tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306538812024-03-06T23:09:56.157-08:00A little bit of everything...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-18981400278771250092015-02-04T23:40:00.000-08:002016-01-24T22:18:49.573-08:00The day the earth stood still...More than seven years ago, Carlos mentioned he wanted to have a dog, he never had a dog in his family before and I thought it would be a good idea, I like dogs. He mentioned he would like to have a Husky, a big dog and I thought ok.<br />
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Some time after that conversation, we came across some pictures of some white fluffy puppies of a breed we didn't know about, they were Samoyeds, we never seen one before. We googled the breed and checked if we could find some puppies in Costa Rica and there, in the first page we found a family in Cartago that had Samoyed puppies that were looking for their forever homes.<br />
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We said, let's go just to see them and off we went, we never really thought about the consequences of that action. We got there and saw those white cotton balls, we fell in love completely and we decided right there on the spot to get one, without thinking about anything else, our hearts were stolen forever.<br />
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We brought home one of the loves of our lives that we named Sam, this is him the first day on his new home, he was two months old and he was the most beautiful puppy ever.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/3224932735" title="Sam by Maricel Quesada, on Flickr"><img alt="Sam" height="266" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3520/3224932735_c4f45edbc1_z.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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We introduced him to our families and as he did with us, he did with everybody else, he stole their hearts, he was one sweet little fluffy cotton ball. We used to take him to my Mom's house where he got to play in the yard with my Mom's puppy Chester, they played all day until they both got tired. He loved going there and running around in the yard.</div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/3225791546" title="Sam by Maricel Quesada, on Flickr"><img alt="Sam" height="266" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3505/3225791546_74738a7494_z.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/3224946261" title="Sam by Maricel Quesada, on Flickr"><img alt="Sam" height="266" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3126/3224946261_e555d0ee20_z.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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He also loved going to El Tec, for walks around the campus where he got the chance of meeting other dogs, because he was always super friendly, he always had time to play.</div>
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He loved his stuffed animals, he used to have a Pooh bear that I had to constantly fix, there was a point when we used to call him the Frankenpooh, but he loved it no matter what. He would take his stuffed bears on walks too, catching everybody's attention.</div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/4764353880" title="Sam by Maricel Quesada, on Flickr"><img alt="Sam" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4100/4764353880_4068b734bf_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/4763719931" title="Sam by Maricel Quesada, on Flickr"><img alt="Sam" height="425" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4118/4763719931_a7088cf3e8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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He loved spending time in our backyard, also playing with us on the bed, he was also very much used to his paparazzi Mom who could not stop taking pictures of him, so he learned how to pose.</div>
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After four years of having him with us, we got the opportunity to move to California, we decided that we wouldn't go anywhere if we couldn't take him, he was part of our family, we couldn't leave him, no job or opportunity was worthy if you have to split your family. So, we did our research and found a way to bring him with us, we also made sure his life would be better here. We were very excited because here we could take him to more places, there were more dog parks, better day care places, more parks and trails where dogs are allowed, etc.</div>
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The day he traveled was a very stressful day for all because of all of the risks of taking a dog on a plane have, but he made it safe and we couldn't be happier to have him here with us. If you want to read more about that adventure, you can go here <a href="http://maricelquesada.blogspot.com/2012/02/bringing-sam-to-california.html">http://maricelquesada.blogspot.com/2012/02/bringing-sam-to-california.html</a></div>
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While in California, he visited a dog park for the first time (there were no dog parks where we used to live), he visited the beach and the snow for the first time and he met other Samoyeds.</div>
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We took him to Tahoe, where he met Kalcite, Diem, Sophie and Vino, all Samoyeds like him, cute white fluffy friendly Samoyeds like him. In this trip he even got the chance to pull on a sled for the first time, he did it very naturally like if he has been doing it all his life.</div>
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Around the Bay Area, some of his favorite places were Fort Funston, Point Isabel and the Palo Alto Baylands. However, as long as he was out walking around with us, he was happy, he loved exploring new places, meeting new dogs and people, car rides, any kind of adventure. Oh, he also enjoyed treats ... and digging some times!</div>
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Something we loved to do for him was to take him to Tahoe, he enjoyed these trips so much, being able to run off-leash, swim in the lake, be outside all day, it was paradise.</div>
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Sam was not a pet or just a dog, he was a member of our family, he was someone we loved very much, he was always there with us, he always had a big smile for us, he was always happy to see us, he was always gentle and friendly, he was our best friend.</div>
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Sam gave us seven years of happiness, but today he crossed the rainbow bridge, today is the day when we felt like the earth stood still, when for a moment nothing seemed to make sense, he left us very sudden, everything happen so quickly, we couldn't believe it, we lost our best friend, our companion, the love of our lives. We will miss him so much every day.</div>
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<b>Sam we will love you forever!!!</b></div>
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<b>Sam</b></div>
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<b>Dic 08th, 2007 - Feb 04th, 2015</b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-63330704610295616072012-06-18T21:28:00.003-07:002012-06-18T21:41:18.653-07:00San Francisco PhotowalkI went on my first photowalk yesterday with a lot of other photographers, the event was organized by <a href="http://plus.google.com/101793532287583914396/posts">Dave Powell</a> from <a href="http://shoottokyo.com/">ShootTokio.com</a> and <a href="http://plus.google.com/116594199576805510790/posts">Vincent Mo</a>, tech lead of <a href="http://plus.google.com/">Google+</a> Photos.<br />
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It was a great experience, first because it was something I've never done before, second because it gave me the perfect excuse to go to San Francisco and take pictures of the city and third, because I got to see a bunch of other people as passionate about photography as I am, probably even more, and most of them with a lot more experience for sure.<br />
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We started from the Ferry Building and continued to the Financial District, after a couple of hours <a href="http://www.blogger.com/carloszs.com">Carlos</a> and I went home, we needed to go take care of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SamSamoyed">Sam</a>, but the group continued to China Town and finish the photowalk with a dinner, too bad we missed that part, hopefully next time we would be able to stay until the end.<br />
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Here are some of my favorite pictures from the photowalk, I hope you enjoy them.<br />
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Tiny Golden Gate<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392110790/" title="SF Photowalk by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="SF Photowalk" height="307" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7224/7392110790_e48bcea18c.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Bay Bridge<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392117552/" title="SF Photowalk by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="SF Photowalk" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7089/7392117552_f5de65a2d9.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Happy girl, not sure what she was doing but she was very happy about being photographed by a lot of people.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392123416/" title="SF Photowalk by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="SF Photowalk" height="313" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5040/7392123416_f0a8d918cb.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Checking the make up<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392147142/" title="SF Photowalk by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="SF Photowalk" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7099/7392147142_1f34a05bcb.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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Flowers: Sea Lavender<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392153400/" title="SF Photowalk by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="SF Photowalk" height="333" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8009/7392153400_a3bc879996.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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Patterns<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392163128/" title="SF Photowalk by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="SF Photowalk" height="333" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5200/7392163128_c985e09c67.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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This woman was sitting on the sidewalk enjoying the sun light<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392172252/" title="SF Photowalk by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="SF Photowalk" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7083/7392172252_c9bd584463.jpg" width="381" /></a>
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Patterns<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392175764/" title="SF Photowalk by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="SF Photowalk" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7213/7392175764_7a0a31d2a4.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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Looking up<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392192166/" title="SF Photowalk by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="SF Photowalk" height="333" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5038/7392192166_5a2ef1666d.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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Going down<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392198076/" title="SF Photowalk by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="SF Photowalk" height="333" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8010/7392198076_ca7621115f.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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Patterns<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392202454/" title="SF Photowalk by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="SF Photowalk" height="319" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7097/7392202454_3bb13505b9.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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Embarcadero Center, great place to find patterns<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392203938/" title="SF Photowalk by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="SF Photowalk" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7223/7392203938_47a1b84be7.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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Beautiful<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392199278/" title="SF Photowalk by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="SF Photowalk" height="323" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8154/7392199278_ed2bdda593.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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Twins?<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392205776/" title="SF Photowalk by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="SF Photowalk" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7105/7392205776_7fc12128cf.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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Downtown<br />
