Photo Essay | Virtually Gina

Falling Towards New York

April 7, 2017 by Gina Marie

“Gravity is an interaction. The Earth pulls on you, you pull on the Earth. You fall to the Earth, the Earth falls to you.” (Found at: http://srjcstaff.santarosa.edu/~lwillia2/p10/p10ch4.pdf) For 16 years, since my darling BFF Katy and I first visited New York together in August 2001 as a post-college-graduation-treat, I have fallen towards New York. According to the above logic, she must have been falling towards me, too. From time to time, while living in Boston in my early 20’s, I […]

Categories: America, Art, Earth, Friendship, Mural, New York, New York City, Photo Essay, Photo Journal, Photography, Travel, Urban • Tags: Architecture, Art, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Murals, New York, New York City, Travel

My Umpteenth New York Visit

February 7, 2017 by Gina Marie

Before we delve into the New York pics, let’s start with this: “Always maintain only a joyful mind.” This is one of the 59 Lojong slogans taught to students on a path of meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. These slogans are traditionally used to help meditation students tame the mind. Even in the face of distractions and suffering, the idea here is to maintain a sense of joy that you are on a path of awakening. That being said, […]

Categories: America, Meditation, New Jersey, New York, New York City, Nikon, NYC, Photo Essay, Photo Journal, Photography, Recovery, Spooky, Travel, Winter • Tags: Lojong Slogans, New York, New York City, Recovery, Travel, Urban

Beachy Morning on the Shore

June 19, 2016 by Gina Marie

Life is just beachy. As of this week, I’ve lived on the Jersey Shore for precisely one year . . . and when I say “on the shore,” I mean we are literally steps away from the beach. The curious thing is, I’ve only brought my good camera out there two or three times! I generally just bring my camera phone because it’s easier. To be fair, I have caught some great photos that way, as well. However, there’s nothing quite like a […]

Categories: America, Beaches, Bicycles, Birds, Jersey Shore, Life, Light, New Jersey, Nikon, Ocean, Photo Essay, Photo Journal, Photography • Tags: Beaches, Jersey Shore, New Jersey, ocean, Photography, summer

A Stroll Through Downtown Portland, Maine

April 10, 2016 by Gina Marie

After several months of having lived in the extremely suburban Jersey Shore region, a visit to this hip urban New England city felt like a breath of fresh air for my soul. I loved the silhouette created by this couple against the backdrop of an urban scene in the bright afternoon sun. Passing a children’s boutique, I was poignantly reminded that my nephew Robbie would be turning six in a few weeks and I had no idea what to get him. I took delight in the surreal effects […]

Categories: America, Architecture, Flare, Food, Mannequins, Photo Essay, Photography, Portland, Shadow, Travel, Urban • Tags: America, Architecture, Photo Journal, Photography, Portland, Travel, Urban

Beautiful Thoughts

March 26, 2016 by Gina Marie

The wisdom of others teaches us how . . . 1) We each have a human body that lasts a hundred years if we are lucky. Every moment, every interaction, every day we are given the opportunity to learn from each other. The most difficult situations can be our greatest teachers. 2) Companionship is present in our lives in many forms. We are never truly alone. 3) The sight of the sky is a reminder of freedom, expansiveness, and possibility. […]

Categories: Animals, Beaches, Earth, Flare, Gratitude, Healing, Inspiration, Jersey Shore, Journal, Life, Light, Love, Meditation, Moon, Nature, Ocean, Philadelphia, Photo Essay, Photo Journal, Photography, Shadow, Spirituality, Thoughts for the Day • Tags: Beaches, Inspiration, iPhoneography, Jersey Shore, Meditation, ocean, Photography, Spirituality

The Princeton 15

July 10, 2015 by Gina Marie

Is it possible to fall in love with a university campus? If so, then Princeton has won my heart. I hope my sweetie Jeff doesn’t get too jealous. I drove 45 minutes west from my new hometown on the Shore, and lo and behold, found myself on the campus of one of America’s most prestigious institutions of higher education. I brought my camera and preserved 99 images on my trusty Nikon, of which I’ve whittled down to the following 15 for your pure […]

Categories: Architecture, Bucolic, New Jersey, Photo Essay, Photo Journal, Photography, Princeton, Sculpture, Travel, Urban • Tags: Architecture, Bucolic, New Jersey, Photo Essay, Photo Journal, Photography, Princeton, Sculpture, Travel, Urban

Thirsty Thorsday

March 5, 2015 by Gina Marie

We interrupt the regularly scheduled broadcast of Chicago travel posts to give you an update on Winter Storm Thor currently transpiring in parts of the Midwest and Northeast United States. The following pictures were captured in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia. Now, time for some hot tea. Thanks for joining me on this Thirsty Thorsday!

Categories: America, Architecture, Life, Philadelphia, Photo Essay, Photo Journal, Photography, Trees, Urban, Winter • Tags: Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Photo Essay, Photo Journal, Photography, Winter, Winter Storm Thor

Another Day in Chicago

February 26, 2015 by Gina Marie

“What do you want for Valentine’s Day, honey?” my husband Jeff asked. “A Michael Kors handbag,” I replied without batting an eyelash. “But you know, for the same amount of money, we could take a trip somewhere cool.” In the end, we settled on the latter. And by “cool,” I wasn’t kidding around. With temps in the teens for much of our trip, we had little recourse than to seek indoor activities. We visited Second City and Zanies, two well-known Chicago […]

Categories: America, Architecture, Chicago, Photo Essay, Photo Journal, Photography, Urban • Tags: America, Architecture, Chicago, Photo Essay, Photo Journal, Photography, Urban

NYC: If You Lived Here, You Wouldn’t Sleep Either

December 8, 2014 by Gina Marie

Six hours, give or take, in arguably the world’s greatest city. One D-SLR camera. One Gina Marie. Put these all together and what do you get? Many digital images, of course. I whittled a hundred or so down to the following “baker’s dozen” of my favorites. Eerily, nearly half of these feature mannequins and/or statues. (My day job working in luxury consignment has been rubbing off on my subconscious, it seems.) Now, without further ado, a glimpse at the most […]

Categories: America, Holidays, Mannequins, New York City, Photo Essay, Photo Journal, Photography, Travel, Trees, Urban