Wedding Bells Photo Challenge

I don't enter a lot of photography contests but like many of the dedicated Jasmine Star blog

readers we found out she is this weeks guest judge... so of course I had to enter something! I ♥Faces is such a great blog that concentrates on the art of capturing faces and their various emotions.

This weeks theme is Wedding Bells, and it was almost impossible to choose only one photograph! Brittany and Justin were married this April and are a simply stunning couple. I love this photograph from their first dance, it sums up both of their personalities perfectly.

Please click on their button below my photo to see some fantastic photographs of faces, Enjoy!

Baby Nicole

A few short weeks ago I announced the birth of baby Nicole, I was excited then, but once I met sweet Nicole I quickly fell in love (and you will to)! Here she is at only 11 days old. Her curious nature, and personality is already shining through and I cant wait to watch her grow up!

Its me!

One of the best things about being a photographer is having photographer friends. Not only do they understand all the inter-workings of photography, they find it just as interesting as I do! Whenever I find a new gadget, learn about a new technique or need someone for a shoot, they are the first people I turn to!

I have spent a great deal of time behind a camera's lens, and although I have modeled for friends, I have stubbornly resisted putting a picture of myself on my website for YEARS!!! I used the usual excuses: "I don't have any recent good pictures of myself," "That one just isn't right for the website," "My hair cut is totally different now..." you get the point. I am pleased to announce that with the help of my wonderful friend, and fellow photographer Shadia, I finally have website approved photographs of myself!

I am thrilled with the results, and its a nice change to fall in love with a photograph of yourself! Thanks again for all your help Shadia, you are an awesome photographer and amazing friend!

Check out the "About" section on my website for these shots and a brand new bio in the weeks to come!

Bali Slideshow

Its been a few weeks since I returned from Bali, and I finally have a slide show of our ENTIRE TRIP to show. I tried to keep it under 10 minutes, and managed to edit down almost 3,000 photographs to 220. The edge of the video screen is cut off because its too big for this blog, but click on the video to see it full size on YouTube. Enjoy, let me know what you think and Happy Tuesday!

New Website Gallery

Over the next few months you will start to notice changes in my website, some small while others will be hard to miss. The first of these mysterious changes is the addition of an Intimate gallery!

I strongly recommend that every women should have an intimate photo session at least once in her lifetime. Its a wonderful way to explore your femininity and see yourself in a new light. I can't even began to tell you how this type of session has really empowered past clients, not just because they have some seriously sexy pictures of themselves, but because it boosts self esteem! We all have something unique and wonderful to offer and I believe that by embracing the body we are given we are better equipped to embrace who we are in life.

Check out the new gallery, let me know what you think and stay tuned for more updates. :)

Baby News!

I could not be more thrilled for Annie & Henry, the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl. Baby Nicole was born this evening after a long day in the hospital and is healthy and so adorable! I thought It would be fitting to show a few images from their maternity session, taken a little over a month ago!

All day I have been receiving text message updates and I just want to take this moment to express my excitement and joy for the newest member of their family! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

"A new baby is like the beginning of all things, hope, a dream of possibilities."

Newest member of the family

I would like you all to meet my new 24'' iMac, and my new best friend! My poor four year old PC laptop has been in desperate need of retirement, and the day has finally come. I have been waiting to switch over to Apple for a few years now, and I couldn't be more pleased with my purchase! As if I don't already spend enough late nights on my laptop, I'm sure that my new mac will help prolong my jet-lag from Bali.

Speaking of Bali, I'm working on a slideshow from the entire trip and will post when complete, stay tuned!

Goodbye Bali

Since I have been in Bali I feel like my photography blog as turned into a "Visit Bali, its amazing blog!" The reality is that I've really fallen in love with this island, and I'm extremely sad to be leaving so soon.

I sit here trying to find the right way to sum up this trip, but I'm lost for words. There is no way to accurately describe the entire experience of this place. The best I can come up with is... simply amazing!

My eyes have been opened to a new and wonderful part of the world, so rich with culture and life. Its refreshing to leave the States and helps put my life into perspective. The "important" things back home never even cross my mind here, and I find myself drifting toward a more simple lifestyle.

As I make my way back to Los Angeles, I leave behind so many unique and wonderful experiences. I can't help but feel sad to say goodbye to this amazing paradise, Bali.

Bali Cuisine

Throughout our travels in Bali each day has revolved around two things: where are we going, and what are we eating? Deciding what to eat can be a bit of a problem at times because there are so many different and amazing restaurants! Being a vegetarian (okay, I'm really a peskararian - I only eat fish) I was worried about finding food I could actually eat, but luckily Bali is very vegie friendly. Especially Ubud which has many restaurants that use only organic foods, and many sustainable resources.

