Having family over for the holidays… best thing in the world!

I know Halloween was like eons ago, but I thought I’d upload a photo anyway! This year I went to some fancy-shmancy  Masquerade Ball. This photo is from the pre-party gathering at a friend’s place.

I am thinking that masquerade balls must have been so exciting in the old times when society was extremely concerned about etiquette and being proper. At that time, to wear a mask must have been liberating - one could be anonymous and free of inhibitions. These days? Now anything goes, mask or not. Halloween or not!

I think next year, if I am still in NYC, I will go enjoy the humor and creativity at the Halloween parade. I saw it two years ago and it was just pure art!

On a sadder note, someone at the party liked my pink mask sooo much that they stole it from my purse :-(  I wouldn’t usually get attached to objects (most are pretty replaceable) but this mask was a precious gift from a precious person…

I think it would do good to humanity if things like empathy and big-picture thinking are taught in school!

Wow, I doubt anyone visits this place anymore since I haven’t written in such a looooong time but wanted to tell any interested parties that I am still alive :-) Just busy and a bit burnt out with my web work… and my computer time in general.

Here is a little photo of a funny Italian pigeon. Whatever people may say about them, I love pigeons… They remind me of my childhood and how I used to chase them around and watch them fly away. Don’t ask me why but little children in Bulgaria love to do that :-)

This one was intently exploring the nearby tables at a charming Florence cafe our group was sitting at. Was funny!

Mornings like this make me want to write here… I have always adored this rainy, gray and quiet kind of mood, my thoughts flowing freely, only sometimes interrupted by the sounds of raindrops and then the sleepy cars rushing to catch the green light on the corner, ripping through the puddles of water on the sides of the street…

Most of all I like to sit near my window and breathe in the dampness of the soil in the mini-garden in front of the house. It is invigorating, especially when mixed with the scent of french vanilla coffee, freshly brewed and ready for me to pour into a glass of milk - for some sort of latte a la Ilina.

I have not shot anything recently - with the exception of a commissioned shoot I will soon post about on Flickr. Things will change next month; I am planning a long trip including Bulgaria-home, Bulgaria-seaside, Belgium and Italy. Photography will be my main focus and I am sure will produce plenty of material. I am not much of a travel photographer, but my mom always pushes and inspires me creatively (except when she insists that I photograph the sunsets… but I oblige anyway, and then I am superglad because I end up using them in images like this one).

So, good things are coming - and hopefully with them the end to my artistically dry period… With so many dreams to look forward to sometimes it is easy to forget where we stand. But I guess all that matters is that we keep going.

Here I leave you with a funny little picture, makes me laugh every time I see it. Featuring my eye-shut-highness :) and of course charming Nick Counts from Flickr. He came for a day-long visit to NYC a month (or two) ago - and I had the greatest pleasure of meeting him in person:

Hey all… it is an early morning here and it is so gloomy and rainy outside… I am glad I don’t have to go anywhere today, just stay home and enjoy the sound of the raindrops.

…And take a little photo break from work! Yes, I have been working very intensely lately and not much time for anything else… but I have been productive, and that makes me very happy!

Those of you coming from Flickr to see the source photo I mentioned, it is the first one below. While browsing the photos from the Chicago Botanical Garden afternoon, I was struck once again by the incredible landscaping that was done there. I am convinced the main landscaper must have been a photographer… Every little corner looked like a retouched postcard, I swear, with all the shadows and highlights and shapes and colors carefully planned… Absolutely incredible! If you ever have the chance to go there you must! I found a few new pictures I liked that I had not paid much attention to before… I will definitely process them sometime soon for all of you to enjoy!

But here are some others. Quite a few of these are taken by my mom with her point-and-shoot cam. I didn’t have time to edit them too much… but I did what I could :-)

So, this is the source photo from my recent picture on Flickr:

Always loved these… sorry, not sure what you call them in English?

This is Her Gorgeousness, my beloved sister Monika… strikig a Botticelli pose:

Damn I love her…

This is us two taking pictures of this duck who kept looking over its shoulder as if Cindy Crawford gave him lessons! Was so cute :-)

Notice Monika using her high tech phone camera! Also notice how tanned she looks compared to me. That’s her natural skin color… She got the better genes :-))

Enchanting little flowery corner with a beautiful view.

Haha, here below my mom documented me taking this photo!

While Monika was counting the geese :-P Twelve!

Me showing my sis the pictures in the viewfinder inside a breathtakingly picturesque garden.

Mom taking a picture of me while I am taking a picture of my sister…

I think this is the reciprocation to the above:

Not sure why Monika is making this face but it is so “her” makes me laugh… Ahh… we love our mom!! :-)))

Ohhh the swan family! They were such funny characters. It felt like they were extras in a movie, were so perfect and just stood there - did not move at all! It was a mom swan, a dad swan, and three baby swans… I see now how baby swans are indeed way uglier than ducklings… Like that children’s story goes. I used to identify with that one a lot when I was little.

They were not good at posing though. Kept looking the other way. Cindy must have taken a lunch break when it was their turn.

Nice statue.

Below is something like this picture but a bit different… I loved these benches, they were everywhere and really added character to the place.

A part of the Japanese Garden. I have a better picture than this one, I will be editing it for Flickr though! Was so beautiful.

Some river near the entrance/exit and an abundance of flowers. The white circle on the left is a lamp.

A gorgeous waterfall and some funny ducks splashing around. And my sister’s adorable smile.

That’s all folks! Have a lovely day and try to enjoy the rain if you have it too wherever you are :-) Or the sun, for that matter!

Finally!! I had almost given up this year…

I was so happy when I woke up this morning and saw the snow! Real snow! :-)
I grabbed my camera & the wide angle lens, and run out for a stroll in midtown near Central Park, as the city was waking up. Here are some random shots…

Something is always smoking on the streets of Manhattan… Makes it look like the Apocalypse or something.

*

I discovered completely by accident (while trying the settings on my camera) that if I use the Flash I can capture the snowflakes. I was so ecstatic about it!

No snowflakes here :-(

Snowflakes here :-D Big sis was protecting her younger brother while crossing the street. So cute!

Some corner on Park Avenue. I liked the architectural symmetry.

A beautiful flower shop. It was too early and the store was still closed. I wished I could have a SP shoot there! It was so beautifully decorated!

I also peeked into a wine shop. It was so tidy :-)
I hate wine by the way. A recent attempt to start liking it failed miserably.

The NY Academy of Science. I like the sound of it!

Some house.

Snowwwwflakes!! :-D

I never saw this bird until I opened the pictures on my computer. It was a funny surprise :-) The picture otherwise was useless!

Our minimalist x-mas tree :-)

I had a nice (albeit quite freezing) trip to Bear Mountain a couple of weeks ago. Just look at how amazing nature can be! There is no retouching on the first two shots - except for a border, and a crop. But that’s it.

The third pic was taken at the beautiful carousel there. This mirror is just a part of it and you can also see the saddle of a horse or two behind me :-) Yes, we did take a ride on the carousel and I pledged to do this at least twice a year!