What could be cooler than having your senior portraits taken in Sicily, Italy?  I honestly don’t know if anything can top that!  When I met Alex, I knew from the start her senior portraits were going to be some of my favorites to date!  I learned quickly that Alex also loves photography and might be just as into Instagram as I am.  She has impeccable style, grace and beauty, so it’s no surprise that she looks like a professional model in her portraits!

It was really fun designing a session to capture Alex’s personality and charm!  We met in Oritgia, on the south eastern coast of Sicily.  From there we took a nice stroll around the island, stopping here and there to snap some stunning portraits!  We spent some time talking about photography, high school, and her upcoming big move back to the US for college.

Alex, it was such a pleasure getting to know you and having the opportunity to photography such a momentous occasion in your life!  I hope you love the photos as much as I do!

 

Alex’s Senior Portraits

Needless to say, 2018 was a HUGE year for us that was full of exciting change!  The moment that topped it all off was our move overseas from Virginia to Sicily, Italy in February.  So much has happened over the last 12 months, I thought it would be fun to relive the best of 2018!

I really loved going back through all of my photographs from this year and reliving so many memories!  So, without further ado, here is a recap of my 2018 including some of my favorite memories:

 

The Best of 2018

The BIG Move

• 2018 started off with a BIG announcement that were moving overseas! The next month was completely insane as we shipped off all of our things, sold my car and our home, and made arrangements for our new digs in Sicily!  Once we arrived, we immediately moved into our Americanized-Sicilian townhome and patiently awaited the arrival of our car and household goods. That period of time was truly crazy!

 

Exploring Our New Home – Sicily

• We began our time in Sicily with some trips around the island. I (sadly) didn’t get around to blogging most of them, but here are a few of my favorites:
• Agrigento (photos below)
• Catania
• Taormina
• Syracuse & Ortigia Island
• San Vito Lo Capo & Erice
• Enna
• Caltigerone
• Noto
• and Cefalú

You can find “highlights” of all of these trips over on my Instagram, if you are interested: click here.

Exploring Europe

• Our first trip off-island was fast-paced, fun, and exciting! We ventured to Naples, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast (Positano) during Easter weekend.  It was a quick trip FULL of hilarious stories.  From visiting catacomb after catacomb, to our friends’ car getting locked in a parking garage before our trip to the airport.  Our Naples trip was one we will never forget!

 

• Malta was GORGEOUS and a literal dream of mine. We traveled all over the main island, but would still really like to go to Gozo and Comino if we go back.

 

• Lyon, France (blog post coming soon!) for a long weekend was ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!! In particular, I enjoyed the shopping and the food, but I never got around to blogging this one. Whoops!

• In the heat of summer, we visited one of my old faves – Berlin. Berlin is always amazing, the food is always delicious, and the weather is HOT in the summer.  Nevertheless, it was refreshing to hang out with my friends Pauline and Michele again, and meet Pauline’s boyfriend, Ben.

 

• For our week long “vacation,” we flew to London for 24-hours (STAAAAAP, London, I love you!!!!!) and then to Dublin, Ireland, where we embarked on a 5-day road trip around southern Ireland. This was my favorite trip of 2018 for sure – the nature was just breathtaking and the people, so kind.   If you have ONE trip you could take to Europe, I’d recommend this one, hands down. See why I’m so in love here and here.

 

• For my birthday, we jetsetted off to Sofia, Bulgaria – a country I’ve wanted to visit for a long time!! I got to visit with my college buddy, Rashko while I was there, and my best friend Ashley’s college buddy, Niya kindly picked us up from the airport and sent me lots of information about things to do. It was a cool experience and I’m so glad we went.  Blog post on this one is TBD!

 

• In September, we flew to Munich to meet up with Ashley, John, Maddie, and Justin for OKTOBERFEST!!! I personally was not that excited about the actual festival before we went (I know, I’m so weird), but I actually enjoyed it and had a fabulous time!  The city of Munich was clean and beautiful, and the people were seriously, so kind.  Also, Bavarian food!!!!

 

• TWO DAYS after our Munich trip, we boarded another plane for Paris, France. What a romantic dream trip Paris was!! From sunrise at the Eiffel Tower to strolls around the Louvre, Paris was everything I thought it would be!! Unfortunately, I did acquire some unknown “life-threatening bacterium” (words of my doctor) at some point during this trip and spent nearly three weeks recovering.  As I’ve said before, the bacterial infection (as horrible as it was – truly effing horrible), won’t stop me from returning.  As a matter of fact, I’ve already booked my next trip!

 

• After Paris, we embarked on Barcelona, Spain (blog post coming soon!) for some R&R and more incredible food! We spent the majority of one day at the hotel spa (no regrets!) and the remainder of our trip jaunting around the city!  We also got to meet up with our friends Rachel and AJ and their parents for my first international photoshoot!!

