Barbara Tursan Misic PhotoArt

Moving on...

2011-07-28T14:43:00.000+02:00

I’ve been thinking about this step for a long-long-long time now. I am/was quite pleased with my Blogger account. But... the main word here is “quite”. Something was missing. I didn’t have the freedom to design it “my way” or just didn’t know how. So I decided to move my blog to WordPress. I will still harass you on a weekly bases but from another platform: http://barbaraphotoart.wordpress.com/.

See you there!

Road tripping - Amsterdam

2011-07-27T16:02:00.001+02:00

Since I was pretending to be GPS on our road trip (with printed directions from ViaMichelin), I have to compliment myself – I only scre*** up once; upon arrival to our last destination – Amsterdam. Buuut, it wasn’t entirely my fault; roadwork’s were in progress so we had to take a different route. When we finally arrived to our hotel, we were completely exhausted and all we wanted to do is rest. Then things started to go wrong...

First we were told that parking is not included in room price (and that would mean 17 Euro per day*5 days... you do the math). Then we were told breakfast wasn’t included in room price as well (so we decided we´ll survive without it). At that point we were quite irritated... And then, as icing on the cake, the metro ticket machine ate our 20 Euros bill while we were trying to buy a weekly ticket. There was nothing we could do about it but to complaint. In written form. That was on Dutch. Great way for “first impressions” about the city, don’t you think?

Luckily for us, our “bad-luck-chain” stopped the next morning when we found the greatest restaurant ever just across the street. We ate there every morning (and sometimes in the evening) cause everything was so d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s and prices were more than reasonable.

Most common means of transportation in Amsterdam are bicycles. People on bicycles are at the top of “transport-food-chain”: you just have to let them pass. Or get killed. Your choice. I’ve seen some amazing bicycle scenes but the one that “got stuck” in my mind was: woman in high-heels, holding an open umbrella (cause it was pouring rain), talking on a cell-phone while trying to balance a little dog in a basket at the back of the bike...

Since we were thrilled with free walking tours via SANDEMANs New Europe in Berlin, we decided to take the same tour in Amsterdam:

One more common mean of transportation are boats. Imagine this: you wanna go to dinner, you dress up, leave your place, sit in your boat and arrive with your boat to restaurant... you tie your boat to a restaurant pier (cause, it’s a normal thing that restaurants have piers there) and enjoy your meal... Dutch really know how to enjoy life...

Cool Globes Amsterdam exhibition:

Every Friday, a huge book market is held in Spui part of city – of course we had to go... I am a proud owner of 5 new books as a result of 2-hours-browsing through stands! Can’t wait to read them...

Since we were in Amsterdam the longest (6 days), we chilled...a lot...“Let’s sit down and have lunch/smoothie/bear”... We found an excellent café right next to canal – we had to be very careful not to fall in canal while walking to our table... especially after couple of beers :)

I L.O.V.E. cheese. All types of cheese: swiss cheese, feta cheese, cream cheese, semi-hard cheeses, hard cheeses... Imagine me on a cheese tasting (which is a MUST in Amsterdam, trust me) – my sensory tongue buds have died and gone to heaven...

One of the best things about Amsterdam (if you ask me) are street markets. You can find literally EVERYTHING there: chains for your bicycle, wigs, home decorations, food (ah...glorious food). And everyone are willing to bargain.

House of Bols:

Notorious coffee shops:

There are days when I feel like Don Quihote fighting against windmill – logical thing was to go and see the real thing in Zaanse Schans (45 minutes of driving distance from Amsterdam). My dearest Sancho Panza accompanied me :)

While there, we could smell chocolate all the time. Really intense smell. At first we thought it was cause we were hungry, then we thought we were hallucinating... Until a very kind lady who we stopped on the street explained to us the “source” of divine smell – cacao factory not even 500 meter away...

All in all, we totally and utterly fell in love with Amsterdam. Every aspect of the city. The people. The pace of life. The food. The wines. The fact they brutally know how to enjoy life. Our infatuation with the city went so far that we actually talked about moving there. What would we do and how could we pull it off. Where would we live (on a house boat, of course...Duh.). What kind of bicycle would we buy and how would we decorate it (just to be able to recognise it in a sea of other bicycles). You know, the important things :)

Payback time

2011-07-25T08:55:00.001+02:00

They met when she was 17 at a summer garden party.

It was the first garden party her parents let her on (accompanied by her older sisters of course). She wore her best dress and her mother braided her hair. He, on the other hand, was a young 22-year old man who finished four grades of primary school and had been working for 10 years already in order to help his parents feed and raise the rest of his siblings.

They eyes met across the dance floor and he liked what he saw. He asked her to dance with him and she said yes. After a couple of dances, she had to go home. She though that she will never see him again. But, she was mistaken... A month after that, he appeared at her doorstep asking her parents’ permission to court her. And then their love story began...

They lived in neighbouring villages; 30 minutes walking distance. During first winter of their courting, high snow has fallen and he wasn’t able to come and see her in months. There were no phones of mobile phones or Skype to communicate. After couple of months, the snow has finally melted and he could go see her. As a sign of “apology”, he single-handedly carved her a wooden box and was nervous about her reaction. She played cool “Ohhh, it’s you! Haven’t seen you in a while...How’ve you been?” while being angry at him but not willing to show him her true feelings (“If he had liked me enough, 2 meters of snow wouldn’t stop him from seeing me...”).

Next year, he decided to continue his education and to be able to go to college one day. In order to do that, he had to move to Pula, a city 200 kilometres away. He wrote her letters every week, but there was no reply. For months. At the end, he decided to go home and to see what happened. When he arrived at her home and asked why she didn’t reply to any of his letters, she looked him in the eyes and lied. She said she didn’t receive any of his letters when in fact she did. She received then, read all of them a thousand times and stored them in the same box he single-handedly carved for her. He never found out about that little white lie. Never. When I asked her why she did that – why didn’t she answer any of his letters, she just smiled. I guess that was her way of “payback“ for „not-coming-to-see-her-at-2-meters-snow-period“.

They got married on July 9^th 1955. after five years of courting.

This is only the beginning the whole-life-love story of my grandparents. On January the 5th, it will be 12 years since my granddad passed away. A day doesn’t pass by, without her remembering him... “If we only had one more year... just one more...”

After all, they spent together 50 years... so what is one more year?

Road tripping - Berlin

2011-07-24T10:31:00.000+02:00

When we planned our road trip, I knew exactly what I could expect from Prague (I’ve been there on a high school trip) and I knew what I wanted/expected from Amsterdam. But, I had no idea what to expect from Berlin. I asked around and everyone was thrilled with their visit to Berlin. Every.Single.One. The thing that confused me was the range of people claiming they had a blast there: families with small kids, history freaks, wild party animals, art lovers...

