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Yesterday, he was reading here in Frankfurt, partly from his last book but mostly new, unpublished and unread material, yay!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..

Web-Space

Sometimes in the middle of autumn (=now) when it is raining constantly, it is cold and unpleasant, I fear that it will never be warm again or dry on the ground, never sunny late in the evening and warm enough for short sleeves.

Rubik's Cube reloaded

Remember those colourful cubes from the 80s? My dad bought one in Hungary when I was a small child and put all his ambition in trying to get every colour right. The polymer clay construct I made today (don't know yet what it's going to be eventually) reminded me of it and of summers at Lake Balaton...

Walking on Sunshine

For a change, I'm showing you a sunrise instead of a sunset today, shot at 6:30 a m. I don't remember though whether I was still up or already ;-)


And here the soundtrack to the picture.

Firefly

"Irrespective of the direction of the wind, the smoke always goes towards the non-smoker". In this case me. I don't remember where I read this quote but it proved to be true time and again. You might have guessed by now that I don't smoke, never have and never will.

Anyway, this is a picture of my friend at her birthday party and I liked how her face was lit up by the flame of the lighter and the concentrated look in her eyes.

Spring memories

I don't have a garden, I don't need a garden and I don't want one. Hate gardening, and for lingering in the sun, a balcony, terrace or even park would perfectly do for me. But whenever I visit my parents, I enjoy taking photos of everything colourful that is growing there - like these blossoms. Any biologists around who could tell me what plant it is?

Ein Hundeleben

It is time for another animal picture, don't you think!? This little guy is my parents' dog Zorro, 11 years old but looks as good as new ;-)

Pretty in Pink

Believe it or not but the fountain near the beach in Knokke, Belgium, is really as pink as that. I didn't tweak the colours nor did any postprocessing other than sharpening for the net. The photo was taken with a high shutter speed to freeze the single round waterdrops.

The blessed and the beautiful

No, I didn't make the jewels you see here but I was sent them, my friend and photo guru brought them back from India for me. Thank you again :-)

Hands VII...

... and the end of the cycle. Next time I start something like that, I'll make sure to collect enough material beforehand.

This last photo does not actually concentrate on the hands but on the piece of plane bark they are holding. I converted the picture to b/w so that the colours (which weren't that spectacular anyway) wouldn't distract from the texture.