0212 - winter is setting in

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f1.8 | ISO100 | 1/500 | lightroom 4.2

in the course of the arriving winter the scenery and the rural townscape evolve into perfect advent postcard subjects.

light, soft snowflakes waft through the alleys and dip the landscape in a clear, plain white. the windows are already richly decorated and fir branches make for festive atmosphere. so cosy.

cu, trshptr

2211 - closed

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f2.8 | ISO1600 | 1/13 | lightroom 4.2

whenever i pass the vineyard of bermatingen i remember the nice wine tasting with our neighbours in spring of 2012. considering that we live in a dedicated wine-growing region, tina and i drink really not a lot of the red or white juice of the grape. theoretically i'd enjoy working up a wine appetite at the local shop by nosing and tasting several sorts of wine.

if i'd only come home earlier more often.

cu, trshptr

1309 - the entrance

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f2.8 | ISO1600 | 1/10 | lightroom 4.1

tomorrow we'll have our last work day for the next two weeks. tina and i already long for our vacation in italy. after a few days of hiking in the ortler alps we are going to settle down in a cottage in the region of liguria after we will have visited the city parma on our way to south.

before we'll begin our vacation we've a hard row to hoe on the forthcoming weekend: tomorrow evening we will take a bus to berlin and already 24 hours later we will take the same bus to bring us home again. the reason behind this crazy journey is the international aeronatic exhibition in berlin, that we are going to visit on saturday. anyhow a few hours in the huge city of berlin and time for a hopefully great dinner should be left in the basket before we approach the second 800 kilometres of the trip.

somewhat shorter was my today's journey: after my climbing lesson in the evening i have passed the still occupied castle of kirchberg near immenstaad for a moody, handheld night shot.

cu, trshptr

0609 - rural parking

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f1.8 | ISO1600 | +0.7ev | 1/20 | lightroom 4.1

of course you might believe that you know everything about your local environment. and then one day you break the usual habit and suddenly you find your way into a completely new world.

after a great dinner in a nearby restaurant that is operated from a couple from the alsace we had an absolutely necessary after-dinner walk through the villages. thereby a neat timber-framed building that i'd never noticed at daytime attracted our unrestricted attention. not only the great illumination but also the in front of the house parked tractor cut a great figure. in my opinion this was a really suitable scene for a rural village portrait.

marginal note: today in the afternoon very creative thoughts appeared in my brain, funnily while i was hoovering - tina would say that i should do this more often. some interesting photographic ideas were shaped to concepts. there's more to come.

cu, trshptr

1808 - orange wisp of cloud

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f7.1 | ISO125 | 1/80 | lightroom 4.1

some pics create the impression that they weren't captured by a camera but painted with a brush. today in the evening i have shot an incredible sunset over saxony while we were walking over the fields to view the horses' way to the paddock where they usually stay in the night.

it was already getting darker and we had to turn around and go back the same way to reach the restaurant in time for the dinner of my father's birthday party when the sky bloomed in the most wonderful orange.

cu, trshptr

2206 - dead of night

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f1.8 | ISO800 | 1/40 | lightroom 4.1

after the easy win of germany over greece what we had watched at a huge public viewing event in ravensburg and a few drinks in a rather chilly bar we came home late in the night. despite a few suitable shots from the evening event that were already resting on my sd card i was still searching for one special opportunity for the daily pic - the in my opinion most beautiful house in my home village.

actually i have this night shot in my mind already since dozens of days but until today a boring-as-sin-housewife-volvo was parked in front of the more than 300 years old timber-framed house every night what would have distracted from the core of my image.

cu, trshptr

0506 - encased latern

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f1.8 | ISO800 | 1/25 | lightroom 4.1

things never turn out the way you expect. because i didn't want to rely on sony's first level support i searched for an authorised repair shop in the internet and made a find. only some hours after my request to this company i got an answer and call to send in my nex asap. supposedly my repaired gadget will be back within 5 to 8 days again - i cross my fingers.

before i'll post the nex tomorrow morning, the cam had to show its capabilities in low light situations tonight. i captured the scene at the end of my night walk only at a stone's throw from my home. the little shack is used as a storeroom by the vineyard. i really go for the texture of the plaster, it's common to apply this kind of structures in the region of the south of germany.

i'm awfully sorry and feel a little bit sad: as i said before probably during the whole next week there will be no postings. unfortunately.

well, bye then, trshptr

0106 - something different

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f1.8 | ISO1600 | 1/25 | lightroom 4.1

finally we have visitors from central germany: our (best) friends jeen and diet(mar) from frankfurt are currently at our place for a flying visit - unfortunately on sunday they will leave us again for the continuation of their short journey to munich where they will call the concert of paul kalkbrenner, a reasonably famous german dj. for their visit we had to buy in, tidy up, clean house and so on - of course we wanted to receive our guests with open arms and well prepared.

back on topic of yesterday: see that i don't want to allow that the view of bermatingen develops as a completely boring but idyllic world i think that a contrary sight of approximately the same scene of yesterday's image might remedy. let me get this straight - bermatingen is not much different to the rest of germany. pleasure and harm, white and black, lights and shadows, all that is to be expected.

cu, trshptr

3105 - private peek

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f8.0 | ISO200 | 1/100 | lightroom 4.1

in regions with an appropriate social base money is not to be sniffed at. especially the area north of the alps and the lake constance profits clearly by its inherent natural beauty. the amount of money that is received in this way flows mainly back directly into the communes.

you can see this circumstance in any issue of daily life. one noticeable topic is the structural condition of the (most of the old) buildings in the historic townscapes. if you use f.e. the view of the cities in the east of germany as reference for comparison you will find a lot more derelict houses than here in suedbaden. so far, so good.  this comes as no surprise.

but what does that really mean? it seems to be a kind of vicious circle for the affected regions regarding different aspects: either tourists or qualified employees are attracted, therefor their money flows into other regions. so the communes have no funds to modernise their infrastructure, their townscape and so on. which means that everything remains as it is. unfortunately i know this phenomena from different regions of germany, among others my homeland.

the region of the linzgau was never affected by this vicious circle. the historic townscapes are in most cases proper, neat and tidy, even more than 300 years old houses like ours are in a good condition. way back when the municipal administration of our commune bermatingen had understood that buildings like the eichenhof have a great appeal with the tourists and therefor their money.

of course i rejoice at our home, it is individual, full of character and it's a pleasure to live here. i hope you enjoy the private peek, too.

cu, trshptr

1005 - curved lines

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 55mm | f8.0 | ISO100 | 1/250 | lightroom 4

currently we have foehn at the lake constance. today the temperature increased about eight to ten degrees, the humidity decreased and now the sky is full of cirrus clouds. i'm going to tell you more about the microclimate at the lake in the near future, i have the wish to combine this information with a great panorama of the alps with the lake in the foreground. unfortunately here at the lake constance we need very special conditions to have good visibility and one of the essential parameters is the foehn, of which more later.

nevertheless at prime weather i was seeking for a nice scenery for today's posting. the fruit farmers have already prepared their plantations for the protection against birds that perhaps consume the yield and possibly eventuating heavy thunderstorms that are also conditioned by the microclimate at the lake. for this reason they fixed meshes above their fruit trees to protect them against birds and hail. the meshes are not yet stretched but when the fruits finally grow or the forecast switches completely the farmers will be well-prepared.

cu, trshptr