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KULA GARDENS

By on April 4, 2013 in analog photography, life, travel


While we were in Maui, I really wanted to visit a botanical garden. I LOVE gardens, collections of plants, especially when they involve tropical species that we don’t have in the Northwest. When I’m in Vancouver I like to visit the Bloedel Convservatory (another post from a few years ago here), and in Portland we have just a hint of these vibes at the bird room within the Portland Zoo. Maui has a couple options for botanical gardens- there’s the Garden of Eden on the way to Hana, and the more arid and lesser-known (or so it seems) Kula Botanical Gardens. Fun fact: there’s a photo on the Garden of Eden page of a kid covered in parrots, and we totally stopped on the side of the road where it was taken! A guy had a bunch of crazy big parrots who were so well-trained that he could fling them around by their beaks and they would pose perfectly with kids. The parrot guy said something about my hair and how Lady Gaga stopped to see his parrots. OMG I love birds.

We decided to make a trip to the Kula Gardens and it was pretty awesome. Driving up to the gardens took us into the more arid mountain region of the island, there were huge fields full of cacti and a couple lavender farms. The garden itself isn’t huge, but it has a lot of cool stuff and a very chill vibe. I think their property extends past the public grounds so it felt expansive. Animal facts: they have a really cool little chameleon dude, a super old raggedy cat, and a bird aviary with pretty doves and super adorable lovebirds (there were babies too!). The gardens had some of the biggest monstera and staghorn ferns that I have ever seen, plus all the exotic staples like birds of paradise, orchids, protea, etc. The gardens gave me my first glimpse at painted eucalyptus trees, they are pretty amazing. The colors are crazy! They stand out a lot more when the bark is wet, and I got to see some huge ones growing in the rainforest on our drive to Hana. These trees!!

Anyway, I love gardens. I was so glad we made the trip to visit Kula, and I regret not buying a souvenir poster from their funny gift shop- they had a very 70′s vibe, close-ups of flowers with “KULA GARDENS” printed above them in a super retro font. At least I have some of my own photos. These were all shot on medium format film.





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SO TROPICAL

By on March 24, 2013 in analog photography, life, travel



More from Hawaii.

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MOUNTAINTOP

By on March 19, 2013 in analog photography, travel



Two images from last summer, on a camping trip to Wahtum Lake. We are definitely going back this year, equipped with floating devices to take advantage of the quiet, sunny lake. We drank local sake and tended to a great fire. A hiker in the woods mentioned to us that the view of the sunrise from the mountain peak was really amazing, so we dragged our bodies out of bed when the first morning birds started to call out, and made it to the top just in time. The view of Mount Hood (not pictured, my photos weren’t great- the Olympus Epic I have doesn’t work properly) was the best I have ever seen. The ground on the peak was covered in wildflowers, and the view in every direction was incredible and expansive. I love Oregon.

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TWO HAWAIIAN SKIES

By on March 4, 2013 in analog photography, life, travel


Hawaii was a trip. It definitely takes the cake when it comes to beautiful (and frequent) natural displays, no matter where you look. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of Oregon, but a miniature, more psychedelic and extreme version, like a crazy little biology experiment. Here, we have the rainforest, the desert, the mountains, the ocean, and Maui had the same- except it’s like a fantasyland version, with stranger plants, colorful ocean creatures, paradise beaches and like fifty rainbows per day. Duh, right? I guess it sound stupid to wax poetic over a place that is OBVIOUSLY beautiful and that’s why everyone goes there, but I still feel like it exceeded my expectations.

We saw beautiful sunsets every night, but the one that we watched from inside a cloud (after descending Haleakala, but still in the mountains) was truly amazing. dalas posted a set of our digital photos here, you have to look at them!! Every time I look at these photos I still can’t really believe how incredible it was. Once we made it inside the mountain cloud, it wasn’t long before we had to pull over so that we could run out into the field and really take in what was happening. I wish we had a video, too. I joked that it was like smoke-bomb nature photos, except real (aka my perfect, pastel-covered dreamworld). The sun set once, falsely, behind a thick cloud, only to emerge and set again on the horizon. So when I die, bury me next to TWO sunsets.

The funny thing is, this sunset wasn’t even special or unique. We saw really similar photos on the Maui visitor channel (aka best, most hilarious channel) from another day. This is just what happens.

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SEATTLE + JK POP!

