We drove for 2.5 hours to find the Folmar windmill. It’s supposed to be North America’s only wind-driven sawmill and grist mill, modeled after a famous Dutch windmill called the Arend. It’s so beautiful. The only other place that you’ll surely see windmills like this is in Holland (sparingly in other places). I love road-tripping in and around Ontario and finding gems. It’s gas dollars well-spent. :)
I’m not going to talk about school for once. Although I am in class.
This is for my fellow photographers. As you may know, the Canon EOS 70D has launched, and she is quite the catch. A bigger catch than my amazing (but old) 7D, whom I still love dearly. But since the new 70D is a big deal, you’ll probably want to check out the EOS 70D Fantasy Kit contest on Facebook. The Fantasy Kits include the EOS 70D, an L-Series lens, a Manfrotto tripod, memory cards, and a Tamrac camera bag – cue hallelujah chorus. Along the way, you get to identify with a photography style and pick from a series of mind-blowing L-Series lenses that best suit your needs. Uhhh, so enter already! :)
Honestly, I used an L-Series lens in Jamaica and it delivered some seriously sharp images, they can cut through your eyes. If you’ve never thought about them, or don’t know what they are, look into it and figure out a way to try one (unless you’re too afraid to get hooked ;)).
I’m trying to get started on my accounting case study but keep getting distracted by Jamaica photos so I caved and am blogging instead. Here’s Chris and I under the Caribbean Sea. :) Hats off to waterproof point-and-shoot cameras! We accidentally left the battery of our Canon D20 at home and had to borrow a friend’s waterproof camera instead. I beat myself up the whole time I couldn’t take more underwater pictures. It was a shame.
Alright, I really have to get working. Have a super-fantastic Canada Day long weekend!
The photo would not be the same without the all-American boy in his patriotic swimming shorts. I love accidental captures like these. If that boy had not made his way into my picture, it would’ve just been the sand pails and castles, which would not have made as interesting of a photo.
Despite my insanely busy life and with days where I feel like crying from overwhelming workload, I’m in an amazing place. I love my job. I love photography so much and I get to spend boardroom discussions strategizing and figuring out how to get people to buy cameras and fall in love with this beautiful craft. There is nothing more fitting. The passion will always be there.
I’m sitting in class waiting for my turn to deliver a presentation. I am pleasantly surprised with everyone’s presentation abilities and how comfortable they are speaking in front of people – they are very, very good! This is definitely not undergrad anymore and I don’t think I’ll ever see another crappy presentation.
We sunbathed endlessly and ate like we had just survived a famine.
We went snorkelling but didn’t see too many fish. This is my second time snorkelling and still no fish. What’s up with that?
We joined hands with hundreds of people and climbed 960 ft. up the Dunn’s River Falls like this. Your speed and ability is completely dependent on the person in front of and behind you. It was like team building with strangers. Our tour guide was named Bling Bling and avidly wanted to be addressed by that name. I don’t really understand but that’s okay.
We went out to the town. We walked by foot around the parameters and then went by car to what they called the “ghetto” neighbourhoods to see how people lived. The most interesting bit was that many of the houses were halfway to completion. The first level is built with a bunch of steel / wood / building materials sitting idle on the rooftop to add on to the house when time and money permits. I got a few pictures but was hesitant to snap away freely in case the dwellers got angry. In town, we came across a man who offered to walk around with us for a small payment. Being under the impression that going off the resort is “dangerous”, we figured we’d let him come along for our own peace of mind. His name was Big Papa. It felt weird every time you addressed him by such a name. “Hey, Big Papa, can we stop to take a picture?” Big Papa wore this giant golden chain around his neck. He says he “runs the block” and no one else around is called Big Papa and as we walked around, many gave him “props” and he seemed to be quite popular. We felt safe with Big Papa.
Two photos here. The first one is of seashells that our friend Kevin found under the Caribbean Sea. The other is a selfie just after we finished the Dunn’s River Falls climb and before hopping onto the Catamaran.
Back from Jamaica! These two love birds are now hitched. :) They had the most perfect and beautiful wedding.
I have to buckle down and work on Accounting now, but will be back with some new travel photography and will chat a bit more about the trip. There isn’t much to take photos of in a resort so you have to get a little bit creative. I did go out to the town despite hearing that it’s dangerous. And as it turns out, it didn’t feel dangerous at all. A lot of hustling? Yes. But dangerous in broad daylight? Not really. More like inspiring and eye-opening.
This vacation will be a test of discipline – there is so much work on the go. It’s ironic because the trips I usually go on are those that are packed with activities and adventures – up at 7am doing 8-hour walking tours, climbing up castles, rafting among raging rapids, going off the beaten path, and whatever else. This one’s my first all-inclusive resort trip, which is infamous for lounging, relaxing, and doing absolutely nothing but bake in the sun. I struggled with the idea of a beach-lounging trip for ever and ever and was worried that this wasn’t going to be an activity-packed trip. As it turns out, although not activity-packed, it’s homework-packed. I’ve made a day-to-day schedule of school work that needs to be accomplished – nerd alert, I know. Good lord. I usually do better “BRB” shots than this, but this is as good as it’s going to get right now. I’m completely tapped out.
You need a selfie every now and then. You know what I really want to buy? The Canon Selphy printer. It’s the cutest little $100 machine that prints wicked 4x6s. On another note, we were at a dinner party last night for Mike and Jean and it was a serious blast. We danced the night away – the prequel to Jamaica. :) I have to buckle down and study now. Boo.
A Photo A Day can’t do anymore. The bee is too busy. How about A Photo A Week? (lol) I’m blogging during my class break. It breaks my heart that it’s the only time I can blog nowadays. I’m drowning in work but I love and hate it at the same time. My trip to Jamaica is in a week and a half and I’m completely not ready for it. Assignments are coming due out the wazoo, which means that my books and all of my work are coming with me. I’m going to take pictures during the day and study/work during the night. This year is a year of sacrifice. Real travel, road trips, countryside bike rides, patio dates, carnivals, and other fun things are all on hold because the serious things have temporarily taken over. Ah, sacrifice.
I’m starting to burn myself out so I’m taking a night off from studying. I’m still going to do some light reading because God knows how guilty I’d feel otheriwse, and then I’ll put my feet up for a movie. The MBA program is definitely fast paced with a heavy workload and with full days of work at the same time, it gets a little crazy around here. I’m looking forward to completing this semester so that it actually feels like I’m accomplishing something. We are almost 5 weeks in and at the halfway mark but it certainly just feels like endless days of work and the light at the end of the tunnel is still miles away. Enormous and complicated deliverables await me.
I do realize that the name of this blog is getting more inaccurate by the day. With this much going on, it is impossible to post a photo and blog on a daily basis. Those were the old days. I do intend on tweaking the name but I can’t seem to come up with anything mildly decent. If you have any suggestions, please pass them along. I’d be happy to take your lead. :)
