sadaiche (Peter Franc)'s photostream  

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

- Mark Twain

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ISO100, 40mm, ƒ4, 1/640sec

Iceland must be one of my favourite destinations in the world. The hours leading up to this photo are a story in itself - we spent hours looking for a crashed airplane site without luck. The weather changed from blizzard conditions to sunshine in the space of minutes. And Jessica had the guts to strip down to a thin white dress and run around on the black sand beach in minus crazy degree weather - and she suffered for it. On our way back, I spied these birds and barely had time to compose - click click click. I only spent 4 days in Iceland, and it felt like an eternity - in all the best ways. Never stop discovering...

When i was little - probably 10 or so, there was a song on the radio. It didn't have any lyrics, and I asked dad what it was called. He told me and I asked 'How can a song have a name if it doesn't have any words in it?'.

We both had a giggle and a laugh at the musicians expense, but it saddened and troubled me. The answer I was seeking was something in the realm of 'things can be called something because they're about something you can't put into words.

I doubt it would have made much sense to me at the time, but it took years to understand it.

A lot of music I listen to is lyric-less, and removing such a fundamental element allows for so much more to be experienced. It's like taking sight away from a meal or the ability to listen while still dancing - it allows your brain to rejiggle its focus in a different way and hopefully find something new, which is probably why most art doesn't have a concept description hanging up next to it.

Perhaps it's good to take something away from time to time and be forced to look at it differently.

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ISO640, 29mm, ƒ5.6, 1/80sec

By the way, doesn't the frame make you think of a giant iPhone?

I have a terrible habit of getting "into" things far, far, far after they've been popular. It happens with music constantly. Friends rant and rave about an artist and try as I might, it doesn't interest me.

.... until a few years later.

So with Mogwai's 2003 opus "Happy Songs for Happy People" in the background, i'm trying to decide which of the 100+ shots of Petrova Gora best summarises the feeling of being there.

I can't possibly downplay the sensation - we'd been wanting to visit Petrova Gora for years, and even finding the location took more than a simple Google. We had a rough idea of what to expect, but nothing quite prepared us when we turned the corner and promptly swore our heads off for the next 10 minutes.

It was a) far larger, b) far more derelict and c) far more awesome than we could have possibly imagined. To this day - my favourite Urban Exploration trip.

It's that amazing experience when when you expect something good, but it turns out to be jaw-dropping.

It's the same with music - it's built up too much, so expectations are too high. As time passes, expectation lowers, so when it comes to the moment of actually hearing it, the Petrova Gora feeling takes over - that spike of amazement that energises you like nothing else.

We sure are funny creatures.

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ISO100, 33mm, ƒ11, 128sec

(if you want a sense of scale - two of those exposed square areas are about as tall as a person)

Sometimes it pays to ask. And then be prepared to listen and wait, and keep your eye out for signs.

Life has a funny way of guiding you if you ask for it. It's rarely the obvious, though, that's the tricky part. It's because your mind is clouded - so if you don't like what you see, remind yourself it's probably because you've wandered off your path, and need to take some bold steps through the roughage to get back on track.

it's made easier though with self awareness. There's lots of quotes on that - just tonight I unexpectedly came across Lao Tzu's 'Mastering others is strength, mastering yourself is true power".

It's all a bit gung-ho, really.

Start small.

"If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.".

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ISO100, 23mm, ƒ20, 123sec
(oh, and that 16-35 is crriiissssppp!)

"... and at least I'd done stuff. I'd been places. I'd seen things. I'd had a speaking role in my own life."

- Hap, from One of Us by Michael Marshall Smith