 

• CHRISTMAS MARKETS IN GERMANY was another item on my “bucket list” that I got to cross off this year! We flew to Berlin for a quick weekend trip to visit Pauline and Ben and THREE of Berlin’s MANY markets.  It was a dream trip and we can’t wait to visit more next year 😉

 

We are heading to one more place before 2019, but I’ll wait to post about this one until we have actually returned!

Volcanic Eruptions

• We visited some of the other islands around Sicily. Stromboli (one of the Aeolian Islands north of Sicily), was our first island hop.  We ventured there for one night and a SEVEN, yes SEVEN, hour hike to the top of Stromboli volcano at night.  It was as exhausting and strenuous as it was enchanting!! We got to watch the volcano erupt many times, so it was worth it!!

 

• We got to witness not just one but TWO volcanic eruptions!! On Christmas Eve, Mount Etna erupted with plumes of smoke, over 130 earthquakes and two fresh new craters spouting LAVA! It was an unexpected Christmas surprise that has kept many native islanders on edge!

Time with Family

• Despite ALL of the above, my favorite moments of 2018 were with those I love. Being at home with Jordan, Birdee, and Chalupa was by far my favorite thing I did this year.  As all military families know, time (and holidays) together are not guaranteed.  I think this makes me appreciate every moment with them so much more.

 

My life has changed in so many ways over this past year, reflecting back on it all is really actually quite surreal. I think my biggest takeaway from this past year is that you never know where life is going to take you.  As a person who was extremely “type-A” for so long, stepping back and allowing life to take over a little bit has helped me to realize that sometimes the best things that happen to us are the unplanned ones.  I’ve also developed an even greater sense of YOLO (you only live once, right?!), that I’m a little bit overwhelmed with the fact that I will never get to see or do all the things I want to. So, for 2019, I aim to be more present in everyday life; to enjoy the little moments just as much as the big ones!

It’s well known that Mount Etna is Europe’s most active volcano. Despite this fact, it was a bit of a surprise when we walked outside on Christmas Eve to find that she had erupted. There have been quite a few eruptions in the 10 months we have lived in Sicily.  However, there have been none of this magnitude!

The Christmas Eve eruption was the first flank eruption in over 10 years from Mount Etna.  A new fracture near its south-eastern crater was the source of the spectacle.  Besides the eruption, over 130 earthquakes occurred throughout the day.  Because of the eruption column carrying rocks and ash, the airport had to shut down and some people (on the mountainside) were told to evacuate.

We live ~22 miles away from Mount Etna, so we were able to see the eruption from afar. We did drive up to Linguaglossa for a wine tasting we had previously scheduled (which is on the north side of the volcano).  During our drive, we drove under the eruption column and were met with falling rock, ash, and other debris. It was quite exciting.

Mount Etna appeared to settle down around sunset, but the earthquakes continued.

Something worth noting in the last two photos is the pileus cloud (the circular cloud on the right side of the image).  A pileus cloud is often called a “scarf” or “cap” cloud.  It appears when there are strong updrafts and are indicators of severe weather.  These types of clouds also appear above mushroom clouds from nuclear detonations!   Crazy stuff!!

 

Views from Sigonella

 

From E45 – Drive to  Linguaglossa

 

Views from Motta Saint Anastasia

Pileus cloud in the late afternoon.

 

Pileus cloud at sunset.

 

Views from Catania

It’s our FIRST holiday season in Sicily!! For the holidays this year, Jordan and I joined our friends Rachel and AJ at Murgo Winery on Mount Etna. This was just a couple days before the latest eruptions!

After our lovely lunch and wine tasting, we all went out to explore the grounds and take a couple holiday photos. Thanks so much for AJ for snapping these for us and to Rachel for cheering us on and making us laugh!

Happy Holidays to you and yours!!

Love,

Mandalyn + Jordan

Happy Holidays!

One of the things I love about photography is getting to meet so many cool people from so many different places.  If you have read any of my perspectives of an expat posts, you’ll know how much I enjoy hearing about other’s immigration and assimilation experiences. When Falk contacted me for a Sicilian beach holiday session, I absolutely couldn’t say no. Falk and his wife, Kristina, are both German expats. Their son Fynn has only lived in Sicily.  It was pretty cool to hear about how Fynn is learning three languages at once (German, Italian, and English)! What an amazing skill to have when he grows up!

For their holiday session, we decided to incorporate the Sicilian beach feel with traditional Christmas images. We had a ton of fun exploring the sandy beach in a nature reserve we found here. Fynn had a lot of fun building sand forts from sticks and collecting any interesting artifact he could find! Check out this beautiful family below and email me to set up your holiday session today!