How could one city satisfy all those different needs?! You know what – Berlin can. I don’t have the words to describe to you exactly how fast and with what intensity Berlin swept me of my feet. Until know, London was my No.1 and all other cities were way-way-way below him on my rank list. But after Berlin... my dearest London, watch out, you have a serious competition...

First I would like to share two magnificent things we discovered in Berlin:

finding a place to stay via airbnb (you can check out here how it works),
free walking tours via SANDEMANs New Europe (they operate strictly on tip-bases).

Here is my list of things that are a must-see/must-do while in Berlin:

1. Brandenburg Gate

2. Potsdamer Platz

3. Best hamburgers I ever ate at Andy's Diner & Bar at Potsdamer Platz 1

4. Various street markets

Berlin U-Bahn is the best and the quickest way to get from one part of the city to another. And they are punctual to millisecond.

5. Party hard

6. Alexanderplatz and TV tower

7. Checkpoint Charlie

8. Deutsches Historisches Museum

9. Berliner Dom

10. East Side Gallery

11. Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

12. Topographie des Terrors

13. Climb somewhere high to see the city from another perspective; I how this photo of us is not the best possible (it’s out of focus and not the sharpest in the bunch) but it perfectly captures our mood/joy on this vacation...

14. Eat out - there are so many different restaurants with affordable prices that it’s a shame not to try as many possible

Berlin is a MUST see city that will leave you wanting for more... can’t wait to go there again :)

The small Empress

2011-07-20T20:57:00.000+02:00

What fascinates me is when you ask a boy and a girl to tell you their love story, you always get two different versions. Always.

The only thing that “matches” in both Sanja and Zoki’s story is location of their encounter; they worked together and they met in winter of 2009. He asked her on a cup of coffee; during work hours. After couple of “short-during work hours” coffees, they started to go on longer ones; after work hours. After a while, those “longer-after work hours”coffees turned into evening dates and nights on the town. The difference in their story is that Sanja claims that he was pursuing her while she wasn't into him as much… He, on the other hand, claims she was very much into him – she just didn't wanna admit it.

Nevertheless, they hooked up and on March the 6th this year they became proud parents of baby girl Morana - the cutest, most peaceful and most serious baby girl I ever met. Last Sunday, I had the pleasure to snap-shoot one sunny afternoon with them. You should have seen us: four clowns, leaning over Morana, trying to make her laugh… or at least giggle… and – nothing. She was serious, delightful and dignified all the time; like a small Empress.

To see more, watch the video below :)

Mihaela and Kristijan // 09.07.2011.

2011-07-17T16:09:00.009+02:00

Last weekend a long-time friend of mine got married. They first meet at a christening of their mutual friend Lana’s niece (she actually brought them together)... and last June their love story began.
After couple of months, they knew they were meant to be together – forever. But, before she met him, she planned a month long trip to New York (ohhh, how I envy her on that trip... totally green of envy – head to toe). So, before her departure to America, he proposed... and of course – she said yes. They both agree it was the longest month in their life... When she returned to Croatia she didn't unpack at home, but at his place and remained there till this day...

They were getting married at gorgeous Trajbar club in Zaprešić. The thermometer was showing 40°C and the air was incredibly dry – like someone sucked out 90% of oxygen from atmosphere leaving us with barely enough to breathe. The ceremony itself was held in the meadow just behind the clubs main building. It was the first “open air” wedding I attended and I have to say – b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l. (I now understand Americans and their love for meadow/forest/farm/beach wedding).
I ask her couple of weeks prior to wedding could I bring my camera with me (since I tend to take it everywhere I go now days), and of course she said yes. Here are some bits and pieces of their special day:

Miha and Kiki, thank you again for being absolutely amazing, kind and lovely and for allowing me to document tiny bit of your special day... I wish you only the best... ;)

Road tripping - Prague

2011-07-16T01:32:00.000+02:00

Our road trip seems ages ago... Realistically, not even a full month passed by – where the heck does the time go?! But, its Friday night, temperature is finally below 30°C, I processed photos from Prague and it’s time to share first third of our adventure.

We arrived at Prague after 7 hours on the road. I was very successful GPS (with printed instructions) and managed to get us to our destination without getting us lost along the way. One of the things Prague is known for are beer houses. We didn’t wanna go to famous ones where all the tourists go so I Googled and found „local“ one under the name of „U Zlatého Tygra”. I think we were only tourist in there but the atmosphere was great:

Great thing about beer houses is that waiters, as soon as they notice your glass is empty, come bringing another (full) one:

Next morning we headed out to a must see - Prague Castle. We arrived just on time to see changing of the Guards:

While there, rain started to pour heavily so we hid in Prague Toy Museum - the second largest museum of this kind in the world:

Another must-do in Prague is taking a boat trip down Vltava River:

A friend of mine went to Prague last year so I asked her inside tips&tricks. Among other things, she mentioned John Lennon wall. I was like “What?! The Beatles Jonn Lennon?!”. And yes, it’s a beautiful wall filled with John Lennon inspired graffiti and pieces of lyrics from Beatles songs:

At the end of the day, we climbed Petřín: 327 m high hill in the center of Prague where Petrin Tower (Little Eiffel Tower) is situated and from where you can observe whole Prague:

While having dinner, I eavesdrop on a couple sitting table next to us. I don’t speak Czech but they were speaking “second-date-night” language... it at least seemed like that to me:

On the second day we stumbled upon non typical Prague market of old crafts: blacksmiths, weavers, a cappella choirs...

And glorious food:

My own personal daily desert ;)

Street performers are simply amazing:

While resting on Vltava riverbank, we saw people pedaling up and down the river and it looked fun... So we rented „pedalina“ (i have no idea whats it called in english). The moment we set in it and pedalled to middle of Vltava, the rain started to pour so we had to hid under the bridge:

Prague, you were so kind to us... hope to see you again ;)

Killing two birds with one stone...

2011-07-11T00:43:00.004+02:00

Its 45 minutes after midnight and I’m melting on my balcony. Literally. At some point today, I glanced at Accuweather and 39°C were staring back at me from the screen... They are forecasting the same temperature tomorrow. I feel like a snowman in spring time... Since I can’t sleep, I figured I could be useful and do something I neglected lately – my blog.

I love travelling - it feeds my soul like nothing else. I believe that real wealth to life lies in experiencing more of it, seeing more of it, taking in as much of it as you can. There is always a “down” side to each story. The catch with travelling is it leaves you wanting more. Always.

Exactly a week ago we returned from the best vacation ever. I imagined it would be great, but it was better that great. It was mind-blowing. Impressions are still settling down but it was surreal. When someone asks me witch city was the best, I instantly reply Amsterdam but all of them were great in their own way. A friend asked me to single out one anecdote and I couldn’t pick one out.

