travel photography

Summer Land | Long Island | Brenda Franco

Hi friends! I’m Brenda from Brenda Franco Creative and this right here is my first guest blog post so, naturally, I’m pretty pumped that Abbey asked me to share about the greatest island on earth – especially during the summer months.

Long Island, New York is a treasure. It’s about a 3 hour drive from the east end to the west and about a 40 minute drive from the north shore to the south shore. To the west is New York City, to the east are the famous Hamptons as well as vineyards, farms, and beautiful landscapes that will take your breath away.
One of the most renowned cities in the world – New York City
Manhattan

Brooklyn

Classic pictures that I’m sure you’ve seen before, but for me, they take my breath away. I can’t spend a summer home and not go here. It is so full of life! Whether it’s Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, or any other place – New York does not lack in character (or pizza, my favorite, and another reason why you should visit this place).

Now to my favorite part of : the water, beach, and ports and port towns of Long Island.

(Port Jefferson)

Montauk – “The End” of Long Island

Long Island Sound – North Shore

And there you have it. Just a little snippet of what a summer on Long Island looks like. Of course, this treasure of an island is made complete by good company and great food (have I mentioned pizza?). It’s hard not to fall in love with this place and I am so thankful for the opportunity to be able to share a bit of it with you! Thank you so much Abbey!

 

(abbey now!)

thank you so much Brenda for this visit to new york! i love the pictures and do indeed want to visit! i can not say enough about how great Brenda is! i hardly know her at all in real life but her encouragement and love is hard to compare to. she is a real, genuine soul and if you have any chance to get to know her, i highly recommend it! she is doing a project this summer called The Island Project and you can check it out here! its a really great photography blog and you really get a great feel for Long Island.

Summer Land | Taiwan | Ulmer Brothers

Hello Everyone! This is Jarrett, on behalf of the Ulmer boys here in Taiwan.
A little background. Our family moved to this beautiful country back in 1998.. 16 years later and I continue to be amazed at the place the Lord has allowed me to call home each and every day.

This edition of "Summer Land" will be told through the voices and lenses of my brothers Gabe (older), Zach (younger), and myself (shout out to middle children!). Taiwan means so much to each of us individually and we each love it for our own special reasons. Enjoy!

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Gabe


Taiwan is an island that is roughly the size of Florida, without the panhandle, and is home to almost 24 million people. As the population continues to grow, so do the numbers of high-rise apartment and office buildings, but tradition and culture can be seen very clearly in everyday life.

There is beauty in the contrast of old and new scattered all throughout Taiwan's cities.

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Zach-

One of my favorite things when I lived there was the view. Every day the sun would set right outside my window. It was awesome to come home and see the city silhouetted against the sky. The city waking up as the sun goes to sleep, so to speak.

This was taken from the 85 Sky Tower in Kaohsiung (at the time of it’s completion in 1997 it was the 5th tallest building in the world). We lived in Kaohsiung for the first 7 of my 15 years in Taiwan, and it’s cool to see how much it has grown. I took this from the 74th floor observation deck and I think it really captures the city coming alive at night.

This was also taken in Kaohsiung, in an alley near the train station. One of the things I love about Taiwan is that there is always something to find. One of my favorite things to do my last few years on island was to just explore. You’ll see a lot of things like this in the city, just a person selling food or other merchandise out of a cart. These are most often the best places to eat!

This was taken on a street in Taipei, the capital city. I like it because it captures the hustle and bustle of city life. There’s always a lot of motion. People are always trying to get somewhere, and it can seem pretty chaotic sometimes. I especially like this picture because of the couple you see in the middle. In the midst of all the motion their faces are in focus and you’re reminded that the chaos is made up of real people, each with their own stories. That’s what makes this country great, is the people.

Back when the Portuguese found the island that is now Taiwan, they gave it the name “Formosa” - Beautiful Island. Living in a city of upwards of a million people, it’s easy to forget how much natural beauty there is on this island. It really is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Just outside the massive concrete jungles, you have places like Sun Moon Lake, where you can get away from all the chaos of city life and just soak in the beauty of God’s creation.

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Jarrett

If I could sum up my love for Taiwan in two words, it would be: Food and People. If you know me, you know that I am always down to go eat food pretty much anywhere at anytime. Taiwan is known for its great food, and I want to share with you some of my favorites:

Assorted Breakfast foods. Conveniently available at anytime of the day (pictured: dumplings, fried radish cake, and a bun filled with meat and vegetables).

