1112 - luff

December 11, 2012 in 50, branch, germany, immenstaad, lake, lake constance, landscape, nature, nex 7, sel, snow, sony, texture, tree, water, winter

sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | f2.8 | ISO200 | 1/1600

today strong winds were blowing from westerly direction. on the crust of the trees close to the lakeside little snow ridges were banking up.

with today's icy cold the lakeside wasn't a comfortable ambiance.

0712 - tree house

December 08, 2012 in 30, b+w, constance, contrast, germany, house, light, nex 7, night, pattern, shadow, sigma, sony, street art, tree, wall, window

sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f2.8 | ISO1600 | 1/40

any child should have played play in a tree house at least once in a lifetime. although this nicely illuminated exterior wall in constance has actually nothing to do with these kind of children playgrounds, the shadow play and in this context the pun 'tree house' reminded me of my early youth again.

0412 - shady side

December 04, 2012 in 30, b+w, contrast, gangplank, germany, immenstaad, lake, lake constance, landscape, nature, nex 7, shore, sigma, snow, sony, stone, sun, tree, water, winter

sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f4.0 | ISO100 | 1/640

in times of passages from one season to the other the forces of both usually fight very hard against each other. thereby the opponents conduct war by every trick in the book - providing cover is only one of the applied methods.

cu, trshptr

3011 - embedded

December 01, 2012 in 8, branch, courtyard, facility, fisheye, germany, home, house, light, long-time exposure, moon, nex 7, night, personal, sky, sony, tree, walimex samyang rokinon, window, winter

setup: sony nex 7 with walimex pro 8 f2.8 fisheye | 8mm | f4.0 | ISO400 | 30s | cornerfix & lightroom 4.2

although the linden tree in the centre of our courtyard might not be as old as the whole farm itself, it has definitely experienced a lot of the things the buildings had to take.

the huge tree sits enthroned in the middle of the yard and the buildings, gives shades in the summer heat, limns the shadows of itself on the ground in the night, is the home for many birds as well as for two or three squirrels and makes a top-class scratching post for all the kitties on the premises.

in the meantime it is really dear to my heart and just as deeply embedded in my mind as in the soil.

cu, trshptr

2511 - smooth forest

November 25, 2012 in 35, autumn, bermatingen, blur, colour, countryside, forest, fujian, germany, landscape, leaf, nature, nex 7, night, pattern, red, sony, tree, walk, wood

setup: sony nex 7 with fujian 35 f1.7 | 35mm | f1.8 | ISO800 | 1/25 | lightroom 4.2

long walks in the woods ease my mood. every time i go into the forest all the unnecessary information is erased and space for new activities is created.

in my case the recovery of energy from the indefinitely complex nature is tremendous, even if the lights are almost gone already. when the shadows gain the mastery over the whites, all the parts of nature put their shapes down and become softer and smoother. what a great sight!

cu, trshptr

2411 - transition

November 25, 2012 in 30, abandoned, brown, building, deeper meaning, facility, germany, mannheim, nature, nex 7, partial coloured, sigma, sony, street, suburb, townscape, tree, urban, wall, window

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f2.8 | ISO100 | 1/1000 | lightroom 4.2

after an evening like yesterday's it's always good to face up to the opposite side of the society. while my girls were insensitively shopping in the rhein-neckar-mall of mannheim-viernheim, i had the time to stroll around the blocks. there weren't many coloured dots to find in the middle of the almost brown and partly abandoned environment.

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f8.0 | ISO100 | 1/200 | lightroom 4.2

the transitions there from the occupied areas to the abandoned and inhospitable ones are hard, immediate and obvious. a suburb of mannheim in the year 2012: plain straight.

cu, trshptr

2211 - closed

November 22, 2012 in 50, architecture, bermatingen, germany, house, light, nex 7, night, sel, sony, street, street lamp, timber-frame, townscape, tree, village, vineyard, window, wine, wine tasting

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

1911 - light saw

November 19, 2012 in 50, autumn, branch, fog, forest, germany, immenstaad, landscape, leaf, light, light beam, mist, nature, nex 7, sel, sony, sun, sunrise, tree, wood

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f5.6 | ISO100 | 1/125 | lightroom 4.2

today i captured the best photograph so far. on my way to work with the mountain bike i drove along a track that leads to a small t-crossroad in the middle of nowhere. heavy fog narrowed the sight distance to not more than 30 metres. the air was cold, humid and fresh and dew lay on meadows and fields.

just when i headed for the crossroad the fog tore partly open and let a few sun beams pass through the grey curtain. this circumstance made for a three-dimensional stagger of the background and additionally the foreground was gleaming what was due to the illuminated dew. so only fore- and background would have been a great scenery for a dramatic photo but, believe it or not, things got even better: suddenly a throng of round about fifty chattering geese appeared with a farmer in tow. the farmer seemed to herd them onto a new meadow. the whole scenery was completely surreal and i really thought that i'm in the wrong film.

today i captured the best photograph so far, but i captured it only in my mind. i arrived a few seconds too late, so that the animals and the farmer had already passed the perfect spot for a great, candid picture. only a few minutes later all the magic was over and the sun prevailed, at least temporarily. fortunately i decided to stop my bike in the forest some minutes after i'd met the farmer and, anyhow, i took an also nice, if not necessarily extraordinary image.

cu, trshptr

1511 - cascade

November 15, 2012 in 50, autumn, colour, edge, garden, germany, green, hedge, immenstaad, leaf, nature, nex 7, pattern, red, sel, sony, tree

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f1.8 | ISO100 | 1/400 | lightroom 4.2

if you concentrate on seeing natural patterns in your daily environment, you should surely catch sight of many of them.

they might not always make a good subject for photography if you'd image them in their overall context. but if you handle detaching them from their surrounding and highlighting the peculiarity of your composition, the results will satisfy you very probably. additionally you can try to mix overall patterns with small ones - i especially like this feature in today's photograph of the green, straightly triangle-shaped hedge in association with the wonderfully coloured, patterned leave mass.

cu, trshptr

1311 - still upright

November 13, 2012 in 8, autumn, branch, colour, contrast, countryside, fisheye, forest, germany, immenstaad, landscape, leaf, nature, nex 7, sony, texture, tree, walimex samyang rokinon, wood, yellow

setup: sony nex 7 with walimex pro 8 f2.8 fisheye | 8mm | f4.0 | ISO800 | 1/60 | cornerfix & lightroom 4.2

the lights are often harsh in november and the temperatures decrease constantly, all the contrasts get harder. the falling and especially the already fallen leaves give a premonition of the coming winter.

only a few leaves are still solidly attached to their mother plants. mainly the small plants that have enjoyed the protective shield of the conifer wood treetop all year still resist successfully against the ordinary course of things. from their points of view they appear not that small as they really are what might empower their war of resistance again. but in not too distant future they, for sure, will shed their last bright, yellow leaves, too.

cu, trshptr