#spendingtimewithlovedones – Making Picture-Perfect Memories for life

Need I say more?

May 10, 2023May 10, 2023Posted in NewsTagged #capetownbasedphotographer, #coreenkuhnphotography, #spendingtimewithlovedones, #Texas, #texas2023, #travelphotographer, #travelphotographyLeave a comment

I left my heart with Christo in Texas on 25 March 2023. I miss him so much. I live from one phone call to the next one…

I thought it would be easy to come back to South Africa. I thought wrong!

Five months will go by fast, I said. Well it is moving at a snails pace…

Life is too short to let precious time go to waste, I am flying back in 29 days.

Coreen

PS. I am busy saving for a few upcoming Landscape Photography Trips to Scotland, and Namibia, a few road trips in the USA, including Route 66, and a few local National Parks and Botanical gardens in South Africa. The most important trip is honoring my promise to Dad to return to Scotland and capture the beautiful landscapes and Puffins. Your help to make these trips a reality would be much appreciated in today’s economy.

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Yesterday’s News 15 April 2023

April 15, 2023April 15, 2023Posted in NewsTagged #capetownbasedphotographer, #coreenkuhnphotography, #kirstenboschBotanicalGarden, #landscapephotographer, #landscapephotography, #petphotography, #spendingtimewithlovedones, #travelphotographer, #travelphotography2 Comments

Good day everyone,

Yesterday, I visited my best friend, Renate. We had a lovely time.

Renate has Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, she reminds me every day that our health is a gift and we must not take it for granted. She inspires me and she said something yesterday that made me admire her even more.

A big percentage of people our age who as EDS are in wheelchairs, and she will fight that tooth and nail as long as she can. Over the last year I have learned that all your plans can go out of the window within a few seconds. Renate is also a keen hobby photographer and has not used her camera for a few years.

I have my Botanical Society membership and I can take a guest with me any time I visit. Yesterday I told Renate that I would like to visit the gardens at least once a month from now on and, if she feels up to it, I will take her with me and we can explore and capture the gardens together.

My bestie and I at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Kirstenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa

We could not decide what to eat and ended up having a light lunch. We had Hake Nuggets, Creamy Mash and a fresh salad with Radish, Beetroot, Carrot, Cucumber and salad greens.

Oh, my word people, I cannot emphasize enough how I missed South African cuisine. Our food has flavor, texture, and it is a feast to look at. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed my time in the United States, but the food there is something to get used to.

The Francolin was not very happy with all the noise and made sure we knew it.

The flowers in the garden are so beautiful and I can’t wait to visit the garden again within the next few weeks.

After a lovely visit to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, we headed back to my friend’s apartment and I did a small photoshoot with Yodel and Voltaire. Yodel is so use to being photographed by me that when I took my camera out, she came out under the table and sat patiently waiting for me to take her photos.

Voltaire on the other hand is not used to the camera and it took him a while to warm up to the camera. Who knows, next time he will also pose for some photos.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

If you like what you see, please click on the Like and Share button and leave a comment.

I wish you a fantastic weekend. Keep safe till next time.

Coreen

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13 August 2019: Day 3 of our Grand Tour of Scotland: Part 1

May 11, 2020April 12, 2023Posted in InverkeithingTagged #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #canon7dmkii, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #flowersofscotland, #grandtourofscotland, #inverkeithing, #kirkyard, #landscapephotography, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mercatcross, #monuments, #mypassion, #naturephotography, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #placesofinterest, #placesvisited, #queenshotel, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #speedlimit, #spendingtimewithlovedones, #summerinScotland, #thechurchofscotland, #theoldhospitiumofthegreyfriars, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #unitedkingdom, #windows5 Comments

Good day everyone,

At long last, we can start the next phase of our Grand Tour of Scotland. We will drive to St Andrew’s along the coast and spend the night at Knockhill Farm. I must admit I was very nervous on that Cloudy Tuesday morning. This would be my first time driving in Scotland, and I did not know what to expect. The only comfort for me was that I was used to driving on the left side of the road.

The driver that picked us up at the airport on Sunday gave me a few tips and told me to avoid the bus lanes and never to park in parking places for taxis. He also explained to me how the passing place works.

