Incredibly, luck had it that the haze cleared up starting from the moment I stepped off the plane. The gods must have been looking out for the wedding ceremonies just a few days away, but I as the beneficiary tourist certainly was relieved to see the sky again by Tuesday.
I was supposed to spend two weeks in Blaichach followed by one week in Singapore. The flight over to Europe is nearly always exciting because it’s a flight that allows you to see the sunrise, but with all the rain leading up to my trip I wasn’t sure what would happen. (It worked out; I saw the sunrise.) But really the uncertainty became less about German weather and more about conditions in Singapore.
Ultimately, my itinerary changed to spending one week in Blaichach, one week in Singapore, and one more week in Blaichach. The week before I left for Singapore, fires in Indonesia caused massive haze issues through much of Southeast Asia. I wasn’t sure what weather to expect when I landed; the day before my flight, the PSI readings had set a new record.
It’s been two years since I was last in Europe, and there are certainly things I miss about it: the camaraderie, the beer, the bread, the exact pricing on store shelves, die Autobahnen, a lack of humidity. Oh, and the mountains. So it was with great anticipation that I left for my lead plant in the middle of June.
Though lusting over leaving (LOL), I had no idea 2013 would be a travel year for me. Maybe it was because 2012 was so domestic; maybe it’s that I’ve finally realized that I need to go adventure rather than sit idly.
The main purpose of the trip I mentioned previously was business, but to it I coupled some vacation time. Ultimately, the package deal lasted three weeks and found me adjusting to two time zones, visiting three countries, flying with four airlines, and spending five days at an Indian wedding. Congratulations above all to Mark and Sharon and much appreciation for having the honor of being invited to such an awesome wedding!
The organizer in me had a chronology of photos and background text in mind, but somehow I deviated from the plan: I started with the wedding instead of finishing with it. Perhaps it’s because of all the things I saw, experienced, tasted, smelled, or did on this trip, this wedding was the most beautiful. I have never brought a camera to a wedding with the intent of capturing the sentiments there so I can only hope that these four pictures can come close to expressing the tremendous amount of joy and hospitality during those five days in Singapore.
The first half of 2013 has been a bit rough. Charleston is a charming city, but its charm is — in my opinion — best experienced with friends rather than alone. Working somewhere around 50 55-hr work weeks (which doesn’t include meal or commute time!) in the span of a year isn’t conducive to a healthy social life, so I’ve gradually begun to develop a case of Wanderlust that I so happily nurtured in 2011. Luckily, I have always had an overzealous shutter finger to remind me of easier times and an overactive imagination to dream of when I can do this again.
Germany
The Autobahn and good drivers, the happiness and fun-loving nature of Munich, and a sunset in a small village not so far away from Stuttgart.
Photography is typically about light or composition and how to portray the emotional juxtaposition of the two given some subject. A photograph is the result of some amount of planning and motivation; ideally, it evokes an emotional response. The ability to photograph comes differently to photographers: some nail technique with no issue, others find the perfect composition without much thought.
Regardless, photography takes time. The amount of time it takes to expose a photograph is typically orders of magnitude shorter than the amount of time it takes to prepare for a shoot. Sometimes it surprises me just how much I’ve let work consume my time here, so I decided to put together a few shots from over the past year. There are no mountains here: where I typically derive my inspiration from the large rock formations that border Seattle or Switzerland, I’ve finally begun to learn that the beauty is in the details in the Lowcountry.
Earth
I never thought I’d work in manufacturing and enjoy it, and none of my previous work would have suggested that I take final placement in a plant. But it’s incredibly fun, a bit chaotic, and a perpetual challenge. Every so often, on some Charleston-area beach I find a spot with footsteps untarnished that reminds me of where I’ve come from — and how little that can sometimes matter in where I’m going.
There is something inexplicably tranquil about Seattle. It’s not unemotional — quite the contrary in fact — but it’s been the only place where my mind can detach itself from the furor of my current job. Although I visited it this year already, I reasoned that if I drove six hours each way in my various Stuttgart excursions that I should also be able to fly six hours across the country, so I set off for the airport at 3 AM one Friday in late September to put my workaholism on hold for 72 hours.
It seems that everywhere I go, I end up chasing the sun — either as a sunrise or sunset, it’s almost a sure bet that I’ll be pining to be at “the” right spot for a photo. As pervasive as digital photography is today, it’s quite easy for someone to be at the right spot at the right time of the right day: but going out of town with the goal of taking a certain photo can always be elusive.
It wouldn’t be me to give up on a sunrise photo, however, so I decided I’d give it attempt this trip, too. The forecast predicted clearing on Friday and Saturday, and with my being unable to get out of bed at 2:30 AM on Friday my only chances for a sunrise photo at Mt. Rainier were for Saturday. Chinook Pass — one of my favorite spots in the Park — opened just after noon on Friday, so it was there that I planned to take a sunrise photo; ideally, with Tipsoo Lake in the foreground. I hadn’t visited this quiet version of Paradise since August 11, 2007, but my goal had one small flaw: in late May 2012, Tipsoo was still under 13′ of snow.
En me brossant les dents 