Declan The Duck

Run back to the 80s!

Friday…. 3:30am alarm goes off….. FUCK

Time to hop on plane and fly to Charlotte, for an 80’s themed 5k? ok well I guess things could be worse.  I meet Doug at Tim Hortons on Boston State road, drive to the airport and hop on our first flight to DC,   get there with plenty of time to spare, sit down read a magazine, 2 hours go by… FUCK  look at Doug.. Did we seriously just miss our fucking flight? This is not our first rodeo, how did we miss it?  Looking back on it I still have no idea how we missed it.  We booked ourselves on the next flight to Charlotte….7pm…. FUCK  now what?

Lets rent a car.  Perfect, so we rent a car $25 for a couple hours, drove to downtown DC, visited all the monuments, and even grabbed lunch out of a food truck with my good friend Pego who just happens to work in the city.  We rented bikes, toured the city, and then drove back to the airport, hopped on our plane and arrived in Charlotte.

“Don’t let shit, ruin your day”

Our purpose of the trip was to work the Run Back to the 80’s race.  So we woke up early on Saturday and set up the venue, got the course ready, put on our awfully awesome 80’s gear and got ready to host a wonderful event.  I was hired to do photography, but by the end of the race, I was DJ’ing, MC’ing and doing photos, (no complaints here) It was a fun vibe, and it was definitely exciting to be on the mic.  After the event was over it was time to break down clean up and grab some dinner with our friends who run the event.  It’s great when you get to sit down during these events, there is usually so much going on and all of us are always traveling so when we do get some time. It is really amazing to sit at the “round table” sharing stories.

Made it back home late sunday night, and am home for the week.  Next week is the fishing trip, for those of you who know me, you know how much this trip means to me. I’ve gone since I was 6 with my father, and I plan on going as long as I can.

I came here looking for a fight

It’s been a bit

I haven’t sat down and wrote since I’ve been home for multiple reasons, 1. I was busy

2. I was depressed (as depressed as I can actually be) Don’t worry guys.

My knee and personal health was getting the best of me, I had come home from Europe and I was exhausted, tired, and overwelmed, So much work todo for TeamGLEAS (www.teamgleas.com), and even more to get caught up on with SH Photography (www.shweddingphotos.com),plus I am still in the process of building my new website (www.adamsauerwein.com) but either way, I’m back, I’m happy, and I’m almost healthy!

Here’s what’s going on! This past weekend I hopped back on a plane and headed to Las Vegas with Drift Innovation (www.driftinnovation.com) I have been working with drift for awhile now, and this is the first time that they had sent me somewhere to represent them.  I was headed to Orleans arena to help out with the Endurocross.

The event was absolutely insane, riders racing through rocks, logs, and water pits, it was an amazing experience to be on the track, shooting with my camera, along with the Drift.

Declan even snuck out on the track during a race to grab a quick photo!

Saturday was an off day so we decided to head over to Red Rock and do some exploring, Las Vegas isn’t really my thing so to walk away from the strip was a blessing.  It’s weird to think you drive 10 minutes from the strip and its just pure silence and absolute bliss.  We spent a couple hours walking around, laughing, telling jokes, and climbing some of the rocks, These are the moments in life when you realize things are good…. REALLY GOOD and they’re only getting better (I think)  

I’m a bit out of touch with my writing so I apologize for the awfulness of all this.  But remember I don’t necesarrily blog for anyone but myself, although I thank you if you are still reading!  

It’s now 4:30 on a Thursday and I am packing my bags to flight to Charlotte tonight to shoot a “run back to the 80’s” themed 5k.  I will be sure to update and post more this summer. 

PS: Feel free to steal my photos, They aren’t amazing, I’m ok with that, but people have been warning me and telling me to watermark them so that explains that!

Keep moving forward

I’m not too sure where I’m going with this post.  I think I know what I want to say, but that doesn’t always work….

First off I want to say that I took that photo of myself with my Drift HD Ghost (insert Ad space)  seriously tho, getting to the top of this (hill) meant more to me than most.  I’ve been battling a knee injury, numb hand, swollen ankle, swollen eye, all while traveling a different country and trying to do as much exploring as my body would allow.  So having this camera on me, with a remote, gave me the chance to capture a moment in my life that means a lot more than most people would think…..

