One thing you see plenty of in Amsterdam is bicycles. I was expecting them, sure, but not this many.
And beware of crossing the path of a cyclist. They get very angry. You have to look both ways before getting from one side of the street to the next. The cyclist path is given more importance than the pedestrian sidewalk.
It was raining pretty hard as soon as we arrived in Amsterdam, and it remained fairly wet and quite chilly throughout the trip. As soon as we got to The Amsterdam Hilton, made famous for John Lennon & Yoko Ono's "Bed-In-For-Peace", all we wanted to do was have a quick bite to eat and some tea. So, while we waited for our room (not the John Lennon/Yoko Ono presidential suite, alas), we dined at one of the hotel's resturants, the Half Moon Lounge. We ordered some teas and a falafel sandwich with a side of fries. How amazing was this sandwich? And the service was wonderful and unintrusive while we relaxed by the huge canal side windows. Highly recommend this hotel, which has beautiful rooms and bathrooms with gorgeous canal views and a spectacular breakfast buffet, which may make an appearance on Foodhogger, later.
As seen in and around the Red Light District in Amsterdam. Love the burger vending machines! Oh, and the boat full of dapper gentlemen is just some random eye-candy for you.
Happy New Year Peeps!
2011 was a crazy year for us:
We moved from Toronto to Boston.
I said goodbye to my animation job (The Backyardigans, Justin Time) in Toronto to focus on professional photography full-time.
I shot two of my favourite families before we left: The Brights and The Hamiltons
I launched HOGGER & Co., consolidating three (Foodhogger, Fashionhogger, Photohogger) websites into one.
I shot at Boston Fashion Week within weeks of moving to Boston.
I reviewed some amazing restaurants like Nil Bleu in Montreal, Roy's in Hawaii and reviewed some interesting products like Olivado's Avacado Oil.
I shared some fun recipes, like Cardomom Cake, Spicy Tilapia and How to make Cake Pops.
We travelled to Hawaii, Quebec City, Montreal, Boston, Amsterdam and Greece.
I tweeted the Royal Wedding LIVE. With my Mom. Whilst we wore hats.
My photographs were selected for an exhibit at the Boston Convention Center and are ongoing until April 2012!
I met designers Zac Posen, Badgley Mischka, Roopal Patel and Bibhu Mohapatra while covering them for Neiman Marcus.
I got to know some cool Boston Bloggers at several fun events (Holiday Party, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Lit Boutique, Zoora)
We went home for Xmas.
Thank you for all the support through 2011; it was so nice to meet a few of you in person last year and I look forward to getting to know each of you better in 2012!
Let's do this!!!
Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed the holiday season! We were so happy to be able to go home to Toronto for the holidays. After moving to Boston in the summer, this was our first trip back, so it was really nice to catch up with family and friends and do not much of anything else. Except eat, of course. The following sums up our holiday fairly well. 
Alan and Ginnie are our good friends from Toronto and we were so happy to see them again in Amsterdam in September.
I've introduced you to Alan before, in Stirling, Scotland, where we were hosted by Alan's parents at a glorious garden party.
In Amsterdam we, once again, enjoyed a few pints and saw some sights. Ginnie and I also visited some museums together and had many cups of tea.
It's strange for us to be celebrating Thanksgiving in November, as Canadian Thanksgiving falls in October (2nd Monday in Oct).
Nevertheless, any excuse to eat, drink and be merry is a good one.
It's been an unbelievable few months since our move to Boston from Toronto in August. Boston is a lovely city and we've felt so welcome in many ways. I've also had some very cool opportunities to shoot fun events in the city, and I'm thankful for each moment.
I'm also so very thankful for our family who've helped set up our new home, for the friends who've visited from Toronto and made the distance seem much closer. And for the new people we've met so far who've made us feel at home.
What are you thankful for this season?
(Image processed with Poladroid)
Remember when we went to
in September? I've been so back-logged in getting these photos up!
Here's a few from the gorgeous Bloemenmarkt, Amsterdam's famous flower market. The flower stalls are actually on barges, floating in the Singel canal. Traditionally the flowers were brought in via barges into the canal, hence the floating flower market (held first back in 1862).
Some of these flowers I'd never even seen before. The tulips in the cans are actually WOODEN tulips, aren't they gorgeous? As we couldn't bring back real tulip bulbs, I brought back mini wooden ones.
What is your favourite flower?
I stepped into Boston Public Library for the first time, at the end of October, since moving to Boston a couple of months ago, and was taken into a different world. Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love libraries. Everything about them. But this one is unlike any library I've ever been to before. It has made a perfect backdrop for movies such as Knight & Day and The Pink Panther 2, but it certainly is the perfect backdrop for reading.
I instantly wanted to study, to read, to spend the whole day there.
So I did.
Well, the afternoon, anyway.
Here, some stills.
My niece performed in the IANH dance last weekend. She did a fantastic job as did the other students in her dance troupe. So proud of you Meg! xo
It's been so much fun shooting in the press pit at Boston Fashion Week!
On Thursday September 29, Jeff Lahens' show took centre stage in The Tent at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Boston. The collection was his own as well as a collaboration with Uniform, Bobby from Boston and Drinkwaters. What an incredibly good time! Everyone was pumped; the tunes were upbeat and the models had PROPS! PROPS! Jeff Lahens is such a nice guy; we hung out with him for a bit in the lounge after the Carter Smith show on Friday night.
It's been great shooting in Boston Fashion Week 2011!
Last night, the Lily & Migs show took center stage in The Tent!
Wow.
I've heard chiffon is a difficult material to work with (thanks Project Runway!) so, watching these gorgeous, pleated, fitted, blousy, multiple tiered creations (in chiffon! silk! and georgette!) strutting down the runway was truly a delight. Such a beautiful collection and those models were rocking some amazing fish-tail braids!
Here, some of my favourite shots from before the show, during and after. It was great meeting Jenn of the Jenn & Lauren team behind Lily & Migs!
(All photographs are ©photohogger, please contact photohogger[at]gmail[dot]com for permission to use)
I absolutely LOVE shooting the Hamilton's! Their enthusiasm and boundless energy for shoots (and for life, in general!) always amazes me, and this third time around (see I and II, here) was no different. In downtown Oakville, with a nautical backdrop (including props which I didn't even have to ask for - see what I mean when I say these guys are pros?), we were ready. An added bonus was happening upon a very cool old Dodge, which made for a fun "Cars" inspired theme. This was Baby Benny's first shoot, having featured him last as a baby bump, this time, he was a natural in front of the camera. Em, of course, is one of my favourites, I adore capturing the lil' guy, who's growing up mighty quick! Then there's K&S who are always up for anything. Be it waiting for threatening waves to break across the pier, then running away with their kids. Or....having to pretend fish for the camera then actually having to fish out one of the said props. K&S, you guys are priceless, I love you; thank you so much for your continuous support. Words can't express how much it means to me to capture your growing family. xo
A year ago Bennett was born.
He was first photographed here, as a baby bump.
We've been honoured to have had annual photoshoots with The Hamiltons and a few weeks ago we did our THIRD shoot with them!
Teasers to come soon! For now...
Happy 1st Birthday Benny! xoxo