During our vacation I managed to fulfil 2 of my goals:

48. Take a road trip with my husband and stop along the way

59. Travel trough Europe

There are a ton of images I wanna share so you can expect three posts soon:

PRAGUE BERLIN AMSTERDAM

Alice in Wonderland…

2011-07-05T23:50:00.003+02:00

One of my favourite stories while I was growing up was Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. The White Rabbit, The Caterpillar, The Queen of Hearts – every character was incredible. But (there is always a but)… In that sea of incredible characters, one of them stood out - The Mad Hatter (and Johnny Depp was so excellent in Tim Burton version).

On Sunday we returned from our vacation. The whole vacation resembled Alice in Wonderland (but that is another blog post story)... A busy week is in front of me – I have around 1.000 photographs from every city we visited to look through/process/develop. This photo (took in Amsterdam on Cool Globes exhibition) reminded me of Alice and Mad Tea Party hosted by the one and the only Mad Hatter:

#52. check and mark!

2011-06-29T00:05:00.000+02:00

#52. Sit and watch a sunset somewhere cool

Days on road: 9.

Kilometers made: 1727 (so far).

So far, we pedaled up and down Vltava in pouring rain, partied hard on Christopher Street Day in Berlin and settled in Amsterdam yesterday evening. Along the way, one more of my goal was unintentionally fulfilled: #52. On our last day in Berlin, after walking around all day trying to see everything left on our “to-do” list, I realized we didn’t climb any towers/viewpoints. Lucky for us, a hot air balloon popped up around the corner and lifted us up 150 m:

Playing hard to get...

2011-06-19T09:15:00.001+02:00

My brother in law and his wife recently celebrated eight years of marriage. And before they got married, they were together for five years. 8+5=13 years. Quite the long time if you ask me…

After 13 years, two kids and all ups&downs we all go through in relationships, they still make each other laugh. I asked them today, how did they story of a boy meets girl went down and he instantly replied: she was playing hard to get. They met through mutual friends (his best friend was roommate with her best friend). He heard all the best about her (she had excellent “references”) and one weekend they all went out together. That didn't go quite as he hoped cause she broke her camera that evening and wasn't in the best mood. While driving her home, he asked for her phone number and all he gotten was the answer: If you want to call me, get it yourself...
So he did and was persistent until she accepted his invitation for a cup of coffee. After three months of dating, he knew it – that was it...

My absolute favourite photo:

Walking down the memory lane...

2011-06-17T21:48:00.003+02:00

On days like this, I realy−realy−realy don’t like the fact that I’m on vacation...

When all the fuss regarding work is behind me, when I don't think about my master thesis (and I certainly won’t think about that on my vacation), my mind does the strangest thing − it wonders off...
Not to a nice, happy place (like planning a road trip through Europe that will begin in two days) but to a strange place... sad place...
Why it does that – bets me. But it’s been our routine for years now...

On January the 5^th, it will be 12 years since my granddad passed away. 12 years. It seems like yesterday. And it hurts like yesterday... He wasn’t “just a granddad” to me – he was my mentor, my best friend, my role model...
He taught me everything I know (from building fences to mowing grass), he listened patiently to my “boys” problems (with a lump in his throat) and he is (mostly) responsible for me being me...

When I went to see my grandma last week, I found his harmonica. I have no idea who gave it to him but he played it all the time cause he loved to play. To get one thing straight, he wasn’t good at it, but he wasn’t a quitter.
And that is one more thing he taught me – never give up on the things you love...

Working The Numbers

2011-06-16T09:49:00.000+02:00

On 22^nd of January I started this bloggistic journey. Since then:

I posted 74 posts,
4,258 times was the blog previewed,
most read posts were: Foxy Ladies..., Road tripping, Moving target, If I was... and Story of a boy meeting a girl,
and fabulous people from the following countries have visited the blog: Croatia, United States, Germany, France, Russia, United Kingdom, Greece, Slovenia, Brazil and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Dear reader, seeing all the above numbers, I have a little plea for you: give me feedback. Let me know what you think about this blog. About stories (are they too long, too short, to personal). About photographs following every story. What else would you like to see?

Use the comment box below or email me at: barbara.tursan@gmail.com. Can’t wait to hear from you ;)

An X turning Y

2011-06-13T13:04:00.006+02:00

Since I remember, I wanted a sister. All my friends from preschool had at least one sibling. I used to imagine the games we would play, how I would dress her up, look after her, read her stories, what sort of pranks we would do... I begged my parents every once a while to grant me my wish but years passed and nothing happened. So, I gave up the idea of having a sister one day...

On my seventh birthday, my mom told me she was pregnant. It was the best birthday gift ever! She explained to me that they still don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl but I knew it was a girl. Had to be. What would I do with a brother? What games would we play? No – it was meant to be a girl.

After couple of months, my mom had regular examination scheduled so I went with her. I remember “the incident” like it was yesterday – we went to see the doctor while my granddad waited in the car. The doctor started the ultrasound & everything was in perfect condition... Then he asked: Would you like to know the gender of the baby? We said yes, he turned to me and replied: Congratulations, you’ll get a baby brother!
At first I tought he got it wrong, but he didn’t. I’ve gotten so mad/disappointed that I marched out of ordination (leaving my mother and the doctor speechless) straight to my granddads car and muttered: It’s a boy – what am I supposed to do with a BOY? I was convinced that my parents done that on purpose (remember – I was only 7 and didn’t quite know how the whole “baby thing” works).

My brother was born on October 14. The second I held him in my arms – I was in love. I wouldn’t change him for 10 other sisters. He is one of the kindest persons I know and I love him unconditionally...

#46. check and mark!

2011-06-11T14:36:00.006+02:00

#46. Go to a concert of an artist I love

When I was in my teens (it sounds like I'm fifty years old now) I had the HUGEST crush on John Francis Bongiovi aka Jon Bon Jovi. I was 12 years old when I first heard/saw “Always” video. Oh.My.God. I melted. That was it. Love at first sight. The hair.The torn jeans.The tight T-shirt. The lyrics… My room was covered with their posters. The only thing you could hear from my room was Jon Bon Jovi for quite sometime. It was driving my parents insane. In time, Jon Bon Jovi got mixed up with U2, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen and other great musicians but "always" had a “special” place in my heart.

So when I found out they are coming to Zagreb in June, we had to get the tickets. On the morning of the concert, it poured. Badly. Unstoppably. If Noah could have seen that cloudburst, he would have started to build another arc… And the concert was held at Maksimir stadium (under the open sky, of course). Around 1 o'clock, it stopped. Simply like that. And didn't start again. The weather was p-e-r-f-e-c-t-o.

You give love a bad name, Bed of Roses, I’ll be there for you, It’s my Life, Dead or Alive, Runaway, Living on a Prayer are just some of the songs they rocked the stadium with…

Amazing performance - you should have been there...

Road tripping

2011-06-10T20:44:00.002+02:00

Today is the beginning of the rest of my life. Yes, its a bit dramatic statement but it perfectly sums up the way I feel right now. Today was my last day at work; at 4 o'clock my long awaited vacation began. I’ll be going back to work on 4th of July. Three weeks. 23 days (if you are counting this weekend – and I'm counting every second). 552 hours. 33120 minutes. I've been craving for vacation for a long time now. Really long time. Eternity almost. And I wanted to go somewhere far-far-away. I knew a “normal” trip just wouldn't count.

