Happy Friday: Portraits with Michael B.

Happy December everyone!

I hope that this post finds you settling in for the last month of 2016 (thank goodness!) with hot chocolate, cozy blankets, and a good dose of holiday cheer. For me, the holidays are a reminder to refocus myself- to reflect upon the past year and appreciate the good things while also learning from the many mistakes I have made throughout the year.

Speaking of the good things, I would like to take a moment and publicly thank Michael, a dear friend of mind and the subject of the following images. Michael is a good friend and fellow librarian who has always been, and continues to be, a positive source of encouragement in my life. He asked me to take some professional portraits, and then cheerfully agreed to sit for a concept shoot I had in mind. It was the first time I shot in my new apartment (which I adore), and together Michael and I tweaked lighting, posing, and even location as we adjusted to the new space. It was wonderful to work with someone who is not only a great friend an a joy to hang out with, but is also interested and passionate about art and willing to provide constructive critique and suggest new ideas during a shoot. Thank you again Michael for being such a lovely human being! <3

In other awesome news, here are three things that made the first week of December a little brighter: Childish Gambino released his new album,  the Hamilton Mixtape is out, AND Lin-Manuel Miranda's Drunk History appearance is hilarious and if you haven't watched it yet you should!

Happy Friday everyone!

-AK

Iceland Day 2: The South Shore (Aug, 2015)

Hello everyone,

It's been a while (sorry about that). A lot has happened over the past year- I traveled across the United States from Seattle to New York, then hopped across the Atlantic to Iceland and then Denmark, where I spent a month attending class and exploring Copenhagen. Upon returning stateside, I jumped headfirst into my second (and last!) year of graduate school. I can now say with pride that I have earned my Masters in Library and Information Science! Wooohooooo! :D

I'm currently on the job hunt, but I decided it was time to take a few hours out of my job hunt life to post the long awaited photos from Ilse and my tour of the South Shore of Iceland! Our tour was led by a wonderful older gentleman from Iceland Horizon's tour company. He picked us up from our Airbnb in a small bus and Ilse, myself, and 15-20 other tourists headed out of Reykjavik to explore.

Our tour group was much smaller than the others that were available, a fact that I became increasingly grateful for as our bus was able to maneuver up hills to locations that the larger tours missed. We were also allowed to spend more time at each stop than other tour groups I observed- in fact our guide allowed us so much extra time to explore that we got back almost 2 hours after our scheduled return time!

We visited the following locations (see photos below):

  • The Eyjafjallajokull Volcano
  • Solheimajokull Glacier
  • The Black Sand Beach in Vik and the surrounding area
  • Skogarfoss Falls at Skogar
  • Seljalandsfoss Waterfall (Note: If there is a breeze you will get soaked.)

Iceland is a beautiful country, and I couldn't be more pleased with my trip across the South Shore. It was an amazing experience and I would highly recommend the trip to anyone looking for a great day trip out of Reykjavik.

---

The Eyjafjallajokull Volcano

Solheimajokull Glacier

The Black Sand Beach in Vik and the surrounding area

Skogarfoss Falls at Skogar

Seljalandsfoss Waterfall

Happy Travels,

Mia