Estonia | Tallinn | Just like before.

I have fond memories of Tallinn so returning was a must. I would, however, like to forget the time (European summer 2009) that I drank a gut full of this special Estonian herbal supplement, sourced from rare and probably endangered plant life, ground elephant toenail and mixed with the souls of lost and forgotten children. That was a bad twenty-four hours. But I digress.

Memories of summer skies, long drives, quiet nights, boating to Hiiumuaa, walking through the forest and of course - how can it be forgotten - a shoot I did there which can be called 'beachFace' (still one of my favourite times behind the camera), are all the ways I will always picture Estonia.

This time was not as warm and the beach was not visited (it's winter). Tallinn in summer is a beautiful, romantic city. Tallinn in winter should be stunning. Unfortunately, as the plane landed it got warm (-1 to +3) during the day. The winter wonderland that I was told about melted a bit, refroze at night and turned the streets into a city wide, week long, ice-skating rink! This in-turn yielded some of the most amusing walking one has ever seen/experienced. As I walked, I laughed and one could imagine that the people I passed on the street were questioning my sanity.

I miss Estonia, it will always be a special place for me.
Here though, are some pictures.






















Nick Found

Austria | Part Two | Drugs, Drink, CNN & Sleep.

After learning how to be a professional skier (?) and spending 3 days watching CNN drugged out of my mind on Flu tablets, Penicillin, Codeine and filled with secret Austrian health drinks (thanks Barbs), it was best to leave Dienten and head to St Wolfgang, a short drive up the road (that, though, is neither informative or relevant). With a couple of days of rehab & detox it was business as usual: Get up, shit, shower, shave and shoot.

I was told that out of my window there was a great lake in which the area was named after (Wolfgangsee). Unfortunately there was also fog. Not the "lets get the camera out and shoot dreamy contrasting landscapes" fog, more of the "where the fuck did the world go, I swear it was here before that nap" type. On the last day though, en-route to Munich airport it lifted, and my god was it pretty! This was reminiscent of Lake Bled (not so romantic), huge hills, awe inspiring reflections and stark, crisp sky.

In here also (separated by a triple space and a vertical line for ease of access) is a shot comparison taken with that pokey little Diana Plastic LOMO Lens I spoke of previously. It is easy to see the difference (one hopes) between my usual L 16-35mm f/2.8 and the Plastic. One day when I am not constantly being face smashed by new land/city scapes I will leave the Canon glass behind and shoot solely with plastic. Until then, it is just a tease!















|







|







Nick Found

STATUS REPORT | Blogs are decieving | Camera location.

I thought that it might be a good idea to make a post in regards to the whereabouts of my camera. You see, I am not what one calls a 'consistent' blogger. To the naked eye it would seem that last post I made with shots from Austria reflects my current location. For any good, up-to-date blogger I guess this would be true. However this is at least a month out of date to my travels. When I left Melbourne I had planned to keep the posts a little shorter, more frequent and relevant to my position either in America or Europe - kind of like a journal. It is evident this was a total fail.

Right now I am in Munich, Germany, and have a little under a month before returning to Melbourne. In the following weeks you can expect the usual two part updates with shots from the following countries:

Austria (part two), Estonia, Finland (Santa, Rudolf, etc), England, Turkey, Germany, (current country), Scotland and any other possible diversions that may arise.

Nick Found

Austria | Part One | Man Flu.

After a Skype conversation with a close friend of mine about how fortunate it is I haven't caught my death yet - as Australians never have to deal with this degree of cold - I forgot to touch wood and was smacked in the face with some sort of sick Austrian flu. To be fair (to Austria) it did start in Slovenija and the two days I spent sucking ass (slang for 'not being very good at') on the most phenomenal ski slopes one has ever seen, I guess was not the best way to cure/aid the ill.

On a side note, Dienten am Hochkönig is where this post originated from, an Austrian hidden secret. With a population of 18 (or there abouts) and over 150km of perfect (PERFECT) ski runs. One would really wish to be good enough to ski this, I however, am not. The pain, the cold, the near death "hey beginner skier lets learn on this black run" lesson, eating snow, and the oncoming flu definitely reminded me how much I like: standing still, photography, warmth and life.

Right, enough whingeing, had to get that off my chest! The positive side is that there was about half an hour in these 5 days where I got the camera out long enough for the mechanism to freeze over and get a few shots worthy of posting.












Nick Found