I had the tour bus driver pull over to the side of the road so that I could get out and snap a photo of these donkeys. How cute are they??? Did you know that comparatively and weight for weight, donkeys are stronger than horses? I had no idea. They look so much gentler and less muscular. It’s actually quite common to use donkeys rather than horses to do heavylifting in the farms. This photo was taken during our road trip from Arenal to Manuel Antonio.
Boy, the first day back to work from a vacation is always a battle. The brain is simply not in full operation. I am also resuming my GMAT studies today – oh the joy! I pray to God that all that I have learned and taught myself in the last 3 months have not escaped me over this 8-day break – that would be excruciating.
My travel experience in Costa Rica has topped all of my other travels. It was inspiring and exhilarating and filled with new experiences. We woke up no later than 6:00am every day to see all that we could see in this beautiful country and went to bed no later than 9:00pm to be well rested for the next day’s adventures. This is the only way to travel because it’s the only way to experience every ounce of goodness that a new place in the world has to show and offer you. I took over 1,600 photos in one week – I think this trip is the beginning of the National Geographic edition of my photography – I can’t wait to share all of them with you. I’ll blog more about individual adventures as I post photos relevant to those adventures.
The photo below is of me and my love at the Tocori Falls. We rode beautiful Costa Rican horses to get to a trail in the jungle (and I mean a serious jungle), then hiked up the trail to arrive at the falls, where we bathed, swam, and took photos. There are only so many words you can use to describe experiences like this and it’s really quite hard to express the magnificence of it all. It is the very reason that I take as many photos as I do because I believe that photos and words together bring you as close to the experience as you can get.
It’s tradition! I’ve traveled every summer for the past 5 years and this luggage has seen many places with me. Inspiration, happiness, and open-mindedness are found in traveling. For me anyways. And I mean real traveling: out and about at 7am on walking tours type of traveling, not the lounging on a beach, drinking and partying type.
I’m going on a rugged adventure in Costa Rica, covering San Jose, Arenal, and Manuel Antonio. It’s my first time in Central America. My love and I are horseback riding, white water rafting, canopying, and touring a national park. No rest for the wicked!
I’ll be back in a week with photos of volcanoes, rain forests, wild animals, and all that awesome stuff. Be right back!
My girl Andrea and I went out for a short and sweet photoshoot a few evenings ago because we needed a fix. So here’s a new self portrait with my bike. I do realize that I’m over-killing the bike photos at the moment. =P
Finally, an official photo of my beautiful Dutch bicycle. Available on Etsy. I’m taking her for a ride by the lake downtown this afternoon, with my love of course.
I received my first canvas order and so I printed my first canvas photograph and it is really quite grand. It has brought the artwork to life in a whole new way. I’ve added canvas listings to my shop, currently available for 8x10s, 8x12s, 16x20s, and 16x24s. They are shipped ready to hang, gallery wrapped, and beautiful. :) I am hooked myself and have an urge to send in a whole bunch of photographs to be printed on canvas just for the heck of it.
I’ve been watching a lot of Shark’s Tank lately – the show fascinates me to no end. I love the business intelligence / acumen of both the sharks and the entrepreneurs, and I just love the creativity in the new product ideas and have a genuine appreciation for it. I’ve always had admiration for entrepreneurs. I can even prove it to you with an old post here, where I raved about Ryerson University-bred entrepreneurs. And here I am, raving about entrepreneurs yet again. I admire them because they are not only able to think of a great idea but they make it come to life, too. All too often we sit on ideas that never reach the point of execution. Having said that, I think I’ve executed quite a bit since my post here about how I am going to start selling prints on Etsy. There is an infinite amount of ways to expand and though I’m moving slowly due to ample of other life commitments, I will expand in baby steps. Prints – check, post cards – check, canvas – check, product photography services – check. Next – tradeshows? Or maybe calendars. Whatever it is, do the work. Don’t be lazy.
My love and I also have a brilliant new product idea in mind (we think it’s brilliant anyway) and I’m determined to make it happen, starting with a business case to present in a patent application. I want to be writing on this very same blog five years from now and be able to point back to this post and say, “I’ve executed.”
Black and white cows are cute. They were standing in perfect formation like this as if they knew I was coming to photograph them and put them up on Etsy to become Celebrity Cows. I love the countryside. It’s so beautiful.
and this magnificent Toronto skyline (with a flawless backdrop of clear blue skies and puffy white clouds) was right in front of me, like it was begging to be photographed. And here it is. Available on Etsy. I’ve had quite a few requests for the Toronto skyline, so I hope this one does it for you!
I did love being among Soccer fans – they’re quite the rowdy energizer bunnies and they make the experience. My heart melted for the red and white and the beautifully Canadian-dressed BMO field sitting picture perfectly in front of the Toronto skyline. It’s rare for me to feel patriotic in this country (maybe because I’m not Canadian-born), unless triggered by an emotional event or when my breath is momentarily taken away when I stop to see just how beautiful this place is, but an event like this with the setting, the people, the colours, and the stadium, made it all too easy to feel patriotic, especially on Canada Day weekend. The only other sport I’ve seen live quite a few times is basketball, which I also like. But what I’d really like to see is American football, mostly because the photography would be wild.
Anyway, I have a million things to do today. How I reminisce to the old days when I had time to be ‘bored’ on weekends. Those days are long gone, but Happy Canada Day to all!
Nothing beats photography in the sunset. It’s just magical. I’ve managed to post photos and blog recently despite still processing Etsy orders and studying after work. Speaking of which – I gotta go into nerd mode and solve some math problems right now. It’s all starting to click and I’m feeling more confident about the exam.
Hi, Charlene Precious here! Welcome to my blog that is both a life journal told with words and photographs and an evolving portfolio. I'm thrilled to be able to share my work and my world with you, so thank you for following! (Read more)
Portfolio
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