Last weekend, Andy & I left Cape Cod for a weekend in the Berkshires. It was partly a celebration of the 15th Anniversary of our first meeting. But, it was also a chance to steal away for some inspiration before the rush of the wedding season descends upon us.

We stayed at this super cute boutique hotel called The Porches, which is leading a revitalization movement in the quaint town of North Adams, home to MOCA (the Museum of Contemporary Art) and one of the reasons we chose to visit the Berkshires.

MOCA…

The museum is exhibiting works by Sol Lewitt, whose approach to art very much reminds me of my super talented husband. Why? Well, Andy is one of those ridiculously gifted people who somehow maximizes the use of his brain by using both sides equally well. You probably didn’t know this about him, but Andy has a Master’s degree in statistics. What? I know; it’s crazy, but true.

Andy at his very core is a left-brain person…aka logical, smarty pants. Yet, and I hate to admit this seeing as though I am more right-brained by nature, but when it comes to thinking creatively and outside the box, I think Andy is the truly gifted one in our team. In the past 10 years, he has tapped into his right brain and well, there’s just no stopping him.

Although I never met him, I have no doubt Sol Lewitt was also one of those left-brain/right-brain geniuses. His artwork takes really simple, logical math-based ideas and pushes the limits to produce some really cool artwork. His work is definitely worth a look. And, if you go to MOCA to see the exhibit, take the tour. Just seeing the work, without some of the background on who Sol Lewitt was won’t allow you to appreciate the exhibit in quite the same way.

Here a woman studies one of the pieces in the exhibit.

Me checking out Sol’s work. Photography actually uses a lot of math principals as well…you might not think so, but it does, and seeing math principals spelled out in a different medium in Sol’s drawings was really inspiring.

The museum was also hosting an exhibit called Material World, which features work by seven artists who created site-specific installations for the museum’s large open spaces in the second and third floor galleries. My favorite was a piece by Tobias Putrih, which was inspired in part by the nearby Hoosac Tunnel. Tobias used what looked like clear fishing wire and pointed spot lights to create a reflective sculpture that invited the spectator to walk down a sort of tunnel of light. As photographers, we’re always looking for the best light and with my new D3S….it was a blast photographing this exhibit. I wasn’t the only one trying to capture the light…

Here a visitor to the museum walks down the virtual tunnel…

Check out my honey and what my new camera can do in low light….loving this camera!

These images were all shot at ISO 1250 (hallelujah!!) F2.8 at 1/60sec. using my D3S and my 28-70 lens.

I love this perspective…

Here’s what Andy was capturing…

A man and his mother experience the tunnel effect. I don’t know why I love this next one so much. I think it’s the opposing energy of the man, his body facing the strings of light as he’s about to move back into the center of it, and the light itself, being forced in the opposite direction by the strings.

Equally as interesting and as cool a use of light was Alyson Shotz’s exhibit which had tiny cylindrical glass beads strung on wire, with hand-cut magnifying glass. Very cool! Andy & my styles are very similar, but subtly different. See for yourself…the first two photographs are my perspective and the second two are Andy’s.

Andy’s perspective…

This next exhibit was a joint collaboration created by Wade Kavanaugh & Stephen B. Nguyen. Again, the piece was created specifically for MOCA’s space. Using thousands of feet of paper, which they variously stack, roll, twist, and drape, they re-created a decaying, old forest. It was like a trip to wonderland that began even in the staircase on the way up to the exhibit…

So cool, right? I just hope they used recycled paper!

Our hotel…

Tulips lined the walkways around the hotel…there is no greater inspiration than that provided by Mother Nature!

The next day we headed into the super cute college town, Williamstown, for a visit to the Clark Art Institute, which is and of itself a work of art.

Here is an oil painting by American John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) called Smoke of Ambergris, which struck us as a beautiful utilization of light and shadow.

This next painting by the Italian artist, Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931), entitled, The Return of the Fishing Boats, was about 4″h x 7″w and the detail was incredible!

It was a great weekend of art & inspiration. I think Andy & I preferred MOCA’s art over Clark’s, which was mainly just oil paintings. Do you have a preference?

This weekend, we hope to take some of the inspiration we garnered from our trip to the Berkshires and put it to good use as we photograph Cape Cod wedding planner extraordinaire, Desiree Spinner, of DSE events. Stay tuned! And, as always, thank you for keeping tabs on us! xo Chris & Andy

To wrap up our final post on our 3-week trip to Panama, we thought we’d end with a little slideshow highlighting some of our favorite moments. A couple of weeks ago, I watched the season finale of Ugly Betty, which I love, and the song that capped off the show and the series was Macy Gray’s new single. I’ve been listening to it non-stop since the show and it seemed the perfect soundtrack to our trip.

Enjoy! Click to see our first, second or most recent posts on Panama. And, as always, thank you for your love and support! If you like what you see here on our blog, we hope you leave us some love. Your comments always bring such joy to our hearts.  Peace! Chris & Andy xo

After exploring Panama’s cities and mountains, Andy & I were ready for some beach time. The guide books talked about Bocas del Toro, a group of six densely forested islands, as being Panama’s principal tourist draw card. This made us a little trepidatious about going there, since we prefer to visit less visited places. But, we ventured to Bocas anyway.

