Central Park
Central Park…. All I can say is that there are a LOT of people there. It was fun to photograph and practice using Aperture priority, and I would love to go back at an earlier or later hour, or a colder time of year, when there are fewer people.
There were some beautiful, not-too-crowded spots, one of which was behind the bandshell underneath a lilac-gazeebo-thing. Sorry, I can’t be more specific than that! If you ever go there you’ll see what I mean.
My all-time favorite location was definitely around the carousel. Crowded, but there are so many different aspects to the area, and this is where I made my favorite image of the day.
Brooklyn Bridge at the Golden Hour
This past weekend I joined a photography meetup (PhotoUno) at the Brooklyn Bridge for some quality image-making at the Golden Hour. I’ve been to the Bridge before (at the other golden hour) and was looking forward to some new tips and ideas about photographing something as iconic as the Brooklyn Bridge. I always learn a lot about my camera at these classes and I like that I am forced to work in a manual mode.
Early in the evening I switched to a Black and White mode which I have never attempted before. Let me tell you, over and under exposure make a lot more sense when you are looking at it in black and white and I think things are finally clicking for me.
I also learned a lot about shutter speed and bracketing (I had never even heard of that before, but now I seem to see the term everywhere). I’ve never wanted to use a tripod before, feeling that they take up a lot of space and are rather cumbersome, but now that I have seen what it can help you do, I’m eager to get one and put it to good use!
One thing that I will not miss about New York City is the sheer number of people. It’s always more noticeable when the weather is nice – people seem to be everywhere! – and this weekend was no exception. It can be quite challenging to either find a way to remove them from photos or incorporate them into the image. Although the city has a lot to offer and I’m glad for the experience of living here, I do treasure my quite moments and am looking forward to living in a place that has a little more quiet.
Easter at the Cloisters
It seemed appropriate to spend Easter Sunday morning at The Cloisters and Fort Tryon. I am always amazed at the beautiful neighborhoods and architecture of Manhattan and Fort Tryon is no exception. It was nice to spend a morning with the Lensbaby and the 35mm optic.
The Cloisters and Fort Tryon also have fantastic views of the George Washington Bridge.
One of my favorite things that I took away from New Zealand was that everywhere I went, it seemed everyone had a garden of some sort. One day I will own my own home and I love getting ideas for future gardens and terraces. The below image is probably my favorite of the day.
Happy Easter!
A Fisheye View of Battery Park
The weather has been so glorious lately (couldn’t have picked a better winter for knee surgery, haha)! Last night I ventured into Battery Park around sunset with the Fisheye Optic that my mom gave me for Christmas. I have only used it once before, on a Christmas Day hike with my dad. I had a great time messing around with the aperture and figuring out when the best time is to go fisheye.
Obviously I have a serious problem holding my camera straight, and that I will work on.
New Zealand: The Final Days.
As I mentioned before, we flew Air New Zealand back to the North Island instead of driving since we were both flying out of Auckland and our last few days were going to be in Raglan. We had an extra night and decided to spend it back in Hahei since I had loved it so much and really wanted to spend more time there.
Out of all of the places visited, I maintain that this was my favorite.
After a night in Hahei, we drove over to the opposite coast and spent our remaining days in Raglan. We had rented the bottom level of a vacation home from Sleeping Lady Lodges, which provided a gorgeous view over Whale Bay.
Other than white water rafting, the only request that Sarah had made for the whole trip was to go surfing. I was a tad apprehensive since I had just watched Soul Surfer, but how could I deny this one request to the most laid back travel partner ever? We each took a 1/2 day surf lesson from Raglan Surf School. I don’t know about Sarah, but I incorrectly assumed that since I had picked up snowboarding pretty quickly, I would do the same with surfing. I was WRONG, and out of the entire 3 hour lesson I only managed to fully stand up one time. Johnny Tsunami doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Sarah, on the other hand, was a pro! Our last day was reserved for relaxing or doing whatever and Sarah really wanted to go surfing again. I was not particularly inclined, so I grabbed my telephoto lens and headed down to the beach with her. I probably took over 100 photos and it was a fun challenge to figure out where to stand to get a good angle and be close enough to get her facial expressions.
I also spent some time wandering down the beach looking for neat images.
Contrary to some of my more concerned (and perhaps a little cruel?) coworkers and friends, my plane did not crash in the Pacific Ocean (although I did panic a bit on takeoff), I was not abducted while staying in a hostel (I think I actually prefer them to hotels), and it is not that difficult to learn to drive on the left side of the road (in fact, I picked it up pretty quickly and had a hard time adjusting when I got back home).
I had such an amazing time in New Zealand and while I didn’t go everywhere, I feel that 19 days was the perfect amount of time to experience the whole country and not feel like I missed something really big. I highly recommend traveling there - the sights, people, and activities are worth every penny. It also came at such a perfect time in my life when I needed to do something really different.
I don’t know what my next big adventure will be, but until then I’ll just have to have lots of little ones at home!
