Still Images & Life

Samantha & Matt 06/15/13 I did another wedding this past...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:32:07 -0600

Samantha & Matt

06/15/13

I did another wedding this past Saturday. Unlike the last one, this one was outdoors, and though it was a Metis ceremony, it was still much more like a typical North American wedding.

The ceremony was beautiful, and the couple made perfect models. The pictures turned out pretty good, although I messed up with the lighting during the formal photos. A mentor of mine who is a professional portrait photographer explained to me the woes of shooting where there is ‘bullet lighting’ - some hard light, and some shadows - and also taught me how to avoid it in the future. I’m definitely learning!

Photography by Moeen Eshraghi

Buckingham Palace Road London, England, 04/20/13 It’s not...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 00:32:00 -0600

Buckingham Palace Road

London, England,

04/20/13

It’s not easy to capture a quiet moment like this in central London. I guess that’s the benefit of travelling throughout the month of April, when less tourists are about.

On the left here you can see Buckingham Palace, and leading away to the right, the leftover equipment that had been set up the previous day for a marathon. There was something special about standing here and taking it all in, knowing that this very spot is one of the most central and well-known places on our planet, and breathing in the stillness of it. It felt so simple, so normal.

It was during this moment that I understood the value of travelling to see the world with your own eyes, rather than looking at all of it through a television screen. To be present in these famous places, to be able to experience them and connect with them personally - these things wash away the fantastical perspectives we build when seeing everything through a camera lens. Whether this is for better or worse, in the end it’s always worth it.

So, my advice to those of you who are looking at this picture (and the rest of my travel photos) is this: Don’t settle for just looking through photos and watching videos. Make plans to go and see these places for yourself one day. You’ll be amazed to see how your perspectives will change after your trip.

Photography by Moeen Eshraghi

London, England, 04/20/13 Photography by Moeen Eshraghi

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 15:13:29 -0600

London, England,

04/20/13

Photography by Moeen Eshraghi

thanks, y'all

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:31:00 -0600

Sorry if anyone misunderstood, but I didn’t mean to say that I was planning on stopping with the writing. Like I said, I’ve always done it because I personally enjoy it, and was planning on continuing anyways. I was just curious to see if anyone else enjoyed it.

And now I know that you guys do like it as well - which I’m delighted to hear - so I’ll probably start writing more, telling stories about the places I’ve visited and explaining things I’ve learned about them.

Thanks!

hey, followers

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 13:56:51 -0600

I have a quick question.

A very kind follower recently mentioned to me that she enjoys the small written pieces that I sometimes include in my posts (particularly the Europe posts). She said that my pictures, along with my writing, take her to the places that I’ve travelled to.

I actually thought that you guys didn’t care for my writing, that you mostly just enjoyed the photos. The writing was just something I did because I had fun doing it and reflecting on my travels.

So, my question is:

Do you prefer my photos with or without writing?

Early Spring in London London, England, 04/20/13 Photography by...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 17:07:37 -0600

Early Spring in London

London, England,

04/20/13

Photography by Moeen Eshraghi

Yesterday, my wife, Amanda, and I decided to do some decorating...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 09:29:00 -0600

Yesterday, my wife, Amanda, and I decided to do some decorating because our home was feeling a bit plain. We ended up getting a lot done, and putting up a bunch of interesting stuff, so I figured I’d Instagram some of it and share.

Top Left: Our wedding photo book, along with two wedding gifts.

Top Center: An epic 60 inch Barca flag that we picked up while we were in Barcelona (obviously).

Top Right: A nice sentiment. And of course, my wife chose this one. You know, since girls are way too sentimental…

Middle Left: My baby stuff, haha. The bear on the right was a gift for my third birthday, I believe.

Middle Centre: The sign that was on the back of our car on our wedding day. We received a ton of honks thanks to it. It’s now on our fridge!

Middle Right: I posted all the maps that we collected on our travels on the wall by my desk. Actually, there are so many that I’m not done yet. And, also, shout out to anyone who noticed that the brown map to the left is actually a map of Skyrim.

