#ive seen way more bugs than i saw when i was putting things together originally

[moomeecore]

moving things around in the rock garden ive been working on building & trying to assure the bugs who i keep scaring the shit out of that im just remodeling their home & not trying to eat them

[pauldeckerus]

Shooting a World First Expedition on the Essequibo River in Guyana

I removed the Canon C300 from its waterproof bag and attached the 24-105mm f/4.0 lens while swatting away the relentless mosquitoes. Bringing the viewfinder loupe up to my eye, my left hand flicked the power switch on, now a reflex action after shooting with this camera every day for the last three weeks. Nothing happened. Weird, I was certain I’d put in a fully charged battery.

I checked the battery indicator – yep, fully charged. I removed the battery, slid another one in and tried the On switch again. I noticed with a sinking feeling that, once again, nothing was happening. The camera was dead. It had survived one and a half months in the jungle of Guyana but now the daily exposure to the humid environment had proven too much.

Myself and the since deceased C300 Mark III

Ed and Charlie and the C300

I was out here shooting both photos and videos of an exceptional kayak team: Laura Bingham, Ness Knight, Pip Stewart and their guides from the Wai Wai tribe, as they attempted a world-first expedition: kayaking the Essequibo river from the source to its mouth in the Atlantic Ocean. All three women had completed extraordinary expeditions and challenges before and this trip was no exception. The rainforest was certainly living up to its reputation as a destroyer of equipment, we’d already lost a laptop and an iPhone. Luckily I also had the 5D Mark IV to shoot with, but it was now the only camera left with over a week of shooting still to be done.

How did I find myself here? Well, back in January I’d seen this tweet from Pip:

I responded and after a few emails and Skype calls with the team, it was all organized. Peiman Zekavat, who had worked previously with Pip on her South American Tranzamazonica documentary, would shoot the first section the expedition, a difficult hike through dense jungle to find the source of the river, and I would take over to shoot the kayaking section, down-river to the sea.

We’d actually both stepped in last-minute to replace the original videographer who unfortunately had to abandon the trip because of injury and although Peiman knew what he was doing, I had never before done any shooting in the jungle because most of my clients are involved in mountain sports. But hey, opportunities to shoot adventures like this don’t come along very often, so I jumped at the chance.

I went from shooting in the mountains to being chucked in at the deep end of the Essequibo River. Red Bull athlete Paul Guschlbauer

Pip Stewart tackling white water rapids on the Essequibo

This being my first trip to the jungle, I inevitably did a lot of preparation and research before I left. The images I saw of where we were heading looked like something out of Jurassic Park and, as well as being one of the most inaccessible places on earth, our location for the next couple of months was also full of jaguar, snakes, spiders, giant caiman, electric eels and piranha – I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous.

Numerous people told me it was a nightmare to operate camera equipment in this environment, and – as I discovered first-hand – even the toughest electronic equipment can only stand so much water and humidity. As instructed, I packed only minimal equipment: one set of ‘wet clothes’ (to wear on the kayaks), one set of dry clothes (for sleeping in), a sleeping bag, a head torch and a lot of sunscreen and mosquito repellent.

One of the sponsors, NRS, had provided the whole crew with excellent waterproof bags, which would prove crucial for keeping the camera equipment and clothes dry. Luckily, all the camera gear was already out there with Peiman, meaning I didn’t have to carry it to the airport myself!

Equipment packing for the trip (dog not included)

On March 14th I flew from London to Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, with Ed (Laura’s husband) their 9-month-old baby, Ran, and Charlie (Pip’s boyfriend). We met up with Sophia and Anders from Untamed Adventures, experts in adventure travel in Guyana, who handed over all the camera equipment left by Peiman.

There was a lot of gear – a Canon C300, Canon 5D Mark IV, five lenses, two drones and three GoPros, as well as all the cables and spare batteries that come with it. I wondered how on earth I would carry all this gear let alone fit it on the small kayaks?! After a few hours checking all the camera settings, formatting the memory cards, and finally packing everything up, I was good to go.

The next day we took a small, noisy Cessna from Georgetown into the middle of the jungle, getting our first glimpse of the Essequibo river on the way, shining like a silver foil snake in the green jungle below.

