This is the one.

Thanks Neeta!

So, Nice!

We went to Paris the previous year – it was OK. I may have to go back to reassess. Nice was something else. What I loved:

• Beautiful and friendly people
• Very Scenic everywhere
• Incredible food (very reasonably priced – some reviews would have you believe otherwise)
• Old Nice – little cafes/bistros, gelato places, pubs, nice restaurants all in a beautiful old city
• Beaulieu Sur Mer – a little town outside of Nice
• Eze Sur Mer – also a little village on the hill with a stunning view
• Wine and Cheese

The View from our place

Instead of a hotel, we stayed in a Condo. Yes, those are the coolest stairs ever!

Old Nice – Lively at all ours

Eze

Mandy in Eze

Eze Sur Mer

The most delicous crepe on earth.

Fog in the mountains

Beaulieu Sur Mer

“Love” as named by our travel buddy – Neetu.

The Traveling Musician – last song just for us

Middle of the street acrobatics

We were there for only 3.5 days but really tried to made the most of it. It’s definitely a place to go back.

Monaco

This place had more Ferraris than Brampton has Civics. Beautiful Place!

Finally, the whole reason for the trip. Bobby + Gurdeep. Congrats!

The entire wedding day I used my 5D Mark II with 50mm 1.8 (no flash) just so I could stay inconspicuous. It works really well for such situations.

Now, when the heck is Season 8 of Entourage coming out? Can’t wait!

MC JD – does an wicked job at getting the crowd pumped!

If you haven’t seen Paul play the drums live, you must!

Thanks to Rick Matharu for setting this whole thing up.

This was my favourite image of the shoot. The couple look so vivid and vibrant. I only slightly touched up the colors. This shot was taken with the Canon 85mm f1.8 – magic!

With some bubbly, Drew wouldn’t have been that fun.

Absolutely FUN couple.

What a cutey!

What a cutey! LOL

A little bubbly and a little beer. These guys were fun.

Home Depot

Who does an engagement shoot at Home Depot? I don’t know… unless one of you friends lives there. That’s the story with Drew and is latest home improvement acquisition (not meant to be rude).

Is it just me or do the bushes look like a heart around Maria and Drew. So Cheezy!

This is when Drew saw a Snake and screamed. Still got a great shot out of it!

Quick but fun shoot. Thanks Drew and Maria! All the best!

Thanks Mandy for being my lighting operator.

So that’s pretty much the only shot I got of the scenic stuff – here’s why:

Brownie! A 6 week old Shitsu took centre stage. I think everyone else was a little jealous because the camera hardly ever pointed in their direction, unless they were holding the puppy!

Mandy and Brownie

There were some nice little shops and restaurants all along the main strip. Very nice for a walk with snacks.

Ramneek and Diya using Brownie as a pillow.

I swear she looked like a toy.

Brownie, in the sand. Looks like she ate some too.

After a little bit a bad weather, everyone left the beach and we took over.

That’s Bin. I’m not sure what’s she’s doing with her leg but she’s supposed to be throwing the football.

We visited one of the local pubs and I snapped this one of Bobby. It was pretty dark in the bar and Bobby was lit only by a small lamp (well, some tequila too).

End of the night. I definitely recommend the drive out there. If you like fish, they have some fantastic perch fresh from the lake, deep fried, right on the beach – go get some!

This kid (Komal) is scared of me like I’m the boogie man or something… she’ll put the sirens on when I come around and grab her parents until I walk away. She’s the only kid to ever act like this. This time, we were playing outside in the backyard at my Uncle’s Birthday party and she started to warm up to me. I guess the camera helped. She has beautiful eyes – and she’s finally not crying or running away for me to get this image.

This is that monster Gurshaan – the bully on the block – he’s not to be messed with.

“The Man” – Kulraj is my old friend – we’ve been buddies for his whole life!

I love how mischievous these kids look… you know their up to no good!

The CNE

Diya doing some serious gambling at the carnival games.

Diya’s new light-up Toy.

Arjan on the left. Mandeep on the right stealing Arjan’s new toy – and having blast! Happy Birthday Arjan.

All images above shot with Canon 5D Mark II w/ 24-70mm f2.8L

Around the House

Once in a while I like to put the new portrait lens (85mm 1.8) on the 5D Mark II and shoot stuff around the house. Diya dropped by with her new scooter and it was time to try it out.

I love the buttery images it produces! The sharpness and blur that you get with this combo is phenomenal.

“They see me rollin’” – This has to be all time favourite image and expression of Diya – she so crazy!