Ok OK Ok I’m done being sappy, I’m in the United Kingdom! WOOOOOO!!!! and getting to travel all over the place with a great friend, and an honest inspiration… Lindsey and I are complete opposites, and I have learned so much from her, and I hope that she has learned some things from me.  We booked a place in Harberton and did some exploring in Dartmoor National Park.  It was what I personally needed, it was a place  that felt like home to me.  I was free to walk around, explore, and TAKE my TIME.   If I was 100% I would have been climbing every rock, and getting the best possible view that I could get, but instead I was hobbling, and watching my every step as if it were my last.  But the thing was, I didn’t care, it felt right, even with my bum knee, it felt like it was where I was supposed to be at that exact moment.   I sat on a rock and took pictures for over an hour, only to turn around and notice that a pony had walked right up to me….I was giddy, like a child at a petting zoo, except I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. Do I pet it? Do I touch it? Nah, Ill let him be, but I will take this moment to capture a couple of photos….

The experience was one that I will never forget, and I hope that I find a place like that again. 

We returned our rental car on Friday, and took the tube into London, this is weird for me, I am not used to relying on public transport, but honestly its the only efficient way to travel in big cities.   So here is our beautiful peugeot we put close to 5000 miles on her… 

Off to go explore London, if anyone has any suggestions…I’m listening

I’m Living life for me…..

Woke up and pressed play on “jango” (UK version of internet radio) this morning.  First song to come on was Same old Story by Pennywise.  It made me realize something and maybe it wasn’t even what they were going for but I guess thats the point of music, we can interpret it however we want.  There’s a line in the song that says: 

“Done With yours, I’m living life for me”

I took that as, “it’s  OKAY to be selfish,”

I’m not saying become a selfish asshole prick, but I am saying  there comes a point in your life where you need to decide where YOU want to be, and although your friends and family may not agree with you, it could be the decision that changes your life forever.  So wake up and live your life, for YOU.  It sucks to think that our friends and family would ever put us on the wrong path, but sometimes they don’t know what is best for you,  and trust me, they will support you in everything you do.  

In the past year I have had  numerous  people coming up to me telling me they “envy” me and they wish they could do what I do…. Come on, seriously guys? You wish? What are you 6 years old? Stop wishing, Start Doing….  I’m not some genius that found a loop hole in the system,  I’m just some 26 year old kid who is lucky enough to have an amazing family (which supports me in anything I do) a kick ass business partner (www.saraheidinger.com) who is probably the biggest reason for the person I am now, she taught me how to use a camera, and saw something in me that no one else saw.  I “studied” under her for over 6 years before I even thought about calling myself a photographer… But I also never said NO to anything in the past year,  That’s what changed my life forever, I went on tour with Rust Belt Lights (lived in an RV with smelly dudes www.facebook.com/rustbeltlights ) I’ve worked cycling events, Color Runs,  and even got the opportunity to work an Ironman.  I didn’t get those gigs by saying no…….

Now keep in mind I am in the UK right now, staying in an old barn that was converted into an amazing little apartment.  Lindsey is asleep (which never happens!) and I’m still trying to figure out if the bread I just ate had mold on it or not.  I’m pretty sure science says that if you toast it, the mold is dead, and peanut butter will overcome that issue, but who knows!  This last paragraph has nothing to do with anything I just wrote,  but I figured you guys should know that I may have eaten moldy bread.

Bath

I guess it’s time for an update,

Why this building has a rainbow flag flying from it, I have no idea, but I liked it, and there were a bunch of Jersey Shore looking dudes standing out front.

I’ll be playing a bit of catch up here so lets see how this goes.  Last time I wrote we were just getting to Robs.  Well that was great! Nottingham seems to be a second home to me these days. Rob and Kerry offer us coffee and a warm bed to sleep in! (hard to complain) Although it seems every time I got to Nottingham my body just fails, I like to blame Rob because, well why wouldn’t I blame him.  But really, my knee goes to absolute shit while I am there.  Anyway it was a great place to stay and a comfy bed to sleep in.  We had some meetings and then again were on the road.