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Transamerica Pyramid<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392215060/" title="SF Photowalk by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="SF Photowalk" height="328" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7233/7392215060_23e5198bf3.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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More patterns<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392212216/" title="SF Photowalk by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="SF Photowalk" height="333" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5155/7392212216_89b547e9a5.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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Transamerica Pyramid<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392218894/" title="SF Photowalk by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="SF Photowalk" height="311" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7081/7392218894_ce1ecdc588.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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Reflections<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392220866/" title="SF Photowalk by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="SF Photowalk" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7094/7392220866_118019674c.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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China Town<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392225126/" title="China Town by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="China Town" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7082/7392225126_2a81c2d35c.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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Triangles<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392228168/" title="SF Photowalk by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="SF Photowalk" height="500" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5341/7392228168_145ccce511.jpg" width="333" /></a>
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Going up to heaven<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392229258/" title="SF Photowalk by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="SF Photowalk" height="312" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7088/7392229258_1937e907c8.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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Colorful buildings<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/7392233224/" title="SF Photowalk by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="SF Photowalk" height="327" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7074/7392233224_cdcd47fc1a.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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All pictures I took can be seen in my Flickr set <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/sets/72157630171743334/" target="_blank">San Francisco Photowalk 06-17</a> set.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-75178377832138764242012-02-19T23:38:00.000-08:002012-02-20T18:08:25.522-08:00Bringing Sam to CaliforniaMy husband <a href="http://carloszs.com/">Carlos</a> and I have a dog named <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SamSamoyed">Sam</a> and we recently moved to California so we brought him with us, of course, how could we leave him if he is family.<br />
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When we decided to come to California we were super worried about him, because he would have to be transported in a plane and since he is a big dog he doesn't travel in the cabin, at the end we decided to flight with Continental and use their PetSafe service, he flew in the cargo but in a temperature controlled area specially for him. He arrived in SFO safe, super tired and thirsty and of course scared but fine, we were so happy to see him when he arrived (we arrived earlier than him) and to see that he was OK. He arrived fine but we are going to try not to make him go through something like this again since it was a very stressful situation for all of us. It was nice that there were a lot of people giving us their support that day through his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SamSamoyed">Facebook page</a>, all of his fans were waiting for him to arrive, to know he was safe and healthy before going to bed, it was nice to know that all those friends were sending us their good wishes and best thoughts hoping that everything went fine with his trip. Thanks all for that!!<br />
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We are happy and thankful for being able to have him here with us, we are excited because compared with Costa Rica, California is a very dog-friendly place, not that Costa Rica isn't but here you have dog parks, big sidewalks and parks where you can walk with your dog with no problem.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/6561821987/" title="Sam by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7004/6561821987_f7cf07f68a.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Sam"></a><br />
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We were super excited the first time we took him to a dog park, we weren't sure how he was going to behave being around so many dogs but he was great, he had such a wonderful time he and we couldn't believe it. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/6579899021/" title="Point Isabel Dog Park by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="Point Isabel Dog Park" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7170/6579899021_4ba55a7fd7.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Later we had the opportunity to go to <a href="http://www.ebparks.org/parks/pt_isabel">Point Isabel</a>, when we arrived there we weren't sure to let him go off-leash because this park is open and we were afraid he would run and that we would lose him, but we decided to give it a try and he was fantastic, he was always close to us, always looking back making sure we were there and he would come back when we called him, it was amazing like if he was trained all of his life.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/6579908291/" title="Sam at Point Isabel Dog Park by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7032/6579908291_5e96bae3f3.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Sam at Point Isabel Dog Park"></a><br />
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We went to Point Isabel to meet our friends <a href="http://mahugh.com/">Doug</a> and Megan and his two samoyeds <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JamieSamoyed">Jamie and Alice</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/6579907263/" title="Alice, Jamie and Sam by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7154/6579907263_db2c7f4afb.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Alice, Jamie and Sam"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/6579918187/" title="Silhouettes by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7155/6579918187_02db27a938.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Silhouettes"></a><br />
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Even though we lived in Costa Rica, a country that is surrounded by the ocean in both sides, we were never able to take <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SamSamoyed">Sam</a> to the beach because it was too hot for him, so we were also excited of being able to take him to the beach here and see what his reaction was. We first took him to <a href="http://www.parksconservancy.org/visit/park-sites/fort-funston.html">Fort Funston</a>, he was first afraid of the waves, he wasn't really sure what to do.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/6705970125/" title="Fort Funston by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7003/6705970125_9bcff2e278.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Fort Funston"></a><br />
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But later he found a friend who run into the water so he saw it was safe and followed him, it was super fun to see him run on the water.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/6706078715/" title="Fort Funston by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7159/6706078715_4c041f2b77.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Fort Funston"></a><br />
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Then he didn't want to get out!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/6706121915/" title="Fort Funston by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7169/6706121915_a17933b885.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Fort Funston"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/6706133087/" title="Fort Funston by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7168/6706133087_92c004690c.jpg" width="500" height="337" alt="Fort Funston"></a><br />
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We took him to Santa Cruz too, he had a blast that day, since now he knows that all that water is safe to play in he had a great time, he found a few friends to run and play with and for us it is always so fulfilling to see him so happy, running freely and having the best time of his life.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/6831669793/" title="Sam by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7151/6831669793_12ee0700ef.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Sam"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/6831688513/" title="Sam by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7163/6831688513_7bbe418a4e.jpg" width="500" height="337" alt="Sam"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/6831694817/" title="Sam by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7017/6831694817_69d25e4e95.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Sam"></a><br />
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We certainly hope to keep having awesome days full of fun with our dog Sam. Next thing in our to-do list is to take him to play in the snow :-)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-7195164512293792882011-09-13T10:08:00.000-07:002011-09-13T10:14:07.760-07:00A visit to Salt Lake CityLast July I went to Utah for work, I had to spend the weekend there, so I decided to go to Salt Lake City and make a walking tour with my camera through South Temple Street to Temple Square. There are really cool buildings, churches and houses, so it is a great place for pictures. Also, there are a lot of trees, so it is a nice walk.<br />
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These are some of my favorite pictures from that day, I hope you enjoy them.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5948346875/" title="Salt Lake City by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img alt="Salt Lake City" height="333" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6141/5948346875_5a3f241cb2.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5948905042/" title="Salt Lake City - Masonic Temple by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6010/5948905042_9fc5f5850d.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Salt Lake City - Masonic Temple"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5948362637/" title="Salt Lake City by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6017/5948362637_05c70b05dd.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Salt Lake City"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5948373239/" title="Salt Lake City by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6124/5948373239_8c2577eed4.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Salt Lake City"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5948383271/" title="Salt Lake City by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6008/5948383271_fa1780b375.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Salt Lake City"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5948391863/" title="Salt Lake City - Biker by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6139/5948391863_3eb7a47f9c.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Salt Lake City - Biker"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5948410155/" title="Salt Lake City by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6147/5948410155_c0e97ed3c0.jpg" width="366" height="500" alt="Salt Lake City"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5948432871/" title="Salt Lake City - Temple Square by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6125/5948432871_aae7cdc25c.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Salt Lake City - Temple Square"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5949000600/" title="Salt Lake City - Main Temple by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6014/5949000600_b5b4f6a518.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Salt Lake City - Main Temple"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5949001800/" title="Salt Lake City by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6002/5949001800_3cdf3eab18.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Salt Lake City"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5949005828/" title="Salt Lake City - Main Temple by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6024/5949005828_98b29f2c72.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Salt Lake City - Main Temple"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5949042076/" title="Salt Lake City - Main Temple by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6011/5949042076_eaeb0e7a21.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Salt Lake City - Main Temple"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5948491717/" title="Salt Lake City - Main Temple by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6136/5948491717_1fa3b0ca69.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Salt Lake City - Main Temple"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5948515109/" title="Salt Lake City - Main Temple by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6022/5948515109_0af3c1be07.jpg" width="338" height="500" alt="Salt Lake City - Main Temple"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5948521257/" title="Salt Lake City - Main Temple by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6028/5948521257_feaef27b1b.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Salt Lake City - Main Temple"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5949034638/" title="Salt Lake City - Main Temple by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6140/5949034638_1cfd7355b9.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Salt Lake City - Main Temple"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5948457743/" title="Salt Lake City - Reflection by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6144/5948457743_003b8d16a7.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Salt Lake City - Reflection"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5948529189/" title="Salt Lake City by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6013/5948529189_8f1830f89e.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Salt Lake City"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5948570989/" title="Salt Lake City by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6145/5948570989_7f6fc416f0.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Salt Lake City"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5948572235/" title="Salt Lake City by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6143/5948572235_115505bdcc.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Salt Lake City"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5949131958/" title="Salt Lake City - Beautiful House by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6009/5949131958_75153ce5cf.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Salt Lake City - Beautiful House"></a><br />