The people at Arnold Clark were very friendly, and before I knew it, we were on our way to Inverkeithing, our first stop.

We stopped in the first parking lot we could find, and from there we walked and explored for a while. While touring through Scotland, I fell in love with the buildings, the decor and details on the buildings, the shapes and sizes of the windows, the colorful and detailed doors, and lastly, the bright colors used to paint the houses and shops. I we could, I think we would have stayed much longer in the different towns, and I would have taken building by building, street by street, to make sure I captured every little detail… But we had to cover around 100 to 180 miles per day depending on our route, and we had to be at our final destination for the day at a certain time… This was one of the reasons we decided that our next tour of Scotland we will do in a campervan and we will stay in Scotland for about 76 days.

The Church of Scotland **/Inverkeithing Parish Church** **Kirkyard**

**The Church of Scotland/Inverkeithing Parish Church**

It took me a while to get used to driving 20 miles per hour. But I made sure that I kept below the speed limit just to make sure I did not get a ticket. Now let me explain why the speed difference was so difficult. Here in South Africa, the speed limit in our towns is 60 Kilometers per hour which equals around 37 miles per hour. The most confusing part while driving is you get a sign that says 40 Miles per hour, then about 2 meters after that, it is either 30 or 20 miles per hour. For someone who is driving in Scotland for the first time, it is very nerve-wracking, but by the end of the day, I figured out the pattern…

In our rental car, we had a Tom Tom, and oh my word, did it frustrate the living daylights out of me. First, when I typed in a castle name or Church name, it kept saying not found. Before we came to Scotland, I mapped out our tour in Google Maps and saved it to my phone. All the places on our list were on google maps, but for some reason, I could not find it on the Tom Tom, not even when I typed in Street addresses. So, when I saw that some streets have more than one name, it started to make sense. I switched to google maps on my phone and only used the Tom Tom as a guide to the flow of the road ahead.

**2 Street names next to each other. No wonder the Tom Tom got confused**

**The Old Hospitium of the Grey Friars**

**View from the garden at The Old Hospitium of the Grey Friars**

**Garden at The Old Hospitium of the Grey Friars**

**Shed at** **The Old Hospitium of the Grey Friars**

**Beautiful door at The Old Hospitium of the Grey Friars**

**Wall and window at The Old Hospitium of the Grey Friars**

**The Old Hospitium of the Grey Friars Garden entry**

After exploring, we remembered the sign at the church that offered Tea, coffee, and home baking. Dad and I decided we still had time for a nice cup of tea before leaving for our next stop.

We were welcomed with open arms and felt right at home. We sat down at a table, and it was not even a few seconds when the first man came to greet us. He and Dad hit it off and talked about Scotland and South Africa. He was a retired doctor and came to visit a few times here in South Africa around 15 years back. Dad explained to him how everything has changed and that nowadays, one can’t just go out at night and walk as one pleases; it is too dangerous.

While Dad and the retired doctor talked, I excused myself and took photos of the church’s beautiful windows.

Thank you for reading my post, and I truly hope you enjoyed the photos. Our next stop is Dalgety Bay.

Till next time, stay safe…

Coreen

“If you can dream it, you can do it.” Walt Disney

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2019…Part 3

May 1, 2020Posted in NewsTagged #August2019, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #canon7dmk2, #canon7dmkii, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirl, #canongirlforlife, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveredinburgh, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #edinburghcastle, #explorescotland, #grandtourofscotland, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #placesofinterest, #placesvisited, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #spendingtimewithlovedones, #summerinScotland, #theroyaledinburghmilitarytattoo2019, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #unitedkingdomLeave a comment

Here is the last photos of The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2019….

I would like to thank the organizers and everybody that took part in this breathtaking event for making 2019 a year my dad and I will never forget.

That’s a wrap…. Hope you enjoyed the photos.

In my next post we will hit the road to our next destination Knockhill Farm in St Andrews sharing with you the places we stopped along the way.

Till next time, please keep safe.