First view of the river from above

After some hair-raising low-level flying, we landed on a bumpy grass runway and were met by some people from the village of Apoteri who put us up in a wooden hut for the night (our first experience of the incredible hospitality of the Guyanese people).

The next morning I awoke with an awful stomach, not ideal considering we were about to spend all day traveling on the river. We organized two motorboats to take us and all our equipment upstream and after five or six hours on the boats, we reached King William Falls Lodge. Fay, the owner, was a great host, explaining a lot about the river and the surrounding environment. We stayed in her huts for the night and was I very relieved to at least have a toilet!

Travelling upstream in motorboats to locate the team

Feeling much better the next day, we continued on upstream, searching for Laura, Pip, Ness and their guides. It was slow progress as the river water was at its lowest and we often had to jump out of the boats to drag them across rocks or up small rapids. Here was my first real experience of the guilt that must surely be faced by anyone filming a documentary like this: standing by and filming rather than helping out. Although we joked about it as a team, this was something I faced every day on this expedition and it was a feeling with which I never became entirely comfortable.

Later that day and to our total surprise, we rounded a bend in the river and spotted some illuminated orange and blue shapes in the distance. My initial reaction was that it must be another group of people, which was ridiculous this far into the jungle as there was no one else around. With a lot of screaming and whooping, we realized it was the team and we raced over to them, everyone embracing and high-fiving.

It was great to finally see them all and it was quite a special moment to see Laura reunited with her child. Funnily enough here in the middle of the rainforest was actually my first time meeting all of them face-to-face as everything before this had been over Skype or Whatsapp.

Finally meeting the team and everyone having breakfast together at the side of the river

Now my job really began. For the next five weeks, I traveled with the team on the river, shooting all day and camping in our hammocks in the jungle at night. We saw everything from four-meter-long Caiman that growled at us to dark black scorpions that sometimes liked to hide in our bags.

More than once, our guides had to chase off jaguar that got a bit too close for comfort. The girls faced many challenges, including infections, dehydration, trench foot, stomach bugs and spider bites. I also had my own challenges with the filming and photography. I had to be one step ahead of everyone else, so along with taking care of my own health and organizing all my own equipment, I had to try and get interviews, scenic shots, action shots, drones shots, b-roll, time-lapses, for both photo and video.

There was also the problem of the ever-changing weather, from scorching temperatures to sudden downpours of torrential rain, meaning equipment maintenance was critical. Each evening I would backup everything onto two separate hard drives and use a noisy generator to charge the camera batteries (the generator also broke down, but our multi-talented guides managed to restore it to life).

Photo by Pip Stewart.

There was also the mental challenge, trying to stay motivated for such a long period of time, away from home and out of my comfort zone.

Left to right: Pip, Laura, and Ness

Romel (left) and Anthony (right).

Improvised waterproof housing in one of the daily downpours

Jon and Wai Wai guide, Anthony

Photo by Pip Stewart.

Photo by Charlie Hoare

Photo by Charlie Hoare

However, after about a week, I’d fallen into a schedule and become used to sleeping in a hammock, we were getting great footage and I was loving all the new wildlife I was seeing. The team dynamic was also fun and laid-back, which helped when times got tough, and we learned so much from our guides. The people of Guyana were among the nicest people I’ve ever met and always welcomed us in.

The biggest thing I learned from this trip is to not be afraid to take on new opportunities and challenges. Although it sounded quite scary at first, and at times it certainly was very tough, I’m so happy I pushed myself and took on the challenge.

If I was to give some advice and tips, they would be:

Don’t underestimate the power of social media — I found this opportunity because I saw a Tweet!

Showing enthusiasm and motivation can sometimes be more powerful than experience

Keep your portfolio up-to-date and show off your best work

Always carry a camera cleaning kit, spare batteries and spare memory cards

In the jungle, always shake out your shoes in the morning before you put them on…!

Successfully reaching the Atlantic Ocean and completing the expedition From left to right: Romel, Anthony, Laura, Pip, Ness and Fay

Top to bottom: Laura, Ness and Pip before (left) and after (right) the trip.

