Stories

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Exploring & Road-Tripping in Gaspésie

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I recently got back from a work-vacation trip to Gaspésie, a wonderful mix of business and pleasure, a little getaway from the big city chaos to the calm of the nature and from daily routine to road-tripping and exploring. It was freakin' awesome! Gaspésie is truly a beautiful place, and I couldn't wait to write this blog post, tell you you all about my adventures, give you some travel tips, and share some beautiful photos. 

Carleton-Sur-Mer

View from Mont Saint-Joseph in Carleton

Carleton is a cozy little town on the south shore of Gaspésie, with nice views and friendly people, and it was my first stop. I had amazing accommodations there, thanks to some truly wonderful friends, and I also had a work thing there. Actually it was Olivier's (my boyfriend) contract with the Circuit Régional des Courses de Chevaux du Québec, to photograph two horse races in Nouvelle (a municipality right next to Carleton). I was assisting, taking my own photos and selling prints. It was fun, especially since I had never seen a horse race before, and I also got really good feedback on my images.  

Percé

After two days in Carleton we continued our road trip towards Percé, a little town at the end of the Gaspé peninsula, and a really beautiful place. The view there is just gorgeous, with the Percé rock and Bonaventure Island, plus there are so many beautiful places to explore around Percé. The first thing we did when we got there was to hop on the boat cruise towards Bonaventure Island/ Île Bonaventure, which is just off the Percé shore and is home to one of the world's largest (and most easily accessible) sea bird colonies. Unfortunately we didn't have much time to explore the Island, as it was almost afternoon when we got to Percé and the last boat off the island is at 5 PM (so yeah, if you're heading that way, make sure you plan accordingly). 

After our boat trip we went looking for a camping spot. There's quite a lot of options in the area, but after a bit of looking around we decided to set up tent at Camping Côte Surprise. It was really the best option. It's situated high on the shore, so the view is absolutely gorgeous, and there's a side of the camping which has a lot of trees so you're sheltered from the sun. It's not very remote, so if you're looking for privacy, this is not your spot, but it was fun and we made some friends in the camping. The place is clean, and they have decent Wi-Fi...I personally recommend it. 

La Grotte & Rivière aux Émeraudes

Day two in Percé was a hot sunny day, and we had found out from our new camping friends about this place called La Grotte (The Cave) and we decided to check it out. To get to it from Route 132, you turn on Route de L'Église and go to the end of it. You get to a big church, and you need to take the road behind it (there's also a map there so you can't miss it). It's an approx. 30 min walk through the forest, and then you get to this small cave with a waterfall...really beautiful. The water's quite cold though, you can't really get under it (not for long at least :) ). 

Our next stop was the one that I had been most excited about: Rivière aux Émeraudes/ Emerald River (Rivière du Portage). It's known as one of the hidden treasures of Gaspésie, and it's really beautiful because its cristal clear waters look green of the sediments in it (I believe), and under a blue sky the water looks turquoise, almost tropical. A real gem of a place!!! To get there you take Route 132 east, up to the intersection with Chemin de la Carrière. Turn on Chemin de la Carrière and you can either park at the first parking and walk along the river up to the waterfall (4.5 km) or park at the end of the road and go straight to the waterfall (10 min walk through the forest). For lack of time I chose option 2. The place itself it's not really a secret so there were some people there, mostly tanning and chilling on the rocky beach, some were swimming, but the water is quite cold, but awesomely refreshing on a hot day.  

Rocher Percé

The following day we spent it in Percé. We found out that when the tide is low (Low tides schedules here) there is a place where you can actually walk up to the Percé rock so we had a very nice afternoon walk. Useful tip (wish I would've known): bring water shoes or at least flip flops; there might be a portion where the water didn't fully recede. and the rocks are painful to walk on barefoot. 

Sea Shack

For the last part of our road trip we head off to Sea Shack. Sea Shack...fun place...It's a bar on beach, kind of hippy, with cozy terrasses and chilling spots, with a hot-tub overlooking the water, with camping spots right on the beach (they have other types of accommodations too), with friendly staff, fun people, and good parties. But you really have to be there to feel the vibe of the place to understand...it's really all about good vibes and good times. But if you're going there hoping for some peace and quiet, you're in the wrong place; there's music at the bar till the wee hours of the night and there's people around the fire on the beach till the sunrise. I wish I took photos that actually capture the feel of the place. We had a little thunderstorm the night we got there, so I only have pictures from before it started to rain and I put my camera away. 

 

After Sea Shack, we went back to Carleton for another horse race gig, then off to Montreal. Gaspésie was really beautiful and fun. It was nature explorations but done my own way: with the camera in one hand and my phone in the other looking for connection in the forest "Wait for me!!! I was answering an e-mail; they want to order some prints for Saturday"...Ah! That freelance life :)))) 

So these are my Gaspésie stories. If you've been there, I'd love to hear some of your stories too, so please feel free to leave a comment down below. 

For my everyday stories, follow me on Instagram.

Cheers!

Tora

My Adventures with Photography (& Stuff)

The past few months have been quite a nice adventure for me, with many ups and downs that kept me quite busy …busy enough that it’s been only crickets on my blog the past while. I’ve been involved in all sorts of projects, some of which I’m not yet allowed to publicize (Sigh!). I want to do a little recap of my past few months. I won’t talk about everything (there’s my Instagram for that), but there are a few moments definitely worth mentioning.