We planed to go to Cuba. A couple of my friends have been there and were absolutely thrilled. We tried one agency, another agency but it just wasn't meant to be – first there was no room on flight, then the dates moved, then the weather forecast predicted heavy rain for first 7 next days we were supposed to be there… At the end, we gave up.

Four days ago we were sitting in our living room wondering where to go now and what to do (cancelling our vacation was not a possibility). And then, my clever clever husband suggested – lets go road tripping through Europe. At first I was sceptical – where to go, how to plan it in such a short time, where will we park our car…

But the idea grew in me. I goggled. I booked apartments and hotels. I made a draft tour “plan/list”. Here it is…

Distance: 3250 km

Start/end date: 20.06./02.07.

Days on road:13

Cities visited: Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam (Kinderdijk & Giethoorn), Stuttgart

Can't wait :D

Story of a boy meeting a girl

2011-06-06T10:03:00.005+02:00

It's a story of a boy meeting a girl. It's not that extraordinary, nor is it unique. It’s simply ours:

Girl goes to seaside with 6 other girlfriends.
Boy meets girl.

Girl likes boy.

Boy likes girl.

Boy, girl and their friends play cards every night.

Girl has nasty PMS crisis around 2 o’clock in the morning and needs something sweet.

Boy rescues her with 3 scoops of vanilla ice-cream and cream.

Boy and girl kiss.

Boy and girl date after returning to Zagreb.

Boy and girl move in together.

Boy and girl break-up.

Boy moves out.

Girl has fun.

Boy has fun.

Girl misses boy.

Boy misses girl.

Boy and girl make-up.

Boy and girl move in together.

Boy proposes to girl.

Girl cries and says yes.

Boy and girl plan a wedding.

Boy and girl wed on October 8^th 2010.

Boy buys girl her very first SLR camera and pursues her to follow her dreams as a photograph.

Girl loves boy ever more (although she thought that’s not humanly possible).

Boy ends up having his own personal paparazzo following him around.

Higher combinatorics

2011-06-04T15:41:00.000+02:00

When I was 5 years old, I had serious problems with my tonsils. As soon as I would as much as look at something cold, I would get sick. And I simply adored ice-cream; every flavour (vanilla, strawberry, white chocolate) and every form (on a stick, in a cone – it didn’t matter). You can imagine how miserable I was looking at all those people eating it at the summer time, and I wasn’t allowed. Or I would be allowed once a month...

My doctor used a nasty trick to get me do the surgery. He convinced me that I will get loads of ice-cream as soon as I woke up after the surgery. My imagination went wild with possible combinations: what sort of flavours would I get, how many scoops, will there be chocolate topping... The moment I woke up after the surgery, I called the nurse and asked her where my ice-cream is. She laughed and explained I was tricked.

A month after that, I could finally eat ice-cream normally without getting sick. And could never get enough of it - I constantly asked for more. One day, my granddad decided to trick me and gave me as much ice-cream as I wanted (in hope I will realise I can’t eat as much and stop asking more in the future).

But (pay attention to higher combinatorics of a 5-year-old) I knew that if I told him I couldn’t eat it all, I could never ask for more. So, I sat there, eating ice-cream that was bigger than me, felling sickish but not giving up... Cause you can never show you had too much ice-cream.

If I was...

2011-06-02T18:00:00.001+02:00

If I was a month, I would be September.

If I was a day, I would be Saturday.

If I was a time of day, I would be dawn.

If I was a season, I would be fall.

If I was a sea creature, I would be dolphine.

If I were an emotion, I would be curiosity...

If I was a country, I would be Ireland.

If I was an item in a house, I’d be a stove.

If I was a drink, I would be Guinness.

If I was a tree I would be an oak.

If I was a flower, I would be an orchid.

If I was weather I’d be a blizzard.

If I was a fruit I would be a pineapple.

If I was a colour I’d be jungle green.

If I was a sound I’d sound like rain.

If I was a dish I would be hot chocolate cake with strawberries and cream.

If I was a taste I would taste like vanilla ice-cream.

If I was a song I’d be One and Only.

If I was a pair of shoes... I would be barefoot...

What would you be?

(writing idea from the sweet blogger/photographer Meg)

#28. check and mark!

2011-05-31T09:36:00.030+02:00

#28. Research a well-known wedding photographer

I’ve been sitting in front of my computer for a half an hour now wondering how to start this post. And still have no idea cause the person I wanna write about swept me of my feet. Literally. I guess its best to start from the beginning.

Last year I got married. As one of my friends commented, “I read the internet” in search of inspiration, ideas, and photographs. Somewhere along the way, the name of Jasmine Star popped out. The second I saw her images, I was in-love. In the images. In her story. In the way she's communicating to clients. In the way her blog and website reflected her personality. In the way she wrote glimpses of her everyday life on the blog. When the time came to pick out one wedding photograph to research for my thesis, her name was on the top of my list.

Last month I had the opportunity to view her live-broadcasted workshop in Seattle organised by creativeLIVE where I picked up bits-and-pieces of her story. I found many articles describing her vertiginous success. She launched her own business in 2006. when she photographed 3 weddings. Then booked 37 more in 2007. The numbers keep growing from year to year. In 2009. she was voted for one of the top 10 wedding photographers in the organization of American Photo magazine. She stated, in one of the interviews, that “she never paid for a single advertisement. Her Web site and blog are sufficient to keep new clients coming in on a regular basis. Her best source of new business is word-of-mouth and referrals from previous satisfied clients.”

One more thing that differentiate her from others is her willingness to help other wedding vendors. Selflessly.

Regardless all the articles/biographies/quotes I read, I had the feeling I'm missing something – “the core", "the magic ingredient” that made her pop. So I decided to read her blog marking milestones important for my theses along the way (how she organised her business and how she branded herself and differentiated from others). Yes, the entire blog. And, man, that girl loooves to blog.

THE BLOG

I spent the last couple of days reading it cause, as i mentioned before, the girl loves to blog. She posted her very first blog post in February 2006 were she explains her goal: to become a wedding photographer. She was very regular in posting on the blog and wrote about everything: her first experiences as a second-shooter, her first booked wedding, everyday things (like a dinner with her husband JD).

In May 2007. she launched her new blog. Since then, she posted over 1,000 posts (and yes – I read them all). The word of her work spread like fire and people (future brides, college photographs) were reading the blog, leaving comments and following her work:

August 2007. – 1.000 comments,
September 2007. – 2.000 comments,
November 2007. – 3.000 comments,
November 2008. – 17.000 comments…

In February 2009. her photography blog was voted as the winner of PPA's Fresh Blog Contest.

