Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Beautiful Times


Oopsie, would yo look at the time! It has gone by way too quickly. During these past couple of months that I've kept "radio silence" I have been busy travelling and working in Austria, Finland and Denmark.

I will show you the best of the pictures of the main events eventually but meanwhile, I hope you all have had a very merry Christmas and I would like to wish you a happy, happy New Year!

May your wishes come true. 






Thursday, October 18, 2012

Hay, Hay, Hay - Jump!





One of us is an adrenaline junkie.

Driven by somebody else's need of hearing the blood pumping in the veins, suddenly I found myself from a motocross field somewhere outside of Bogotá.

For many other girls the thought of spending a sunny Saturday by a motocross track might be repugnant. After the initial weird sentiment, as soon as we arrived, I saw the window of opportunities opening!


La Laguna, the motocross area near the municipality of Guatavita in Guasca is extremely photogenic. Golden hay fields, blue sky, white clouds, the distant lagoon - not to mention the muddy motocross drivers! During those four hours I almost did not have enough time to capture everything I wanted.


So while Lukas was releasing his inner race driver on the muddy motocross field...




And perhaps even competing with other racers, like this fellow in red...






... my mind was racing with other things. Diaphragm, angle, exposure, composition... I was seeing the beauty of nature through my viewfinder!




I was amazed just at the pure diversity of these simple golden straws and the colour combination of sandy beige and sky blue.









However, it wasn't all hay and gone with the wind. I also had some real models.



Do you see the determination in the little girl's eyes?


She saw the big black eye that was my camera and came reaching for it.


You can see the world in her eyes.



Meanwhile, elsewhere. Teacher and nurse are both prepared for the needs of the student, waiting for him to take laps.


There he comes! If you could see the driver's eyes properly, you would see determination in them, too. And perhaps already some exhaustion. ;)



The first jump.


Teacher saw as best to guide the student in order to improve the landing when jumping.


And it worked! Already much better, and more correct.




After some more practice, Lukas can also jump as high as this dude in red.


Although for a beginner, he is already pretty good.



Sunday, October 14, 2012

This Is a Man's World

... were Daniela and I singing on our last mountain bike tour two weeks ago in Bojacá. Being the only two girls on this group "run" sure was challenging.







As it turned out, the tour we did was hard at times even for our local "guides". Nobody was able to cycle all the way. However, as always, the scenery and the fresh air that smells like eucalyptus makes it all worth it. At one point I even had a chat with a cute baby sheep. And better work-out than that is hard to get!


















Although it wasn't a sunny day, we were sweating! We had quite many breaks - this being the longest after everyone reached the top of a mountain and its antenna.






This trip had many different kinds of terrains. This was a part where all had to push their bikes up, and of course the wildest of the guys were eager to bike the steep, curvy, bumpy road down. When seeing the path is where I decided to leave my bike, hike up and down, and continue cycling on a more even ground. A wise decision!



Going in a group means you are as fast as the slowest of the group is. Nevertheless, even in a group this big everybody gets to go their own speed and the fastest ones just have to wait a little longer. Or they get longer breaks. ;)




After 5 hours of heavy cycling we were starving and thirsty so we were all very happy to reach the village centre of Bojacá where we had parked! Tired but happy.


If something I have learned on these trips is don't bring a watch. It's better not to know the time or how long you have been cycling already. Just do it! If they can do it, you can, too.

Yes...
This is a man's world
This is a man's world
But it wouldn't be nothing
Nothing without a woman or a girl, ooh