Portraiture is a unique area of photography. It is about observing people, getting to know them and then capturing their personality. I like to try to say something about a person when I photograph them. I had hoped to do some photo work outside of street photography and travel photos while over here. While I have not done as much portraiture yet as I had planned, I have done a few sessions.

While in Paris toward the beginning of my summer out here, I met two redheaded twins from Australia, Jared and Jacob. They were living in London for the summer as well, so we got together a few times.

Jared told me he was thinking about doing some modeling on the side and I offered to take head shots of him. I am always happy to help out a fellow ginger. It is nice that redheads are popular right now in modeling and media. Most of my portrait experience has been in wedding portraits, couples portraits, childhood portraits and family portraits. I have not done much in the way of modeling, but I was excited for the challenge and it is an area I have been wanting to experiment with.

I started out trying to put my subject at ease and make him feel comfortable as I waited for natural expressions. I used my favorite lens, my fixed 1.8 85 mm for all of the shots. It does a great job of separating the subject from the background, making it the perfect portrait lens.

The smallest changes in expression can make a big difference. This is something models need to be able to master and something photographers need to be able to direct. Subtle changes convey different emotions.

Sometimes being in a more public space can actually put a subject more at ease. I caught a few moments of him reacting to passersby, which felt more natural.

It was a pleasure spending the afternoon photographing Jared Borner, and I wish him all the best luck in his modeling and other prospects as he travels back to Australia.

The other two people I have done portraits of here were less formal and more spur of the moment. There is a market near us called Old Spitalfields Market. Dalia, shown below, is from Lebanon. She is interested in photography as well, but at the moment she is selling shoes to make ends meet. She hopes to save up enough money to invest in photography again. I only took a few quick portraits of her. I hope she is able to pursue her dreams here in London.

The second woman I met was a Londoner who had a very interesting look. She is a young clothing designer. She currently sells at the market and can be found on the web and instagram under the name “Kharis.” She hopes to eventually have a store front, but not a typical one. She wants it to be a place where artists can meet and share ideas. Each piece she designs, she only makes 2-3 copies of, so they are quite unique. The fun thing about this market is that it gives many creative people a place to sell their pieces. It is also a place where I can afford to invest in unique fashion-I bought a shirt from her for 15 pounds.

Models are successful not for being a pretty face, but for being interesting to look at, and I found her look beautiful in a very unique way. She obviously has some modeling experience and she let me do a quick photo shoot of her in front of her designs at the market. I enjoyed meeting and photographing her and wish her luck in her fashion and artistic enterprises.

We meet so many people in a day, and many of them we barely take notice of. With these three, I was able to make a human connection, strengthened by the photographer-model relationship. I will always remember the conversations I had with these three people and I am happy I was able meet them and document something about their lives and their personalities. Some people come into our lives for years, others for weeks and others for a brief moment in time, but these fleeting encounters can prove to be memorable and inspiring.

Standing on the land where my great grandmother was born and raised was incredible and unforgettable. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen and the memories of my Irish roots lives on in the relatives I met. Last weekend, Evan and I traveled to Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland to meet family members who I didn’t even know existed before, gathered from England, Canada and Ireland for Julia and Michael McAndrew’s 40th wedding anniversary. It was a surreal and magical weekend

I love how all the different fields are all divided by hedgerows. As we looked over the Irish landscape from the plane, Evan said he was reminded of looking at stained glass.

Below I am sitting with Julia, Eileen and Mary, my grandmother’s cousins. Julia lives in Ireland, Eileen in England and Mary in Canada.
Here I am with Kayleigh and Connie, third cousins of mine

The old family plot is in Parke, Ireland, a small village near Castlebar.

In the background of this one in the upper right corner is the last house in Parke that was in our family. It was built by John McKlynskey, father of Julia, Mary, Eileen, Padraic and Tom (who is buried here). John moved into the house around 1960 with his wife, Mary-Ellen, and Julia. The other children had been raised in the original family home on this same plot of land, the same home that my great grandmother was born in. All that is left of this building is now a cow shed. All of the children except Julia immigrated to England. Padriac eventually married and moved to Australia. Tom came back to Parke and moved into this house and maintained the farm until he died. He was buried here and the house was sold.

This is the church where Julia and Michael McAndrew were married 40 years ago.

