photography – French Californian

November 7, 2017

Hannah Wilson

Autumn in Paris

If you live in Southern California like me, you might not realize that it’s actually autumn. The trees are barely turning colors and just a couple weeks ago it was 100*F. (rolls eyes).

That’s why I’m extra nostalgic for autumn in Paris, so I’ve thrown together some of my favorite images of Paris covered in leaves.

ALSO, this is a great time to announce that I’ve been officially published in print! A couple months ago I entered an Instagram competition with Lonely Planet Traveller magazine. The theme was Ode to Autumn, so I submitted one of my photos of the autumnal banks of the Seine river, and I was picked! Here’s a peek at the page inside the Postcards section in November issue of the UK version of the magazine. Mine’s the first one at the top left!

The optimistic part of me hopes that this is just the beginning of my photographic career, and that there are many more moments like this to come, but the pessimistic, critical part of me is saying it’s no big deal, that it means nothing and doesn’t mean I’ll ever “make it” as a photographer. But regardless of my mixed feelings about this 2-by-2-inch square of real estate in a magazine, I gotta admit it’s pretty cool.

Just in case anybody is interested in purchasing this fall image as a print (my grandma has this one framed in her house!), I popped a listing into my Etsy shop, available here.

Without further ado, enjoy these fall-tastic photos of Paris that I’ve taken over the years. If there’s a specific photo you’d like to know the location of, just leave me a comment and I’ll reply!

February 12, 2017

Hannah Wilson

Cathedral Light (& thoughts on religion)

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I’ve had the chance to visit lots of Gothic cathedrals in Europe while I lived in France, and one thing that always fascinated me was the light inside of them. It’s elusive and fleeting, but always beautiful because of its rarity, so I thought it was time I dedicate an entire blog post to it.

But before we get into that, I thought this would be a somewhat appropriate time to talk about my views on religion. I haven’t publicly spoken about it before – as far as I can remember – and I don’t often discuss it in-person. But today, I’m putting it all out there! If religious discussion doesn’t interest you, however, just start reading at the line break further down.

December 3, 2016

Hannah Wilson

My Etsy Shop & Photography Journey

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It’s been a long time coming, but I’m finally ready to officially announce that I have an Etsy shop for my photography! I wanted to share with you a little bit about my journey with the camera, and give you a proper introduction to my new shop.

My Journey with Photography

Photography has been an interest of mine since high school. It began as a hobby, then I decided to study it at a very expensive private art school in San Francisco, which I quit after 2 semesters. I just wasn’t loving it—at least not enough to justify going into major debt.

I kept photography on the back burner for years, but something clicked last Thanksgiving, when I invested in my Nikon D750. Dropping a large sum of money on a single piece of equipment somehow gave me permission to act like a real photographer. In fact, even though I had been avidly taking pictures of things regularly, I was extremely hesitant to label myself as a photographer. It felt too high above me.

October 2, 2016

Hannah Wilson

On Prague and Travel Fatigue

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Prague was beautiful and special, but I realized something while I was there. I’ve lost my sense of wonder when it comes to travel, or at least travel in Europe.

Voyaging outside of the United States used to be this incredible thing, this amazing opportunity that was almost too fantastic to believe. I remember on my first few international trips having intense butterflies in my stomach and actually squealing audibly while reading guide books and planning out my adventures. I remember watching Samantha Brown’s Passport to Europe and sighing dreamily as she visited Copenhagen or Paris or Vienna. Visiting these places was like a dream come true.

Now, however, that feeling has dwindled, and I noticed this conspicuous lack of excitement on my recent trip to Prague.

Of course Prague was beautiful and special and interesting. But out of the 4.5 days we were there, I only took out my camera a handful of times and I found myself tiring very quickly. The streets were pretty, but I’ve seen similar streets before. The church architecture was lovely but I’ve seen hundreds of others like them. I’m not sure if it’s due to the fact that I’m SO mentally ready to move back to California to be closer to my family, friends and everything familiar, but my European travel high has ended.

I probably sound ungrateful to those of you who yearn to explore Europe, but I think just like everything else we use to occupy our time, just like every other activity, after a certain amount of time, it looses its initial lustre. Plus, traveling is simply physically exhausting.

I think it’s time to put Europe on pause for a while. After I leave I think I’ll turn my focus towards other parts of the world, Maybe some more “exotic” locations like Bali, Japan, South Korea, South America… Europe is such a tiny part of the world, there’s so much more left to discover.

June 1, 2016

Hannah Wilson

Bringing Paris to my Hometown Coffee Shop

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Just like most humans, I enjoy coffee, and just like tons of people my age, I LOVE coffee shops. A coffee shop is almost like a second home; a place where you go to spend hours studying or catching up with friends. We all have our favorite haunts, and for me, that was Sagebrush Café. It was the first coffee shop I ever visited before finding other favorites in other cities. Sagebrush is my coffee home.

I always had it in the back of my mind that I would love to show my photographs at Sagebrush – they’ve been featuring the work of local artists on their walls pretty much since they opened 7 years ago, and I’ve been interested in photography since high school. They’re part of a new culture that has arisen in the Antelope Valley, a refreshing and uplifting change that was much-needed in this sprawling desert suburb. Within the last few years, an art museum and community of local creatives has sprung up. The Antelope Valley is the kind of place that every high school kid wants to escape, to run away from the moment graduation is over. I was one of those kids, but I find myself drawn back not only because of my family who still live there, but also because of establishments like Sagebrush Café.

When they approached me, asking if I’d like to show some of my travel photographs, I immediately said yes.

February 23, 2016

Hannah Wilson

A Calm February Morning at the Eiffel Tower

Like 3 Comments Paris, See & Do

The last time I took the elevator up the Eiffel Tower was 3.5 years ago and after that, I swore I would try my best never to do it again. Doing it once is enough, I thought, and who wants to deal with the pickpockets and con-artists that lurk below, the long lines and cramped elevators, the sheer tourism of it all?

But then I found myself accompanying a friend to the tower on Monday. She had a free ticket and after some indecisiveness, I decided to take advantage of the free entry. Honestly, I was not really looking forward to it. The main reason I wanted to go was to take some pictures of the brand new cherry blossoms making their early appearance for Spring. I accomplished my goal and ended up getting some amazing shots of the blossoms – blurred Eiffel in the background – but I also managed to have a good time.