Interviewing a Photographer: Maria Tzika

We’ve been following each other in Instagram for years. Her account is definitely one of my ultimate favorites in that platform. However we’ve never really talked before. One day, I decided to take a step forward and ask her if she’d be interested to answer a few questions of mine for my blog. As you can see her answer was clearly positive.

Hello Maria, I'm really glad to have you at my blog. Can you tell us a few things about yourself?
Hi Katerina, thanks a lot for having me! I am 18 years old and currently studying biology in Newcastle upon Tyne. I am originally from Larissa, Greece.

How did it all start? How did you develop an interest in photography?
Well, to be honest, I’ve always been attracted to the idea of capturing moments and beauty and “freezing time”, so it was probably a matter of time until I started developing an actual interest in photography!

When did you start taking your own photographs?
The story goes back to my junior high school years, when me and my friends would take photos of each other using our shitty phones or our parents’ digital cameras. However, as wrong as it may sound, photography became an actual hobby of mine about 4 years ago, when I got my DSLR camera.

What’s the main idea behind your photographs?
I wouldn’t say there’s a specific idea or theme behind them. I just capture whatever I find beautiful at each given moment.

Name 5 things you can not picture your life without.
Hand soap, deodorant, good music, earrings and my sunglasses.

Can you show us your favorite photograph of yours and share with us the story behind it? Why do you love it so much?
If I were to show you my favorite one, the person in it would kill me so I’ll go for the next best thing.This following picture was taken on a very hot summer day last year. We were at the beach with my family and my sister was just being weird and I was like “HOLD THIS ONE!”. Then I just ran, grabbed my camera and took the photo! I really love this one because it reminds me of summertime and relaxation.

Describe your photography style in a few words.
All over the place.

What advice would you give to a new aspiring photographer?
Despite not being an expert and not by any means considering myself a photographer, what I would say to someone that wants to start doing photography would be to try not to be a perfectionist with your shots and just go with the flow (cliché, but it works for me!).

Is there anything you wish you knew when you started taking photographs?
That it’s not all about the equipment. Of course it gets much easier if you have a good camera but it’s definitely not the main thing.

What kind of camera / equipment do you use?
I mainly use a canon 1100D with 18-55mm and 75-300mm lenses, but also different analog cameras from time to time and a Fujifilm instax 210.

What are your plans for the future? Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Hopefully in a lab doing research in neurobiology!

If you could only pick one thing to photograph for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Since inanimate objects don’t inspire me as much anymore, I would say my sister. She may not be very willing to cooperate but it’s always fun to take photos of her.

What's the best thing that happened to you today?
I had some really good falafel.

Lastly, tell us something most people don’t know about you.
I love broccoli.

You can quickly find Maria's amazing work of art by clicking here. 

Thank you so much Maria for answering to all of my questions. I really hope to meet you in person one day. Wishing you the best!

Don’t forget to smile,
xoxo MacQueen98. 

ask for her;

Inspired by my attempts to adobt

a positive attitude, mindset and lifestyle

I wrote something small but yet very special to me.

I don't know if you can call this a poem

or if the word quote would be a better fit for it,

all I know is that it is something

that means a lot to me,

so I really hope you enojoy this.

//

I've changed a lot lately.

I've tried to focus on the positive things

in life instead of the negative ones.

Now that I don't even see the negative anymore

I'm starting to value a lot something

that a lot of people are saying,

it really is just the way you see things

or as I say the way you wanna see things.

Happiness comes to the ones

that are calling for her to come on their way

and not the ones that are

constantly doing everything to push her" away.

Ask for her and she'll come.

Treat her kindly and she will never walk away.

//

Don't forget to smile,

xoxo MacQueen98. 

If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?

Some of us would say nothing, others would probably say everything. I asked people of different ages, genders, religions and cultures this very simple but yet interesting following question; If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be? Here are their answers:

"Probably stop overthinking everything." -D, 19 years old

"My nose." -EK, 17 years old

"If I could change one thing about myself it would probably be saying "no" more frequently. I would love to think about myself first and then about the others. I would also like to workout daily but I don't really see that happening any time soon. " -E, 31 years old

"If I could change one thing about myself, it would be to be more confident in myself." -M, 22 years old

"This is a tricky question, because you are who you are for a reason, and the way you are is unique and special. But if I were to choose, it will be the way I act around others. I feel if I'd let myself be who I really am, I'd like to be more like the person I am when I'm with my friends, with other people (such as my coworkers and classmates) too. That would make my life so much easier and fun. Also more opportunities would have been open for my future. As for physical appearance, I'd LOVE to have green eyes." -E, 19 years old

"I'd love to be a bit more productive." -A, 20 years old

"I don't think that I would change anything about myself now. It wasn't easy to reach that point though. I think that every teenager wants to change something about themselves. Either because we don't like something or because we think that other people don't like us. This could be something on our physical appearance or even personality wise. The truth is that when I was younger I wanted to change a lot of things about myself because I thought that I wasn't "good enough" to be accepted by others. When you grow up your whole mindset changes because you realize what's truly important in life and which people deserve to be around you. Under all this pressure of wanted to change myself I understood that the most important thing in someone's life is their health. So I learned to love myself for what it is and that's enough for me." - EV, 17 years old