This is one of the oldest houses in Parke. According to Ray, the house had for decades served as the local school headmaster’s home. The home was fairly sizable for its age, in light of the small community, and the fact that the school reportedly provided only primary education.  Though there is a new school in Parke, the community is still small and primarily agricultural, as exemplified by the fact we, at one point, literally had to pull over to the side of the road to let a tractor pass.

This is the house from the earlier photo of Tom McKlynsky’s gravestone. It is now owned by another family, but it is where Raymond and his siblings spent much of their childhood in the summers. The decorative braid on the gate is, red and green, the colors of County Mayo, Ireland.

They still have cattle on this land. Raymond told us stories of herding cattle, working the land, picking raspberries and playing the fields.

We then hiked further back to see the rest of the land. We were told my family used to own everything to the right of there river.

Turlough is another tiny village in between Parke and Castlebar. It is home to Turlough Round Tower, an impressive structure from between 900 and 1200. A plaque in front said it was founded by St. Patrick, who baptized many people at a nearby well. Many structures across Ireland make a similar claim.  There is a cemetery attached to it, where I have more relatives buried, including my second great-grandparents.

Turlough House is a victorian-gothic style house built in 1865 for the Fitzgerald family. It is now open to the public and is accompanied by a new museum on country life.

We continued our drive through Turlough, passing an adorable inn with a Guinness sign that Ray was kind enough to pull over for me to photograph.

And then it was back to Castlebar to meet family members at a pub. Pretty much the main thing we did while we were there was drink Guinness. It really does taste different in Ireland- it is creamier and delicious.

After a quick stop at the grocery store for drinks and pick-’n-mix (and where we discovered something called “Spirit of Louisiana” liquor), we headed back to the B&B for some tennis and cocktails before getting ready for the main event that night.

After a mass and photos, the party kicked off with drinking and food, shortly followed by a live band and dancing. It was so touching to see how much family meant to everyone there. They truly loved being with each other, and it made me feel at home.

Michael and Julia McAndrew, my grandma’s cousin

Center: Matthew Cardwardine, left: Matthew’s girlfriend, Rachel, right: Eileen Hughes

Eileen is my grandma’s cousin, Matthew is her grandson

Michael and Julia McAndrew with their daughters, Regina, Sharlene and Deborah Michael and Julia with Julia’s sisters, Eileen and Mary, all cousins of my grandma. Julia and Michael with their children, Julia’s siblings and nieces and nephews. In the back are Raymond, Nicola, Jacqueline and Angela, all Eileen’s children.

There is a photo of everyone, including Evan and I, that I will get a copy of.

Anna and Connie. Anna is one of Raymond’s daughters and Connie is one of Angela’s daughters Part of the gang: Connie’s boyfriend Jay, Deborah, Anna, Martin, Angela, Connie, Regina, Kayleigh (Angela’s other daughter), Tom (Jacqueline’s son), Ray, Rachel, Matthew (Jacqueline’s son), myself and Joseph (Jacqueline’s son). Of the younger generation, this photo is missing Ray’s daughter Elizabeth, Sharlene and Deborah (pictured earlier) Julia and her father John on her wedding day Julia and Michael on their wedding day with their wedding party

Michael used to be in a band, and part way through the evening, he serenaded his wife.

As the night was winding down, people took turns singing traditional Irish songs. It was magical and lasted until after 4 am. Michael sang one to his wife and broke down at the end. It was so sweet.

Please click here to watch the video of Michael singing:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jumdn2smwj995qc/1I7A1312.MOV

At the very end, a bunch of the young people, including myself, sang the theme song from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. That was surreal. Pictured here is Michael looking pretty confused as his family sings this song around him. We had all planned to then go back and play guitar and sing more, but when we reached the B&B it was 5 am and we ended up just crashing.

The next morning was a bit rough. We definitely did not make breakfast. Evan and I decided to take a bus to Westport. We caught the 2 pm bus and walked around in the nearby seaside town. It was apparently a special weekend while we were there, when people gather to climb Mt. Croagh Patrick in a pilgrimage. We definitely did not have the energy to do that. It was a very pretty town to walk around in though, especially with the mountain in the distance.

About a two minute walk from our B&B, pictured below, was Castlebar Lake and its beautiful views. I also made friends with a little Irish boy.