By on January 5, 2013 in life, travel



Back in November Carlie and I took a mini roadtrip up to Seattle to see Alex on her last night hosting JK POP! before moving back to Seoul. I met Alex when we got together to shoot these photos, and after she returned home to Seattle we realized that we had a friend in common! Amongst other discoveries I learned that Alex was hosting monthly Japanese & Korean pop music nights at a club in Seattle, with lots of videos and dances and even crazy homemade costumes and stuff. We only had one chance to see her in awesome hosting action, so we made it happen! Carlie and I spent some time messing around in Seattle before the party (by messing around I mean trying to find a parking spot), getting photobooth pictures taken in the mall, buying lots of stuff from Daiso (Japanese dollar store), snacking & getting coffee at Odd Fellows Cafe and browsing the amazing Totokaelo next door. I also bought those sweet weed print socks by HUF at some skate store. JK POP was super fun, we drank tequila and danced around all night, watched crazy Korean music videos in awe, and were dazzled by all of Alex’s costume changes (Pikachu!!). We snoozed on her couch that night and went out for a tasty breakfast in the morning, props to that toppings bar for having the hugest bowl of butter I’ve ever seen. A GOOD TIME!





SOMETHING IN THE WIND HAS LEARNED MY NAME AND IT’S TELLING ME THAT THINGS ARE NOT THE SAME


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TRAVEL / HOUSEBOAT MINI CRUISE

By on October 15, 2012 in analog photography, life, travel




dalas and I took a trip up to Vancouver Island this summer with friends to go on a houseboat trip, and it was a serious summer highlight. My friends and I have an annual summer tradition of meeting at a cabin in the interior, but this year we decided to do something different and we went houseboating on Sproat Lake! It was ridiculously perfect. First of all, we got the biggest and newest boat on the lake because we seemed “responsible” (aka not a bachelor/bachelorette party, or as Canadians call them, stag/stagette parties), and our boat was named BONEY. There were only a few other houseboats on the lake so it wasn’t the bro fest that happens when there are more boats, just a super chill environment with only the occasional bachelorette trying to disrupt our friends party. We cruised around the lake all day, stopping the boat at random to go swimming (the water was the perfect temperature), adventuring on shore, docking at great night locations for fires and meteor-watching (the perseid meteor shower happened while we were on the lake!), not getting eaten by cougars, sitting in the hot tub, sliding off the slide into the lake a million times, diving championships, night swims, singles loft, da club, tequila, shots director, etc. etc. Rumors. I’m sure no one cares to read a million more inside jokes so just enjoy the photos and seriously consider renting a boat like this with your friends. SO FUN. Mini cruise. These are all medium format film, I will probably do a post with my digital stuff later too!















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TROPICS

By on September 26, 2012 in analog photography, travel


The Bloedel Conservatory in Vancouver is one of my favorite places to visit when I’m in BC. I don’t go every time, but went with dalas after our houseboat vacation this summer (more on that soon!). We collected every exotic bird in the pamphlet like Pokemon and dalas had some special moments with the white pheasant, such a fancy buddy. It’s super beautiful and the admission is cheap, totally worth it to spend some time in this magical dome surrounded by crazy plants and birds. Did anyone else see Beyond the Black Rainbow? I saw it a couple months ago and it totally gave itself away as a Canadian film at the end with some cool shots of Bloedel!




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BRUNCH AT HOME

By on March 21, 2012 in food, life, travel


On my recent trip to Canada, we had a nice brunch at home together, crowded around the coffee table piling our plates full of french toast, bacon, fruit salad with that intensely good coconut greek yogurt (does this exist in the US?), earl gray tea and a roasted grapefruit experiment. I don’t think we did it right, pretty sure none of us looked at any directions or a recipe, but it seems worth a second go. It was really nice to eat at home for our first morning, just chillin’ and making plans for the day.

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ON FILM: STONE + STAIR

By on March 8, 2012 in analog photography, travel


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CAMPING AT OPAL CREEK

By on August 24, 2011 in analog photography, travel




A couple weeks ago we went camping with friends at Opal Creek. I remember seeing photos of it (specifically, Three Pools) when we first moved to Oregon years ago but this was our first time visiting, and I gotta say it was the best trip of the summer (so far?!). Opal Creek is ridiculously beautiful, with clear turquoise water and weird smooth rocky landscapes. There are a number of rustic campsites (ie, no reservations or typical campsite amenities), ours was between the road and the river in a perfect fairyland clearing. I have another roll of film from a disposable camera to develop, hopefully I captured the camping area on there because it was really great. Opal Creek is like a playground for grownups, we did so much climbing, rock jumping, exploring, swimming, diving to chill with the fish, floating in the rapid water… I’m really excited to go back. Camping was awesome too, with a long-lasting fire and plenty of cool dinners cooked on its coals. We did a mini trek to the river in the dark, some people swam, dalas and I found a big rounded hollow in the rocks and looked for shooting stars and satellites (highly successful). It was Genevieve’s first experience with tent camping, so exciting! There were only a few spooky sounds out in the woods overnight, and we spent a lot of the following day back at the pools. Wilder found a crawfish in the river!! The little dude only had one claw, it was an impressive find. This trip made me feel really thankful that the natural world isn’t totally ruined yet, and that my body is strong enough to assist with many climbs and dives. ENDLESS SUMMER PLEASE (I should probably buy this tote).
















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