Bottom Left: One of our favourite wedding gifts. It’s a beautifully framed passage by Abdu’l-Baha. You can’t see in this picture, but our names and our wedding date are engraved in the gold plating at the bottom, too.

Bottom Middle: Three exquisite, handmade tapestries depicting scenes of some of Venice’s most popular landmarks. We got these for ridiculously cheap - five euros a piece - in Venice’s San Marco District.

Bottom Right: The Caribbean corner - a bunch of amazing handmade stuff, tequila that hasn’t been touched because we don’t drink, and pictures of us with parrots. All collected over the course of several visits to central America.

Instagram: eshraghi1992

Notre Dame Paris, France, 04/18/13 Photography by Moeen Eshraghi

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:16:07 -0600

Notre Dame

Paris, France,

04/18/13

Photography by Moeen Eshraghi

The World’s Largest Chandelier? Paris,...

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 20:52:00 -0600

The World’s Largest Chandelier?

Paris, France,

04/18/13

Photography by Moeen Eshraghi

Crypte du Parvis Paris, France, 04/17/13 Photography by Moeen...

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 20:54:42 -0600

Crypte du Parvis

Paris, France,

04/17/13

Photography by Moeen Eshraghi

Cobblestone Rome, Italy, 04/12/13 In Rome, and it seems in many...

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 12:51:00 -0600

Cobblestone

Rome, Italy,

04/12/13

In Rome, and it seems in many other parts of Italy as well, rough cobblestone pathways like this are common. Visually, they’re a great addition to any scene, whether it be along the side of the colosseum (where this picture was taken), down a narrow alleyway, or through a park. Physically, however, they’re deadly.

I wore comfortable running shoes most of the time while we were in Europe. Even through the soft padding under my feet, the rough edges that protrude all over these pathways would constantly make me feet ache! And worse yet, you wouldn’t believe how easy it is to stumble or trip while walking on this stuff. I’m sure it’s not so bad if you’re used to it, but for anyone who may be planning on travelling to Italy as a tourist: Consider yourself warned!

Photography by Moeen Eshraghi

Ceremonial 05/28/13 Success! The wedding went incredibly well,...

Thu, 30 May 2013 21:27:00 -0600

Ceremonial

05/28/13

Success!

The wedding went incredibly well, I’d say, especially given that it was my first time covering any sort of event. The people were much more friendly than was necessary, the culture was rich and captivating, and the couple were sweet and photogenic. The only negative things, really, were the poor lighting and the smoke (from the incense they were burning the entire time) that made things tricky.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience. Thanks, everyone, for all the support and encouragement. I know the reason it went as well as it did was because I was confident and optimistic before and throughout the wedding. I hope this is the first of many more to come!

Photography by Moeen Eshraghi

Drunk in the Metro Rome, Italy, 04/12/13 Photography by Moeen...

Mon, 27 May 2013 22:38:00 -0600

Drunk in the Metro

Rome, Italy,

04/12/13

Photography by Moeen Eshraghi

Impromptu Wedding Shoot

Mon, 27 May 2013 20:18:00 -0600

I received a phone call today from this guy who basically wanted to hire me to shoot his daughter’s wedding tomorrow.

Yep, tomorrow.

Needless to say, it’s been a bit hectic preparing for the occasion mentally, especially since I’ve never done a wedding before. And it doesn’t help that this just popped up out of nowhere, with a day’s notice before the wedding. Either way, though, it’s pretty exciting.

I’m feeling confident and hoping that all goes well. Wish me luck!

Sometimes, while in Europe, you don’t really need a map or...

Sun, 26 May 2013 19:00:00 -0600

Sometimes, while in Europe, you don’t really need a map or directions to find things. You just keep looking down each street that you pass, and sooner or later what you’re looking for will appear.

Rome, Italy,

04/12/13

Photography by Moeen Eshraghi

Rome isn’t the only city in Europe that has lots of public...

Fri, 24 May 2013 22:00:44 -0600

Rome isn’t the only city in Europe that has lots of public fountains!

Barcelona, Spain,

04/07/13

Photography by Moeen Eshraghi

Picasso Barcelona, Spain, 04/07/13 Rest assured, this is...

