Episode 21.
Picking my battles and the need for sleep won last night. Not the first time, definitely not the last – getting older ain’t that fun sometimes. Short episode last week, this one – not so much. And a bit all over the place.
It was probably the first week since forever that I took the time to breathe a little and start sorting piles of roof tiles, documents and old photos that need archiving. Started the lawnmower, washed Stane (my car), and listened to another fun book. The to-do list is nearly endless, but as I said before, picking my battles – sometimes easy, sometimes anything but.
Being annoyed at the mosquito waking me up before 5 am, consequently watering the garden, and waiting for Samo (the coffee machine) to warm up, I had a strong feeling someone was watching me. I wasn’t wrong, and I quietly ran to my backpack (it doesn’t have a name) for my camera. One of my favourite moments of the week, with the caveat that the bastard is the reason why we won’t have any homegrown stringless beans. Can’t have everything.
Learning about whisky, romanticized in my eyes and realizing how fermentation times, type of barley, distillery history, etc. are indeed fun facts, but really it’s all about the people you share your collection with. I’ve been really fortunate to meet some generous, knowledgeable and overall amazing people with whom I got to share some extraordinary drams. Wow.
Friendly heads-up: Alpijada will be on Anything But Therapy’s menu for the foreseeable future – it really takes much of my attention and time, daily. We have a location, we have a date – which is September 13th and I just managed to add something special to the program yesterday. For more info, check out alpijada.com and subscribe for updates.
See you there! Happy beeps.
Let me make a quick Instagram post
…I said to myself on a Sunday morning. Almost 4 hours later, the 10-photo carousel/collage was ready. “Good times, bad times…” sings Led Zeppelin, Mr Douglas writes, “So long, and thanks for all the fish”, but I say – Nine and done. Cheers! Seems appropriate.
Not a single phone in sight
Not my default genre, but… Cancelling Defqon.1 due to extreme heat was heartbreaking, but the safest option for everyone. The video below – I have no words. In 4k, if you can.
Pilot to be
To be honest, I never was much of a video person, but the world (and the algorithm) convinced me that having a 360 camera wasn’t a bad idea. It wasn’t. Using it since Siddharta’s 30th birthday in Arena Stožice, it offers a unique perspective and sometimes captures moments that even my trigger-happy fingers miss. But a drone?
As a primarily music photographer, I never saw big potential or value that a drone camera would bring into my daily life – sure, it would be a nice toy, but do I need it? No. When I got the opportunity to borrow it, well… Fuck.
I think I need one.
DJI Neo 2 is a fantastic little thing that amazed me on day one, and I can’t wait to find more excuses to use it today.
Vitamin Well Running Club
Every Wednesday at 19:00, at the PST parking on Pot Roberta Blinca in Ljubljana. Easy 5k, consider this an open invite. More info here.
Content update
I’m glad the newsletter kicks my poor publishing habit weekly, and it kicked in somewhat today. Not sure if I’m catching up though.
Galleries from April
Galleries from May
Galleries from June
Noup, still not catching up.
About that fun book I was listening to
Living with a SEAL by Jesse Itzler, who is a fun character, and his way of storytelling and living just shows up what financial freedom (maybe I should use the word abundance) can do when you’re trying to live your best life.
Inviting a personal trainer to live with you for a month, with his only condition “You do everything I say, and nothing is off limits.” sounds like an interesting project, but when you realize the SEAL is actually David Goggins… Well, that’s the fun part.
Anyone read Living with the monks?
I know, nobody is reading this anymore – time for that apology I owe (to myself?) that I’ve been trying to put out for weeks.
I fucked up.
Taking care of your photo gear is important, and during lens changes, the sensor can get dirty. In concert photography, everything is usually dark, textured, the aperture is wide open, and the dust is rarely visible, so it sometimes goes unnoticed for longer.
Vurberk, possibly my favourite location for concerts in Slovenia, was something I was looking forward to since I got the memo, and taking advantage of the scenic environment was deliberate. What was not was closing the aperture and unintentionally featuring all the dust on my sensor. It happens.
What shouldn’t happen is me rushing through the edit and forgetting about those daylight photos with a clear blue sky. Should be an easy fix, and I have no excuse. I’m sorry.
Damn ninjas cutting onions
Ending with some additional emotional content? Well, at least for me. Stage 2 of Tour De France was peak cycling? Absolute cinema? Pure ciclismo. I don’t know, but it felt special. Pogi winning the hearts of many once more, with the gesture that speaks louder than most, if not all of his palmarès. Damn ninjas.
So much ink was spilled about it already, I don’t see a reason to extend it any further, but I would like to shout-out a few photographers who inspire, amaze and make me pick up my jaw and camera on a daily basis.
The icons
- Harry Talbot – @visualsofharry
- Ashley Norris Gruber – @ashleygruber
- Jered Gruber – @jeredgruber
- Russell Ellis – @cyclingimages
- Zac Williams – @z_w_photography
- Chris Auld – @cauldphoto
- Xavier Pereyron – @xavier.pereyron
Shout-out to Alan Bučar Vukšić, who’s also at the race making awesome content. Still waiting for that video we made in February, mate. 😉
Episode 21, done.
See you next week.