The Way I Like to Spend my Days

Hello Sunshine, Coming into my Life

Last Days of Winter

A Winters Day, in a Deep and Dark...February?

Waiting Out the Storm

No new photos this week, just watching the rain/snow outside my window from my comfy bed

Beauty and the Beast

The Mall, Central Park, February 2010

More Central Park Birds.....

More bird watching in Central Park today!  Lots of fun in the snow, almost fell about 12 times, but managed only 1 bad wipeout, statistically not too bad!  I spent an hour chasing one cardinal around a tree and then a very kind lady who goes bird watching every weekend in the Rambles took me to what is known as "Cardinal Tree" where there were at least 6 in plain site....it's a learning process and I'm getting better!  Enjoy some more winter birds!

Oh Bill Maher....

"Oh America, I could never leave you, you amuse me. Your like my dog, dumb as a post, but you make me laugh." -Bill Maher

I try not to get overly political on this blog, but I just loved Bill Maher's new show tonight Bill Maher...But I'm not Wrong. He brought up Giuliani's idiotic quote after Christmas "We had no domestic [terrorist] attacks under Bush; we've had one under Obama." Well Mister Giuliani, the above photo was taken at Ground Zero at the fifth year 9/11 memorial where I met you after your speech, but I guess you forgot about that little incident otherwise known as the largest terrorist attack in American history, and I won't even bring up the shoe bomber right because you've obviously forgotten about it, in your defense it's not as funny or memorable as a guy trying to blow up his undies right?

As I am planning my travels for next year and worrying about all the danger that comes with travel in third world countries it is important to remember that there is danger and fear everywhere and the only chance of changing our world is through education and learning whats out there. I've never been more excited to go document the world and try to make America a little less dumb than a post.

Park Creatures, Central Park

The Sound of Silence, Central Park

Bring on the Snow!

Decisions, Decisions....

As many of you know I have been searching for a cute bag to use for my camera for years. I have bent the chain on a Chanel bag, broken a zipper on a Botkier, and almost broke a lens using an Elliot Lucca. There is really no option out there for a lover of cameras and fashion....or so I thought. Over the weekend I was doing my usual I can't fall asleep so I'll surf the web at 3am routine when I stumbled across the website of the brilliant Kelly Moore Clark. Kelly is a very talented photographer based out of Louisiana who actually made an adorable and chic camera bag/purse. I can not wait to carry mine around New York!  No more broken purses or camera equipment!  The only question is- what color shall I get?

I'm deciding between the purple and black, the black seems more versatile, but the purple is so fun!  I'm going to buy it by Friday so color suggestions please!  I'm leaning towards the black, I also love that the inside of the black is purple!  The attention to detail really elevates its chicness and totally makes it worth the $250!

Check out the website to pick up your own- http://kellymoorebag.com/

Press

Check out the article the Examiner wrote about the Gallatin Eco-Couture Fashion Week!

Examiner.com Article

Travels in 2010

Are you wondering how the above 5 photos relate? Read on to find out-

Sorry for no posts for so long, this week was very hectic!  It was the Gallatin Eco-Fashion Week at NYU and I was shooting events, and I began with a personal trainer to get ready for my travels after I graduate, and then my parents came in this weekend for my grandmother's 87th birthday.  Happy Birthday Grandma, (one of the most loyal readers of my blog)!

I realized that I have been so busy planning all my travels that I forgot to share them on this site. Starting on July 31, 2010 I will be embarking on a 5-month trip throughout Africa, India, and Asia. The photographs above correlate to each place I will be. (I didn't have a photo of an elephant so I hope you don't mind a photo of my dog playing with a stuffed elephant as a substitute)

The first two weeks in August I will be going on a safari with my wonderful parents in East Africa with And Beyond. I have never used them before, as I have never been to Africa, but they come highly recommended so I am very excited!

Then on August 16th I leave the luxury style travel (and my parents) behind and head to Johannesburg to start volunteering at a lion sanctuary. I will spend the rest of my time abroad volunteering and doing photography at animal sanctuaries in South Africa, Jaipur, Xi'an, and Borneo. My schedule be as follows:

August 16th - August 30th  Working with lions at a sanctuary near Johannesburg, South Africa
September 6th - October 4th  Working with endangered wildlife near Capetown, South Africa
October 17th - October 31st  Working at Elephant Sanctuary in Jaipur, India
November 5th - November 26th  Working at Giant Panda Sanctuary Shaanxi Province, China
December 3rd - December 17th  Working with Orangutans on Borneo, Malaysia

I'll post more as I get ready for the trip, and I'll be posting as much as I can while I'm abroad so be sure to follow along with me on my travels!

