Archive for the ‘chile’ Category

Just One/Solo Uno

April 7, 2010

As many of you may know, I volunteer once a month taking pictures at a local orphanage/foster home so that the kids will have a record of their first few years when they get adopted or return to their families. You can read more about the experience here. It has been a really fulfilling and worthwhile experience. I have been going for 8 months now and its touching to see the growth of the kids. Some of them were just newborns when I met them and are now crawling, teething and interacting. The older kids who were shy in front of the camera now jump all over me the moment I arrive, wanting to see their pictures and help me take more. I was touched when one little girl asked to see her photo and then kissed the view screen. I can’t share most of the photos I take in order to maintain the privacy and safety of the kids, but I caught this one when I was there last week and hopefully it gives a glimpse into this special experience.

Como algunos ya saben, trabajo de voluntario una vez al mes sacando fotos en una casa de lactancia. Las fotos sirven como recuerdo de sus años formativos cuando vuelvan a sus familias o sean adoptados. Puede leer mas de la experiencia aqui. Ha sido muy buena y lida la experiencia. He estado yendo por 8 meses ya y es especial ver el crecimiento de los niños. Algunos eran recien nacidos cuando los conoci y ahora estan saliendo sus dientes y interactuando conmigo. Los niños grandes que eran timidos enfrente de la camera ahora me acercan y quieren ver sus fotos y ayudarme en mi trabajo. Una niña me pidio ver si foto y despues beso a la pantalla donde mostro su imagen. No puedo mostrar la mayoria de fotos para mantener la privacidad y seguridad de los niños, pero vi ese la semana pasada y ojala que de una oportunidad de ver un poco de la experiencia.

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Just a quick reminder-there are just two days left to nominate a deserving friend to win a photo session.

Friday, February 13 is the last day to enter. It’s really easy and you will be spreading the love to others (and potentially be a winner yourself). See the complete details here: http://www.medianaranjaphotography.com/blog/2010/02/02/celebrating-all-love-celebrando-todo-amor-win-a-session-gana-una-sesion/

Les recuerdo que faltan solo dos dias para nominar a un amigo/a para ganar una sesion de fotos.

El viernes, 13 de febrero es el ultimo dia para nominar. Es muy facil y ayudaras a un amigo/a (y puedes ganar tu tambien). Puedes ver los detalles completos aqui:

http://www.medianaranjaphotography.com/blog/2010/02/02/celebrating-all-love-celebrando-todo-amor-win-a-session-gana-una-sesion/

flower photography

Feliz Navidad!

December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad to everyone. I hope that you enjoy this holiday creating special moments with those you love.

For me, being in Chile,  this is my first warm weather Christmas, and while it does take some getting used to, I do have to say that it has its perks. After Christmas eve dinner and presents last night, we went out to see Christmas lights at 1 am without having to worry about being cold. It was really nice to go out to the plaza in Providencia and see all sorts of people sharing and enjoying the beautiful display.  I missed being with my family but at least had some good subsitute company with Hugo´s family.

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More to come soon. Happy holidays everyone!

I have been wanting to get out of Santiago for the weekend for over a year now and finally had the chance to on Halloween weekend as Hugo and I headed north to La Serena and the Elqui Valley. I had been planning this trips for a couple of months and was so excited when we finally arrived. And now, I can cross of the first thing on my 50 in 501 list. Yes! This post is a combination of pictures taken with my camera and Hugo’s point and shoot. Hope you enjoy this quick peak of our trip. Next week I’ll do part 2 with pictures from the Elqui Valley. Enjoy!

Love the Andes Mountains

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Arrival to La Serena= Lots of Walking

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Bloglaserena0172Bloglaserena0176Bloglaserena0179Bloglaserena0173And here’s me taking that shot above….very rarely do I have a shot of me in action…

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After walking around and exploring La Serena we decided to have lunch at a place that had been recommended to us. Possibly the worst meal I have ever eaten….oh well, we got a good laugh about for the rest of the trip:-)

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The afternoon was spent on the beach-a little cloudy, cold and windy, but still relaxing.

Bloglaserena0199bloglaserenaDSC02453On Friday, we headed to the sister town of La Serena, Coquimbo and visited the port. It ended up being pretty exciting as the fisherman brought up their catch and sold it right along the water and then tossed the leftovers back into the water. They attracted a huge group of sea lions, who competed with the birds for their next meal.

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I have been working on both setting some goals for myself and making my blog more personal, so I think this is a great combination. This list was inspired by one of my favorite photographers, Melissa Jill, who created a 100 in 1001 list. Basically the idea is to have 100 goals or things you would like to accomplish in 1001 days. I think its so helpful to have this on here to help keep me accountable and motivated.  Because I have no idea what country I’ll be living in 3 years from now, let alone what I will be doing, I’ve decided to do a slightly abbreviated version of 50 goals in 501 days. I’ve come up with almost 40 so far, and will leave the last few spaces for new goals that come up in the next couple of months. They are a mix of life and photography/business goals and are in no particular order, just how they came into my head. The idea is that I will post when a goal is accomplished so that I have some satisfaction and a record of a job well done and my readers get to learn a little bit more about me and my experiences, especially those here in Chile. I started this list about a month ago, so I will have some goals recently accomplished to show you soon. Perhaps this will motivate you as well to create your own list, or at least think about some things that you would like to accomplish.

