April 2009 Archive

Australia – Part 3: Sydney and the Blue Mountains (and Koalas!)

This blog covers our sightseeing in Sydney!  It was quite a bit larger than Melbourne, but I loved that you can walk almost anywhere you want to go!  The first night we got there, we walked all over the areas around our hotel, including the Friday night Chinatown Market!

The next day, Brenda went to climb the Harbour bridge and I set out to explore Hyde Park.  Below in the background is St Mary’s Cathedral which you will see more of in my final blog (Brenda’s trash the dress!)

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I really wanted to check out the Barrack’s museum which was the jail (among other things) back in the day!

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A view from inside the museum

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Love this view from Maquarie’s Point!

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And of course the city skyline!  Our hotel was just below that skinny tower thing (Sydney Tower) on the left side!

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Sunday morning we walked around The Rocks but kept getting caught in downpours!  We took refuge for awhile under the Harbour Bridge!

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Monday’s adventures took us to Manly Beach via a Ferry.  It rained off and on all day, but when we got there, we only saw blue skies! 

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Brenda captured this shot of me checking out the water – it was cold!

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We went on a small bush walk on the edge of Manly

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Our last day in Australia, my photographer friend Cathy Crawley drove us up to the Blue Mountains!  The drive was amazing, since it’s Autumn there, the colors were in full bloom!  

Below is the road through the mountain!

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We don’t see this kind of color in So Cal!

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I adore this shot Cathy got of me!

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After seeing the gorgeous leaves changing, we got to the famous Echo Point to see the 3 Sisters.  It was so overcast and rainy that we almost couldn’t see anything!  You can see how bad it really was in this shot I got of Cathy below!!

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Cathy’s son Ben came along with us.  I adore these next two photos I shot of him, I had to post both of them!  I couldn’t decide which I liked better 🙂

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The trip was coming to a close and I still had yet to see a kangaroo or koala!  So we went to a Wildlife Park on the way home and made some new friends!

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What’chu lookin at?

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This cracks me up!  This Wallby was so BUFF!  We were trying to act buff to make it feel normal.  

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Meat Pies are a staple in Australia and this is the place to get them in Sydney!  

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One last shot of this gorgeous view!!

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Well that was the (very) quick synopsis of our awesome trip!  One more blog from Sydney and I will be done!

xoxo, M

Kelly and Ryan – Bernardo Winery and Rancho Bernardo Inn

Kelly is a very good friend that I have had since High School.  I’ve known Ryan for a couple of years now and I adore them both!  Kelly and I planned our weddings along side each other and were each others sounding boards through the entire process!

The day started off at Ryan’s parents home in Rancho Bernardo.  The woman in the mirror is a former bride of mine, who just celebrated her 2nd wedding anniversary yesterday!

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Kelly’s gorgeous dress hanging at the Rancho Bernardo Inn!

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The happy couple saw each other before the ceremony

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After the bulk of the photos, we headed to Bernardo Winery.  

The lovely cake below was made by Gloria’s Bakery in Escondido.

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Ryan is an amateur photographer and each table had one of his travel photos on it! 

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The ring was a little tight…

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First dance and my fav of the day!

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Ryan’s family loves to tease…this was about the time they played the Full House theme song for him…something about loving Uncle Jesse?

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Cheers!

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Ryan and Kelly, have fun without me in Amsterdam and Belgium!  I know you will!  See you when you get back!

xoxo, M

Click here to view their slideshow!  

 

 

Australia – Part 2: Kelly and Trevor in Sydney

While I was visit Sydney, I had the opportunity to photograph Kelly and Trevor’s engagement photos.  They were actually married in New York this past August, but are planning a wedding Down Under in February.  

We met at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair in the Royal Botanical Garden.  It had an amazing view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

These two were so sweet together, so glad they found each other despite the fact they are from two different continents! 

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Brenda’s Fav 🙂

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The skyline of Sydney looks so cool behind them!

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It was so great getting to know you two, best of luck in the future!

xoxo, M

Australia – Part 1: Melbourne, Victoria

I’ve decided that a 4 part blog is the best way to split this up!  Welcome to Part 1! 

I was on a workaction (work + vacation) last week in Australia!  I had a great oppurtunity to travel with my good friend and colleague Brenda Swann.

Brenda was already down under when I flew in to Melbourne on the 14th of April.  Her good friend Jane lives there and she was a great hostess, showing us around the city the first few days!  Below is an awesome alley we passed and I couldn’t help grabbing a few shots of the ladies!

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We went to The Esplanade Hotel and I got this cool shot of the chandelier! 

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The view in St Kilda

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These are Beach Boxes in Brighton, just outside the city.  They are little shacks that locals purchase (for a lot of $$) so they can have some place to retreat in the Summer while visiting the beach!  It seems you can also store your boat in them.  You can read a little more about them here. This was probably my favorite thing to shoot, I wish I could have done a session here! 

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That skyline in the back is Melbourne

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Our last day in Victoria, we drove along the Great Ocean Road (see the rainbow?).  We made some stops to check out the gorgeous view!

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This stop was at the Split Point Lighthouse located in Airey’s Inlet

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and Eagle Rock, by the lighthouse (you can see the shadow of the lighthouse in the water!)

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Our final stop before heading to Geelong was outside of Lorne, at Erskine Falls.  Jane took this of me and Brenda!

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Well, that was the first few days of my trip!  Next up:  Engagement shoot from Sydney!

xoxo, M

The Megill Family

Just before I left on my trip, I met up with the awesome Megill family at Old Poway Park.  The mother, Janet is a very good friend of my mother’s!  They worked together at Mira Costa College for many years.  I’ve known this family for probably half my life! 

Their daughters, Holly and Kristin are both happily married to great men.  Holly and her husband Jon are expecting their second child this year!  Hope is the little one you see below 🙂

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Hope and her loving Grandma!

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Janet, Dave, et al; It was great catching up with the family!  You all have wonderful hearts, thank you for letting me photograph you!

xoxo, M

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