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Utah has a lot of natural attractions, great national parks, places for outdoor activities, etc., but if you visit Utah, don't forget to visit the city as well, specially Temple Square.<br />
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If you want to see the whole set in Flickr go <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/sets/72157627219469650/" target="_blank">here</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-25422599456339810032011-03-03T11:04:00.000-08:002011-03-06T21:41:42.011-08:00Manuel Antonio - A real paradise<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/4461090223/" title="Manuel Antonio by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2787/4461090223_ff558e0fe8_m.jpg" width="200" height="260" alt="Manuel Antonio" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a>A few days ago my husband and I went on vacation to Manuel Antonio, Quepos for four days. Our idea was to spend as much time as possible inside the Manuel Antonio National Park, mainly because this park is so incredibly beautiful that just by watching the ocean you relax a lot and that's what we needed, rest.<br /><br />We got to Manuel Antonio on Thursday afternoon, we checked in the hotel and went to the beach to watch the sunset, it was amazing, I got to take a lot of pictures of it, there were some people with big cameras there too trying to catch that awesome moment. It was perfect, there were not so many clouds, there were not so many people on the beach, it was great. Even the colors of the sky after the sun was completely down were amazing.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5491035702/" title="Manuel Antonio by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5258/5491035702_f849da6d0d.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Manuel Antonio" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5491087456/" title="Manuel Antonio by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5053/5491087456_6926a3872a.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Manuel Antonio" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5490501075/" title="Manuel Antonio by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5138/5490501075_d8bedb88af.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Manuel Antonio" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5490570865/" title="Manuel Antonio by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5018/5490570865_c6c31a4756.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Manuel Antonio" /></a><br /><br />The next day we got up early, had breakfast and headed to the park, it was Friday and there were a lot of tourist trying to get in. We were all set up with a cooler with cold water, fruits and sandwiches so we didn't have to go out of the park for lunch, we didn't want to leave that place, it is paradise.<br /><br />In this park you get to see a lot of monkeys, raccoons, birds and different types of animals, this plus the beach, the ocean, the trees, the palms, etc. makes it a paradise for a photographer, so of course I took advantage of that and took hundreds of pictures, many of them of monkeys, they get really close when looking for food, they are cute and funny so they are great subjects for photos. <br /><br />Last year I went for a day to Manuel Antonio and I got to take several pictures of the monkeys with my new camera, but a lot of them didn't come out right, it was a challenge because the monkeys are usually in the trees where there are not a lot of light, they tend to move really fast sometimes and but mainly because I wasn't used to my new camera yet so some of the photos were out of focus, underexposed, overexposed, things like that, so this time it was my chance to practice and I did, everyday I went there looking for monkeys to photograph, at the end I took more than a hundred pictures just of monkeys.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5490746531/" title="Manuel Antonio by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5140/5490746531_814430efde.jpg" width="500" height="361" alt="Manuel Antonio" /></a><br /><br />Monkeys are always running around in the park looking for food, they come and go all day. One day there was a family eating mangos and the monkeys came, so they started sharing pieces of the mango with the monkeys, but then they stopped, so one of the monkeys tired of waiting for another piece run really fast, grabbed a bag with a big mango in it and took off, on the way he dropped the bag and run with the mango, it was hilarious.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5490889469/" title="Manuel Antonio by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5180/5490889469_f4bfb2d62f.jpg" width="500" height="303" alt="Manuel Antonio" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5490886717/" title="Manuel Antonio by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5298/5490886717_d5c29bc56f.jpg" width="403" height="500" alt="Manuel Antonio" /></a><br /><br />After running around looking for food they stop in trees and take a nap, usually in trees that are far from the trails so people don't bother them.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5491806416/" title="Manuel Antonio by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5211/5491806416_c2d1029b46.jpg" width="500" height="323" alt="Manuel Antonio" /></a><br /><br />They also like to groom each other, "I scratch your back and you scratch mine" kind of thing.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5491895768/" title="Manuel Antonio by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5295/5491895768_ca348a9a8c.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Manuel Antonio" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5491338019/" title="Manuel Antonio by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5180/5491338019_accbc3c211.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Manuel Antonio" /></a><br /><br />I like to relax on the beach but I definitely have a lot of fun when the monkeys pass by running around.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5493048759/" title="Manuel Antonio by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5018/5493048759_8f0a7fe7f5.jpg" width="401" height="500" alt="Manuel Antonio" /></a><br /><br />I love this park, I love it because besides it is a natural paradise it is kept clean and well organized. In order to get inside the park everybody has to buy a ticket that is valid for the whole day. Inside the park you will find clean water, trash bins, toilets, showers and trails so there is everything you need to stay there the whole day. No alcohol is allowed which is great because that avoid many problems from happening. People go to the park to swim, get a tan, take pictures, relax and read, lots of people reading.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5493755330/" title="Manuel Antonio by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5012/5493755330_55de85607e.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Manuel Antonio" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5493150931/" title="Manuel Antonio by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5053/5493150931_2ac186051b.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Manuel Antonio" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5493752020/" title="Manuel Antonio by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5057/5493752020_ac4831a251.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Manuel Antonio" /></a><br /><br />Besides all the obvious natural beauties I already mentioned, I took the time to photograph other things that caught my attention. Some of them are really small others are just old leaves or broken tree branches that some people might think are not too attractive, but they were interesting to me.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5491047185/" title="Manuel Antonio by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5295/5491047185_02547053f0.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Manuel Antonio" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5491236578/" title="Manuel Antonio by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5134/5491236578_63a91299b1.jpg" width="500" height="352" alt="Manuel Antonio" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5490693397/" title="Manuel Antonio by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5091/5490693397_2dbff8e163.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Manuel Antonio" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5491616010/" title="Manuel Antonio by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5131/5491616010_4f171bdc7a.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Manuel Antonio" /></a><br /><br />Manuel Antonio is a great place to visit, not only because it has this beautiful park but because they have that wonderful beach that is one of the cleanest beach in the country. Even though the town has grown a lot with lots of hotels they have managed to keep it "green" trying to preserve a lot of the rainforest, keeping the streets without trash as much as day can. A cousin of mine who lives and works there told me that when a big hotel is being built they do what they can to prevent them from cutting a lot of trees and to protect natural resources, also all the hotels are organized to send teams to the beach to pick up the garbage and keep it clean, they have free Wifi in almost all the hotels, looks like a very well-organized community.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5491461420/" title="Manuel Antonio by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5100/5491461420_3cefe2b6e1.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Manuel Antonio" /></a> <br /><br />If you want to see some more pictures I took during this trip, go to my <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/sets/72157626178710844/">Flickr</a> account and check the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/sets/72157626178710844/">Manuel Antonio 2011</a> set.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-41366742582130584552011-02-15T09:08:00.000-08:002011-03-06T21:42:20.873-08:00Photography class: Assignment 7 - PortraitsThe assignment for this week was about portraits, we had a basic class about the different types of portraits and a few techniques, not a lot because portraits is a course in itself, so this assignment was to have a brief idea of how to take portraits. The assignment was to take 2 portraits of somebody else and this person was supposed to be posing for the camera, also I had to take another 2 portraits but in this case the person didn't have to pose, it has to be spontaneous so we can capture the person expresion without being influenced by the fact that a picture was being taken of them and lastly I had to take to self-portraits to get used to see myself in the other end. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Posing for the camera</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5448558610/" title="Assignment 7 - Portraits by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5018/5448558610_f4d646db9b.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Assignment 7 - Portraits" /></a><br />This is a picture of my sister, posing in her garden with her orchids, which she loves. I took it in a cloudy day, no flash no other tools used.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Posing for the camera</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5447935821/" title="Assignment 7 - Portraits by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5137/5447935821_198d8d4080.jpg" width="396" height="500" alt="Assignment 7 - Portraits" /></a><br />My sister again in a different pose, similar settings.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Spontaneous</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5448576192/" title="Assignment 7 - Portraits by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4135/5448576192_cc7ce16af8.jpg" width="442" height="500" alt="Assignment 7 - Portraits" /></a><br />This picture was taken in the office with some good light coming from the window, again no flash used.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Spontaneous</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5448580944/" title="Assignment 7 - Portraits by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5134/5448580944_2a2cc21dd8.jpg" width="436" height="500" alt="Assignment 7 - Portraits" /></a><br />This is from inside the office as well, lot of light from the window, no flash used. Made it black and white to hide a bit all the light that comes from the window in the top right corner of the photo.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Me</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5448570394/" title="Assignment 7 - Portraits by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5253/5448570394_2e3ea85b22.jpg" width="454" height="500" alt="Assignment 7 - Portraits" /></a><br />I took this inside my house, in my bedroom to be exact, during the night, I used a mirror and the external camera flash.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Me again</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5447955407/" title="Assignment 7 - Portraits by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5137/5447955407_72db78dddc.jpg" width="417" height="500" alt="Assignment 7 - Portraits" /></a><br />Same here, however since the position is different the flash created an effect that could make you think I took this one in the afternoon with sunlight coming through the window.<br /><br />With this assignment I learned that portraits are hard, you need to get the light right so you can show people how they really are, self-portraits are harder, you have to be very creative to get a good photo. At end as usual it all comes to practice, patience and to be creative and most importantly to have fun.<br /><br />I had my last class this week and this was my last assignment, the whole course and every assignment were very interesting, I learned a lot and now I am off to practice everything I learn. <br /><br />I am going to be sharing all my photos in my <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/">Flickr</a> account in case you want to follow me there and check on what I am up to in terms of photography.