This time we were headed to Bath, the home of the “roman baths” apparently they are a big deal, and apparently I am not cultured, cause I knew nothing about them.  Either way we got a really sick condo for the next four days and had a nice set up.  We strolled into town and headed for the Roman Baths, a natural hot spring. I was semi-stoked hoping that I was going to get to swim in this natural spring, but I was wrong.  They had turned what was probably such a beautiful set up, into a tourist attraction. Although it was still awesome to walk around and learn about the history of the baths, and who had came thru there, all I wanted to do was rip my clothes off and dive in.  

We came back to the place cooked some noodles and hung out for the night.  I hate to complain about traveling, but it is so nice to be able to kick back for a night and just relax.  Lucky for me Judge Dredd was on so I got to watch Stallone dominate while I crushed donuts, and Lindsey judged me.  My health is back to normal (ish) I swear as soon as I leave Robs it starts feeling ok again.  I have been like a 6 year old boy, taking baths, and relaxing in the tub trying to get this thing back in action.  I am currently listening to skrillex, WHY you ask? Well some questions just don’t need to be answered.  It’s Sunday night and Lindsey went to the spa at noon, I have sat in my underwear all day, and should probably go shower so it looks like I did something today…..

Better Never Stops…

I would really like to start with something extremely simple, I want everyone to think about their “list” and take a minute to think of all of those things that you HAVE crossed off that list.  I think we always focus on the next best thing, and never take a minute to realize how much we’ve actually done. Example: When I was 16 the only thing that mattered on my list was to get a car and get my license, after one FAILED test, I practiced and I passed that test, so what seems so small on my “list” now, was actually one of the biggest changes in my life, It was my freedom, I could be anywhere in 20 minutes.  

Don’t forget to give yourself credit. You are who you are because that who you made yourself to be. It’s not bragging or boasting if you give yourself credit. Don’t let it go to your head, you have a long way to go. I know I’ve got a long list, and it seems like it keeps getting longer, but I know that someday I will cross something else off that list, and I will continue to add new things.  

Ushaw to York to Liverpool to Who knows!

Wow, 

This week is a blur, I started in Newcastle, then went to Northumbria, we stayed at a place called Ushaw College, it was an old catholic seminary, The building itself was amazing, but the rooms reminded be of an old motel room. But it was a warm room and walking around the building itself was unreal.

Lindsey showed me one of her favorite rooms at the college (which was also Durhams business school) the room was really neat, it was set up like an old theatre, Lindsey set up and played piano while i geeked out and took photos…

From there it was back to Durham to Leeds to York to Liverpool then a nice 2 hour drive to  the Peak District on Thursday night… We got a place on Airbnb and shacked up at this house with a man named Jon, he was great, staying up late for us to make our entrance, we were lost of course and finally showed up at 11pm, he welcomed us in his house and we slept in his guest bedroom.  It seems like a crazy concept just sleeping in someones house, but its actually really nice, you get to have a conversation with a local, find out what there is to do in the area, and ITS CHEAP!  Jon welcomed us in the morning with cups of coffee and  gave us some advice on where we should go, it was a cold day today (friday) so being outside was going to be tough, although with his advice we went to Buxton, and found a place called the Poole Caverns, it was a 45min guided tour, which isn’t always my favorite, but the guide was informative, and the cavern was interesting….

We then drove back to Nottingham to stay at Robs again, we bought some food and COOKED dinner, you have no idea how nice a “home” cooked dinner is until you have eaten out for the last three weeks.  So pasta and a movie was perfect, I had gotten Lindsey to put her phone/computer down for 2 hours to watch a movie, I picked Into the Wild, if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.  Such an epic film about “doing what you love.”

It’s now 10:19pm and I’m excited to be sitting and writing….

Create

I don’t want to keep touching on my injuries, but I thought this would be a neat post; I have a serious knee injury, severe swelling in my ankle, and some minor swelling in my eye.  I am not as mobile as I would like to be, and yet I still have to work, I still have to do my job, being a photographer it is nice to be able to jump up on something or crawl under something to “get the shot” but all of a sudden I can’t.  It has forced me to look at things differently, it’s changed how I view things, I don’t know if it is a good thing or a bad thing, but I am definitely shooting differently than I ever have.  It’s neat, I’m learning more about myself, and developing a different type of style rather it be on purpose or not.  It has forced my creative side to work harder, “how do I get that angle, without being up there” how can I make that look like that without being under that?  Push your creative side today, draw something, sing a song, write a poem, you don’t have to show anyone, do it for yourself, you won’t regret it…