Journal
Aerial Frontiers: A Drone Film Showreel
The past year has been an incredible adventure for our friends at Aerial Frontiers. They have worked on over forty projects (including for ourselves) across the globe. They travelled worldwide flying their DJI S900 drone equipped with the Panasonic GH4, and the DJI Inspire Pro equipped with the X5. The film features work from the likes of Mercedes Benz, The Yacht Week, Irn Bru & much more. Hit full screen, plug in your headphones and be immersed in some of the best aerial cinematography around. Check out more of their work here ~ aerialfrontiers.com Photos by @aerialfrontiers & @campfireagency
The Problem of the Wilderness
A film by Tens co-founder & filmmaker, Tom Welsh. I went to Alaska for New Year with my friend Dan; we spent a week travelling North from Anchorage by rail, 4x4 & light aircraft. I took along my A7SII for the trip. Towards the end of 2016 I desired a trip disconnected from technology & work, somewhere 'into the wild' that I could disconnect somewhat from life in London. After our Tens campaign shoot in Mexico in December, I headed north to Vancouver and spent Christmas snowboarding. Alaska looked like the most logical stop after that for a week or so in the wilderness. The more (little) I researched and booked, I realised I should probably take a camera with me, but didn't want to be inconvenienced by all the gear I usually travel with - FS7, 16mm kit etc. So just took the basics. The verse is from a book I found in our cabin - 'The Problem of the Wilderness' - that really resonated with the journey. Bob Marshall was an environmental activist who wrote extensively about Alaska in the early 20th Century. "It is well to reflect that the wilderness furnishes perhaps the best opportunity for pure esthetic enjoyment. This requires that beauty be observed as a unity, and that for the brief duration of any pure esthetic experience the cognition of the observed object must completely fill the spectator’s cosmos. There can be no extraneous thoughts—no question about the creator of the phenomenon, its structure, what it resembles or what vanity in the beholder it gratifies. “The purely esthetic observer has for the moment forgotten his own soul”, he has only one sensation left and that is exquisiteness. In the wilderness, with its entire freedom from the manifestations of human will, that perfect objectivity which is essential for pure esthetic rapture can probably be achieved more readily than among any other forms of beauty." Everything is shot on the Sony A7SII, often with the Zhiyun Crane 2 axis gimbal. I used 3 lenses: Sony 24-240/4-5.6, Sony 10-18/4, SLR Magic 50/1.1. I shot in PP8 Slog3.Cine colour with CINE4 Gamma, graded with DELUTS (deluts.com) in Premiere. Follow Tom's future adventures at @getdeluxe
The World's Most Dangerous Train
Riding an iron ore train through the Sahara Desert, by Jody MacDonald & Leica. We first came across Jody's adventure shortly after the announcement of category winners of the Red Bull 'Illume' - a triennial photography competition celebrating lifestyle, action sports and the natural world. Across all the categories, there was one particular shot that caught our attention. Jody's winning shot in the lifestyle category featured a surfer sat on top of an ore train, with its length stretching towards the horizon of the vast desert. The shot came as a result of being asked by Leica to take their new X-U shockproof, weatherproof outdoor camera on an adventure. “I ended up in Mauritania. I have a particular fascination with the Sahara desert and I have always wanted to hop onboard Mauritania’s iron ore train. As I began researching this unique country I became more intrigued. Mauritania is a strange country. It’s one of the poorest in the world and a country in which 4 percent of its 3 million people are enslaved. It’s nearly twice the size of France and 90% desert – vast arid plains broken by occasional ridges and cliff-like outcroppings. Ceaseless winds constantly reshape the mountainous dunes of Mauritania’s interior, while its northern coastline is littered with rusty shipwrecks and long-forgotten landmines." “When I was young I used to look through National Geographic magazines and dream of adventures like this. Train hopping through the Sahara on one of the world’s longest trains. This was one of those rare times in life where the expectations of your dreams and reality converge and it plays out how you imagined. I had dreamt of the oceans of sand, the loud noises of the train, the cold, the wind, the scorching sun, the unknown smells and sounds of the desert and the discomfort that goes with it. That visceral experience is exactly what we got as we slithered night and day through the desert while sleeping on an iron ore train. Our 700km journey took us through the Sahara to the coast where we were hoping to find a place of forgotten shipwrecks and unknown surf.” Jody’s journey began in the capitol of Nouakchott, from where she, a surfer and a local guide moved north through the interior to board the Mauritania Railway. Their risky rail journey started from the iron-mining centre of Zouérat in the Sahara, and snakes through the barren dessert toward the port of Nouadhibou on the Atlantic. The majority of Mauritania’s lifeblood is found in its vast deserts. The export of iron ore is essential to the country’s economy, with the Mauritania Railway serving as the only connection between these remote locations and major shipping ports. The train also provides locals with free transport from isolated communities to the coast. More often than not, passengers ride on the iron ore itself, but some will pay a few dollars for a hard wooden seat in an overcrowded carriage. Heading to the Mauritanian coast on a 2.5km long cargo train with carriages carrying up to 84 tons of iron ore is a daring way to travel – but it’s also the only way. Should your car break down during an