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-3338040506989829022011-02-09T15:23:00.000-08:002011-03-06T21:43:14.490-08:00La Paz Waterfalls and Gardens - 2 years after the earthquake<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5427666562/" title="La Paz Waterfall Gardens by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5293/5427666562_d70a3c272e.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="La Paz Waterfall Gardens" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a>Two years ago there was an earthquake of 6.2 in the Richter scale in the area of Poas Alajuela, Costa Rica. It was very devastating, a lot of people lost their houses, their businesses and many lost their families or their lives. The roads were very affected, in some of them is still not possible to drive, others are open but with areas that only 4x4 cars can go through.<br /><br />The area of Poas is visited by many tourist during the year, local and foreign, because Poas offers a lot of beautiful natural attractions like the Poas volcano, La Paz waterfalls, the rain forest and many more. However, after the earthquake people in this are have been struggling because the amount of tourist visiting the area has diminished a lot which affected their businesses.<br /><br />Since before the earthquake my husband and I have been wanting to go to La Paz Waterfalls, but then the earthquake happened, we heard that a lot of the roads to get there were not safe, we didn't know the state of the place, etc. However, this year I am taking a photography class, so I said to my husband "this is the perfect excuse, let's go there, it is time and I know I can take a lot of beautiful pictures there, plus it is summer, let's go!", so we called and I made sure the road was safe to go and gathered a group of other friends who happen to be photographers aficionados as well and made the trip last Saturday. It took us like an hour and a half to get there, we took the road that goes through Barva and Vara Blanca and made it safely. Part of the road was really crappy but nothing terrible, if you have a 4x4 though. It was really impressive to think that after two years those roads are not fixed yet, specially since this is an area that depends a lot on tourism, what kind of government we have?<br /><br />Anyway, we got there, it was foggy and a bit cold but in a few minutes we were off to see all the different and amazing things they have like butterflies, hummingbirds, orchids, monkeys, different types of birds, jungle cats, frogs, snakes and the amazing waterfalls.<br /><br />I am not going to say more about how beautiful this place is, I am just going to show you some of the pictures I took so you can see the beauty of this place yourself.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5427085832/" title="Butterfly - La Paz Waterfalls Gardens by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5215/5427085832_57e0058707.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Butterfly - La Paz Waterfalls Gardens" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5427219966/" title="Butterfly - La Paz Waterfalls Gardens by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5136/5427219966_b3fdf31220.jpg" width="500" height="328" alt="Butterfly - La Paz Waterfalls Gardens" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5427927840/" title="La Paz Waterfall Gardens by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5133/5427927840_a6cec77de1.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="La Paz Waterfall Gardens" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5427239090/" title="Monkeys - La Paz Waterfalls Gardens by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5132/5427239090_4eaa7249df.jpg" width="500" height="344" alt="Monkeys - La Paz Waterfalls Gardens" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5427288836/" title="Birds - La Paz Waterfalls Gardens by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5213/5427288836_21712afd90.jpg" width="500" height="330" alt="Birds - La Paz Waterfalls Gardens" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5426788483/" title="Orchids - La Paz Waterfalls Gardens by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5211/5426788483_c646224aba.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Orchids - La Paz Waterfalls Gardens" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5427384366/" title="Orchids - La Paz Waterfalls Gardens by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5015/5427384366_7459ec5797.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Orchids - La Paz Waterfalls Gardens" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5427493218/" title="Birds - La Paz Waterfalls Gardens by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5251/5427493218_92bedd49c8.jpg" width="385" height="500" alt="Birds - La Paz Waterfalls Gardens" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5426854055/" title="Birds - La Paz Waterfalls Gardens by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5015/5426854055_e521fbdd82.jpg" width="417" height="500" alt="Birds - La Paz Waterfalls Gardens" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5426974045/" title="La Paz Waterfall Gardens by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5019/5426974045_8a848964b0.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="La Paz Waterfall Gardens" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5427594060/" title="La Paz Waterfall Gardens by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5260/5427594060_1c291d453c.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="La Paz Waterfall Gardens" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5427006683/" title="La Paz Waterfall Gardens by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5211/5427006683_11d3b7c482.jpg" width="500" height="352" alt="La Paz Waterfall Gardens" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5427046787/" title="La Paz Waterfall Gardens by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5056/5427046787_afd9a1e602.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="La Paz Waterfall Gardens" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5427763926/" title="La Paz Waterfall Gardens by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5298/5427763926_07bfe7cc8d.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="La Paz Waterfall Gardens" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5427220705/" title="La Paz Waterfall Gardens by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5217/5427220705_b99ea0fed2.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="La Paz Waterfall Gardens" /></a><br /><br />It was interesting that when I presented one of my waterfalls pictures in my photography class my teacher thought it was taken before the earthquake, I had to say that it wasn't, that I took it last Saturday, he was amazed of how well the place looked, how well it has recovered. Also a classmate said that I was very brave for going there, which was a comment that made me think on how much people are still afraid of an earthquake that happened two years ago and how they think the area is not a nice place to visit anymore, I can see how that affects the local tourism and that shouldn't be, maybe the government, the Institute of Tourism should make sure that people are informed and help promote these areas as safe and beautiful places to visit. <br /><br />Because of this is why I decided to write this post, to show the world that you can go to La Paz Waterfalls and to Poas and have a great time in such a beautiful place. Don't be afraid, just go and don't forget your camera!<br /><br />If you want to see all my pictures that I took that day go to my <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/sets/72157626001083370/">Flickr</a> account.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-36209948479119825692011-02-08T10:24:00.000-08:002011-03-06T21:43:44.885-08:00Photography class: Assignment 6 - MotionMy sixth assignment for my photography class was to capture motion, basically take from 5 to 10 pictures in which I either freeze motion or show how certain things move in the photo, like light or water for example.<br /><br />I took a lot of pictures, seriously a lot and at the end I came down to these 10, my favorite ones:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Splash - Strawberry falling on water</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5428452531/" title="Assignment 6 - Motion by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5133/5428452531_96e4cd4770.jpg" width="500" height="393" alt="Assignment 6 - Motion" /></a><br />Settings used: 1/200s . f/9.0 . ISO 100 . 50 mm<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Splash - Strawberry falling on water, different angle, different aperture</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5429060848/" title="Assignment 6 - Motion by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5259/5429060848_628bc9bb81.jpg" width="500" height="371" alt="Assignment 6 - Motion" /></a><br />Settings used: 1/200s . f/5.6 . ISO 100 . 50 mm<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Splash - Strawberry falling on milk</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5428474721/" title="Assignment 6 - Motion by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5131/5428474721_26236721d0.jpg" width="500" height="365" alt="Assignment 6 - Motion" /></a><br />Settings used: 1/200s . f/5.6 . ISO 100 . 50 mm<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Splash - Strawberry falling on milk, different splash</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5428481249/" title="Assignment 6 - Motion by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5098/5428481249_c555390d03.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Assignment 6 - Motion" /></a><br />Settings used: 1/200s . f/5.6 . ISO 100 . 50 mm<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Light graffiti</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5428488179/" title="Assignment 6 - Motion by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5173/5428488179_ecd2ce74c9.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Assignment 6 - Motion" /></a><br />Setting used: 10s . f/14.0 . ISO 400 . 20 mm<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Light graffiti, different angle</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5428498249/" title="Assignment 6 - Motion by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5100/5428498249_3fc9283487.jpg" width="500" height="411" alt="Assignment 6 - Motion" /></a><br />Setting used: 10s . f/14.0 . ISO 400 . 18 mm<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Light graffiti, candles and reflection</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5429105528/" title="Assignment 6 - Motion by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5258/5429105528_4d2d23e059.jpg" width="500" height="358" alt="Assignment 6 - Motion" /></a><br />Setting used: 5s . f/20.0 . ISO 400 . 28 mm<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Light graffiti, candles and reflection</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5429112556/" title="Assignment 6 - Motion by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5140/5429112556_9e84ce89bc.jpg" width="500" height="345" alt="Assignment 6 - Motion" /></a><br />Setting used: 5s . f/25.0 . ISO 400 . 28 mm<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">A ghost in my house</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5428520887/" title="Assignment 6 - Motion by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5133/5428520887_34a1735473.jpg" width="302" height="500" alt="Assignment 6 - Motion" /></a><br />Settings used: 10s . f/22.0 . ISO 400 . 18 m<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">La Paz Waterfall</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5427157011/" title="La Paz Waterfall Gardens by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5180/5427157011_61267539b6.jpg" width="325" height="500" alt="La Paz Waterfall Gardens" /></a><br />Settings used: 0.3s . f/22.0 . ISO 100 . 22 mm<br /><br />As you can imagine for all of these pictures I used a tripod, for the splash ones I also used an external flash since I took these during the night with no other light source. I must say that I like the splash with milk better, because milk has more texture than water. <br /><br />For the light graffiti, I used total darkness, a long exposure of 10 seconds and then started drawing with a small led lamp, always using the tripod of course.<br /><br />For the ghost picture, I use a long exposure, 10 seconds, and then have Carlos walking towards the camera for the first 5 seconds and then stop in the same position for the last 5 seconds, it came out really well I think, it looks creepy :-D<br /><br />To take the one of the waterfall, we went to La Paz Waterfalls and Gardens in Poas on Saturday, it was a great experience mainly because it is a beautiful place, so I am really happy we went there. If you want to see more pictures taken in this place go to this <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/sets/72157626001083370/">set in Flickr</a>, you will see a lot of the amazing things you can find in this place.<br /><br />This assignment was very interesting, I really enjoyed it, it was a lot of fun plus it allowed me to take pictures that are very different from the pictures I am used to take, now I want to spend more time doing light graffiti.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-29452988373618475262011-02-04T13:24:00.000-08:002011-03-06T21:44:18.377-08:00Pictures of Cities I visited in ItalyWhile I was in Spain I had the chance to do two trips to Italy, one in December 2004 and the other one in May 2005. During the first trip, I only visited Rome and then in the second one I visited Florence, Lucca, Pisa and Venice.<br /><br />During these trips I fell in love with Italy, my favorite city of those I visited was Florence, mainly because the amount of art you find, the architecture and the whole environment of the place, it is simple amazing.<br /><br />As mentioned in a previous post, my camera got stolen after I returned to Madrid with almost all my pictures from Rome, I only saved a few because they were in another card, the smallest card of the two, what a luck. Here is a photo from Rome I saved:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5392756673/" title="Roma - Fuente Trevi - 002 by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5179/5392756673_6fbbf21390.