Beef noodles. I wish that this picture could do justice the the greatness that is Taiwanese Beef Noodles.

Last but not least, Mango Shaved Ice. Nothing says summer eats in Taiwan like freshly cut mangoes topped with shaved frozen milk covered in sweetened condensed milk.

Typical Night Market scene.

The older generation of Taiwan can always be found congregating in the local parks just kicking back and relaxing.

Let me take a minute to brag on Uncle Rock. It is guys like him that make me love Taiwan more and more each time I come back home. On a late night adventure Zach and I took we happen to stop at the restaurant he worked at. For no other reason than that we were American, Rock sat down and began talking with us, telling us about his family and the best way to eat the dumplings you saw earlier. When I asked him for a picture, he wholeheartedly agreed. I love Taiwan.

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When Abbey asked me last month if my brothers and I would be interested in helping her out with her "Summer Land" project (which, by the way, has been incredible), I could not have been more excited. Taiwan is an incredible place that holds a special place in the hearts of the Ulmer family, and I love that we have had an opportunity to share it with you all.

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(abbey now!) thank you so much Jarrett, Gabe, and Zack for being a part of this! i have no idea why but i kept crying reading this! your love for your country is so evident and this was just a beautiful time seeing your city! what did you guys think? maybe we should explore Asia more?!

also Jarrett that is a hideous shirt you have on in that last picture. (wink wink.)

Summer Land | Mid West | Natalia Rosa

 

Hi guys! I'm Natalia from Natalia Rosa. I was excited when Abbey asked me to be a part of this project, because I love Abbey and she's awesome. Then later I was thinking "Why would I say yes to this project? I don't even like living here."

 

I told my brother and mom about it and they started laughing "You? Write a post about where you live?" Buuut, it's not Winter, and Summer is in this town is one of my favorite things ever. Even though I don't want to stay here for longer then I have to, it's honestly a great place to be from. (I say 'from' loosely, because I've lived in 7 different places in my life already.)

 

So here's my chance to focus and rediscover the best parts about my town.

Even with a population of 31,730, it still feels like a small town. It's one of the things I have a love/hate relationship with. The people are friendly, there are a ton of families here, and it just makes sense to play country music with the windows down during the summer. When you go to town, it's practically guaranteed you'll see someone you know, but sometimes it feels like there is nothing to do here.

But that's me thinking negatively. I don't have a ton of pictures of the different places, but I'll tell you about them. First off there are the Dunes. We live about fifteen minutes from Lake Michigan. I haven't gone there too much, but as soon as I can drive myself and my friends I want to explore the Dunes more. It's the place to go when school is out according to instagram. It's a nice change of pace to the scenery, and I can't wait to visit it more often.

Downtown, is undoubtedly my favorite part about the town. It's full of character with the distinctive turn-of-the-19th-century architecture, but it has stayed active and alive with little coffee shops, cafe's and restaurants with outdoor eating. During the summer there are concerts at the amphitheater, and once a week they have outdoor movies there.

While we don't have a lot of attractions or places people come to see, we still manage to have fun. There are places you can hang out at that aren't wow, or amazing, but with the right people with you, you can make amazing memories.

There's a putt-putt place that has an arcade, go carts, batting cages and laser tagging (my favorite!). We have a drive in theater that I've never been to, but plan on going in two weeks. We have a regular movie theater, local ice cream shoppes, biking trails, parks, gardens, and little hole-in-the-wall restaurants.

I may be bias, but I think we have the best county fair around. I wouldn't consider myself a 'country girl', but there's something about that week that makes me listen to only country music. I like the animals, the rides, the greasy food and the atmosphere. It's happy, and bright and feels like home.

This summer, I have a list of all the things I want to do, and all the places I want to go see here. We have more stuff to do then I think, and I won't die of boredom. While we aren't a town that makes it on the Top Ten Places To Visit list, it's my home and someday I'll take my kids to visit and all the memories will come back, and I'm glad I get to make my memories here.

 

***(abbey now!) thank you so much natalia for being a part of this project! i think you captured the beauty of the mid west so perfectly and believe it or not, i want to visit it now! i can almost feel the breeze and the laziness of a drive. it sounds perfect for summer. what do you guys think!?

Summer Land | Bend Oregon | Jared Withrow



Hello, everyone! 

