Happy Valentine's Day!

Photo of the Week

New linen scarf (from Love Quotes purchased from Tobi.com)

Photo of the Week

My read-soon pile of books:

The Year in Pictures

From top to bottom:
1) Cherry blossoms in North Carolina, April
2) Santorini, June
3) Donkey in Santorini, June
4) Rocky Mountain National Park, September
5) Great Smoky Mountain, November
6) Bodrum, Turkey, June
7) Ephesus, June
8) The Grand Bazaar, Turkey, June
9) Venice Beach, California, May
10) The Blue Mosque, Turkey, June
11) Tulum, March

New Mexico

Inspiring desert vistas. Delicious Southwestern cuisine. Spectacular Pueblo architecture. Fascinating history. Rich culture. There is much to love about this great state. I visited about a year and a half ago, and to this day, I often think about how blessed I felt while there. It was my first trip anywhere after recovering from an auto accident, so the dork in me feels quite sentimental about this special place.

Anyway, via one of my favorite blogs, I learned about this darling book, New Mexico: A Guide for the Eyes. In my opinion, it is not just a travel guide, but a coffee table book as well as it offers plenty of amazing photography. The author and photographer, Elisa Parhad, is a cultural anthropologist. So as you would expect, the book is quite informative and interesting. I enjoyed reading about a place I loved so much. I did not have this book during my first visit, but I am planning to go back as soon as possible. This book will surely make my second experience that much richer.

Some of my favorite photos I took from our visit:

Macro Photography

Last Christmas, the Husband gave me a macro lens I've been eyeing. I was excited and sure that I would immediately learn how to use it. Well, I was wrong.  Ninety-nine percent of the photos I took were embarrassingly bad. Finally, about 11 months later, I decided to do something about it and take an all-day class on macro photography (administered by the Chicagoland Digital Photography Meetup Group for $70).  I learned a ton today.  The most important lessons: go completely manual (both exposure and focus) and tripod is a necessity.  Yes, I have a lot left to learn, but I'm proud that today, I was able to shoot this photo.  Yay!