9:14AM

Salty and Snow

We haven’t had much snow here in Toronto this winter, so when I went to Ottawa I thought I’d have better luck with getting some salty snow pictures. Unfortunately they were coming out of a warm spell the week before so that was unsuccessful. While there I went for a bit of a hike in the hills of Gatineau Park. There I found snow and salty was mesmerized by the view. Though he was walking around with a bit of snow on his head.

Salty has Snow on Head
1:28PM

Punta Canada…

Yes you read correctly. I thought I was hearing things when at the airport when the announcers kept calling it Punta Canada. I guess a lot of Canadians go there during this time of year so it’s been given that cute play on names.  Vacation, what is that. I rarely take one, a real one. Typically I go away for a weekend to see friends, mostly w here I can drive. I suppose this wasn’t really a true vacation. The purpose was to take photos for a wedding. But when in a place for 8 days and the wedding is just one, I would have to say it’s more vacation than work. 

The weather… Gorgeous.  The food…Delicious.  The experience…Amazing.  I’ve never been one to really do the whole all inclusive thing, but I think from now on I must give it greater thought.  It was just so great. I am the type to go exploring into the nooks and crannies of places, but sometimes having everything planned out and ready for you to use just makes life easier. 

The scenery. I was able to wander a bit, through excursions.  I took many a photo of that wonderful place. I need to go back, perhaps walk around the actual city a bit more.  Here are a few choice photos from the collection. The images from the wedding will be displayed shortly. What an amazing wedding it was! I can’t wait to go through it all. 



Saona Island

Catamaran

The City, Punta Cana

Motor Bikes
11:53AM

Korea 2011....

As I was updating my daily photo blog (sorry again, I’ve been so bad with keeping that up to date) I realized that I never did post anything regarding my amazing trip to Seoul, South Korea.

The entire trip was somewhat last minute. Somewhat is a bit of an understatement.  I was talked into going by a friend who used unusual means of persuasion. Apparently constantly yelling “koreeaaaa” for 4 days straight whenever they saw me online or in person was enough for me to buy a ticket to Seoul for 11 days.  This was 2 weeks before actually leaving for the city.   Everything seemed to fall in line. Sales on tickets. Friends in the city. A friend going as well. Money situation.  You only live once. So I went.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect given I’ve never been anywhere out of north America in recent memory. Trips when I was younger with parents don’t seem to be very memorable. Definitely haven’t gone anywhere during my photographic interest history. I’ve heard a lot about asian cities and what to expect so I began preparation.  In those two weeks I created my usual robust document of everything about the city that may have been interesting to me. Of course I never do get to see everything in that document (in one visit) but it’s just nice to be prepared. I also picked up some tid-bits of Korean which was tremendously helpful since most of my time there would be spent wandering alone.

Seoul blew my mind.  The busy city feel is an understatement. I was also terribly efficient and seemed to put Toronto to shame (which in my mind isn’t too hard when it comes to transit especially).  The people were very nice to foreigners and were extremely helpful. Most of the signs are in English as well, usually in the Romanized form so that was very helpful.  My document guide came in very helpful since I had an idea of where things were before I had to go to them.  I did get lost, but that’s part of the fun of being in a foreign city, it’s how you really discover a place.  That’s also why I chose not to go to other areas of korea. I really wanted to feel Seoul. I wanted to feel what it felt like communing from Ilsan (a suburb) to the city with the business folk and other travelers going downtown to work.  I think I was able to obtain this goal and really wish I could’ve stayed longer.

Without going into day by day details I was successful at experiencing various aspects of Korean life and culture.  From teaching at a public school (where apparently I was a star) to traveling downtown during rush our squeezing myself into public transit.  I saw as many palaces as I could as well as wandered most districts that are “notable” in tourists eyes during different times of the day.  I was able to “get lost” (several times on purpose) in the city several times so I could explore without having a final destination, order food in the native language as well as help other tourists who were having trouble (because I apparently looked like I knew where I was going).

I would without a heartbeat go again if circumstances allowed.  Now onto what this blog usually is about. Photography. The amount of opportunities for “everyday Korean life” photos was staggering but I limited myself. I have several thousand photos from my trip but have really only been able to just dip into a few. I’m sure as the years pass I’ll go through them more and more when I want to remember that great trip. For now I’ve gone over a few and chosen about 100 to post. The weather wasn’t a photographic dream, it was fall so the colours were nice, however the rain during the first part of the trip wasn’t fantastic. Overall the array of photos I have are from typical tourist to just wandering the inner streets of Seoul.

Anyhow here are a few photos. My daily photo blog will showcase nearly all of them (if I remember to update!) along with other photos inserted from trips and everyday adventures.



Ilsan Street

Annie

Gyeongbokgung Palace

From Above

Insadong

Side Street

1:58PM

Salty Goes to the Beach....

I was lucky enough to find myself in the Dominican Republic this past January while photographing a wedding for a friend. The resort we stayed in was phenomenal and i highly recommend the Majestic Elegance in terms of facility and quality of service. Anyhow, enough with the promo. The wedding was set along the bluest ocean i've seen while on the white sands of the beach in Punta Cana. Those photos will be coming up as i start going through them. Till then i shall post photos of my little muse. Salty of course went with me and this is how he vacations:


Salty does the Beach

Salty plays in the White Sands of Punta Cana

Salty at Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia
11:02AM

Salty goes to Seoul…

A month ago I made a short trip to Seoul, South Korea. Salty came along of course! During the course of events he took a few photos of his adventures!!!

Ps. More seoul pics to come! =)



Salty Crosses the Cheonggyecheon Stream

Salty meeting Gyeongbokgung Palace Guard

Salty at Gyeongbokgung Palace
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