We do... We love the snow...

This is a recap of our winter vacation in Mammoth Lakes, Ca. Nature, once again treated me to feet of powder over several days! Thanks Nature!

Amazon... You have to be kidding me!

I am not quite sure what's Amazon's position on the environment and corporate responsibility, but if I have to judge by my most recent purchase, commitment it's not the word that comes to mind!

I ordered a quite unique battery replacement for my watch that it's nearly weightless and thin as a quarter (as you might expect from a battery for a watch). Well, take a look at the box and protective materials that Amazon chose to ship this purchase. Guys... it could have been delivered in an envelope!


Packing used by Amazon to ship a watch battery replacement.

Some things make it real... Kalamata hits the road and Matilda is looking for a new home!

In my short 37 years of life, this coming relocation to Uruguay will be my 7th major move (involving changing countries). And in this process, among the many things I have learned about moving and myself, one is really very present lately. And that is that as I go through the motion of preparing, packing and moving, pretty much as if nothing was happening, there comes a point in which something makes it real... very real!

When I left Uruguay and moved to Chile, that time was when I left my plants at a friends house (some of my friends are still frustrated that they were not able to pull a tear out of me and the plants did!). Well, this time it was parting from the Kalamata!

Beyond my profound relationship with him (I know this might sound absurd to some, but it is not to me), he has been really my partner since day one in the US (literally). I landed in Miami International at 5.45am on Dec 31st, 2000. By 4.00 pm the Kalamata (who really got this name only after Clara became part of my life, and so did her obsessions of naming precious things in our lives) and I were driving the freeways of Miami. Since then we have crossed the US from one end to the other, driven the roads of California, been in the snow... you name it!

I will miss him dearly, and so will Matilda (remember her, the sheep that travels with him). She is looking for a new place (more on that in the coming days). He is probably wondering the streets of Fresno with his cool new partner, a 16 year old girl that just got her license. I am sure he is still getting used to the new musical taste hitting his powerful speakers, and to the crowd of loud girls that don't stop wondering in this cute car.

As Clara and I delivered the car to the Buzz (the father of the owner to be), we could not stop ourselves from sharing some advice passed on to me by my grandfather... I had to be discrete, but I did let him know... 'You know, one of the best features of this car, is how softly the doors close', as I gently pushed the door and closed it. In a sign of gratitude the Kalamata smiled even more than he usually does and winked his left headlight at me.

Happy and safe travelings Kalamata! Clara, KC and I will always remember you!

Built for the snow...

This is the time of the year when I get all philosophical about the snow. Clara, KC and I are up in Mammoth. Mother nature has treat as well. I think today was the 7th day in a row with snow showers. In one word, it's been amazing! The key figure of this story though is 'the Kalamata', our black bug which has surprisingly exceeded any expectations on its snow performance. You will find a few images below of how mother nature is treating us up here in northern California and the Kalamata in action. More news to come soon...


Yeap! That's me... Recognize the shape?



You have no idea how much they had to dig to get to me today!

Living green in Uruguay!

As many of you might know by now, Clara, KC and I have decided to move to Uruguay. A big part of this choice relates to the vision of manifesting a life style, where we spend more quality time with Nature (KC has been a big proponent of this initiative - the leash and the restrictions to freely pursue squirrels have made him a firm believer of life in the fields).

So aligned with this intention, we have purchased a 6 hás (almost 15 acres) piece of land just outside (25 kms | 15.5 miles) Montevideo. For many of my friends who live in the city, this seems way too far... and for Uruguayan standards it certainly is. Right now, from the perspective of living in LA, it seems almost insignificant... we will have to see how it feels on daily basis.

In any case, the most important criteria to select the place, was too find a piece of land that had plenty of trees, and we did! We are so excited. It's not as easy as one would imagine. Most of what was available was 'pelado' (without trees). Either because it has been used for agricultural purposes or because people in need resort to selling the wood for profit (I already had some proponents!). Well, this place is awesome... no matter where you are all you see are trees. We have as explained by my friend Santiago (who makes a living cutting down forests and selling the wood), three types of eucalyptus and several fruit trees - a great start for our organic farming.

Talking about organic and this new lifestyle that we are envisioning... we found that the land is full of tics (garrapatas). It turns out that the wasy way out to get rid of them (the chemical bomb approach) it's not compliant with our plan to have an organic non pesticides farm... so given our limited knowledge (thus far) probably we will have a green farm and a chemical dog! :) We'll keep you posted on this adventure... we (including KC) remain committed to the green approach!

