Monday, January 18, 2010

the clouds lift

Alright, so you've seen this view before if you've seen this blog, but maybe not quite like this. We've had a week of dense cloud, occasional rain, and winds of up to 75km/h. I've been waiting expectantly for the clouds to clear to see whether the unseasonal cold temperatures had brought fresh snow to the volcanoes and this is what we're seeing today. I was gawping at the mountains ringing Queenstown in New Zealand a couple of weeks ago, and now Mexico seems intent upon showing its own beautiful vistas. Canon 5D Mk II with the 24-105mm f/4 at f/11 and 1/125 sec.

Friday, January 15, 2010

second act


Or maybe third? One of the delights of being in Queenstown at the end of 2009 was resuming contact with Darren Lovell, co-owner and chef at Fishbone, one of the town's most popular eateries. Darren and I first encountered each other more than 20 years ago in tiny pre-fab office built next to the printing presses for Time Out magazine in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. We were both starting our journalism careers fresh out of university and most likely cutting short our lives by a couple of years thanks to the smoke we inhaled from Tony Grant Taylor and Paul Syvret in our fluro-lit hotbed of freelance writing.
We both ended up in Sydney for different organizations before setting off abroad to pursue our careers, and naturally drifted away from regular contact. I received an email out of the blue some time back from Darren saying he was taking over a restaurant in Queenstown and so when Sylvie and I arrived there we tracked him down and took him to lunch at Eichardt's, a hotel with a cosy bar and restaurant where I took this shot with the 5D and available light. Really, he hasn't changed a bit in 20 years. Swine. He and Mark arranged a wonderful dinner, with free champagne, for Sylvie and I and we loved every bite. Talented lads, and a wonderful and inspiring second act by an old friend.

Monday, January 11, 2010

sydney downpour


Back in beautiful Sydney briefly before returning to Mexico City, the second day of 2010 brought with it a magnificent storm that unleashed a torrent of rain reminiscent of the deluges of the tropical north. Having sifted through bargains at the Glebe market, my companions and I had wandered into Sappho Books and Cafe on Glebe Point Rd for a bite of lunch and we marveled at the fury of the downpour from the perfect table perch on the back patio. The rain cascading from the tin iron roof evoked dim memories of my first years in country Australia and also of the storms that sometimes used to lash the roof of my little townhouse in Brisbane when I worked as a reporter there many years ago. It was also a great time to test out the capabilities of the little G11, which handled the conditions splendidly I thought, although I think the patrons suspected I was some nut who'd never seen rain before, the way I scurried around for the best angle. All in the name of art, of course.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

inches


Queenstown in New Zealand boasts of being the adventure capital of the world thanks to their range of adrenalin-testing pursuits, from heli-skiing to, of course, bungee jumping. One of the most popular and long-lived activities however is the Shotover jet boat ride, which entails donning a life jacket, strapping into a squat and muscular fire-engine-red craft, and losing lunch and sunglasses as it's thrown around on the Shotover River. I caught this one as it was beginning its run up the river and it shows pretty starkly how close the boats come to the rock walls on the riverside. Great fun I reckon, but, er, not this trip. Too much, um, bungee jumping to do. Swear. Even without retouching, the red of the boat shows up beautifully against the pale green of the water and the dark rocks methinks.