In other news, hope you are all enjoying my new and improved photography website www.RebeccaYalePhotography.com.

Adventures in Egypt (New Profile Photo)

Entrance to the Largest Pyramid at Giza

At the end of December I decided that it was time for a new and better profile photo for my blog. My old one was taken before a performance of the ballet Raymonda inside the Palais Garnier Opera House in Paris. While I love that building and that ballet, it didn't quite fit in with the spirit of this blog. I decided to switch to an older photo I took in the summer of 2007 in Egypt. Vanity wise it is certainly not my favorite image because unfortunately I am quite sunburned, very sweaty (it was June in Egypt!) and I still had a gap in my front teeth from orthodontics gone awry (it was fixed later that summer). I also was not the biggest fan of Egypt and quite prefered the adorable Israeli camel (named Sushi) I got to ride, versus the mean Egyptian ones, but I just loved this moment so I wanted to share it with you.

Sushi the Israeli Camel

The moment in my profile photo is one of the things I love about travel and photography, you never know what your going to see and you can capture it and remember the exact moment forever. It was our (my parents and my) first day in Egypt and I was surprised to learn that the tour guide we had booked also came with a sesperate driver and armed guard, which is required by law in Egypt for tourists booking any tour. We had a long drive to downtown Cairo and passed lots of funny half built houses along the way, because there is a silly law in Egypt that taxes do not need to be paid until a house has finished construction, so no one ever finishes building their houses. We finally got into Cairo and had a horrible lunch where I was attacked by a Scarab Beetle in the bathroom...I swear it was gigantic.... I was really starting to dislike Egypt by the time we made it to the pyramids at Giza. I remember standing there and thinking how amazing it was to stand in a spot where so much history had occurred- I tried to imagine all the people who had stood there before me for thousands of years.  I started to understand what makes Egypt pretty amazing.  It was a little weird to have an armed bodyguard watching me as I climbed around on the pyramid, but I tried to ignore it.

My bodyguard staring up at me while I climb the pyramids

I was really starting to enjoy myself when I realized that off to the side of the pyramid were a ton of camels. As anyone who knows me or has read this blog knows I love animals! So of course I was so excited to see the camels!

Camels hanging out at Giza while sand blows about in the wind

I was visibly excited as I approached the camels and one of the owners (probably sizing me up as a stupid tourist who he could make a quick buck off of) offered me the chance to take a picture with his camel for a dollar. Of course I said yes and instead of giving the camera to my parents I decided to take the photo myself "myspace style."  Unfortunately I was wearing sparkly sunglasses and what ensued was a quick succession of 3 images in which the camel went from smiling to almost biting my face off. (My profile photo is the middle picture as I like that the camel and I both seem to be smiling).

The camel decided my sunglasses looked mighty tasty and tried to bite them right off my face. What you don't see in these 3 images is the scene that played out in front of me in the 5 seconds it took me to take the pictures. Our bodyguard quickly whipped out his gigantic gun and pointed it right at the camel while the owner of the camel jumped at the bodyguard screaming in Arabic and I jumped in front of the camel and yelled "DON'T SHOOT THE CAMEL!" Fortunately the camel went unscathed and our guard just spent the next 5 minutes arguing in Arabic with the owner until we gave him 5 dollars for the photo and scampered off to see the Sphinx.  Both camel and my face were left unharmed, my sunglasses on the other hand are missing a few crystals.... I hope you enjoy the moment as much as I did....

Gallatin Eco-Fashion Week 2010

As I mentioned a few days ago, I spent last week shooting amazing eco-friendly fashions made by Gallatin students and alumni for Gallatin's Eco-Fashion Week 2010 at the eco-friendly night club Greenhouse.

All the clothes will be featured in a runway show at the Gallatin building (1 Washington Place, NY, NY 10003) on Wednesday night at 6:30. It should be pretty amazing, and I can guarantee that there will be a beautiful look book made by yours truly waiting on every seat!

It's so hard for me to pick which pictures I wanted to put into this post because I really love all of the fashions, so take a look on flickr to see more if your intrigued! Below are some of my favorites-


Judy Harinarain in Posture Magnetic
Left Val Alonso in Alex Chernow, Right Gilmarie Brioso in Alex Chernow


Amia Yokoyama modeling a necklace my Amia Yokoyama
Left Cody Horn in Kate Goldwater, Right Judy Harinarain in Ben Fainlight

Left Judy Harinarain in Kate Goldwater, Right Kamille Deowdhat in Alex Chernow

Left Elle Rex in Posture Magnetic, Right Cody Horn in Seanna Sharpe