One more “specificity" of Jasmine Star is her desire to share her knowledge with others – in 2007. she started her FAQ series where she answers questions sent to her (from camera settings to posing and branding yourself). In time, that series evolved to Reflections post and Shooting Star installments.

Its very hard to make a “time-line” or “cause-effect relations” of Jasmine Star success cause she is all over the place. She is a blog-writer, a Showit promoter, regular speaker at WPPI, workshop organizer (can’t wait for her to come to Europe again and host a workshop...in less than a month, she will be hosting a workshop in London but unfortunately I can’t attend...), passionate reader... All at the same time.

She is constantly questioning her work and reinventing herself. In August 2010. she relaunched her website with a little help from an another amazing artist/designer – Promise Tangeman:

In this post she writes why is important to create a website that is reflection of the artist itself. And how to do it. If you have time, read the post… If you don’t have time – make time. It’s worth it.

With rapid Facebook growth and considering the fact that Jasmine Star heavily uses social media in steering her business, the logical step for her was to start a Facebook Fanpage:

I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us in the future... My favourite Jasmine Star Quote would be: If you feel like you have to do it like me, you’ve missed the point. Regardless the artistic field you are involved in, goal is to find your own way: define the clients you wanna work with, define what makes you pop from the crowd, and go for it.
Throughout her blog, she has given us the opportunity to learn from her creative process; not to copy-paste.

p.s. a friend of mine is getting married next year in Dominican Republic so I instantly recommend her to contact Jasmine Star. I hope she will for all the selfish reasons – I could meet her and see her modus operandi first hand :)

Va va voom!

2011-05-30T16:26:00.003+02:00

I’m a sucker for culture of 40/50 ies.

Love absolutely everything about that era: music (Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, Elvis, Rockabilly), movie stars (Ingrid Bergman, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Vivien Leigh, Katharine Hepburn – weren’t they simply breathtaking?!), cars (if I could get my hands on a 1951 Dodge…hmmm), fashion (skirts, dresses, hairstyles, veils) and of course: the notorious pin-up girls.

When I found out about a three day Burlesque workshop held in Zagreb, I immediately signed-up (especially when I saw we’ll be learning how to pull a Pin-up look). And didn’t regret it for a second.

Sade O'Sapphic, Australian burlesque dancers who’s been performing since 2004. was our workshop mentor. She is a Dublin based neo & classic burlesque performer and she fascinates lovers of cabaret around the world with her skills. And, she is g.o.r.g.e.o.u.s.

The workshop was divided into units:

Day one - Introduction to Burlesque (a brief history, styles of burlesque, how to choose your style, how to choose your name, selecting music etc.),

Day two - Let’s get dolled up! 1940’s Glam & 50’s Pin-up Hair & Make-up (examples of styles, the Bare essentials (make-up), lips, lashes & eyeliner - a how to, how to make your own hair pieces, doing classic hair roll styles,

Day three - Tease, twirl & tantilise! (Master class) - stocking strip tease & Tassel twirling (Performance class on and off stage).

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend the last day of the workshop, but here is my version of a pin-up look:

One of the most fun workshop part was choosing our “alter-ego” name...
If you are wondering which name I choose for myself, its Sweet Pepper... It kinda suits me, don’t you think? :)

#36. check and mark!

2011-05-26T14:23:00.053+02:00

#36. Go one week without TV

I’m a movie/series/documentary junkie. There is always another movie to watch, new season of series to follow, find out how things are made on Science Channel... I once watched the whole first season of “Fringe” series during one weekend – 20 episodes, 60 minutes each ... Well, you do the math...

One of my goals was to endure one week without TV. Last week was as good as any to try and complete this goal. You know what? It wasn’t so hard as I initially thought. Actually, I really liked it – I had more time for everyday things: to hang out with my friends, to bake cakes and cookies (found the best recipe for worm chocolate cake...mmm), to write my theses, to read...

At the end, I decided to continue with this goal. I made only one modification to initial goal: I can watch one movie a week. I actually picked excellent time for completing this goal – if I tried to pull this off during winter-time, I don’t think I would succeed...

Food for the Soul...

2011-05-22T15:45:00.035+02:00

Music feeds my soul. From when I remember that love affair exists. Every once in a while, I discover new „food“ and then I become obsessed – I listen to that artist/album over and over again until I know by heart every note and every verse (if you woke me up at 3 o’clock in the morning and played first two notes of my “obsession”, I would instantly know which song is it...).

Last week I finally made the time to listen to an album I’ve had my ears on in a while – 21 (second studio album by British singer/songwriter Adele). Wow. That lady rocked my world and became my new obsession in a millisecond. I listened to her every day all day this week and my absolute favourite is song called “One and Only”...

With that fabulous song playing in the background, my never ending battle with writing promised theses pages continues...

Foxy Ladies...

2011-05-21T12:50:00.002+02:00

Last year, a girlfriend of mine whispered to me while we were having our once-a-quarter-all-together-high school coffee “Barbara, I have discovered something amazing and I’m totally in love” and she started to talk about S factor – what they are doing, what kind of moves they are practicing etc.

She is dancing for a year now and has finished fourth level. So, I asked her if I could take their photos while practicing and guess what – she checked with the rest of girls and said yes!

Their S factor “guru” Sanja is dancing for six years now. She started at Ana Kuhanec, as soon as Ana acquired a certified instructor licence, and danced there for four years. She decided to go to school in New York and was absolutely thrilled with things she learned. When she returned to Croatia, she started to train with her friends and from last fall she took it to another level and started to lead classes. The lessons are currently held in an apartment, but if everything goes according to plan, Sanja will open her own studio this fall.

Her ladies just finished fourth level and she is so proud of them as they are getting more confident, more sure, more relaxed...

They are sooo sweet – every time one of them is performing an element on the pole, others are cheering and supporting her from the side:

I simply love-love-love this photo of Sanja – it has a certain “vibe”... don’t you agree?

Since I do all my post-processing in Lightroom, when Sanja asked me to “clean” the photos from elements in the room (bookshelf, tv, heater) I kind of panicked... I had no idea how to do that...so, I was honest and told her I don’t know how... she was so sweet and offered to “clean” the photos herself and send them to me for “final touches” (thank you Sanja). Here are pure elements on pole:

My dear foxy ladies, thank you again for letting me chase you around the room with my camera :)

To see more CLICK HERE or watch the video below :)

Post for a page...

2011-05-16T22:26:00.004+02:00

I was hanging out with my maid of honour yesterday afternoon nagging how my friends (including her) have to find a way to force me to complete my MBA and write my master thesis... Couse, clearly, I’m not character enough to do it my self...

A second passed (literally) and she said: I have a way... for every blog post you publish, you have to write one page of your master thesis... What a cruel mind! Who needs enemies when has friends like that!? I was speechless... But, she is completely right... And I love her for knowing me and my triggers so well...