About the author: Jon Williams is an outdoor and adventure sports photographer based in the Bavarian mountains, Germany. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can find more of Williams’ work on his website, 500px, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

from Photography News https://petapixel.com/2018/07/13/shooting-a-worlds-first-expedition-on-the-essequibo-river-in-guyana/

[festivebb4-blog]

Jury Questions and Answers, and Closing Statements:

Jury question from Owen - Why don't the other two people you're sitting next to deserve to win, and why do you deserve it more?

Timmy: Hi Owen! I don’t think Amanda deserves to win because she did not make moves during this game. It was easy for her to get this far because she wasn’t seen as a threat and while that can be seen as a good way to play, I think in this situation I played a better game. I deserve to win over Amanda because I always put in the effort to make moves that would benefit my game even if it risked me being a target. Even when I was a target for some people I was able to use my social game to stay over others. Ali does not deserve to win because I was in control of the moves Ali made. Ali was an amazing ally to have and he is a great friend but the things he did in this game were things that I told him to do. I deserve to win over Ali because I helped him get this far. From a different standpoint, I won more competitions than both of them and made moves out in the open, which some disagreed with, and I was still able to make it this far.

 Amanda: Why do i deserve it more- Do you know the vine thats like "Im a bad bitch you cant kill me" thats me in this game lolol i should have been booted sooooo long ago but i kept weaseling my way through. You Rhone and I got seen as a very known trio and i made sure you guys looked scarier than me and once you left i played the "poor me i have nothing" card and it gained me allies with people who should have been getting me out and obviously it worked because im here :)

Ali: ajkhfdakskjfdas owen making me be mean, I hate. Amanda doesn't deserve to win because while she seems like a lovely person, I don't think was especially committed to this game and I don't think she has done all that much. Her and Rhone would consistently vote together, and I don't think she has been a threat for a long time. Additionally, she has consistently just kind of voted with the same people and been in the minority, just sticking to her friends (which she must have good choice in, since you two are friends). Compared to me, I would try and make connections on all sides of the house, I was in a huge variety of alliance chats, with Dana and Zach, with Timmy and John, with you and Ruthie, with Madison, I was always working to make sure I had connections everywhere, which solidified my spot in the majority for literally every vote. Timmy has played a phenomenal challenge game, he won many many comps. With that said, while he was nominated many times (which potentially stems from his weaker social game), it would be my vote that would save him. We have worked quite closely together, but it was my social game that meant that unlike him I never received an eviction vote and was only a final nominee once . When he made unpopular (and surprising) decisions like in the live night, I would do damage control with people like Zach to ensure people I trusted I could balance between. I didn't need to rely on competitions to get here, I used a strong social game as the foundation to a strategic game which allowed me to make it this far. I deserve your vote Owen because I played hard. I was consistently a swing vote and made some hard strategic decisions (like voting out Dana) to ensure my safety going forwards. You once again were terrifying to play with, but I feel like this time (more than last time) I should have earned your respect and thus your vote.

Jury question from Madison: I have the flu so can you ask them how I've impacted them in the community

Amanda: Madison we've gotten through so much trash over the time ive known you and we're still alive. Like girl we got through hell and so much random ass shit here you're so fun and i love you you'll always be my meme queen

Timmy: Hi Madison! I hope you feel better soon!!! You have impacted me in many ways in the community. You are always someone who I am happy to talk to and I know I can have a good laugh with. There are a lot of people who I only talk to because we are in a game together and that’s just how it works out, but we talk outside of games and I enjoy that. You have added me to some random chats, and while I have still yet to take advantage of jackbox nights, I appreciate that you invited me into that. Also, I would have applied to Alcatraz because you’re hosting it but 4 games is already a lot (even though this one is about to end).

Ali: Madison, you have impacted me in the community in that you've become a friend. I remember in Festive 3 when I had to do that satanic slide puzzle for that veto comp and I was so sad and disappointed in myself and you were being so supportive and great. This sounds so incredibly corny, but from there I knew you were a friend and thats why I play these games, to meet new iconic people. Since then, it's been my pleasure to know you and call you a friend and root for you in VLs for games, and I'm so happy we got to play together too, even though it cut short (still sorry about that!)!

Jury question from Ruthie - What are three reasons you deserve my jury vote over the other two in the final 3?

