Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of taking family shots of Melissa, Steve, and lil’ Steven, and had a wonderful time capturing a few of their priceless Raiders moments. They’re Oakland Raiders fans, so there’s nothing better than displaying some silver and black gear for a photo shoot. ‘Course, it looks fantastic on all of them, and it really does make their pictures stand out. Really though, it’s not the clothes that make the photographs interesting—it’s always the family and their individual smiles for each other that capture the moment.

I’m going to miss this fantastic family, especially when they leave for the sun-kissed shores and balmy breezes of Hawaii!

(My little boy is also going to miss getting his hugs from Melissa.)

Wishing the D family all the best and a safe trip to their new destination!

Christmas is all about family, friends, and the things that make your heart all warm and fuzzy. I love the hugs we get from our parents, our siblings, our friends, our neighbors, and the strangers we sometimes pass when we’re in a crowded store shopping for last minute Christmas presents. I love taking my son out around the old neighborhoods at night to look at the sparkling lights twinkle magically in the streets, and seeing his eyes light up with wonder.

However, I like Christmas because it’s the perfect time to reflect on the year’s activities, and to be very thankful for all the wonderful memories my family and I have created at the end of 2010. I’m thankful for all the special people in my life; my beautiful son, my phenomenal husband, my extraordinary family, and my fabulous friends.

I love you all, and I’m glad you color my life with plenty of love and joy.

Happy holidays to you, and warmest wishes for the following year!

In August, I was delighted to meet one of my newest, and tiniest, client. It was also a humbling experience visiting a friend, who had just given birth only a few hours before, only to have a camera hungry photog snap hundreds of precious pictures of her little one.

Indeed, she is precious.

There is absolutely nothing like taking pictures of a child, knowing that she had just breathed her first breath of air barely the day before. Amazing, really. I had a wonderful time visiting my newest model, and I thank her parents for letting me capture their tender moments. Luckily, little Paige slept, ate, and blissfully stayed asleep while I wandered around the hospital room admiring her.

I discovered that newborns are the perfect clients.

Prior to the I Heart Faces photo walk, I had only driven through parts of downtown without much regard for the surrounding areas. The parts of downtown that I was familiar with aren’t exactly places you could walk around and take photos randomly at your leisure. And, no, downtown Columbia isn’t riddled with abandoned crack houses, red light districts, or the like—it’s actually pretty decent. There are a few areas with low-income housing near the outskirts of downtown, but even those places seem safe enough to walk through. So, yes, Columbia is safe, and there’s more to this city than meets the eye.

Our group headed down through Main Street, walking past the large skyscrapers with reflecting windows and past the Sheraton. Wait a minute—there’s a nice hotel in this area? I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was as I looked across the street to the hotel in the Palmetto Building. Built in 1913, the Palmetto building was renovated into a luxury downtown hotel at the cost of $20 million. Its architecture reflects a Gothic revival style reminiscent of the buildings in downtown Chicago. Looking up at it, I sorta felt that it didn’t fit in along with the other commercial buildings in the area. Had I been in Chicago, I probably wouldn’t have batted an eye, but in Columbia it looks out of place. However, it’s a beautiful building that deserves its place on Main Street, and I will have to pay another visit to see what the interior looks like.

And, if you hadn’t guessed it, I am partial to old buildings. At least buildings that have character.

The Palmetto Building certainly has it, and it’s definitely piqued my interest. One of the ladies on our photo walk mentioned that it has a rooftop lounge where you can watch the city from above, but I don’t know if I’ll ever have time to actually go up and enjoy it. I can just imagine how chic and sophisticated I’d look sipping a martini while chasing a 22-month old all over the bar. Mmmm…sexy.

I’ll continue my photo walk exploration in another blog post.

Forgive me, but I’ve been a bad blogger on my photo site lately. Been a little bit busy, been doing a little bit of traveling, and I’m guilty of enjoying the warmer Southern weather. That just makes me one lazy blogger here on Crome’s site. Oh, but I did manage to squeeze in a wonderful photo walk opportunity sponsored by I Heart Faces’ Photo Walk Across America, and it was held in our adopted home city of Columbia. On June 5th, the large photography community site set up various photo walks throughout different locations across the nation, and photo enthusiasts gathered together to do a city walk snapping all sorts of pictures for fun. We shared information, tips, tricks, and just had a great time together along with our other babies—our cameras.

