast. It is absolutely beautiful there!








This one was taken in a flower shop in Amsterdam:

Spring is here!

So next to my apartment every Spring the management plants beautiful tulips... They only last about 2 weeks but they are beautiful while they last! We have had the most bizarre winter/spring here and I am hoping that spring is here to stay! Here is a photo of the city tulips that I did two slightly different post processing edits to...which one do you like better?

Viva Las Vegas!!

A couple weeks ago I headed out to Las Vegas with 15 of my soriority sisters from college for a Bachlorette party. We had an absolute blast! I unfortunately did not get out to the strip with my camera for any night shots... we were too busy eating and dancing during those hours.

But here are two photos from during the day when I broke away from the pool for an hour :)

ahhhh Paris....

This is Bellagio fountain show... I just wish I was able to capture it at night with all the lights!

Big Blue

This Lyla "Big Blue" Coogen.... Are those not the most beautiful blue eyes??



This is her model pose :).



I get to see this sweet girl and her cousin Ryan on Saturday!

Update!

I know I have been slacking on my photo updates. I spent last weekend at the Natural History Museum and got to check out the Butterfly exhibit with my camera. I will be posting photos soon from that fun excursion!

Also I have started a new project.... a photo calendar inspired by photojojo.com: http://photojojo.com/content/diy/perpetual-photo-calendar/

It will probably take me some time to get all these photos. But it should be a fun project! I will definitely post photos when I am done!

Happy Weekend!

World War II Memorial

Its amazing how much DC has to offer. I have had the chance to play a couple sports (football, softball, kickball, soccer) on the mall and at every game look around in awe that we are playing sports on the grounds of such incredible monuments and memorials. So this week for my photography class, I took my camera to the World War II Memorial to snap a few shots. It was cold so I did not last too long out there but here are the two photos I submitted. I am going to do a monument night photo walk when it gets warmer so stay tuned for that!

This week's photo assignment...

The assignment for this week was using natural lighting inside to shoot a subject.  Sweet Baby Lyla was my subject.  This second photo cracks me.  It is what Michael calls "The Phantom Cry"... Lyla didnt actually cry after she made this face.  It was one yell and it last for about 5 seconds.  The first photo is sweet.... seriously have you ever seen cuter eyes than this??  I have a couple more fun photos from this impromptu photo shoot I will post later this week!