Coreen

“If you can dream it you can do it.” Walt Disney

Grand Tour of Scotland: Day 2 – Exploring Edinburgh Part 6

February 28, 2020February 26, 2023Posted in EdinburghTagged #August2019, #beautifulbuildings, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #canongirl, #canongirlforlife, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveredinburgh, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #edinburghcastle, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #lovemycanon, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #nordicvisitor, #placesvisited, #princessstreet, #puffins, #redfoodtruck, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #spendingtimewithlovedones, #streetentertainer, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #UK, #vodashop, #walkingthestreetsofedinburgh, #williestatue, Castles, outdoors, TravelLeave a comment

Good day everyone, sorry I have been a bit busy with studies and work over the past few weeks. But I hope to make it up to you today.

Where were we? Oh yes turning into the very busy Princess Street…

As we turned I immediately saw the street entertainer with his accordion. I did some window shopping as well. I just love all the Willie Statues all over Edinburgh and later on our travels we will encounter much more… Princess Street was extremely busy and it was difficult capturing the beautiful buildings through the crowds and all the buses and trams passing by. Hopefully next time I will have much more time to explore and take more detailed photos.

I was looking for a Vodashop when we turned into Princess street. I had to get a data sim card. At this stage of our visit we were just winging it. I had no idea where all the buildings and statues was that I wanted to capture and visit. We lost a lot of time wandering around but we also saw much more than I have bargained for.

Well let’s get back to Princess Street… I heard bagpipes and dad also heard it well I must say dad’s hearing is not that great these days, but he loves bagpipes and of course he heard it also over the hustle and bustle of Princess street. Then we spotted him across the road another street entertainer in his traditional Scottish outfit and playing the bagpipes….

I found a Vodashop and took out a 40 Gig contract for our remaining 17 Days in Scotland. We spend about 1 hour in the shop, but not due to bad service just the opposite. The salesman who helped me was supper friendly and he helped me to set up a hot spot on my extra phone so that I can still use my SA number. He also told me about his favorite places to visit and I made notes on my phone of course. Had to make sure we see everything we can fit into our Grand Tour of Scotland When we walked out of the store I saw Edinburgh Castle in all his glory….. Wow what a sight. I could not believe that I missed it while walking down Princess Street. Okay maybe I can I was so focused on that Vodashop I think I missed a lot more….

Around the corner there were a market with Stalls and dad bought his first gifts to bring back home to South Africa… I got so excited when I saw an exhibit on Wildlife and of course Puffins I asked the man where is the best place to spot Puffins and he gave me some very bad news…. “Sorry mam you have just missed them they start migrating end of July.” I was devastated, I was so looking forward to capturing these beautiful birds…

Dad thought it was a big joke and told me to take a photo of the stuffed Puffin at least I will have one photo of one…. Even the Willie statue looked liked it was laughing extra hard at my misfortune….

Thank you for joining us on our walk, we are not yet finished with Princess Street. Up next we will cross the street to Princess Gardens…

“If you can dream it, you can do it.” Walt Disney

Grand Tour of Scotland: Day 2 – Exploring Edinburgh Part 2

December 4, 2019February 26, 2023Posted in EdinburghTagged #beautifulbuildings, #bucketlist, #canon18to200mm, #CanonEOS7DMark II, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #citiesvisited, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #dadandme, #discoveredinburgh, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #flowersofscotland, #flowersthroughmylens, #grandtourofscotland, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #nature, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #pinkflowers, #placesvisited, #purpleflowers, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #spendingtimewithlovedones, #stockbridge, #ststephens, #stvincentschapel, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #walkingthestreetsofedinburghLeave a comment

Next on our Itinerary was the famous Circus Lane but first we stopped for a little break and there we discovered St Vincent’s Chapel and St Stephen’s in Stockbridge. Along the way I captured some beautiful Lilies and of course some more buildings and streets or Lanes.

St Vincent’s Chapel is such a beautiful building and I just love the red doors. When I visit Edinburgh again I am definitively going to stay longer than one day. Due to our tight schedule and sooo many places to see we could not go into all the chapels and museums we wanted to. I am already planning our next trip and this time we are taking our time to explore properly.

