Ephemeral Diamonds

While I was waiting, I looked around and saw this diamond covered car next to mine ;-)

Silver.. err.. blue lining

Is it going to rain? Snow? Nothing!

Here I "blue-ed" the photo a little to bring out the "end-of-the-world" effect more strongly.

Unchained

I had an instruction leaf for a simple necklace I planned on making as a (side) christmas present for my mother but unfortunately, I didn't take it before leaving for my parents' place. As I still had a vague idea, I drew pictures and tried, and then tried some more but to no satisfying end. I was about to sacrifice one of my own when I saw a picture of something similar, made out of eyepins and I think semi-precious stones. Eyepins I had, as well as Czech crystals in several colours. So I gave it a try and this is what I ended up with. I like it and on my mum who is always a bit more tanned than me, the silver wire in combination with the aqua coloured crystals looked superb.

Merry Christmas!

It's melting now!

I watched the snow melt and drops falling from the roof onto these branches ...

PS: I apologise that the photos are not of the usual quality - I have only Gimp at my disposal right, a software that is certainly good but that I am not familiar with yet.

Schnee, Schnee, Schnee...

No matter what time or year, my childhood or theirs - sleighing will always be the same. Children and their little sleighs on the hill behind my parents' house.

Have you been good or bad?

I was wonderding why self made presents are somewhat unpopular. Maybe because many of them have that "Mommy, look what I made"-feel to them. If you want someone to really enjoy the gifts you're giving, they should look/feel/taste professional as well. Which I hope my chocolates do.. one package for mum, one for dad, one for M., one for J&D, one for M&K, one for A,W,A&E - and if you've been good one for you, too :-)

Good day, sunshine

This is what yesterday's morning looked like, seen through the skylight. The night before, I could practically watch the thermometer drop, from about 0°C down to -9°C. Now it is -11°C and they just announced more snow!

Metel'

I was finishing the last three batches of chocolates today when it started snowing heavily. So I had to decide whether to take a picture of the snow storm or to prevent the chocolate I was just melting from burning. When given a choice, I would - of course - always take that photo, risking to ruin a contact lens or a bar of chocolate (which luckily I didn't). You decide if it was worth it...

The photo was taken with a slow shutterspeed in order to make it look even stormier and not to show the single snowflakes. Falling snowflakes on a photo in my opinion always look like dirt.


Btw, metel' is the Russian word for blizzard.

Happy Birthday!

They say it's your birthday....

And I know you're gonna sing this one today :-)

Father and Son

On a sunny pre-summer day in June. It happened to be the father's birthday when the four of us - the son has a mother, too, of course - went for a walk. I'm posting this picture now because tomorrow will be the son's birthday - no wishes yet, he'll have to wait some more.

The soundtrack to the picture is almost too obvious :-)

First love, first kiss...

first snowflake...

Today, it was snowing for the first time this season, few flakes, cold little ones that didn't even make it to the ground (so obviously, the picture is from last winter) but walking through the falling snow makes up for not having summer anymore.
If I lived in a country without a real winter, I would come home for a few weeks every year, in January or February probably. Or for christmas. I wonder how christmas feels when it's warm...

A chocolatey tale

I'm making chocolates and truffles again, as a christmas present for family and friends. It's fun and messy, at the end, my whole kitchen will be covered in chocolate, nuts and cream :D

This is a picture from last year, one of the final stages (just before wrapping) of the Kir Royal and Kulfi chocolates, the latter one my own invention.

They do the...

... walk of life ;-)

Why always birds? Because it's not insect season and except for a few cats and dogs, the city isn't big on wildlife. Besides I somewhat hesitate to go to the zoo (except for the Leipzig one maybe) - so it's birds, cats and dogs for now.

Happy 3rd Advent!

Süßer die Glocken nie klingen (a rather unusual version of the song ;-) ) - even though there is no snow yet this year...

Alles Lüge

Es ist wahr, daß das Jahr über 300 Tage
in nur 52 Wochen schafft.
Es ist wahr, es ist wahr, daß das Ausland
viel mehr Ausländer als Deutsche hat.
Es ist wahr, daß die Sonne nicht um die Erde,
und der Mond nicht um den Fußball kreist.
[...]
Das ist wahr, das ist wahr,
aber sonst, aber sonst:
Alles Lüge, alles Lüge, alles Lüge...


It is true that one year can do more than 300 days
in just 52 weeks.
It is true that abroad there are
way more foreigners than Germans.
It is true that the sun doesn't orbit 'round the earth
and the moon not around a football.
[...]
That is true, that is true,
but otherwise, but otherwise:
All just lies, all just lies, all just lies...

Purity

This is one photo of my first and so far only (I know surprisingly few blondes) high key series, taken during the portrait course I attended in March. It shows I., one of my classmates whose make up I did as well.

The great thing about high key photos is that all blemishes and unevennesses disappear and all you can see is smooth skin.

Ready for take-off

A hundred little parachutes that are getting ready...

My bathroom, my art

I saw this sculpture on the castle area in Bad Homburg and a similar one nearby. Makes you think.. or smile.. or whatever ;-)

In einem unbekannten Land

Why do I always get important photo equipment late? I got my Canon in late August last year, summer was almost over. And this year, I bought my macro lens in November only, too late for any insects.

So this photo was taken with the normal 55-250mm zoom lens. Not tack sharp and detailed as it would have been with the macro lens (and as it will be next year) but not bad I'd say.
I proudly present: Maja.

Somewhere over the rainbow

On a hazy summer day, I saw these two rainbows (the upper one is a bit faint) from my window, stretching out over the city. Thinking about summer...