This Camera/Lens combo is difficult to use. It’s a huge challenge but the results are worth it. The depth of field is so thin you can lose focus of your subject instantly – especially when its kids on bikes. One of these days I’m going to do my own nerdified review on some of my gear. Watch out for it!

Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth accompanied by a Mountie.

Prince Phillip actually came up to us and made conversation… he mentioned that we were on the wrong side if we wanted to say hi to the Queen… Thanks.

The Crowd

The Queen’s Flowers

I  mentioned before that I love taking my camera everywhere but at times I still like to be discrete. This time, I even left some of my gear at home. When the Queen walked away from us I was wishing I had a longer lens… I won’t make that same mistake again. Especially when I see one of my friends with a super zoom and a step ladder! It’s all about getting the shot.

Amy – not her first time on the blog.

Susan – a good friend helping at the sale!

Amber – elegant as usual, also helping out.

The owner of the venue – a media company

Raj – trying to model… HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAJ!

A great evening – cute girls and nice dresses. Just reinforces the idea of always having my camera handy. Good luck, Amy!

Kids, really are a riot though – but this weekend was special because I wanted to test out my NEW LENS! Without going full out nerd – its a Canon 85mm F1.8 and I got it strictly to take Portraits. Its light and very sharp.

Some of my favourite all time photos are of Diya. She smiles for the camera and knows how to strike a pose. Ironically, annoying and irritating her is what I do best.

This kid is a monster – Gurshaan. He looks cute and charming but is very dangerous. I have to hide my DVD collection, any camera gear, blackberry, phones or anything fragile before he comes over.

Doesn’t it look like this guy can model for a Abercombie and Fitch – baby line? He’s definitely got the hair and smile.

All in all I’m loving the lens on my 5D Mark II. A great combination to shoot kids.

I don’t have kids – so right now, the best thing about kids visiting is they eventually go home and I can get back to my movie (I know that won’t happen when I have my own). Thanks for coming!

Day 1

First things first, we headed down to B&H Photo Video. This place is a photographers dream. You have to visit to experience the whole thing. It looks small on the outside but its like an airport inside. Some of the best customer service I’ve ever experienced.

Time Square at dusk. It seems so busy but everyone was just chilling out.

Mandy!

New York has some of the funkiest buildings.

Empire State

I love buildings with the moon. Everyone loved the shot of the Trump hotel from Miami – I’m going to keep up the theme wherever I go.

Scene from the Dark Knight?

Our hotel was in the absolute perfect location. One block away from the Empire State Building, a few blocks away from Times Square and all the other great sites. The only thing I dislike about Manhattan – hotels are pricey no matter where you stay! We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn… nothing fancy, just nice, clean and almost big enough for two.

Day 2

This is actually a really popular site. These are little tiles made by school children just after 9/11.

World Trade getting rebuilt. This building is supposed to be 140 stories tall! Looks awesome in the design.

This was a funky little church turned into boutique shops with some really cool merchandise. I lost Mandy after a few minutes, this was her B&H Photo Video.

Almost walking into one. These are all over the city. Seems the artist Felix Morel has gotten pretty popular around town!

From the top of the Empire State Building.

Day 3

Mandy took this shot of me waiting for my breakfast to come.

There is always something going on in the streets of New York. This was some sort of launch event for the Indianapolis 500.

This had to be my favourite building in New York. Simple matte black building with simple lines. Mysterious and an attention grabber located near Wall St.

Brooklyn Bridge

Another funky building.

Big buildings, big ads. That’s how they roll…

Turns out we were right in the middle of Sex and the City 2 launch party at Macys. Sarah Jessica Parker had just made her entrance. Not that I’m big fan, it was just cool to be in that commotion.

Mandy and me at Rockefeller Center.

On the particular route we had taken – we drove through a place called Corning. Sound familiar? I asked the waitress at the Chilli’s in Big Flats where the heck we were and whats around when we stopped for dinner. She told us about her town and that the next town over is Corning – like Corningware , dishes and stuff. Mandy went crazy with excitement. It was 7:59 and the store closed at 8 but that didn’t stop Mandy from jumping out of the car and running into the store. She explained to the staff that we’re only there for a few minutes and they were nice enough to let us stay and shop.

We were also lucky enough to have family in New Jersey that we stayed with for a couple of nights (Thanks Raju!) – Felt like Brampton!

New York was a great experience. While we saw a lot of things we missed some major places! Central Park, Statue of Liberty and the Intrepid museum just to name a few. We’ll definitely be going for another visit, hopefully for a little longer.