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Roma - Fuente Trevi - 002" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5393343264/" title="Roma - Coliseo - 016 by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5211/5393343264_03ee0ee578.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Roma - Coliseo - 016" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5393352504/" title="Roma - Foro Romano - 013 by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5099/5393352504_59b69452d7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Roma - Foro Romano - 013" /></a><br /><br />During my second trip to Italy we arrived to Florence first, this city is a must see, if you are planning to go to Italy, make sure you visit Florence.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5391481003/" title="Florencia - 010 by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5260/5391481003_0e7c44d28b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Florencia - 010" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/3554427629/" title="Florencia - Ponte Vecchio by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3569/3554427629_dc8b3a222b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Florencia - Ponte Vecchio" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5391784653/" title="Florencia - Duomo - 010 by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5259/5391784653_ab45882356.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Florencia - Duomo - 010" /></a><br /><br />We went to Pisa for a day, it is really a small town, so you can see everything you might be interested in in half a day.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5392591431/" title="Pisa - Torre - 030 by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5171/5392591431_e327fb99a4.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Pisa - Torre - 030" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5392325361/" title="Pisa - Catedral - 008 by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5013/5392325361_39c5e1ebd0.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Pisa - Catedral - 008" /></a><br /><br />On our way back to Florence from Pisa, we made a stop in Lucca, another small town, super cute.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5392788782/" title="Lucca - 018 by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5132/5392788782_a2983cbbc1.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Lucca - 018" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5392171651/" title="Lucca - 011 by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5012/5392171651_2d9ce63c60.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Lucca - 011" /></a><br /><br />Last city I visited was Venice, it was awesome, I loved it. Good thing is that you can see it all in two days.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5393469696/" title="Venecia - Basilica San Marco - 024 by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5016/5393469696_9ea19fdb17.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Venecia - Basilica San Marco - 024" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5393494624/" title="Venecia - Ponte Rialto - 006 by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5134/5393494624_2b0334ba00.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Venecia - Ponte Rialto - 006" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5393488666/" title="Venecia - Piazza San Marco - 003 by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5016/5393488666_7bf8ba03a0.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Venecia - Piazza San Marco - 003" /></a><br /><br />Italy is a beautiful country, a lot of things to see, places to visit, food to eat, history, art, etc. I would love to go back for a month or two. Someday I will!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-12152282581652037162011-02-01T18:59:00.000-08:002011-03-06T21:44:32.063-08:00Photography class: Assignment 5 - Controlling lightThe assignment for this week class was to take 5 photos in different lightning conditions so we could use different camera settings to control the light, for example:<ul><li>ISO</li><li>White balance</li><li>Flash</li><li>Exposure compensation</li><li>Flash compensation</li><li>Metering</li></ul><br />The photos I took are the following:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/SamSamoyed">Sam</a> resting</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5409599434/" title="Assignment 5 - Controlling light by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/5409599434_dffea118c4.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Assignment 5 - Controlling light" /></a><br />I took this photo in my living room under a few fluorescent light that was coming from the kitchen, so no direct light, I used fluorescent white balance, ISO 200, spot metering and the external flash not pointing directly to avoid weird eyes. <br /><br />I like this photo a lot, I feel like all the colors look very real plus the fact that Sam's eyes look perfect, no craziness. Of course, Sam's cuteness helps a lot ;)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Irazu Volcano</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5408993169/" title="Assignment 5 - Controlling light by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5012/5408993169_727e5f72e8.jpg" width="500" height="351" alt="Assignment 5 - Controlling light" /></a><br /><br />I took this photo on the Irazu Volcano, it was super cloudy and super cold, so I used cloudy white balance, ISO 200, no flash, no no exposure compensation and matrix metering.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">A young horse</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5409611568/" title="Assignment 5 - Controlling light by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5258/5409611568_2e1cb2d649.jpg" width="405" height="500" alt="Assignment 5 - Controlling light" /></a><br /><br />This was was also under a cloudy day but with more sun light, so I still used cloudy white balance, ISO 200, no flash, no exposure compensation and matrix metering. Loved the horse!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">My Kindle</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5409619254/" title="Assignment 5 - Controlling light by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5094/5409619254_70f04d4a0b.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Assignment 5 - Controlling light" /></a><br /><br />This one was taken under an incandescent light, a lamp light, so I used incandescent white balance, ISO 1600, no flash, matrix metering and exposure compensation of +1.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/SamSamoyed">Sam</a> posing</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5409626388/" title="Assignment 5 - Controlling light by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4093/5409626388_0c0c66a5e1.jpg" width="500" height="366" alt="Assignment 5 - Controlling light" /></a><br /><br />This one was taken under an incandescent light too, so I used incandescent white balance, ISO 1600, no flash, matrix metering and exposure compensation of +1.<br /><br />This is super interesting, there are a lot settings in the camera that you can use to control the light, so knowing what each one of these settings does is super important and specially when to use them, you can play with them, using different settings taking the same photo and you will different results.<br /><br />I was told that using the White Balance in Auto usually gives good results, there are some specific cases where you might need to set it yourself, what do you think? Do you think Auto works for most cases? What is your experience?<br /><br />Please add your comments in the blog post!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-43123759425584068462011-01-24T20:28:00.001-08:002011-03-06T21:44:48.110-08:00Photography class: Assignment 4 - CompositionIn the last two classes we have been reviewing a lot of different techniques used in composition, for example:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds">Rule of thirds</a></li><li>Forming geometrical figures that guide your eye through the photo</li><li><a href="http://www.digital-photography-school.com/working-the-lines-in-your-photography">Horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines</a></li><li>"S" lines</li><li>Colors</li><li>Textures</li><li>Depth of field</li><li>Use of light</li><li>Patterns</li><li>Grouping</li></ul>So the assignment was to take 5 pictures and include in each one of them as many composition techniques as possible.<br /><br />The pictures I took are:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Picture #1: My friendly neighbor the spider</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5386137843/" title="Assignment 3 - composition by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5212/5386137843_27289013e7.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Assignment 3 - composition" /></a><br />What I want to show here is the spider and bit its spiderweb.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Picture #2: Same spider from another angle</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5386142567/" title="Assignment 3 - composition by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5217/5386142567_bb7bbc8994.jpg" width="325" height="500" alt="Assignment 3 - composition" /></a><br />Same here, I want to focus on the spider and a bit in the spiderweb but showing a bit of the tree where the spiderweb is on.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Picture #3: Las Ruinas de Cartago</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5386752912/" title="Assignment 3 - composition by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5219/5386752912_465f6119ce.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Assignment 3 - composition" /></a><br />Main interest here is to show the ruins, the walls and then the surroundings.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Picture #4: La Virgen de Los Angeles</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5386156473/" title="Assignment 3 - composition by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5213/5386156473_5bea8d9de8.jpg" width="338" height="500" alt="Assignment 3 - composition" /></a><br />Main focus in this one is the virgen statue and then the flowers that are left by people for her.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Picture #5: La Basilica de Los Angeles</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5386765038/" title="Assignment 3 - composition by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5214/5386765038_dcb719d809.jpg" width="500" height="322" alt="Assignment 3 - composition" /></a><br />In this one, I was interested in showing the ceiling and then the inside design of the church as a whole, which is awesome in my opinion.<br /><br />The suggestions/feedback I received from my teacher and my classmates were for picture #2 and picture #3. For picture #2 they said that the green leaves were distracting even though they were out of focus, so they suggested cropping the photo a bit, in my opinion I think the leaves give context to where the photo was taken, but what do I know, that is why I am taking the class :-). This is how it looks after applying the cropping (I cropped it but leaving still a bit of green).<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5386165655/" title="Assignment 3 - composition by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5219/5386165655_9e143ae8df.jpg" width="312" height="500" alt="Assignment 3 - composition" /></a><br /><br />For picture #3 they said that the orange flowers were distracting too, specially because they took a big part of the photo, so they suggested cropping the photo to make the orientation portrait instead of lanscape. Another suggestion was to leave it as it is in landscape but make it black and white to remove the distracting color. Here are the changes applied:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">After cropping it, now in portrait</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5386773526/" title="Assignment 3 - composition by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5215/5386773526_034eb59705.jpg" width="369" height="500" alt="Assignment 3 - composition" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">In black and white</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5386780208/" title="Assignment 3 - composition by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5211/5386780208_c481f02733.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Assignment 3 - composition" /></a><br /><br />So what do you think, cropping or black and white in this case? I want to know what your opinion.<br /><br />Also, what do you think about the other pictures?<div><ol><li>What is your feedback/suggestions/ideas? </li><li>What is your favorite of the five? </li><li>What composition techniques you see in every picture?</li></ol><div>Please add your comments to the post :-)</div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-13322776119488350442011-01-24T19:59:00.000-08:002011-03-06T21:45:06.933-08:00Photography class: Assignment 3 - Depth of FieldMy third assignment for the Photography class was to take 3 different photos where I focused on different areas considering Depth of Field (DOF), I had to use the Aperture mode.<br /><br />The main purpose of this assignment was to practice using depth of field, but also to learn how to affect the picture composition using the DOF.<br /><br />I took three pictures of three simple objects in my house, some souvenirs, here they are:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Picture #1</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5386039623/" title="Assigment 3 - DOF by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5217/5386039623_6072621dc9.jpg" width="500" height="359" alt="Assigment 3 - DOF" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Picture #2</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5386645492/" title="Assigment 3 - DOF by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5216/5386645492_0b19fe5d15.jpg" width="500" height="389" alt="Assigment 3 - DOF" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Picture #3</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5386046187/" title="Assigment 3 - DOF by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5217/5386046187_632a31e296.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Assigment 3 - DOF" /></a><br /><br />DOF is not a camera feature, it is something that you can control using the aperture and the focal length. The smaller the aperture (bigger aperture value) the bigger the DOF, the bigger the aperture (smaller aperture value) the smaller DOF.