Niagara Falls

This Christmas, my parents and I decided take a road trip to visit one of my best friends in New Hampshire. From my parents house to hers it is 1200+ miles.

The route we took was from Michigan to Canada to New York to Vermont to New Hampshire. Our first stop was Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada.

Niagara Falls is a collection of three falls. The Canadian Horseshoe falls, which make a horseshoe shape, the American Falls, and the small Bridal Veil Falls located next to the American Falls. I have not seen these falls since I was young. I do not remember much from that trip except being scared because we stayed in a very high hotel and we took a walking tour in a tunnel that went behind the falls. At that time, I did not appreciate what an incredible view the falls were.


When we arrived in Niagara Falls, Canada it was around 8pm. We ate dinner and took a walk to the falls. It was an amazing view. The rush of the water and lights changing color took my breath away. It is defiantly worth it to see the falls at night. 

Horseshoe Falls - Canada

American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls - New York

Horseshoe Falls

Horseshoe Falls

 A few facts about the falls:

The falls do not freeze over or never stop flowing. However, on March 29, 1848 the water going over the falls dwindled down to a trickle for a few hours due to a jam upstream. 

A photo from the mid 1800s showing people walking across the river, when the falls slowed down due to a jam upstream. http://www.fallsniagara.info/

The first daredevil to go over the Niagara falls in a barrel was a 63 year old school teacher from Michigan in 1901. So far there have been 15 attempts going over the Horseshoe Falls since she went over. 

While visiting the falls in 1994, my brothers and I had our picture taken going over the falls in a barrel. 

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A video of the three falls during the day

Clifton Hill ferris wheel and fudge shop. 

The lights that shine on the three falls. 

Giant Ferris Wheel on Clifton Hill. 

“I think a photography class should be a requirement in all educational programs because it makes you see the world rather than just look at it.”

I grew up taking pictures on my mom’s old 35 mm camera. I never read a manual on how to use it. I just went out into the world (my back yard) and took pictures. I was having fun, and that was all that mattered to me. I didn’t need to take great photos; I just wanted to capture what I saw. To this day, some of my favorite pictures were taken on that 35 mm camera.

My first photography course was in Rome, Italy about 6 years ago. It was a film class so I was excited to finally learn how to use a camera. It was a great feeling to know what things meant and produce the type of pictures I wanted with out wasting roles of film trying to figure it out. Once knew what I was doing, I traveled all over Europe snapping pictures of everything I came across. If you have ever traveled with me or been on a photography adventure, you know this is still true today. 

Last year I had the opportunity to take a black and white printing class. The professor I had was amazing. He taught me more about photography, film cameras, and printing. I was able to take pictures, develop roles of film, and print them all on my own! There is something magical about being in a dark room, waiting for the pictures you made to appear.  

These photos are from my class assignments. They were scanned so the quality is not the best.  Hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed printing them J

This was the first photo I took, developed and printed on my own with out assistance from the professor. It was taken at the Hardly Strictly Blues Festival in San Francisco in 2010. Todd Sheaffer from RailRoad Earth. 4/88 seconds/2.5 filter, 0 filter/30 seconds around the edges, 40 seconds on his head. 

For my final assignment in the class I had to take a series of photos with the same object in the photos. My object was a book from Jared Diamond, "Guns, Germs and Steal". I went around to various places in Los Angles and took pictures. This one was in front of the Guitar Center in West Hollywood.

8/28seconds/3 filter

This was another picture from the series. It was taken on a gloomy rainy day near USC. I had to wait a while to make sure there were no cars on the road. 4/ 12seconds/3 filter - 0 filter, 10 seconds around edges

Another assignment was to take pictures of objects that described me. I found it difficult to think of things that told my story. My approach to this assignment was thinking about what represented me and what I always had with me. In this picture, I wanted to represent my 'nerdy' side. The books are a symbol of my love to learn. I always have a book with me in my purse, backpack or car that I am reading. The mug represents my need to be drinking tea or coffee all the times. 8/35seconds/2.5 filter 20seconds sides/edges with 0 filter

This photo was taken from one of my favorite places in Los Angeles, on a roof/parking lot in Culver City. The intersection is Venice Blvd and Washington Blvd. I would often visit this place to look at the snow covered mountains and the bright lights from downtown. Across the street is Del Taco, and in the distance you can see a small lights from downtown. This photo was taken at dusk during rush hour. 8/50seconds/0 filter - burned edges 10 seconds, burned the sides 25 seconds, burned lower left corner 30 seconds at 0 filter

