Let me give you a little bit of backstory. Thanks to algorithms and whatnot, my feeds on social media are typically filled with one of two things; cute animal videos are beautiful places to go. I tend to share them along the way. I came across this one spot that is local to me that just took my breath away. It truly called and to me and so when I shared it with a long-time friend of mine, her first words were “let’s go”.  That’s all that needed to be said.

I hadn’t seen her in quite some time and we were overdue for a little escapism and so the plan was set. It was an early wakeup on a Saturday morning in order to make the drive however I will do it again in a heartbeat. Where did we go? Well, this little spot of paradise is called, “Patch of Heaven“. A non-profit nature preserve located in the Redlands in South Florida, this place has it all. it encompasses tropical hammock, pine rock-land, tropical gardens, and historic structures. When one enters POHG it exudes a sense of both spiritual oneness with nature and a serenity engendered by being apart from the urban milieu. It possesses a special sense of place and peace. Heaven in the midst of a concrete jungle, and I was all for it. 

While I did take Beast with me to snap photos, I’ll be honest I didn’t capture much. I was far too lost in the atmosphere and how it made me feel. I kept saying I was ready to move there in the instant. What I did capture does not even begin to accurately depict that serenity felt,  I’m sharing my images with you nonetheless. There are a few more images to be found on my Facebook page if you would like to have a look-see although I can’t say it enough, it’s a spot you’ll want to see for yourselves. 

There was a self-guided tour option, which we did and while we got lost a couple of times, it always felt like home. Needless to say, I already want to visit again. That and pick up a little more of that honey they produce. It is divine. Enough delay, here are my top ten favorite images. Let me know what you think.

[See image gallery at throughtheeyesofaqueen.com] “I feel the reason we are all here, our purpose of being, is to help others find their little piece of happiness and heaven right here on earth.”
― Ken Poirot,

The post Let’s Get Lost, Patch of Heaven appeared first on Through The Eyes Of a Queen.

Hello Readers. It’s been a little while. Have you missed me? I’ve missed you. This absence hasn’t been without reason though. Obviously, with the pandemic we have all been living through, there haven’t been any new gigs for me and so I have been taking advantage of this mandatory time off to focus on a few other avenues. Yes, I have a few collections from before all this that I have to share with you all. However rather than continue on with the same old wash, rinse, repeat, I decided to take this time to try something new and see what potential and possibilities there are. After all, one can never be too big to grow.

That being said, let me share with you what I’ve been up to. I have been learning my way around a new image processor. Being that I do not typically do much photo manipulation, I’ve almost always done all my post work on lightroom out of both convenience and simplicity. After all, we become creatures of habit, and with my image catalog being housed there, why not keep my editing there as well? Up until recently, I didn’t even consider the possibility of changing my routine. That is until COVID happened and I was able to take some time to breathe and open my mind to new and possibly better things. 

I gave Capture One a try since I had been hearing many great things about this software. How it’s a good mix of both Photoshop and Lightroom combined. Why not give it a go? And I did. Let me tell you, it’s been great so far. Granted, I have ALOT to learn but I’m really liking it and my flow. There is so much that it can do and I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of it but I wanted to stop in and share with you guys a little sample, so to speak.

What I did was I cho0se my first ever official outing with my first DSLR, a Canon Rebel T4i, and running it through its paces at the zoo as my subject. I figured the best way to compare both Lightroom and Capture1 was to place them on a level playing field and the only way I could fairly do that was to take it back as close to the beginning as possible. Case in point, my first foray into DSLR as well as post-work editing with Lightroom. The plan was to go through the RAW images and edit them as if they were freshly taken and I was getting ready to post them so that I could compare both sets afterward. 

I won’t bore you guys with comparison shots I’m just going to share with you what I was able to do with Capture1. Of course “my style” that you’re used to seeing isn’t there. It’s a different software and therefore no customizations but I kind of dig the film feel I feel in to for this set. Let me know what you think. 

The post New Possibilities appeared first on Through The Eyes Of a Queen.