For dinner I had fresh pesto with homemade noodles, and my meat loving boyfriend, John, enjoyed beef kabobs. Yummy.... makes me hungry just looking at these pictures! :)

Since tomorrow is our last day in Bali, and I haven't talked nearly enough about the great food here I thought I would share with you my favorite Balinese food. These dishes arn't nearly as sexy as the ones shown above but have amazing flavors and will be dearly missed back in the States.

1. Banana Pancakes: These little wonders are more like a mix between a crepe and a pancake, and are usually served with honey. They quickly became my favorite breakfast food, and are so sweet and light that you could eat dozens of them!

2. Snake-skin fruit: Appropriately named, this fruit looks like the skin of a snake and has a great tangy taste. Once you peal away the skin you will find this creme colored fruit wrapped around a single seed. At first its taste is strange, but its oddly addictive and the taste grows on you.

3. Bali Black Tea: I've seen this tea called many different things (Java Tea, Agung Tea, Black Tea) but regardless of what its called it seems to be the staple tea of Bali. It tastes similar to an English Breakfast tea, but much sweeter and with a few unfamiliar spices. I have had a least one cup of this tea each day and will take as much back home with me as I can.

Bali's melting pot cuisine is certainly an added bonus to its already stunning culture, beautiful scenery, and warm people. If your a foodie like me, you will enjoy all new and wonderful dishes that Bali has to offer.

A walk through rice fields

Nearly every piece of empty land in Bali is a rice field, but since tourism has continued to dominate the island more and more fields are turning into hotels and restaurants. A walk through the Ubud hills allowed us to see more of the collaboration between man and nature: the terraced rice paddies.

Rice cultivation in Bali can produce three crops per year, each taking approximately 4 months. The rice grown in Bali is also not exported, its only used to feed the islands inhabitants. Another predominate feature of the rice fields is wild ducks. Hundred of these ducks can be found all throughout the fields eating small insects and sleeping in the shade of coconut trees.

The walk itself was very easy, and provided wonderful views of rural Bali, including those who tend to the fields. Our trip is coming to a close, with only a few more days until we return to the States. Its amazing how much I feel at home here. I now understand why so many people come here and never leave, its a very tempting idea!

Ubud Continued

The Museum Puri Lukisan, "Palace of Painting" was the first stop of the day. Created out of concern in 1953 by Ubud's prince and Dutch painter Radolf Bonnet, because all of Bali's finest works of art were disappearing into private collections. The museum houses an extensive collection of paintings and carvings from the 20th century. Each painting is extraordinarily dense with detail and design, and show the imaginative world of Balinese culture and their fables.

Inside the museum grounds is a large lotus pond, with a few lotus in bloom. I never realized how large a lotus flower really is (almost 6 inches across), and its beauty is really quite stunning!

Pasar Ubud, is another large market place that takes place each day; selling food, textiles, and all kinds of crafts. Bargaining is always encouraged, but its almost impossible to know if your getting a good price or getting ripped off. Since I am not a very aggressive shopper, I'm almost positive that I could get a better deal, especially if I looked Indonesian. Like this set of bowls started at $78, and we got the price down to $36, but was told that he sold the same set to a Japanese couple for $100. Then as soon as we bought them, someone else offers us the same set for $15! I'm curious to know how much they are actually buying these crafts for, and how much of a profit they are making off of tourist like me!

The single most amazing thing I've seen in Bali, hands down is the Kecak dance! Performed by over one hundred dancers and singers this is not your typical show. Unlike most Balinese dances with many musical instruments, the Kecak dance utilizes only the sounds of the human voice and hand clapping. The story is a dramatizations of the eternal conflict between good and evil, and was taken from the great Ramayana epic written 100 years ago by an Indian Hindu author.

In the performance a large group of men serve as the singers, and in circle the flames in the center of the floor. They all move as one, and chant together, creating a sounds that are hard to believe only come from their voices.

The story is acted out inside the circle of singers, with beautiful costumes and traditional dance styles illustrating the battle between Dharma (good) and Adharma (evil).

In addition to the Kecak dance, we had the pleasure of seeing the Sanghyang Dedari Dance and Jaran Dance back to back. The Dedari Dance is used to drive evil spirits away and stop them from infesting the community with sickness or death. Performed by two girls who are always underage, for a virgin child is considered holy. The two dancers are put into a trace prior to dancing and never open their eyes during the entire performance. They moved together in perfect unison, and were brought out of their trance by a pemangky, who prays beside them and blesses them with holy water.