We intend to host in the beautiful place a sustainable green (perhaps off the grid?) home. Constructions is due to start sometime between March and April. Clara and my father will be leading the efforts. I'll keep you posted on the developments.

Below you can see an aerial view of the land! Keep you posted! Martin.

C'mon mom...

I continue to find inspiration within the small quarters of my home. A great photographer that I met not long ago, inspired when I realized that a high percentage of his portfolio images were taken either at home or with friends as his models. So there I went, and within the close space that surrounds the garage where we live in, KC is a predominant part of it.

Here he is waiting for Clara to finish her morning rituals to take him on his own and preferred rituals... or did you think that he likes to ohm more than he likes his morning walk?


C'mon mom... The meditation is the only thing between KC and his monring walk...

You can vote for this image!

My America at home...

I came across this great idea, 'My America at Home', a nationwide photo project, September 17 to 23, 2007. For seven days, everyone in America is invited to join 100 of the nation's leading photojournalists to capture "the emotions of home." The goal of the project is to capture the extraordinary diversity that makes up American family life, representing a broad range of economic, geographic, racial, political, and socially diverse lifestyles.

There are several categories of what makes your home really 'home' and how your life is on a daily basis. So one of the images I submitted was this one...

Good morning... where is my walk? For the past few years we have tryed to adopt a 'slow movement' life style where our lives are not ruled by the alarm clock. But since we adopted KC, we have our new 'wet kiss' wake-up call every morning... right on time to start the day!



If you are interested in submitting images, you can check them at http://www.myamericaathome.com/. Hurry! It ends this week!

Take care! Martin.

Nepal - Buddhist Temple

This was a test done with te automatic video creation engine from animoto. Worth checking it out.

Our impact in the environment...

I came across this great video that very cleverly articulates our impact to the environment; the one we create in our daily life through the choices we make. It's the first time I see something that clearly helps me 'see' and really understand how I contribute and how I can do things differently. Check it out, it's only 45 seconds: http://www.climateprotect.org/ah12.

Spread the word... the world is really hotter every day!

Another time around...

Thank you for visiting the Projects section. This area of my website is intended to provide you with an inside look at the projects that I am currently working on or have worked in the past. My intention in doing so is to open a space for you to co-participate in my creative process and for me to leverage the ‘collective’ wisdom.

I am not sure how this will evolve in this re-encarnation. But remember, you are witnessing work as it happens! As I start to shoot; as I approach the topic through the view finder, I might find a different way to look at it, and angle that awakens a whole new passion, or even get disenchanted and move on to something new.

I will share the things that inspire me, that moved me, as well as those that frustrate me. This blog is the vehicle I have chosen to share the ‘unseen’ part of my work, an intimate part of my work; the flip-side to the images that I create, how I feel when I am preparing a project or when I am actually working on it.

If you are now watching this, you are warmly welcomed to participate, in any way you choose to. Perhaps it's by simply looking at my work and sharing it with others; perhaps it’s by sharing your views through an e-mail or the blog. Any way you choose to, I want to hear your point of view or know about your stories, facts or perspectives that might provide a new insight into the topic.

Feel free to browse through and treat yourself… Thanks again for visiting and you are always welcome.

If feels good!

Over the past 2 years, the understanding and appreciation of what's going on with the environment has been growing for me.

At first, even though interested, I was unable to connect to the point of really making different choices for myself. When Clara and I started dating, she would come home and silently suffer due to my lack of recycling. For me, in all honesty, in such a small house having 2 containers and taking two bags out was too much of a hasle.

As I look back, it might even sound ridiculous, but I think it's important for those working to generate awareness, to remeber where they come from. I certainly do, and in doing so, hope to have a more realistic, empathetic relationship to those who just recently have started to awaken to the realities of the environement.

So, if you are one of those, just starting to think and worry about it, my number one suggestion is, start by your self. Beyond anything else that can be done at so many levels (government, policy, etc.), ultimately the most concrete action we can all take it's our choices.

Today my choice reflect more than I could have ever imaged I would do just six months ago. The environment has grown in me, and today, to take more time to line dry instead of using the drying machine, it actually feels good! Today I made a decision to start offsetting my travel carbon emissions... and it also feels good. I offsetted my last trip to Uruguay, and my driving trip to San Diego tomorrow.

Don't dispair... once you get into it, it's much easier to choose differently. And it really feels good!

Reference: If you want to off-set carbon emissions, check http://www.nativeenergy.com/.

Publication in FILE magazine...