Our last evening was spent with most of the family at Julia and Michael’s house. They have a beautiful garden.  Pictured below is an old pot that used to hang in front of the fire in the old McLynskey house. I love that they kept this piece in the family.

 We sat in the sun room and drank more Guinness and looked at old photos.

Mary and Thomas McKlynskey, Julia’s parents, with one of their daughters, possibly Bridget

This was such a memorable, magical and life changing trip. I am so happy to have made contact with so many of my wonderful family members. I already have plans to try to see a few of them before we leave the UK and I hope we will all be getting to know each other better in the years to come. Here’s hoping for another family reunion in Ireland. Thanks to everyone for a wonderful experience and all the memories!

Right before coming to London, I spent time volunteering in León, Nicaragua, as previously blogged. I mentioned to Evan after we arrived in London that I found it easier to find street photography subjects in León because the city is so colorful and lively. In The City, our neighborhood of London, it is often very bland in color. There are a lot of concrete buildings and a ton  of people dressed in suits. I began looking around for inspiration and trying to think of interesting projects to work on while here. Since I spent last year doing a photo a day project with strict themes, such as colors, and since I began to notice red and blue popping out in this concrete world, I decided to make that one of my projects. I have a vision of designing a book where the cover is smaller versions of the photos on the inside featuring red and blue in a pattern to make up the underground sign on the cover. I don’t know if this book will ever be printed, but following are the examples I have found so far. Some of them are obvious, like the buses and the telephone booths, but many are simply a woman’s red hair, a man’s red sock or a man’s blue suit in front of a red door. I have begun seeing things in red and blue all over the city and I enjoy the mix of subjects. It is a simple theme, but I think sometime restrictions make you look harder. Here is a sample of what I have found so far.  

This post is long overdue as I have now been in London for nearly two months, but I I want to reflect on my first impressions of London. Below is the Tower of London, which is two blocks from our apartment. I still find it somewhat surreal to walk past it every day. The right third of the photo is a piece of the London Wall still standing and of course crossing in front of the castle is a very common site in London- the red, double-decker bus. This is one of the first photos I snapped here and it sums up one of my first impressions, being that this city has many juxtapositions of new and old. The city is so much older than cities in the US and you can see that history everywhere you look.

I have been in old cities before, but what really makes London interesting to me is that it is not a static city. Many old monuments are preserved, but new construction is going on constantly. We live in The City, which is the financial center of London. We are surrounded by bizarre looking new buildings that have taken on amusing nicknames, in true British fashion, like the Walkie Talkie, the Gherkin and the Cheese Grater. These three buildings can be seen in the cityscape behind The Tower of London.

This one is actually called The Shard- it is not a nickname, but it does look like a shard of glass. It is currently the tallest building in London.

When we first arrived and were recovering from jet-lag, setting up our new apartment and adjusting to our new life, I watched the Harry Potter movies. They’re British, after all, and the British love Harry Potter. Many scenes from movies and television shows can be recognized in London. An early scene in the first movie was filmed right by our flat in Leadenhall Market.

And a scene in The Half Blood Prince was filmed on the Millennium Bridge. This used to be called the Wobbly Bridge, because it actually was unsteady, so it was rebuilt to embody that wobbly feeling.

We’ve enjoyed British humor, from our new friends to shop keepers to local television to street advertising.

When I first moved here, one of my favorite things to do was just wander around and get lost to see what I would discover. I have always wanted to live in a big city and be surrounded by the vibe offered in big cities, from the art to the graffiti and skate parks to the musicians and specialty food shops.

Of course, as cliché as these images are, it is really something to stand in front of the iconic buildings and structures in London, and they invariably form a strong first impression  to every newcomer. Here are a few shots of the Elizabeth Tower (which everyone calls Big Ben, but that is the name for the bell inside it), Parliament, The Eye, Tower Bridge (crossing the Thames River, where I often ran when I first arrived), the inside of Shakespeare’s Globe Theater (where we saw a lovely play in the open air called Last Days of Troy) and for good measure another photo of the Tower of London.

