Thailand // Elephants

A few images from our stay at the Elephant Nature Park. To see and learn more you can head over to my photography blog. This place was amazing, if you ever have the opportunity it's worth making a visit happen. So many rescued beauties, it was a pretty powerful experience.
 

Without Warning

Without Warning from Goldpaint Photography on Vimeo.

I wish I could have been at Crater Lake when the northern lights hit a few days ago. It's one of the most beautiful things you could ever watch, and I can never get enough. More found here.

From the man behind the magic above:

"I drove to Crater Lake National Park on the night of May 31, 2013 to photograph the Milky Way rising above the rim. I’ve waited months for the roads to open and spring storms to pass, so I could spend a solitude night with the stars. Near 11pm, I was staring upward towards a clear night sky when suddenly, without warning, an unmistakable faint glow of the aurora borealis began erupting in front of me. I quickly packed up my gear, hiked down to my truck, and sped to a north facing location. With adrenaline pumping, I raced to the edge of the caldera, set up a time-lapse sequence, and watched the northern lights dance until sunrise. The moon rose around 2am and blanketed the surrounding landscape with a faint glow, adding depth and texture to the shot. The last image in the sequence above shows the route of the International Space Station (ISS) which flew over at 2:35am."

Campfire Skylight

Before we left Wrightwood last year we went camping for our anniversary. The spot was just up the road on a mountain behind the town, and we could look out and almost see our house beneath us. I'm happy we moved, but that's one place I'll regret not going to enough. It was perfect for starry night shots, and one of the most peaceful nights I had in the 2 years of living there. Can't wait for the weather to warm up again so we can get out and go on an adventure.

An Adventure // Sandy River Delta

Now that I'm officially a Portland photographer (woohoo!) I've been trying to get out and 1) enjoy where we live while 2) shooting more personal work. You'd think this would be the first thing on my list, but it's one of the hardest things for me to do. Shoot more digital? Sit in front the computer more to edit them? I'd rather grab my film camera and send them off. But in an effort to challenge myself creatively, I'll be trying to get out and shoot an area at least once a month. To start it off we went out to a local spot on a rainy day with a lens I don't like... and I actually like the results. I know it's been quiet around here, but hopefully I'll be inspired as we settle in more and more into our new home. For now, you can see a piece our rainy Sunday below.

To see more, head over here.

Thailand // January

This was what our January looked like, in no particular order from a mix of iphone and dslr images. We explored the Thailand countryside from the northern tip to the southern beaches, taking a much needed sabbatical from editing and the internet. I put my camera down for most of the trip, which I'm trying not to regret. A break is good. Now we're already moved up to Portland and getting settled back into the gray, rainy drizzle of the Pacific NW. Pretty happy to be here.

For anyone wanting recommendations for Thailand, here are a few:

When taking the sleeper train to Bangkok to Chiang Mai (which is an awesome way to do it) choose a train number that's higher than 10. These are newer, and less cockroach infested. If you're even luckier to get on one that has the disco diner car, get your ass out of your bed and go drink some Chang beer in my honor as you ramble through the countryside. Also, don't freak out in the morning when you realize you've been peeing directly on the railway tracks, just be thankful you didn't drop anything as you tried to use the squatty potty and keep your balance at the same time in a room that felt like a simulator ride.

If you have experience riding motorcycles (or minimal experience, like me), take the minibus from Chiang Mai to Pai and then hop on bike rentals and get your hinnys to Cave Lodge. Epic adventures await. Go explore all those caves I couldn't after a bad cold hit me on day two.

After or before Cave Lodge, go to Elephant Nature Park and spend as much as you can to support that pure overflowing of goodness being put into the world. Please skip any elephant trekking or feeding baby elephants in cities. This is a great place to get educated on the heartbreaking elephant abuse that tourists are unknowingly contributing to. Plus you get play in the river with those giant beautiful dinosaurs, it doesn't get much better than that.

Skip Ton Sai, just trust me. Okay, Evan tells me I'm not allowed to tell anyone to skip a place. If you really want to go, don't drink any ice or eat any little bite of something that wasn't cooked. Lettuce on your tuna sandwich? Toss it. I've never been as sick as I was there and although it's one of the most gorgeous places in the world to climb, I didn't even get to touch a route thanks to the Tonsai Tummy. We decided if we ever go back, it'll be a day trip to climb, in and out. Concrete bungalows, FML. I don't think I could ever do a repeat. I'll save you from the details.

Koh Lanta was beautiful. It didn't disappoint in any way and next time I want to go with the sole purpose of learning how to dive. Stay at Pinky Bungalows, eat as many fresh coconuts as you can, get massages next to the beach, and rent a scooter to explore the southern beaches. Paradise.

Also, always travel with cold medicine (along with antibiotics and food poisoning meds) with extra to give to fellow travelers. Thank you Boston world-traveling family for saving me in my desperate time of need.

And laugh when you end up fighting with your traveling partner, because no matter how hard you try it'll most likely happen. More often than you think it will. Make up over a cold beer and a delicious, thoroughly cooked meal.

See It: Life of Pi

via here

Are you even considering not going? Just go, trust me. You'd be crazy to miss the experience of seeing this story and the beyond incredible imagery on a big screen. My favorite movie of 2012 hands down.

Sending out a happy new years day to all of you from Phoenix! Looking forward to 2013, creating a new life in a place we love, and making the most of everything we've got.

You were onto something Mr. Einstein...

"I fear the day when technology exceeds our humanity. The world will only have a generation of idiots.” 

Now go try to find someone who isn't glued to their iphone. Pretty rare, and a really good reason to make it a point to unplug every now and then. Especially when you're around other people.

Changes

We are:

leaving Wrightwood at the end of the year.

traveling to Thailand for a month in January.

moving to Oregon in February.

finishing a season of 20+ weddings.

dealing with a genetic medical issue.
making big lifestyle changes.

and it's all happening at the same time.

You may not hear much from me on this blog because even in the middle of this I don't have much to say. I'm insanely busy and will be going full bore until the end of the year when we'll both finally be able to breathe. So excited to go back home to Portland. So excited to live life how we want to. Sad about things that are out of our control. Thankful that there's so much good mixed into bad, that there's still nothing I can really complain about. I'm a pretty lucky lady when all is said and done. 

I'll be back blogging more frequently when the new year hits. Until then, I hope all of you stay happy and healthy.

xoxo

3 years.

Can you believe it? Three years already. I find that kind of mind boggling, in a good way. To celebrate we're going camping in the desert with Tucker Blue Ribbon and a bottle of wine, which sounds pretty perfect to this girl. Cheers to another year full of new adventures!