So this isnt exactly hot off the press, but I havent posted it yet. When my winter tires came in I was more than anxious to put them on, but being smart, I waited until we had a good first snowfall to try them out. This winter Im rocking the Gerneral Altimax Arctic’s, which when studded, and combined with quattro theres definetly no messing around in the winter wonderland in which I live for 8 months of the year. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
Caution: Crack
Favorite youtube videos of the day goto cyriak. With some truly bizarre animation that will get you scratching your head. Whats almost more funny than the videos themselves is the comments below. Such as “mind = blown”, “just an average day in my neighborhood”, or “I like the part where the cats meow”. It’s strange that comments are fast becoming one of my most entertaining experiences on youtube. I really do not know what else to say. Just watch.
Cows
Bears
Cats
So after 10 weeks of travelling through 5 countries and thousands of kilometers, I find myself now sitting in my office at home. Its so difficult to adjust I find, one day your exploring a village in India, and the next your home in Canada. The hot water works whenever you want it to, there’s always toilet paper, cars don’t try to hit me when I cross the street, its so very different.
I will be showcasing some photos that I took over the course of my recent travels, having sorted through over 3000 photos to find just 200 of my favorites was no easy task. But keep an eye out for those soon. I have a snowboard trip to Montana this weeked, but when I get back I’ll be posting some up.
So for now, I’d like to share some of my recent findings on youtube. Here are three videos I watched last night. One is by a favorite band of mine, the Gorillaz, in a new video which really surprised me, Bruce Willis? Really? The song also feature Mos Def. The second is a commercial by Tropicana, its a special commercial to me because it takes place in the Canadian Arctic, a place I know all too well. Its definetly one big push to get the locals drinking Tropicana, but hey, its fun and it made me smile. The final video is a short film called Uncle Jack, take a minute to watch this, I thought it was very well done.
In the mean time, stay safe!
They are in! The new canvas gallery prints, stretched over 3/4″ mount, black edges, complete with mounting wire and hardware, they are ready to hang! Complete with description cards, check them out, and let me know what you think.
Large ones are 24×32, smaller one is 18×24. Each print comes with it’s own 10×15 description card with details about the particular photo.
If you are interested in obtaining one of these, or would like a canvas print of any of my photos, contact me!
You can view them on the FivePuddles Facebook Fanpage by clicking here!
So over the last 2 weeks, when the sun goes down, I have had a little habit of heading outside with my new Canon T1i. My roomate would ask, where are you going so late? I’d reply to shoot some time lapse of course, and close the door.
Time lapse is something fairly new to me, so I’m experimenting with it. Armed with a backpack, tripod, timer, camera, bottle of water, a book, and an iPod, I venture out into the dark to find interesting, sometimes obscure locations to shoot from. Heres a couple photos from my most recent shoot as well.
I finally got around to putting a bunch of clips together from my shooting, threw some what I thought to be fitting music ontop, and let her rip. So here is my first sample, let me know what you think and rate and comment if your on youtube!
It was 4:30am Saturday Oct 17, 2009, as I drag myself out of bed. It is at this point that I regret not getting to sleep until 1:30am, should of brought that monster energy drink along, I think to myself as we cruise south down the highway in the darkness. We’re in the Suzuki XL-7, with a 16ft fiberglass canoe hastily strapped to the roof, heading southwest of Edmonton; upstream of the North Saskatchewan River. My friend Lucas and I had this last minute idea to paddle down the river on what looked to be one of the last good weather weekends of the year, although the snow and cold earlier in the week didn’t boost our confidence.
We push on down the secondary highway system, headed towards the Genesee Bridge, about an hour and a half drive away. When we get there it’s still dark, as we pull down the canoe from the roof and carry it down to the water’s edge, and begin loading the gear into it. Just as the sky begins to brighten, we’ve pushed off from the shore, floating through the fog, as a bright red dawn reflects off the water. It’s almost surreal as we paddle quietly past the riverbanks. “I sure hope we don’t tip” Lucas says. Thinking about how I’m wearing the only clothes I brought, and how cold the water is, I couldn’t agree more, falling in… would suck.
This was supposed to be an overnight trip, and both of us had things to do on Sunday, so we pushed hard the first day to cover some ground errr.. water. Fall is a beautiful time for a canoe trip down the river, the leaves are all turning color, and if you look carefully, you can spot bald eagles soaring above. Canadian and snow geese are all along the river. Flying in perfect V’s over the water, they are abruptly interrupted by Lucas’ attempt at a goose call, “uuuaahhhh!” he screams, as I burst out laughing, “That was terrible!”
The river is fairly easy to navigate in this section, but with a very dry year with little rain, the water level is very low. Occasionally Lucas yells “Rock!” as I steer hard to keep us from hitting the boulders patiently waiting to rip a hole in an unsuspecting canoe. At other times, you look down into the clear waters and find yourself in only a few inches of water as you glide over a rocky sandbar hoping you don’t bottom out. By the end of the day our shoulders and backs tell us it’s time to stop, as we begin to hunt for a good place to land and make camp for the night. We find a rocky beach and push ashore, dragging the canoe up out of the water. After setting up the tent and cooking a quick meal, it doesn’t take long before we’re both fast asleep. Three hours of sleep followed with nine hours of paddling down a river is the perfect recipe for a quick pass out.
My sleep is only interrupted at around 2am, by the sound of rain pouring down on the tent. Lucas is up too, as I peek out of my mummy bag, “Can you imagine packing up camp and paddling the rest of the way in a down pour tomorrow?” I say, before falling back asleep. When I open my eyes in the morning, I am glad to not here the sound of raindrops on the nylon tent. I get dressed and crawl outside, Lucas sticks his head out, “Aw man, I spent so much time thinking about how I’m going to wrap myself up in garbage bags to stay dry today, and now it’s not even raining!” I chuckle as I start to pack things up. It doesn’t take long before we’re back on the water pushing towards the city.
Bridge after bridge we paddle into the city, enjoying a very unique look of the city that we both grew up in. Our arms are burning, and sitting on a hard canoe seat for 2 days is not the most comfortable. But neither of us regrets it. We get back onto dry land near the low level bridge, as we strap the canoe in the back of the truck, all 10 feet sticking out the back, “It’ll be fine!” we say, as we drive off down the road. 2 paddles, 1 canoe, a different perspective, what better way to spend a weekend in October…
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