Lavender Season in Provence

 Going Mental, Meanderings Abroad  1 Response »
Jul 142021
 

One of the images that I have always had of the Provence area has been of lavender.

Somehow, though, I had completely forgotten about the season and so when my social media started showing pics from others of their forays into the fields to get that quintessential shot, I determined we needed to make a visit to try our hand at our own picturesque moments.

Apparently, there are two types of lavender and only one is actually used for the lavender products that we find for sale. You can Google about it if you’re interested in details. More importantly, I learned that blooming season is rather long from the end of June into August. (If you want to get the sunflowers 🌻 as well, then sometime in July is recommended.)

My research found that while there are a number of fields, Valensole is the most popular and it was closest to where we were staying.

It was well worth the trip and we did catch the sunflowers as you can see. I’ll do another post on Sunflower Season as we caught fields of them in Italy as well. πŸ˜€

Although we may not have gotten the glamour shot, we enjoyed experiencing the fields and see with our own eyes what the fuss is about. β˜€οΈ

~T πŸ˜€

Photography 102…

 Going Mental  No Responses »
Mar 072015
 

So…since getting my new ‘baby’, I have been taking photos for friends.

My first one is a kind of regular job where I take photos for my friend’s comedy show – Yalla Laughs – which just started a few weeks back in Abu Dhabi.

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A lot of the pictures on their Facebook page are ones that I took. Not too bad for an amateur, if I do say so myself. πŸ˜€

My second major task with photos was this weekend as my friend, E’s, baby shower. Here are the pics from that:

Although I do not intend to make a profession out of taking photos, it is still a nice and different ‘creative’ outlet for me… πŸ˜€

More to come,

~T πŸ˜€

Photography 101

 Going Mental  No Responses »
Mar 032015
 

Back in college J & I made a big first purchase together – a Canon SLR. We were both dreaming of taking amazing photos of life. When we went our separate ways, I kept the SLR and continued to spend rolls of film documenting my travels and life. However, the way of high-end point-n-shoot digital cameras came along, and my love affair with my Nikon Coolpix began.

For years most of my photos have been taken with my little Coolpix, which I still love despite it’s low battery life and battered look.

With the increase in mobile phone technology, my Coolpix slowly moved to the wayside for my iPhone’s quick pics. However, as time has passed, I’ve always looked longingly at the DSLRs that have been out on the market.

A few years back, I decided that when I finished the blasted degree, I would treat myself to a new DSLR and spend time learning how to take photos I would be very proud to show off and may even hang on my walls (if I ever settle long enough to decorate them!).

This year, I received a bonus for receiving an award at work and decided that if I waited until the degree was done I might never get the camera and my life cannot be dependent on whens or ifs. So, I used half of my bonus to purchase my new ‘baby’.

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I love this camera – it takes amaze-balls pictures and has so many options for ensuring I get quality photos. The only problem was that I didn’t have any idea what all the buttons did!!! Or, how to adjust the bits and pieces to have control over the kind of photos I would get.

Even still, on automatic, I could take great pics, but I wanted to learn more.

So, last weekend, my friend T and I took a photography 101 course from Gulf Photo Plus. We spent two full days learning about all the functions on the camera and how to compose photos so that they are ‘professional-like’. There’s still a lot to practice and learn, but it was an excellent course.

Now, of course, I’m taking photos of everything adjusting the ISO, aperture and shutter speeds to capture the depth of fields and use the thirds rules in my pictures. πŸ˜›

I’m sure that in no time at all National Geographic will be calling me to write and take photos for them full-time! hahahha. Truly, though, it’s a lot of fun and I’m glad I didn’t wait….

More to come,

~T πŸ˜€

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