Our walk started out in front of the Columbia Museum of Art at 9am, but I drove out a little bit early in order to find parking. Most of the avenues lined along Main Street downtown had metered parking, but I was lucky to find a parking garage around the corner that was free. I am SO not a fan of metered parking. Also, I’m familiar with certain parts of downtown Columbia, but I hadn’t ever driven through Bull, Main, and Lady Streets, which seemed like it was lined with tall buildings, stores, and hotels. I made a mental note to come back with the husband and toddler to show them this part of downtown. Prior to the photo walk, I had only been through the Vista area near Gervais and around the children and state museum, so it’s really neat to see a nice part of the city.

And, yes, there are beautiful areas in and around Columbia, but I just haven’t had time to catch a glimpse of it!

Thankfully, Keli, one of the many contributors for I Heart Faces’ website was our fantastic photo walk leader, and led the trigger happy group down Main Street and onto the Statehouse. I’ll blog more about the walk later, but I’m just glad that we had a nice sized group of wonderful photographers who were just as excited and knowledgeable about different aspects of photography. It’s just great being able to talk to someone about the shutter speed, editing programs, lighting techniques, etc. without getting weird stares when you mention f stops or ISO speeds. I mean talk to in person—like, face to face.

So, the walk was fun, successful, and blissfully entertaining. I made off with a good number of pictures, and I’m in the process of batch editing them to upload my best three to the site for a stab at the grand prize. Not that I really care about winning or losing, since there’s just so many talented and unique photographers out there, but the important thing is that I had a wonderful time, met some fantastic people, and learned a bit about this temporary home city of mine.

It’s a great experience, and I’ll definitely sign up for future photo walks in the area. (Oh, please, please, please do one in Charleston next time!)

On our second visit to Charleston, I decided that I was totally in love with that place. I’ve got my heart set on retiring in Charleston, and unless I find another city to fall head over heels in love with, then Charleston is where I want to settle down. Why? How about why not? It’s beautiful, the people are so damned friendly, and there’s just so much to do in the city you’ll never get bored. Oh, and it’s right by the water where there’s plenty of sandy beaches to go around. I could go on and on about Charleston, but I can’t help it—I love that Southern city.

‘Course, I probably like Charleston more than my current city because there’s just too many things to do with all five senses. Oh, and let’s not get into photography subjects, ghost tours, antebellum architecture, pirates, and all the hidden and unhidden history of the city. It’s just pure bliss. I can probably spend an entire month in the city, and still find things to see and do each day. It’s rich, lively, and so full of character, it’s almost impossible not to fall in love with the place.

I didn’t take quite as many pictures on my second visit only because I was spending time with my in-laws, but I know I’ll be back, and I’ll have more opportunities to go shutter crazy. As if Charleston needs another camera-tottin’ mom flashing pictures of every tourist attraction in sight. Wait, did I just describe myself? Hardly. I do take a lot of pictures, but my finger isn’t always on the shutter release button. I wanted to savor my second visit to the city, and sometimes a camera will just get in the way.

So, when should you visit? May is a great month to visit, and I can only conclude that any month outside of the hurricane season would be fine to visit the city, but I’ll come even when it snows down here. Apparently, it did on our first visit in February, and that was something to see down in the Deep South. January and February is a little cold and wet, so May would be perfect since the temperature hasn’t gone quite brutal for the summer. I’m actually looking forward to a summer visit in the city, just to see if there’s any difference between Columbia and Charleston.

Alas, I had to leave Charleston after a brief weekend visit, but I will definitely be back…

Actually, no, I didn’t. As soon as the blooms started spouting up on the trees in Columbia, I armed myself with the camera, dragged my poor child out with me, and started shooting like a madwoman on a Pokemon-like “gotta catch ‘em all” rampage across town. Looking through my picture files, I didn’t really take any outdoor pictures during a one and a half week time block, because of the dreaded pollen.

