Monday, 16 March 2009
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
Wednesday, 31 December 2008
Lapland Husky Trip!!
Another travel video
Sweden - Huski Safari from Mark Quade on Vimeo.
From a 2006 trip diary........
The main purpose of this trip was of course the dog sledding, which I will get to shortly...As well as the sledding we also spent some time in Stockholm which is not too bad a city. The usual Starbucks, McDonalds as in most cities but what can you do?? It is in a really nice setting with the city spread over about 14 islands. The old town in Gamla Stan is very easy on the eye and you can spend a fair bit of time exploring. Tourist shop galore though....
On sunday we flew north to the town of Kiruna, which is about 200kms north of the arctic circle and as you'd expect, covered fully in ice and snow. The town is very similar to Broken Hill, an iron mine the main industry (apparently deepest in world), the mine right next to the town, miles from anywhere and over all a fairly depressing place. Definitely not one for lovers of architecture. On Monday we were picked up by our guide, Niclas, and then driven about an hour north to Abisko. Here we met up with the othe members of the trip, Richard and Ingrid and of course the 26 barking mad Alaskan Huskies.Getting the teams all harnessed and organised was a real eye opener.
The dogs are absolutely nuts!! Picture the excitement of a Kelpie when you let it off the chain and triple it. Now take that level of excitement and multiply it by 26. Now you start to get a rough idea of the mayhem that we had. Now also remembering that these dogs have been bred to and love to pull sleds. Interesting times...Richards team managed to jerk the knot loose that had anchored them to a tree. As soon as they are able, these dogs just run. They just want to go and they don't care where. Can be very dangerous considering the sled they are pulling.
As I was helping get Richards team sorted, we looked up to see my team also loose and heading flat out towards us. Not a great start at all. Luckily no one hurt, dogs included.We took off flat out hoping to let the dogs run out of steam a bit. It was pretty nervy first half hour, but thankfully incident free; mostly... Ju's team decided to head bush for a bit and almost tipped her off but hanging on with one hand she managed to hit the brake enough to pull them up; and one of Rows' dogs managed to get tangled in its leads and main line. Poor dog was in a fair bit of pain as the other dogs were still trying to take off and jerking the sled etc which was only tightening the leads. Ouch, but luckily no harm done.
The final 4-5 kms of the day were across quite a big lake, we started to get a real feel for what it was all about. Beautiful scenery and nothing making noise except for the skid of your sled across the snow. Amazing stuff.
The camp for the night was Abiskojure.The dogs are tied up along a cable that has smaller individual chains coming off it. The dogs stay here over night out in the open. It was under -20C each night but the dogs didn't seem to mind a bit. They just curled up and dozed off. We had about 90kg of food for the dogs for the five days. This was ground beef that we made into a casserole sort of dish for the pooches. It is very soupy as this is the main source of water for the dogs also.Was quite a job to collect the water from a frozen lake, heat it, chop the food up, add water and dish it up to 26 starving dogs. this was done in the mornings and when we made camp at night. The rule is that the dogs get fed before us.We had reindeer stew for dinner that night. Was really good.
The huts were fairly simple, no electricity or running water but they did have gas for cooking and a pot bellie stove for heating. Bunk beds for the team. Very cozy.
DAY 2
Up early, fed dogs and then had a breaky of bacon and eggs and left over stew.We were in charge of harnessing up our own teams, which remarkably didn't take too long and we were all sorted and ready to go. All ropes held and we took off in orderly fashion. Bit different from yesterday.Went through some nice country, across a few lakes etc. It was really good to get some more time on the sleds and actually out there doing it. At about 1pm we crossed the Norwegian border. International dog sledders!!! We had travelled 27kms so far and the dogs (and us) were fairly buggered. We had lunch for about 45 mins and headed back the way we had come.
It is quite hard work, as we tried to help the teams as much as possible up the hills. Really takes it out of you and makes you crack a fair sweat. Beanie off and jacket un-done.
