TREK - A Travel Blog by Austin Mann

Woodwalk Day #1

Austin — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 01:33:17 +0000

Today is day 1 of 9 of a project I am working on with The Paradigm Project. Today we walked about 11 miles… starting at Sea World and ending on the beautiful UCSD campus. The idea behind this event is to raise awareness about what over a billion people are doing all over the world just to collect firewood. 12 hour hikes, 3 times a week, just to collect firewood and cook are not uncommon.

On top of that, most families are cooking inside a hut which quickly fills with smoke. We are in the middle of a cooking demonstration inside a custom built hut to share with people what it’s like during cooking… These demonstrations are happening RIGHT NOW!

Check out my Twitter for the most recent updates…

X100: Lalibela

Austin — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 19:39:50 +0000

An afternoon Orthodox service at the buried churches in Lalibela, Ethiopia w/ the Fuji X100.

Beauty Above

Austin — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 11:36:22 +0000

UPDATE: Thanks for all your responses! After hearing from everyone from fellow fotogs to meteorologists… we’ve concluded this is a prime example of a Circumhorizontal Arc. Wikipedia explains it’s an ice-halo formed by plate shaped ice crystals in high level cirrus clouds. Apparently, a circumhorizontal arc can sometimes be an indicator of an earthquake in the very near future… one was seen just minutes before the Sichuan earthquake in Central China in 2008: Earthquake Lights.

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A couple of days ago, Esther Havens and I were working in Gondar in Northern Ethiopia… we got out of the car and looked up to see
this incredible cloud structure overhead…

Time stood still as we sat there with eyes fixed upward, watching this irridescent orb slowly transform from one beauty to the next and
I remain in awe at this display of the mystique of His Splendor.

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

Psalm Nineteen

Gertrude Saddle, New Zealand

Austin — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 03:26:49 +0000

A few images from an afternoon hiking around Gertrude Saddle…one of my favorite days in all my time in that beautiful country. On my way up there, I shot a handful of different B&Ws… the sheer magnitude of these rocks & mountains is just impossible to capture. It may look like it’s a 10 minute walk away but it ends up being 1-2 hours, unreal.

After I finally got to the top, it was completely foggy. I had been told the top was a great vantage point to see the Milford Sound, so I decided to wait a bit, have a snack, and see if it cleared up. Fortunately about 45 minutes later, they did.

July Desktop 2011

Austin — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 02:16:46 +0000

July’s desktop comes from a six hour day hike I took near the southern tip of the south island in New Zealand. It was a super rewarding day photographically and emotionally. So great to just get out and hike completely alone for hours. I ended up hiking around the hill you see on the left, and up around the top ridge where there were alpine lakes and waterfalls. More images from this day following shortly…

Enjoy!

: July 2010 Desktop – Click image to preview

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The Paradigm Project – Stoveman

Austin — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 21:50:01 +0000

Have had the privilege of working with The Paradigm Project a good bit during this last year… I love what the folks are doing at this org, they have a super unique model and from what I can tell it’s making a really neat impact. We have been shooting a whole series of little motion pieces that they are using as part of marketing campaign. Many more episodes to come, but for now, here’s the trailer:

Light the World Workshop

Austin — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 20:27:22 +0000

Super excited to be announcing the launch of a photographic workshop that I have the privilege of co-leading with Esther Havens. If you are not familiar with her work, change that. Her work has inspired me and her heart as taught me a great deal as we’ve shared our experiences. Our workshop will be geared around using photography as a tool to enable organizations around the world to tell their stories and grow their impact, but will cover a broad spectrum of topics.

Esther and I do very similar work and live similar lives… we work on our laptops in-transt, hit the ground running in country and are always balancing budget and expenses to make it all work. We both often get inquiries about what we do, how we got started, how we make it work and everything else. We feel like what we do is more than a profession, but really a challenging calling, one that is ultimately incredibly rewarding. Thru many conversations and prayer, we now feel called to share our experiences and help others understand what it looks like to be on this path.

We are so pumped to be working on this together and can’t wait for our first workshop this September… if you’re at all interested, sign up for more information at Light the World Workshop.

- Austin

June Desktop 2011

Austin — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 22:48:57 +0000

June’s desktop comes from my last night in New Zealand, staying in Rotorua on the North Island. Earlier in the trip, I learned how to locate the southern celestial pole… the point which all of the stars appear to rotate around when as the earth rotates (seen in the bottom of the image.) The different colors seen in the stars is caused by the different temperatures & intensities that each of the stars burn. This is a 4886 second exposure, about 81 minutes. Enjoy!

Enjoy!

: june 2010 Desktop – Click image to preview

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A Final Post ‘From the Balcony’

Austin — Thu, 12 May 2011 01:49:15 +0000

I’m in Dallas for about 36 hours, to move out of my apartment and the feel like the very last thing I should be doing right now is shooting more shots of the sky from the balcony… but today’s storm was just epic and made me so thankful to have had this apartment the time that I have. So thankful.

Earlier today:

A few minutes ago (rainbow on left!)

May 2011 Desktop

Austin — Wed, 04 May 2011 23:04:02 +0000

May’s desktop is here!

This one is from Mt. Cook National Park in south New Zealand. At 12,300 ft, Mt. Cook is the tallest mountain in New Zealand. I was driving out to the mount very early in the morning and shot this 4 second exposure handheld, a good half hour before the sun actually came up.

Enjoy!

: May 2010 Desktop – Click image to preview

After clicking the link below, right-click the image and choose “Save Image As”