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Enjoy!

Contax G1, Arista Premium 400, Delta 3200

Camping Trip Timelapse from Ben Godkin on Vimeo.

Music: “Time To Get Away” by LCD Soundsystem

Contax G1 and a mix of  TMAX 400 and Neopan 400

Our first stop was Carlsbad, NM for the Caverns.  We didn’t arrive until about 10 in the evening so we found ourselves a kitschy little motel in town to rest up for the cavernous hike that we were to embark on the next morning.  Let me just say that these caverns are enormously HUGE.  You have no real idea what to expect.  Sure, I knew they were gonna be massive, but there’s just no real way of preparing yourself for a place like it. Wow.  Amazingly beautiful and kinda creepy.  We always try to incorporate something educational in our trips and the caverns proved to be just that….it’s good for the brain juice.  Plus, it made taking Sophie out of school two days prior to the start of her break more justifiable.  We then headed to our 2nd destination just a few hours northwest in Cloudcroft, where we had a super cool a-frame cabin in the snowy mountains waiting for us.  This is where I did the deed.  I couldn’t stand the anticipation any longer….I had been holding on to the engagement ring for a month and it was starting to burn a huge hole in my pocket.  PHEW! Felt like a million pounds had been lifted off my shoulders.  We spent the evening chilling out and relaxing by the fire that I taught Sophie how to build and start.  She likes the fire, that little pyro!  The next day we headed out of the mountains and into the desert valley for a day trip to White Sands National Park in Alamogordo, home to the missile range that detonated the first nuclear explosion in the world.  I hope it’s okay to visit there….so far, none of my hair has fallen out and I  haven’t grown a third ear!  We purchased some plastic discs and proceeded to slide down the massive white dunes that the park is famous for.  The next leg of our trip brought us to Ruidoso, a cool little ski town just an hour north of Cloudcroft, where we had yet another cabin waiting for us.  Though there wasn’t as much snow on the ground as there was in Cloudcroft, we did get to see a good amount of fresh snow fall in Ruidoso.  Sophie hadn’t really experienced real snow and snowfall.  Sure, we’ve been known to get a flurry or two in Austin, but it’s nothing like the real deal.   Needless to say, snowball fights were in order.   There wasn’t enough time left on our trip to go skiing since it usually takes a few days of classes and such to even get the hang of things enough to enjoy it.  Instead, we went snow tubing – equally as fun and less demand on the body!  We all had a blast, especially Sophie, who would spin down the mountain with the biggest grin on her face!  Such an amazing trip with my two favorite gals in the whole wide world.  I’m ecstatic that Lisa said yes.  I’m thankful that Sophie was there to be a part of it all.  I’m glad Beaudreaux got to go with us.   One last statement – cooking and grilling in that high altitude is weird.  Here are some pics from the trip…..we hope you enjoy!

Poor Beaudreaux had to be kenneled at the caverns….it’s a good thing they offered that service.  He was such a good little pooch on the trip!

Neat, huh? The formation on the right was called Whales mouth.

The queen of funny faces!

An interior shot of the a-frame….so cool! We didn’t want to leave.

SNOWBALL FIGHT!

Lisa pegged Sophie pretty good

Thanks for stopping by!

The view from my hotel, the IliKai

You can’t come to Hawaii and not have some local foods, right? I chose to have a Hawaiian breakfast, complete with grilled bananas and SPAM. Yep, that’s right! Spam. (Filipinos eat it, too, so I wasn’t scared)

They have these beautiful, gigantic Banyan Trees all over the island that make you feel so little. They look really cool…remind me of the trees in Avatar.

And then, of course, there’s the beach….which speaks for itself…

Like I said, I’ll be posting more pictures as I visit more awesome locations in the following days. Do I love my job? Heck yes! LOVE IT.

So yeah, you read the title of this blog post correctly – SNOW IN AUSTIN WOOHOO!. This is a rarity so pretty much the whole city is in a buzz/panic. Chances are that it won’t really stick too much, but we’ll take it!

Treeeeeeee

Aaaaannnnndddd there is a new Cruzada baby to add to the clan! A little Thanksgiving Turkey… Well, technically, he’s a Gonzales baby, but whatevs! I want you to meet Hugo Cruz Gonzales…..my Sister’s new baby boy. Isn’t he handsome!?

Happy Holidays!

There is life all over the city. Breathing. Growing. A massive ball of energy.

It’s everywhere you look and even more prominent where you don’t look. It all happens very quickly, though. Fleeting. In a blink of an eye.

I had the most wonderful opportunity to photograph the beautiful wedding of a beautiful bride in this beautiful city last week(more on that later – with some preview images to follow!). However, instead of just doing a shoot-and-run, I decided to make the most of the trip and made a little vacation out of it. After all, this is my first time to visit the Big Apple as an adult. As some of you know, I love to do candid street photography, and what better place to take advantage of that than NYC!?

Much to my chagrin, taking street photos in New York City is much more daunting and difficult that I previously manifested it to be in my head. It’s a bit overwhelming, to say the least. Every single one of your senses is being over-stimulated simultaneously from all different directions. It’s hard to pick and choose what to shoot. It was all a little shocking. My first hour on the streets was spent in observation and a few failed attempts to try and determine the speed at which the city moves. At this point, I didn’t even know if I was going to be able to take pictures at all. I was in shock. For a brief moment, the idea of taking pictures felt really, really foreign to me. I felt a little sad. What to do?

I had to snap out of it. I had to remove myself from that state of shock that had put me in a trance. I knew that I had to just start clicking away and that everything would just fall into place. I think that’s what happened. I just found my zone and started doing what I normally do – shoving my camera and lens into people’s spaces, their personal hoola-hoops, their lives. I think I got away with some cool pictures. Here’s what I saw…

(Sorry, there are A LOT of pictures in this set)

My younger sister, Laura, and her husband Dax are no longer going to be DINKS.

Double Income No Kids.

Yep! Something mysterious happened about eight months ago and now they are expecting a baby boy at the end of November. Yesterday could not have been a better day to photograph a Mommy-to-be. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. Here are a couple of pictures from the session.