attempt to drive, you’re as good as dead. “We wanted to get to the coast to try to find some surf. My aim was to try and to capture the spirit of adventure and exploration through this incredible landscape. Adventure is not about the destination, but the process, hardship and inevitable beauty in the process of getting there.” This isn’t your average rail journey – the trip takes approximately 12 hours, during which travellers battle raging winds, dangerous sandstorms and sweltering temperatures. Despite being a seasoned adventure photographer, Jody was stunned by the challenges that she faced saying, “I am used to being in remote locations, but being in the Mauritanian desert brings a whole new set of challenges. The heat in the middle of the day is quite unbearable and when the train stops along the way, it’s so easy to get lost. And if that happens, the odds of someone finding you are very slim.” During the journey, the brutal Saharan conditions took a turn for the worse when Jody and her crew found themselves caught in ferocious sand storm during a stop. She says, “The storm came upon us very quickly. I had stopped to take some photographs outside and before we knew it, the wind picked up considerably and it started to rain. Within minutes, the wind increased to 150km/h. I thought my skin was going to scrape off, because of the rain and blowing sand. It felt like sandpaper on my skin. I have never experienced winds that strong before.” The gusts were so violent, it pinned Jody and the other passengers to the side of the train truck and made opening the truck door impossible. After a few minutes, the wind died down and they were able to open the door and board the train again. “When I got inside there was glass everywhere. Our back window had completely imploded. It was soaking wet inside too. Our guide had been sitting in the back and had cuts all over his body from the glass. It was crazy.” Incredible then, that in the midst of all this, Jody still managed to get some mind-blowing shots. After the storm subsided, the battered old ore train continued on and eventually pulled into Nouadhibou Station – on the Atlantic coast. Jody then continued to where her journey first began – Nouakchott. Just south of the capitol city’s coastline, hides one the biggest ship graveyards in the world. In the last few years many of the shipwrecks have been sold for their metal and have been dismantled but there are still some to be found. It’s after traveling to this impoverished, yet beautiful area, where she encountered more of the elements that make Mauritania so unique. One of the many interesting things I came across during my travels were the Imraguen fishermen. The term Imraguen means ‘the people who fish while walking on the sea’, as they cannot swim. The Imraguen tribesmen have maintained age-old lifestyles, based almost exclusively on harvesting the migratory fish populations using old traditional sailboats. The night I arrived in their village, one of the fishermen had fallen off his boat and believed to have drowned. The next day we looked for his body but never found it. It’s incredible that these people live by the sea and spend every day fishing, but don’t know how to swim.” Spending time in Mauritania is no walk in the park. And neither is capturing the true spirit of the impoverished country and its camera-shy people. It’s a journey that requires instinct, courage and the will to dive into the unknown. “That’s when I think adventures truly come alive and the magic happens,” Jody says. “You have to be vulnerable and curious.”
We Won a Scottish Fashion Award!
We're incredibly humbled to have won 'Accessory Brand of the Year' at this year's Scottish Fashion Awards. The 11th annual event was held on the 21st October in the nation's fashion capital, London. Co-hosted by Chairman and founder Dr. Tessa Hartmann CBE and the Rt. Hon David Mundell MP Secretary of State for Scotland, the event beamed a global spotlight on Scotland's work. It was an honour to share the evening with such a talented bunch of fellow Scots. A huge thanks to all those involved putting on the event, and congratulations to all nominees and winners! See you next year!
Win the ultimate EuroTrip
It's giveaway time at Tens... No matter what we're up to, we're constantly super thankful for all the support the community has given us, and we love being able to give something back. This year we're going the extra mile(s). We're sending two people on a once in a lifetime European rail adventure! On top of this, we're also giving away 40 runner-up prizes! You can enter in multiple ways - the more ways you enter, the more chance you have of winning! Check out the giveaway here and enter today! THE BIG PRIZE - Two return flights to Europe- Two European rail passes - Hostel accommodation courtesy of Hostelworld.com- Leica Sofort instant camera & film RUNNER-UP PRIZES - 15 pairs of Tens- GoPro Hero 5 - Custom Mango Bikes single-speed bike- Leica Sofort instant camera & film- Olloclip 4-in-1 iPhone lens- PIZZA- 5 Shore Projects watches - Rains MSN backpack- 5 copies of The Rolling Home - AeroPress coffee maker- Bellroy All-Conditions Essentials Pocket- 3 RHA T10i Earphones - Case of Brewgooder clean water lager- Aesop Jet Set travel kit- Pendleton Jacquard towel- Portable nylon hammock Remember, the more ways you enter, the more chance you have of winning! So why wait? Enter now!
California Dreaming
We follow Barcelona photographer Enzo Iriarte and his friends aboard an RV as they explore the saturated coast of California.
Bedroom to Branson
We are incredibly excited to share the news that Sir Richard Branson has joined Tens. We can't quite believe it...
The Rowdy Bus Goes North
8 friends save up, chip in together and buy an old yellow school bus. Here's their trip to Alaska.
London Popup Store
We've opened our first retail space right in the heart of London! Come visit our pop-up store right by Convent Garden.