About five kms from home I heard a shout from Julie, who was behind me. I turned to see her frantically chasing her team!! Luckily I was able to pull them up as they sprinted past me. Very close call though. Looking back it was bloody funny but at the time was fairly serious. It would be very easy for the the runaway sled to crash over the team and wreak havoc. It turns out that Ju had turned around to wave Richard past, as one of her dogs was going to the loo. As she was turned around the dog finished earlier than expected, and the team took off...
That night Niclas noticed the Northern Lights. We all got our gear on and watched this amazing phenomenon. It is really quite freaky, but utterly amazing to see these smooth green lights dance patterns across the sky.
DAY 3
Up early again and headed off after a fair bit of mucking about at around 10:30am. We headed off to Alesjaure where we were originally meant to stay the night but we had made it the journey in excellent time. We had climbed about 400m in elevation and traveled about 15kms.
Another beautiful clear day, but temps a bit lower as we headed across some lakes.After lunch we had a team meeting and decided to push on to a camp called Vistas. the trip there was one of the highlights for me. We had passed through one of the most beautiful valleys that I have seen and scenery was absolutely spectacular. Niclas put it nicely by saying that "these mountains make you feel small"; it was truly awe inspiring.The camp its self was at the junction of two valley; the one we had been traveling down that day and the other we would be going up tomorrow. Some great pics from around that area.
DAY 4 and 5
The next morning we woke to find that the weather had changed for the worse. No more blue skies for us I'm afraid. We were by this stage old hands at maintaining the dogs and harnessing them and we made short work of getting ready.The weather was pretty miserable and getting worse.A little way up the valley we spotted a couple of herds of reindeer. They were a fair way off though and quickly getting further away.
After a creek crossing that involved a one and a half meter drop, about 20kms of sledding and a ridiculous hill climb that nearly killed us all with exhaustion, we reached our next camp (the name escapes me). It had been fairly tough going in the fresh snow and it had definitely taken its toll. We were all buggered, the dogs especially.
That night the ladies treated themselves to a sauna. I, however, was committed to not bathing for the duration. Whats five days amongst friends?
Next morning we awoke to the now familiar crappy weather, it may have been a little worse. We were all well and truly rugged up as we headed off for the final leg of about 40kms.The trip was mostly down hill but we were now heading into the wind and it was still snowing a little, adding to our pain.The scenery was o.k. when we could see about us and I am sure it would be great on a nice day.
By lunch time the dogs were really starting to struggle. My team in particular were very steady and I was falling behind. Soon the pace slackened as the other teams exhausted themselves also. Their was a bit of team swapping going on between Ju and Row as Ju's team were really struggling, due to the fact that two of her dogs had been borrowed and were not up to the standard of Niclas' dogs.At around 4:30 we made it into Nikkoloukta. We unharnessed our teams for the last time and said farewell.
These are truly amazing dogs. I am pretty sure that they would kill themselves before they let you down. They had worked their guts out in the last two days in the fresh snow and into the wind. What more is there to say other than they are truly amazing dogs?
That ended our dog sled adventure. Bugger. We were completely knackered and I was definitely ready for that long awaited shower.We stayed another night in Kiruna, checked out the Ice Hotel etc and headed back to Stockholm the next day.
In Stockholm we did the sites, checked out the zoo and relaxed. We were pretty stuffed. A big thanks to Niclas who ran our trip. Check out [link]www.huskysafari.com[/link] for his details etc And thanks to Row, Richard and Ingrid who made the trip truly memorable.
Sweden - Huski Safari from Mark Quade on Vimeo.
From a 2006 trip diary........
The main purpose of this trip was of course the dog sledding, which I will get to shortly...As well as the sledding we also spent some time in Stockholm which is not too bad a city. The usual Starbucks, McDonalds as in most cities but what can you do?? It is in a really nice setting with the city spread over about 14 islands. The old town in Gamla Stan is very easy on the eye and you can spend a fair bit of time exploring. Tourist shop galore though....