Marina Del Rey Boat Marina. When I lived closer to Marina del Rey, I would ride a bike down by the boats and to the beach. 8/ 25seconds/ 2.5 filter burned 30seconds 0 filter (sky)

Palm tress at Dockweiler Beach. 8/30seconds/1filter. burned edges 10 seconds, 0 filter

My friend Julie. I was taking pictures inside and she was heading down the stairs outside. She looked into the window and I took her picture. You can see the reflection of my camera and hand. 5/30 seconds/4.5 filter - edges burned 10seconds with 0 filter

For one of my last assignments I need to take a portrait picture so I asked Julie to help me. 4/21seconds/2.5 seconds burned edges 10seconds with 0 filter. 

This is another picture that was supposed to represent me. The rain boots represent my love of rain and being outdoors during any type of weather. Hula Hoops represents the reason why I moved to Los Angeles, to work with at risk students. As a result of that decision, I am currently going to school to become a high school teacher in low income areas. (the hula hoops were made by my friends Christina and Sonja, for a fundraiser to help support the college center I ran after them) 8/40 seconds/2.5 filter, 10 seconds at 0 filter around edges. 

My friend Abhishek at Dockweiler beach California. I loved the bonfires/get together we used to have at that beach.  5.6/ 35seconds/ 1.5 filter. Burned edges 10seconds with 0 filter.

A fun fact about this photo: These pumpkins were at the Trader Joes near my apartment in Culver City. I walked up to them and started to take pictures. I was asked to leave by the management of the store. 8/30seconds/3 filter. burned 20 seconds with 0 filter

Barnacles under the pier at Manhattan Beach California. 8/50seconds/3.5 filter burned 10 seconds with 0 filter. 

This photo was taken in Nicaragua on Ometepe Island where I studied Black Howler Monkeys in the summer of 2007. (didnt print this in my class, just thought it was a neat photo that showed life on the island)

London England. When you are crossing major streets in London, the city has these words painted on the edges of side walks. The first time I was there in 2000, I almost got hit by a double decker bus. When I went back in 2006, I paid more attention to what was written. I found it hard to get used to looking the opposite way. (picture was not printed in my class - taken March 2006)

Quincy #2 Dredge.

I am currently taking a Historiography (history of history) course and the professor is a copper country historian. For the class, students are required to write a 15 page research paper on a specific type of history in the copper country. I am actually really excited to explore the history in this place because growing up here I could care less about its historical past. It was not until I moved back to the Keweenaw did I realize how amazingly rich in history this place really is. Around here, you dont have to look far for something historically interesting...


Almost every day I drive by the Quincy #2 dredge on my way to school and wonder what its significance was. So I took some pictures early this morning as the fog was lifting away and googled some information on it when I got home. This is what I found...
(http://keweenawfreeguide.com/quincy-dredge/)

The mining of Torch Lake did not require drills but instead relied on the use of large boats called dredges. Essentially large vacuums, these boats could suck up sands from the bottom of the lake by means of a long snout lowered down into the water. The recovered sands would then be sent back to shore along a floating conveyor belt. The belt was supported by a long pontoon line stretching between the shore and the dredge. On shore those sands would be reprocessed at the Reclamation Plant.

The dredge seen on shore today is in fact Quincy’s second dredge (Dredge No. 2), its first one having sunk while in lay-up over the winter. This second dredge was first used by C&H to reprocess their own sands before it was sold to Quincy. The second hand dredge continued to serve Quincy for close to a decade before it too sunk during a winter lay-up. By that time copper prices were too low for even Reclamation to pull a profit so Quincy abandoned both the Dredge and Reclamation plant.

Here are some pictures I took...

While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.

This summer, my friend Stephanie asked me to take pictures of her two children. I was very excited and nervous at the same time. I had never taken pictures of children before, and this was a new adventure for me. When we were on location, I had know idea what to do or where to go. Once I became comfortable with Stephanie, Kane, and Laci I felt less nervous and started to feel better about taking pictures of them just being kids. Which worked out perfectly. 


Kane was fantastic. He was all smiles and kept saying cheese when he saw the camera. I could not have asked for a better child to work with my first time taking pictures of children. Laci was also very corporative and full of smiles. I loved working with these two children, and hope to take more pictures of them in the future. 
This is just a sample of pictures I took that day. I got carried away and took about 600:) 
Enjoy