Random Thought is Random..

I'm sitting here, thinking about how much blogging is both a dying art and an art that is blowing up at the same time.

You see, with blogging platforms like tumblr and instant gratification like status updates and tweets, there's a new form of blogging that's fun and easy for everyone to enjoy. And then we have blogger and wordpress, a more traditional way of writing. Even though you can schedule your updates and keep drafting things as you need to with tumblr, they've still taken a lot of the guessing out of getting your images just the right size and in just the right area of the entry. Which is pretty fantastic, but it can be a bit frustrating when you're used to the older methods. You know, like paying attention to html codes that you place in your textfields, specifically the ones that say how wide, how tall, how many pixels for a border, what color border- all that.

When I think of reorganizing my blog and or trying to make it to where I actually put it to use, I think of easy things. I think of the instant gratification. I also think of my roots and I think about how long I've been doing this for. I think of the important things.. I make analogies. Like with photography; today's DSLR is not at all what yesterday's SLR was. Today's blogging is much the same yet it has so much improved. Even blogger and wordpress, though they remain more traditional are still leaps and bounds more advanced than they were before with every update, have been adapted to bend to the demand for instant gratification. Another good analogy is coffee; blogger and wordpress are more like a traditional frenchpress and tumblr/twitter/facebook are more like those super awesome but outrageously annoying Keurig single cup brewers. Sure it will make you this really pretty cup full of caffeine but somehow filling the top too fast gets water all over your counter top and it will occasionally explode pods in the most awkward ways. And sure, a full pot is nice but what a waste of coffee grounds when all you want is one cup at a time..

There's a lot of ways to look at this particular subject.. there's no wrong answer but sometimes easy and pretty remains annoying and worthless. I'm not sold that I should abandon more traditional methods but I'm lazy and whiney like the rest of most sheeple on the internets. I like shiny and I like instant gratification. Oh, interwebs! What a tangled web you weave..

Tofino

Having just spent four months on Vancouver Island, British Colombia, I have a small handful of images to share from my trip to Tofino.


View Larger Map For those of you who do not know about Tofino, it is a located at the very tip of a peninsula on Vancouver Island, (I gave you a map, aren't you impressed? I am. Thanks, Google.) It is home to fishing ports and surfers. With a very hippie vibe, it contains colorful food, people and landscapes. Have you seen Twilight? I have it on good authority that when you see beach, you see Tofino. Apparently, people go there to find themselves. I didn't find myself but I haven't lost myself for a while, either.. but I can see why people do this. It's gorgeous. Unfortunate for my photographic evidence and my fragility in cold weather, I went in early January. It wasn't exactly as vibrantly colored as it is in the spring and summer (so I am told) and the winds of the ocean were bitter cold. It was still amazing. Far more fascinating than anything I had ever seen growing up in the dry desert and a much cleaner ocean and beach than I had been on when I lived in San Diego briefly as a small child.

On the way.. it was foggy most places between Qualicum Beach and Tofino. There's only one road that leads to and from Tofino and that's the Alberni Highway, after which (Port Alberni) it turns into the Pacific Rim Highway.



After a long drive, my companion and I stopped for foods. I attempted to take pictures of the place we ended up, but not too many came out as I had expected.. but it was very pretty and had out-door seating. I loved the lights and the canopy/pergola kept us shielded from the wind.


Immediately after eating, we went to find the beach. We went to Long Beach and walked around a bit. It was cold, but worth it. This shot doesn't do the foliage much justice. On the little rocky hill, one can see a plaque. I inched closer to see what it was all about..


The drift wood fascinated me. It was difficult for me to get these shots. Even with gloves, my Raynaud's made it almost painful to be in the rain. My camera and lens was sprayed quite frequently. My microfiber cloth an I couldn't keep up..


A favorite shot. I loved the grain to this wood. I loved the grey sky behind it.



The plaque reads:

Whales 

Like ourselves these gigantic mammals are warm-blooded and air-breathing. Two distinct groups form the whale family: baleen whales, which strain their food, and toothed whales. Of the 21 species which occur along this coast, the Pacific Gray and Killer whales are most common. 