I wanted to share that one of my images was published in the photography eZine (electronic magazine) FILE (http://www.filemagazine.com/). If you are not familiar with it, I strongly reccomended. It has great images.

Go noir... save energy!

A friend sent me this e-mail (I am not sure the source). In any case, I think this is a simple way in which YOU can help the environment, without really no sacrifice whatsoever. All you need to do is make your searches in: www.blackgoogle.com. It's the same as google, but with a black bakground.

Benefits? ... reduce eye strain, saves about 3000 Megawatt-hours a year.

An all white web page uses about 74 watts to display, while an all black page uses only 59 watts. Recently a Math was done to see what kind of energy could be saved if Google's search page was black.

Google, gets about 200 million queries a day. Let's assume each query is displayed for about 10 seconds; that means Google is running for about 550,000 hours every day on some desktop. Assuming that users run Google in full screen mode, the shift to a black background will save a total of 15 (74-59) watts. That turns into a global savings of 8.3 Megawatt-hours per day, or about 3000 Megawatt-hours a year. And at 10 cents a kilowatt-hour, that's $300,000, a good amount of energy and dollars for changing a few color codes.

Hope this leads you into a neverending journey og having a more sustainable lifestile and preserving the environment. If you feel compelled to do more, I reccommend this site: http://www.earthlab.com/ecp.aspx. Not only it has great information, but also has a carbon emissions calculator that helps you understand your impact in the environment and proposes way to measure and track performance over time... very fun for the measurements driven ;)

Epson R2400 – The cost of Printing (my own analysis)

I have owned the Epson R2400 printer for a while now, and been wondering how much it really costs to print at home. Before buying I researched the topic, but found nothing really definitive on this topic. After running through 25 ink cartridges I thought it was worth to do some math and come closer to estimating the real cost of printing. There are obvious benefits to controlling your workflow end-to-end, but I wanted to know how much this was costing me.


Overview:
With a sample of 137 prints of diverse sizes and a few paper types, my preliminary conclusions are that it takes 0.03 of an ink cartridge to print a 4x6, 0.13 to print an 8.5x11 and 0.34 to print a 13x19. Estimating the prices of each ink cartridge at USDs 15 (I know this might vary slightly, but just as reference), the ink cost (not taking into account paper – more on this later) of a 4x6 would be USDs 0.45, 8.5x11 at USDs 1.95 and a 13x19 at USDs 5.10. [Note. More detail on the methodology I used to calculate this below].


Methodology:
So even though this is not a strict scientific approach, I think it provides a reasonable estimation to the cost of printing.

I used a sample of a 137 prints, distributed in 23 (17%) 4x6; 68 (50%) 8.5x11 and the remaining 46 prints (33%) 13x19. All the 4x6 were printed in Ilford Smooth Pearl Paper, while over 95% of the remaining prints were done in Epson Premium Luster.

In order to understand the cost, I decided to perform an analysis based on the printed area. I calculated the printed area for the 137 prints, totaling 18.272 square inches. Below, you can see a breakdown by print size.




Since I did not want to have to deal with the variances in color balance of the sample prints, and since the cartridges cost all the same price, I eliminated from this first part of the analysis the breakdown between color cartridges.

In order to print this 137 prints, I used a total of 25 ink cartridges. Simple math concludes that if 25 cartridges were required to print 18.272 sq/in, a 4x6 (with an area of 24 sq/in) would require 0.03 of an ink cartridge; 0.13 for an 8.5x11 (93.5 sq/in) and 0.34 for a 13x19 (247 sq/in). At an estimated USDs 15 per cartridge, the ink cost of a 4x6 would be USDs 0.45; 8.5x11 would come up to USDs 1.95 and the 13x19 to USDs 5.10. Note. One of the elements that might have an impact on these measurements, it’s when to replace the ink. The Epson driver advises of low ink, yet I tried to push as much as it seem reasonable before exchanging it. Yet, I did not allow it to get to the point where the printer forces you to replace the cartridge before continuing.

Finally, I added the cost of paper, to get the whole picture. The 4x6 Ilford Smooth Pearl Paper (30 sheets) costs approximately USDs 11 (tax included). The Epson Premium Luster Photo Paper in 8.5x11 (50 sheets) costs approximately USDs 17, and the 13x19 (50 sheets) costs 107.





Just as reference, my local professional lab, prints an 8x10 for USDs 10 (in a direct to printer mode, without any human intervention), or at USDs 0.13 per sq/in. Comparatively, I am printing at 0.02 per sq/in, or 80% less.

