Just a little county fair, summer fun….

Prince William County Fair in Virginia.

Awesome. What would Annie (my dog) do with this?

No thank you. But looks like she's having fun!

King Kong and Sponge Bob.

Poor kid didn't know how to dismount Dumbo.
I’m headed to Maine on Saturday for a week-long multimedia workshop, the Portland Art Festival and sitting by the lake. So, you may not hear from me for a little while….but I’ll have lots to share when I return. Enjoy the last part of summer!
How many people out there dream of just doing their own thing? Being your own boss. Make the photographs you want to make. Wouldn’t that be nice? Well, in an effort to make that happen I’ve decided to give this a try. I will be selling my archival photographic prints at the Portland Art Festival on August 28 from 9-4 along with about 300 local and regional artists. I’ve enjoyed printing my work and I’m excited to show it. The goal here is to have some fun, see if this could be another outlet for my work and of course, another source of income. Here’s a preview of the prints that will be on display. All of the photographs will be from my personal project on Water.


Images from Maine, Virginia and Mexico.
If you’re in the area on the 28th, stop by and see me!
- August 9th, 2010
- Posted in Fine Art, Fun Stuff, Projects, maine, travel
- Tagged abstract, Art, Fine Art, Hannele Lahti, Hannele on the Web, Portland Sidewalk Art Festival, water
- 1
Comment

The Potomac River at Sunrise.
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and have been able to witness beautiful sunrises like this one.
Get out of bed, you won’t regret it :)

A sunken boat rests in the marshlands of Tangier Island.
This week I ventured out to Tangier Island in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay to see the place that Captain John Smith named in the 1600’s. Long before Smith “founded” it, the island was home to a large population of Native Americans and you can still find arrowheads there today. I didn’t, but they say you can. The island is really made up of several small islands or marshlands that are connected by small bridges and most people get around by golf carts or bicycles. Fishing is certainly the main industry and the region is known worldwide for their production of soft shelled crabs. I found the place pretty surreal. It could have been in part to the overcast day and the golf carts everywhere. As I walked around I couldn’t imagine living there year-round like 600 people do. It’s pretty remote. Quiet. Maybe a little lonely. Isolated. Then again, everyday a few cruise ships drop off passengers for a few hours and the town becomes an interesting mix of tourists, golf carts and the locals…

Hoistin's Bridge was a traditional spot of couples to court. Etiquette said that only 3 couples could use the bridge at one time.

Another view from Hoistin's Bridge.

Colorful crab pots waiting to go back out into the Chesapeake Bay.

I'll be honest. I have no idea what these are. Anyone?

A typical street scene on Tangier. I love the NASCAR driver on the Coke machine.

Boat moorings at the edge of town and yes, another golf cart...

A Tangier Island landscape.

Occoquan Reservoir #3, 2010.
I love every aspect of this personal project. It gets me back out on the water, which is where I naturally love to be. It’s ingrained in some way. On the water. Near the water. With the water. In the water. It has also helped to give me a little more focus on what my photographic purpose could be…
With all of the horrifying news coming from the Gulf of Mexico these days, I feel that this project is even more important than me getting to play in a kayak. It’s made me realize that I’d like to take it a step further and do some good. Make a difference. Educate people and help fund conservation projects. Because we humans need water. Clean water. As a photographer, I’ve been searching for that cause, that purpose for years and it was right in front of me the whole time. This cause is a natural fit for me. So please, if you have any suggestions or places that you think I should check out, let me know. This project will be long term.
For now, I will be donating a percentage of my print sales to help clean up the gulf.
Let’s hope they can plug that hole soon….

Occoquan Reservoir #2, 2010.

Occoquan Reservoir #1, 2010.
- June 11th, 2010
- Posted in Fine Art, Projects, travel
- Tagged abstract, conservation, Fine Art, Hannele Lahti, Hannele on the Web, Nature, water, water & light
- 1
Comment

Lake Champlain in Burlington VT.
As the weather starts to warm up and the spring schedule goes haywire, all I can think about is hitting the road.
It’s time to explore. Time to kick back and remember the good things in life. Because no matter how hard you work, how many clients you have, how many networking events you go to, it’s important to remember that it’s the simple pleasures, like a warm, sunny day on the lake, that make life grand. So as summer comes along, remember to take some time to recharge and enjoy yourself.

An empty playground on Lake Champlain
You really can’t beat the view. Burlington, VT sits on the shores of the enormous Lake Champlain. It is the “greenest” city I’ve ever seen. It has awesome restaurants. People ride bikes all over the place. It has fun, eclectic shops. It has pretty much everything a girl like me could want. Maybe a move is in order :)

A very happy dog races towards his owner at the waterfront park.

Boat moorings on the end of the pier

It's still a little too cool for the boat moorings to be full.

The shores of Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vermont
Here’s a preview of photos from my weekend in beautiful Burlington, VT. I think I’m in love…

Burlington International Airport, Vermont
Hi Everyone! I hope you remembered that the “Moment in Time” was today at 15:00 UTC (11a.m. for me). Did you participate?? I was at the Burlington Airport waiting to go through security, so here’s my contribution.
Send me links to yours, I’d love to see what photographs my photo friends from all over the world made!
happiness is…

...taking in the sunrise.

...a hiking trail in a quiet forest.
This week I got my butt out of bed for a sunrise hike in Markham, Virginia. It was totally worth the 3:30a.m. alarm, the hike through the woods in the pitch dark, the ticks that latched onto my body (I hope I found them all…) and the pulled calf muscle I’m nursing today. Totally worth it. Because it’s a magical experience for me to have the chance to sit in the middle of the woods and listen to the birds start to chirp and the animals start to move around as the sun comes up.