On our first weekend, we went to Borough Market. It is a wonderful food market near us that I have fallen in love with. I want to do a more in-depth post on just this market later, but here is a teaser of how beautiful and delicious it is. Another wonderful early impression was how wonderful the food is in this city, and I am not just talking about the Indian food. To everyone who warned us of how bad the food is here, y’all are crazy and out of date! London has become one of the food capitals of the world, enriched by all the different nationalities found here. We rarely have a bad meal. We’ve enjoyed Indian, Italian, French, English, Afghan, Lebanese, Chinese, Thai, Japanese and even some American, to name a few.

Another first impression is how colorful the city is in summer. I always thought of London as rather concrete, but in fact there are beautiful flowers, including a lot of lavender, and gardens and parks wherever you look.

We went to Kensington Gardens, one of the Royal Parks, our first weekend. It was a beautiful day, and everyone was out enjoying the sunshine. Kids were playing, lovers were cuddling and families and friends of all nationalities were playing games or having picnics. We brought a baguette, some wine, cheese and olives from Borough Market with us. We also brought Evan’s guitar. It is still one of the more memorable afternoons I have had here.

I also noticed several photographers working in the park. It further inspired me to seek out doing some portraits in this beautiful city.

My first impressions of this city would not be complete without mentioning football, by which I of course mean soccer. The world cup was happening in our first weeks here and everyone was excited, even after England lost. I was impressed by how attentive everyone was watching the games. One of our fond memories was watching the Holland-Croatian game in a Lebanese restaurant with the owner. It was almost more fun watching with people of different nationalities who were all rooting for teams they had no relation to. We really got into watching the games.

The city really is very diverse. There are people here from all corners of the globe. I must say, it feels like much more of a melting pot than America. Here a family gathers to smoke hookah at the park.

We did venture outside of The City and central London in our first weeks, thanks to our friends Heather, Michael and Nick. They showed us around their neighborhood, Islington, which is much more residential and has a completely different vibe. They had Evan, my friend Sarah who was visiting and myself over for a delicious dinner of lamb burgers and some of Heather’s famous side dishes. I love their garden and the stray cat, who has been lovingly called Toothless, after the dragon in How to Train Your Dragon. It is wonderful to be in the same city as one of my best girlfriends and we are lucky to have a built in network here. It was also nice to explore the city with Sarah, pictured below, in our first weeks.

There is so much more to say about this magnificent city. It continues to grow on me as I discover new neighborhoods, meet new people and learn more about the culture here. This is merely a glimpse into my first impressions of London. For now I will say goodnight and close with some shots of the city at night.

I have been living in London since May 30, and so far it has been a whirlwind of experiences. Today was like any other day, I woke up, ate breakfast, went for a run, picked up my husband’s suit from the dry cleaners, showered, started laundry, and oh yea, watched the Tour de France 2 blocks from our apartment in London. I grabbed a spot in front a couple hours before the race was predicted to pass.

Before the race there was a small parade. It was not like the New Orleans parades I am used to by any means, but I did catch a box of tea from Yorkshire, which was perfect for me. I can do more with that than rubber bracelets and key chains. According to Evan’s coworker, it is a good tea. As part of the race went through Yorkshire this year too, the tea was one of the sponsors.

It was a great place to people watch as I waited for the cyclists. In normal London fashion, the weather was completely unpredictable and people went from wearing sunglasses and t-shirts to rain jackets and sweaters. My poor husband and his coworker, who joined me on their lunch hour, got soaked in their suits. Nonetheless, everyone waited patiently, even the police and construction workers lined up on the top of buildings to watch.

At one point we finally thought the race had started, but it was clearly a rogue cyclist, not someone who was part of the race.

Finally, the first racers appeared from around the bend.

They were very quickly followed by the masses. They were so quick that you’d miss half of it by blinking.

Right after that first herd there were two cyclists who seemed to be chatting with one another as they rode. Is it just me, or do they look more like they are buddies on an afternoon ride than racers in the Tour de France?

Other than a few stragglers, who were maybe a minute behind, the whole thing was over in about 40 seconds.

There is something magical about watching a historic sporting event in a crowd of people from all of the world with The Tower of London as the backdrop. I have taken many photos since I have been out here, and now that I have finished my Nicaragua posts, I can begin posting my adventures in Europe. I wanted to start with the Tour de France so I could be timely for once. It is late here, so I think I will turn in, but look for more on London soon. I think I will have a cup of that Yorkshire tea in the morning. Life is good.

