A Day at the Beach (B&W)

This Labor Day weekend was exactly what I needed.  Time out of the city with my friend Susie.  We went to Cape May, New Jersey, and had a perfectly splendid mini-vacation: scrabble, bike rides, brunch, good wine and dinner and, of course, the beach.

Oh, the beach.  How I love thee.

Hurricane Earl had threatened to ruin the weekend, but he proved no match for the Jersey Shore (must be all that fist-pumping that scared him away).  And I could tell you how beautiful the weekend was, but it's much easier to just show you.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words, after all.  And these pictures should amply explain why I came back from the shore with renewed spirit.

Earlier I mentioned that I am in love with my new iPhone.  And my day at the beach underscored that love.  All of these photos were taken with it (vintage b&w free app and the hipstamatic camera app).  I love how it allows me to take some pretty amazing photos without risking getting sand all over my nice canon camera baby.  It also helps me take my photos of strangers on the sly.  My friend Susie didn't even know I was snapping away, even though I was sitting a mere foot away from her.

Because it's Wednesday, I posted my black and white photographs (but trust me, the sky was a beautiful shade of blue).  I love how black&white Wednesdays, hosted by The Long Road to China, keeps me exploring the art of the black and white photograph (if even just on the iPhone).  Go check it out!

 (Cape May, New Jersey, photographed September 2010)

My Other Camera

It was just my dear friend Anne's birthday.  To celebrate, she invited a bunch of her friends to this yummy bbq joint in the city that had live country music.  (This is my friend who had her bachelorette party not in Vegas, not in Miami, but in Nashville, mind you.)  But hey, no complaints from me.  I borrowed a pair of Anne's cowboy boots for the soiree and gave a few "yeehaws" and enjoyed the night. 

And me being me, I had a camera and snapped some photos of the birthday girl and the festivities.  This prompted Anne to excitedly ask whether these photos would make it onto my blog (Hi Anne! Thanks for reading!).  I must have given her a bit of a face.  Okay, I definitely gave her a face, and she quickly stated "oh... these weren't taken with your fancy camera, so no, right?" 

Quite honestly, the answer was going to be no.  I wasn't planning on sharing those photos here (and for the most part, I won't - check facebook instead).  They were the cheesy group shots and candids taken with my point and click camera -- my not so fancy camera.  But Anne's comment, though, got me thinking.  Although I love my quote unquote fancy camera, my point and click camera takes some pretty nice photos, too.  So I think it's about time that I show off some of the ones I took in Portugal.  I didn't photoshop these - the special effects came from the camera's own built-in settings. 

Lesson learned: you don't need a fancy-pants camera to take a good shot. 

And happy birthday, Anne!  Thanks for the inspiration.  And the giant ice cream cake.

(Portugal, photographed June 2010; NYC, photographed July 2010)