Since the rule “post for a page” starts today, I decided that no “ordinary” post could have the honor of the first thesis page. Choice was easy – I decided it was time to post photos from the shoot I blogged about a week ago:

Here is a “behind-the-scene” moment with my “assistant”- crazy people:

Now it’s time to pay my dues... Thesis, here I come!

You can leave your hat on...

2011-05-15T12:37:00.001+02:00

I was/still am in the middle of post processing photos from S Factor shoot when I stumbled upon this one. There is something I love about this photo. Technically speaking, it’s not as good – I “cut off” her fingers and left leg (and that is sth not as common in photography), I could have reduced the grain by turning on the light (or using flash), I could have moved her away from the heater etc.

But at the same time, all those “mistakes” are the reason why I love it so much. The reduced light enhances the atmosphere; the heater gives you a “domestic” hint... You can almost hear Joe Cocker singing in the background “You can leave your hat on...” :)

The early bird catcheth the worm...

2011-05-14T11:37:00.002+02:00

I love Saturday mornings.

I get up really early all by myself (no alarms necessary). Take a long shower. Make myself a cup of coffee (too start with). Turn on my computer. Update FeedDemon. Read through any interesting articles I come across. Think about passing week (what I did and didn’t have to time to do). Make a list of things to do next week. That list includes everything – from things I need to do on my job, thing I need to do around the house, mails I wanna write to friends abroad and so on...

I go through my blog and “do the numbers” – how much did I write last week, am I happy with that number, how much I wanna write next week and what I wanna write about (again, a list). I always have sth to edit so I roll up my sleeves and get to work...

I love Saturday mornings because they are quality time I’m spending with myself... Wouldn’t it be nice if a week consisted of more Saturdays? :)

#5. check and mark!

2011-05-10T07:05:00.001+02:00

#5. Post on blog at least twice a week for three months

I am, and always has been, a date/anniversary lover. It doesn’t really matter what kind it is – relationships, marriage, birthdays, “first date” anniversary, national holiday, Christmas... So it surprised me when I realised I didn’t pay attention to “blog anniversary”. I started this adventure 3 months and 18 days ago with a specific purpose on my mind (I’m quite persistent when I have something on my mind...).

Since I never done anything like this before (write, or write PUBLICLY) I gave myself a task: post on blog at least twice a week for three months. No matter what. Good days. Bad days. Tired days. Hectic days (like yesterday was – sometimes I feel I’m turning to Garfield with his hate of Mondays...). And I have to admit, I’m quite proud of myself (or my stubbornness to be precise) for not giving up.

Since my job requires very developed analytical skills (and that transfers to private life – willingly or unwillingly), yesterday evening I made "snapshoot" of blog statistics and realised I completed my goal number 5...

And because every post is better with a photo, here is one from Saturday shoot:

Leap of faith...

2011-05-09T10:56:00.001+02:00

A week ago, I asked friends of mine to pose for me. I need all the practice I can get if I wanna pursue this dream of mine, so now is as good time to start as any other, right? And imagine – they said YES! Yaaa-taaa!

From that moment on a vision started to form in my head. A vision of how I wanted them to pose and interact and how will I explain them what to do and so on... I spent hours in front of my computer watching portfolios of all those amazing photographs whose work I follow, going through magazines for inspiration, trying to remember scenes form movies that are imprinted into my memory...

Saturday came... we met... they dressed up for me (sooo sweet)... And I froze. It was like cat ate my tongue (in my case – that never happens)... after a while, we all relaxed and then everything „clicked“... They were so patient with me...

Thank you again, my friends, for giving me the opportunity to practice :)

Moving target...

2011-05-05T21:54:00.007+02:00

Two nights ago I had the opportunity to meet five extraordinary women. Every one of them is uniquely beautiful, special and sexy but they all have one thing in common. Every Tuesday night they meet and dance... All their worries, happiness, sadness, accomplishments, disappointments are reflected in their dance performance. They left me speechless... One of them is a good friend of mine so when I asked if I could come and see/photograph them, she made it happen...

I can’t thank them enough for that experience. Darlings, if you are reading this – thank you once again...

Next Tuesday I’m gonna have the privilege to photograph them practicing and dancing once again. I just hope I’ll live up to their expectations...

Self-Portrait Project... Ready, Steady, Go!

2011-05-02T23:20:00.001+02:00

Today I’m starting a new series on blog called „Self-Portrait Project“. The goal is to make at least one self portrait a month throughout the course of the next year. Why? There are many reasons – I wanna develop my creativity and think out-of-the-box, wanna preserve memories (good ones and bad ones), wanna know my camera in-side-out and become a Canon ninja, wanna learn rules of composition and then break them, wanna look up other photographs (regardless the topic) and dissect their work in order to improve mine...

So here is one to begin with :)

ZG JAM 2011 photography exhibition

2011-04-29T12:36:00.004+02:00

Feeling like Taz today – so many things to do and sooooo little time...

I´ll be short and sweet – ZG JAM 2011 finished and today at 20:00 is a photography exhibition opening of best photographs took during Omnibus World Workshop workshops (you can see the atmosphere here and here).

This is my contribution:

If you wanna enjoy great music (Šimun Matišić Trio are playing) and see the exhibition, come by (location: Pod starim krovovima, Gornji Grad).

See you there :)

14 again

2011-04-28T00:25:00.002+02:00

Have you ever felt like you just travelled back through time? That happened to me today... In a millisecond, I was 14 again on my first day of high school. I still remember it like it was yesterday – had my favourite jeans on, green-brown lumberjack shirt and Sketchers boots and was walking extremely slowly (it felt like slow motion in action movies). As I was approaching school I spotted some cool kids fooling around, having fun... and terror overwhelmed me. Will they like me? Will I make new friends? Do we have common interests? What will I do if they don’t like me? You know – standard set of questions floating around in a 14-years-old-teenage-girl-mind. Could I have run home? No. So, I took a deep breath and said “hy”... And survived. The trick was – nobody told me those were standard questions crossing everyone’s mind...

I have been promising myself something for a long time now: to open an account on Fotosofia - a Croatian site organised and driven by Damir Hoyka (famous Croatian photographer). Photographs from various parts of Croatia (and further) post their photo galleries, comment on others' work and evaluate it, participate in contests etc. Most valuable thing about the site is watching those galleries and learning from the best people in the business.

To be completely honest in this late night hour – I was (still am) terrified of putting my photographs out there for all of those amazing, talented people to see. And I felt 14 all over again...

So, I did the same thing I did back then – took a deep breath, stepped up, said “hy” and posted my photos to Fotosofia...

Hope the cool kids like me :)

Coming home...

2011-04-26T13:25:00.004+02:00

Since I remember I always had a favourite pair of sneakers. I would wear them constantly, come rain or shine, for years – I wore them as good luck charm to exams, to concerts, to nights on the town, to excursions...

After 2-3 years of my “torture” they would just give in... Can’t say I blame them.

Their “magic” was the cosy feeling that overwhelmed me every time I put them on. I would put them on and felt like I arrived home. I never had that feeling regarding certain place before...

