3rd January 2013: Happiness

I often said I could never be unhappy by the sea and that proved to be true once more today in Brighton. Of course it helped that I saw some rays of sun after a series of grey days:

World Tour Part I - Darmstadt

Ta da! I am presenting you with the first part of a new photo series in which I am going to show places of the world, big or small, remarkable or not so much. We are beginning with a "not so much" candidate, Darmstadt.

In Darmstadt, you can always go for a walk:


whether you have four paws or two:


You can confess your sins:


or just admire the pretty colours and the beautiful architecture of the Russian Orthodox church:


Afterwards, you can have a quiet little chat in a secluded place:


And if you contemplate moving there, you should know that some of their houses, namely the Hundertwasser complex "Waldspirale", are not exactly straight:


but very colourful and royal looking:

Watery Munich

What's the most important part of a city trip in midsummer? Water!

So at 34°C, everyone is looking for a refreshment:


be it humans:



or animals:



And even if you just want to look at it:

Always a topic: weather

As opposed to Spain or Italy, the weather here is everchanging and so we always have a reason to complain.

It's raining:


Foggy:


Or it won't stay that nice for long:

On The Beach

If you know me, you will have heard me whine before about how far the sea is, how there is even a dearth of lakes, that it all is just not like in L. Well, on the Pentecost weekend, I accidentally discovered a lake, some 50km (30 minutes) away from my place. Won't tell you exactly where but I will show you what it looks like:

The path that is leading to the secret lake:


the local flora:



and fauna (in the form of a great crested grebe):


and the lake itself:



PS: And of course (of course!) the title carries its soundtrack within.

Dragon boat race

on river Main in Frankfurt:

1:25

I took the picture of these water lilies in Mini-a-thuer where everything is scaled 1:25. Now imagine that the flowers are, too...

Happy Birthday, Second!

"They say it's your birthday..." Have a great one, lil second :)

And as a special birthday gift for you - rain:

Lake Side

Details when I get back..

The colour purple*

A clover blossom with some "artificial dew", shot with my macro lens and a relatively wide aperture.

*not the movie

Ducking out

In the park near my place, there is a dirty old river, it looks grey, it has a weird chemical smell and there is no way I would ever go in there. But still, there are ducks swimming about...

Purple Rain

Definitely the best thing about rain... I love my macro lens :-)


PS: Happy children's day everybody!

The magic is in the details

Muddy, wet shoes, pants that got wet and muddy up to the knees and rain-smudged mascara are a small price to pay for the raindrop pictures I took yesterday. I didn't wait until the rain had stopped - good that I didn't because it lasted for hours and hours - but went out, armed with umbrella and camera+macro lens. This lens is amazing, really worth the (admittedly enormous) price.

Here a few examples:

Luminale III

I have to be immodest here but I think this picture is poster material again - the perfect composition of fountain, moon above and photographer+camera silhouette in front of it...

Fairy Tears

This photo was one of the first ones after getting my reversed ring and learning the technique of using it - in pre-macro lens times. The effect is similar to the one achieved with the macro lens even though it is more work to achieve it.
Anyway, this is what water droplets on a CD look like, seen through the other side of a 18-55mm lens without flash and post-processing.

Experiments with fountains

Warning: Today's pictures contain theory!
Don't be scared, it's actually not that bad, I'm just showing one picture that was taken with a high and one with a low shutter speed plus ND-filters.

1/100 s:



2 s:

Blue Water

I never know exactly where I stand with taking photos in shops. So I either refrain (rarely) or do it on the sly, without attracting attention. What you can see here is a display of precious Australian mineral water, dipped into blue light to emphasise its value...

Rheinwein

This is where my trip began on Saturday, R. station. A lonely empty bottle that had contained Rheinhessen Pinot Gris was standing on the platform, slowly being filled again by the rain and reflecting on the wet ground.

River bed

The other day, I talked to a student about exhibiting photos. Spinning the idea further, I was thinking about themes, one of them being "Flusslandschaften" (rivers in landscapes). So what about this one:

Wallpaper

Sometimes you just know that a photo has poster qualities. Like me with this one, taken from the ferry to Dover (again). It's the perfective motive, the perfect mood and the perfect composition. That sounds unhumble? I know ;-)