There are some gorgeous places to stay on the less inhabited of the six islands, but we were saving our splurge for San Blas, so we stayed on the main island, Isla Colon, where accommodations were more reasonable, but still overpriced for what they offered.

And, while Bocas wasn’t really our scene, we had a couple of fabulously languorous beach days both on Colon and on the smaller, less inhabited Isla Bastimento, a five minute boat ride away. This next photo was taken at Red Frog Beach, on Bastimento, which has one of the nicer beaches in the archipelago. The beach had tons of tourists later in the day…we got there early to soak in the natural beauty…

We visited Playa Estrellas, Starfish Beach, on our second day in Bocas. It wasn’t a particularly fabulous beach. It was good for children, since it was shallow and very calm, with tons of starfish everywhere. But, there wasn’t much of a shore line for parking your butt. It didn’t really make sense to spend too much time at this beach as there wasn’t much to do or see, so visitors came and left relatively quickly. The woman in the photo had biked all the way from town, which took her 4 hours over muddy, unpaved roads. I’d guess she was in her 60s…a total rockstar in my book!

We made the most of our time at Starfish beach, then walked back about a mile to where the bus dropped us off to do some more chillin’. There by a beach-side restaurant, we spent the rest of the day, playing cards and swinging in hammocks till the last bus of the day came to pick us up. In this next photo a bunch of sea birds sun themselves on pilings just off shore. We tried taking the photo from shore, but it was a much better perspective wading in up to our waist. We’ll do anything for a good photo.

Our visit to Panama ended with 4 heavenly days in San Blas, an archipelago of some 365 islands off the north coast of the Isthmus, east of the Panama Canal. Home to the Kuna Indians, the islands, some of which are no bigger than 30 feet in diameter, are part of the comarca Kuna Yala, along the Caribbean coast of Panama. Most of the Kuna island dwellers live on just a few of the islands, though several, like Isla Pelicano seen below, have one house made from bamboo and palms, that is inhabited by a single Kuna family. Like many visitors to San Blas, we flew from Panama City to the Kuna Yala captial of El Porvenir on the mainland, then took a short boat ride to the island of Whichub Wala, the most densely populated of the islands. Home to some 400 Kuna, you can easily walk from one end of the island to the other in less than three minutes. The Kuna rely heavily on tourism, fishing and the exportation of coconuts, lobsters and plantains to survive. Being so densely populated and having plumbing only in the hotels for tourists (although the piping goes directly into the ocean), the water around the island is too polluted for visitors to swim. So, our hotel guide, Orlando, took us and other hotel guests on daily boat trips to visit some of the less or not at all inhabited islands in the Kuna Yala. Isla Pelicano was our favorite island (seen below) so we spent a couple of days here, chillin’ under palm trees, snorkeling, reading and just enjoying the incredible views and the crazy aqua-colored water.

Below a Kuna woman looks out her window. Most of the houses not directly over the water were made entirely out of bamboo and palm. But, the hotels and those houses that were over the water, like the one below, used wooden frames and corrugated steel for the roof.

San Blas is an absolutely stunning region of the world, with pristine uninhabited islands and water like none we’ve seen before. But, with a growing reliance on tourism, there are new problems, namely with waste disposal. It was hard to see discarded plastic, aluminum beer cans, and other waste used as a sort of erosion control on the perimeter of the more inhabited islands, especially for a people who, at least from what we could understand, have a faith/culture that seem to feel a real connection with Mother Earth.

The few hotels on the island of Wichub Wala did have toilets that flushed, but they flushed right out into the ocean and locals use these outhouses, which were nothing more than a hole in the floor surrounded by four walls.

Fishing is a big activity for the men. And, many of the boats they use are made from hollowed out trees. The boats are simultaneously beautiful and perfectly functional.

The Kuna used to wear few clothes and decorated their bodies with colorful designs. When encouraged to wear clothing by missionaries who visited the islands, they followed their body painting designs in their Molas, which are worn by traditional women in their clothing and are a big item to sell to tourists. The good ones, like these below, are hand made and feature more traditional designs. They’re gorgeous and incredibly intricate.

In addition to wearing molas sewn into their tops, the more traditional Kuna women, like this woman below,  also wear rows of beads tied together in patterns on their legs. The bright colors are beautiful and pop against the blue background that constantly surrounds the islands. Below a Kuna woman and her granddaughter watch, with a puppy at their feet, as a boat of young men cast their nets for fish. I love this photo, even with the contrast of the expensive catamaran anchored in the background. The islands, with their natural beauty and the protection they provide from the open ocean, attract hundreds of boaters who drop anchor for weeks, months and sometimes years.

The contrast of old and new in the Kuna Yala is at once arresting and beautiful. Below western clothes hang on a clothesline as the evening sun warms the bamboo house.

This was the smallest island we saw, big enough for just one house. The truly amazing thing about this scene is the woman, who is the cousin of our guide, Orlando, came out of her palm and corrugated steel house carrying a purse and wearing modern clothes. Orlando picked her up to take her to the mainland, about a 45 minute boat ride away, to do some shopping. Can you imagine living here?

