All good things must come to an end.

Upon our return from Venice, and before we headed back to Paris, Wade and I took a day trip via 2 trains – to the “family”(named) town: Hazebrouck…a little town in the north of France. Hazebrouck became Hasbrouck, perhaps as the family emigrated across the Atlantic. The town is…very French. This was the last new location we visited, before heading back to Paris.

En route, we missed our connecting train in Lille, France. Wade had to dust off his french, and vice versa the ticket agent his english…turned out, missing one train was not that big a deal. We eventually made it to Hazebrouck, however, it was a bit of a holiday, so much in the main square was not open. But, we found lunch in one of the little french restaurants before setting off on jaunt around town.

Pro tip, sausages in France seem to equal hotdogs, oscar meyer style. Interesting. And they like cheese, a lot of cheese. The lunch I ordered was a piece of bread and ham buried in a bowl of yellow cheese, with a hotdog and egg on top. It seemed like a croque madame gone wrong… I think I’ll stick with croissants when it comes to french fare…

Food aside, I say au revoir #WEeurovacay…Hazebrouck, out.

We had headed up to Brugge from Brussels on the Saturday after returning from Berlin…walked around the main Place(plass) ourselves (Wade, his aunt, cousin and myself), and then met up with Andy for an evening private tour(scheduled in advance). From rapt statues, canals, reflections, architecture, odd signs, and windmills we got a taste of everything through sunset. What a great way to see Brugge! The next morning we walked around as the city awoke, and took our final clicks and then headed off to the next stop on #WEeurovacay…for now, let’s look back, En Brugge.

So I give you Wolfsburg, Volkswagen – ad infinitum…

next up, En Brugge…

Cheers Berlin!

Brandenburg Gate greets you…

The cathedrals at Gendermenmarkt candy to the eyes…

…and the Wall, so dark in it’s history, now stands in part as monument, in part as art making us think about the future and past…

And never fear, Starbucks is here…and smarter coffee too…pick your kaffee

And so much more interest to the eyes, as you stroll and wander through the city…I would love to go back and see more than our brief stay allowed for…

Last time, in 2014, it was a speedy spin through the city (link).

This time, bang bang – heat, humidity, tall sky scrapers, taxis abound, lights endless, building(s) everywhere.

New York City. One like no other. This trip, not unlike last years, was prompted by a show – this time a couple big name home town favorites, together in sold out landmark performances at Radio City Music Hall – the forever young – Tony Bennett, and the extraordinarily excessive Lady Gaga.

Show aside, the city is rich with imagery, classic to kitch. Big and well bigger.

Until next time.

~slideshow~
New York, June 2015 – Images by Elisa Sherman

But, it wasn’t just the big camera, in fact it was mostly the little iPhone that got the biggest workout – because…yep, it’s the camera with me…

Actually, I made a point not to take the bigger camera with me for most of my vacation – it was a birthday break, turning 40 in the tropics – a time to relax, take in the rays, drinks some tropical beverages, just to relax. Relalxing means, not obsessing over getting all the spectaular shots… Perhaps this sounds counter intuitive – but I can be, a bit obsessive with my clickage. I want to capture all the pretty.

I actually thought about this for a bit – the images that would or would not be captured whilst I was in the tropics. I wanted both, not to be obsessed, but to be able to get some image trophies to bring home…

So, I scheduled a tour – specifically a photography tour. Alex Wilson runs Oahu Photography tours – and has earned the top spot on the activity list on Trip Advisor – I concur(ponders – Alex, do you need to franchise out – the Big Island perhaps?! – only partially kidding, lol).

Given the schedule I had of family and friends meeting me on the island – I felt like I could only spare a half day – so I chose the Sunrise tour – and it was spectacular – I got my photo on, fed the beast as it were, and my trusty iPhone was able to satisfy me for most of the rest of the 9 days. I only cracked out the big cam again on the 2 trips up to North Shore (the wild seas warranted it), and a few shots out at Haunama… I also chose to shoot primarily with my 15mm fisheye – which I think worked out well. I have really fallen in love with it. Playing with the bend, the flare, the wide angle – a great creative lens and creative image partner.

