So my laptop died. It was having problems with charging and after replacing the motherboard 3 times, apparently one of the Dell techs that came in damaged my processor (idiot). It’s not such a bad thing because per Dell warranty (one of the reasons we only buy Dells) if one part breaks down 3 times, they swap the computer all together. And usually it’s a much better model, because they HAVE to give same or better components and only top of the line Dells come with my 17.3″ 1900×1200 HD screen. So currently they’re building an XPS17 for me but in the meantime that means I’m out of my “photo machine”. I still have my work desktop so it’s not like I’m without a computer (I wouldn’t survive) but all my pictures are patiently waiting on the 2 drives to be transferred onto my new laptop when I get it.

I had a few ideas for this week’s think pink. Originally I wanted to do a VS pink type of shoot that’s super easy to reproduce, but it requires energy and a remote, both of which I don’t currently have.

So here’s what I got for you ( I am sitting directly across our future baby room “planning out the design”)

Some of you might know that I REALLY want a girl! So i’ve been thinking/dreaming of PINK and we’ll know September 1st.

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Inner beauty to me is many things. It’s the strength that a person posesses, it’s the determination with which they achieve things in life, it’s the empathy they display towards other people, the confidence they exude.
Inner beauty always spills over into “outter beauty”. A person doesn’t have to be physically attractive to be beautiful, all they need to do is be confident in themselves, not cocky, not use fake confidence, but truly know who they are and what they are worth. People like that attract! People like that lead! And that’s what inner beauty is to me.

The original of this picture had my 15 week preggo belly in it, however this shot is not about pregnancy, it’s about something else, so it made sense to me to make it about the  ”message” and remove the belly.

The original image is beautiful from the “maternity photo”  standpoint (and a few others), I love it and I will be posting it and other versions soon.

I cannot wait to see what makes your beautiful!

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NEXT WEEK’S THEME: THINK PINK!

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{please note that today I have only text links available for you. I will get it fixed by next week}

We’ve spent years going to Universal back before they built the land of Harry Potter. Back then it was the Adventure land or something of that sort. Not too exciting, to be honest. I remember going to Universal and seeing them build bits and pieces of the Hogwarts castle, sectioning off some areas to add Hogsmeade village. Soon we were able to see the snow covered peaks of the houses there.

I remember being super excited about it openning in 2010, so much that my girlfriends and I took numerous jumping pictures in front of the mere sign announcing the openning of the new land.
{don’t mind my retarded face here}

Then I remember the day it opened. Some of my Orlando friends actually went there that day, which is a suicide and I remember them telling me how mind blowing the new ride in Hogwarts castle is.

A few weeks later we went there for the only reason of seeing this new HP land.

Now I have to say I LOOOOVED HP books – every single one of them, read them the day each one of them came out, was absolutely ecstatic about the movies, watched and re-watched them a million times. So needless to say this was a special trip to Universal, not like any other one out of about 20-30 trips we’ve taken ( we live 3 hours away and often come for 1-2 days and stay at Disney resorts).

So here’s a little tour, for those who haven’t had the chance to experience it just yet {some of the photos are from different trips there}:

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When you walk in, you get greeted by the Hogwarts Express train:

The Hogsmeade village would be so realistic if it wasn’t for millions of touristy looking people walking the streets

The Butterbeer stand is the first thing you see:

I was super excited to try it. I’m not a fan of overly sweet drinks, but this was something: it was worth every single calorie and toothache. The lines to buy Butterbeer are usually a mile long. Not that day

I wasn’t as impressed with the candy and trick shops. But the clothing stores were amazing: all that Hogwarts goodness, especially scarfs for each of the houses.

One of the best places to eat was Three Broomsticks. Now, to be honest, Universal SUCKS at food. I’m used to Disney themed restaurants and relatively healthy food in street shops. About 4-5 years ago under new management Disney changed all their menus/vendors or something, because the food quality definitely went up, Universal, however, never got hit by the clue bus and continues to think that burgers, hot dogs, turkey legs and fries is an acceptable and only food form. Broomsticks luckily has a few items that a more healthy eater can enjoy, but it’s not great: garden salad, corn, potato leek soup, fish and chips ( bad version of British fish’n'chips) and a few other items that I can’t eat  seemed relatively acceptable (beef pie, chicken, etc). So needless to say, we only stop at Broomsticks now whenever we go to Islands of Adventure ( before we had to go to City Walk to eat).

So after lunch, everyone heads out to Hogwarts, the main attraction of Harry Potter land.

 

The castle itself is, of course, absolutely stunning. It’s too bad we’re not early risers, because it’d be great to take a picture of it without the back lighting, against blue sky for once. The wait usually doesn’t exceed 30-40 minutes, however there were a couple times I saw 50-60 on that board. The ride itself is continuous, so the lines move MUCH faster than in most attractions.

Besides, who minds standing in line, where there’s SO much fun stuff to see around. I don’t have a SINGLE picture of the inside of the castle, since you have to check your bags, and to be fair, you’re just so amazed by the intricacy of the inside of the castle that photography is the last thing on your mind: moving pictures on the wall, Dumbledore in his study, Ron, Hermione and Harry hiding under the invisibility cloak in the classroom, screaming newspapers, and much much more.

 

The ride itself is great! I would even say “the best ride evah” if it wasn’t for the fact that Universal decided to go the IMAX-type screen route rather than 3D route for this one. If you ever rode Spiderman, it’s very similar except for the 3D effects, which are replaced here by a massive screen that makes you sort of feel you’re there, but not as well as 3D would ( kind of like Soarin’ at Epcot).

