The people you meet

Portraits are something I really need to work on. I find them challenging. How to convey the essence and attitude of a person through a photo?

These are some of my friends here in London. They're all talented, creative and unique people--not to mention fun to hang out with!

Locations: Alexandra Palace, Starbucks, The Roxy

By the Sea, By the Sea, By the Beautiful Sea

The weather has been so warm here for the past few days! On Saturday, my friends Riikka, Katie, Sergio and I went down to Brighton, one of my favorite towns, made even more awesome by the fact that Laurence Olivier basically ruled the place as Baron Olivier of Brighton! The beach was very crowded, so we went over to Seaford, and came back just in time to catch the sunset from Brighton Pier. Ah, England, I love you so. I only wish the weather stayed like this forever. It reminds me of home.

Another thing I wanted to post about is that I've opened my own Etsy store! It's called Days in Mayfair (after this blog), and I'm currently selling fine art prints of some of my photographs, as well as vintage film magazines! Please check it out! These things would make great gifts!

Days in Mayfair on Etsy

New Digs

I recently moved to Crouch End, a lovely little hamlet in north London. My flat is located on a hill from which you can see Alexandra Palace, a beautiful victorian convention centre with the original BBC radio tower, in the distance. I took these photos last weekend. The plan had been to go to Hampstead Heath with my friend Riikka to snap photos of the Keats House, but it started raining so our plans were thwarted. When I got home, however, the rain had stopped and the sky began to clear, leaving gorgeous clouds  and a vibrant blue sky which led to a gorgeous sunset.

Christmas in Scotland

This year, I spent my first Christmas away from home and family.  Flights back to CA were just too expensive.  So, not wanting to be depressing and stay in student housing, my friend Rohit and I decided to take a trip up north and spend Christmas in Scotland.

Scotland is by far one of the most beautiful places I've had the pleasure of visiting.  Edinburgh beats Glasgow in my opinion (basically because it's old and fabulous, and has lots of photo opportunities), and the Highlands are pretty enough to make you weep.  We landed in Edinburgh and stayed at a pretty awesome youth hostel (who pays for hotels when you can get by cheaply at a hostel?) called Castle Rock.  It's literally right by Edinburgh Castle.  Our flight was at 7 am from Stanstead, which means we had to leave London at 3:30 am to catch a coach from Victoria to the airport.  All in all it means we pulled an all-nighter, and I was so tired the next day.  But, we couldn't check in to our rooms until 2 pm, so we had to drop off our luggage and go exploring.

Isn't the lighting here amazing?  No photoshop needed.

My favorite part of our trip was touring the Highlands!  We booked one of the mini bus tours through Rabbie's, and I'd definitely recommend their company.  Our tour guide, Kevin, was totally awesome and knew so much about the history of the places we visited, which included:

• Callander
• Fort William
• For Augustus and Loch Ness
• Rannoch Moor
• Glencoe

The Highlands were covered in snow, but we got lucky because the sky was so clear on the day we went.  The sun made the snow look like diamonds!  It also gave things a bit of a tungsten hue, but oh well, it was beautiful anyway!

 

One of my favorite things about traveling is meeting new people, and I love meeting kindred spirits, even if our paths only cross briefly. It just makes the journey that much more fun!  Our hostel had a big Christmas lunch for the travelers who stayed through the holiday, and on Christmas Eve, Rohit and I stopped in to St. Giles' Cathedral for early mass.  I'm not a religious person, but it was actually really nice, and I even knew some of the songs!  Then, we even managed to find an internet cafe across town that was open late on Christmas Eve so that i could skype with my parents.

 For what it was, I had a great Christmas! Thanks, people of the world!

Now I'm back in London writing papers.  How depressing!  Just kidding, I'm actually having a bit of fun with my essay about Laurence Olivier's Hamlet.  Yeow, yeow!

Richmond Park!

Today I went to Richmond Park with my friend Thea to get away from the hustle and bustle of central London for a while.  We were going to take the tube, but the District Line was suspended at South Kensington, so we decided to take the overland train from Waterloo instead.  It was a wise choice as it only took about 1/2 an hour to get there, which meant we had plenty of time to explore the great outdoors and take in the amazing beauty Richmond Park has to offer!

 

The park itself is huge, so we only saw a small portion of it on our walk.  Never-the-less, the landscapes were a feast for the eyes.  On King Henry's Hill we looked through a telescope and a hole in the shrubs to see a breathtaking view of St Paul's Cathedral 10 miles away, unobstructed by any tall buildings.  There were fields of dry heather, wild deer, lakes, and of course plenty of gorgeous trees shedding leaves in a myriad of autumnal colors.  I think the park would look absolutely stunning in the winter when there is snow, or any time, really.

It was quite cold outside today, but I think the chilly weather gave everything a little something extra.  his is one place I know I'll be returning to.  A bit of countryside does a mind and spirit good.