Sam was born on December 21st, yet his birthday is during the summer this year.
How could this be?
I remember being stumped the first time I heard that riddle when I was younger. I have to admit though, that the younger time I am referencing wasn't when I was 9 or 10. It was when I was in my twenties as it was when I was in University that I really learned that the seasons here in America, don't run the same way everywhere in the world.
In Australia, summer begins in December and runs until February. Therefore as winter began here on December 21st, summer was well under way as Christmas was approaching. Given we here in the North East of America got our first real blast of cold, snow and windchill this week, I thought it was the perfect time to inject a blast of Australian summer onto FH by heading to an Australian beach with Ian, and the images captured there by Ian from macpics.
Visiting Australia is one of my dream destinations, but there are a few places I need to check off before many plans. Due to the size of the continent, there is not one single seasonal calendar for the entire continent. Instead, there are six climate zones which translate as two main seasonal patterns.
One of the things I love so much about working on FH, is learning so much about the places I get to visually visit. I don't think I really realized until today how cold it gets in the continents snowy mountain regions. Although I think I knew there were places you could go skiing, snow skiing, in Australia, you don't always think of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania being associated with successful ski hills and resorts.
Whether shooting Santa's out on the beach, or seductive models wrapped in red within the studio, Ian always manages to crank up the heat. Neil looks amazing walking along the beach, or through the brush, and in Ian's studio shots. Neil has a great physique and smooth sun tanned body, but it is his large and incredibly beautiful eyes that pull in the viewers focus in so many of Ian's images.