<br /><br />For me DOF is one of my favorites ways of composing photos, I think it is a great way to guide the user to where you want him/her to focus in the photo, it helps to highlight objects that you think are most important and to remove objects that might be distracting.<br /><br />Here it is a picture of the same objects but with a bigger DOF, so the focus is not in one of the objects but in the three of them and the background is a lot more noticeable, which can be distracting.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5387772612/" title="Assigment 3 - composition by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5211/5387772612_2afc9e951f.jpg" width="500" height="327" alt="Assigment 3 - composition" /></a><br /><br />Here it is a small video that helps understanding DOF:<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uzedefUXARE" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-76450005958474220872011-01-12T20:30:00.000-08:002011-03-06T21:45:20.678-08:00Photography class: Assignment 2 - ObservingThe second assignment of my photography class was to form my name using photos, more specifically:<br /><ul><li>Use one photo per letter</li><li>The photo has to be of a common object that looks like a letter</li><li>I could not use things that are ment to be letters like the McDonalds sign</li><li>I could not use ropes or strings to form a letter myself</li></ul>Here are the photos I took, I must say they are not the best ones I've taken, but they were enough for the assignment.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Letter M: </span>Part of my kitchen tiles<div><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5351271918/" title="Assignment 2 - Letter M by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5209/5351271918_168008b780.jpg" width="500" height="242" alt="Assignment 2 - Letter M" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Letter A: </span>Bottom of my Eiffel tower souvenir</div><div><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5350663383/" title="Assignment 2 - Letter A by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5042/5350663383_9e068dae5c.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Assignment 2 - Letter A" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Letter R: </span>Part of a rose stalk</div><div><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5351267304/" title="Assignment 2 - Letter R by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5208/5351267304_ce4c2dec6b.jpg" width="500" height="339" alt="Assignment 2 - Letter R" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Letter I: </span>Part of the thing I use to hold my kitchen paper towels</div><div><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5351265444/" title="Assignment 2 - Letter I by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5290/5351265444_7a666c521d.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Assignment 2 - Letter I" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Letter C: </span>Part of the thing I use to hang my keys<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5350653175/" title="Assignment 2 - Letter C by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5167/5350653175_0167fff377.jpg" width="500" height="319" alt="Assignment 2 - Letter C" /></a></div><div><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Letter E: </span> Part of a napkin ring<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5350649335/" title="Assignment 2 - Letter E by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5089/5350649335_15aba81913.jpg" width="500" height="324" alt="Assignment 2 - Letter E" /></a></div><div><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Letter L: </span>Part of a photo frame where I have a picture of my dog <a href="http://www.facebook.com/SamSamoyed">Sam</a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5350648489/" title="Assignment 2 - Letter L by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5044/5350648489_94d9e69af5.jpg" width="500" height="367" alt="Assignment 2 - Letter L" /></a></div><div><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">All together</span><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5351277178/" title="Assignment 2 - Name by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5003/5351277178_27aeab27c0.jpg" width="500" height="53" alt="Assignment 2 - Name" /></a></div><div><br />What did I learn with this assignment?<br /><div><ul><li>To observe</li><li>To pay attention to my surroundings </li><li>To pay attention to the details</li><li>To look for forms, lines and patterns</li><li>To try to pre-visualize how the photo is going to look before taking it</li></ul><div>This was fun, do you want to form your own name?</div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-5265388647678693772011-01-12T12:52:00.001-08:002011-03-06T21:46:37.678-08:00Pictures of Cities I visited in SpainIn 2004 I was sent to Madrid to work in a project that a client was developing with a Spanish company, I spent around 9 months there, traveling to Costa Rica only every 3 months. Because of this, I had the opportunity to visit several different cities and small towns inside Spain. It was a great experience.<br /><br />Back then, during half of my trip I used my first digital camera to take tons of pictures, which was a Sony Cybershot of 2 megapixels, I say I had it during half of my trip because on December 31st, 2004 somebody stole it during the celebration of New Year's in Plaza del Sol, I was super sad because that same day I returned from a trip to Rome, so I hadn't had time to get the pictures out of the camera, so they stole the camera with most of my pictures from Rome, can you imagine?. The only good thing was that because of that I had to buy another camera, I saw it as an opportunity to buy a better one, so I bought a Sony DSC-V3 that had better features and it was greater in general.<br /><br />I would like to share with you some of the pictures I took, since they are too many I selected my favorite picture of each city in Spain that I took during that time I spent there, just keep in mind that the ones taken with my first camera don't have great quality like the kind of photos you can take nowadays ;-)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Aranjuez</span><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/3194704505/" title="Prince Park by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3484/3194704505_0fc5dae619.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Prince Park" /></a><br />Best part of Aranjuez are the gardens, they are simply amazing, also the palace.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">El Escorial</span><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5372064578/" title="El Escorial 013.JPG by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5010/5372064578_44ae4d1042.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Escorial 013.JPG" /></a><br />The Monastery is just impressive, if you ever go to Madrid you have to go there.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Toledo</span><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5372360704/" title="Toledo - 047.JPG by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5168/5372360704_2542b58ee8.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Toledo - 047.JPG" /></a><br />Like all towns in Spain, Toledo is very beautiful, the cathedral is spectacular, the streets, all of it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Avila</span><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5383268765/" title="Avila - 003 by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5216/5383268765_23d6b4fbb4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Avila - 003" /></a><br />The best part of Avila is the wall that goes around most part of the town, it is simply amazing and a great place for taking photos.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Salamanca</span><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5372472078/" title="Salamanca - Convento de San Sebastian - 007.JPG by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5127/5372472078_9bf0db0453.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Salamanca - Convento de San Sebastian - 007.JPG" /></a><br />I think the oldest European university is here.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Guadalajara</span><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5372593736/" title="Guadalajara - 074.JPG by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5127/5372593736_a2b5bc6ed4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Guadalajara - 074.JPG" /></a><br />Our trip to Guadalajara was totally unexpected, we were planing on going somewhere else but there wasn't a train available that day or something happened, I don't remember, so we decided to go to Guadalajara, it is a very small town where the most interesting thing to see is this huge grave.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Barcelona</span><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/3325303927/" title="Barcelona Sagrada Familia by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3661/3325303927_7d9b5be157.jpg" width="500" height="390" alt="Barcelona Sagrada Familia" /></a><br />If you haven't seen "La Sagrada Familia" then you have to, go go go. I spent around 4 hours going through it all. I was amazed with the whole architecture. Plus Barcelona is a city that you have to visit, you have to go see all Gaudi's buildings and parks.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Granada</span><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5372280545/" title="Granada - La Alhambra - 059.JPG by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5001/5372280545_79016e278e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Granada - La Alhambra - 059.JPG" /></a><br />Best of Granada "La Alhambra", unbelievable!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Segovia, Spain</span><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/3201916731/" title="Segovia by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3359/3201916731_92966443c1.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Segovia" /></a><br />This place is super beautiful, the Cathedral and the Alcazar are gorgeous. From what I heard the Alcazar was used as a model when Disney created its famous castle, not sure if this is true though.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Cuenca</span><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5374300539/" title="Cuenca - 073.JPG by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5127/5374300539_da4ba37275.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Cuenca - 073.JPG" /></a><br />Small town famous for its hanging houses.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Valencia</span><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5374830155/" title="Valencia - 020.JPG by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5127/5374830155_1b66daa221.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Valencia - 020.JPG" /></a><br />The whole architecture of Valencia is amazing.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Seville, Spain</span><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/3187664313/" title="Seville by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3354/3187664313_92db34a052.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Seville" /></a><br />This is a picture of Plaza EspaƱa, the design is great, I loved it. This place was used in Star Wars: Episode 2 to represent part of Naboo.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Madrid</span><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/407993604/" title="Communications Palace by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/159/407993604_b0c8f910c5.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Communications Palace" /></a><br />And finally, Madrid! This is a picture of the Communications Palace in Madrid, I took it during Easter week when coming back from the Catholic celebrations in La Almudena Church. I was a bit concerned because I didn't have a tripod and there were a lot of people walking around, but I was able to figure it out and i think it turned out great with the moon and all.<br /><br />Spain is definitely a beautiful country with a lot of wonderful places that I would love to visit again with my new camera to take tons of photos, maybe some day!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-87452574537187532162011-01-08T22:05:00.000-08:002011-03-06T21:47:02.508-08:00OrchidsMy sister and my Mom love orchids and both have a lot of them on their gardens. As for me, I have only a couple that my sister gave me.<br /><br />When they blossom they all look so great that I have to take my camera and take tons of pictures of them. I am going to show you here some of my favorites, don't ask me their names though, because I have no idea.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5322782636/" title="Orange by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5164/5322782636_038a7a320a.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Orange" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5322146461/" title="Weird orchid by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5288/5322146461_443cfc2417.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Weird orchid" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5322206223/" title="Flower by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5090/5322206223_c1f568175f.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Flower" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/274840176/" title="Alien by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/100/274840176_f03fc23549.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Alien" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5322185185/" title="Flower by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5289/5322185185_4bf1c6c6f5.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Flower" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5322159765/" title="Flower by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5089/5322159765_8288466211.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Flower" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/3403985089/" title="Orchid by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3615/3403985089_3ba8a4eeba.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Orchid" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/3451171430/" title="Lluvia de oro by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3163/3451171430_f97641e6e4.jpg" width="500" height="377" alt="Lluvia de oro" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/3450368707/" title="Orange by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3650/3450368707_7cf0760dd9.jpg" width="500" height="359" alt="Orange" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-91174431046276689182011-01-03T19:41:00.000-08:002011-03-06T21:47:19.276-08:00RosesI just want to share some of my favorite pictures of roses that I've taken.