DEN > SFO > SYD
Flyiing over the Colorado, Rockies enroute to San Francisco
I’m heading to Australia… Tasmania to be specific. I should be more excited about this vacation, but getting settled back in Denver and leaving California at the same time has been distracting. I unpacked my new furniture in my new home to the last minute, and didn’t start packing for Australia until this morning. I left myself only 3 hours to pack my clothes and camera gear, before I had to catch my flight out of Denver Intl’. I suppose 7 years of travel gave me some skill… depending on how I feel when I land in Sydney, I may or may not make a separate blog/website for my photos from this trip/shoot.
Standby and check back soon!
- Jude
Iceland Improvised
I’ll be away in Iceland for vacation and a personal photo project. Be sure to check out the photos and my blog at http://iceland.nomadik.nu
High Sierra Sunset
Captured this image as it neared sunset from my flight over the high sierra along the Californian-Nevadan border. I’ve been flying this route since February, but this is the first time that it was light enough to see at that time of day.
Snow Envy
I am always looking to evolve my photographic skills, and always looking to prove that I can be more than just a landscape photographer… mission accomplished.
I had set out one Friday for the Colorado mountains with my camera, tripod and two strobes (a.k.a. speedlights or flashes). Earlier in the afternoon I scouted the resort town of Breckenridge in Colorado’s Summit County, and had stumbled upon this forgotten wooden shed behind a closed down historic museum from the late 1800s. The wood was very aged and showed lots of character. I returned later that evening as the snow began to fall again. The strobes enabled a fast shutter speed and bright light to capture the snow falling and to bring out the colors and texture in the wood grain.
Lessons learned? I’ll bring my snowboard next time.
Snowboarding Squaw Valley
Snowboarding Tahoe | Squaw Valley from Jude Tibay on Vimeo.
Some footage of my team mates snowboarding in Tahoe’s north lake resort Squaw Valley. Not the most exciting riding you’l ever see, but the scenery (and hopefully the soundtrack selection) makes the vid worth watching.
‘Morning over the Rockies
Just about every Monday morning at 6:00 am, I take a flight from home in Denver, Colorado to work in San Jose, California. On this particular morning, rain and snow blanketed most of the scenic colorado plateau so most of what was visible from 30,000 feet above sea level was cloud cover. But they parted for several minutes revealing this wintry mountain scape. Unfortunately, I couldn’t determine if this was over the Watsatch mountains of Utah or the high Sierras over Nevada and California.
Salt Lake Valley Sunset
Exposure: 1/125 sec @ f/8.0
No photoshop on this photo. Honest! A smoggy haze hangs over Salt Lake City during temperature inversions in winter months. This traps dust and other pollutants low over the city. The orange glow comes from the orange glow of the setting sun being diffused through the smog. I’ve never seen anything like this in other mountain cities. Taken after snowboarding on a foggy day in Utah’s Snowbird ski resort.
Hudson: Dusk ’til Dawn
Midtown Manhattan a Sunset
Thanks to Karin and MJ who separately inspired me to shoot New York City, and venture out and prove I can do more than just nature photography.
Hudson Sensibilities
Looking down onto 5th Avenue from the Empire State Building observatory
Ending 2009 with a photoshoot atop the Empire State Building and the New Jersey Hudson River harborside.
Point Reyes & Muir Woods
Sunbeams slice through the morning mist.
Click here for more photos below.
It was drizzling and pitch black outside, as I hugged the winding roads in a cheaply-made SUV. It was 9:14 pm when I glanced at the dashboard clock. I was about to enter the cellular “dead zone” with only 15 minutes to arrive before it would be too late to check into the youth hostel located in the middle of Point Reyes National Seashore. The nice girl who answered at the hostel front desk promised to wait a few minutes extra. I told her that I understood if she left, but she assured me she’s leave me a note should “something crazy happen”. I focused back on the road where my high beams sliced through the darkness. My imagination started to run wild:
Bigfoot waits in the forest for me to reach a sharp curve before jumping out of the trees thus scaring the bejeezus out of me. I drive off the road and into the ravine where the SUV toppled onto its side. Bigfoot rips the driver side door off its hinges. I wake from grass and twigs tearing into my back as something large drags me across the forest floor. I lose consciousness again from the trauma.
