Category Archives: Landscape

A two week stay in Chicago was the perfect reason to FINALLY go back to visit my alma mater. I haven’t spent any real time there since…well, since I was paying to be there. Seeing campus in its deserted state let me take all the time I wanted. And made me remember the first time I fell in love with the place as a senior in high school.

 

Arnie’s Arch. Ok, it’s technically the Weber Arch.

 

My First Dorm: North Mid Quads

 

My Second, Third, and Fourth Dorm: “The Plex”

 

So many memories…

 

It is what you think it is. Thank God for this place.

 

The Black House Porch

 

In four years, I set foot in Deering Meadow once. But I walked by it at least 4 times per day.

 

The Library

 

Tech: In the pantheon of uninviting structures, Northwestern’s main engineering building manages to barely edge out the Death Star

 

Tech Lobby: this is about as inviting as it gets. And it hasn’t changed in 20 years.

 

Shakespeare Garden. Probably one of the least well-known but most beautiful gems on campus. I couldn’t remember how to get there and had to look it up on a map.

 

I spent more time here than anywhere else in college. I worked here all four years, and in my senior year I clocked 30-40 hours per week. Many of the people I’m now closest to were also 4-year Norris-ites. This is where I moved tables and chairs for money, where I was a Center Manager (which basically meant I wore a tie and carried around about 30 keys to unlock every door in the building), where I met celebrities, where I did never-ending problem sets, where I had an office in the basement, opened my grad school acceptance letters (and cried with my mother on the phone as I shared the news), pulled finals week and Dance Marathon all-nighters, and saw the OJ verdict. When I have fond memories about my college years, its a pretty safe bet that Norris is at the heart of them.

 

I think I made it to Chicago maybe twice in all of college. Great city. But I didn’t find out until I’d already left.

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  • Ama

    Awesome photos. NU has changed a lot but is still the same. A fellow NU Alum.

  • Angelique

    These photos are gorgeous! Makes me want to go back myself and chronicle the places I frequented, some that would clearly overlap yours. :)

  • Maeyen

    Beautiful!

  • Lesley Grossblatt

    Northwestern . . . where the cool kids went. :) Great photos.

    I miss Chi-town. My favorite memories of the UofC were the days I skipped class to take the 6-Jeffery bus downtown to hang out at the Art Institute all day long.

Plan? For what? Not a single hotel was booked. No tourist attractions were researched. Destinations uncertain. Just 5 days and south on 95.

Charlottesville was the first stop, mostly because I was tired. A quick, damp tour of UVA’s campus reminded me of my last visit, nearly 25 years ago. North Carolina was *completely* skipped…even on the way back…and Charleston (and all 82 of its Fahrenheit degrees) was second on the list. Much of my family is from its outskirts, and taking in the sanitized southern charm of Charleston’s historic district always creates conflicting emotions. One of the positives: the food. We finally got as far south as Savannah, and if I had nothing to get home to, I might still be there photographing oak trees dripping with Spanish moss. Beautiful. But the most memorable part of the trip was rediscovering why road trips can be so great: hours and hours in a car without worrying about where you need to get to next = fantastic bonding time.

 

Wormsloe Historic Site (formerly Wormsloe Plantation), Savannah, GA. The family who owned these 822 acres still lives in a private area of the grounds in a home that site guides still refer to as “the big house.”

 

Charleston Old Slave Mart Museum – Former marketplace for auctioning slaves.

 

Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church

 

 

 

 

 

The Lawn – University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

 

 

 

 

 

DSLR Selfie

 

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Since the very first time I saw a picture of Tiger’s Nest (Taktsang Palphug Monastery), Bhutan has been at the top of the list of places I’ve wanted to visit. We began planning the trip this summer, and based on how fantastically thorough our tour company (Bhutan Scenic Tours) was throughout the process, Serene and I expected great things. From the moment we touched down in Paro until the morning we were dropped off for our return flight, Bhutan over-delivered in just about every way. The country is more beautiful than we’d imagined, even after having seen hundreds of photos. The people of Bhutan were more welcoming that we expected. And our guides, Rinzi and Tandin, were absolutely amazing. And in a stroke of 100% dumb luck, Serene and I actually met and had a private conversation with the King and Queen of the country!

Several friends have asked how we managed to wrangle the visas and other logistics for the visit. It was easy. There seems to be a lingering perception that visiting Bhutan is both cumbersome and expensive compared to visiting other countries. Neither is true. This was actually one of the easiest to plan and most affordable international destinations I’ve ever visited. I couldn’t recommend it more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Patagonia has been #1 on my wish list for more than a few years, and in October I was fortunate enough to spend a week there. Torres del Paine, one of the jewels of Chilean Patagonia, was my home for 6 days. I hiked nearly 70 miles and encountered, among other things: the most volatile weather I’ve ever seen (imagine a ten minute walk that includes a blizzard, a downpour, bright sunshine, and 50mph winds), my first glacier (so much larger than I’d imagined), a solo midnight run-in with a puma…ALSO much larger than I’d imagined and not pictured because, you know, I had the wrong lens on the camera…and one amazing view after another. The pictures tell the story much better than I could.

 

 

One of the many penguins of Magdalena Island

 

Punta Arenas, once one of the world’s busiest ports (until the completion of the Panama Canal)

 

The Towers…stunning, even through cloud cover.

 

Consuelo, one of the incredible guides at EcoCamp

 

It wouldn’t be a trip without some southern hemisphere star trails. This is a composite of 75 shots, each 3 minutes long.

 

My guide said that he first saw this cow skeleton alongside the trail in November of 2013.

 

 

 

Punta Arenas. Moments later, I may or may not have posed for a selfie in front of this building 😉

 

A river crossing on the way to the Towers

 

This kelp goose stood like this for at least 5 minutes. This is a female; males are white with black beaks. I never saw a goose solo…always in male-female pairs.

 

This is like visual onomatopoeia: it LOOKS as windy as it was (nearly 60mph), but even when there is no wind, the trees look like this.

 

Diego was a fantastic guide. Oh, and thats part of a guanaco jaw that he’s holding. Guanacos are all over in Torres del Paine. They’re also friendly and not very intimidated by humans; so its kind of noteworthy (and ridiculous) that I didn’t photograph a single one (alive).

 

An iceberg from Grey Glacier

 

 

 

I shot this picture while wearing at least 4 layers. I was still a little chilly.

 

 

Joaquin, another guide. It was only his second week on the job, but he, like all the others, was amazing. I’ve never encountered guides who knew so much about the culture, history, geology, flora, and fauna of a place.

 

 

 

 

I promise that the water is actually this color.

 

Where there’s a condor, I’m told, there is often a puma.

 

 

Grey Glacier up close

 

 

 

 

Salto Grey

 

Hiking into the French Valley

 

 

EcoCamp. A fantastic place to call home for a week.

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  • Akintayo Adewole

    Outstanding!

  • Josh Steinitz

    great shots! I was there in 1998 and remember it well, would love to go back. I can’t believe you had a blue sky day…