Mirror

Tired of landscapes yet? This is another "stop the car!" image taken on the way from Rotorua to the Waitomo caves.

Jump In

Yet another photo from Rotorua. This one is from the geothermal park Wai-O-Tapu. Nothing too special about this image, but I like the way the blue waters contrast with the orange all around it and the way the steam is engulfing the viewpoint above it (in the trees). Well, I am off to class, but hopefully I'll get a chance to write more later... if not, I know you can wait until tomorrow.

Never Know

This was one of those photos for which I made the car stop. I saw a path on the side of the road and made the car stop so we could go see what it led to (I knew we were close to the river, so I already had somewhat of an idea). It was short and didn't really lead to much, but it did gives us beautiful views of the river with steam coming off of it. The photographs I took don't really do the views justice, but I hope you can still kind of see the mist on top of the water.

Ending

I took this photo while walking through on of the city parks in Rotorua. After a long day of various activities Rob and I decided to chill at the free hot springs that are fed directly from the geothermal springs all around the park (notice the steam in the background). It was a great end to a long day and I enjoyed trying to capture silhouettes of various objects in the park. This is my favorite image from that little experiment because I also got the steam in the background as well as the clouds lit up from the sun. The hot pools at the park used to be called Lobster Pools because pale people came out of the water bright red (because the water is so hot)... needless to say, after putting my legs in I completely understand where the name came from.

"Things Are Rough All Over" - a simple yet poignant blogpost.
new photos on Facebook.

Birds (Not The Movie)

So, in between Wai-o-Tapu and rolling down a hill in a plastic ball (aka Zorbing), we had lunch at a cafe and strolled along the shore of Lake Rotorua. There were tons of people chilling and eating food.... which meant there were a ton of birds hoping to steal some of it. I heard a high pitched squeaking noise behind me and turned around to snap this photo before the train plowed through the birds (no feathers were ruffled). I think this photo represents the atmosphere of that afternoon well - just playful, no worries (well... except for maybe the seagulls, but they were getting fed by small children, so I think they were fine after this...).

New photos posted on Facebook (mainly photos of my group and random tramps).
Check this story of an amazing woman: Lubna Hussein

Watch Your Step

So, I am posting today's photo way late, but I decided that since 99.37% of the people who check this blog are in the states, it didn't really matter (it's still tomorrow for y'all). Anyway, I took this photo at the Wai-o-Tapu Geothermal Wonderland (I didn't make up the wonderland part, I promise). It was really cool. Not nearly as large as Yellowstone but it had it's own wonders to offer. It was crazy to see huge trees growing within inches of over 100 degree (celcius) water. Also, New Zealand is not like the States... you could get as close as you wanted (though there were a few warning signs), but we decided to maintain a good distance - no need to risk my life before I've gotten a chance to skydive and bungy jump (I had to mom). I was also amazed at the steam coming from every part of the ground, even on the drive to and from the park we passed farm land that had geothermal activity just right off the side of the road... it was crazy (one of the free city parks also had numrous geothermal pools... most of which you could try for yourself). It was a really fun day and I really enjoyed learning about the formation of it all in comparison to Yellowstone and learning about the impact of the eruption of Mt Tarawera. However, I will say that the smell of sulphur has stayed with me far too long...


Also, good news for Greenville: http://upstatefilms.wordpress.com
& way to go CC: HuffingtonPost (Top Greenest Colleges)

Tribute Video for Iran Protesters (great song and inpiring images): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo3-paRB2No
& videos from the Global Day of Action (July 25th): http://united4iran.org
Things are changing, keep watching: Huffington Post

Open Window

As I went through my photos from this weekend, I could not decide what type of image I wanted to post today. I tend to just look at the thumbnails and pick one that seems to interest me at that point in time. However, I had not been through my photos from this weekend yet and there were many that I wanted to share. In the end I decided to go with this photo for today. I took this on the drive from Rotorua to Waitomo Caves. We left pretty early in the morning, so fog was still hugging the mountains and frost was clinging to the ground. It was a beautiful drive and beautiful weather. My mom knows this most of all, but I always have to have my camera ready... especially on car rides. If I can't get the shot through the car window, I'll make the driver stop. If I'm the driver, I'll stop. If you want it, you have to get it. That's my motto for photography and for life, and I'm making sure I remember it everyday while in New Zealand because I really don't want to miss out on anything (I even had my first Swing Dancing lesson tonight... what?).


“ Nothing happens when you sit at home. I always make it a point to carry a camera with me at all times…I just shoot at what interests me at that moment. – Elliott Erwitt (taken from DPS).

Geothermals Are Cool

This weekend I went to Rotorua with a friend from my IFSA Butler group, Rob. It was a bit more pricey and touristy than I tend to like, but it was definitely worth the visit. We got to chill at hot pools, see a bird sanctuary (including active Kiwis birds!), a geothermal park, a Maori buried village (from a volcanic eruption), Zorb, and a few other things that are slipping my mind right now. I'd say it was a well spent weekend. I took the photo above at one of the hot mud pools we saw... I mean, who could really say no to boiling mud? More on my weekend in the posts to come!