BE WARNED: THIS POST DEALS WITH SURGERY AND, AS SUCH, CONTAINS SOME IMAGES THAT MAY BE CONSIDERED GRAPHIC.

Volunteering in Nicaragua helped remind me why I got into the medical field in the first place. Here, we were not dealing with red tape, paperwork, hierarchies or egos. We all worked together, alongside local staff and volunteers, helping as many people as we could. There was close interaction with the patients, and without the normal headaches of work at home, the doctors enjoyed concentrating on their craft and I enjoyed learning from the surgeons and bonding with the patients and their families. We had more time to actually help people hands-on. In our short week, Dr. Sketchler and Dr. Millet and the rest of our team were able to complete 39 knee replacements for people who would never have had access to this treatment.

I’ll start this post with a few photos from around the hospital. A banner on the hospital and signs posted inside read “Bienvenidos NOMMS,” or “Welcome NOMMS (New Orleans Medical Mission).”

Though there was limited air conditioning in surgical theaters and supply rooms, the hospital was generally cooled naturally. As a result, it was not uncommon to see pigeons in the waiting room.

Motorcycle accidents are all too common in León. This man broke bones in both of his hands and his leg and has a long recovery ahead of him.

Occasionally, small children would be waiting to undergo surgery in the rooms adjacent to ours. Even at such a young age, they waited stoic; we never heard them cry.

As was the case last year in Ecuador, our first day consisted primarily of the nurses and other volunteers making preparations for the week’s surgeries while the surgeons and suppliers evaluated potential candidates from the masses of hopefuls who had arrived. Patient candidates lined up with their X-rays ready for the doctors to review.  Surprising to us was how many came with their X-rays loaded on iPads and iPhones.

Every subsequent day followed the same routine. First, we would start our day with a traditional Nicaraguan breakfast of beans, rice and eggs before setting out on foot to the hospital. Once at the hospital, we set to work preparing the rooms for surgery while the surgeons did rounds on their patients. Below is a photo of one of our suppliers with a bunch of the surgical instruments and following is an overall shot of a surgery.  Featured is the group’s official photographer, Dan Milham. I was happy to play a dual role. I truly love volunteering with this group, because I am able to channel two of my passions and expertise. Due to a lack of the same kind of privacy laws we have in the US, we were able to take photos inside the hospital.

This photo of me is courtesy of Dan Milham.

Following are some of the moments I captured during surgeries, starting with scrubbing in.

Here are a few of the wonderful volunteers I had the pleasure of working alongside in surgery. I know some of the relationships I formed on this trip, with locals and fellow volunteers, will last for years to come. It is not often that one week can provide for such a rich experience, but volunteering in another culture is so much more than just traveling through- you are immersed into their world.

Amy is holding some hardened bone cement in the shape of a star. While we waited for the cement to dry and tested to see if it had hardened enough, we would have some fun forming small bits into various shapes; I made a cat once.

Here are a few shots of me assisting Dr. Millet in surgery.

Beverly, our surgical tech, was very helpful and patient with us all. We could not have done this without her.

Junior was one one of the local volunteers who helped us translate. These were the first surgeries he had ever seen.

Dr. Sketchler and Dr. Millet both did a wonderful job teaching the local residents their technique. Hopefully these residents will be better equipped to provide knee replacements for this population between our visits. Of course, part of the problem is expense. As it is not considered a necessary surgery, most people who want the surgery need to buy the hardware themselves, which is ridiculously expensive even for Americans. It is impossible for most Nicaraguans.

Dr. Sketchler’s son, who is pre-med, was also on the trip. He mostly volunteered at the eye clinic, but got to scrub in on a few surgeries. It was touching to see him learning from his father.

After surgery, it was time to close the knee up and clean the instruments for the next case. The instruments had to be washed and then sent for sterilization. We worked hard to fit in as many surgeries as we could.

The patients were visited by Leslie and Jerome, our physical therapy team, the day after their surgery. A couple of the local volunteers worked hard alongside them learning the ropes of physical therapy.

Here, Dr. Sketchler makes rounds on his patients from the previous day and reviewing before and after X-rays.

Some patients required special consideration, such as this blind patient.  His circumstances made the teaching process all the more challenging for our physical therapists, but they, and the local volunteers who worked alongside them, were no less determined.