Milford Sound. Or, Make sure you fill up on Petrol before you leave Te Anau. No matter what.
Milford Sound was probably one of my most emotionally charged days in New Zealand. Since we had decided to fly from Queenstown back to the North Island, we had an extra day on the South Island and decided to spend it in Fjordland National Park. After spending some time with Ron, I really wanted to go kayaking in Milford Sound so I arranged a trip through Real Journeys. Milford Sound is so close to Queenstown on the map, I figured it would be easy to make a day trip over there. On closer inspection I discovered that no direct route exists between the two places unless you want to take a helicopter, which we didn’t. We drove to Te Anau the night before, and decided to drive the rest of the way early the next morning and meet our kayak group. The confirmation said to meet at Milford Lodge at 0500, which seemed early since our tour didn’t start until 8, but I figured we might have to drive somewhere or do a lot of prep work. When we got to Te Anau I was kind of tired and foolishly told myself that I would fill up on petrol before we left the next morning. Can you guess what happened at oh-dark-thirty the next morning? If you guessed that the station was closed and the machine wouldn’t accept my PIN, you are correct! I pondered what to do and Sarah and I agreed that we would keep going to Milford Sound. There must be a station there, right? Naturally, the low fuel light came on well before we got to Milford Sound, but fortunately we were going downhill at that point and we made it to Milford Lodge, where we were supposed to meet our group. We walked into the lodge expecting to be just in time, only the group that was there was definitely not ours. The guide told us our best bet was to check back in at 8 when the front desk opened. She had also told us there was a petrol station a few km down the road that we might be able to try. Since we had a couple of hours to kill, we decided to try it out. If it didn’t work, we were pretty much F***ED. We went down to the station and tried our luck. The pump would not accept my pin. I was almost in tears at this point.
I paced around the station while Sarah tried to talk me down, and then one of us noticed a sign in the corner, which taught me something I want to pass on to every American buying fuel with a credit card in New Zealand. When the pump asks for your pin, they are not referring to your ATM pin number, but the three digit security code on the back of your card. THAT wasn’t in the guide book and I have never felt so much relief filling up a fuel tank.
Anyhow, we went back to the lodge parking lot and slept for a while and then figured out where we were supposed to be. It turns out that many people have had problems with Real Journeys, as far as pick up times and transportation issues. I had indicated on registration that we would be meeting the group in Milford Sound and had been told to meet at the lodge at 0500. What was actually supposed to happen was to meet the bus at Te Anau at 0500 and be in Milford Sound by 0800. Our guide laughed when we told him how long we had been waiting, but I was not very amused.
Milford Sound is a great place to kayak and I highly recommend not passing by Fjordland National Park because you might think it is too out of the way. It was gorgeous and we got a great lesson in New Zealand natural history, saw some New Zealand Fur Seals, had a picnic lunch, and got devoured by millions of sand flies. Well, I did. For some reason Sarah had no problem at all with them.
I can only imagine how gorgeous the drive in would have been had it not been completely dark out.
Historic Johnstown
A while back I bought a Lensbaby, wanting to do something new and different with photography. Between New Zealand and knee surgery, I haven’t really put much effort into using it other than to test it out, but I am making it a goal this year to use it more and become a little more creative. This morning I spent some time walking around Historic Johnstown, figuring out how to move the sweet spot (I have the Composer Pro lens), focus, and when to change the aperture. Although I still have a lot to learn, I had a great time.
Drumm House – the oldest dwelling in Johnstown. George Washington once spent the night here.
Entrance to the First Episcopal Church in Johnstown.
Fulton County Courthouse – the oldest acting courthouse in New York and one of the oldest in the country, if not the oldest.
Entrance to Sir William Johnson Hall. Sir William Johnson is the founder of Johnstown and served as the Superintendent of Indian Affairs.
Queenstown: I Heart NZ
OK! I belive we left off at the end of a long but spectacular day hiking the Tongaririo Alpine Crossing. Next we were due in Picton, on the South Island, so we got up early to drive to Wellington. My original idea was to explore the Capitol of New Zealand for a while, then take the Inter Islander Ferry to the South Island, but by the time we found a gas station that accepted my credit card we only made it just in time. The ferry trip was nice – just a few hours, relatively nice weather (a little choppy), and I managed not to think about what the engine room looked like, what shape the lifesaving equipment was in, or how much training the crew had. We arrived in Picton, checked into our hostel, went for a walk, ate some dinner, and retired for the evening.
The South Island is much more…sparsely populated…than the North and we spent a couple of days driving down to Queenstown along the eastern coast. I had planned on spending part of a day in Christchurch, but the damage from the Earthquake was pretty wide-spread. We drove around for a bit and then decided to continue south. Timaru looked to be the last decent-sized town where we would be able to find lodging at the last minute, so we stopped at the first respectable looking place we saw. It turns out that there was a wedding in town that evening, so we got the last room!