I recently had someone I knew take her own life. While we were not close, the shock and impact it has left on me is engraved. You see, she had struggled with her demons for all long as I’ve know her and we are talking about twenty something years now. But she was not defined by those demons. She was surviving despite them. She was a beautiful soul and a talented one at that. You should have seen her images. Unfortunately life threw a few more things and I suppose it became to much and she grew past the point of weary. I know some won’t agree with me but I am not upset with her. One thing I have always been able to do is to understand. Still, I knew of her fight and will up until that day and to see the news on your feed that the fight was over, well, I’m still at a loss for real words. 

I needed to breath. I needed to not really think but to feel. So I did. In ways the that I cannot really describe, I felt that next day. I took the afternoon to go to one of my favorite parks and I let myself get lost in the moment. It was a beautiful day. The sun shined and the warmth of it on my skin was soothing beyond description. The park was still showing signs of a hurricane having passed through it. Some of the walkways were torn up along with trees uprooted and strewn about. I did have to be careful in some sections of it as I walked about on account of my being clumsy and accident prone but it was a welcomed escape and disconnect. 

I didn’t have much time out there although I managed on grabbing some lens therapy while I walked about. Here’s a few of the shots I’d like to share with you. There’s a few more on Facebook but these are my favorites. That’s it for now. Numbness set aside, I still have backlog I need to work through. The goal is to have them all done by years end. I can’t believe we’re almost there already. Time does fly.

The post Nature Vibin is therapy for the soul appeared first on Through The Eyes Of a Queen.

On a personal level, yes, I don’t usually go there, March is a particularly rough month. Two years ago on March 8th, I lost my father and with his birthday a mere 10 days after his passing would have been his birthday. While obviously there is still grief and I miss him endlessly, I try not to think of the fact that he is not with me in the physical. Instead I focus on cherishing his memory. One way for me to do so is to go out and photograph. He was after all, my number one fan. So this year, I took to a spot he used to take me to quite frequently as a child, Key Biscayne. There was such beautiful weather after all, I felt that why not?

I arrived early enough in the morning and was welcomed by what seemed to be a vulture feeding of some sort. There were large bags laid out and the vultures were gathered all around. I have actually never seen so many vultures in one place at the same time. It was interesting enough to say the least. I snapped a few shots of them and proceeding my little nature walkabout. I wanted to focus more on the landscapes themselves. After all, I was outdoors and in the sunshine by the water. There was a few people buzzing about. From fisherman, to other photographers doing shoots and while some made it in to my captures, most of what you see is nature on a beautiful day.

I came away very pleased with the energy of the day. Tranquility, peace and serenity. There was no more fitting way to honor my Piscean father. At the risk of being too repetitive on both my Facebook album and here on this blog entry, I narrowed down my absolute favorites for you to see here. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. 

The post Key Biscayne Anniversary Outing appeared first on Through The Eyes Of a Queen.

I chose to begin my new year by setting aside some time to myself to renew and refresh. Thankfully Mother Nature was on my side with a nice cool breeze and a beautiful clear day. So I headed out early in the morning to catch a little sun at my favorite beach before taking the babe out for a little nature hike at Tree Top Park. There are a couple of places on the “I want to hike list”,  but sometimes a hike is where and what you make it. It’s my second time shooting at this park and it was no less special than the last time I visited.

I love just being able to thrown on my backpack, put my headphones on and just get to exploring. No expectations, no destination, just taking it all in. After all, the daily grind takes its toll on us all and there is nothing like breathing in some fresh air and exhaling all the bullshit that accumulates throughout our days. Staying cooped up indoors constantly  is certainly not recommended by me. The best part about it for me was taking my camera along capturing all those tiny simple, yet special moments I came across while out and about in the “wilderness”. 

Interestingly enough, I thought I had taken far more images than what I came home with though in hindsight, quality is far more preferred than quantity. Let’s just say there was not one image I took that did not make me smile when working on them in post. I selected a smaller set of course for this blog post while posting all the captures on my Facebook page.  I hope you enjoy them as I did and as always, your feedback is always welcomed and appreciated. 

The post Naturescape appeared first on Through The Eyes Of a Queen.

I chose a few favorites to share with you today though I will be honest and tell you that I spent a good amount of time not shooting and just taking in the day. Even my shots were simple and to the point. Just snips of things I came across along the way. No crazy composition, no artsy type stuff, just simple photography on a simple day. I think the simple things are important after all.