The Kuna Yala was exactly the break from modern day reality we needed and the perfect ending to a fabulous vacation. We absolutely loved Panama and will be posting a slideshow highlighting more picture perfect moments from our super fun trip tomorrow. Stay tuned! Chris & Andy xo

To follow up where we left off with our vacation recap yesterday, here is the route we followed during our 23 days in Panama:

After the first two days in Panama City, we took a quick 12-seater flight to the country’s second largest city, David, where we spent the next two days & nights doing a lot of sweating, walking, drinking bottled water, and more sweating. We spent one afternoon wading near a waterfall and met this super sweet girl, who told us she was an Olympic swimmer for Panama and won the silver metal at the last Olympic games…or at least that’s what we think she told us…our Spanish is not brilliant.

Days 5 thru 10 - We started Day 5 by boarding an old yellow school bus for a trip to the mountain village of Boquete, near Volcan Baru. We loved it here and stayed for 6 nights, exploring nearby villages on foot and via scooter. We tried our hands at rock climbing, hiked in the lush mountain forest in search of the illusive Quetzal, sipped coffee at a coffee plantation, and swam in a rock-lined river.

Day 11 thru 13 - We had to take the bus back to David to catch another bus north to the Caribbean town of Bocas del Toro, where we spent 3 nights checking out some of the local beaches. We snorkled, swung in hammocks, saw the native red frogs and even a lounging sloth.

Day 14 thru 16 - Day 14 began with a flight back to Panama City and a 4-hour bus to the sleepy mountain town of El Valle, where we spent three days playing a lot of cards, soaking in mud baths and hiking along waterfalls. We also met a very interesting herbalist, Frank Gruber, creator of the rather infamous Gruber’s Jungle Oil. Created from a blend of herbs he found in the El Valle forest, his jungle oil is meant to repel all kinds of biting insects and even eliminate the sting if you did get bit. It could also be used as a sunscreen, although I didn’t quite understand how that worked, given that it was primarily made from oil. Frank also said it could cure several types of skin cancer and reduce the poison of a viper bite. And amazingly it could also cure acne and be used as a deodorant. Frank generously gave us a bottle, which we haven’t really put to the test yet. But, it was so cool talking to Frank. He was such an interesting person with some fabulous life experiences to share. We could have talked with him for days.

Day 17 - We took an afternoon bus back to Panama City, where we stayed the night before flying to the remote and native Kuna Yala-owned islands of San Blas.

Days 18 thru 21- Sunrise flight to the islands of San Blas, where we spent four heavenly nights on the 400-person island of Wichub Wala. Every day we took a boat ride to explore one of the San Blas’ 365+ islands. We only visited a handful, but it was blissful. We’d park our butts under a palm tree and just wile away the day with some swimming & snorkeling, reading, cards, and a whole lot of nothing.

Day 22 - Flight back to Panama City for a little souvenir shopping, a dip in the hotel’s roof deck pool and another belly filling meal of meat, rice and beans before heading home on Day 23.

Here’s a map outlining our route:

David was still a city, though not nearly as big as Panama City, so mostly we just walked around and ate. Boquete was one of our favorite places. The climate is much cooler because of it’s mountainous location and there was more to see and do there, even if that meant just sitting in the plaza people watching, as this young boy in the next photo is doing….two seconds later he was texting on his cell phone. Crazy, right?

Coffee is a big industry in Panama and Boquete is one of the largest producers. This next photo was of what we thought was a coffee processing plant. Looks like they dry roast in the sun…

I ended up with a pretty uncomfortable stomach bug and was in some serious need of relief, so we popped in the Clinica Valle Boquete. As awful as I felt, it ended up being a really cool experience. It cost me $5 to see the doctor and get a prescription of antibiotics. The doctor didn’t speak English, but he was wonderfully patient with me and spoke very slowly, enunciating really clearly. I actually felt like I could speak Spanish. As strange as it sounds, my visit to the clinic was a highlight. Plus, it’s always good to see how other people live in a very day-to-day way and while our health care system is no doubt in need of some serious reform, we are blessed to live in a country with state of the art medical facilities. It’s always good to be reminded of that. We took this next shot for a giggle the day after I started feeling better….

Andy spent an afternoon in a rock climbing lesson one day. I still wasn’t 100%, so I didn’t take a lesson. But, our instructor, Cesar, was super passionate about the sport and encouraged me to give it a go. So, in shoes way too big for me, I scurried right up the climb just to the left of where Andy is in this next photo. That was the beginner’s route and the first one Andy did too. The one Andy is on in the photo below is his third trip up. It was a more intermediate climb. We both really enjoyed our time on the rock and are really excited about trying it again.

Just passing time….

Willy the toucan, resident at Pension Topas, where we stayed in Boquete. Every morning began with “Hola, Willy,” as we walked past his cage. It’s just amazing all the beauty that is in nature. His colors were spectacular.

These little munchkins were the children of a guest at the pension and the dog belonged to the pension owners. Kind of a fun perspective…

One afternoon we hiked up into the hills of the town, where many of the native people live. Boquete is beautiful, but the disparity between the haves and the have nots is upsetting. There are many US transplants living in Boquete, in what would be million dollar homes in the states, while the people of the Ngobe Bugle tribe live in ramshackle houses on the perimeter of the coffee plantations. They wash in the river and get paid very little for the back-breaking work of picking coffee, not to mention their exposure to pesticides working in the fields. They don’t own cars and have to walk great distances to get into town to buy food and supplies. Some speak Spanish, but they also have their own native language. We wished we could have spent some time with a family. Here a family crosses the man-made river bridge to make the long trek down the hills into town.

A little boy plays outside his house.

