Outside The Boxwith Robert Watcher

NOT 106 Flavors - but 108 Flavors of Chicken Wings

Being I am unable to converse in Spanish yet and am very shy about approaching people and intruding on them, I finally got the nerve up and simply held my camera up and smiled and nodded my head to the natives I came across today - as if to ask if I could take a picture. They nodded back letting me know it was OK, posed (which I will work around in the future) and then chuckled when I showed them the picture on my camera screen. For the mot part everyone was cooperative in letting me take my pictures without having to sneak them or use a long lens  so they wouldn’t see what I was doing. I found that my Olympus E-510 with 12-60mm f2.8 is a perfect companion to this type of street shooting - providing wider angle, faster operating, dead accurate focus where I wanted it, and a fast zoom for increased light capture.

These 2 young men were sitting at the bus stop with their crates of eggs and were pleased to have me take their picture - - - as were the different food vendors in the Central Market. The man with the bananas, actually grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously with a huge smile after I showed him what I had taken. I wish I had a photo printer here so that I can take them back a copy - I may have to check into getting one or finding a place to print them for me:

A few shots from our first days:

Hey - if you want to keep up with what I am doing over the next couple of months, you are welcome to visit our TravelVirgins website.

Anne and I are heading down to Costa Rica in 2 1/2 weeks (January 31’st)  and will be there for 2 months this year - hopefully more time later this year also. I will be shooting lots of stock photography for inclusion in my Stock Library for commercial uses. We are not going for a vacation, but to live for part of the year in between my photography assignments - and to get into the culture of the cities, towns and highlands where we will be staying.

The Travel Virgins website was completed this weekend and just needs a litle personalized content and our experience in Costa Rica, to fill the pages. You can keep an eye on Anne’s Journal, Photos and Vidoes posted regularly, Google Map of Costa Rica, Links, and can even pop us an email any time you want using the website "Contact Us" page - - - we’ll be glad to hear from you. And if you want to see what the Journal looks like in Spanish (or Simplifed Chinese), you can click on the Translate Flags at the top of the page. Just BOOKMARK us to keep in touch.

AS If We Know : Travel Virgins
http://asifweknow.com

I will maintaining my photography, web design and web hosting businesses from our apartment down there - communicating to clients daily by email and other online  resources - - - as I have been for the last 7 years. The beauty of the web is that everything carries on as normal. Should be fun, educational and productive. We’ll be back in Canada on April 1’st, 2008 and be right into the thick of wedding season.

click on the picture to go to the Travel Virgins website

Jan 5′th 2008 marked a new wedding season. While temperatures were rising from the bitter cold we were experiencing the few days leading up to the wedding - we were provided with a strange mix of biting cold, melting conditions, and sporadic rain. Formals after the the ceremony would be taken outdoors unless there was a downpour. We had a great day that resulted in images full of character and emotion.

The bride who is very artistic and unique in her way of looking at things, shared her concerns that I not provide her with boring shots of traditional wedding coverage. She pointed out several images from my website that appealed to her - ones taken at trendy restaurants, some in the evening utilizing whatever available light was available - - - and so my agenda for the afternoon was to make sure she would not be disappointed. Being the ceremony was over at 4:00 and we would only have about 1/2 hour with any type of sunlight available, we chose locations around downtown Stratford including an ally with grafitti, a busy building with areas that would be large enough (barely) to handle the bridal party and family, and a small cafe where I took the couple and best man and maid of honour for a few private moments sipping a bottle of wine.

A Love Story Session in the fall as colourful leaves lined the path in this forest

Canadian Idol contestant and Juno award winner Sister of the Bride and the girls father, sing for the wedding couple at the reception.