Rainy Day in Boston Harbor

Here's my first batch of images from my recent trip to New England. On our first full day in Boston we went on a morning cruise through Boston Harbor. As you can see, the weather was pretty miserable. I wasn't able to get those beautiful shots from the top deck like I'd hoped. Instead I got these moody, quiet images from below deck. We nearly had the ship to ourselves. I could barely see most of the tour highlights because there was so much fog so I shot inside instead. There are more posts coming with pictures from Maine and Cape Cod. So stay tuned!

Charleston in September

I flew home to South Carolina in September and we drove down to Charleston for a weekend to visit family and friends. I hadn't been to Charleston in several years. After living in Los Angeles for quite awhile it's refreshing to get away to a place with some serious history. My mom and I toured a few historic homes (Nathaniel Russell House and the Aiken-Rhett House) and I highly recommend both of them. We couldn't believe that we'd never explored the properties before this trip. We spent an afternoon just walking along The Battery. We also took a trip over to Wadmalaw Island to tour the tea plantation there. It's the only tea plantation in North America! Sometimes it feels good to go back to my roots (lots of Charleston in my blood). All in all, it was a lovely (and HOT) weekend escape.


All images by Maureen Price. Please do not use without permission.

An afternoon at Joshua Tree

Just before Christmas, Luke and I made a quick trip over to Joshua Tree. I had been meaning to go for ages. We got a bit of a late start out of LA so we didn't have that much time to explore before we started losing light. I think we hit some of the main highlights though. We had a lot of fun climbing around on the rocks and exploring all the nooks and crannies. As the sun went down, we drove further into the park so I could try to take some pictures of the joshua trees against the sky. The moon was nearly full and it was amazing to see it way out in the desert! Once it was dark, we were making our way back to the park entrance and we passed someone slumped over on the side of the road. We immediately turned around and went back for them. We found a girl who had gotten separated from her friend and had been walking for miles and trying to find help. We took her to park entrance and left her with a ranger. I hope they found her friend.
On our way out, we stopped by the welcome center where they were doing a cool night sky talk. The ranger had a really great telescope that we were able to look through. It had a GPS so you could just input the coordinates and it would point itself in the right direction. Really interesting but it was so cold out there and we decided to move on. We stopped over in Palm Springs for dinner at The Ace. If you find yourself there then I would recommend the black bean burger! All in all, it was a fun little departure from the usual.


All images by Maureen Price. Please do not use without permission.

Escape

I've been dreaming of a bit of an escape. The world has been an especially nasty place of late. It's always difficult feeling like you have no control over the problems that surround us. I try to be a very "plugged in" person in terms of news and world events but it can really get to me at times. Like many people who aren't truly suffering (directly), I can be overwhelmed by sadness and frustration. Feeling the desire to run away, to let go, and to escape to a more simple place...it was meant to be that I came across these images by photographer Courtney Townsend. Courtney captures the beautiful and wild spirit of horses in such a stunning and timeless way. I love her use of color and texture within the images. They're so reminiscent of early photography in their rough and wonderfully imperfect nature. I definitely feel transported when I see these and I wish I could be out there running alongside the horses and sleeping under the stars completely away from it all. Keep up the lovely work, Courtney! So beautiful...


All images by Courtney Townsend

Sneak Peek: Venice

Here's a little peek from my Venice photo-escapades. Everything was shot with either my old polaroid camera or my Lensbaby pinhole optic. I love the results! Gotta get scanning on those polaroids...


Image by Maureen Price

Long Beach Adventure

Last weekend, Luke and I took a little day trip down to Long Beach. I'd never been and I wanted to check out the Aquarium of the Pacific. We made our way there and walked along the coastline across from the Queen Mary. I want to go back and have afternoon tea and a walk around on the ship! It was interesting to see a Carnival ship boarding right next to the Queen Mary. After a stroll, we went in search of food and, of course, the one vegetarian place I wanted to try was randomly closed (??). We ended up at the aquarium later on which was a pretty big deal for me as I'm deathly afraid of certain marine life (the toothy, predatory variety). Going to the aquarium was a step towards facing my fear. I did better than I thought I would but I definitely had one minor freak out along the way. My favorite part of the aquarium...jellyfish! Having been brutally stung by one as a kid you'd think I'd want to nothing to do with them but they are fantastic to photograph! I hogged the prime real estate in front of the tanks to get some decent shots. Such amazing creatures. I was hoping to see the sea otters in action but they were totally not having it. Most incredible sight there? The weedy sea dragons! I have never seen anything quite like them. I didn't leave empty handed (I'm not usually a sucker for gift shops). I bought a great watercolor print of seahorse species. Lovely. All in all, it was a fun day. We'll have to head down there again for tea on the Queen Mary!



All images by Maureen Price. Please do not use without permission. Thanks!

Photochrom Travel

It's easy to spend a lot of time looking through the Library of Congress Flickr photostream. That's where I found my Rosie the Riveter pictures last week. Well, I couldn't help myself when I found their travel set with over 1,000 photochrom images. "Published primarily from the 1890s to 1910s, these prints were created by the Photoglob Company in Zürich, Switzerland, and the Detroit Publishing Company in Michigan. The richly colored images look like photographs but are actually ink-based photolithographs, usually 6.5 x 9 inches." The locations for three of my favorites here are Blue grotto, Capri Island, Italy, then Kongen og Dronningen, Bispen in Norway, and the pier and shore in Blankenberghe, Belgium. If you're a history of photography buff like me then you will go nuts over this collection on Flickr!

Tasty

The other day, Luke and I decided we wanted some treats so we made our way over to Le Pain Quotidien. They have the most delicious (and legit) Belgian waffles. Mmm! I always get their lightly sweetened lemonade with mint leaves. The tartine pictured below is also very tasty for summertime as it's served cold and it comes with a spicy tahini sauce that is glorious. Their desserts are pretty irresistible too. I'm partial to the fruit tarts but they also have cookies the size of my head. I kid you not. Luke and I tend to be creatures of habit when it comes to ordering at restaurants so we almost always get the same things here but there are lots of tasty-sounding options on the menu. I also love that LPQ labels their vegan/vegetarian option as SO many restaurants don't do this. Anyway, they have locations worldwide if you want to get in on some of the waffle goodness. How could you not!?



All images by Maureen Price

First day of SUMMER

Summer is upon us! So far, the air conditioner hasn't been used (really). We've had such a nice spring here in LA. Although I know the heat is coming. What are your summer plans? I'd love to take a trip or two. We'll see if that pans out. No matter what, lots of lemonade will be consumed!


Image

My favorites

Sadly, I don't believe in magic. But if I did (and if it was a particular color) then I'm pretty sure I would see it as a stunning mixture of turquoise, teal, sea foam, aqua, and ultramarine. These colors have a real magnetism and I find that I surround myself with them. Art, clothing, oven mitts, and, umm, even my sofa.



Images: 1, 2, 3, 4 (unknown), 5, 6 (unknown), 7

...wandered lonely as a cloud

Luke and I went to see The Trip tonight and it made me really nostalgic for the Lake District of the UK. I spent some time up there in 2006 and it's just a stunningly beautiful area. I stayed around Keswick, Braithwaite, Grasmere and Lorton and took a dip in the coldest water I've ever felt (and this was in July). If you're ever in England I highly recommend it. Enjoy some eye candy from the land of William Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter.



Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6