VENICE | PHOTOS LONG OVERDUE

There is no place in the world that is quite like Venice – in my opinion it is one of the crowning jewels of Europe and while it has had a lot of “changes” and “upgrades” I still feel that the city as a whole has stayed true to its heritage and upon setting foot in the city, you are immediately transported to a place you feel you’ve only ever seen in a dream… or a movie at best.

Unfortunately I was only in Venice for a few hours – we got in from Prague at 5 in the morning, slept until 9 and then headed out to meet up with some friends before catching a cruise to Greece leaving at 2:00 pm.

I tried to make up in quality what I lacked in time – so enjoy the pictures!

-Andrew J

I was SO sure this was the Basilica … nope… sure wasn’t.

And I thought this was the Rialto … wrong again.

It’s really not fair how beautiful Venice is. Like – at all.

And I’m 99% sure the light is prettier there as well.

What’s a trip to Venice without spotting a gondola?

It was pretty cool to sail out of Venice on the cruise because I got some fantastic elevated shots from the water I would not have been able to get otherwise.

Does it make me a little OCD that all I’m noticing is that my camera lens is a little dirty here?

There’s Tyler!

Oh just another beautiful structure on a beautiful island in Venice.  Reminds me of The Tourist!

No idea what was happening here, but it was PACKED!

One of my favorite shots of the day.

The houses out on the islands were absolutely humongous!

Okay – that does it – going back now!

PRAGUE | PHOTOS LONG OVERDUE

Prague! Had to go there a second time since when I went there the first time, being… well… eleven… I don’t think I really appreciated the city for what it is. The only thing I could think of was how many hills there were to climb to the “best views” and how much walking the city required.

All told – I had less than 22 hours in Prague (including sleep), so I had to hit the highlights quickly and make sure I got the most bang for that 22 hours I possibly could.

Though the day was very overcast, something about that just really worked with the city – especially for photos! I feel like viewing Prague in sunlight just wouldn’t look as good, but who knows.

On to the photos! Hope you are having a great weekend!

-Andrew J.

First goal for the day – the castle atop Prague. Best views of the city in my opinion and walking around that area I feel really gives you a feel for Prague.

A great view of Prague from the castle in the first photo

The statues on the St. Charles Bridge are amazing! This is one of my favorite photos that I took that day.
I really wished I had more time to frame this shot up with the entrance to the bridge – but there were just too many people and the bride and groom were HAULING lol. Never the less, I still like the photo 🙂

Arguably my favorite picture of the day — it just really says “Prague” to me lol. Seems like spies could be exchanging secrets on the bridge behind me as I took this.Another kinda cool moment – while walking across another bridge to get wide shots of St. Charles I looked down and noticed that these art students were sketching the bridge and the statues. I have to say… their classroom beats those in the US.

And of course – a wide shot of the St. Charles Bridge!

The sun went down rather quickly and I found myself really feeling like I was in Eastern Europe… a little sketch at times lol. However, even amidst the kind of creepy vibe of the empty streets, I thought it was still really beautiful!

NO idea how they cooked this “steak” but it was seriously the MOST delicious dish of the entire trip. The steak itself was great, but the sauteed vegetables under the steak were absolutely amazing!!!

Finally – the morning view from my hostel before leaving for Venice to catch the boat to Greece! Next two installments, coming up ;)!

WHAT I’VE BEEN UP TO | MICHAEL ANTHONY PHOTOGRAPHY

Well I see it’s been like 60+ days since my last post… or something ridiculous like that.

Epic fail.

Business has been SO good I’m extremely grateful, and I’ve finally brought on help to the point I feel I’m beginning to be able to actually enjoy what I’ve been working for and reclaim my life some.

Anywho – in the meantime, I’m starting to regain a little bit of a love for clothes again (now that I have time to dress in more than a t-shirt and shorts), and thus I’ve been shooting with Michael Anthony Photography some more. Here are a few pics from our recent shoots.

I have to admit, the shoot I did with the other model, I was pretty intimidated about and went on a workout and weight gain binge as he had 30 lbs on me easy and is only 18! Oh yeah — since I last wrote, I’ve turned 23 😉 haha.

Hope you’ve all been well readers!

-Andrew J

Not sure I’m super crazy about this one, but I like something about it.

Black and White Makes Everything Better.

A very brief collection of recent photographs I’ve taken for my photography class… and some for fun.

and my new gorgeous horse, Montenegro or “Oscar”… Oscar de La Renta of course ..

marisa.