These little girls saw us walking up the hill and were excited to make contact. This shot pulls at my heartstrings. With laundry drying on the barbed wire fence and the girls in their traditional native dress grabbing on the fence with their little fingers, they are still filled with the happy innocence that is childhood.

The girls and two boys we assumed were their brothers ran out to the street to see us. They saw our cameras and wanted a photo, so we grabbed a couple. I loved the first one we took, where they all looked so serious. Andy grabbed the second photo, which I LOVE, where I’m showing the kids what they look like in the photos. I tried asking their parents, who were outside doing chores, if they had an address so we could send them copies of the photos. But, I don’t think they understood us, and honestly, I doubt they had a mailing address. We tried finding a place to print photos in town, but couldn’t find anywhere. Such a bummer.

This young woman washes her clothes in the river.

High in the hills of Boquete, near the start of Los Quetzales trail, the temperature dropped and we were nearly in the clouds, with a rain-like mist that gave such a lushness to the surroundings. It was beautiful!

Later in the trip, we visited Los Pozos Termales, or thermal pools, on the edge of town in El Valle. Our $1 admission let us cover our faces in therapeutic mud, then soak in mineral baths before rinsing off in the outdoor shower. With sunburns from our stay on the beaches of Bocas del Toro, the mud and minerals felt great.

Tomorrow we’ll be posting photos from our stay on the islands of San Blas and the beaches of Bocas del Toro. Stay tuned. Chris & Andy xo

Travel is something Andy & I are both extremely passionate about. Not surprisingly, our relationship began while we were each traveling in Spain. Travel is the thing that seems to magically transport us back to the easy-breezy lifestyle we had when we first met nearly 15 years ago. We were young and free of responsibilities and expectations. Life was an open book and our experiences filled the pages with adventure.

There is something about traveling to new places, meeting new people, eating new foods and experiencing new cultures that makes us truly come alive. Maybe it’s just the way we travel. My sister thinks we’re crazy. She’s a five-star hotel kind of girl and me, well, don’t get me wrong, I like down comforters, fluffy robes and chocolates on my pillow as much as the next girl. But, for me and Andy, stepping completely out of our comfort zone and taking away the creature comforts we’re used to has a way of putting life squarely into perspective.

Here in the US, we’re constantly bombarded with messages telling us we how important it is to be number one, to accumulate lots of stuff, and that to be successful and happy you not only have to keep up with the Jones, but beat them down on your way up. The kind of traveling we like to do peels all that clutter away and brings us back to basics, reminding us of what is truly important in life — love, laughter, health, happiness, family, friends and basic human interaction. The rest is all just stuff.

It’s been a few years since Andy & I took a long vacation. We’ve been super busy and taking a big chunk of time off just wasn’t in the cards. But, this year, we made the commitment to ourselves and to each other to get away for three weeks and give our batteries a much-needed recharge.

Destination…Panama.

Panama was chosen without much forethought. In the throws of a miserable February winter, desperate to get away…somewhere, anywhere, Andy asked me what I was looking for in a vacation. We went to Nicaragua three years ago and we both absolutely loved it there. So, I said I’d like an experience  similar to that. I didn’t want anywhere too touristy, somewhere that had cute towns to leisurely stroll through, jungles to explore and beaches for doing lots of nothing. I love trying to speak Spanish…emphasis on trying…so I told him I’d also like to go somewhere where Spanish is spoken.

With that, Andy headed off to Borders to do some research and called me back a few hours later. “How do you feel about Panama?” he asked. “Panama? Sounds great!” I said, without knowing much of anything about Panama. But, with it’s close proximity to Nicaragua and precisely because I didn’t know much about it, it sounded like the perfect destination for our adventure.

And, that was it…vacation planned. We booked our tickets, and our first night’s accommodation in Panama City and figured we’d use the guide books Andy got at Borders to map out a rough itinerary before we left on March 1. Then, just let our instinct be our guide.

We spent our first two nights at a hostel in Panama City. Hostels have changed a lot since we first met at Hostel del Pilar, in Marbella, Spain…or at least the people who visit them have changed. When we began traveling, there was no internet…God, that makes us sound ancient. Backpackers didn’t carry laptops, cellphone or wireless USB modems. They didn’t check facebook several times a day, tweet regularly or make movies of their adventures to post on their personal websites.

Back when we first got bit by the bug, you traveled to get away; to leave all things familiar behind and open yourself up to new experiences. If you needed to reach someone or had something to say, you bought a payphone card or sent a postcard.

Today, the new generation of backpackers seem to spend more time chatting about what they’re doing than actually going out and doing. It was very strange to us. We were there to unplug and get away. I admit, we did Skype with family at home to let them know we were okay. We even checked Bello e-mail a couple of times just to make sure all was well. But, for us, the joy in getting away is to disconnect as much as possible so that we are completely in the moment, enjoying the experience as it happens.

And enjoy the experience we did! Although we had a few bumps in the road, including two trips to Health Clinics for a seriously dodgy stomach and sun-stroke, Panama was exactly the experience we were hoping for — a perfect mix of adventure, culture and relaxation.

Here are some highlights from our fabulous Panamanian Adventure. Enjoy!