The irritating yellow crud was found everywhere—on cars, on door handles, the house, the windows, and virtually anything that was left outside. I didn’t think it’d be so bad here in South Carolina, but it was, and it limited my outdoor picture-taking excursions for a little bit. Oh, and let’s not mention how annoying it was to find pollen on the cars. I’d wash the car one morning, and as soon as it dried, I’d see specks of yellow dots covering every inch of my vehicle. I finally figured that it’d be a waste of time to keep washing the stuff off if it was going to stay put on the car. The funny thing was, people were driving around town with cars that looked like it had gone through a popcorn factory explosion with buttery residue left over.

No kidding.

Still, I was lucky enough to grab a few shots of the flowers around our area that had managed to stay out before the leaves came in. So far, I’ve already decided that I like the springtime here in South Carolina; it’s hot enough to walk around in a tank top and shorts, sometimes it’s breezy, and there’s enough nature for me to expose on camera. However, with temps climbing up to the lower 90′s at times, it doesn’t always feel like spring, so I keep asking myself if I missed it. Geez, has it always been this warm in the South? It’s been years since we’ve lived down in this region, but it feels like you only get two weeks of spring before heading right onto summer. Forget spring, let’s just go right into the hot muggy summer weather!

It’s alright though—I love me some hot weather. (That is, if there’s available air conditioning and pools nearby.)

Eat a hearty meal, like the rest of the Germans. I stopped by Blue Coyote, a restaurant found at the Old Town section of Heidelberg and enjoyed a meal right by a large open air window. I didn’t really feel like sitting by myself out in the street, so I just picked a spot inside the building that opened up to the streets outside. That way, I can watch the people walk by and leisurely eat my meal.

Speaking of leisurely, the Germans tend to take their time with meals; they often stay at their tables, chat with their companions, and enjoy their food. After they finish, they still sit at the table and enjoy a cup of kaffee or bier, and watch the crowd go by. No hurries, no waiter to nag you, and you get to enjoy the ambiance and scenery around you. I think that’s what I love most about the German food experience.

I must’ve sat at the Blue Coyote for over an hour, eating slowly, taking a few shots here and there, and watching the people pass by the window. I remember that I sat across a coffee shop, and I was watching the people sitting outside and people-watching too. I guess you can’t help doing that in Europe. It’s the best place to people watch, especially when they’re stylish Europeans. I enjoyed my meal, and thanked the waitress who kept refilling my breadbasket. I joked and told her not to give me any more if it wasn’t free, but she said the bread was on the house. I guess she noticed that I was constantly dipping my bread into the delicious sauce that was spread over my meat.

Also, did I mention that Germans tend to eat their pommes (fries) with forks? I can’t break my American habit of picking fries with my fingers, but many Europeans use forks and knives with their fries. Even when eating at an imbiss, you’ll get a small plastic fork to pick your fries with. I always thought it was funny, but that’s how they eat in certain parts of Europe. It makes me wonder what Europeans think of how Americans eat when they visit the U.S. or if they ever visit a country like the Philippines, where it’s sometimes common to eat with their hands.

Still, the food experience in Germany was always a positive one, no matter what kind of cuisine I was tasting. Vietnamese, Turkish, Japanese, Korean, French, Polish, Lebanese—they were all top notch, and I can’t even say which one was my favorite. Luckily, Heidelberg’s quite a cosmopolitan city, and there’s so many cultures found just within minutes from our home, so we never really had to go too far to enjoy a “worldly” meal.

You can find the Blue Coyote on Heidelberg’s Hauptstrasse closer to the castle. They offer American-style meals, but they also include traditional German fare on their menu. Prices are moderate, considering that most restaurants on the main street tend to be slightly overpriced due to the high tourist volume.

Now that I’ve mostly finished uploading the shots from Heidelberg, it just makes me miss the place more. There’s just something so beautiful, so unique, and so charming about this German city, it’s just hard to put the feelings into words. If I had one more day to spend in the city, I probably would’ve stayed in the Old Town area or wandered off to the Philosopher’s Path (on the other side of the river) and just hang out.

Or you can people watch all day. Literally.