Plankenhorn Family | Sicilian Beach Holiday Session

In honor of Veteran’s Day and Military Family Month, I hosted my very first mini session giveaway. The response was completely overwhelming, which of course, made me super excited! Out of 437 entries, the beautiful Clark family was randomly selected for the shoot!!

Even though our community here is relatively small, I had never met the Clarks before. However, through our session planning, Stephanie and I found out that we have so much in common (especially when it comes to wardrobe)!

The Clarks met me in a place that I personally find stunning, Ortigia Island, which is located on the southeastern coast of Sicily. We walked and talked and just generally hung out while little baby Hadley stole the show! She’s undeniably the most photogenic baby I’ve ever seen!

Stephanie, Will, and Hadley, I am so grateful to have your family as my very first giveaway winners. You guys are so much fun; I can’t wait to photograph you all again!!

 

The Clarks | Veteran’s Day Mini

Living in Sicily presents ample opportunity to explore Europe and “country-hop,” as I like to call it.  I’ve met some people who don’t care to travel and others who LOVE it as much (or more) than I do!  Katie and her family are definitely the latter.  Before I even stepped foot on the island, I happened to stumble upon Katie’s blog, Planes Trains and Babies.  Planes Trains and Babies is essentially a family travel blog that provides practical advice and resources for traveling with children. Through reading about her experiences and travel tips, I started to get really excited about our move abroad.  Little did I know, we would later form the perfect photography-travel partnership! To say I’m excited would be an understatement!

To begin our work together, Jordan and I met Katie, Jon, and Bella in Ortigia for our a family shoot.  The purpose of the shoot was not only to snap some beautiful family photos, but also to provide more focus for creating her family travel brand. Not only is Katie a travel writer, but she is also an independent family travel consultant!  I have already utilized her talents and believe me when I tell you, she is SUPER HELPFUL!!  Travel planning has never been something I particularly enjoy (I just love the trip!!), but Katie is amazing and makes the entire process exciting and seamless.

If you’re planning a trip (big or small), contact Katie here.  In the mean time, check out the magic we created together this past weekend 🙂

 

The Browns | Family Travel

If you’ve ever read my blog before, you probably know I write about two main subjects: photography and travel. Besides my little family, they are my greatest loves!! So, when the opportunity presented itself to combine the two in Barcelona for a family session – I jumped!!!

For those of us who live in Sicily, it’s a big deal when family members come to visit.  Rachel and AJ are a part of our community here, and to commemorate a visit from AJ’s parents, they wanted a family photo!  Originally, Rachel inquired about photographing their family in Sicily, but I was (fortunately?) unavailable on the date she requested.  Upon talking with her more, I learned they were planning an amazing family adventure to Spain, Portugal, and France with AJ’s parents!  So, I thought, “Why not just photograph this beautiful family in another country?” And thus the planning began!

The Eustaquios’ first destination was Barcelona, so we met up there for an iconic sunrise shoot at the Arc de Triomf.  Although it was early, we had a ton of fun and LOTS of laughter.

Rachel, AJ, Eric, and Carmen – Thank you all so much for including me in a small part of your family vacation! I hope you had an absolute blast and love the photos for years to come!

 

The Eustaquios

You guys know how much I LOVE couples and maternity sessions!  So, I HAVE to start out by saying Yvonne and Edward are THE SWEETEST couple I’ve ever met. They are seriously so sweet and I love them so much for that!!

The moment I first met them in person, they both assured me they they were not models and that they would be horrible at taking photos. So silly. Because they were both complete naturals!!!! Once they got into the shoot a little bit, I think they might have even had a little fun 😉

I know you won’t believe this, but Yvonne was basically nine months pregnant in these photos!! Little baby David came into the world just a few short days after. I, personally, never would have guessed!

Yvonne and Edward – thank you sooo much for entrusting me with your maternity photos. You guys are naturals in front of the camera!! Little David is so lucky to have such sweet and caring parents and I am so lucky to have met you both. PLEASE let’s do another one!!!

 

Yvonne + Edward

I know they are traditionally called a “cake smash,” but this one was definitely a “cake bash” because the whole family had fun! Little Lincoln is turning O-N-E soon and his parents wanted to commemorate this special time with a smash! His mom did an ahhhhmazing job making all of the decor (I mean just LOOK at that banner!!). Lincoln was seriously crazy for the cake. He tried his best to dig in on his own, but it was just too difficult for him to get into. So, mom, dad, and big sister Hailey joined in on the fun! Everyone took turns feeding Lincoln, he fed himself, and there was even and impromptu cake fight!!

Kelsey and Justin, thanks so much for having a blast with me this morning! I’m not sure I’ve laughed that hard in a long time. I hope you LOVE the photos!! Happy FIRST Birthday, Lincoln!!

Lincoln Turns ONE | Cake Smash