[VAR]iable expression » Photos

Wordless Wednesday #10

Maria Varmazis — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 04:51:35 +0000

City mouse

Maria Varmazis — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 01:57:18 +0000

I’m in the slow process of moving to a new home. I don’t think I’ve lived in the same place for more than two years since I graduated high school, so yet another move feels a bit tedious, but I’m pretty excited about this move for a lot of reasons.
One of which is the fantastic location: Downtown Boston. This is the view from one floor above where I live:

(Please excuse the grain, that’s ISO 1600 for you.)

Growing up my mom (hi mom!) told me the story of the city mouse and the country mouse. As I got older she’s often liked to cite that story. It’s no secret in my family that I’m the lone city mouse surrounded by country mice. Though I have to say, that story’s quite biased to the country mouse ilk–I really like the urban life.

…And did I mention there’s a pool on the roof?

That glow in the sky to the left is from Fenway park. On most nights when there’s a game, I can hear the distant roar of cheers from the window. Even though I’m not a sports fan, I really enjoy hearing it.

This city mouse is quite content!

Found: One orphaned large format print from Mpix

Maria Varmazis — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 01:01:20 +0000

Dear Internet, can you help me find the owner of this print?

I took advantage of the Mpix large format print sale recently and ordered a 16 x 24 of this photo I took in India:

I’ve contacted Mpix customer service and I’m sure this will be fixed in some manner at some point. Trust me, this is not a complaint post by any means. I’m actually curious if I can put the Power of the Internets to work and find the rightful owner of this photo.

If this photo is yours, please get in touch – I’d love to know where you took this picture and the story behind it. (And I’m really curious if you got my print instead or if someone ELSE has it!)

Back from India

Maria Varmazis — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 01:33:49 +0000

I’m back from an incredible two week trip to India, which culminated in a friend’s sister’s wedding – a gorgeous affair, of course!

I took all my photos in RAW on my new camera so it’s going to take me a while to select the best photos and do some processing on them, so bear with me. I promise I’ll put some of the better shots up here. In the meantime, stay tuned!

Wordless Wednesday #9 (sorta)

Maria Varmazis — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 04:22:08 +0000

OK, not totally wordless this time. I have to preface this by saying this post is specifically for my brother, who happens to live on a remote island that’s a tropical paradise pretty much every day of the year. Jealous. So I know he loves it there, but sometimes you just want to see a little snow. (Maybe.) So bro, this post is for you, even though I’m sure you don’t miss the cold.

Link to the full set: Blizzard of January 12 2011, photowalk in the woods [Flickr set]
Tons of photos (and one video) from the woods during today’s blizzard below:

Ta-daaaah

Maria Varmazis — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 04:16:39 +0000

Starburst frost on my windshield

Maria Varmazis — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 01:30:13 +0000

Happy and healthy 2011, everyone. I hope this year is full of wonderful things for us all.

I am soon to be the proud owner of a Canon T1i. Oh, and eagerly anticipating a vacation in India–and why, yes, the dSLR is coming with me. I can’t wait to go and see what there is to see. Here’s hoping this trip will be the first of many to such a wonderful country.

(The above photo? Not from a fancy camera in the slightest. Rather, from my cell phone. Amazing what you can do with the tools all around you.)

Wordless Wednesday #8

Maria Varmazis — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:35:21 +0000

Wordless Wednesday #7

Maria Varmazis — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:17:00 +0000

Friday photo essay on a Tuesday: The best photo you’ve ever taken

Maria Varmazis — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:06:26 +0000

Eat Media has a post on simply posting the best photo you’ve ever taken and explaining it. I don’t want to wait until Friday to do this, so here you go — Friday on a Tuesday.

Shirahige torii on the waters of Biwako in Shiga-ken, Japan.
Taken on: July 1, 2004 at 1.17pm
Taken with: Canon PowerShot A70

I spent the summer of 2004 on a life-changing semester abroad in the rural prefecture of Shiga in west-central Japan. My small class group and I often did field trips around and outside of little prefecture and one day we drove around the lake of Biwa that our hometown was named after (town was Biwacho, on the shores of Biwako!). We came across this amazing torii (a Shinto shrine gate, but it marks sacred land even if it’s not specifically ‘enshrined’) in the lake and our bus stopped so we could look. This site, Shirahige, is one of many torii in water all over Japan, it’s not the most famous one, but it certainly is somewhat famous.

I snapped this photo of my classmate taking it all in and just enjoying the sights. Later, some of my classmates hopped into the lake to swim out to the torii in the water and touch it for good luck.

Often when I think about the simple but amazing times in life where you’re taken aback by completely unexpected beauty, this time–and this photo–come to mind.