Conclusions:
As I said before, even though there are many areas of improvement for this study, it does provide a reasonable basis for comparison and thus for supporting the decision making process of purchasing and owning a printer.

If you have done some sort of analysis yourself, or have gotten access to one, please don’t hesitate to provide me a link to it.

Please send any comments to Martin Herrera | Martin@MartinHSphoto.com | www.MartinHSphoto.com.

My yogi dog chants om!

I had a hard time believing Clara when she told me that KC would chant om in the morning with her... after all, she is comming out of some ether meditative state, and just perhaps, she might be a little spacy. Yet, for several days, I would stand outside the room while she performed ther morning ritual, just to double check... until I did hear it. After this great relaization, our morning meditation has been reducing to recording sessions and the hopes that the dog will continue to chant! :)

Here is a brief recording where you'll hear KC chant, and take his yoga skills well beyond a beautiful down dog! Perhaps every dog does this, and we just do not know it, but as proud parents we just need to brag a little bit!



Clara and Martin.

How did the exhibit go?

Many of you have e-mailed me asking about the exhibit. I have to report that it was a really nice experience. I did not think going in, that I was going to enjoy it as much as I did. But looking at pictures of the day, I can see my smile was bigger than usual :)

I had an excellent space within the gallery (my work faces the street window), and probably over 200 people showed-up the night of the opening. Clara had 'pushed' me to make CDs to give away, which turned out to be a hit idea. We distributed over 150 CDs, with some of my work to be used as computer desktop wall papers, and also promoting the use of the postcards section (http://www.martinhsphoto.com/frame2.php?lnk=gallery), which allows people to send free e-card to friends and family. I did a LOT of socialization, talked to people and showed my work. This was also a very fulfilling experience. It was interesting to see how people reacted to my work.

Here go some pictures at the beginning of the event, and a link to the coverage of Spindaily (http://www.spindaily.com/2007/05/_topbutton_desi.html). Until next time, and thanks SO much your you interest, support and many, many wonderful emails.








And I almost forgot, for those of you who wanted to see the actual images that are being shown in the gallery, here is the selection.









Martin Herrera | www.MartinHSPhoto.com | martin@martinhsphoto.com

Recently I was talking to a photographer friend who told me how she was wondering if making a website was a good idea. She now felt that all the work in the website needed to be only her best work. I really connected with this notion. I also feel the need for a more felxible, perhaps 'less exposed' place to simply share some images that might or not be worthy of publication, and yet are an integral part of my photography process.

So I decided to open-up this 'free space' with KC. He is our recently adopdted dog. He has been a true blessing in Clara's and my life. He is the most wonderful - as every parent probably says of their own child... or pet :) - cute, loving dog we could have ever wished for. I feel extrmely grateful for having him in my life, besides the added bonus of enless free kissing and some ramdom good pictures.

The power of completion...

It's crazy to realize that the last time I posted in this blog, was over a year ago... And I cannot really blame it on lack of time.

Today I processed the 1233 images I took on my long trip to Brazil during may of last year. I am not the type that tends to procrastinate. On the contrary, I usually have to slow my self down to not fall naturally in the overdoer mode. Yet, for waht ever the reason (which I will not speculate today), I had not had the energy to deal with these images.

Today, and after several afternoons of work, I have reviewed, discarted, processed and clasified all the images. Beyond anything else, the highlight is the amount of availabel energy that I have now. It's like the relationship with my photography has resurrected, and all of a sudden I am full of energy again.

Another reference point of the power of completion! :)

Stay around... I am updating lots of work on the comming 2 weeks and re-launching the site with some new funtionality that has just been uploaded. Have you checked the postcards? They are very cool! Soon you'll have some of my best work to share with friends and loved ones.

What’s a Powder Days Worth? Mammoth Mountain, California [Jan 19th, 2006].

Today was one of the most magical snow days in my years of boarding. As I was going up the lift at 8.30am – when the mountain actually opened – at about 20F (-7 Celsius) I wondered how many of my friends that do not regularly come to the snow, would understand what a day like this is really worth.

First of all you must understand that a day like this, ‘a blue sky powder day’, it’s a rare occasion; even more if you consider that this is one took place mid-week, when a lot less people is in the mountain (you will understand later why this is so important).

