This past Summer, or Winter for you in North America, I had the lucky fortune to have two of my best friends pay a visit down here in South America.
Jude arrived right before New Years and stayed for almost a month. And Chris arrived a few days before Jude left and stayed for almost a month as well.
On both road trips we traveled down to Patagonia. About half the time was spent in and around Pucon, Chile, and the other half in and around Bariloche, Argentina.
After years of dreaming and months of work, I finally published my first photography book. This book is a tribute to my new home, a place I grow fonder of every day, as well as a 'thank you' to all the friends and family who supported my decision to move down here last year.]]>
Our main reason for visiting Ecuador was to attend Macarena's & Pablo's Wedding. However, since neither Constanza nor I had ever been there, we decided to turn the trip into a 3 week adventure.In short, Ecuador has a lot to offer the eco-tourist. If you're looking for elegance, world-class service, and fine cuisine, Ecuador is probably not the place for you. But, if you enjoy rustic villages, outdoor activities, and friendly natives, Ecuador is fantastic.
With a few hours of driving you can visit warm sandy beaches, cold mountain villages, and humid tropical rain forests. It's a beautiful little country, with an amazing amount of diversity for its size.
The wedding we went to was in a very special little town in the North called Vilcabamba. This place is unique for its perfect Spring weather year round, and the number of inhabitants that live well over 100 years.
Also while in Vilcabamba, I met two really interesting gentlemen, Joe Simonetta and William Gazecki.
Among many things, Joe is a writer, author of "Seven Words That Can Change The World", and a busy speaker. Here are just some of the things Joe lectures on:
William (Bill) Gazecki was introduced to me by Joe. As a documentary filmmaker, Bill is best known for his Academy Award nominated and Emmy winning film WACO: The Rules of Engagement. You can read more about Bill here.
It was a great pleasure having the opportunity to hang out with both Joe and Bill for a few days.
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Google recently announced a new, free video hosting service. I decided to give it a try. If you have videos in digital format, it's a really great way to share them.My Music Videos
I visited the famous Chilean ski slopes a couple weeks ago, finally. The fact that these world-class resorts are 90 minutes from my downtown apartment amazes me. Anyway, in the almost 30 years that I've been skiing, this was without question one of the best days ever.
It all started with a big storm that dumped 3 feet of fresh, light powder the night before. For most of the day, there were no more than 50 people on the mountain, including the Women's US Olympic Ski Team! And, to top it off, the area itself was just beautiful. The day was spent making tracks and floating down the mountain. I felt like I'd stepped into a Warren Miller movie. Take a look at some of these pictures to see for yourself.
Over the past few weeks, Constanza and I have found several great places for hiking and jogging.
Surrounded by beauty on all sides, Santiago is perfectly situated at the base of the majestic Andes mountains and a mere 100 miles from the pacific.]]>
The first group of photos in this album were taken from the top of our new apartment in downtown Las Condes. The building has 17 floors and we live on the 14th floor. So, though the view from our apartment isn't quite as nice as what you'll see in these photos, it's almost as good.
About 45 minutes outside of town you'll find world class skiing during the winter. And an hour and a half in the other direction you'll find world class beaches and scenic coastline that are at their best during the Spring and Summer.
As you'll see from these photos, Santiago is not always filled with smog and low hanging clouds during the winter months, as many will tell you. Though, in reality, there's enough smog here to give L.A. a run for it's money, there are plenty of days where you can see the Andes as clear as day.
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My last visit to the US was great. It was a trip filled with serendipity, good luck, and heart-felt reunions with family and friends.
I managed to visit San Francisco for about 7 days, Big Sur for 3 days, Nashville for 5 days, and San Diego for about 5 days. It had been almost 9 months since I'd seen my "north american people". So, though 3 weeks isn't short, the time went by incredibly fast.
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My first couple of days were spent hanging out in Rockridge Oakland with my good friends Ion, Alexandra, and getting to know their new son Lucas. Here are a few shots of Ion with his 7 month old treasure Lucas.