There’s a lot of real sets with dementors, which scare the crap out of you ( if you’re planning on going, seat the most squeamish person on the last seat on your right). I sat in the right spot the first time and a Dementor almost freaking swallowed me. There are massive snakes, and human-sized spiders, that tree from the movie that likes to rape innocent boys and cars, there’s Quidditch, moooore dementors and everything a fan would want.

Besides the Hogwarts ride, there is  some kiddie coaster, and the re-purposed Dueling Dragon coaster ( floorless coaster).
But the “magic” doesn’t stop there. Before you head out of the land to continue to Dr Suess land or Jurassic Park, there is one more thing that deserves attention: The Ollivanders Wand shop. The shop “claims” to create and experience like in the movie, where the wand picks you ( or smth like that). In reality, you stand in line for about 30 minutes…

Then they let a whole crowd into the shop that’s an exact replica of the one you see in the movie, except for it’s not as old, dusty and scary. The stacks of wands are EVERYWHERE:

They do a little presentation, showing a few magic tricks, and then let the crowd out. Very disappointing – no personalized wand picking, that’s for sure!
You do get to take a picture with Ollivander himself, though:

And then you’re free to go on into the shop and pick out a wand for yourself and I gotta tell you: if you have kids, it’s pretty special. There’re wands of all the book characters, including Voldemort ( yucky white bony wand), all the wands are EXACTLY what you see in the movies.

Gabby, my friend’s daughter, got herself a super pretty Hermione wand and every time she’d be watching a HP movie from then on, she’d pull out her wand and scream out in joy when  Hermione would use THE EXACT SAME WAND!

So there it is, the most magical Harry Potter land.

Are you, guys, Potter fans? Are you all sad the books and movies and done?

I was all ready to wimp out this week. I couldn’t get my backyard shot done. I tried, but it just didn’t happen {I blame it on my broken remote that I am yet to replace}
So tonight I was all set to write a post about how I couldn’t make it and how you all should go on and do better for this week’s theme, and I realized that it’s just not gonna cut it. Maybe it’s the overachiever in me speaking, but I just can’t let myself NOT take one.

I think the whole point of Selfie Saturdays is to feel a certain amount of “pressure” to do selfies. I mean, normal photos come easy to us- we don’t need to do our hair, put our make up on, think of a twist, suffer through countless attempts to get the focus right. But all that is why we need to do selfies- it’s about getting out of our comfort zone, it’s about getting out there and looking and feeling pretty, it’s about making it about “ME” for once, it’s about challenging ourselves as photographers and as creative directors and it’s also very much about capturing yourself in the moment for future memories.

It was so easy for me to take self-portraits when I “felt pretty“- it’s snap snap and we have a beautiful photo. But now that I’m pregnant, my skin is crap, I won’t get out of the house without a face full of make up to cover up the breakouts, my waist is double the size, so I don’t feel my body is anything to show off ( no bump yet). So selfies don’t come as easy and THAT IS WRONG.

Since you’ve seen so many pictures of my backyard:

Today you’ll get my front yard!
So I got up this morning, and instead of putting make up on and doing my hair, I decided to show what many of my mornings look like: eye mask, messy hair, Minnie cup of tea or juice, a book, my favorite Disney blanket and the chairs in our front yard.

I would also like to refine some of the Selfie Saturdays rules, now that we’re out of the learning/tutorial phase. The themes for each weeks are NOT mandatory, they’re simply a way to challenge you, give you a jolt of creativity. If you’re not digging the theme, feel free to take whatever self-portrait you want. Try to stay away from the in-mirror shots, or arm’s length shots (unless they’re really pretty, photographically speaking, or creative). There’s nothing wrong with those once in a while, but the whole point is to become more creative and also more comfortable with shooting with a tripod, remote and no view of the lens- a true self-portrait.

I realize everyone has to start somewhere, so if you’re not 100% comfortable with taking selfies and showing yourself, by all means, do what you need to do to get there- even if that means tipping your toes in the water of self-portraiture and doing an in-mirror shot – I’m sure your readers will appreciate taking another (or first) look at the person behind the words and such beautiful photography.

So you get me right?
Self-portraits – anyway, anyhow, anywhere, with ANYONE (kids, family, pets, as long as you took it)- with the ultimate goal to be as creative as possible, not always, but at times.

Tomorrow, I will give my, most likely, not very creative backyard/front yard shot. I PROMISE!

P.S.: Oh and don’t you dare think that I spent this week without any self-portraits – I take plenty on my iphone, believe me, which you can see if you add me on Instagram (girl_on_e)
P.P.S I know that after seeing this photo, you’re gonna comment saying “What are you talking about? You look gorgeous!”, I’ll tell you right now- I put make up on, did my hair and used an in phone skin smoother at that photo.

LINK UP YOUR BACKYARD PHOTOS BELOW

As I am going through my 47,000 photos in Lightroom, I keep jumping around from one year to another, depending on my mood. I find it fun actually! In the end, my goal is to edit, and sort all 47,000 photos, so what does it matter if I do this folder today and another tomorrow.

So this weekend, I felt I needed some real beauty in my life. And what’s better than spring in Florida, at Universal Studios to boot. So I went ahead working on those photos. They were taken in March, I believe and some of the brightest photos in my collection. The colors just make me happy and I hope that will translate into some happiness for you.

I’m also working on about 3000 photos of Disney and its parks and resorts that I’ve taken over the years. Most of them are already sorted, so I only have a few folders to go through and eliminate rejects. So we have that to look forward to, and Disne

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