As I mentioned, the hostel in Panama City wasn’t the best. Our room was a 8′ x 8′ blue box with dirty walls, a super uncomfortable double bed, tiny window and an old AC unit that only went on from 9PM - 9AM. And, it was HOT…crazy hot, especially coming from winter temperatures. This first photo is a sort of self portrait I took our first morning in Panama City. I remember laying in bed, sweating my tootsies off, thinking about the crappy room and how the scene, with the thin sheets and dirty walls felt like something out of an insane asylum. It’s kind of dark spirited for the start of our post, but it makes me smile because at the time Andy & I were wondering if we’d made a big mistake with Panama and if we should leave, go home, go back to Nicaragua…what?

It all turned out fine and as it happens, we loved Panama. After the self portrait, we headed out to see the Canal at the Miraflores locks, which was very cool. The Canal is quite a marvel of human engineering. There are three separate locks, but the government is in the process of expanding at least one of the locks and I think I may have heard talk of adding another at a new location.

During our few days in the city there was a constant queue of ships of all sizes waiting to pass through the Canal. During our trip to the Canal Visitors’ Center, there was a giant freighter carrying some sort of explosive hazardous materials from Hong Kong on it’s way through the lock. Inspectors check the ship as it passes through the Canal and emergency personnel could be seen on stand by just in case. It was a little freaky, but surprisingly efficient. It takes about 8 hours for a ship to pass through the series of three locks transiting from the Pacific to Caribbean.

I think the guys in the next photo were Panamanian inspectors…they don’t look terribly busy inspecting, but with 8 hours to pass through the locks, I guess they had lots of time to take a break and wave to onlookers.

The next day we walked around Casco Viejo, or old town, and this next photo is a view of Panama City from Casco Viejo. We were surprised at how many skyscrapers there were in the city. We were told the majority are apartments and many are actually vacant…yet construction continues. It was really hot and humid in the city and thick smog hung in the air. Sunken ships left abandoned complete the scene.

In a slightly different direction from the same perspective…

This next photo is one of those moments you just live for when traveling….

Like the gates of an abandoned heaven…

These were just a few of our photos from the big city. We’ll be posting more tomorrow from our visit to the mountainous regions of Panama. And then some more later in the week from our visit to the coast. And, we’ll wrap up with a slideshow. Thanks for visiting! And as always, please feel free to leave a comment or spread the love. Chris & Andy xo

This time of year, I really start feeling the winter blues. Trapped in the house/studio without enough fresh air; cold temps; the lack of sun….it all starts to get to me after a while. But, last week, Andy & I were surrounded by the colors and scents of spring, thanks to the very sweet Shama Klee.

Shama is a ridiculously-talented florist from Centerville. We had the pleasure of working with her back in October at MaryHelen & Kurt’s super fun Hyannisport wedding. (Check out the blog post for some samples of her amazing work.)

Recently, Shama asked about getting some photos of her flowers for her website. I happen to LOVE flowers. There’s something about them that just brings me a profound sense of joy & peace. I love picking them out when I go to the supermarket. And, a trip to home depot or IKEA is never complete without first checking their supply of orchids…my personal favorite, right up there with lilacs, which I love for their smell and their easy-breezy shape when grouped in a pretty vase.

I go into a bit of a trance when I’m cutting and arranging flowers…I guess it’s my inner crafty girl that comes out. (I can trace her beginnings back to the mini arrangements of violas I used to make after picking the wild weed-like flowers in my backyard when I was about 7 years old.) If I didn’t love photography so much, I’d love to be a florist.

Anyway, Shama & I talked about going into the Boston Flower Market together….oh to dream! But, things are still super busy for us with album designs and we’ve set a finish date that we’re working hard to meet. And, taking an afternoon off to play with flowers wasn’t going to be in the cards anytime soon. So, Shama had an idea that had me so excited, you would have thought I’d won the lottery.

She sent an e-mail that said, “Had an Idea. How about I bring you & Andy a different flower arrangement or two weekly or biweekly. You can enjoy them and photograph them at your leisure until we both have time to get together and spend a day? Love to know what you think? Shama”

What do I think? Uhhhh, yes please!

So, last Thursday, just in time for Valentine’s Day, Shama dropped off four…yup, FOUR…crazy beautiful arrangements that filled our house and studio….and me….with such joy. Everywhere I look, there are flowers. February just got a whole lot happier for Team Bello!

Equally as joyous as receiving the flowers was the fun I had photographing them. Here are some of my favorites. I hope they bring a little sunshine to your February too. Enjoy!

You may have noticed our new logo on these photos. As soon as we meet our album completion deadline, we’ll be moving on to revamping our website & blog with our new logo…hopefully in the next month or so. But, we thought we’d start the transition a little early. Hope you like it.

The lovely arrangement features pale pink garden roses with pink and white fresia, lime hydrangeas, white lisianthius and gorgeous pink ranuculus, accented with fern leaves…and I forget what the folded leaves are, but I dig those.

I love this next one. There’s something about those rising lisianthius reaching up toward the light that makes me happy. I’m also a big fan of ranuculus…which shows up a lot in wedding bouquets. I have to say, almost a week later and those are the flowers surviving the best in my bouquet. The tiny delicate petals have all bloomed and they’re gorgeous!

I decided to use the hanging capiz shells we have in our office as a backdrop for the next few photos and I just love the way these turned out. So fun & happy.

This next one features glorious yellow Gloriosa Lilies, which are amazing! This arrangement was huuuuge too. It’s a striking looking flower, with an Asian/alien feel about it.