Timmy: Hi Ruthie! I hope you’re having a great time in Disney!! The first reason is that I made moves that I believe changed the game. These moves were in the weeks that John stayed over Chrissa, when I stayed over John, and during the live double. In the week where John stayed, I made multiple calls that day to keep him safe. I was able to convince Zach and Dana to talk to him since they had no prior relationship with him and did not see the original benefit of keeping him. I see this as a move that changed the game because many sides and alliances were exposed under the surface, especially those surrounding Amanda, Owen, and Rhone and I knew I was still able to trust John, so it was in my best interest to keep him. In the week that I stay over John, I knew I was the target, so I could have easily laid down and accept my fate, but I had to fight. Owen had kept nominating me and therefore he wanted me out, but I was able to convince people to look past the “I need to know what others are doing” mentality and show that they all had that and keep me because I am more beneficial. With that move I was able to get Owen out the next week during the double and if I had not done that then the trio of Amanda, Owen, and Rhone would probably have outlasted all of us. The second reason is that I won competitions when I needed to. I won 3 HoHs and 2 vetos. I was able to save myself with both of those vetos, the more important of the two being at F5 when I knew if I had not won I would have left. With the HoHs, at least the 2nd and 3rd, since the first was in week 1, I was able to get rid of people who would have or were already targeting me, Owen and Zach. I think this is important to note as one of the reasons because collectively between Ali and Amanda they only won 2 competitions. The third reason is that I was on the block at the end of the week 4 times and people still did not get rid of me. I never saw myself as a background player in this game because I was always telling people what I wanted to happen and making the right moves to allow those things to happen and somehow people kept me. I always made sure that there was at least one person who looked more threatening than me. I will say though that the situation was different in the Josh vote because he was inactive so I did not put much effort into that vote since it was obvious that he was leaving. Because of those reasons, I believe that I deserve your jury vote over the other time. Sorry, I know you’re on vacation and this is a lot to read, but have fun with the rest of your trip!!

Ali: Hey Ruthie! I'd say three reasons I deserve your vote are:

1. I have never received a vote to evict this season nor have I been in the minority for a vote (the other two have been at least one of those). Timmy was nominated many times,but it was always my votes saving him 2. I played super hard this season, you were my number one and you saw that we were with Dana and Zach, Owen, Madison and Zach, basically I made sure I had connections everywhere, and I think the other two just stuck with who they were close to only. I was also in an alliance with John and Timmy, so it's clear I was working to find numbers all the time everywhere. 3. Other than our BOTB win (so iconic) I haven't needed to win a comp till F4 to evict the biggest threat in the game (Zach). My social and strategic game got me here,while I think Timmy's game was very comp dependent.

Amanda: Lets be honest i shouldve been right out the door after owen and rhone but im here i might not have won comps but 1- i made deals with people i needed to to stay safe and 2- made sure people liked me enough to not want me to leave

And 3- The Disney Gods want you to vote for me

Jury Question from John: Hi final 3! I love you all dearly first off, and this is going to be a very difficult decision. 1. Write me an essay on why you love me 2. If you could compare your gameplay to an animal, what would it be and why?

Amanda: HI BABYYYYY!! You're my John Coffeycakes and I love you so so much. Your BGC snaps are my faves and you always make me laugh. You're literally one of the most genuine and sweet people I know and you honestly brighten up my day everytime we talk! I cried when you left this game and ive missed you so much. I could get even more mushy but i think you already know how much i love you.

2- A monkey because I keep my babies on my back and take care of them picking all the little bugs from their hair. I also sit around eating a banana while everyone else crashed and burned but now Ali and Timmy are trying to TAKE THE BIGGEST BANANA IVE EVER SEEN AND I WANNA EAT IT IM ABOUT TO GO KING KONG ON THIS SHIT.

Ali: 1. John, I love you because while I knew a fair amount of the players before this season, you were one of the few who I only know very loosely (I'd seen you met up with Cameron so knew you already had great taste in friends!). It's been such a real pleasure to get to know and play with you this season, and to become friends afterwards! You are so sweet and so nice, and you don't take these games even remotely personally. My game highlight was the night when like 10 different game calls happening but our one was really fun because we got the game out of the way pretty quickly and then were just able to have fun! You are truly winning crossroads and can add it to all the other things you've won (i.e. festive and everyone hearts). One of the best things to come out of this game is I can now call you friend! 2. I'd compare my gameplay to an octopus in thats my key strength were all the connections and links I made in the house (like an octopus' tentacles). I voted in the majority every single round, and that came from me using my social connections to ensure what I wanted to happen happened and that my votes counted. Like the little squishy suction cups on an octopus' tentacles I would keep attached to everyone which is why I didnt receive a single eviction vote this entire season! Finally I'm an octopus in that.... well you can't play flash games with squishy tentacles which explains why they weren't my friend.

