Monday, June 25, 2012

Beach Bums


Walking back from the surf I picked up an ice cream wrapper. It sat soggy and dirty in the sand staring up at me. Carrying it all the way back to the lodge and carefully depositing it in the bin I felt satisfied. Forget a lifetime of using the ocean for my pleasure, this means we're even right?

A few days later I actually got to understand the meaning of a "beach clean up". Northern Peru is a beautiful barren and dusty landscape, but like many other countries its beaches are becoming polluted with washed up trash. Ok I know I'm sounding like a righteous hippie, but this really was a whole lot of fun! I tagged along with Waves (a local NGO here in Lobitos) for their International Surfing Day beach clean up. The best part was getting to meet and hang out with the local kids and families. Living in this little town with my atrociously bad spanish can be isolating sometimes. The crew at Waves have this great ability for breaking down barriers to make things feel like one big crazy family.

The surf today was firing and the best part was surfing with the kids I met at the beach clean up. Language barriers don't mean a thing when you're having fun sharing waves.

Click here to see more about Waves organisation in Northern Peru.
http://www.wavesfordevelopment.org/






How many people fit in your truck?






Monday, June 18, 2012

What's up with Modelling?



Probably not what you think. Here is a sneak peek into my shoot the other week with the very talented Alicia Fox - my first shoot ever with a woman. I think it's more natural and easier to be sensual with a female photographer.

So what is up with Modelling? Let me tell you. It was grey and cold. Think middle of winter cold. We shot this late in the afternoon in Lima, Peru, in a coastal suburb called Miraflores. You get covered in sand, freeze your ass off and then there's the staring. Everything from odd looks to creepy dudes taking pics on their iphones. And it's really hard to pull a good face sometimes. Most the time I feel really silly. But every now and then things just pull together. The sun hits a perfect way, combined with flashes, reflectors, artistic eyes and thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment... and it all seems worth it.

But is it reality? You decide.

Check out more of Alicia's beautiful work at http://www.aliciafox.net/







Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Get Yourself a Guru!





Yoga has not always been my friend. I first tried it in San Diego and was terrible at it. The class was run in an "aerobics yoga" style, with the teacher up the front racing through a regimented set of moves. You could tell she just wanted her pay check and to go home.

Lately my perspective on yoga has done a backflip and it's all because of one little man - Santhanam, my new yoga teacher. I stumbled across him while in Northern Peru, and since coming down to Lima have been attending his classes every day. Except they are not really classes. More of a collaboration of people coming together to practice and learn yoga. It's not easy. Each morning I challenge my mind and body, learning self control, patience and mental stamina. And Santhanams no gentle quiet teacher either, he's a spirited little ball of Indian fieriness. But we wouldn't have him any other way.

I've been writing Santhanam's bio for him. He has been teaching Iyengar yoga for 26 years. Born and raised in India, he studied under H.S. Arum of Prashant Yogashraya in Bangalore before moving to Peru 10 years ago.

Yesterday morning I took my camera to class. It was my first time photographing yoga and I really wanted to capture the spirit there. It's only been 2 weeks but already I'm walking straighter, feeling stronger and have even noticed an improvement in my surfing. Thank you Santhanam!

You can reach Santhanam for lessons in Lima or to organise private workshops anywhere in the world at santhanami@yahoo.com































Kids don't try that one on the left at home. Santhanam, the human pretzel!












Saturday, June 9, 2012

A Bad Apple




Ok fellow mac owners, I need your advice! I've always been a PC lover but late last year I made the swap to a MacBook Pro for work. So far things have been ok. After a few initial navigational issues we were finally starting to bond. Until now that is, you bad apple.

I use my Mac pretty much every day for work. The problems started a few weeks ago. I checked emails in the morning, folded down the computer, left it in a safe place and returned after breakfast. When I returned and reopened the computer I found one whole side of the screen cracked. Just cracked all on its own. Everything else on the computer is in beautiful condition, there is no sign of trauma or impact from being dropped. Also now sometimes when it's charging the static is really bad. Kinda makes my hands hurt and tingle.

So ok, I have a faulty product. My one year warranty will cover it right? I spent everything I had on this computer and it's only about 6 months old. Wrong. The apple store told me they will not cover it, it will cost $900 to fix and I have to go to Rio (I'm in Peru). Great. I've been scouring the apple website for someone to contact and email for advice but I can't find anything. They only leave a number to call and when traveling in a foreign country that is easier said than done. When you fork out $$$ for a supposedly quality product, you expect the BASIC level of customer care right? I'm really disappointed. Has anyone else had a similar problem? Any advice on what I should do next? I'm looking online and seeing there are many reports of MacBook Pros having this fault. This seems to be a problem in the design.

Bad. Apple. Seriously.

Otherwise in perfect condition. No sign of bumps, scratches, drops ect.