Not that wouldn’t happen. A pull into the hostel driveway and run into the hostel. Though a “youth”hostel, more seasoned adult travelers lay on the couches reading books and drinking coffee. The hostel living room looks more like a woodsy cabin repurposed as a themed cafe. The cast-iron furnace dies, and I she greets me with a smile. I made it in time.
“Do you have a sleeping bag?” She asked me the same question twice before on the phone. Something tells me a sleeping bag is important.
“No. Is that a problem?”
“No, not at all.” She shows me the closet where they keep the blankets.
4:47 am – It’s freezing. The mattress is a vinyl-lined pad, like the crash pads climbers use for bouldering. Despite the fleece blanket that I’ve wrapped myself in like a burrito, I still feel the chill. A pink glow outside hints of the sun rising, and I can see the other 3 guys in the 14-bunk room cocooned snugly in their sleeping bags. Next time bring a sleeping bag.
8:47 am – I approach a bridge where a pair of ravens (or maybe just crows with black beaks?) perch and preen on the rails of a pedestrian bridge. The trail leads to Limantour Beach on the south-western shores of Point Reyes National Seashore.
10:09 am – The gas icon on the SUV’s control panel glows amber. I’m down to my last gallon of gas, but a 3G network is in range. I find out it’s just another 5 miles to the nearest gas station.
12:12 pm – My friend Alex who lives in San Francisco and I hike in Muir Woods. Shaded from the sun, it’s brisk and somewhat moist. We lose our way on unsigned trails a few times, but encounter a variety of wild-life: a bobcat stalking it’s prey, turkey vultures circling some lost hikers (us), and red-tailed hawks screeching.
3:45 pm – Eating stuffed eggs with a variety of fillings: duck, tuna, truffles, salami.
7:27 pm – Ready to pass out on the couch.
Loveland Pass
Loveland Pass
A short detour to Loveland Pass, during a ski-weekend in the Arapahoe Basin/Keystone Resorts.
Parting Shot | Back Home
Parting Shot
If you haven’t already guessed, I’m already back home… in fact, resting in a condo in the Colorado Rockies near Keystone. Here are some black & white images of my last day in Patagonia from the streets and from the plane.
Last day in Ushuaia
Ushuaia
Images from Ushuaia on my last day in Argentina, and a long journey back home.
Tierra del Fuego: National Park
Tierra del Fuego National Park
A leisurely hike in Tierra del Fuego National Park, accompanied by Carole from Bern, Switzerland.
Beagle Channel
Cormorants in the Beagle Channel
Too tired to write today. Partook in one of those mass-tourism cruise and bus rides, but it was worth it for the limited time I have in Ushuaia and the surrounding area. Getting tired and hiking tomorrow, so I’ll keep this list short and dry:
- Spying on Cormorants
- Trying not to smell sea lions
- Paparazzi-style on Magellan Penguins (locals call them Jack-ass penguins)
- Visiting Estancia Harberton
- Spotting a beaver dam (beavers are not native to South America)
- Spoiling lazy house cats
- Making friends with Otto, the Siberian husky
- Walking along the Ushuaia waterfront
Lo-Fi: Tierra del Fuego
Beagle Channel
I heart Tierra del Fuego. I couldn’t break out the big gun (the Nikon D90) to take photos of the archipelago upon our descent, so I had to do my best with the iPhone built-in camera. Enjoy.
I would have gladly traded my 3 nights in Bariloche, for an extra 3 nights in Ushuaia – even if it would have snowed or rained. Ushuaia carries a more genuine character than the more worldly Bariloche. I’m almost sad to be leaving Patagonia in just 3 days… <sniff>.
Sunny Bariloche
Sunny Bariloche
“Te gusta mucho Bariloche?” taxi driver asked. (Did you enjoy Bariloche?)
“Si! Me gusta mucho,” I lied and smiled. “Es muy linda… (when it’s not raining),” I added in English.
