{not so} Wordless Wednesday: Me Time

Last month I bought Lavender scented bath salts at Target with the intent of soaking in the bath before bed when I have some extra time. I finally opened them last night. 

Me time is something I don't have a lot of these days. I also haven't had a lot of time to fully bond with my new GalaxyNX Smart Camera from Samsung. So I combined the two thing that I haven't had time for.

And rocked out to some of my favorite songs from the late 80's. 

It was a good night. 

*disclosure: Samsung gave me the new GalaxyNX smart camera to participate in the #imagelogger program. 

{Almost} Wordless Wednesday: Back to School

And just like that... 4th grade and Kindergarten....

Photo's taken with my #nx300 Smart Camera from Samsung for the #Imagelogger program. Also used fun apps like Beautiful Mess and Phoster to create memories from the images.

The Golden Gate: Images of the Bridge #Imagelogger Real Time Explorer Trip

Have I mentioned that I took over 1,200 photos a few weeks ago in San Francisco? Understandably, it's taken me a bit of time to download, go through and edit them all. But as I'm going through them, I'm reliving the trip and getting more an more excited about some of the amazing images I snapped - especially of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. 

Happy Friday!

The Post-trip Post: Where I Get All Sentimental and Girlie #Imagelogger Real Time Explorer Trip

Did you go to sleep away camp as a kid?

I loved camp. My first year going to camp at CIMI, I didn't know anyone and by the time the boat docked 2+ hours and 26 miles across the sea later, I had already begun to form amazing friendships with people that I would never have met in other circumstances.

Leaving San Francisco on Saturday morning after a whirlwind trip with Samsung as part of their Imagelogger program, I felt the same way. Happy to have had the experience. Loving the new friendships formed. Sad that I will probably never see the majority of the people again. 

“Do one thing every day that scares you.”

― Eleanor Roosevelt

Just a little background on the dynamics of the trip. First, I was the only female "Imagelogger" there (But there were two wonderful women from Samsung on the trip as well!). Second, I was only one of four Americans on the trip. All the other invited guests were men, from as far away as Hong Kong, Korea and Italy. Third, I was the only one that is not a "real photographer." And by "real" I mean professional or even good enough to be considered "amateur." And while I know that as a mom I represent 90% of the household purchasing power in the US, and as a blogger I'm fairly influential, it was still a daunting thought going into this trip knowing that I was the lone girl shooting on automatic. 

But you all know me - I'm cool like that.

I can go with the flow and always have a good time. The trip itself was exhausting and amazing. Being the one that always is planning, and prepping and thinking about what's happening next, it was really nice to give up almost all control of my choices for 4 days. The only thing I had to think about was what I was going to wear in the ever changing microclimates of SF and maybe choose an item off the menu for lunch. Seriously, I made 2 choices a day for 4 days, and it was wonderful. If I wanted a new lens to try, I just asked. If I needed a battery for my camera - there was one waiting for me. I was told where to be, how much time I had and when I had to move along. And? It was heaven. If you were following me on Twitter or Facebook, you got a glimpse into everything I experienced. From wine tasting to the races to hang gliding to ferry cruises to a Giants game - we DID San Francisco. 

Life is about experiences - people come into it, even briefly, for specific reasons. Each and every moment of your life changes you just a little and adds to you in a particular way. The people I met on this trip have now all added something to my life, and I love them all for it. 

My heart is full because I got to know them all and share this experience with them. 

And yes, there are still more pictures coming. 

 

Skater Boys, Pride and Flying High: #Imagelogger Real Time Explorer Trip Day 3

Day 3 had us up and out at 9:30 AM rolling all over the city in search of some more amazing shots. This bright and sunny morning found all of us imageloggers out at a local skate park, snapping pics of the skater boys, the street art and all the park had to offer. It even found a few of us swinging... as in playing on the toys normally reserved for children. 

This was a series of monsters all done on the columns of the amphitheater of the park. One of the park maintenance men mentioned that they were done by a Brazilian artist. 

The Action Freeze mode on this camera works amazingly well. I loved being able to capture so many fast shots quickly and with ease. 

I have a thing for street art and this park had some great graffiti decorating almost every surface. The sayings mixed with the colors gave these images an almost gritty, yet eye popping, feel. 

And there there was the huge swing and the fish eye lens fun... 

Next stop was the Castro... and with recent news, how great is it to see this flag flying high and proud? 

After the Castro, we rolled on over to one of the most famous intersections in the USA...

And from there over to the coast to check out people getting even higher than they were in The Haight...

 Another amazing day in San Francisco... Thank you Samsung!

DISCLOSURE: This was an all expense paid press as part of the Samsung Imagelogger program. All images in this post were taken with the Samsung NX300 SMART camera. Samsung provided me with a camera to participate in the #Imagelogger program. All opinions and photographs are my own. Over the next few months I will be sharing images taken with the NX300 SMART camera on Twitter, Facebook and here on my blog. If you want to follow along and check out some of the images the other Imageloggers are taking - just follow the hashtag: #Imagelogger.