Until now.

We went on a weekend getaway and returned home after 3 days. The minute I unlocked the front doors and stepped into hallway, it felt like putting on a pair of favourite, old sneakers. I knew I finally arrived home... with or without sneakers on :)

Das ilhas, as mais belas e livres: Madeira

2011-04-23T15:31:00.000+02:00

I was going through my blog-posting-plan another day (yes – I have a “plan”... it’s just a bunch of notes scattered over my planner cause of my tendency to forget things) and realised that I haven’t blogged about Madeira... it’s time to correct that :)

A friend of ours went to Madeira two years ago and when he came back he was thrilled with everything there: food, wines, nature... So, last year, when the question of our honeymoon location emerged, Madeira popped to my mind and stayed there.

Madeira is located 1,000 km from the European continent in North Atlantic Ocean so it took us forever to get there. We were situated at Funchal (which we practically saw only at night time because every day we went on a different tour):

On our first day trip we passed through Câmara de Lobos, traditional fishing village which inspired Sir Winston Churchill to paint:

Our next stop of the day was Cabo Girão – highest cliff in Europe. At the cliff’s foot, we were amazed to see a very small area of cultivated land. We learned later on that till 2003. it was accessible only by boat (in August that year a cable car was installed for easier access):

The site that left us speechless was Ponta de São Lorenço at eastern part of the island:

Can you imagine waking up every morning and seeing this? I can...

P.S. This is our way of taking pictures “of us” on our travels – it is called “method of right or left hand” – you never know which part of you will be cut of :)

We also went to Porto Moniz were natural bathing pools are situated (I have forgotten to take my bathing suit (of course) so I watched Tomislav swimm...). They are filled by the tide with crystal clear sea water every day:

Did I mention the excellent food at Madeira? If I had to choose one thing, it would be Bolo do Caco - their traditional bread with butter and garlic and herbs...

I think Tomislav's choice would be espetada:

If you wanna know what it feels like to sail on a 15^th century boat, you can take a half day trip on Santa Maria – replica of the Columbus’ ship. Since I have “an issue” with boats and open sea (and refuse to go on them if not absolutely necessary) we watched it from the shore:

Since we love to hike, we went on an 11 kilometres long walking tour called “Rabacal and the 25 fountains” along the "levadas". “Levadas“ are open canal system that where developed from the early 16th century with a purpose to distribute water from the rainfall heavy and wet regions on the north of the island to the drier sun parched regions of the south. The water is so clean and so cold in “levadas” that trout lives in them:

Every town on island has a church and a walking trail along the coast (this was taken at Ribeira Brava):

On our last day we went on a day trip to island of Porto Santo to enjoy 9 kilometres long sandy beach. It took us 2 and a half hours to get there with ferry but it was worth it:

If you ever have the opportunity to go to Madeira – grab it... You won’t be sorry...
I know I wanna go there again one day...

#74. check and mark!

2011-04-20T10:14:00.003+02:00

#74. Purchase Canon Speedlite Flash

I just love web shops – you make yourself a cup of coffee, sit in front of your computer (wearing sweatshirt) and shop till you drop. The only precondition is that you know exactly what you want... and I knew which flash I wanted for a long time now. So, yesterday I ordered it and was surprised when it arrived early in the morning today! Manual of 100 pages with tinniest font ever...

Now all I need to do is figure out flash photography :)

Cutest little man called Ivor

2011-04-19T23:24:00.008+02:00

Last Sunday I met the cutest little man named Ivor – this is his story:

Last Christmas my parents got an early gift – me!

I was born on December 22nd – 50 centimetres and 3,2 kg of pure bliss; and in three days I will be 4 months old. Even before I was born, I had my first skiing lesson (cause both of my parents are passionate skiers) and swimming lesson. I spend my days with my mom and my dad. She graduated in Psychology and travelled a lot (Spain, Ghana, Nepal...) and he plays a guitar in a band and loves to cook.

They call me “Cobra” cause I’m trying to raise up all the time:

To see more of me CLICK HERE or watch the video below :)

Maestro, jazz away!

2011-04-17T20:47:00.000+02:00

Listening to Zdenko Ivanušić and his quartet perform yesterday I completely agreed with Art Blakey who said “Jazz washes away the dust of everyday life”. To be honest, it wasn’t the best day for me yesterday - it was one of those days when you wanna crown under your blanket and just stay there...

The organizer of Friday’s photography workshop invited me to come again yesterday and I was seriously considering not going. At that point, my dearest husband “snapped” (cause I “bore” him with photography every day... how I need to practice... and how I don’t have enough opportunities... and so on...) and literally forced me to go. For that – I thank him...

Here are the results:

All that jazz...

2011-04-16T16:23:00.006+02:00

During April, JAZZart (society for promotion of jazz music and culture) organised ZG JAM (Jazz Appreciation Month). Numbers of jazz concerts are held all over the city, lectures are also held regarding the link between jazz and literature, you could see a concert of Ella Fitzgerald and visit the exhibition of photographs regarding jazz...
Association OMNIBUS organised series of free small workshops photographing some of the concerts (called ZG JAM survivor photo hunting) and I was lucky enough to participate in yesterday session. We started at Bacchus Jazz Bar where Valerija Nikolovska Standard Time band was playing:

Then we moved to Ex Kinoteka where Maja Savić and her Jazz Ensemble jazzed the house:

I’m going again today – can’t wait!

THE dog

2011-04-12T20:53:00.000+02:00

You know those debates: are you a dog person or a cat person?

Well, I’m a dog person 200%. Love dogs and had two dog so far: one half-breed dog (with whom I shared my ice-cream when I was little (fact: I don’t share my ice-cream with anybody... so you know just how much I loved him) and one Pekingese when I was 10 (my parents gave him away and I carried out a hunger strike for two days)... and can’t wait to have my own dog again.

I have doubts about the breed but, so far, Siberian husky holds first place.

At least he did until I met Mouse last Sunday. I have absolutely no idea what breed of dog it was but I fell in love the first moment I saw him:

After I bothered him, petted him and photographed him for half an hour, he gave me this look and I knew I had to leave him alone:

Mouse, till next time... :D

#26. check and mark!

2011-04-10T23:53:00.002+02:00

#26. Take a photography portrait course

My weekend’s “mark/main-theme” was photography. I watched free-2 days-online photo course "Building your Wedding Photography Business with Jasmine Star" and I attended my last class of portrait photography course. We went on o ranch and photographed horses; love them from the first second I saw them - beautiful, graceful animals...

All in all, I am indescribable tired (think I slept 8 hours in total or less) but at the same time, my mind is bursting with ideas and questions and dilemmas...

More Luck than Brains... (or, how I stumbled upon a free online photo course "Building your Wedding Photography Business with Jasmine Star")

2011-04-09T18:23:00.000+02:00

There is a saying that describes me quite well today: More Luck than Brains... Let me explain why...