THE ROAD TO LOS ANGELES

Hey all! I know, I know I keep apologizing for being such a bad blogger and not blogging much, but I’m reaaaaly going to try and fix that. It will help a lot that I have a TON of pictures to blog about now that I just got back from a week long trip to LA yesterday. Today I’m moving a little slow, I’m still on Pacific time (and for some reason was wide awake at 6 am…) but I’m rebounding.

So gonna post the pics as they happened; day 1- the drive to LA! Yes, it’s a lot of scenery, but enjoy it anyhow ha. Hope you have had a great week!
-Andrew J

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JENNIFER HOPPA

Hey guys! Okay so in the midst of working on the (late) weekend recap post… and watching Glee (don’t judge me). I got equally distracted by Facebook and stumbled onto some pictures that one of my friends, Jennifer Hoppa took recently and they are so amazing I had to share! She has an amazing eye, and the way she edits them left me having a bit of a visual orgasm. So hopefully you enjoy them as much as I did. I will have the (now two day) late weekend recap up tomorrow!
-Andrew J

 P.S. Jenn, if you made some of these into prints, I would totally buy an entire wall full of them! Think it over…

Cosmic Cafe in Dallas! Miss Marisa introduced me to this place first.
This one is my favorite!
My seester
Meow
Isn’t she pretty?

STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES

While on sabbatical from blogging, Mother’s Day took place. So I made my usual trek up to Claremore and enjoyed it with my family. When I got to Claremore I was AMAZED… there has GOT to be something in the water up there because everywhere I looked in the town, absolutely every single rose bush was exploding with buds! It was the most beautiful I think I’ve ever seen the town look. So of course, I got snap happy with my camera using my mother’s roses as my subject. Even as I type this, I can smell roses from somewhere outside through my window. Enjoy the pics, hope you’re having a good week!
-Andrew J

Didn’t I do a good job having someone… I mean… wrapping my mom’s present :)?
Atttttractive Joy…

But she had a cool ring so I’ll forgive it ha.
My mother felt moved by a song and grabbed the puppies and began dancing and spinning around the family room… People wouldn’t believe what goes on in our house if it weren’t true.
As a tradition, we each always give her a rose bush on Mother’s Day. She is smelling the one I gave to her.

AN EVENING AT THE CARNIVAL

The night I went to the Norman Music Festival, I also spent some time walking through the little strip of carnival festivities. You want to talk about some great material for photography! Anywho, just a few pics, but I liked all of them so here they are. Hope you have a really great weekend, and stay safe!
-Andrew J

NORMAN MUSIC FESTIVAL

Not much to say about this. I think it was the third year for the fest, but my first to attend. Didn’t stay an incredibly long time, but there was rich material for photos. So I’ll let them do the talking. Hope you are having a great week :)!
-Andrew J

Clothes from Dallas. LOVE my new shorts 🙂
My favorite resident Norman rockstar- Jacob Abello
The mainstage, these guys were… … … Oh I dont’ know who they are.
I thought it was funny, these three friends were wearing almost the exact same hats.
I swear, everyone was wearing a headband!
I think some of the medieval fair crowd got mixed in
My favorite picture! I hope (wearing sparkles and a boa) she was a performer, but who knows haha.
This guy was like 6’6 at least!
Z Z Tops is that you?

I’m Baaaaaaaackkkkk

Hey All!

I have been on  an informal hiatus from blogging. Mostly because communting to school at the Art Institute takes up a ton of time…..Okay you’re right, thats a lame excuse.

I have been having the time of my life at AI of Washington. Seriously, proprietary schools get a bad rap…I was really worried that the school wouldn’t be “good enough” but I have learned more than I have in the past three years at GOOD liberal arts colleges.  Moving on…

Thursday night a couple of my friends and I headed out to lunch in Rosslyn between classes then trekked to Crystal City for  a fashion show.  A six day fashion extravaganza featuring the themes “Jungle, Jeans, Tats and Tees (Tease)”.

There were mini facials and body art demos available in-between shows along with 12-15 vendors displaying their jewelry, dresses, bags, organic Ts, etc.

Although I forgot to get my photographer’s pass, they still let me shoot in the photographer’s area at the end of the runway, which was nice of them considering there were 50 kagillion of us.

Enjoy!

(marisa)

*ps. I am surviving an east coast blizzard, so the internet has a life of its own these days… snow pics coming soon 🙂

Me, Sarah, and Brooke 🙂

West Potomac Academy

Brand of the Free and Blind Addikton