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:39:00 -0600

Picasso

Barcelona, Spain,

04/07/13

Rest assured, this is not actually a Picasso piece. There is a funny story behind the title of this picture, though.

On our third day in Barcelona, Amanda and I were heading out of our hotel and had to stop by the front desk to ask something beforehand. There were two guys who worked at the reception desk pretty much the entire time we were there, and they were both incredibly friendly and fluent in english to boot.

When we reached the desk, the one clerk was on the phone and so we had to wait a bit for him to finish. That’s when I spotted this painting hanging on the wall, with no frame or anything, and figured I’d take a picture of it because it looked pretty cool.

Then, all of a sudden, the receptionist put the phone down and quickly pointed at my camera and said, “No, no! This is a Picasso! You cannot take a picture!” I was shocked at his reaction and quickly apologized, feeling kind of dumb. Then once my wife and the clerk both laughed at me, I felt even more dumb. The painting obviously was not a Picasso, and he was obviously just messing with me, but I didn’t pick up on that and took him seriously. Damn.

I felt like this particular instance really summed up the way so many of Barcelona’s residents are: funny, light-hearted, and cheerful. Both this clerk and the other were always laughing and smiling as they worked, and they always managed to get Amanda and I laughing and smiling as well. The entire city always gave off positive, joyful vibes.

One of my favourite parts of our travels was getting to discover so many rich and diverse cultures, from country to country, and from city to city. Through it all, I found that I personally think Spain and Barcelona definitely have the greatest, most appealing culture - and this little scenario shows exactly why.

Photography by Moeen Eshraghi

Vroom Barcelona, Spain, 04/07/13 Photography by Moeen Eshraghi

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:56:16 -0600

Vroom

Barcelona, Spain,

04/07/13

Photography by Moeen Eshraghi

Habits: How do they Work?

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:58:00 -0600

Just thought I’d take a short break from my Europe posts to share my thoughts on a concept that I’ve been mulling over quite a bit recently - habits.

Being a psychology major, I had learned about habit formation a long time ago. However, like many things I learn about in school, the value of understanding habits didn’t sink in for me until I began to put my knowledge into practise recently.

Before I explain where I’m going with this, I’d just like to give some brief background information on habits:

Habit formation is the process by which new behaviours become automatic.
It takes approximately twenty-one days to develop a habit.
When behaviours become automatic, this is because the neural networks in your body have locked in certain patterns that allow for the automatic processing of the said behaviour, whereas before you would have had to have consciously thought about the behaviour.

So - what’s the point of all this? Well, I personally noticed a month or so ago that I had developed some unhealthy habits, and thinking back to what I had learned about habit formation, decided that I wanted to try and override these bad habits with positive ones. And since then, though it hasn’t been twenty-one days, I’ve been feeling a ton better about my day-to-day life.

Some examples of things I’ve been working on are my day-to-day time management, my daily spiritual activities, my eating habits, my emotional habits, and more. So what I’ve been doing is essentially applying positive behaviours that I know will influence these different things in an effort to develop positive, healthy habits that will replace the less productive old ones. And man has it worked well for me!

What I’ve found in doing this is that the challenging part is the twenty-one days that it takes to form a habit. During this time you have to consciously, continually apply the behaviour that you would like to become a habit. For instance, if you want to work on your fitness and develop a habit of running daily, you would need to consistently encourage yourself to do so for twenty-one days, and that would be the hard part. After that, once it’s become a habit, it’ll feel automatic and you won’t have to give yourself that push any longer in order to get out and go for a jog.

In conclusion, you can see that the point I’m trying to make here is that there is huge potential in this concept for individuals, couples, families, and so on to greatly improve their daily lives. It just takes that first month of consistent effort to get there!

I hope some of you guys have found this little piece interesting. Thanks a lot for reading!

Moeen

(Disclaimer: The facts that I gave in this article were completely off the top of my head and I’m too lazy to source them, so please don’t quote me on this and instead look up the actual studies that prove what I’ve said should you find this stuff interesting!)

Gothic Venice, Italy, 04/01/13 Photography by Moeen Eshraghi

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:38:18 -0600

Gothic

Venice, Italy,

04/01/13

Photography by Moeen Eshraghi