I guess the best way to guarantee posts is Sea World

It's funny. I don't think I could keep up this posting schedule any other way. But since I took 560 pictures on a 24-hour trip (oops. was I not supposed to admit that?), I'm pretty much glued to my computer whenever I have a free moment. I go back to school tomorrow so I'm sure my posts will fall off but in the mean time, I'm enjoying looking at all my shots and going "Whoa! Did I do that?"

When I was trying to photograph the octopus, there was a woman next to me who was trying to do the same. She had a newer Canon SLR and the same kit lens. Envy! She stood there, took a few basic shots (with flash!) and walked off. I then sidled up and just looked at Ms. Octopus for a little while. Then I pressed my lens to the glass and took a few shots from different angles. I guess this proves that a) it's not the equipment you have but how you use it, b) I'm pretty much obsessed, and c) octopus are not the only smart ones in the aquarium.





Sea anemones are kind of underrated. They're home sweet home for clown fish and cousins to coral. But no one ever photographs them alone. I couldn't resist getting all friendly with this anemone.


And this picture of the intersection of the ceiling and wall tanks from the Manta aquarium should speak for itself...

too cute to keep to myself

I should be packing. I should be sleeping. I should be doing anything but going through my shots right now. But how do you say no to a face like this?





The answer, of course, is that you can't say no to a face like this.

a sense of wonder is important to share

sea world preview, originally uploaded by afaerieinside.

I was going to wait until I went through all my Sea World pictures before deciding what to post but I could. I just couldn't.

Right before I took this picture, I turned to my mom and went "ema! ema! look!" And of course, right in front of me were these two children who spoke Hebrew who started asking their ema [mother] to look. (And yes, I know trying to spell Hebrew words in English looks funny. Bear with me, ok?) They were just as enthralled as I was with this beautiful stingray that was just... watching everyone go by.

The way the shark encounter exhibit is set up, you can't help but be in awe as the sharks and stingrays and fish swim all around you. And with something this amazing, I just HAD to share it immediately.

my life as a mad scientist... or something

Dear readers (if there actually are any),

As my summer is drawing to a close, I am upping the adventure. That means lots of pictures for you. That also means lots of work for me. Seeing as I went to the South Florida Science Museum last Wednesday and Sea World Sunday & Monday, I have a lot to share. This is what happens when you let me be a frenzied Floridian.





I have a borderline unhealthty love for certain species. Alligators, especially when they're all tiny and cute and can't actually sever my limbs with their jaws, make me go 'awww!' and melt into a puddle. I also like sea stars.



Crazy lobsters seem to like me. I'm not entirely sure why.


Perhaps the best part of the entire trip, photo-wise, was when my mom stood in front of the kaleidoscope. Her shirt looked so cool when viewed through it. I kind of want to tie dye a shirt to look like this.




As mad and vaguely scientific as this may be, you haven't seen anything yet. I'm hoping to be able to break Sea World down into a lot of posts so I can sloooooowly write home about everything I saw while I'm waiting for life to settle in at school. [Did I mention I'm moving back to Jupiter on Saturday? I am. So I'll have a lot of time to share older photos.]

so this is what happens when you give a kid a camera...

On mom's last day of the summer at the preschool before that terrible thing known as vacation, I came to work with her. As usual, I took a lot of pictures. Also as usual, I won't post them without parental permission. Luckily for me, one of my favorite little girls to photograph has a really awesome mom who doesn't mind me sharing this with you.


My Care Bear, as I started calling her when we were both new at the preschool, has the misfortune to be a lot like me. She's really smart and doesn't take naps, so what's a girl to do? We just had to have a photography workshop. It was the only thing we could do. We initially brought out another student so they could take turns doing 'off-camera lighting' for each other. I didn't quite think through giving preschoolers a flash and letting them push the button. Freckles kept pushing the button repeatedly while Care Bear fired the flash right into his eyes. Once we realized how silly an idea it was, we sent Freckles back inside and continued attempting to do 'off-camera lighting' with her holding the flash around her face.



We got a few shots that demonstrated that if I ever needed an assistant, she was ready to go. Then we decided to just have fun and see what we got. Even her mom admits that she's a bit of a diva.



We were having so much fun just playing around but if you looks away for one second, you'd end up with her posing like a model.



If there are children's books about giving mice cookies, pigs pancakes, and moose muffins, why not a book about if you give a kid a camera? In this case, I qualify as the kid but I have a feeling Care Bear isn't far behind. (Sorry, mom.)

a confession

dearest blog,
I did not mean to neglect you. but unfortunately, I got a message today saying that my hard drive is full(!) and there is no more space for photos. time for spring cleaning.
I don't want to leave you empty-handed so I present to you photos from a lunar eclipse last February.


I will try to do better as soon as I can solve this problem.