On Tuesday evening it started to snow right after lunch. The wind picked up and visibility dropped. Everything (for a change) was according to the weather forecast. A winter storm advisory was issued for later Tuesday afternoon. Through the night and most of the day Wednesday the wind gusted ferociously and the snow fell incessantly. It’s a beautiful picture… the trees full of white snow flakes covering the leaves, the sound of the wind only interrupted by the chains when the snow removal tractor comes to take out the snow that otherwise would prevent us from moving the car. In all honesty we had no plans of leaving the house. We are well prepared. Good healthy food (obviously – Clara is in charge of the groceries for the snow), a video, the wood fire burning and cracking, and as if this was not enough, the Australian Tennis Open on TV. You get the picture! It’s a fantastic day only disturbed by brief yet frequent rushes of anxiety - the thoughts of the snow coming to interrupt my photography studies.

Before going to bed we make the important agreement of the wake-up time. Our morning ritual somehow has gone from 2 to 3 hours, the minimum required before we can actually leave the house. You know… the typical things; yoga, meditation, breakfast and the ritual of getting dressed for the snow that is a process in itself. Given my strong requirements – only as strict on powder days – we need to be there before the lift opens. This means that tomorrow we will wake-up at 5.30am. The night is mainly pleasant, only altered by a somewhat brief occurrence of insomnia at 3.00am due to the excitement of the day to come.

At 6.00 I call the Snow Report line and everything is as expected; over 18 inches (70 cms) of fresh powder, blue skies and no wind. I mean… what else I can ask for. Diligently we undertake the morning ritual to ensure we make it on time to the lift opening. I run through the parking lot and when I am finally out and ready, of course there is a line on chair 8. Somehow there seems to be always, someone even more anxious than me. As I go up the mountain the view is fantastic. ; fresh powder sitting on the mountain like a white cake cover, perfect, smooth and untouched.

The few minutes that it takes to get to the top of chair 8 feel endless. In the distance I begin to see people making tracks in the fresh powder. The guys in front of me yells (half serious half jokingly) ‘Dude… get out of my powder’. Even though I do not share the approach, I do feel his pain. See, this is what powder is all about. It’s all about the ‘freshies’. It’s guaranteed that at some point while waiting in the lift you will overhear this conversation between two ‘dudes’ dressed in oversized boarding clothes… ‘man… did you catch some freshies coming down 22?’

I finally get off, but this is only a transition lift. I have carefully planned the first runs of the day, to ensure I can maximize the freshies. I’ve taken into consideration the snow fall, the direction of the wind (since it will wipe some areas of the mountain while filling others) and carefully chosen the lifts that I expect will have less people due to difficulty in access. Yet, this is a challenging task. The many years of strategic planning do not prepare you well enough for this situation, because you also have to add the variable of the time each lift will open. Some take longer since snow patrol is dynamiting the mountains to prevent avalanches. Nothing can be worst that riding to your carefully selected lift to find out that it will be closed for another hour, while feeling in your heart how the rest of the fresh powder is eaten away by hungry and passionate boarders and skiers.

I am finally at the base of 22, which is the first destination of the day. This will open the right side of the mountain to me, providing incredible elevation and steep rides to fully enjoy the powder. As the operator opens the lift the mood changes. The relaxed ‘dude’ talks all fade away as there is only one thing in mind now: to keep your spot in the line and go up first. Much like the start of a car race, when you hear the motors roar, you can hear the boards and skies moving forward and squeezing the powder, creating a sound similar to the one made by the ropes of a boat that is docked.

The feeling of riding powder is hard to describe. It’s similar to sliding effortlessly over shaving cream. The background is the almost unreal silence and beauty of the mountains in high and remote elevations. On top, is the faint sound of the board gracefully cutting through the powder and the involuntary screams produced from the unlimited pleasure and excitement that comes from this experience. I used to think that it was only me that experienced this necessity to scream while going down the mountain, but a brief talk with a few boarders on the lift reveals that it’s a common need, only natural due to the rare circumstances.

This is the beginning of a fantastic day; a day with mixed feelings. You know that a short while from now not much will be left to ride – everything will be tracked down. Finding freshies becomes more like a hunt through the trees in not so frequently used lifts. But it’s all worth it. Every minute, all the anxiety it’s worth it… just for the few rides that I get to make my own tracks over the fresh white blanket that the mountain has provided.

As if the day could get any better, I get back to the lodge to find that Clara has loved the powder. Getting her to board has been an ongoing balancing act of dealing with my expectations. Needless to say the idea of riding together crosses my mind often, but I know better than to expect anything… it prevents disillusion! At least for today it has been great. She loved it and she is making carefully crafted turns at unforeseen speeds as she goes down the hill… What else can I ask for? I really feel really privileged to be living the life I am living. I am extremely grateful!
Until the next adventure! Take care. Martin.