On sunday we flew north to the town of Kiruna, which is about 200kms north of the arctic circle and as you'd expect, covered fully in ice and snow. The town is very similar to Broken Hill, an iron mine the main industry (apparently deepest in world), the mine right next to the town, miles from anywhere and over all a fairly depressing place. Definitely not one for lovers of architecture. On Monday we were picked up by our guide, Niclas, and then driven about an hour north to Abisko. Here we met up with the othe members of the trip, Richard and Ingrid and of course the 26 barking mad Alaskan Huskies.Getting the teams all harnessed and organised was a real eye opener.
The dogs are absolutely nuts!! Picture the excitement of a Kelpie when you let it off the chain and triple it. Now take that level of excitement and multiply it by 26. Now you start to get a rough idea of the mayhem that we had. Now also remembering that these dogs have been bred to and love to pull sleds. Interesting times...Richards team managed to jerk the knot loose that had anchored them to a tree. As soon as they are able, these dogs just run. They just want to go and they don't care where. Can be very dangerous considering the sled they are pulling.
As I was helping get Richards team sorted, we looked up to see my team also loose and heading flat out towards us. Not a great start at all. Luckily no one hurt, dogs included.We took off flat out hoping to let the dogs run out of steam a bit. It was pretty nervy first half hour, but thankfully incident free; mostly... Ju's team decided to head bush for a bit and almost tipped her off but hanging on with one hand she managed to hit the brake enough to pull them up; and one of Rows' dogs managed to get tangled in its leads and main line. Poor dog was in a fair bit of pain as the other dogs were still trying to take off and jerking the sled etc which was only tightening the leads. Ouch, but luckily no harm done.
The final 4-5 kms of the day were across quite a big lake, we started to get a real feel for what it was all about. Beautiful scenery and nothing making noise except for the skid of your sled across the snow. Amazing stuff.
The camp for the night was Abiskojure.The dogs are tied up along a cable that has smaller individual chains coming off it. The dogs stay here over night out in the open. It was under -20C each night but the dogs didn't seem to mind a bit. They just curled up and dozed off. We had about 90kg of food for the dogs for the five days. This was ground beef that we made into a casserole sort of dish for the pooches. It is very soupy as this is the main source of water for the dogs also.Was quite a job to collect the water from a frozen lake, heat it, chop the food up, add water and dish it up to 26 starving dogs. this was done in the mornings and when we made camp at night. The rule is that the dogs get fed before us.We had reindeer stew for dinner that night. Was really good.
The huts were fairly simple, no electricity or running water but they did have gas for cooking and a pot bellie stove for heating. Bunk beds for the team. Very cozy.
DAY 2
Up early, fed dogs and then had a breaky of bacon and eggs and left over stew.We were in charge of harnessing up our own teams, which remarkably didn't take too long and we were all sorted and ready to go. All ropes held and we took off in orderly fashion. Bit different from yesterday.Went through some nice country, across a few lakes etc. It was really good to get some more time on the sleds and actually out there doing it. At about 1pm we crossed the Norwegian border. International dog sledders!!! We had travelled 27kms so far and the dogs (and us) were fairly buggered. We had lunch for about 45 mins and headed back the way we had come.
It is quite hard work, as we tried to help the teams as much as possible up the hills. Really takes it out of you and makes you crack a fair sweat. Beanie off and jacket un-done.
About five kms from home I heard a shout from Julie, who was behind me. I turned to see her frantically chasing her team!! Luckily I was able to pull them up as they sprinted past me. Very close call though. Looking back it was bloody funny but at the time was fairly serious. It would be very easy for the the runaway sled to crash over the team and wreak havoc. It turns out that Ju had turned around to wave Richard past, as one of her dogs was going to the loo. As she was turned around the dog finished earlier than expected, and the team took off...
That night Niclas noticed the Northern Lights. We all got our gear on and watched this amazing phenomenon. It is really quite freaky, but utterly amazing to see these smooth green lights dance patterns across the sky.
