GET SHRED READY WITH ANNA LANGER

yoga is one of the best means to get your body, mind and soul ready for the mountains.

the various strengthening and lengthening exercises don’t only prepares bones and muscles for the action up hill, but also trains the mind to focus, balance, and stay calm in all situations. and since everything just flows that little bit smoother with proper inspiration, this whole sequence was shot in front of the perfect winter backdrop in a little Bavarian forest to add some external motivation.

with a bit of yoga experience you can obviously try some of the poses on your next walk or in your favourite nature spot – just make sure you have tried them before and are absolutely confident with their execution as we will not take any liability for any mishaps!

 

start standing in Tadasana with your feet hip-width apart, outer sides of feet parallel to the sides of your mat. have the knees slightly bent and your pelvis upright (tailbone slightly tucked without losing the curve in the lower back). open your arms and palms towards the sky and charge yourself up with nature's energy in Prana Mudra. Close your eyes and take a couple of deep breaths here to center yourself and ignite the practice. 

eyes still closed, swipe your arms up until palms meet and cross all fingers except index fingers and thumbs for the centering Sampurna Mudra. exhale lower your hands exhaling through the midline and bring them in front of your heart. repeat as many times as you like – or until you feel really focused and centered.

Uttanasana

exhale, bend your knees and bow forward for Uttanasana. bend knees so much (or little) that your finger tips reach the ground. inhale lengthen your spine (and bend knees more if you have to), exhale round and bow again. repeat 3 times. add a couple rounds of Sun Salutations to get the energy moving and the muscles warmed up. You can use any variation / style that you know or like. if you’re not familiar with any yet, there is a bunch of video tutorials on YouTube.

Utkatasana

continue from Uttanasana by rotating your hands so palms face forward and thumbs out to the sides. Exhale, bend your knees and sit back until your thighs are almost parallel to the floor and you can still see your big toes (if not, carefully bring your weight more to your heels until you can). inhale and sweep your arms up for Utkatasana, palms facing each other. make sure your knees don’t drop in to the middle but keep them pointing in the same direction as your toes. This is a great pose to strengthen your thighs, insides of the thighs and the knees! before staying, we’ll add a little dynamic flow to get in the right energy. exhale bow forward again and straighten legs for Uttanasana, inhale sit back and sweep arms up again. repeat a couple of times, then stay with your arms overhead when exhaling. play with the alignment of your pelvis to make sure your lower back is neither hollow nor flat but in a smooth, long curve. breath deeply and evenly through your nose. after 6 to12 breaths, exhale and bend forward, straighten your legs, grab hold of opposite elbows and swing your upper body from side to side for a couple of breaths.

read more 

Read more...

CONNY MARSHAUS AND HER FISH FAMILY

photographer and outdoor enthusiast Conny Marshaus and her drop dead gorgeous fish family striked out to the surf & skate festival in munich earlier this year. get to know how Conny put her photographs on her favourite material wood and which surface is her favourite to move along.

how's your summer so far? 

pretty awesome! at the moment I am in Thuringia in a small village called Löbi, where my family lives. so far it’s been a pretty exciting year for me with lots of traveling and work.

please tell us about your exhibition at the surf & skate festival. 

Flo, one of the founders of the surf & skate festival came across my lifestyle photos featuring some surf shots on my website and asked if I want to show my photos at the skate & surf art exhibition this year. I didn’t hesitate a second and said "yeah, for sure".

a couple of months prior the exhibition I already had the idea to print some of my favourite photos on skateboard decks. unfortunately it just stayed a rough concept without excecution because I was too busy with work.
I finally got to realize my idea at the surf & skate art exhibition, but instead of skateboard decks, I envisioned fish-like shapes, cut out of wood, that would serve as canvas for selected photos of mine. my brainchild "the fishfamily" for the exhibition was born.
every member of my fishfamily is one of a kind. each has a unique layout of photos, shapes and graphics printed on its surface. after I hung all ten members on the wall with ropes at the exhibition I noticed they look like fish cought in a fishing net.

how did you produce the fish boards? 

I found a company that was able to print photos on wood by using a printing method called UV direct printing. UV printers cure the ink with a series of ultraviolet lamps, causing the ink on the wooden surface to be dry almost immediately after the print head has passed.
they printed my layouts on a large piece of spruce wood. with the help of my amazing carpenter boyfriend Andreas Reiber I cut the printed board into ten fish-shapes.

it's not the first time that you've worked with uncommon substrates for your photography. please tell us more about your affection for putting your images on different materials.
I love it how different materials come together and how they merge. first I started with polaroid-transfers with my 320 landcamera. normally you do the transfer onto watercolor paper but it worked fairly good on forex plates as well as wooden boards. it was important for me that you can still see the wooden structure through the pictures.
at the moment I still like to work with wood, because there are so many different kinds of wood with various patterns, structure and color, that gives each photo a uniqe background.

w – wild
o – original
o - object
d – drop-dead gorgeous

on which surfaces do you personally prefer to move along?
in the summertime I love to be on a horse and in wintertime definitely in the mountains, just being around with my friends in the snow. these are my favourite moments. 

Read more...