Lizard?

This is the picture of a reptile with glass eyes.. or is it?

The heart and the soul

When my mother's computer had to be opened (appendicitis I think was the reason), I couldn't pass the opportunity to take a picture.
However, it was quite dark in there, the flash would have caused ugly reflections and I didn't have my tripod with me. So the original photo was rather dark, a fact that I tried to fix in Paint Shop Pro.

Play it again, Monsieur Sax

Here we can see Adolphe Sax, inventor of the Saxophon, taking a little rest on a bench of his hometown Dinant, in the Wallonian part of Belgium.

The photo was desaturated and tinted in sepia.

Scarabé

That's what the manufacturer of these bugle beads calls their colour. I think it's the exact same shade as my birdy's tail.
Anyway, I took this photo using my new macro lens and of course a tripod and am very pleased with the way the bokeh turned out :-)

And oh yea, I made the necklace myself.

A very special tree

That is a tree in the park near my place and apparently, it grows quite peculiar fruits ;-)
My second successful multiplicity picture, this one being my first.

My friend C., an ever so patient model of mine, the best one a would-be-photographer can have. I can even chase her up trees and ladders (and that with her fear of heights), she never gets tired and even suggests more adventurous setups whenever I come up with an idea.

Birdy birdy...

Why do I always catch creatures, birds as well as plants, that I can't identify? The explanation might be as sad as it is simple: I just don't know many.

Anyway, I like the feather colours in this bird's (magpie? blackbird?) tail, they're exactly the same bluish black as the necklace I made the other day and that I will show you soon.

Mini book

... for mini bookworms ;-). I made this little book (about 2 cm high) as part of a bookmark for my mother's Advent calendar, I hope she'll like it.

The photo was taken with my new macro lens - of course - off the hand.

Toy Village

Seiffen is the heart of christmas country, Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains), situated in Germany's southeast. From time immemorial, people here have been carving the most delicate toys, decorative figurines and most of all christmas ornaments during the winter.

The little nativity scene I'm showing you here fits into a matchbox and was part of an advent exhibition I saw today.

Lined Up

I came across these downtown and wondered what they portray.

Sky High

Yesterday, I left the house in time to catch the train ten minutes earlier than usual - which gave me a nice time buffer to set up my tripod before work and catch the world around the skyscrapers that adorn the city centre before dawn.

Oh and I have a question to you, visitors and followers of my blog: Would you appreciate additional information on the technical side of a photo or could you not care less?

Russendisko

Russendisko is Wladimir Kaminer's "baby", it is the title of his first book (published in English as "Russian Disco") as well as an actual biweekly event in Berlin.

Yesterday, he was reading here in Frankfurt, partly from his last book but mostly new, unpublished and unread material, yay! Reading his books is nice but hearing him read (and talk for that matter) in his irresistible Russian accent is simply the best. So damn funny, especially when you see his expression and gestures at the same time.

I had planned to take photos of him, so it came as a bit of a shock that it was not allowed to use the flash. Nevertheless I think I managed quite well without and during the signature session that followed with use of flash.

World Premiere

World premiere? What is so special about this one? It is the first picture I'm posting that I took with my brand new macro lens!! The lens is surprisingly heavy (tripod compulsory) and very fast (f2.8).

The only little downside: we're in November and so there are no insects to "stalk" and hardly any flowers to catch. But next spring is certain to come...

UFO

They are everywhere...

Kiss my...

Seen in May on a wall in Brussels...

In Bruges

Bruges (Brugge in Dutch) is a small picturesque town in Belgium and with all its narrow streets, medieval houses and green-bordered canals, it is "like a fucking fairy tale" ;-)

Monkey business

Trigema is a German textile company that has this monkey as their mascot. Shot near a roadhouse where I took a break on the drive home.

The original cloud 9

This was the first one of my photos on TrekLens that brought more than 30 points home.

Impure Evil

I have a black heart... does that mean I'm evil?


Because of the short distance between the two and the fact that camera and heart weren't perfectly parallel, only the the lower half of the heart is really sharp with an f9 aperture.

The pine and the apple

Interesting texture, those pineapples...

It's London, baby!

I took this picture when I was in London for the first time, in the summer of 2005, and fell in love with the city. So I'll go again this year, for the 4th time now, with the difference that this time, I will not only visit the city but most of all the friends I have there. And this photo is dedicated to one of them, my friend and "guru" Briejesh, a guy who is an awesome photographer and shares his software as well as his knowledge ever so patiently with me.

Miez miez miez

That's obviously the cat who owns this car and if he ever goes missing, I'm sure there is the number of his own mobile phone on the collar tag...

Guessing Game

Guess of what material these colourful thingies are.

Today's Messiahs

Even walking on water has to be learned...

Flying Dutchwoman

This is one of the ladies and gentlemen who pose in traditional costumes at the entrance of the Keukenhof. I know it is not ideal that she is looking into the sun because this way she is squinting but I still like the picture, especially as the background is completely blurred out.


And yes of course, the title is inspired by the famous opera.

Mutschekiebchen*

I took this picture on one of the last sunny autumn days, where you could still find a few of those little beasts.


*Mutschekiebchen is a regional word for ladybug in my area, especially used by children. Yes, the child in me lives on!

Little something

It's too bad that I never know what plants I'm displaying here. So the help of any biologist would be highly appreciated..

Oh yea, I slightly increased the contrast.

Dreamy Eyes

In August, I made a new friend, the pretty girl you see here. And she had this dreamy look in her eyes whenever she talked about her all time idol, Michael Jackson. So this is to you, honey, hope you like it..