Timmy: Hi John! I’m going to let you know right now, I suck at essays, so this will be shorter than one and will not have the appropriate structure of an essay (also, I’m still on break for the next 24 hours so the thought of an academic style answer is not in me). But to at least answer your question, you were easily one of my favorite people in this game, both on a game level and on a personal level. The first reason was because you were easy to talk to. I am a very awkward person, especially just talking online just because things could come off in a different way than intended but I didn’t find myself having that issue talking to you. Also, in your intro one of the first things you said was that you like being drunk and my first thought was “relatable, me, same” and I knew you would be someone I could get along with. For a large portion of this game you were my number 1 ally and I knew I could trust you which was always important to me since I could just openly talk to you about what I was thinking which is not easy to do in games. I was always able to freak out to you about different things happening and we were always on the same page with what was going on and what we wanted to do about it. To kind of conclude this brief essay, you are a great person who is funny and was always there when I was freaking out and that’s why I love you. To answer the second question, I would simply say that my gameplay could be compared to a cat. Some people like cats, some don’t, which is kind of what my gameplay was like, some people agreed with my moves while others thought I was stupid at times. Another reason is that a cat can be soft and warm up to people and then at any point switch and be angry and I had my moments with that, sometimes turning my targets very quickly based on what was going on around me. Thanks for the questions. 😊

Zach’s Jury Question: Name some fun facts about me and tell me why u should win thanks

Ali: 

- Zach is the king of geckos - Zach has a great pride tattoo - Zach has played 100 days in Athena because he is iconic - Zach has a concerning effect on how I speak, in that I've started saying "I lav it" and "hort" which I'm definitely subconsciously copying from himI deserve to win, because while I've undersold it, I've had a lot of control over this game. I am the only player who hasn't received a single vote to evict this season (or ever) and I was in the majority for every.single.vote. I would make moves to benefit my game, ensuring that threats were going home, and who would benefit my game. I didn't rely on competition wins, until I absolutely needed to, which was ensuring that you didn't win veto and potentially evict me, and so that I could vote to evict you from the game. You were truly the biggest threat in this game, you had such an underdog story and it wasn't something I felt I could rival, so I needed to see you go. Compared to Timmy, while he has had an on point challenge game and has survived many evictions, my votes would consistently be what saved him and I feel like my social game with my strategy gave me a lot of control. I had connections with everyone, alliances all over the shop, and yet I managed to navigate them and ensure my spot at F3. Amanda is a queen, but hasn't been especially committed to this game and I don't feel like has played in a way that deserves to win? (I love her though)

Amanda: You come from a long line of furbies and ilysm. I should win because i'm cute and everyone loves a female winner :*

Timmy: Hi Zach! Some fun facts about you: You live in Canada, you hate mayo, you’re very good at keeping a snap streak going when I’m really bad at it. I should win this game because I played my hardest at all stages during this game. We had conversations about how people were not using their full potential and only a few people deserve to win in the end and I think I am one of those people (who should win). I actively used my social game to stay each week. Some might argue that it was not good because I kept getting nominated, but most of those times I was only nominated by Owen. I got my way during a lot of hard times. Specifically noting the weeks that Chrissa and John left. During the day of the Chrissa vote I spent a big chunk of the day on calls convincing people to keep John because that was a lot better for my game. I got a lot of information from you and Dana and got you guys to talk to John and vote to keep him. John and I were able to convince Ali because of the relationship we had already built with him. When John left, it sucked because I was up against him and he was my number 1 at that point. I knew I was the target and I could have laid down and accepted that but instead I decided to fight and flip the vote. Most people were telling me that day that they would only vote to keep me if others did, so I had to work hard to let everyone know that that was a majority consensus so just vote to keep me and you will be fine. And I stayed. I won competitions when I needed to and got targets out, specifically in the live double. Owen had nominated me many times at that point and I knew I had to get rid of him, so I had like 12 tabs open to try and win HoH which I did. I’m still sorry that I nominated you but my only plan going into that night was to try and get Owen evicted. Two of the times I was nominated I won veto and was able to save myself; the more important of the two being in F5 when I definitely would have gone home if I had not won. I think I should win because I played the game to the best of my ability and thrived, especially after coming in 2nd the season before. This is really one of the first games where I was not afraid to say what my plans were and who I wanted to go and there was only a handful of times during the game where I did not know what was happening (mainly when Owen played the Spook d’état). I hope this answers your question.