In spite of our best efforts, we still had to rely heavily on the patients’ families.  Unlike in the US, these patients do not receive much if any follow-up care, so it’s up to the family members to learn from us how to aid in rehabilitation. The Nicaraguan culture in general is very focused on family, which worked in our favor. The families were always present and they were vital in the recovery process. For many, the first small step is simply fanning the patients to keep them cool in the hot hospital.  With so many patients packed into the recovery rooms, overheating was a real risk.

This gentleman did overheat and fainted on the unit. Leslie was there to help.  It was clear that the nurses on that unit are overworked and underpaid, because none of them helped. This was the only negative experience I had with the local staff.

The patients were very strong- managing to walk and do their rehabilitation exercises with only anti-inflamatories, no narcotics, to aid in pain management. They were grateful just to have received the surgery, which was refreshing to see. The whole experience was so rewarding for me. I hope we have added to the quality of life of these 39 people and their families.

Working in these conditions makes for strong bonds; I had a hard time saying goodbye.

The path we took to and from the hospital led us by a wall someone had thoughtfully graffiti’d in our honor with the words “grasias enfermaras y doctores.” I will never forget this experience.

The volunteers who worked the eye clinic in Leon did a fantastic job. I visited twice, helping for a few hours the second time, and it truly was impressive how many people we were able to help in a short amount of time. It was hot, there was no air conditioning, and every day there was a long line of people of all ages hoping to come away with clearer vision.

After waiting in the long line, the hopeful patrons were examined. Volunteers were trained to use to auto refractometer to obtain an approximate prescription.

Next they were brought into a larger room with a long table, where the volunteers fitted them for glasses. When someone took too long choosing and obviously cared more about the look of the glasses then how they saw through them, Skip would ring a bell and call him or her a diva. This is what had just transpired in the photo below.

Donations of glasses were organized according to prescription into bins for easy access. The volunteers would simply grab a bin and see which pair worked.

Here’s a snapshot of me with some people at the eye clinic. It was nice working there for a few hours, because I was able to interact with the patients more than in surgery. I also got a chance to practice my Spanish a lot more.

The beautiful moment was when a happy customer found a pair he or she liked- it is a simple tool that can greatly change someone’s life. This was the moment that was filled with wide eyes and smiles.

We gave out some 1200 pairs of glasses. Being the visual person that I am, it was a wonderful experience to help people see the world better or to help them read again.

I am currently living in London, England for the summer while my husband works here and I have a lot more free time to devote to photography. London is an amazing melting pot of cultures with so many visually stimulating areas, but more on that later. I vowed to update my blog often while I am out here, and I have already fallen behind, because I want to post a few entries on my amazing experience volunteering in Nicaragua in May first. I have finally completed sorting and editing the photos I took around the city of Leon, where we were based. The next entries will showcase the wonderful work all the volunteers I was with accomplished and all the amazing Nicaraguans who we met on our journey. We worked at a hospital in Leon, performing 39 knee surgeries with two surgeons, Dr. Sketchler and Dr. Millet, and we had an eye clinic down the street where we handed out some 1200 pairs of glasses.

Our first two days in the city were a whirlwind of cultural experiences. On our drive in from Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, to Leon, we pulled off to catch a view of the volcano and take a group photo. This is our whole group. I was apparently standing in some kind of tar, which I spent the remainder of the bus ride to Leon scrapping off with some wet wipes that one of my friends was kind enough to give me.

After eating lunch and getting settled in the hotel, we went to the town square for dinner. Leon is not a large place, but the streets are always full of people. The main square was packed with couples, families and people of all ages enjoying the beautiful night. Some walked around selling light up toys and friendship bracelets, while children did cartwheels and rode bikes around in the square. Part of the way through dinner, fireworks went off. It was a Saturday night, and like in the states, it was a time to relax and have fun with friends and family.

The next day, I had a fabulous time exploring the streets of Leon with a fellow photographer on the trip, Dan Milham, pictured below.

We explored the streets of Leon, and its people.

After preparing the supplies to begin surgery the next day and after the surgeons met with the potential patients to pick their cases, we took a bus ride to a local volunteer’s beach home. On the way, a lively and colorful parade passed. The following are a few snapshots of the parade from the bus window.

