driving all night

March 02, 2013 in 35, b+w, candid, car, contrast, corridor, darkness, deeper meaning, germany, grain, light, nex 7, night, old photo, sel, shadow, snow, sony, street, winter, truck, blur, action, movement

have you ever thought about the peculiarities of an engagement as a long-distance truck driver? considering the unfavourable boundary conditions i have great respect for this profession. it's not just that the family men are mostly not at home to wake the children in the morning or to put the kids to bed in the evening (like pilots, mariners, soldiers and probably a good many other professionals, too), in return they bring in only very little money. due to the schengen agreement the average wages for truck drivers still decrease since the east european drivers do the same job with less grumble for less money.

snow curves for circles

February 28, 2013 in 50, b+w, bermatingen, contrast, germany, landscape, nature, nex 7, pattern, sel, sony, winter, snow, grain, field, agriculture

really don't know what the farmer has done here. whatever, the shapes make for a good subject. btw: you'll find a few new photographs in the glimpse galleries.

under observation

February 26, 2013 in 50, blue, colour, germany, landscape, nature, nex 7, orange, sel, sky, sony, winter, sunset, sun, wire, bokeh, razor, deeper meaning

germany is still under observation, mostly by itself. its charged younger history, especially with the atrocities of ww2, constitutes an incubus that is still present in the public opinion.

in yesterday evening's tv chat show 'hard but fair' which is broadcasted on germany's first channel the subject for discussion was the current bestseller book 'he's back again' that is on first place of the bestseller list in germany since already ten weeks now. hitler sells very well. the author tells a satirical story about hitler who wakes up again in last year's berlin: so the führer has to understand all the things that have changed since his dead in 1945 with its own sense. added to this almost every person in the story is laughing at him. the central question of yesterday's tv show was if germany is ready to laughing at hitler, too? especially in consideration of the millions of dead people of ww2...

i for one can only say that i'm able to bring all the told things and jokes into line with the real history. although i'm no contemporary witness i'll never forget this hideous period of our history. despite that i've already listened to three quarters of the audio book: it's really clever and smart.

1102 - scoops of ice

February 11, 2013 in 35, abstract, colour, germany, ice, nature, nex 7, pattern, sel, sipplingen, sony, stone, texture, winter, yellow

scoops of ice - sony nex 7 | sel35 f1.8 | f5.6 | ISO100 | 1/100

not all scoops of ice are that delicious. in return these pretty uneatable ice balls look all the more nicer. you see the again freezing, just from the icicles escaped defrost water in its natural, wonderfully coloured catch basin.

0902 - grain skin

February 09, 2013 in 50, beard, blur, courtyard, eyes, germany, grain, home, mirror, nex 7, night, personal, portrait, reflection, sel, self portrait, snow, sony, window, winter

grain skin - sony nex 7 | sel50 f1.8 | f1.8 | ISO6400 | 1/15

today i finally decided to make the next small (fun-) step in my photographic life - before the production of 35mm film will be completely discontinued anytime, i'm going to have at least one try with analog photography even this spring. therefor i ordered one role ilford delta 3200 Professional (b+w), kodak portra 800 (colour) and fujifilm superia 1600 (colour) each.

why such sensitive films? well, i want to begin (and probably stay) with a ultra-compact fun cam, something like a diana mini or any other lomography camera, since it has to accompany me to music festivals and other chaotic events where the nex usually has no place in. naturally you have to use high iso films if you want to shoot these lomo cams (fixed plastic lens, (almost) fixed, slow f-stop - f8/f11 switch, fixed shutter speed - 1/60) at dusk. although i definitely expect not less than blurred, grainy, absolutely poor exposed results of my coming lomo cam, i'm able to look forward to work with film. expectations can only be belied if they are exaggerated. actually i have only one expectation: with at a max 36 images on a role you have to think long and hard about your composition, which is why i hope to improve my photographic skills further.

with the intention to give high iso film a try sometime, i avoided to apply noise reduction to my self portrait already today. what you see is my grainy face in the double window of our kitchen with the idyllic, nightly yard in winter dress in the background.

0802 - snow streaks

February 09, 2013 in 35, action, blur, car, friedrichshafen, germany, grain, light, light track, movement, nex 7, night, pattern, sel, snow, sony, street, texture, winter

snow streaks - sony nex 7 | sel35 f1.8 | f2.8 | ISO1600 | 1/4

as one might expect particles, light and movement form interesting streaks in the eye of the beholder and of course this circumstance works also in nature.

awhirl - sony nex 7 | sel35 f1.8 | f2.8 | ISO1600 | 1/4

if in the case of a nightly car drive in a snow storm also the background contains a minimum of texture the drawn winter image should be really expressive.

0702 - winter walk

February 07, 2013 in 50, friedrichshafen, germany, house, light, mist, nex 7, night, people, sel, shadow, snow, sony, street lamp, walk, winter

winter walk - sony nex 7 | sel50 f1.8 | f2.0 | ISO1600 | 1/30

why not spending a ten minutes wait in walking in the returning, misty winter? understandably late in the evening even tina's will to cook is rather small, but fortunately there are a few snack stands in friedrichshafen where we can fetch something for dinner.

0202 - canteen

February 03, 2013 in 35, architecture, blue, car, colour, disco, germany, light, nex 7, night, party, railstation, ravensburg, sel, sony, townscape, urban, winter

canteen - sony nex 7 | sel35 f1.8 | f2.0 | ISO1600 | 1/10

it's seldom that the possibility to extend the evening into the night springs suddenly into our minds. however an extensive party night is best if it wasn't planned in advance. the evening was supposed to be only about a great dinner at an indian restaurant but three different bars and some beers later we finally ended at ravensburg's finest disco - the canteen.

2901 - turning point

January 30, 2013 in 35, 50, alps, b+w, blue, colour, contrast, friedrichshafen, germany, harbour, lake, lake constance, landscape, nex 7, seagull, sel, shadow, sony, sunset, winter

front row - sony nex 7 | sel50 f1.8 | f4.0 | ISO100 | 1/100

we seem to reach the turning point of winter: at the latest the day after tomorrow the cold of the last days will give way to the thaw and indeed temperatures above 10 degrees. therefor the seagulls had ensured that they would be able to enjoy the best view over the still icy lake at the säntis, the highest peak in the lake's alp panorama.

attached shadows - sony nex 7 | sel35 f1.8 | f4.0 | ISO100 | 1/2000

in a few hours when both the sun and the column of mercury will be rising again the ice and as a consequence also the dark shadows will suddenly disappear.

2801 - arenight

January 29, 2013 in 35, architecture, arena, blue, car, colour, friedrichshafen, germany, light, mirror, nex 7, night, reflection, sel, sony, sport, stadium, stairs, street, winter

arenight - sony nex 7 | sel 35 f1.8 | f2.8 | ISO1600 | 1/40

usually this parking area directly next to the arena of our local volleyball club vfb friedrichshafen, that has one of the best, if not even the best volleyball team in europe, is well-filled with vehicles from all the spectators. but on non-matchdays and into the bargain at dark night only a very few people and cars stray on the grounds.