First – with my iphone, instagram was my friend…posting friend & family pics easily to facebook, and pretty seascapey phone pix to my tumblr. Several of the fun phone pix – here –

And, of course, solar flare most often in sharp focus…big cam shots – about eighty percent from the photo tour – thanks again, Alex!

~full gallery archive slideshow~
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Aloha & Mahalo, Hawaii – until next time…

It’s not your typical tropical destination – but the colors were bright – and when out – so was the sun. In fact – the sun, as even just part way north as the Inside Passage isn’t really that far up, doesn’t set till later up there…so sunsets – pretty spectacular. Granted no palm nor coconut trees a la Hawaii / Cali…but, I think the massive mountains and crazy sky make up for it.

The most impressive part of the cruise and by far the source for most of my images – was the 2-3hr mini cruise we took up the Tracy Arm Fjord after climbing down onto a smaller vessel. We got extremely lucky – only a few days a year are as beautiful as the day we got here…the water was glorious, the glaciers spectacular, the icebergs brilliant, and the mountains, massive.

At the end of the day – bigger is better and more beautiful – here’s a few more, and the full gallery slideshow following…

Alaska, July 2012 – Images by Elisa Sherman

“Wowie” aside, the sunsets were gorgeously divine, the vistas, beyond scenic, the coffee, so smooth, the water so clear, and the sun so warm…I could go on and on, it was paradise. Mom and I stayed at Lahaina Shores – I highly recommend – the town is super cute, and the hotel/condo is right on the beach, you practically fall into the ocean when you step out the back doors…

It seemed everywhere I turned, the frame was post card perfection – the sunsets – so stunning. A not so funny thing happen to my shots for most of the trip – I somehow(don’t laugh!) got a piece of hair caught up in the camera between the mirror and the sensor, ruining several shots – but perhaps, it was meant to be. It certainly made it easy to pass over the shots where a blurry line cut the scene in half. Where I could, I cropped around. Where I couldn’t I moved onto the next frame…sigh, you would think checking the images everyday, I would have figured this out quicker, rather than ruining 3 days? Oh well! Que sera, sera! as they say…

Even whilst the unfortunate technical difficulties, I think I was able to record some of the beauty that surrounded us, 360 degrees…sunsets, to black lava beaches…all the way around the island, here’s a taste…Note – even the old trashed out cars, are pretty – I guess that’s what happens in paradise!

[flickr-gallery mode=”photoset” photoset=”72157623088025371″]

Flick set – http://www.flickr.com/photos/emswazzu/sets/72157623088025371/show/
no flash? – see the set here

“Wowie” aside, the sunsets were gorgeously divine, the vistas, beyond scenic, the coffee, so smooth, the water so clear, and the sun so warm…I could go on and on, it was paradise. Mom and I stayed at Lahaina Shores – I highly recommend – the town is super cute, and the hotel/condo is right on the beach, you practically fall into the ocean when you step out the back doors…

It seemed everywhere I turned, the frame was post card perfection – the sunsets – so stunning. A not so funny thing happen to my shots for most of the trip – I somehow(don’t laugh!) got a piece of hair caught up in the camera between the mirror and the sensor, ruining several shots – but perhaps, it was meant to be. It certainly made it easy to pass over the shots where a blurry line cut the scene in half. Where I could, I cropped around. Where I couldn’t I moved onto the next frame…sigh, you would think checking the images everyday, I would have figured this out quicker, rather than ruining 3 days? Oh well! Que sera, sera! as they say…

Even whilst the unfortunate technical difficulties, I think I was able to record some of the beauty that surrounded us, 360 degrees…sunsets, to black lava beaches…all the way around the island, here’s a taste…Note – even the old trashed out cars, are pretty – I guess that’s what happens in paradise!

[miniflickr photoset_id=”72157623088025371″]

Flick set – http://www.flickr.com/photos/emswazzu/sets/72157623088025371/show/
no flash? – see the set here

…the above is one of the images from the header…I took it at a Folk Festival in Seoul…This man went out with the other festival performers…he was just part of the onlooking crowd, and was just having he best time joining in…you can see the pure joie de vivre on his face as he danced…

…another …

Have a great day!

xoxo

~Elisa