And the leaves on this particular lily curl at the bottom in such a sweet way.

This next photo features a new blossom about just starting to open. I really like this photo, it feels very serene & spa-like to me.

Can’t you just feel spring?

When it’s fully bloomed, the petals spread out as if reaching with great exuberance. This is where it feels almost alien to me.

More curls…

And a traditional favorite, Romeo red roses. These beauties filled the studio with such a delicious aroma. Mmmmmm! I love the curly willow branches and trailing stems of ivy. Gorgeous!

Shama did two arrangements of the roses, a tall 2-dozen bouquet and another two dozen cut short in a super cute rectangular vase. The tall vase also featured kangaroo paw, which is a really cool, fuzzy red plant that accented the deep red rose color perfectly.

Mother Nature at her best…

I can’t wait till the ivy starts growing around here again! Bring on the green!

Love it….

I don’t think I’ve ever had so many roses at one time…lucky lucky me!!

perfection…

A great big thank you to Shama for bringing such happiness to my day, my week, my winter! Looking forward to doing this again! Your talent & generosity make the world a better place! xoxo Christine & Andy

Andy & I belong to the Professional Photographers of Cape Cod, a group of some 50-75 photographers living and working here on beautiful Cape Cod. We joined PPOCC, as it is affectionately known, our first year in business…hoping to learn as much as we could about what it means to be a professional photographer! We wouldn’t be where we are today without PPOCC and all of the incredible photographers we’ve met through the group!

Although it started out more as a social club, PPOCC has grown over the years and now offers its members educational workshops, classes and a fabulous network of professionals, who do still enjoy socializing.

Last Monday, several members of PPOCC gathered in Provincetown for a little photography safari. We had done this a similar trip a few years ago to Martha’s Vineyard.

Andy & I decided to head down to P-town on Sunday evening to make a little “weekend” out of it. Typical summer weekends don’t really exist for wedding photographers, so you take what days off you can get and make the most of them. And, that we did!!

We got to P-town and checked into the lovely Crowne Point Inn just as the hotel’s wine & cheese happy hour was kicking off. Don’t you just love when that happens! We settled in by the pool and lounged the evening away. Instantly, the stress melted off of us. It was heavenly!

The next day, we got up early, enjoyed a yummy breakfast of blueberry pancakes and bacon (this really is a fabulous inn if you ever find yourself wanting to stay in P-town) sunned ourselves by the pool and then headed out in the afternoon to meet our photographer friends. Unfortunately, the meeting time rubbed a little too closely with our wine & cheese happy hour, so we didn’t really take too many photos before heading back. Pathetic, I know! But, we felt so pampered and it was such a fun treat for us…we just couldn’t resist.

We met back up with everyone later that night at Race Point Beach, where we watched the sunset and had a great night of conversation by bonfire. Unfortunately, it was a little too cloudy for the presentation on photographing stars & the night sky that our friend, Chris Cook, was going to make. Fortunately, there were s’mores to cushion the disappointment.

Here are just a few snapshots we took earlier that day:

I just loved the character oozing off this sweet little woman sifting through what looks like her art supplies. Or maybe it’s recycling and trash. But, I just thought her aura screamed, “I’m an eccentric painter lady,” so I like to think they’re her art supplies.

Being goofballs!

Beautification underway…

Talk about eccentric. Some nutball had broken ceramic lining his/her driveway. There must have been tons of it, not to mention a whole yard full of trash. It was kind of crazy. We of course all stopped to take photos. And, in true Andy fashion, he decided to lay on the ground for this cool perspective. Unfortunately, he cut his arms in the process. Broken ceramic driveway? Really?

Pilgrim Tower as seen from our balcony….sweet!!!

Old San Juan was great…a perfect intro to Puerto Rico! We loved walking around the old town, lined with its blue cobblestone streets and brightly colored buildings. Like any city, the air is thick with excitement, movement and the promise of undiscovered opportunities. Young and old, residents and visitors all mingle together while life moves on at a hustling pace.

Alternatively, life on the tiny island of Vieques, just off the south eastern coast of Puerto Rico, is more languid, but in the best kick-off-your-flipflops-and-have-a-mojito kind of way.

Before the US Navy landed on the island in 1941 to build Camp Garcia, sugar production was the main source of income for the island people. But, the Navy took over nearly two-thirds of the total land from the island’s residents, including most of the land used for farming. Initially, the Navy brought new jobs, mainly in construction of the base. When the sugar was gone and construction complete, many of the island’s residents left. The Puerto Rican government tried between 1945 and the 1960s to re-establish an agricultural economy, but its efforts failed.

In the 10 years that followed, the economy shifted to manufacturing, with the opening of a General Electric plant being the most consistent source of employment. The plant is still in operation.

In May 2003, after more than 60 years of military operations, the US Navy closed Camp Garcia on Vieques after years of struggle over the target practice activies on the base. The final straw came in 1999, when a Navy jet missed its target and dropped two 500-pound bombs close to a Navy observation post, killing a civilian security guard and wounding others.

A few of the Navy’s old ships, rusted and abandoned can still be found in the waters around Vieques and although access to some of the former base is still restricted, visitors can see what’s left of the old bunkers.