After hanging out at Heidelberger Schloss, I took the tram back down to the Haupstrasse and chilled out at a local restaurant and watched the crowds go by. My husband was watching our son for the day, so I had a bit of freedom to relax and enjoy the German atmosphere one last time before heading back to the U.S.

The picture above was taken from the large balcony that faces the Old Town and Neckar River. I can see why the early rulers of the region decided to settle on the hillside and build their castle there—the views are just gorgeous. It’s scenic, peaceful, and calming. I never get tired of the scenery. No wonder Mark Twain fell in love with the place. It’s just so hard not to.

…and, yes, I would definitely love to go back. Even for a day.

Before I left Germany, I wasn’t leaving without bidding adieu to my favorite castle. The one that sits on The Königstuhl overlooking the surrounding valley of orange-topped roofs and houses below. I can’t recall how many times I’ve been up there, but I’ve always enjoyed every single visit. It’s just that you can’t visit or leave Heidelberg without a trip to its castle. That’s like visiting Disneyland and not entering Sleeping Beauty’s Castle.

On my last trip to Heidelberg Castle, it was overcast, but it still provided spectacular views of the city below. I climbed the 300+ steps to reach the castle from the bottom ONCE, when J and I first moved to Germany, but I’ve always taken the Heidelberger Bergbahn on subsequent visits. It’s not free, of course, but it doesn’t really cost too much for a round trip ticket to and from the castle. It saves you time, and your breath, so it’s definitely worth the extra euros for a 3 minute ride up the hillside. I noticed some people would take the railway up, but the steps to head back down, but I’m way too lazy to do that. Besides, it’s fun to ride on the tram.

The Heidelberg Castle is mostly in ruins, but some of the buildings are still intact and used as museums showcasing an extremely large wine vat, which is still sitting in one of the cellars. The Heidelberg Tun is a favorite among tourists, so you’d often see them climb the narrow (and steep) ladder to get to the top of the vat, take pictures, and climb back down for a closer look. It’s really dark inside the cellar, and I didn’t bring my external flash during my visit, so I just stood on one side of the area and watched the people climb up, climb down, climb up, and climb down again in amusement. I never get tired of seeing their reactions when they see this enormous wine vat sitting inside the castle.You can tell most of them are wondering if there’s actually wine inside the Großes Fass , but I doubt it. The French invaded the castle a few times, so they probably drained the wine while they were at it too. You can still see the hatchet marks left by soldiers on the oak casing.

Head outside and around the interior courtyard of the castle, and you’ll notice the beautiful Renaissance and Gothic architectural elements of the buildings. It’s been rebuilt a handful of times, since its demolition in the 16th and 18th century, but what’s left looks like a combination of old and new, as various German leaders tried to rebuild what remained of the castle. Some parts of the castle look as if it’s mostly recovered, but a ruined wall or foundation is still attached to it. There’s only a handful of structures that can be used, but the majority of Heidelberg Castle is left in ruins. It’s still an impressive sight either way.

After taking a few pictures of some of my favorite aspects of the castle, I hung around for a good hour and a half and wandered over to the castle gardens. Even if you don’t buy a ticket to enter the castle, you can visit the gardens surrounding the area for free. There’s even a small cafe by the castle entrance and a few souvenir shops offering some tasty Italian ice cream, so there’s a handful of things to do in the general area, in case you don’t want to see the interior. But you can’t go all that way without visiting the inside, so you might as well fork over a few euros just for the hell of it. Also, you can’t get some of the most beautiful views of the Altstadt from the gardens—you need to be inside at the large balcony area that offers gorgeous sights of Old Town.

And gorgeous it is. It doesn’t matter if it’s raining, sunny, cloudy, or even snowing, the views of the city are just remarkable and completely mesmerizing. I never bought a postcard of Heidelberg with its fantastic views, because I took pictures with my camera and printed them later on to send to friends and family. It doesn’t matter if you have a cheap 35mm disposable or an expensive point and shoot, you really can’t go wrong taking pictures of the surrounding landscape. Since I wasn’t really concerned about getting the “perfect” shots of the castle, I didn’t bring my wide-angle (or any other lenses), but just kept the prime on and took a few pictures that were meant for fond memories.

…and I really do miss the castle.