Finally we ended with the Jaran Dance, which is a single male dancer dressed as a horse. A pile of coconut husks are set on fire and he behaves like a horse, dancing around the bonfire. The chanting from the singers then leads him into the fire and he dances on top of the fire.

All three of these dances were unique and captivating. If you ever have the opportunity to see even one of these these Balinese dances, I highly recommend that you do! They show the beauty, mystery, and importance of the Balinese culture and will leave you speechless!

Ubud

Only a few minute walk from our bungalow is the Monkey Forest Sanctuary, the home to thousands of long-tail macaques. Inside the sanctuary is also a large temple dedicated to the dead, Pura Dalem Agung. The carvings on the temple are appropriately frightening, and make its purpose very clear. The jungle setting of this area is rather beautiful, with a small stream running through the sanctuary and lush plant life everywhere. The monkeys here are much less aggressive then the first time we saw them at Uluwatu, where they are trained to steal tourists glasses, earrings, watches, anything they can get their hands on, and then you must barter with food to get your stuff back.


We walked from our hotel to the center of Ubud in the afternoon, a walk that usually takes about 25 mins took us a few hours because we stopped at several shops along the way. The shopping in Ubud is awesome, with tons of small and unique shops sells all different types of clothes, art, jewelry, all with air conditioning (always a plus). The pace of life is Ubud is also much different then in Kuta. There is much less traffic, the people are friendlier, and everyone generally seems much more relaxed.

Since we have been enjoying a more relaxing stay in Ubud, I have taken the opportunity to learn some Indonesian. I have been able to say "good morning," "thank you," and "hello," but now I can count from 1-10. I know this isn't impressive at all, but it took me most of today to learn those numbers and its harder then you think! Tomorrow I will work on numbers 11-20. :)

The photograph below is from the sunset this evening, and was taken from the edge of the rice fields next to our bungalow. We have great views of the rice paddies, and their calming nature is just what we need after a hectic week of seeing every part of the island.

More of Ubud to come in the next post.

North Bali

The toll of our busy schedule has finally caught up with me. After nearly 8 days of exploring the island I am finally content with just laying at the pool! This I’m sure will change tomorrow, but for now I’m enjoying a relaxing day with nothing on the agenda.

Yesterday we checked out of our cottage in Kuta and made our way to North Bali for more sight seeing and a week long stay in the center of Bali, Ubud. Our first stop was Pura Tanah Lot or better known as the rock temple. As its name suggests, the temple is positioned at the meeting-point between of land (tanah) and the sea (lot) and is dedicated to the Balinese goddess of the sea. It was a stunning temple but because its one of Bali’s most promoted landmarks crowds were heavily gathered by 9am!

The best view was from another rocky bluff directly across from the temple. At the edge of the cliff I took the opportunity to practice my yoga, and managed to hold my pose and not fall to my death! :)

The Bali Butterfly Park was next, and served as an unexpected treat! Not only were there amazing butterflies and moths there were also stick bugs, beetles, and a butterfly hatching room. Hundreds of cocoons are collected from inside the park and then brought to this room until they hatch. Here you can see butterflies coming out of their cocoons and drying their wings. Although a butterfly only leaves for 2 short weeks, the process of their life is truly like no other.

Although Bali is a relatively small island, it still takes a great deal of time to travel from one location to the next. Traffic, crazy curvy roads, and weather made our trip to the largest waterfall on the island even longer. As we made our way up into the mountains the downpour of rain started. Luckily the rain held off long enough for us to see the waterfall and make it back to the car dry. The waterfall is 150ft high and located in the village of Gitgit. A 400 meter walk to the fall proved to be a death trap of slippery stairs and eager shop owners. With no other path to the falls we were forced to turn down over 30 shop owners, and each time it became harder and harder to say “no thank you, no.”

Our last stop before Ubud was Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, a small temple built at the edge of Lake Bratan. This time we we were not as lucky, the rain came down and flooded many of the walkways around the temple. At the edge of the lake is the 11-tierd meru, (a shrine with 3, 5, 7, 9, or 11 tiers depending on the importance of the deity it represents) that is pictured on the 50,000 Rupiah (approx $5.00 USD). This is the most tiers we have seen thus far, and as the clouds began to clear the blue sky was visible from beyond the clouds.

After a very long day of traveling we finally made it to Ubud, our new home (for 7 days that is). Soon after we checked in and got settled the village lost power and we were stuck in the dark. We managed to get some candles for our room, and stumbled down the streets of Ubud until we found a restaurant with a generator, and the most amazing coconut crepes and ice cream we have every had!! It was the perfect way to end an extensive day of exploring; a glass of wine and a yummy desert… or two!

NOTE: My Internet connection at our new hotel is a little touch and go, so posting might be delayed a day or two.