"My anxiety! I'd love to stop worrying about everything". -D, 17 years old

"Well to be honest, I want to accept myself for both the positive and the negative traits that I have. Yes, I’m always trying to be better than the person I was yesterday, but I‘m also someone who can’t change easily. No one is perfect. Everyone has flaws and something they wish they could change about themselves, but sometimes the things we think as flaws are actually the things that build up our character and help us develop to the best version of ourselves. But of course there are a lot of things I want to change about myself… For example, I am a bit lazy (lol) and impatient. I really hope I can turn my flaws into merits one day." -M, 20 years old

"I would like to be a bit tougher with other people." -S, 59 years old

"If I could change one thing about myself it would be the way I act around others. I would like to not be so tolerant with some people." -M, 49 years old

As for myself; If I could change anything about myself it would be my perspective, the way I see things. I somewhere read that a positive attitude changes everything. This is something that I'm currently working on and I've realized that even the slightest change towards positivity can have a huge impact in your life. There a lot of things that we don't like about ourselves based on a stupid ideal body or even a life image that the media have successfully created. There's no such a thing as beauty or life standards. Just like everyone's different so is their body, mind and attitude. Instead of looking at the things you hate about yourself as your flaws and picturing something negative about them, learn to embrace and love them because they're the things that diverse you from the others and make you unique, different and beautiful in your own way.

That was it for today's post, but before I go I wanted to say a huge thank you to all These Kind people that answered my question, I really appreciated. What about you? If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?

Don't forget to smile,
xoxo MacQueen98.

a new chapter;

Dear angel,

The last time I typed those two words was in the first of January. The past few months I went through a couple of difficult moments that caused me lack of inspiration by also helped me grow and change my perspective on a lot of things. I am a strong believer of the quote "everything happens for a reason" so I do think that everything happened because I needed to realize a few things. Lately I've been focusing only on the positive things in life while shutting all the negative ones out. I've realized that I needed to be more grateful for all of the nice people / things that I'm luckily surrounded with. Once I did that I found inner peace and happiness. There are of course a lot of things that I need to work on but I do believe that I'm in a good place with my thoughts, mind and body right now. Positivity will definitely be something that I'll blog a lot about the next few months to help myself and the people around me but also to document this process so one day I can look back into it and be proud of myself for never giving up or quitting.

Something that I've realized from the very beginning was that ever since I changed my perspective I've been so much stronger, happier and also encouraging and loving to myself. There is so much power coming from the inside that is now spread on the outside of me. I've always wanted to focus on myself for a little while, find inner peace and work on those little things that have been bothering me. I believe that now is right time to do so.

Before I go I want you to remember that every step counts even the tiniest one so focus on yourself for a little while, absorb all the beautiful things around you, smile more often, spend more time outside but also do something you love; whether that's reading a good book, getting that extra hour of sleep in the morning or dancing in the middle of the night with a huge glass of wine. Do something that you always wanted to do, but never had the time to.

From now on I'll try to post more frequently, spread positivity and update you guys on my journey. Thank you for being patient with me, I really appreciate it. 

Don't forget to smile,

xoxo MacQueen98.

What I got for Christmas // 2017

Dear angel,

First of all I know that Christmastime is over and that it's probably a bit late to publish this now but I've always wanted to do a post like this so please be kind. I was always a big fun of Christmas and the holidays. Christmas is this specific time of the year where you give back to all those people you love and truly matter to you and this year was no exception! I love seeing the looks on other people's faces while they open something that they received from me. It makes me feel very happy and worthy. Being totally inspired by this magical spirit of the season I wanted to share with you what I got for Christmas. Not to gloat or brag but to give back to all those people in my life aand say 'thank you' for always being there and keeping up with me and my lame self.

I always dreamt of having my own Polaroid camera. It was fascinating to me that you can capture all of those moments and create memories to keep them to yourself and only. My parents were kind and lovely enough to surprise me with one on Christmas morning (as you can also see in the picture below I got the instax mini 9 by fujifilm in the color grey!) and I'm very much thankful for it.

My best friends and I had a sleepover at my place a few days before the 25th in order to celebrate Christmas together, spend some quality time and exchange gifts. (By quality time I mean eating junk food and watching Christmas movies all night long.) Here's what I got from them:

A dear friend got me the new poetry book of Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey. As a huge book lover I always get a little too exciting every time I receive a nice book. I wanted this book ever since it came out so I naturally screamed from happiness when I received it. She also gave me a tiny, white, vintage looking photo frame that I adored since I love everything vintage related. I also received the winter wonderland mini Yankee Candle that smells amazing. It's the perfect mixture of winter and Christmas, you should really check it out. I also got a pink and silvery candle holder that sparkles every time you light up the candle you put in. Lastly she gave me a gorgeous Christmas card filled with kind and wise words, a red and white reindeer lollipop, a candy cane as well as many chocolate treats most of which I've already eaten. (guilty!)

