Choice

I know I have barely posted any photos of my spring break yet. However, I had to take a break from sorting through them to show you a photo from this weekend. I took this out of the car window while driving through Taupo on the way back from our IFSA-Butler adventure weekend. In the background you can spot Mt. Ruapehu and Mt. Ngauruhoe (left to right).

We left Friday night to head down to the Tongariro National Park region for our adventures. On Saturday we were supposed to do the Tongariro Crossing; however, the weather had other plans for us. Instead we did a less intense tramp, but it was still fun (however, I don't have many photos from the tramp due to clouds & very numb hands). After the tramp we went caving, which had to be one of the coolest experiences I've had in NZ so far. We split up into small groups and headed into a cave with a guide. We had to use our own flashlights and we got to see glowworms without other tourists breathing down our necks (like Waitomo). However, the best part was when our guide left my group in the cave, telling us to find our own way back (by following the water). We had to crawl through minuscule openings and extremely cold water. Gratification was ours when we managed to climb up a waterfall in the dark and through the smallest opening I think I've ever gotten my body through and saw light. We ended the day with a soak in some hot pools (as we do after every event), some homemade pizzas, and great conversations. As for Sunday, I'll write about that tomorrow.

PS: You may remember my other posts from skiing at Whakapapa: Blessed, Look Directly Into It, Break Time, Perfect, An Ad, Drama, and Watch Out.

Lenses Can Distort

So, what is one to do when one is waiting in a car at a gas station for the driver to get back? Well, this one decided to take out her camera and look around the area through her lens. I snapped a few quick shots and this was one of them. It's nothing special, but I thought it would be more interesting than yet another landscape (of which you will get plenty more after my break).

I also decided to post this image because it was the closest image I could find that kind of, somehow, in my weird mind, reminded me from the film I saw last night. Before I tell you the film, let me first state that I am in love with films that mess with your head so much that you can't decide what is up/down or backwards/forwards or linear/circular or anything (I've been this way ever since I was introduced to the world of Requiem for a Dream [2000 - Darren Aronofsky]). That being said, I was destined to love Mulholland Dr. (2001 - David Lynch). Mulholland Dr. takes messing with its audience's head to a whole new level, so much so there is actually a whole website dedicated to the various theories about how to interpret the film. I have heard about this film for years - everyone loves it, or at least understands its greatness, but no one understands it. I have always wanted to watch it, but my parents kept telling me that they had tried to watch it 6 or 7 times and could never stay awake, so I avoided renting it for their sakes. However, this time around I wanted to watch Sunset Blvd (1950 - Billy Wilder), but itunes did not have it, so I decided to watch another L.A. movie and Mulholland Dr. came to mind. I absolutely loved it! I couldn't understand it anymore than anyone else, but it was so beautiful (the transitions alone were some of the best I have ever seen) and just a well made movie - and it will scare/freak the crap out of you. It's amazing. Oddly enough, now that I have been raving about it to my parents over Skype, they claim that they have seen it 5 or 6 times and loved it each time... I don't know which version to believe, especially after seeing the film itself.

If you were born in September (or any other month of the year...that should be everyone), click here and get inspired (if this doesn't do it, I don't know what will).

Watch Out For ... What?

Sadly, the weather did not break and there has been a monsoon outside of my window for the better part of the day. That means no night photography to share, unfortunately. However, I do have a uniquely Kiwi image to share with you today (pun majorly intended). The driver of the bus on my ski trip last weekend said that the area has a comparatively healthy kiwi bird population - then he said to look for signs on the side of the road. As you can probably guess, I got out my camera hoping to get a shot of one of the signs and this is it.

Do you have a September birthday? Click Here & Watch.
Also, August 19th, 2009 is World Humanitarian Day

Drama

Here is another image from Mt. Ruapehu. This was when the clouds started rolling in late in the afternoon. As you can see, the clouds added contrast to the perfectly blue sky. A friend and I are planning on walking around the city to do some night photography tonight, so lets hope the weather holds off so that I can add some variety to this photoblog.

For some favorite photo series of mine click some of these links:
Greenville Daily Photo
Auckland Daily Photo
Henry Chen
Brent Stirton
Taylor James
No H8
Lens - NY Times

Also, remember that stop motion video I posted a while ago. Well, look at what amazing stop motion looks like: Fantastic Mr. Fox

An Ad

My favorite photograph to take is that of a person - especially close up portraits. I believe, at least for me, they are the most challenging subjects. It is a difficult task to capture emotions, attitudes, movement, etc. in a simple image. However, as you have noticed, I rarely post images of people because I don't want to take advantage of the moment I was given and splatter that person all across the web (without the person's consent). It is my subject's image as much as it is mine and I don't want to invade their privacy. But, I'm breaking that rule today because I decided that this guy's identity is hidden; I don't even know who he was. Call me a creeper, but I really liked the way he was just chillin' there so I snapped a shot - yea, okay, I'm a creeper.

Break Time

About half way through the day on Sunday the bindings on my rental skis broke as I got off the chairlift. It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I took a snack break while trying to figure out what to do. This was my view during my snack break - and it made me glad that my bindings broke. The sun was perfect, the wind decided to take a break, and I hit the spot right before the mad lunch rush. The image above contains three different photographs that I stitched together to make a panorama. I wish I could include the entire scene for you, but I guess you'll just have to make the visit to the Whakapapa ski area yourself (I'm sure you won't mind). In the end, I rode the chairlift back down the mountain and I got my bindings fixed (the person at Piper's Lodge had set them wrong) and I kept skiing for the rest of the day. In addition to this wonderful view, I also discovered that it's nice but also kind of scary to ski in a t-shirt (without a jacket) and that Music for Men - the latest CD by Gossip is awesome music to ski to.

Look Directly Into It

I wanted to post a photograph today that would show you how amazing the weather was this weekend on Mt. Ruapehu. There was not a cloud in the sky on Saturday (until the end of the day when all of the sudden they seemed to pop out behind us while we were on the chairlift) and only a soft blanket of clouds hovering by the lower mountains on Sunday. Though the composition in this image could be better, I like it because it shows how powerfully birght the sun was and how beautiful the snow was. I know photos don't do justice to the actual expierence - standing on ice with a pair of two by four's strapped to your feet while the wind hurls itself at you - but, I hope you can still see how amazing it is.

Blessed

Sorry for not updating this weekend, but on Friday I left for Mt. Ruapehu for the weekend. I can't believe I just went skiing in August. I will give you more details tomorrow, but for now my bones and muscles need some much needed recuperation... time for sleep.