The beach was beautiful, we got to watch the sunset and the welcome party they threw us was perfect. It was window into the lives of the people who live there. The party was full of colorful drinks, kids playing and live music.

Swimming was very rough. The ocean definitely won. When I was ready to get out, a wave body slammed me against Rachel. We all ended up with sand in all the wrong places.

The light was beautiful as the sun began to set, and I had fun with silhouettes. I loved the shape of the family and the man with the sombrero.

It was so special being invited into a local’s home.

I think we all felt appreciated and welcomed after this special evening. The next day we hit the ground running, but I will post about the surgeries and eye clinic in another post. For the remained of this post, I want to post a few more events that established a sense of Leon, the place.

First, after work one afternoon, we visited the main church in the town center square and we were able to go up on the roof. It was beautiful up there- it almost felt like being on another planet. A fun fact about the churches in this town, they are all connected by underground tunnels. This was done during the revolution, so that people had an escape route. Many of the tunnels are now filled in to maintain the integrity of the building, but I still thought it was interesting.

After the church, we went to the revolutionary museum. It was a one room museum filled with photos, newspaper clippings and propaganda. The outside had political graffiti on the walls, including an anti Bush sentiment. I liked the shot I got of this man holding his fist up outside the museum with the Fidel and Hugo writings on the wall. I think it is a very telling photo. This man was very proud of the museum and the revolution. He did say that America is always a friend in Leon because of the help we gave. The second photo is from inside the museum and shows a photo taken at the hospital we worked at during the revolution.

Another wonderful insight into this city was going salsa dancing. We went to this local joint and danced for hours. It is beautiful to watch the swirl of colors as they twirl around the dance floor. And yes, we danced too, or at least we attempted to.

We made friends with the locals who volunteered with us and helped us translate. And finally, I will close with a few more photos taken around the town through the days and on the last day as we said goodbye to the local volunteers. My next post with showcase the work we did while we were there. It truly is a colorful and special place. Sometimes I wonder if people are happier when they don’t have as much as we do in America. They love each other and they are able to focus on what is important. Leading a simpler life can be quite liberating.

I normally shoot portraits and engagement sessions in some kind of park or natural setting, so I was delighted when Kate and Steve wanted to do their photos in the French Quarter. I got the feeling that they were up for a bit of an adventure and I talked them into taking a few photos at a funky house in uptown New Orleans before heading downtown. My friend Anthony discovered the house when he used to live in the area, and ever since he showed it to me, I have been wanting to take photos there. It is a dilapidated out house that has vines growing all over it. It is most beautiful when there are yellow flowers covering it, but unfortunately we missed the bloom by a few weeks. It is still a unique spot and they were good sports for walking through the dirt and ignoring the trash.

I think the juxtaposition of a nice couple in pretty clothes against this worn shack is interesting. The bride to be had a brilliant idea of writing on the broken windows, but we didn’t have any dry erase markers. I wish I had thought of something like that. This part of the shoot was not the most successful part of the day, and I think the house may be more suited to high fashion than engagement shots, but it was still fun.

After this, we headed down to Pat O’s, a famous New Orleans bar on Bourbon Street. Being in front of the camera is not always the most natural thing for people, but after a strong hurricane drink, they were ready to go.

We headed to the river and on the way there, I couldn’t resist getting some shots by the railroad tracks. I guess I have a thing for those kind of shots these days. Some of my favorite photos from the afternoon were taken there, because they really got into it and showed me their goofy side. It made for some cute images, showing a glimpse into their real relationship.

Then we headed to the river to get some nice clean shots by the water.

And we ended the day on a bench and in the grass with the cityscape and streetcar in the background during the golden hour- my favorite hour of light.

We were walking back to our cars, when we came across an abandoned streetcar. It was too perfect to resist. I asked to take a few more shots. I would have liked to work this scene a little more and perhaps should have shot it with a shorter lens, but I thought this image was cute anyways.

Best of luck to this beautiful, quirky, hilarious couple. I loved working with them both. It’s always fun when the bride is willing to trek through the dirt or sit on train tracks to get some fun images. I’m happy I was able to capture a piece of their history, a piece of their story. In the words of Amy Pond of Dr. Who (which is one thing I have in common with this fun couple), “We’re all stories, in the end.”