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5322682892/" title="Flower by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5045/5322682892_6018a61267.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Flower" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5000514420/" title="Black Rose by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4125/5000514420_753d72f2f2.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Black Rose" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5000523760/" title="Rose by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4088/5000523760_713b42f327.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Rose" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/3451180306/" title="The heart by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3632/3451180306_95022872fe.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="The heart" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5322705200/" title="Flower by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5048/5322705200_c97d97e29e.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Flower" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/2477935864/" title="Colorful rose by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2119/2477935864_fa6da37216.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Colorful rose" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5322085365/" title="Flower by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5125/5322085365_baf61e941c.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Flower" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/274840178/" title="Rose by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/117/274840178_0e861ff9ee.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Rose" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5000522140/" title="Rose by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4106/5000522140_ef59b32b4e.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Rose" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-50042237653901105332010-12-25T18:51:00.000-08:002011-03-06T21:47:42.765-08:00Merry Christmas 2010I don't usually decorate my house a lot during Christmas, however I do enjoy when I see a beautiful Christmas tree, as you can imagine, I enjoy taking pictures of it. <br /><br />We had our Christmas dinner yesterday at my brother in law's house and their Christmas tree was gorgeous so I took a lot of pictures of it and I want to share them with you here.<br /><br />The tree:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5290201961/" title="Christmas time di MaricelQJ, su Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5282/5290201961_a0555f028e.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Christmas tree" /></a><br /><br />The presents:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5290229545/" title="Christmas time di MaricelQJ, su Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5084/5290229545_27676e7c38.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Christmas time" /></a><br /><br />The decoration:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5290183401/" title="Christmas time di MaricelQJ, su Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5005/5290183401_63dcc328b1.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Christmas time" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5290795272/" title="Christmas time di MaricelQJ, su Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5205/5290795272_d21b5c375e.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Christmas time" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5290291551/" title="Angel di MaricelQJ, su Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5247/5290291551_fd15da2529.jpg" width="500" height="353" alt="Angel" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5290256959/" title="Christmas time di MaricelQJ, su Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5007/5290256959_6f517fa6fd.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Christmas time" /></a><br /><br />I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and hope you have a wonderful new year!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-85167971590174408342010-12-23T19:53:00.000-08:002011-03-06T21:48:03.094-08:00Photography class: Assignment 1 - Playing with lightAs I mentioned before, I am taking a digital photography class and I want to share with you all the homework I have to do.<div>My first homework was to play with light when taking a picture, to be more specific I had to:</div><div><ul><li>Select an object, any object.</li><li>Use a lamp to provide the light.</li><li>Put the object and the camera in a fixed position.</li><li>Use the automatic setting of the camera without using the camera flash.</li><li>Take pictures of the object lighting it with the lamp from all possible angles.</li></ul><div>I took a lot of pictures of several different objects, I couldn't find the right one until I tried with a small wood sculpture of an old man, it was perfect because it is very expressive.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Here it is the first set of pictures I took:</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5292105930/" title="Playing with light di MaricelQJ, su Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5003/5292105930_a5e2862d82.jpg" width="500" height="400" alt="Playing with light" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>This assignment was very interesting, I was able to see how the light affects the object and how you can create look different photos of the exact same object, making some of them better than the others just by position the light in the right place.</div><div><br /></div><div>The light can make the same object look very different, sometimes it looks like if the object was moved, you can control how much of your background would be displayed, all of this affecting the composition of your photo, so you definitely want to play with light.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>At the end I did another round putting getting a bit closer to the old man and moving him a little bit:</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5292109508/" title="Playing with light di MaricelQJ, su Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5165/5292109508_5d52595956.jpg" width="500" height="400" alt="Playing with light" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>As you can see, the light can affect how the dimensions of your object are displayed, depending on the position of the light the object can look flat, but by moving the light you can show the tridimensionality of the object by playing with the shadows.</div><div><br /></div><div>Your photos can become more expressive when positioning the light in the right place, play with it, experience it yourself. If you do, please share your results with us!</div><div><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-84494636325385041042010-12-15T14:15:00.000-08:002011-03-06T21:48:30.810-08:00It is never too late!!Back in 2004 and 2005 I was living in Madrid Spain for a few months, I had the chance to go to several different cities in Europe, which allowed me take a lot of pictures of a lot of beautiful places. I wasn't always happy with the pictures I took so back then I thought "when I am back in Costa Rica I'll take a photography class", it was one of those things that I really wanted to do.<br /><br />Some of the cities I visited were Rome, Florence and Venice, I fell in love with Italy, so back then I also thought "I want to learn Italian, I'll take a course when I am back in Costa Rica", well we are now in 2010 (five years later that you might think is a lot of time) and I can now say that I am learning Italian and taking my photography class, finally!.<br /><br />I started the Italian course in January and the photography class this month, even though it took me five years to actually start taking these classes I am very excited that I am finally doing it.<br /><br />So you might be wondering what's up with this story, well my dream is to be able to go to Italy with my husband for a few weeks to practice my Italian and to take great pictures of the awesome cities Italy has. If that is not possible, well I still want to take great pictures of anywhere and anything and to speak Italian fluently with whomever speaks Italian to me :) At the end, what I am trying to say is that it is never too late and you are never too old to do the things you want to do, just make the decision and do them, you won't regret it!<br /><br />On another topic, I would like to share with you my experience in the photography class, so I am going to document all the different homework that I have to do for my photography class here in my blog, pretty much explaining what the assignment was, what I came up with and what I learned from it, because who knows it might be helpful information for somebody else, so wait for my first assignment.<br /><br />Here it is a picture of Venice I took in 2005, it has some HDR post-processing:<div><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/3187567151/" title="Venice di MaricelQJ, su Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3114/3187567151_f9276d05a8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Venice" /></a><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-81880900190962060742010-11-09T21:37:00.000-08:002011-03-06T21:48:49.305-08:00Moving to the world of DSLR camerasI am moving to the world of DSLR cameras and interchangeable lenses, I got the new Nikon D3100, 3 Nikon lenses and an external flash, a pretty good setting a friend said. I haven't been able to play much with these new toys yet, but I am been experimenting a little taking photos of Sam. Here are some:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5157412924/" title="Sam by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/5157412924_5f5c810d3c.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Sam" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5157407406/" title="Sam by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1309/5157407406_636d1509f2.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Sam" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5157365288/" title="Sam by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1133/5157365288_845abfcc66.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Sam" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5157357314/" title="Sam by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1150/5157357314_ff76848936.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Sam" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/5156813709/" title="Sam by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1142/5156813709_b0e1afd58f.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Sam" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-74036740351232604572010-09-16T21:44:00.000-07:002011-03-06T21:49:07.562-08:00The camera or the photographer?A while ago I read an article called <a href="http://mashable.com/2010/09/06/iphone-dog-photographs">15 Incredible iPhone Dog Photographs</a> where the writer wants to show what the IPhone camera is capable of. However for me it was more like showing how sometimes a good photo is not necessarily one that is taken with the best camera.<br /><br />After reading this article I posted it in Facebook and a friend of mine commented that many times she get comments like "Oh, you take great photos. I need a better camera.", which implies that it's the camera quality/cost that makes the photos good. And she says "it's not - it's the photographer!" and I couldn't agree more.<br /><br />I know that with a camera like the IPhone camera you have to overcome certain obstacles like the light for example or the lack of zoom capabilities, however you can still compose really good photos.<br /><br />I have had my IPhone for quite a while now and I've taken a lot of pictures with it because I have it with me all the time and the fact that I can share my photos almost instantly with friends is Facebook is really motivating for me. However, I have never share my IPhone photos anywhere else, not in my <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/">Flickr</a> account because Flickr is for my "pretty" and "pro" pictures, but after reading this article and my friend's comment, I thought why I am doing this, why I am not sharing these pictures in Flickr, I should review my IPhone photos and see if I have been actually taking good pictures with my IPhone too. So I started doing it and one of these days I downloaded the photos to my laptop and started reviewing them and improving them and finally posted my first 5 in my <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/">Flickr</a> account.<br /><br />I am not saying they are good, but I like them and I want to share them and get "photography" comments on them, see what happens! I am going to share some of them with you here!<br /><br />This one I took it from a plane when coming from Houston to Costa Rica, the sunset was great and I wanted to have it. It is too bad I got the window reflection in it and that I don't know Photoshop that much to fix it but I still like it:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/4991775575/" title="Sunset by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/4991775575_b07b58c592.jpg" width="500" height="442" alt="Sunset" /></a><br /><br />This one is my dog <a href="http://www.facebook.com/SamSamoyed">Sam</a>, almost 90% of pictures I take with my IPhone are of him. Here he is seated on his Grandpa's chair, he likes to get on it because he can see through the window:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/4992400298/" title="Sam by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4084/4992400298_0b8653de98.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Sam" /></a><br /><br />This is from a <a href="www.grupogandhi.com">Gandhi</a> concert that we attended to last week, it was awesome but I was dumb enough to not take my camera, thank God I had my IPhone with me:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/4992361658/" title="Singing by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/4992361658_e6f0b2a7e6.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Singing" /></a><br /><br />This is from the same concert, before <a href="www.grupogandhi.com">Gandhi</a> started playing, the stage, cool tools!!