The next day we finished our venture to Queenstown. What a fun place! You can do pretty much anything you want there, but we were going whitewater rafting the next day, one of the few things that Sarah requested that we do on the trip. We decided to spend the day walking around Queenstown, stretching the old legs since we had spent the last two days in the car. We walked along the shore of Lake Wakatipu, where I found this lovely creation:
Our next stop was the Gondola! Sarah really wanted to try luging, which I was against at first but ended up being a blast! Taking the scenic route was actually a pretty relaxed ride, and the view was phenom.
As we had been walking around we saw a lot of parachutes in the sky. I figured that they were skydivers making their way back to the earth but as we toured around the top of the Gondola I realized that they were paragliders. I don’t know if it was the fresh air or the excitement of Queenstown or knowing that the opportunity might never come along again, but I somehow talked Sarah into going paragliding with me. I had gone hang gliding in North Carolina a few years back and it looked pretty similar – no jumping involved, just let the wind pick up the chute. Then you fly off a steep embankment.
After getting some information from the company, we decided to go right then and got hooked up with our guides. They gave us a brief lecture and we were off. As we got closer to the launch site I got more and more nervous; that hill looked much more steep than it had a few minutes ago, those trees looked much more pointy up close. But I was only going to be in Queenstown once! Hands down, paragliding was definitely my favorite activity in the South Island and I would definitely recommend it and do it again. Let me know if you want to try but need a pep talk!
The next day we went whitewater rafting. It was gorgeous scenery and a lot of fun, but if I’m being honest, I felt the Sandy River in OR was much more challenging. The half day turned into a couple of hours after we got to the base camp, changed into our gear, and got shuttled to the starting point.
If I had to make a recommendation, I would say skip the rafting in Queenstown and go mountain biking instead.
Next up: Milford Sound!
2012: Best Yet
Going out of 2011, I was full of optimism. 2012 seemed to be full of potential and I had all sorts of plans for myself, from setting a 1/2 marathon PR to finally going to Jackson Hole to making the most of my last 1 and 1/2 years in New York City. It was going to be my best year ever! It’s certainly a good thing that I spent the majority of 2011 learning how to let go of all of my plans, because Circumstance sure did throw me a curve ball!
I think to fully explain this I need to go back about nine years.
Once upon a time, one fatefull day at lacrosse practice, I was chasing a ground ball with another girl. In the process I fell and partially tore my ACL. I freaked out, went to physical therapy, got the go-ahead from the doctors, and went off to begin my life. Since that time I have played lacrosse at a club-collegiate level, skied some amazing and challenging terrain and ran three 1/2 marathons. Then one day I took a funny step wearing some crazy high heels and the remains of my ACL decided that enough was enough.
In short: it finally broke, I fell, I had surgery, all plans have changed, flying by seat of pants has commenced.
What will this bring for 2012? Certainly no 1/2 marathons and no more skiing for the winter. I’m going to physically take it easy, get back in shape, enjoy the diversities of New York City, attend weddings, and take pictures. One thing is for sure though – this year is going to be great.
Here’s to 2012!
(No pictures this blog, but I will wrap up New Zealand soon! And I got a Fisheye Optic for my camera for Christmas, so I have lots of opportunities to learn!)
Tongariro Alpine Crossing
When I began reasearching my trip to New Zealand, one thing kept popping up on various websites and guidebooks: the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Numerious sources cited it as the best one day hike in New Zealand and it became the number one thing that I wanted to do.
Sarah and I had to wake early to catch the 6am bus to the trailhead. The bus driver had overslept in what he said was the first time in nine years, so we actually got a bit of a late start. He gave us a quick brief of the trail and mentioned that the winds were going to be pretty high and only get higher throughout the day. He then told us that in the past people have been blown off the edge of the crater. I started wondering what I had gotten myself into, but I had flown over 8,000 miles to do this hike and I certainly wasn’t going to not do it because it might be hard. Sarah, wearing pants and a windbreaker, stepped onto the bus and the driver stopped her. “Do you have a better rain jacket than that?” She replied that she did, but I’ll let you guess as to whether she did or not…. We drove a few minutes to the trailhead and began our journey on the Most Famous One Day Hike in New Zealand:
The weather was a bit windy on one side of the crater (I can defanitely see how somebody could be blown off on a windy day…), but otherwise the weather was gorgeous, just like Ron had told me it would be the day before. If you ever go to New Zealand, DO THIS HIKE. It was steep and hard and my feet hurt at the end, but it was totally worth it. About 30 minutes from the finish there is a stream where you can stop, kick off your shoes, and dip your feet in the icy water.
About seven hours after Sarah and I started, we met a bus at the end of the trail. The night before we had wisely decided to treat ourselves to the swanky hotel down the road from our cabin, but first we had to pick up our car and hand in our key. The receptionist, the same lady from the day before, looked slightly surprised to see us back so early and said so. Clearly she was thinking we would either bail out or die on the trail….