DAY 3
Up early again and headed off after a fair bit of mucking about at around 10:30am. We headed off to Alesjaure where we were originally meant to stay the night but we had made it the journey in excellent time. We had climbed about 400m in elevation and traveled about 15kms.
Another beautiful clear day, but temps a bit lower as we headed across some lakes.After lunch we had a team meeting and decided to push on to a camp called Vistas. the trip there was one of the highlights for me. We had passed through one of the most beautiful valleys that I have seen and scenery was absolutely spectacular. Niclas put it nicely by saying that "these mountains make you feel small"; it was truly awe inspiring.The camp its self was at the junction of two valley; the one we had been traveling down that day and the other we would be going up tomorrow. Some great pics from around that area.
DAY 4 and 5
The next morning we woke to find that the weather had changed for the worse. No more blue skies for us I'm afraid. We were by this stage old hands at maintaining the dogs and harnessing them and we made short work of getting ready.The weather was pretty miserable and getting worse.A little way up the valley we spotted a couple of herds of reindeer. They were a fair way off though and quickly getting further away.
After a creek crossing that involved a one and a half meter drop, about 20kms of sledding and a ridiculous hill climb that nearly killed us all with exhaustion, we reached our next camp (the name escapes me). It had been fairly tough going in the fresh snow and it had definitely taken its toll. We were all buggered, the dogs especially.
That night the ladies treated themselves to a sauna. I, however, was committed to not bathing for the duration. Whats five days amongst friends?
Next morning we awoke to the now familiar crappy weather, it may have been a little worse. We were all well and truly rugged up as we headed off for the final leg of about 40kms.The trip was mostly down hill but we were now heading into the wind and it was still snowing a little, adding to our pain.The scenery was o.k. when we could see about us and I am sure it would be great on a nice day.
By lunch time the dogs were really starting to struggle. My team in particular were very steady and I was falling behind. Soon the pace slackened as the other teams exhausted themselves also. Their was a bit of team swapping going on between Ju and Row as Ju's team were really struggling, due to the fact that two of her dogs had been borrowed and were not up to the standard of Niclas' dogs.At around 4:30 we made it into Nikkoloukta. We unharnessed our teams for the last time and said farewell.
These are truly amazing dogs. I am pretty sure that they would kill themselves before they let you down. They had worked their guts out in the last two days in the fresh snow and into the wind. What more is there to say other than they are truly amazing dogs?
That ended our dog sled adventure. Bugger. We were completely knackered and I was definitely ready for that long awaited shower.We stayed another night in Kiruna, checked out the Ice Hotel etc and headed back to Stockholm the next day.
In Stockholm we did the sites, checked out the zoo and relaxed. We were pretty stuffed. A big thanks to Niclas who ran our trip. Check out [link]www.huskysafari.com[/link] for his details etc And thanks to Row, Richard and Ingrid who made the trip truly memorable.
Monday, 29 December 2008
Mum and Dad
Above is a pic of Mum and Dad taken just prior to Christmas on their farm.
It was a bit of a drama; Mum had to rush dinner (not good...), and then it started to rain and it came up quite windy. Not ideal for setting up for a photo shoot with a couple of skeptics......
I did have some issues with colour balance etc because only one of my strobes was gelled (I need to invest some more cash in MPEX). I had to do some selecting and colour balance tweaking in Photoshop after I had done my initial global adjustment in Lightroom 2.
This was my first shoot with the D90 and it was a joy to use it as the commander and be fully wireless with two strobes (sb-800 and sb-600).
I think it turned out o.k. Do you?
Africa Project Video
Below is a short movie that is made up of some still images from our trip through Africa.
Our Africa... from Mark Quade on Vimeo.
Our Africa... from Mark Quade on Vimeo.
Sunday, 28 December 2008
Ju
The shot above was taken when my umbrella and stand arrived. I had the my sb-600 on a sc-29 cord, shooting through my brand spanking new 43" westcott umbrella at slightly camera left, high.
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