Another dear friend got me the most well known mystery novel by Agatha Christie (aka my all time favorite author), Murder on the Orient Express (I literally finished this book in three days after receiving it!) but the most special part of it was the bookmark that she made for me. It was so beautifully made that I first thought that it was bought. It's mystery related and I couldn't be happier about it. She also made a hot chocolate kit for me including a beautiful Christmas mug, candy canes and a handmade reindeer jar filled with hot chocolate, marshmallows and many other delicacies to put on top. I love everything handmade and personalized so thank you for that! Lastly she gave me a 3D Christmas card with a lovely message in it.

My grandparents surprised me with a lovely beautiful package that included a bourbon vanilla flavored black handmade tea that not
only smelled but also tasted extremely good as well. Besides that I received a soothing shower gel with rose extract and aloe vera and hand/nail cream with shea butter and rose extract both from the new bath and moisturizing collection of ROGER&GALLET, named rose. (In case you were wondering ROGER&GALLET is a Parisian beauty brand that sells its products across Europe!). The package also included a vanilla candle in the shape of a star that made the whole package smell like vanilla. (Fun fact: Vanilla and coconut are my two favorite scents so I naturally fell in love with the smell of the package!) A 100% natural body lotion from Country Garden, a tiny book filled with quotes about life, love and happiness (in the German language) that I adored since I kinda have a thing for quotes. A silver Christmas ornament, another candle that didn't smell much of anything and some chocolate delicacies most of which I have yet again already eaten.

I'm so thankful for everything I got, so thank you guys for making this the best day possible! Let me know what you got for Christmas in the comment section below.

Merry everything and a happy always,

xoxo MacQueen98.

Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances

Dear angel,

I might be currently reading four books at the moment but me being me picked yet another book to read. This time I decided to go for Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle. I know that I am currently reading a lot of books but this is the first holiday themed book I picked up in my life (fairytales don't count!) and I'm really exciting about it. I've been wanting to read this book for quite a while. I purchased it in September and have patiently waited ever since for December to arrive. I'm planing to finish this by the end of December but we'll see how this goes (finger's crossed!).

Here are a few words about the book's story line (in case you've never heart about it before!):

It's Christmas Eve and Gracetown has been buried by snow. But the weather is more than just an inconvenience. When one girl unexpectedly steps off a stranded train, she sets off a series of life-changing events.

Soon fourteen pumped-up cheerleaders will descend on the local Waffle House, the Duke's DVD night will be rudely interrupted for a Twister mission, and a lovesick barista will determine the fate of a single teacup pig..

As the three stories collide, strangers cross paths and romance blossoms with heart-warming consequences.




I have a lot of high expectations about this book, and I highly hope that I would not end up regret purchasing it.

Don't forget to smile,
xoxo MacQueen98.

A Christmas Playlist!

Dear angel,

Ever since I was little Christmas was and still is my favorite time of the year. For me the festivity of this season starts on December 1st. Here's a list of my ultimate favorite Christmas songs to help you get in that festive spirit/mood. 

{ Blue Christmas - Michael Bublé }

{ Last Christmas - Wham! }

{ Jingle Bell Rock - Daryl Hall & John Oates }

{ Wonderful Christmastime - Straight No Chaser feat. Paul McCartney }

{ Santa Tell Me - Ariana Grande }

{ Winter Wonderland / Here Comes Santa Clause - Snoop Dogg feat. Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect 2 ) }

{ Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - Frank Sinatra feat. B. Swanson Quartet }

Fun fact; this song is my ultimate favorite. 

{ Feliz Navidad - José Feliciano }

{ Christmas Is In My Heart - Sarah Connor }

{ Oh Santa! - Maria Carey }

{ All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey }

{ Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Sam Smith }

{ I'll Be Home For Christmas - Michael Bublé }

{ Santa Baby - Michael Bublé }

{ Baby, It's Cold Outside - Dean Martin }

{ Baby, It's Cold Outside - Nick feat. Katie Melua }

{ The Magic Of Christmas Day (God Bless Us Everyone) - Celine Dion }

{ Don't Save It All For Christmas Day - Celine Dion }

{ Winter Wonderland - Michael Bublé }

{ I'll Be Home - Meghan Trainor }

{ Baby, It's Cold Outside - Daren Criss (Glee Cast Version) }

{ Happy Xmas (War Is Over) - Celine Dion }

{ Home By Christmas Day - Straight No Chaser }

{ Christmas Love - Justin Bieber }

{ Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee }

{ White Christmas - Bing Crosby }

{ It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year - Andy Williams }

Check full Spotify playlist here;

I'm planing to only do Christmas related posts from now on but I guess we'll see how things will turn out.

Don't forget to smile,

xoxo MacQueen98.