Nuit Blanche & the 24 hours photo-makeup marathon:

Kids, don’t try this at home; not for the faint-hearted. At the end of February I found myself in a bit of an overbooked situation, but it all worked out well in the end. On Nuit Blanche I was the photographer at the Creative Mornings Nuit Blanche Cabaret, where, at the same time, I had a photo booth operated by my dear Oli. The hectic part was that I had a design in mind for the booth, which I drew myself (the "Creative Mornings" typographic design below), and I ended up finishing it really last minute (one hour before leaving for the event, hehe!). What a rush!!! The whole Nuit Blanche event worked out perfectly though, and my photo booth was a great success. Here are some of the images I got out of that night of photo fun.

However, after Nuit Blanche the adventure was not over. I had another photoshoot in an amazing icy location, with two very talented designers (Maison CYMA). I learned that day all about the amazing power of being excited and in love with what you do. I woke up after only 3 hours of sleep fuelled by the excitement for what’s to come that day. I had two sets of makeups to do, it all went great, then we all jumped in cars and off we went to Wallingford Mine. Once we got there, I had to refresh the makeup, in the back of the van, in the snow…so crazy…so fun…And then, the photoshoot. It was freezing, I was running purely on adrenaline & I was feeling so alive!!! And the models…whoa! On high heels, on ice, freezing…good job girls! It was really not easy. Here are some behind the scenes images from that crazy adventure:

Truth is, now that I talked about these, everything else seems boring in comparison. Not to mention retouching projects that kept me stuck in front of my computer for days…I mean, really, not to complain or anything, but sometimes computer work gets mental and I’m stuck in the house for days. It’s awesome, but it does get lonely...Ah! The joys of freelance life….

But I’ve been involved in all sorts of projects; a lot of makeup gigs, portraits, a bunch of fashion/catalogue photoshoots, and of course my collaboration with Creative Mornings, which is so dear to my heart. I'm posting below some images that I took off my phone, but this is definitely not the whole story.

My bottom line to this blog post is:

When I let go of my old corporate job, and the regular hours, and the steady lifestyle, I was looking exactly for this: adventure, excitement, sleepless nights, projects that take me to new and amazing places and allow me to meet ambitious creatives. It’s a chaotic but well organized lifestyle that requires a lot of self-discipline. And the past few months have been exactly all that. And the way this whole freelancing thing worked out for me, it’s really “photography & stuff”. I’ve had quite a lot of projects as a MUA, or as a retoucher, even as a graphic designer. Oh, and not to mention the writing I do on the blog, or the blog post I wrote for Creative Mornings...Hehe, I’m really enjoying the multi-faceted realm of being a creative! 

And I’m excited for the next few months! I have some awesome projects coming up…and it’s spring, summer is around the corner, it’s warm and sunny again…I feel so energized! And one of the things I have in plan is to revive my blog and update it regularly. No really, stay tuned 😃  Cool stuff coming up!  
 

The JUMP

One of the reasons why I decided to start blogging is because I am an avid storyteller and I love to write, and I would love to share my story with the world. And since I'm rather new to the blogosphere, I feel I need to introduce myself, so the first story that I will be telling is mine:

Hi, i'm Tora: photographer, daydreamer and committed overachiever, and I live in this crazy, beautiful mess of a city we call Montreal. Romanian of origin, I moved to Canada 8 years ago, armed with big dreams and hungry to do something with my life. I started business school right away, finished it and worked in the corporate world until not long ago. 

The photography bug creeped up on me over the years, slowly, taking its time, first through Photoshop, and just having fun seeing what my camera can do, until one day i was asked to take photos at this festival in Romania. That was it. My Evrika! moment. I was also in a soul searching moment of my life. I decided to try the creative path, so I applied to Dawson College's night program in commercial photography. And that's how i found myself in complete workaholic mode, with a full time job and full time school, and a very active social life on top of that. I wanted it all and I just had an ambition that was more of a constant adrenaline rush, and I sacrificed sleep (a lot), but I made it all possible (I wouldn't recommend it though, I was burned out in the end). But then photo school was over, and I found myself at a crossroads....

Tora Chirila Photography - Life begins at the end of your comfort zone

It took me a while to make the decision, but deep down I always knew what I needed to do. I was working in the corporate world, classic 9-5 career story, good job, good pay, amazing office with an insane view of downtown Montreal.  But something was definitely missing. And the though that pretty much this will be the rest of my life was far more terrifying than jumping into the uncertainty of being a creative professional. So...I jumped...The day I handed in my resignation letter I had the same adrenaline rush as when I was way up high on a crane above Bucharest getting ready for a bungee jump.

And it took me a while to get accustomed to the change. My first post 9 to 5 days found me as an anxious mess, completely overwhelmed by the decision i had taken, and by insecurities. But truth is, my reaction wasn't to the change in circumstances, but to my change in identity. All my life I used to see myself as the office chick, corporate woman, with my ambitions to work hard and climb up the corporate ladder over the years and with my overstacked wardrobe of office outfits. I was Teodora; that's my legal name, and in the corporate world that was my name and identity. 

Well...now I'm Tora (my parents called me/nicknamed me Tora since I was born, all my family and friends know me as Tora) and I'm a photographer and freelancer; a whole new approach to life. It's hard, it's amazing, it's never ending work, but it's not really work, is it? And I am just at the beginning of my journey, hopeful, nervous, but really really determined.

There is no time more scary exciting than this....

To be continued...just hold on tight.