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/4991755159/" title="Tools by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4133/4991755159_e7b6a174e1.jpg" width="500" height="358" alt="Tools" /></a><br /><br />If you want to comment on the photos just click on them and comment on Flickr or add comments here as well, all comments are welcome!<br /><br />I am going to be posting my IPhone photos on a specific set in Flickr called <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/sets/72157624959764468/with/4991755159/">IPhone</a> in case you want to keep track of my progress.<br /><br />Another thing important I learn is always take the picture, don't worry about the camera, just take it!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-32070558176381848662010-09-09T14:20:00.000-07:002011-03-06T21:49:50.858-08:00Gandhi - The BandI haven't been a big fan of national music, but my husband Carlos is a big fan of Gandhi, so he took me to one of their concerts at Jazz Cafe a while ago, I must say that I really liked it. I liked the music and loved Luis' way of dancing and the way he gets into the "signing zone" so deep that is contagious.<br /><br />We went to another concert yesterday at Jazz Cafe Escazu where they were going to release their new video for the song "Estrellame". The concert was amazing, they started with some acoustic songs and then the usual rock songs, so good! Federico is amazing with the guitar, it is simply an awesome show to watch and listen.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhyphenhyphenFrfA2J-agp_BSV_rSPZYOq4D0aStNYvaBAvrw8GIfWumS8DcwG5rZAS0cmvUTtWVz3ndg1v3wQJ5GaofAatbafsy2JzjdpGk-yLXry9oNVU7lvTn9tQ1M86u1eYNoXw00uWw/s1600/41292_1592856858466_1147239564_1677257_5774544_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhyphenhyphenFrfA2J-agp_BSV_rSPZYOq4D0aStNYvaBAvrw8GIfWumS8DcwG5rZAS0cmvUTtWVz3ndg1v3wQJ5GaofAatbafsy2JzjdpGk-yLXry9oNVU7lvTn9tQ1M86u1eYNoXw00uWw/s400/41292_1592856858466_1147239564_1677257_5774544_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515032199087499426" /></a><br /><br />I wish they get more attention from other people in the world, because they are a worldwide class band that deserves all the fame they can get. They are really good and I am proud they are Costarican.<br /><br />If you have a chance to listen to them, take it, specially if it is live! You will enjoy it!<br /><br />For now, I share with you here their new video, enjoy!!<br /><br /><object style="background-image:url(http://i4.ytimg.com/vi/K7jb1IcKTgw/hqdefault.jpg)" width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/K7jb1IcKTgw?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/K7jb1IcKTgw?fs=1&hl=en_US" width="480" height="295" allowScriptAccess="never" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object><br /><br />If you want to get more information about the band go to <a href="http://www.grupogandhi.com/">grupogandhi.com</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-25622480427912050012009-05-22T17:30:00.000-07:002011-03-06T21:50:25.034-08:00Monteverde, Costa RicaIn Costa Rica there is a place called Monteverde, which is one of those natural paradises that you have to visit at least one time in your life before you die and I'll tell you why, but let me first tell you a bit about of its history.<br /><br />Monteverde is a small town located in the Guanacaste province of Costa Rica, it was first inhabited by a few Costa Rican families who lived from agriculture. During the 1950s a group of Quakers migrated from Alabama to Costa Rica, they bought about 1500 hectares which they divided among the families. They were very concerned about nature, so they saved a part of the land to preserve nature, this piece of land is known today as The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. <br /><br />The Monteverde reserve is one of the most amazing wildlife sanctuaries in Costa Rica and in the American continent, it includes eight distinct ecological zones and it protects more than 400 species of birds and over 100 species of mammals. You can find here the endangered Bellbird, the Resplendent Quetzal, the Emerald Toucanet and 30 species of hummingbirds.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/3110958343/" title="Being by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3215/3110958343_11b7910eeb.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Being" /></a><br /><br />The families that established in Monteverde during the 1950s initially lived from agriculture, they created a cheese factory called Monteverde, which cheese is sold all around the country. But also, several years ago they started living from Ecoturism, right now Monteverde is one of the most popular places visited by tourist from all over the world.<br /><br />In Monteverde there are many different Eco-friendly tours that you can choose from. The most popular ones are walking through the hanging bridges, which is like walking on top of the rain forest, it is an amazing experience. In addition to this you can take tours to do canopy, sky trek, bird watching and night walking, a tour that allows you to see the wildlife during the night.<br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/LNQjuJF4JsF6zE3xP3P4Tw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtspC2iK8_hLbjv3dWTy8ApiUzJyWfKt7lhWfHKx5QiUOAyXIoUGI4FRPWLR6wRQFc2ItQuBREDn66fXb0X-rrIQd-R_vR7WlCPDwFkrQZYrtu86WuRIIBPg-gTaenswMHlr6Blw/s400/DSC02661.JPG" /></a><br /><br />You can find a lot of different type of restaurants in Monteverde, the customer service is always great, people treat you very respectfully and very friendly and of course the food is to die for.<br /><br />I went to Monteverde for a couple of days last year during my honeymoon, we had a great time, we took the hanging bridges tour and we went to see the hummingbirds, it was an amazing experience, you can really get in touch with nature and you get the feeling that you are walking on trees.<br /><br />If you have a chance to visit Monteverde in Costa Rica, don't miss it, you won't regret it!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mquesada/3202740890/" title="Monteverde by MaricelQJ, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3131/3202740890_030c6ca702.jpg" width="500" height="321" alt="Monteverde" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-32194295087006230512008-07-22T09:00:00.001-07:002011-03-06T21:50:55.173-08:00A guide to Cusco and Machu PicchuIn January this year, I was sent to Lima, Peru for work, so I took one day off to go to Cusco and visit Machu Picchu, which always has been one of those places that I have in my list of places to visit before I die.<br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fmariqj%2Falbumid%2F5161087123643607265%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><br />During my trip I had some good and bad experiences; in this post I am going to tell you about some tips, so you can have a better trip than mine.<br /><br />In Cusco you can find a lot of different tours that you can take and there are tons of different agencies that can arrange these tours for you, some of these agencies are more expensive than the others.<br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/_eDhKBaRG5lSdufjlo8eJw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_j3Uia5AhlWQkz0SW-j2p2x0AYjY1z5kjM3wef79fyBctUnjQc_ucs6I3pLYxsH6QMXai-lHtZ5lA-gP7Yl8DgEE-uAFHfQ_h5sQY8492bXL8Lq07og04DW83iT9A0B1voXqLjQ/s400/DSC00205.JPG" /></a><br /><br />I was told that it is better to reserve these tours when you are in Cusco because there you can find cheaper prices, which is true. However, I recommend to make the reservations before you get to Cusco, why? Well, because in Cusco there are a lot things to do and see, so wasting time looking for the right agency and prices requires a lot of time and effort and it can be really stressing, specially because people in Cusco tend to be very persistent and they can overwhelm you with offers and a lot of different prices and options. Try doing the reservations via Internet, but even there look for different sites, you can find several different options for different tours and prices.<br /><br />Another thing I was told was, get to Cusco early in the morning, have some rest and then do the City tour in the afternoon. Well you can certainly do that, but if you get affected by the height it would be better for you to not take any tour the first day and just relax, maybe walk a little bit around Cusco and get used to the height. Believe me, it is really hard doing all that walking on the tour if you are affected by the height, you don't enjoy it the same way. <br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/IcZf3E_4DBVkv3XxzZVMeA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI7Jc49SptzJg2uyr1dlap-f6mYWj0t3LFAOSg9Lny75rliJn8CMKbrWBZL3Y_aIasgNBZ0uA_eAZJmMGdDOggvr8bFzcU9AarN2TwVhZjkLbdWQICnjO8KKCowQ8-q0UIN4h8Yg/s400/cusco.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Something really important to take into consideration is, have plenty of cash with you, most of the stores and restaurants are pretty reluctant to accept credit cards and if they do accept credit cards, they will probably charge you more. Also, if you want to buy souvenirs it is easy if you have cash, because some of the nicest souvenirs are those you can buy on the streets or on the markets and for people in these places is really hard to accept credit cards.<br /><br />Another tip, when buying something, you can always negotiate, so do it and you might be able to get something in a really cool price. Also, walk a lot and compare prices, you can find the exact same thing cheaper in another store. Be aware when somebody offers you cheap Alpaca or Baby Alpaca coats, most of the times that is not real Alpaca, neither Baby Alpaca; both of these materials are expensive.<br /><br />When you do the City tour, there is a visit to a Church (I don't remember its name right now) that you have to pay extra, I think it doesn't worth to pay that extra money, there is no much to see inside, they have a bunch of rocks but then you can see similar rocks in the other places you are going to visit.<br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/i8TCqus9Va-NH0r-KzI3Gw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4PgTCg9NS8rNxScVgDPnTjOGBzLUKYyaBcfBWDDFtUS5ZtSt39WvVPc0D-wBzRvY4MjAtJsn8LXisiOEAcphHz3X52c_j8hplKQozIETG-dG35lSDpHKKyK2VXQQLqOKrPSv4qw/s400/cusco3.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Take a lot of water with you or Gatorade, because you have to do a lot of walking, so it is good to keep your body hydrated. Bring fruits and energy bars as well, because it is hard to find where to buy food in these places.<br /><br />There are many nice things to see, so keep your camera battery charged, you wouldn't want to run out of battery in the middle of a tour. If you can, take a tripod with you, this would help you take better pictures, but bring one not too big so it is not heavy and hard to carry around.<br /><br />I hope these tips help you on your trip to Cusco and Machu Picchu!<br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/nwqvZAYkaeGIOllIPqKWJw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLFdHybkR4G2pBaJOQU1V2A73Fds5qpNKdK5xl5yT2ywpiYNOffGvqVptsTXSOJ5HhDH2OZtpyjaFGvdGs_PVG5nDjzlPirWf3Bd2tKpecuhxG86tdOzEo14n3Ds7jQhr2Cu8P7w/s400/MachuPicchu.jpg" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30653881.post-29470556591732704912008-07-21T13:15:00.000-07:002008-07-22T08:52:22.481-07:00Cinepolis Costa Rica dealing with too many people!These past two weeks most of the students of Costa Rica were on vacation and that coincided with the premier of a lot of major films like Get Smart!, Wall-E, Handcock and Batman The Dark Night, so as you imagine all the movie theaters were packed with people these past two weekends.<br /><br />We went yesterday night to Terramall to watch Batman, we were really excited about it, we wanted to watch it in the VIP theaters to be more comfortable. We arrived there around 6:30 pm, the parking lots were incredible packed, there were cars parked even in the sidewalks, so people were not able to walk freely and it was hard to drive in the little roads of this mall, fortunately we found a spot in the underground parking lot, that was luck.<br /><br />When we got to the movie theaters upstairs, there were no more spaces in the VIP rooms, only for the 11 pm show, but that was too late for us. I asked the guy if there were spaces in the regular theaters, he said that he couldn't help me, that if I wanted to know, I'd have to go and stand in line in the regular box office. That just sucked because I knew he could have given me that information, it was that he just didn't want to help me, what a nice treatment.<br /><br />I was amazed by the amount of people there, it was incredible. There was even a sign saying that the 11 pm show was opened because there were too many people wanting to watch Batman, what a nice touch of Cinepolis opening that show, right?. <br /><br />However, I was really disappointed with their service, you had to stay in a long line to be able to buy a ticket, once you buy it you have to go and stay in another line for around 2 hours if you wanted to get a good seat. People that wanted to buy popcorn and drinks had to stay in a line for half and hour, how hard can it be to serve popcorn and a coke? Come on!! The worst part of this is that while we were waiting on these lines, there were so many people that it was so hot, everybody was sweating, not cool!<br /><br />Another thing was that I needed to go to the restroom, that was bad, there were no toilet paper, the toilets were all dirty, most of them, there were no even towels to dry your hands, thank God there was soap and water to wash your hands after using those dirty toilets.<br /><br />I like Cinepolis, because they have nice theaters, but they need to be more prepared for when they are going to have this amount of people, it was just crazy, the service was so bad that I was wondering that if what was paying for the ticket was really worth it.<br /><br />They should enable an Internet service so you can buy your tickets online and have numbered seats so people don't have to stay in a line for so many hours just to get a nice seat, check this site to get an idea: <a href="http://www.yelmocineplex.es/ideal_yelmo_cineplex.html">http://www.yelmocineplex.es/ideal_yelmo_cineplex.html</a><br /><br />Also, they should hire more people to keep the restrooms clean and to serve popcorn and cokes faster and they should improve their air conditioning as well, it is just a matter of keeping their customers comfortable and happy with a good service, I think that is a good investment!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08204368870896239348noreply@blogger.com0