St Stephen’s Church is no longer used for Sunday services, currently it is used for community events, a daycare, performances, and private and commercial events. The best of all I had St Stephen’s Church on my list but when I could not find it I did not tick it off. Only while doing my research on the places I photographed I was shockingly surprised that I did see it. One of our hosts on holiday told us that many churches and chapels have been sold and some even used as pubs… On our journey we did see that a lot. It is sad if you think about it but on the other hand at least the buildings are getting used and some even restored. They are given a new lease on life…

When I did my planning for our trip I went on Instagram and search anything to do with Edinburgh and the other towns we were going to visit. Circus Lane was the one place I just had to go and see for myself and I was not disappointed. It is magical. All the detail and oh my word all the flowers I just could not stop clicking away….

Thank you for taking the time to walk through the streets of Edinburgh with us. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

Our next stop Water of Leith Walkway…

“If you can dream it, you can do it.” Walt Disney

Grand Tour of Scotland: Day 2 – Exploring Edinburgh Part 1

December 3, 2019February 26, 2023Posted in EdinburghTagged #beautifulbuildings, #bencrauchenguesthouse, #bucketlist, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #coreenkuhnphotography, #countriesvisited, #discoveredinburgh, #discoveringScotland, #discoverscotland, #edinburgh, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #flowersofscotland, #flowersthroughmylens, #grandtourofscotland, #lovetotravel, #Mansfieldtraquair, #nature, #nordicvisitor, #outdoors, #placesvisited, #portraitphotographer, #scotland, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #spendingtimewithlovedones, #summerinScotland, #townsivisited, #travel, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, #walkingthestreetsofedinburghLeave a comment

Dad and I slept like logs. I woke up around 5:00 AM long before my alarm. I got dressed looked out of the window and was very happy to see that it stopped raining. I then woke up my dad around 6:15 AM so that he could get ready.

While waiting for dad I made us a cup of coffee and took some photos of the birds in the garden through our bedroom window.

Took some photos out of our bedroom window of the birds in the garden.

Breakfast was only served at 8:00 AM and dad and I was finished and ready by 7:05. So we decided to go outside and take some photos of our surroundings before we went for breakfast. There were a slight breeze and a bit cold outside but we soon warmed up from all the exploring.

We went down stairs to the cozy dining room and sat down at a table in the corner. We both started with a cup of coffee and then a bowl of porridge. In South Africa we also eat porridge but we prepare it different and I must be totally honest with you I prefer the Scottish method. The porridge is so creamy and with the honey it is even better. Dad ordered a Scottish breakfast consisting of Eggs, Bacon and Sausage and I ordered Pancakes with Bacon, Banana and Syrup. It was absolutely divine.

After Breakfast we got our “Goody bag” from Nordic Visitor with all our holiday arrangements and also a map of Edinburgh. For the first part of the day I had to navigate our way around Edinburgh with a map the old fashioned way. Only later in the day did I went to a Vodashop to buy a data contract so that I can use my google maps with our pre-programmed routes.

We left the Guesthouse around 8:45 AM on our way to our first stop on our list of places to visit Mansfield Traquair. As you will see I could not get enough photos of the beautiful flowers and the Architecture.

Our first place of interest was Mansfield Traquair. A beautiful chapel and Wedding Venue. Due to our tight schedule I could not go inside. For more information on the Mansfield Traquair please visit their website.

As we walked to our next stop on our itinerary I capture some of our surroundings…

Thank you for exploring Edinburgh with us. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Have a look out for part 2

“If you can dream it you can do it.” Walt Disney

Grand Tour of Scotland 17 August 2019: Day 7 – Exploring Orkney

August 20, 2019April 12, 2023Posted in ScotlandTagged #2019, #bucketlist, #buttonbenguesthouse, #capetownbasedphotographer, #capturingmemories, #capturingscotland, #coreenkuhnphotography, #dadandme, #discoveringScotland, #explorescotland, #fatheranddaughtertime, #grandtourofscotland, #huaweip10, #landscapephotography, #lovemyjob, #lovetotravel, #mypassion, #mywork, #naturephotography, #nordicvisitor, #orkney, #scotlandthroughmylens, #Scotlandvacation, #spendingtimewithlovedones, #townsivisited, #travelingtheworld, #travelphotography, cameraphone, Happy, nature, outdoors, TravelLeave a comment

I have been struggling with uploading to my blog the past few days. Please let me know if you can’t see the photos. The photos are random and not in order of how our day went.

Today dad and I drove all over exploring Orkney Island from north to south and east to west. We tried to cover as much as we could.