I’d like to do more days like that. Just grab my camera by the strap and head off to explore. It’s been far too long since I had and I know that I was due. After all, where is the sense of living so close to the ocean and not taking in its beauty on a regular basis. We all need to decompress and unwind here and there. I’m certainly not the exception. If you’d like to see the other shots, please visit my Facebook page for a few more. Again, there aren’t many just simplicity. I’m sure we all can take a moment to appreciate the breath of fresh air.

[See image gallery at throughtheeyesofaqueen.com]

The post A Day Off At The Beach appeared first on Through The Eyes Of a Queen.

Of course I had to bring my camera and being the hams that they are, they loved me for it and I them. They were great models and we had a great time. I only took photos here and there as I was playing and working up a sweat right along with them more often than not. My niece and nephew are great. I only wish they would live closer so that I could see them more often.

I shot this set with my 50mm once again which proved to be a bit frustrating when the models, aka my niece and nephew wanted certain shots. You see, more often than not these photo concepts were of their creation. Yes I let them have reign over what I was shooting to an extent.

For the full set check out my Facebook album

[See image gallery at throughtheeyesofaqueen.com]

The post Let’s Play appeared first on Through The Eyes Of a Queen.

What began as a simple walk in the park turned in to something much more when I found a cute little spot tucked away and full of things to see.

[See image gallery at throughtheeyesofaqueen.com]

Time for another entry. This one comes to you along with a set I took when I was randomly inspired during one of my nature walks. I love taking hikes and while I have a few destinations in mind, this time my walk was local. I initially only set out with the intention of only taking a nice stroll on a gorgeous day, then I found the cutest little spot tucked away. I couldn’t help but to sneak off and meditate. Then I had a visitor. Luckily I always bring my camera. He was cute and a bit of a ham. So I do what I do and grabbed a few snaps of him before he climbed away in a nearby tree. After that visitor I was discovered by the sweetest little duck. Poor thing had a bum leg but he made up for it in personality. I guess he was trying to find out what goods I had in my bag. I was sorry to disappoint. Still, I managed on grabbing a few shots of him as well. Of course there were other views that caught my eye and suffice to say it was a lovely day. I hope you enjoy the captured and as always, I thank you.

The post Take it in appeared first on Through The Eyes Of a Queen.

So I wanted to bring to you a few things I saw along the way. I didn’t take very many shots as I really was just wanting to come out and relax for a couple of hours, but I still wanted to share with you all regardless. So here are a few snaps I took along the way and I hope you enjoy them. Thanks for stopping by and I will check back with you all soon

[See image gallery at throughtheeyesofaqueen.com]

The post It’s a Tropical Park hike appeared first on Through The Eyes Of a Queen.

I read that quote quite some time ago and it has remained in the back of my mind as I would take photos. If you follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram you may have seen my reference to it in the hashtags. I’m at the 12,000 mark and it seems like just yesterday I was starting at one. Flash forward three years and here I am bringing you a very special post to me for as the saying implies, I will only improve from here. This excites me greatly as I’ve already captured some pretty amazing moments and I want to share with you my favorites. However I first want to thank you all for being a part of my journey so far. Whether it’s my muses, my friends, my family and yes, even my critics, you have all taken me where I am today. You will also be a part of my process as I move forward. I thank you all for the inspiration.
12,000 photos is quite a lot to edit and so I narrowed it down to my favorite 300 shots to review and edit. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been burning the midnight oil so to speak, editing shots for my anniversary project in my prior post as well as getting things ready for this post now. It was quite an undertaking however I have narrowed it down to 100 which was no easy task. I won’t post all those here though. You can see them on my Facebook page when you have a moment. This post is for my absolute favorite shots. The ones that are most dear to me. I hope you enjoy them and as always, your comments and feedback are always welcomed.

• One little tidbit of information first and then, the good stuff.

A couple of months ago I lost my entire catalog in Lightroom and somehow my backup catalog disappeared as well despite several storage locations. I wasn’t thrilled in the slightest with the reality that I lost 3 years and countless hours if editing my photos up until that time. However, it was a mixed blessing because it gave me a reason to revisit and revamp at lot of my previous work and I was able to take it up another notch. 

P.s. I want to give my brother a shout-out for his help in this project of mine. Thanks baby brother.

[See image gallery at throughtheeyesofaqueen.com]

The post 10,000 appeared first on Through The Eyes Of a Queen.