“De China? Japon?” he asked where I was from. I’m not sure why it does, but I am always offended when every “foreigner” asks me whether I am Chinese or Japanese. I have nothing against the people. Then I was reminded by a Chinese tourist on my flight to El Calafate.
“Please, all passengers must be seated during our ascent,” the flight attended politely made a general statement but was clearly directly her comment to the turista who stood up two minutes into the flight. The plane was already rising at an angle, when he took off his seat belt, and raced for the overhead compartment for his camera. Damn… he’s justifying the stereotype, I thought.
She repeated the directions in Spanish. The other tourists tried to grab his attention, but he came to this country speaking neither Spanish nor English. I looked outside at the beautiful mountains that were getting progressively smaller. I started to wish I could claim blissful ignorance and start shooting away.
Damn you, Bariloche. Only when I finally realize my escape plan out of this hell hole, she reveals her beautiful mountains.
Snowstorm
Snowing in Bariloche
My legs burned trudging uphill. The climb was steep, and visibility clouded by thick snow that fell sideways. I looked down at my black soft-shell jacket now patched with white. Snow flakes melted and stuck to my chest and arms like dust bunnies to velcro. A car honked, a stray Lahsa-apso lapped water from an overflowing storm drain, and natives peered through cafe windows watching comfortably from inside as the snow punished the pedestrians outside. Yes, I’m in Patagonia. But no, I’m not hiking in the wilderness. I’m in Bariloche and it’s snowing like hell.
I left Puerto Natales just 36 hours ago, traveling hundreds of kilometers by bus and by plane to escape the rain. As the plane descended upon Bariloche, the captain beared news greeted by a dismayed silence from the entire cabin of turistas: “We’ll be landing in Bariloche in 5 minutes. It’s 2′C and it’s snowing.” The two young ladies from Buenos Aires next to me were not shy about leaning over me to look out the window and judge for themselves. “Esta nevando?”
Simyan and I had checked the national park information center this morning about trekking. Simyan only received alarmingly depressing news.
“No, the trail is closed due to snow and high winds.”
“How’s the weather tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow? Low clouds, rain, wind. Ehhh… Sunday… rain. Monday…. rain. Next four days…. rain.”
“Is there anywhere in Patagonia where it’s not raining?
The ranger looked at his monitor. “No, it’s just not the season for trekking. It might say rain today, but it could change. I don’t know.”
When there’s nothing else to do, you eat. I spent the rest of the day sleeping, fat from all the meals I’ve had while in Bariloche.
It’s still snowing outside as I type this. A girl from Brazil is watching the movie Sex and the City on the lounge TV. And an Irish lad is on a booking a flight out of here. I can only wish the ski resort is open tomorrow so that this trip up north isn’t a total waste.
Transit Day
View enroute to Calafate
I felt like a rodeo cowboy on a bucking bull, as I gripped the handle bar with my left hand and aimed (or tried aiming) for the toilet with the right. My shoulders alternated banging between the narrow walls, and my feet shuffled to stay upright. The toilet closet was located at the back of the bus, and nature called while the back of the bus jostled on the rocky dirt road of Rt. 40 – along the stretch of highway that ran between the Chilean and Argentinian border. It was like shooting an arrow while riding a mechanical bull… but I kept my pants dry.
After hiking in Torres del Paine for almost 5 days, Puerto Natales and the immediate area started to seem like a dead end. The weather reports promised rain in most areas, and boats and buses to adjacent points of interest – Ushuaia, Puerto Montt, etc. – required a few days of waiting in Puerto Natales before their departure. Staying an extra day to visit a cave with a replica of a prehistoric giant ground sloth was tempting, but there were other sights to be seen and hiked elsewhere in Patagonia.
Gan and Simyan concluded the same decision as I did to leave Puerto Natales by bus back to El Calafate on the Argentinian side of Patagonia. My flight for Bariloche leaves in about 3 hours, where I hope to escape wet weather. Now, just sitting in another locutorio (internet/Skype shop) passing the time. Ironically, it´s mild and sunny with happy, puffy clouds in the sky. Rather than hiking, we spent half the day sitting in a bus. It´s a transit day.