My name is Jared and this is probably the first blog post I’ve written that will be seen by more than 5 people… and the first time I’ve done any thing like this in many years.  It feels good to look through photos and tell a story of my home for 25 years and share with you a few places that I’ve held close!  
Currently I live in a town called Bend (population 80,000) and is one of the most desirable places to live in the Pacific Northwest.  Within 30 minutes of downtown, we have six months of skiing available, mountain biking for the other six months, and hiking year round for anyone that wants to find themselves lost in the wonder of God’s green earth.  The photos I’ve chosen to share highlight places I hold most dear.  I hope you enjoy them!
  ^^Santiam Pass
Anyone driving to Central Oregon has seen the wonderful changes in landscape that the Santiam Pass has to offer.  It transitions from lush valley plantlife with lots of green leafy trees to thick evergreens growing hundreds of feet tall.  Away from the city lights, the summit of the Santiam Pass is a great place to photograph the night sky.  
 ^^Smith Rock  
For many, this is a place to find some of the best rock climbing in the world.  Thousands of routes call many more thousands every year to climb the ancient volcanic rock.  Besides climbing it is one of the most photographed places in Oregon and only a short drive from Bend.  If I ever have company visiting from out of town I will almost always take them to see this amazing place! It’s the icon of Central Oregon if there was one. 
^^Backporch Coffee Roasters
 
So maybe you need a weekend from your weekend outside… Backporch is without a doubt the best purveyor of specialty coffee I have ever had.  Dave, the owner, travels to farms all over the world to harvest coffee with them and bring home a crop to roast here in Bend!  I could talk forever about how wonderful everyone is that works there and the tight knit community that lives there.  
 ^^Three Sisters
  So if you can’t tell already… I love the mountains.  These are the Three Sisters.  Their names are Faith, Hope, and Love.  But the greatest is love right?  Correct!!  The South Sister is the highest of them all and I just had the joy of climbing it last weekend with a good friend.  They all stand at around 10,000 feet and on most days can be seen from any part of town!  
 ^^Tumalo Falls
Are you cold yet? This majestic waterfall froze this winter and a few of us were able to climb it before it warmed up.  I love this place and all the waterfalls that are in the area.  Definitely a classic.  Winter or summer, it is always one of the best hikes around! 

 Deschutes River Trail & Downtown Bend
Maybe one day you just found yourself downtown and wanted to go for a walk.  15 minutes? There’s a path for that.  15 miles?  There’s a trail for that!  The River Trail is one for long conversations with friends and walking the dog.  EVERYONE has a dog in Bend, except me… but I love them all!




A few more…
^^ Sometimes its too warm outside to do anything but go caving! There are 5 caves right outside of town that are such a great way to have fun and beat the heat! 
^^ The Deschutes River Trail as you leave town! So much contrast and beautiful colors in the fall! 
  ^^Crater Lake in the winter.  It used to be a huge volcano but exploded and left a lake behind! 
 ^^ The Painted Hills look like Mars…

I’ve been told that I try to sell this place off as the best place on earth all the time… but honestly it never feels like I’m trying!  Almost every week there is something else that happens to make me appreciate it more.  If you have any sort of itch for adventure this place will act like Miracle-Grow and you might suddenly realize that you crave the sun and outdoors more than ever!  Oh and another thing I forgot to mention is that the Les Schwab Amphitheater brings in many concerts for the summer such as The National, MGMT, or Jack Johnson!  

 I hope you have enjoyed this tour of Bend!  Many thanks to Abbey for the invitation to participate in her Summer Land Project!  It's a great idea and I can't wait to see what others end up sharing! 

***(abbey now!) thanks so much jared for kicking off the project so well! your corner of the world is "pretty neat." (wink wink!) who wants to visit now!? i think i'll start planning my trip, its like a calender... 

i can't wait for the rest of the places we all visit together.  

all photos and content by jared withrow


Summer Land | New Project


^^this picture looks summery and adventurey right?
 
here it is. this summer is going to be the craziest and most fun summer i think i will ever have. (maybe.) its jam packed with weddings, travel, moving, adventuring and exploring. i won't tell you everything because that would just spoil all the fun! but i wanted to do a project that reflects the adventure that this summer will be.

and also i needed help because i'm going to be so. stinking. busy.

so here is the deal. starting the first tuesday in june (tomorrow...) i'm starting a project called summer land. for thirteen weeks i'll be hosting thirteen different photographers/friends as they show you a little about their homeland. since this summer will be full of travel i thought it would be the perfect way to travel america (and a few places around the world) without even leaving our rooms! i couldn't be more excited see these places through the eyes of the people who call it home! i think it will be a wonderful adventure and i hope you ride along with me!

keep your eyes peeled as they say.