Have I ever mentioned before how much I love Jasmine Star - International Wedding Photographer?!? No? Well, I do. I love her. Love her work. Love her approach to business. Love the way she is constantly evolving and working on herself. Love absolutely everything.

I have a Saturday's ritual – I wake up early, make myself a cup of coffee turn on my computer and read blogs I follow... it’s a “starting point” of my weekend. Imagine my surprise when I read post titled Join me today for a free online photo course (at creativeLIVE) on Jasmines blog.

1.000 questions flashed my mind in a second... How do I enrol? Am I too late? Will there be a rewind? How could I miss information like that? But, LUCKY me - it has just began... I was glued to my computer for the last seven hours absorbing her every word (and boy, she can talk) - her tips and tricks, advices, experiences... her mindset is simply mind-blowing...

I felt like Christmas came early this year. My husband told me I look like the cat that ate the canary.

Soon Session 2 will begin – can’t wait :)

I {heart} spring

2011-04-06T11:00:00.012+02:00

It’s official! The spring is here! And there are soooo many things I love about spring :D

The S U N (I get cranky when its cloudy for two days), the smell of freshly cut grass, the blossoming flowers, the longer days (the sun sets after 7:00 PM), my leather jacket (I finally pulled out of the closet), sitting in the morning sun and drinking coffee, not having 10 layer of cloths on when going out, working in my garden, riding a bicycle, having a picnic... so many things to do in springtime :)

Bokeh...

2011-04-05T00:16:00.002+02:00

...that wonderful blur... the perfect description of my state of mind right now... I should be focusing on my studies and writing my master thesis but that is out-of-focus area for me tonight...

#44. check and mark!

2011-04-03T13:28:00.008+02:00

#44. Clean out my closet

I realised something while fulfilling my goal number 44: in my past life I must have been a hamster or a squirrel or any other animal that keeps every-single-thing from 15 years ago... You wouldn’t believe the things I found in the dark corners of my closet...

I love jeans – a girl can never have too much jeans... in two pairs I can’t even breathe but since I started to work out again, it’s just a matter of time... :)

I loooove scarves... have 15 scarves and that’s not nearly enough...when we went to Egypt, I came back with 5 scarves and till this day I think I should have bought more...

You know what is the best thing about cleaning your closet? Seeing what’s missing, making a list and sailing away into shopping sunset :)

In my case the list is quite long: jeans jacket, Beige Converse, flat black ballet shoes, cream patent brogues, couple of T-shirts with prints, 2-3 summer dresses, new bathing suit, at least one new scarf, shorts jeans pants...and it goes on and on...

10.000 (Hour) Rule

2011-04-02T00:47:00.000+02:00

Last week I finished two good reads: “The Last Harem” (by Peter Prange) and “Outliers: The Story of Success” (by Malcolm Gladwell). I also did some research on Henri Cartier-Bresson - one of the greatest photographers of the Twentieth Century.

Interesting thing that two authors mention (Gladwell and Cartier-Bresson) is the 10,000 (Hour) Rule. Henri Cartier-Bresson said that “your first 10,000 photographs are your worst” while Gladwell claims that the key to success (among other things) is a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours...

So, that would mean I should spend about three hours a day over the next ten years on my photo-taking-passion...

And what’s 3 hours in a 24 hours day?

#26. in progress! (week 6)

2011-03-29T22:51:00.006+02:00

#26. Take a photography portrait course

Till now, I missed only one class of my portrait photography course...and was very cranky cause of that...

I saw what they did yesterday on the forum and have to admit – some pretty amazing photographs were made :)

A colleague from the class drew out attention to Howard Schatz last Sunday – a fine art, fashion, and celebrity photographer who came up with a simple yet brilliant idea: to place actors in a series of roles and dramatic situations which will reveal the essence of their characters. He published a book with that premise (In Character: Actors Acting) and continued the tradition for the pages of Vanity Fair. Check it out – a.m.a.z.i.n.g!

To return to the “main” topic, our assignment two days ago was to capture the dynamic of the movement in portrait photography together with hair lightning. I have to admit, I`m not quite pleased with my results...

I could have told them to make different faces or to move more or I could have position hair light differently... Could have - didn`t - no point in crying over spilled milk... practice, practice, practice!

What do you think?

#10. check and mark!

2011-03-28T14:18:00.002+02:00

#10. Learn how to ski

I`m back! And guess what? I can ski! I don’t have the speed or technique of our Janica Kostelić but I can get/ski down any green and blue ski run :)

I wanted to take my camera with me sooo badly, but I decided not to because what if I fell during skiing (and that happened over and over again) and broke my camera?! No-no-no-no... and since I wanted to somehow photo-record my “journey” I downloaded Hipstamatic - a digital photography application for the iPhone with a analog touch. I loooveee it!

So, it took us 17 hours with bus to our destination - Tignes resort, France.

All furniture in our condo had heart shaped handles :)

Everything had a “ski-mark” on it - even lamps had small skiers on top:

After the first day of ski school (ESF Tignes Ski School), the person who invented ski-boots wasn’t my favourite person on the world (and that’s an understatement) and I couldn’t wait to sit down and unstrap them:

Since espace killy Tignes/Val d’Isère ski area offers 159 runs stretched over 300 kilometres, you have to know where you are and where you wanna go all the time (or you’ll get lost). Luckily for me, I had my own personal living-and-breathing GPS :

All the breaks are welcomed with open arms...

Healthy ski life :)

I really enjoyed riding in a chairlifts – you sit, relax, there is no noise but skiers and chairlift, beautiful scenery all around...

If you wanna ski, you have to eat properly...

...and rest after lunch...

(p.s. this is the person “to blame” for my accomplishment of this goal – without him, the idea of learning to ski would have never crossed my mind...)

...overlooking the valley:

My super-ski-woman-friends...

...and I - chilling the last day and enjoying the sun:

Till next year... ;)

Gargamel on skis...

2011-03-17T10:25:00.001+01:00

One of my 101 goals is learning how to ski… I went skiing once before but it didn`t went quite well…

We went to Nassfeld (Austria) and the first day was simply beautiful – sun was shining, it was warm, we enrolled me in ski-school...on the second day, all hell broke loose – it started to snow (blizzard would be more appropriate description), fog came down, half of the ski paths were closed...terrible conditions and weather for a first time skier – and those conditions continued through all week...

I didn’t like it at all...

So, why I´m ready to give it another try? Well, all my friends ski, my husband ski, and they are going every year – with or without me. Yesterday, while making a list of things to take with us, I realised something. In this story, I am Gargamel (if you ever watched The Smurfs, you know who I talking about). He is always chasing the Smurfs and they always get away – just like I’m trailing behind my friends on skies... Every time they escape him, he is yelling after them “I'll catch you; even though that’s the last thing I’ll do...”.

This year, my mantra is: I’ll learn how to ski...even though that’s the last thing I’ll do... ;)