Gray Whale 

Spouts seen in Wickaninnish Bay are ususally those of the Pacific Gray whale which feeds from the bottom. These baleen whales, up to 45 feet long, may weigh 40 tons. 

Killer Whale 

Legendary "Wolf of the sea", the Killer whale is a highly intelligent creature unjustly feared by man. These fast moving, toothed whales hunt in groups and grow up to 30 feet in length.

When we felt satiated with what we felt was enough of what I've never seen, we departed. Which wasn't too much longer, but the sun was leaving us rapidly and I was getting weary of the cold. Good bye, Tofino. I'll come back later in my life. Hopefully soon and also not during north america's winter season. See my entire set on flickr here.

Best Laid Plans..

What started out as a blog we both intended on keeping up with, ended up fizzling out quite shortly. The past years have given both my dad and I almost too much to keep up with. It's been overwhelming, but we have lots of stories and eye candy to share. Myself especially.

I couldn't sleep last night. I made a list of priorities to sort through, and I needed things that are important to me, not just because I have to do them but because I want to. It's a huge list altogether, but I decided on a passion to focus my attention. Photography is of course our passion and it was on that list I insisted on making at 3am today. I started to think about where I could move my/our site/blog and or how I could improve upon it. I'm generally really picky when it comes to web design (for my own projects specifically, I'm less picky when making a site/blog for someone else,) so I knew that if I started from scratch (which I did for a hot minute,) I certainly wouldn't be any closer to getting anything done. I most certainly wouldn't have the ease of use that having blogger allows both my dad and I to have. Thus, I used all the new fancy layout and theme editing that blogger offers now that they didn't the last time I was around these parts in order to further motivate us. I'm still picky and not convinced that I'm 100% happy, but it's a work in progress. Everything in life is, no? I'm on it.

In any case, as I said, we've been very busy. I've been fortunate enough to have done a lot of traveling over the past few years. I'm quite proud of some of the beauty I've captured whilst I've been on my travels. I'm almost overwhelmed with how much I wish to share on here.. unfortunately, I need to catch up on my flickr account almost as much as I need to catch up here. Almost. Here's some recent gems I've uploaded to flickr that you're missing out on, clearly:

On one of my several trips to Las Vegas, Nevada. (There's a Las Vegas in New Mexico, you know. Clarification is important.) This was inside a venue in which I fail to remember the name of, unfortunately. It was seemingly a big deal at the Palazzo/Venetian in 2012, I'm sure it's likely an obvious statue to place a location to but I'm silly.

This was taken from the window of our living room facing the front yard. I had awoken to this sight during the time of Albuquerque's International Balloon Fiesta. 

This is probably my favorite shot I have taken in years, possibly since! This image is a collaboration in three parts by myself, my dad, and a good friend of mine, Brandon Wilson. My dad and I had been spending a lot of time in our courtyard, and a very large, orange dragonfly had been repeatedly coming to spend time with us too. Naturally, I eventually stalked him (her?) with my camera. He (she?) was at first very weary of my giant eye monster I was pointing at it, but eventually it warmed up to my curiosity and my equipment. With my own eye and with my dad's suggestions I got many wonderful shots of this lovely creature.. this was my favorite. Upon sharing with Brandon, he enjoyed it so much he couldn't not add his own artistic touch to it. He edited  it ever so slightly, barely doing anything to it but polishing it as only he could.

Sunset as seen from my back yard. With silhouettes of hibernating cottonwoods and a sky full of gorgeous gradient from blue to purple, pink, orange and bright yellow, I couldn't resist taking this picture. Although taken with my phone (Galaxy S3) I'm still pleased. I got the moment captured regardless of not being properly prepared with an actual camera and it was wonderful.

I do indeed have more in mind to share. There's not enough energy left in my sleep deprived fingers to continue much longer, so I'll just have to continue with more goodies again soon. Hold me to it, reader.