Sooo much time has passed since i last blogged.. with everything going in my life, it's hard to find time for everything... Between work, traveling and moving into a new place, life has certainly kept me busy..

I think im going to back track a little and share some my past experiences and shoots. Ill start back at our last vacation (about seven months ago), to one of the most beautiful places i have visited, Paris, France. I must admit this is my first time to Europe and haven't seen enough, but i can be certain that Paris is going to be tops on my list of beautiful places. Paris is a photographers dream, there is so much architecture, landscape, people to fill any camera memory card.

Ahh, Paris, oh how i miss the overly crowded streets filled with tiny cars and equally sized motorcycles. The noise of the city interrupted the occasional honking of vehicles and tapping of hurried shoes as everybody rushes to work, play or tourists who are running late to catch a tour. We greatly enjoyed our breaks at any of the dozens of cafe's that occupy any city block. You can pick any that has a hot cup of coffee and vast selection of desserts.


As i write this quick synopsis of our vacation, it brings a tear to my face just to see some of our favorite shots of places we visited while in Paris. We hope to soon re-visit the busy streets.

The Catacombs:
Kind of a creepy place and no place for people who are claustrophobic. You're basically walking down very tight corridor and following a path that seems never-ending. The ceiling loosens a bit, giving more breathing room but barely enough to completely relax. You then find yourself in some smaller rooms where small art works are chiseled out from rocks that occupy the walls.


You continue further to larger rooms to encounter an increasingly creepier room filled with the soulles remains of the forgotten or misplaced bodies. Much to my amazement the bones that line the rooms of the catacombs are not fastened nor glued to one-another, instead, they're loosely stacked and can easily be moved or shifted.








An interesting and amazing site if you're not faint at heart.

Cathedrale Notre Dame de Paris:
Simply breathtaking views and architecture! I really wanted to climb the circular steps at Notre Dame, however, we arrived late. However, we did get a chance to see the Crown of Thorns and other relics while at our visit at Norte Dame. What an interesting visit. We were unfortunately unable to take pictures, other wise i would post them.. :)










The Palace of Versailles:
What an amazing place! ahh, to have been rich and to live in these wonderful mansions and palaces. The artwork, the attention to detail and the craftsmanship of these palaces were simply incredible!





The murals on the ceilings were magnificent!


Their opulence occupied every inch of the palace even to their chandeliers and gold trimmed sleeping quarters.




The grounds at Versailles, were equally amazing!








Sharon, Melody and Linda, my travel buddies for this trip... and what a great trip it was!!






The fountains around Paris were beautiful!! Here's a couple of shots near the Place de la Concorde..




L'Obelisque


Mel with the Avenue des Champs-Elysees behind her..


The Eiffel Tower!!




Le Carrousel


Musse du Louvre




The night that i happen to be wandering around the Musse du Louvre for pictures, i walked into a near by hallway, where this gentleman was playing his saxophone. The sounds that filled that archway was magnificent! You literally felt the music!




Here's Mel and I in front of Chambord Chateau. What a magnificent castle!






In all, the vacation was wonderful! I want to thank Melody, Sharon and Linda for making it a memorable trip! I truly look forward to vacationing with you all again. As for Paris, i couldnt be happier. The people were very polite which was a contrast to what I've heard about foreigners who do not speak French. I hear stories of rude and unhelpful people in Paris, but we did not experience any of that. There are some things that us Americans need to get used to. Alot of the French waiters sure do love taking their smoke breaks.. In front of you, while you're eating, then serve you food or give you bread, using the same hand (no tongs) that they just smoked with... yeah, nice.. other than that, it was a fantastic trip!

Wow! I had a fun opportunity to attend the Oscar's Red Carpet event in LA. Melody won.. err, uhh.. I mean, Mel knows people, who know people, who knows a half-brother of a guy that works near or for somebody, and that's how we were lucky enough to get tickets.. so fug-gedda-boud-it!! :)

Melody, Joyce and myself were at attendance, with Sharon missing out due her cold. Now, Im not really into red carpet events since it always involves waiting, large loud crowds, waiting, sitting, standing and more waiting. Did i mention, i hate waiting! but i was pleasantly surprised this time around since it really didn't seem too long.

We arrived at 8:30am to wait in line with the other ticket holders. I seriously thought this would feel like a long day, but the event coordinators did a great job of making us feel comfortable.. Once we passed the security checks, we were offered breakfast (Krispy Kreme donuts) and drinks (coffee, water and soda). All of which was free and unlimited (or at least until supplies ran out)

Mel and Joycie were extremely happy and couldn't hold back their childish grins. They were of course waiting for the one, the only, Rob Pattensin.. Who?? yeah, that's what I say!! I could care less, i was there more for my Jessica Alba, but unfortunately she did not attend.. sadness!

Either way, onto the pictures..


As you can see, we were in the middle of the red carpet and in great view of all the stars..




There was media coverage everywhere, even on top of the El Capitan sign..


Here's Robin Roberts, looking very dressed down in her pre-show practice..


Things had to look perfect for the nights festivities, even Oscar himself needed a little touch up. I guess, we all have to look good from all angles.


This was my first year at the Oscar's red carpet so we got to see a lot of different shots and film crews making their pre-show announcements before the mass of guests, media and actors arrive. This was Laura (from The Insider) doing her pre-show routines surrounded by here entourage. They would use the crowd (us) to make as much noise possible to make it seem like there was a lot of hoopla going on in the background, but there really wasn't. There was one individual (part of the entourage) who was continuously jumping around, yelling and trying to get the crowd to make more noise. so it was really interesting to see what goes on in the background but after about 6 takes, the crowd started to get a little restless.






Look, it's Mario Lopez!!!












Tim Gunn (from Project Runway). So, for anybody watching, you would have possibly caught a glimpse of us in the background when Tim Gunn was interviewing the stars.. We were sitting right behind his set..


Danny Glover


Amy Adams


Anthony Hopkins


Marisa Tomei


Rob Pattensin (from far far away)


Seth Rogan


Sean Penn


More of Rob Pattensin (this is for Mel and Joycie)








Seal


Daniel Craig




Meryl Streep


Heidi Klum


Brangelina


BrAngelina and Slumdog cast..










Some actress (sorry, her name escapes me at the moment)


Opie




After the red carpet was over, we were invited across the street to the El Capitan theater to watch the Oscar's on the big screen.. The best part of it, we were well fed and were able to watch the show in comfortable seats.


Over all it was a great event and we had lots of fun! Next year, however, i will be working on a press pass so i can get closer to the actors and get better pictures.. This year was simply a learning experience..

The rest of the pictures can be seen on my flickr site..

Thanks for visiting!!
Michael