So here goes the list so far:

50 in 501

Start Date: October 13, 2009

End Date: February 26, 2011

1. Take a weekend trip outside of Santiago-Completed November 1, 2009

2. Get permanent residency in Chile

3. Learn to drive a stick shift

4. Book a baby’s first year package

5.  Find my own apartment

6. Visit a college friend

7. Get a photograph published

8. Create a full business plan

9. Go surfing

10. Create a studio/office space

11. Send out Christmas Cards

12. Learn how to put slideshows on my blog

13. Redesign my website

14. Do a photo shoot with my parents

15. Take a salsa class

16. Get my knees healed and run a 5k

17. Second shoot a wedding

18. Finish bedroom update project

19. Do a photo shoot with my brother

20. Take a cooking class

21. Visit a new state in the US

22. Understand lighting with an external flash and use it!

23. Attend a photography workshop

24. Bake a pie

25. Try out the 50mm 1.4 lens

26. Create or purchase a set of photoshop actions

27. Visit a new country that I haven’t been to

28. Send a friend a surprise package

29. Send a real letter in the mail a month for 6 months

30. Read 2 books to benefit my business

31. Have a real picnic outside

32. Create a sole proprietorship for my business

33. Attend a photography networking event

34. Volunteer at a sports event

35. Make a mosaic something

36. Visit Barrio Brasil in Santiago

37. Go to a soccer game in Chile

38. Create a complete recipe book of my favorites

39.

40.

41.

42.

43.

44.

45.

46.

47.

48.

49.

50.

(Espanol abajo). There is a big movement in the world of photography to try and help people through pictures. The are large movements like Help Portrait, Think Pink Photography (which I am a part of) and individuals who inspire, such as Zack Arias and his series of motivational blog posts. All of these things gave me further motivation to give back with photography, something I’ve been looking for ways to do for a while.

An acquaintance introduced me to an orphanage/foster home for children ranging from newborns to 3 years old. It is a great organization with over 40 kids in their care here in Santiago. The staff is diligent, caring and have a great responsibility for the kids living there. These children have arrived at the home because their family decided to/or was determined unfit(for various reasons) to be able to care for them. It can’t be an easy life, but they always greet me with smiles.

I have embarked on a project to photograph all the kids in the home once a month. Each child has a folder where we store the photos and follow their growth. The idea is that when the children either return to their family or are adopted, they have a record of their infancy and/or childhood and have these important memories, just like other kids who are in more fortunate situations.

It is truly an enlightening experience that makes you appreciate what you have and your upbringing. I’m lucky that I had a great supportive family growing up, with lots of memories and pictures, so I am glad to be able to at least help these kids in some way.

I have so many cute pictures of beaming smiles and big eyes from my visits at the home, but due to their at-risk situation, I can’t show their faces. So here’s just a small sampling  of what I can share.

Hay un gran movimiento en fotografia ahora para ayudar a personas a traves de fotografia. Hay grandes grupos y personas individuales que estan inspirando y coordinando varios esfuerzos.

Una conocida me introdujo a una casa de lactantes aqui en Santiago. La gente que trabaja alla es diligetne, carinoso y feliz y esfuerza muco para cuidar a los 40 ninos entre recien nacido y tres años de vida. Los ninos estan alli porque su situacion familiar no les permite vivir en casa.  No tienen una vida facil, pero siempre me saludan con sonrisas.

He empezado un proyecto de ir a la casa una vez al mes para sacar retratos de todos los ninos. Cada nino tiene una carpeta donde guardamos las fotos para mostrar su crecimiento. La idea es que cuando regresen a sus familias o sean adoptados, tendre un recuerdo de su infancia/ninez como todos los otros ninos.

Es una experiencia muy linda que te hace apreciar lo que tienes. Tenia suerte de tener a una familia que me quiere y que me apoye y me alegro poder tener la oportunidad para ayudar a estes ninos de alguna forma.

Debido a su situacion de peligro, no puedo mostrar sus caras aqui, pero por lo menos, puedo incluir algunos momentos que capture.

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If you are interested in supporting this great cause, either with monetar support, donations of diapers and forumla or by volunteering, please let me know.

Si esta interesado en apoyar a esta causa, con dinero, donaciones de panales o comida, o como voluntario, avisame.

Chile’s Independence Day isn’t really a day, its more of a mindset. From the start of September, people just know that vacation is coming and all productivity slows down until the festivities begin. This year, September 18th fell on a Friday, leaving Thursday afternoon, Friday, Saturday and Sunday for celebrating. I had my fair share of fairs, barbequed meat, empanadas (savory turnovers), churros(my favorite!) and cueca dancing(Chile’s traditional dance). Here are a few of my favorites from the weekend.

Aqui van algunas de mis fotos favoritos de las fiestas del dieciocho. Ya disfrute demasiado, carne, empanadas, churros y cueca. Hasta la proxima!

I’m going to start with my favorite series first:

Some marching soldiers from the military parade-still trying to figure out what’s on their backs. Pillow and blanket perhaps…any thoughts out there?

Kite flying is also a big activity of the weekend…notice the small specks in some of the earlier plane pictures-those are kites…these people are serious about their flying.

However my kite flying usually turns out much like the following unfortunate souls:

And to end with…you can’t have Chilean independence day without some traditional Cueca dancing.

Hope you enjoyed the dieciocho as much as I did.I’d love to hear your comments:-)