Exploring

I know, I know, I haven't written in awhile. My apologies. It has been a rough transition back into life in g-vegas. However, after a rough patch, my sister got home and a few days later we both went to the Greenville Humane Society and each got a puppy. In fact, we adopted sisters! So, I went from not wanting to write while sad to not writing because I was having too much fun playing with my new best friend. My sister's dog (Goose) will live with her while she finishes law school and mine (Koru) will move out to Colorado with me while I finish school out there. So even though they have to be separated, at least they'll still get reunions.

I've been nervous about how Koru will enjoy the snow and the cold. Luckily, I got to test out how Koru would like snow when my Grandmother got snowed in North Carolina and I got to drive up to rescue her (my car is the only one in the family that has 4WD). I took Koru up with me and her reaction to the snow was priceless - she pounced on every shadow, ran up hills only to slide down them, tried to eat the snowballs thrown at her head as they dissolved, and overall never wanted to leave. Seems like she'll fit right in.

I wish everyone a wonderful night and day tomorrow (whether you are celebrating Christmas or not). The best part about all of this Holiday madness is that it reminds us about how time, understanding, and fun with the family are important to happiness in life. I give everyone my love and cheer. Y'all deserve only the best.

My Christmas presents for your eyes are these amazing Flikr photostreams: Bladerunner, Lightmechanic, BlaisOne, Tackyshack, & Biskitboy. This is also cool: Space Collective.

Also, I'm pretty sure these are mandatory to watch every Christmas season: PC Xmas, 12 Days of Christmas - Straight Chaser, & Improv Handbells.

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.