Chris and I go way back, first becoming friends in high school. If I remember correctly, Chris and I met each other while both observing a drama scene unfold between some dude and a girl in the Torry Pines parking lot. We each overheard the other comment on how ridiculous the whole thing was. Anyway, this led to a comradery of spirited adventures and innocent weirdness over the years, creating some of the most fun and funniest moments in my life. He and I wasted no time recapturing some of that old creativity after my arrival. The photo session we had on top of Mt Tam, after a run, is a perfect example of what Chris and I do best together.
A couple days after my arrival to the US, I had the nice pleasure of seeing my good friends Jason Smith and Francine Elcenko get married. I became friends with these two from my work days at Zone Labs. Another nice bonus to the wedding was getting a chance to see a lot of other work faces that I definitely would not have seen otherwise.
See Photos of Jason and Francine
After San Francisco, I was off to Nashville to see my Mom, Don, and Sister Wendy.
Unfortunately I ended up leaving my extra, special camera battery, and battery charger at Chris' house in San Francisco, so I wasn't able to take very many photos during this segment of my trip. I did manage to get a few nice shots of Wendy's 200 lb great dane named Sterling, as well as the first stages of construction for my grandma Pom Pom's new house.
See Photos of Wendy and Sterling
Following my Nashville trip, I came back to the west coast and drove down to Big Sur for a weekend workshop at the Esalen Institute.
My good friend Jude decided to attend the workshop as well. He and I had a fantastic time. The workshop was aimed at helping people learn how to live their lives from their hearts and minds, as opposed to just one's mind. And to learn how to live life with more self honesty and courage and to stop being afraid to take chances and to start doing and saying the things your heart tells you to do. Needless to say, it was a spiritually awakening experience. It was awesome.
The very last leg of my trip was spent in San Diego. But, somehow I didn't manage to take a single photo. I think I was just too busy relaxing to bother with trying to capture the moment. In any case, I had a great time with my family for the 5 short days I was there.
Discovering a new artist that truly inspires you is one of life's richest pleasures, I think. Just recently, about a month ago, I somehow discovered one such artist, singer song writer Ray LaMontagne.In a nutshell, Ray's music is just beautiful. It's soul driven, expressed with great humility and respect, and it's also just damn good music rhythmically and acoustically.
When you get a chance, definitely check out his first album, Trouble, which was released in September of 2004.
» Listen to Ray's Music
» Check out Ray's Site
» Read Ray's Bio
The beach in Renaca has a series of beautiful modern cafes that line the main beach. In the late afternoon you can enjoy an espresso and watch the sun drop into the sea.
Yesterday Constanza and I did just that. I took a few photos in between sips of my coffee.
]]>I recently found out about this amazing touring exhibition called Body Worlds. My parents went to see this in Los Angeles a few weeks ago.
Anyway, the exhibition features more than 200 authentic human specimens, including entire bodies, individual organs and transparent body slices that have been preserved through the process of “plastination,” a technique that replaces bodily fluids and fat.
]]> Unlike plastic models, plastinated specimens are intricate, REAL displays of human anatomy. They say it takes an average of 1,500 hours to transform a cadaver into a full-body plastinate. The most interesting aspect to all of this, for me, is that plastinated specimens are dry and odorless and retain their natural structure – in fact, they are identical to their pre-preservation state down to the microscopic level.
Check out the website and see if a tour is coming near you soon.
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Here are a few photos from our local farmer's market. Constanza and I go here every Wednesday to get our weekly supply of fruits, vegetables, and other yummy things.
]]> However, at the farmer's market it's even cheaper. For a dollar you can get 6 large avocados, or about 12 big tomatoes, or 8 heads of lettuce, or about 30 fresh fuji apples.
I will definitely be taking more shots at the farmer's market in the next month. Today we went in the afternoon when there aren't as many people. I like going in the morning though when the crowds are a little bigger and the best selections are out for the taking.
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I'm very happy to finally announce the completion of my online photography site.
This project has been months in the making. There are currently over 1700 pictures organized into 84 different albums.
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