The population of Vieques has not changed much through the decades and still remains close to 10,000. However, unemployement runs high. Tourism has gained a foothold on the island, with small hotels and restaurants popping up in Isabella Segunda, the capital located on the north side of the island, and in Esperanza, the island’s southern beach community.

The W Hotels is in the process of completing a mega resort on the island. Its completion will likely bring more tourists with money to spend.

Right now, most of the restaurants and hotels in the small village of Esperanza, where we stayed, were small, unpretentious guest houses owned by expats who’d come on holiday and never left, tempted by the warm aqua-colored water, cool breezes, and the tranquillo lifestyle.

We spent 6 nights in Esperanza, filling our days primarily with card playing, snorkeling, beach glass hunting, reading, and swimming….oh and the occasional Medalla or two (that’s the local beer). We met some really lovely people while there, including Kim & Stefan, a Scituate couple who call Vieques their home away from home. Kim has spent the past 20+ years coming to Vieques for her annual vacation. She knows the island and many of the its inhabitants well. Kim & Stefan were kind enough to take us under their wings and show us some of their favorite spots. We had a blast and expect to see them again.

We also met Ura, aka Michael, a junior in high school, with his boyish good looks, an infectious personality and, we discovered, a soft spot for balding English guys who can do really funny Russian accents. We spent an afternoon with him, talking and playing Rummy 500, while practicing our Spanish and learning a little about life growing up on Vieques.

We hitchhiked one night to and from a local cultural festival, which was held at an old fort in the town of Islabella Segunda. Eli, a young local guy in a suped-up sports car, picked us up and happily drove out of his way before heading to work at the GE plant to take us safely to the festival. And, later that night, a family of 4 picked us up and drove us back to Esperanza. Everyone we met on Vieques was lovely, which speaks volumes of the character of the people of Vieques, given the US Navy’s mistreatment of them and their beautiful island.

Here are some snapshots from our brief, but thoroughly enjoyable visit taken with our little Canon point & shoot camera. Enjoy!

On the ferry ride to Vieques from San Juan we spotted this sunken fishing boat resting on a sandbar (or reef, not sure which)…

Me showing off a giant starfish Andy found while snorkeling.

A shell resting on the shore at Secret Beach, which as we discovered on our second visit, isn’t so secret. But, man, is is BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Kim & Stefan led us on an early morning hike to visit one of their favorite spots on the island, an old abandoned light house, where we watched the sunrise. Ahhhh, vacation bliss!!!

Andy grabbed this fun shot of all of us in Stefan’s sunglasses….

The view from El Malecon, the boardwalk that lines the main street in Vieques….not too shabby, eh?

A view of the other end of the Malecon…

This photo just epitomizes the speed of life on the island. This old guy parked his plastic chair in this spot every day and spent most of the day there watching the world walk by…sweet, eh?

Colorful umbrellas kept iguana poop from hitting us while enjoying breakfast at our favorite (okay, the ONLY) breakfast spot in Esperanza. We spent most mornings lounging here for a couple of hours playing cards and munching on eggs & bacon or pancakes. One morning I narrowly escaped being hit by a defficating iguana hanging out in the trees above…and fyi, their poop isn’t small!

On our second visit to Not-So-Secret Beach, we stumbled across these turtle tracks leading to (tracks branching slightly to the right) and from (straight ahead) a nesting spot, under a mangrove bush on the beach….very cool!!! Sadly, we missed our little missus by minutes! Rats!

Andy decided to take a nap by the water and I couldn’t resist making a little sand sculpture out of him. The sand here was perfect for the drippy kind of sand castles I used to love to build as a kid. And, well, two is sometimes better than one. LOL!

An evening in Esperanza wouldn’t be complete without an icy cold Medalla enjoyed on the back deck at La Nasa, overlooking the Caribbean.

Andy waiting for La Nasa to open….

Here we are on the puddle-jumper heading back to San Juan. It was a really fun flight. Strangely, this is the only photo Andy & I have of us together in Puerto Rico….hysterically, he’s looking away, I look crazed and the curious guy behind us seems mildly amused. Priceless! The two guys behind him, Chris & Todd, a fun-looking couple from Chicago, were supposed to meet up with us later that night at the Nuyorican, but we ended up crashing early and never made it….bummer!

I’m not really sure what prompted this next photo, except Andy & I really enjoyed the flight and were being total goofballs. After our quick 20-minute flight, Andy decided he wanted a photo of me getting off the plane, looking like I’d just landed in my private jet. He, of course, lay down on the ground, as he so often does for photos, and here’s how I worked it…..Really? Sadly, I think I’m way more funny than I actually am!

Well, that’s it folks….that’s our Puerto Rican vacation. We hope you enjoyed a look into our holiday almost as much as we enjoyed ourselves! Thanks so much for visiting and for your continued support!!! And as always, keep spreading the love! xo Chris & Andy

The colors were so great in Old San Juan it was hard to not take lots of detail shots. So, here’s just a few more from our 3 days in old town. We hope you enjoy them!

Here’s the hotel we stayed at right in the heart of town…Da House (you can see photos of our room on the site….first room with an outdoor terrace & blue bedspread..although it was a white down comforter when we were there…very cozy). It was a cool place, with a real backpacker’s vibe, although way more chic….very much up our alley. And, starting on Wednesday nights through the weekend, San Juan’s night scene came alive downstairs at the Nuyorican Cafe, a local hot spot for salsa dancing and live music. Things didn’t get jumping until 10 or 11PM, and didn’t stop until nearly 3AM….Arriba!! Here’s the lobby at Da House. And sitting at reception is the very sweet & funny Eduardo. Hola amigo!