Closing Statements:

Amanda: Hi everybodyyyyyy! I know i'm probably the last choice on all of your lists right now but i'm here and i'm having fun! I aligned with the people i needed to and placed myself in the middle of two alliances which kept me in a safe spot for the first half of this game. When we got to Rhones hoh/ the week after everything went to shit and i had to rethink things. I was stuck between two allinces and people were catching onto Rhone Owen and I being a trio. That got completely exposed and everyone was coming at us so i laid low so the two of them ended up looking like the bigger targets and they got taken out before me. After they left i felt alone as fuck and put myself out to zach and made the deal i needed to move forward. I always made sure i had backup relationships for when one crashed and I managed to weasel myself here. Even if I dont win i beat my placement and had a fun ass time doing it and I love you all <3 #FEMINISM

Ali: Hey Jurors! Thank you for an iconic season, it’s been a pleasure to play again with some of you, or meet some faces I’ve seen floating around various VLs. Thank you also to the hosts for hosting an iconic season, it was a pleasure to be invited back to festive and I’m so glad I’ve done myself justice by playing so much better.

When I played my first game, the main critique I got at FTC was that I made friends with everyone but I did nothing with those bonds. Thus, in this game, my philosophy has been to weaponize my social game ; make these social connections but actually do something with them. Consistently in votes, I would be a swing vote determining who would go home, to the point where I was in the majority for every single vote this season. I would use my connections all across the house with my web of alliances (Dana/Zach, Zach/Ruthie/Madison, Ruthie/Dana/Zach, Ruthie/Owen & John/Timmy) to not only keep myself safe but to ensure who I wanted to see go home went home (indicated by how I was in the majority for literally every single vote this season). Additionally, I would position myself so that it was in everyone’s best interest to keep me in the game, hence why I received no votes to evict this season. Social game is hard to quantify, but me winning MVP, which was voted for by players in the game, showed that my social game was universal and I was on average the most liked/supported player in the game.

Thank you everyone for playing, its been an iconic season and I'm looking forward to the reunion chat.

Timmy:  Hi everyone! Thank you for the questions, I hope I answered them to your satisfaction. If I did not, hopefully I can highlight a few things in this statement. I came into this game thinking I would have a huge target on my back because I got 2nd place last season, and granted I did not do much then, it was my ultimate goal to beat that placement here. I think that through the moves I made and the competitions I won to make those moves, I deserve to win this game. I already explained certain moves in some of the jury questions and I just want to briefly mention them again. In the week Chrissa left, I spent a lot of time messaging people and on calls to make sure that John would stay and was even able to convince people like Zach and Dana, who had no prior working relationship with John, to keep him. I even used my vote replacement on Owen and Ruthie just to make sure that he would stay in case something happened. I thought this was smart because I knew it was a safe backup since I had not talked to either of them about the vote. When I was on the block against John, I felt extremely defeated since Owen had hinted using the veto on me and then he nominated John, who was basically my number 1 at that point. I could have laid down and died in this game, but I made people aware of reasons why they should keep me and used my social game to keep me in a 4-2 vote when people all day were saying “maybe, but it depends on what other people are doing”. Then that next week I was able to get Owen out in the live double and, granted I made a few mistakes that night, I was able to put myself in a good spot heading into the rest of the game because the main person who was targeting me was evicted. I was on the block at the end of the week 4 times during this game and was able to stay each time which says something because there were chances to get rid of me, but people did not take those. I think I should win this game because I worked extremely hard to get to this point, harder than I have in any other game, and I made moves both behind the scenes and out in the open and was able to get to this point. Thank you!