Festive Craze

For some reason this is the time of the year when you are really tempted to do impulsive purchases - it must be the blatant commercial aspect of Christmas and new year combined. You see other people buying stuff and doing stuff that you want to do the same, so you can feel good about yourself. It's started affecting me as well and I started looking around for cameras with bigger sensors - so I could take photos with much more detail {see how easy it is to convince yourself that you need something - even when you don't}.

After window shopping around for a bit and doing a fair bit of internet research on bigger sensor cameras with interchangeable lenses, it hit me. I was falling into the consumer trap and realistically full time commercial photography is not a career path that I've taken, so it didn't make sense spending a couple of grand just to feel good about myself.

With the 18mm lens attachment for LX3 on it's way I'll have plenty more to learn and explore about photography. In addition to that I discovered a few new features on the LX3 - which I'll start playing with soon {with the only essential purchase being a mini-tripod}and also experiment more with manual settings to see if I can get more interesting compositions/pictures without spending a bomb.

With a major self-induced financial crisis averted I figured it'd be a good time to help the world's working poor a little in form of micro loans through KIVA. It isn't charity where you are just giving money and forgetting about it - rather it is enabling small entrepreneurs who can't afford to get a bank loan {because then they need collateral security} to make a living. Over the time the money is paid back and you can then re-lend it to someone else. Just a less expensive way of feeling good about yourself and also making someone else feel good about themselves.

That's me for now,
Amit

Quicksand

Swimming lessons are over for the year and there has been progress - I am not taking in water and can swim a little. Now it is a matter of practice to be water confident.

It's been raining since Friday and I love the greyness of the mood. Got a few cool shots while in the city, so pleased with the rain.

Currently feeling like I am trapped in quicksand but maybe that's an outcome of the crazy festive season all around or maybe an outcome of the state of things in general.

Later,

Amit

Clash of Media

Print media is considered a dying medium because of inroads that online media has made in the current information age but for the life of me I can't see why it should be that way. The arguments for the demise of print media are well known but the fact is that printed word has more power than any online article - which could disappear for any number of reasons. Also you do tend to read a lot more about the world - even on the areas that might not be of your core interest when you are reading a print magazine as opposed to an online magazine. I reckon both outlets have to be complimentary to each other and now I am kinda more convinced that we do need traditional formats of media still intact. Maybe an online replica of how the printed version looks - would be a good compromise and I'd be happy to pay money to subscribe to something like that for magazines I like.

'The Moments In Between' is dead. The reasons are simple yet complicated and it was a battle I decided was best to walk away from. It was a hard decision but it had to be done. R.I.P 'Moments'

Summer so far has been sensational and I went on a camping road trip last weekend to Whitianga - in the Coromandel. It turned out to be a much needed break from everything and was refreshing. Here are some pics from the trip

A road trip 

Fishing for food 

 To the beach

Setting up the tent

Camping

BBQ at the camp

Enjoying a chat and a feed

 A house with a view

Exploring the countryside

Overcast meetings

Forgotten

A piece of paradise

Cathedral Cove

Introspection

Beauty

New and old friends

Sunset

My last at learning how to swim was a few years back and I didn't learn how to stay afloat, so decided to take up the lessons again and got another 4 days left off it. There has been a slight progress in the sense that I am not taking in copious amounts of water up my nose as I was at the start of this set of lessons. Here is hoping that I'll be able to float at the end of this set of lessons.

Work is busy as usual and working through the holiday time frame in order to earn some extra holidays to save up for this coming year's trip to India. Other than that holiday time frame is looming over New Zealand - which means most of Auckland will disappear to Coromandel or up north to Bay of Islands, so nice to have done the camping trip already. Feels like I've already had my holiday.

If you are in Auckland - it is the last chance to check out an awesome photography exhibition called 'Earth from Above' as it finishes on 19th December {the installation is at Aotea Square - available to view 24X7 till the finish date}. You gain a whole new appreciation for the world we live in.

That's me for now,
Amit