The hotel’s cool marble & wrought iron staircase….we were on the 4th floor and got a nice little work out each day, though probably not as much as the housekeeping staff.

There’s nothing terribly special about this next car, and honestly, Andy thought it was kind of a boring photo. But, I just love the light in the image and the contrast between the complimenting colors of the car and the building behind…it just felt very Miami to me. And, with the light, I thought the car looked so shiny…like it could be in an ad. The only thing I would change is to move the car more squarely in front of the pink house, so you don’t see the plywood covering their neighbor’s windows.

An itsy bitsy gecko cautiously watches us while perched on a peace lily.

More great Puerto Rico colors…And I love the contrast of the two signs in different languages. It is indicative of life on the island. Children are taught to speak English beginning in the first grade, so everyone we met, except the cab driver on our way to the airport, spoke perfect English. Kind of ironic that the only time we really got to practice our pitiful Spanish was leaving this lovely country.

A great way to start the morning….lounging on the terrace and watching the world walk by.

I wish we had a neighborhood on the Cape like this…Brightly colored buildings and blue cobblestone streets! Gorgeous!

A different perspective from the same corner…

Back at Pigeon Park, this young woman anticipated a less aggressive feeding experience. There was a lot of screaming involved.

Mornings were often started with a fresh brewed cup of deliciously smooth coffee from the hip Puerto Rico Cafe Cola’o, which had a vibe very similar to our favorite coffee connection here on the Cape, Coffee Obsession in Falmouth. Mmmmm! Puerto Rican coffee has a unique flavor and is one of the countries proud exports. Here’s a link to a cool article about Cafe Cola’o coffee lovers might find interesting.

Now this is a cool car….And I just love the door and wall colors behind.

A male gecko tries to attract the attention of a nearby female….”Hey there hot stuff get a load of my stretchy neck!”

And, tomorrow, for our final installment from our excellent Puerto Rican adventure, we will feature photos from our stay on the delightful island of Vieques. Thanks for visiting! And, if you like what you saw, let us know about it! Warmest wishes, Chris & Andy

The week before we left for Puerto Rico we got together with Kirsten & Dennis for their love session in Cotuit. We had a blast and through chatting, we discovered that Kirsten, an interior designer, had worked on a project at the upscale hotel & casino - Condado Plaza in Puerto Rico. But, she left the firm she had been working at to move to Spain with Dennis, so she never got to see the finished product.

We were planning to spend a couple of days mainly touring Old San Juan, but we couldn’t let this opportunity to get some photos for Kirsten pass by, so we jumped on a publico (public bus) to check out the fruits of Kirsten’s labor. We were blown away. Kirsten said she had designed the lobby’s killer glass-lighted mosiac tile display, and several sitting areas and lounge on the first floor. It’s a very modern, stylized space and we just loved it….almost as much as we love Kirsten & Dennis! (no, not quite…but it’s very cool!)

Check it out….

Kirsten also designed this mural on the hotel’s exterior. It was designed to match the mosiac tile mural in the lobby (next photo). The design also carried through to other areas of the hotel, including the marble floor tile in one of the hotel’s function rooms (below).

The registration desk and the glass tile mosiac. There are lights behind the tiles that make the mosiac a true work of art…cool right? The registration desk itself is also lit from within and the color changes to match various colors in the mosiac. (Check out Where’s Waldo in the photo…sniper boy is at it again!)

I just happened to be wearing all white the day we visited Condado (to show off the paltry tan I had finally acquired after 2 years without having had a proper day at the beach….crazy considering we live 5 minutes from the beach). And, my all white ensemble really fit in well in the ultra modern space….oh so chic! Below is me trying to look aloof for the photo….I’m embarrassed to tell you how many times we tried this before I didn’t look completely ridiculous. I’m still not sure I pulled it off! lol

I’ll just hang out here by this wall while I wait for my mojito….total goofball! But, we had a blast doing our mini modeling session. I think the hotel manager thought we were un poco loco! He came up to us to ask if we needed any assistance and we explained why we were there. He mentioned that the hotel was having a party the following night for some swanky Puerto Rico magazine….I couldn’t tell if he was telling us about it in the hopes that we might come photograph it or what. Had we planned to still be there, we might have come back to rub shoulders with Puerto Rico’s fabulous people.

Part of the lobby

A cool bar off the lobby, although it wasn’t opened. This is where the hotel manager stopped us. I think he said this was where the party would be. Sounds like it’s not a public bar so much as it is available for private functions….but I’m not sure. Very cool looking though! And those glass windows on the right look out over the water, with seating outside.

The other end of the bar.

And finally, a cool little lounge area off the main lobby.

We had fun visiting the hotel….we only wish they had a rooftop bar to hang out at and soak in more of the uber cool vibe. Way to go Kirsten!!! Now, we can’t wait to see what you put together for your wedding…it will no doubt be a stylish soiree, peppered with fabulous personal touches and oozing with the love you & Dennis so obviously share with each other and with those closest to you! See you both again soon!!! Thanks for inspiring a fun vacation detour!

We’ll be posting a few more Old San Juan photos tomorow and our final installment on Monday will feature some shots from our stay on Vieques.