the earth ink

I am a walker. I walk nearly everywhere. I would much rather walk a couple miles and see all the sites between me and my destination than catch a cab. I like the details; the types of flowers that grow in a window sill and what games the kids play in the streets. My favorite shoes are these Keen Madrid Ballerina's. They are ultra comfortable, easy to slip on and off in security lines, and have been around the world with me; quite literally. The only time I found them to be lacking was when I walked through multi-colored sand in the desert in Sharjah. The shoes filled up with sand and stayed on the dunes rather than travelling with my feet! They did not prevent me from summiting a dune to see the pink sun slip through the hazy sky for the evening. In this case, I sunk my bare toes into the slope of fleeting ground beneath my body weight and climbed to the top of the red ridge where our tour group had gathered. Before I sound like an advertisement for a pair of shoes that are no

A long awaited vacation. A chance to see a new place in my own state. A delayed flight. A window seat. A sinking sun. I did not know what to expect when I flew over the Big Island and landed in Hilo, Hawaii. The Isle of Hawaii is the biggest in the state and has several different sides to show. Hilo is on the windward side where rain falls regularly and waterfalls have cut dramatic and deep valleys that are cloaked in the thickest and greenest vegetation I have seen. On the coast were fields in a dozen shades of green crops. This remarkable photo hit my camera's sensor shortly before sunset. It was a cloudy day, but my flight delay put me in perfect time to see the sun peak through the clouds for a spot of time during our decent.

This is a picture of patience.  At times, photography is much more about having patience and taking advantage of the circumstances de jour than going out with an intention of finding the perfect shot. You cannot plan to visit Big Ben and expect to carry home a crystal clear image on a sunny day in your lens. Chances are, it will rain that afternoon, or you will miss your bus, or tourists and business people will block your shot. But, if you leave yourself open to the circumstances or find patience to wait out the rain, you may perfectly capture a little girl's reflection in a pool of water nearby  with the clock tower over her shoulder . On my trip to the Big Island of Hawaii, I travelled to see the volcanoes. It rained and the lava was not flowing to the visible naked eye. I was travelling alone with a leisurely day planned to drive around half of the Island. I was about to walk through a small lava tube at the Royal Kona Coffee Mill & Museum to find some unique textures

Determined to own a legitimate Spanish passport stamp (and not just a discounted stamp for spending a half hour running to catch another plane in the Madrid airport), I booked an overnight layover in Madrid to break up a long trip from the Tel Aviv to Honolulu. The flight arrived late and I took the Metro just in time for the Real Madrid f ú tbol match fans to pour into the rail system. Squeezed and squished with my carry-ons held close, listening to four men rap in Spanish while drunk locals panicked that they missed their stop, I had a very lovely conversation with a Canadian couple who had just witnessed the f ú tbol spectacle and enjoyed the jam-packed Metro ride for the cultural enthusiasm of the fans as much as I did. I took the train to Puerta del Sol and walked to a beautiful, quiet, and efficiently-run Hotel Liabeny where I promptly went to sleep. Waking up early in the morning to make the most of my layover, I entered the cobbled streets and city plazas before the city w

Anyone who has travelled any where must begin with a plan. It  might be running through a mental checklist on the way to the airport,  or while throwing clothes in a backpack for an unexpected weekend roadtrip, or packing a lunch for work, or an entire year of maticulous mapping of an extended stay overseas; but some forethought is involved. This post is a plan. The Earth Ink was born out of a love for four things: The Art of Handwritten Communication Travel  Photography Graphic Design With these in mind, each post will relate to at least one of the three themes. This blog follows no organized rules and no promises of consistent posting; it is a simple journey of inspiration. The Earth Ink welcomes you to join the journey. I wanna hang a map of the world in my house. Then I'm gonna put pins into all the locations that I've travelled to. But first, I'm gonna have to travel to the top two corners of the map so it won't fall down.   - mitch hedberg