1207 - roosting

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f5.6 | ISO100 | 1/1000 | lightroom 4.1

behavioural pattern of creatures aren't always easy to see through. today i've observed a bulk of birds hopping between powerlines. really funny how they've acted - once a bird had departed, suddenly an indefinite number of his buddies was following him. in this kind the play has perpetuated and i'd watched them some minutes more, until i got my camera and captured the scene in a picture.

cu, trshptr

1107 - humanoid camera

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f2.8 | ISO100 | 1/13 | lightroom 4.1

when you are an ambitious photographer that is willing to learn constantly, at some point you will realise that you have begun to see your life only in frames. this is basically not so bad, you learn to handle this circumstance.

whereas the point to feel pressured by the obligation of capturing a suitable pic per day is a real problem. i ran into this issue some weeks ago and believe me, especially for an absolute beginner of serious photography this burden is definitely not conducive to obtain the best possible results and to learn the hobby in a relaxed way. you try to figure out if any, really any object would make a good scene - this is an exhausting process!

learning is known as a process whereby you improve your skills with every fault or problem you did. you have to be fully aware of this case, otherwise your expectations on yourself will always be unaccomplished. my personal aim of this photography project is the self-discovery which kind of photography i like and what kind of photographer i am, too.

in the course of this i sometimes feel like a humanoid camera.

cu, trshptr

1007 - in the pouring rain

setup: sony nex 7 with fujian 35 f1.7 | 35mm | f1.8 | manual focus | ISO100 | 1/500 | lightroom 4.1

as i'd mentioned before special moods pleases me no end. when i came home from work today it had already rained for round about half an hour. a nice photography opportunity occurred: the stones in our backyard were wet, scattered light illuminated the yard and fortunately tina was willing to be my model that had to pose in the rain.

finally i'd realised that a planed photoshoot is a very difficult thing - you have to take care of so many little details that despite good expressions of my object more than the half of my images had at least one disturbing fault. however a dozen of pictures turned out well so that tina and also i are satisfied with the result and do not have to complain anymore.

the shown pic is the most natural one. maybe i'm going to show you more of the series later.

cu, trshptr

0907 - incidence

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f4.0 | ISO100 | 30s | lightroom 4.1

mondays are as tough as leather. mondays subsequent to vacations are tougher than leather. today in the morning i almost didn't manage to get up. tina is on duty today so that she didn't hustle with getting out of bed. this fact made it not really easier for me starting the day. well, this is complaining on a high level...

finally the day became a medium one - usual business at work; nice weather; good ride on the mountain bike in the evening; delicious,  by tina already precooked dinner and a lonely evening on the couch - not quite lonely, my kitty nila kept company with me.

once i have a plenty of time like today in the evening, i actually visualise the real beauty of our home in all its facets: old doors and massive flagstones are only two examples of the peculiarities of our home.

cu, trshptr

0607 - pulling the strings

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f2.0 | ISO100 | 1/4000 | lightroom 4.1

the tram of lisbon is world-famous. the "carros eléctricos de lisboa" are operated by electricity already since 1901. due to the partially historic transport fleet and the interesting routing across the hilly townscape of lisbon the tram is very popular with the tourists.

besides the obvious points of the tram as a wonderful infrastructural feature of lisbon it attracted my attention with its spiderweb of contact wires that is pulled across the whole city centre and in that way indirectly influences the townscape. in spots only one ring sticks a lot of wires together. amazing thing!

cu, trshptr

0207 - parallel running

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f2.8 | ISO1250 | 1/80 | lightroom 4.1

many things in life run parallel. love and hate, black and white and also things that aren't that contrasting like occupation and vocation. not everybody is able to unify occupation and vocation. a great many people only work to earn the necessary amount of money to ensure the life standard and actually fulfil their selves in spare time with any hobbies.

by pure chance i met bruno guerreiro, a portuguese photographer, in the historic town of lagos today in the evening. he approached me because of my camera equipment and in so doing we got into conversation about photography and anything else. he's going to exhibit some stuff in the cultural centre of lagos starting in the middle of july. i entrust a visit of his exhibition to everybody who lives or is currently for holidays in portugal: http://brunoguerreirophotography.pt.vu

like the great many people i spoke about in the first paragraph he is also not able to earn his bread and butter with his photography but it is his passion and his heart is really in it. it was really nice meeting you, bruno!

cu, trshptr

2806 - that's it

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f2.0 | ISO800 | 1/80 | lightroom 4.1

halftime. short break. time to catch a breath. time to have a cigarette, even for non-smokers. disillusion already at halftime.

yesterday italy operated simply more intelligent than our team. tactical clever, mersiless effectiv, simply great: for long periods they have played masterfully. despite a huge bunch of opportunities our attackers didn't bring about to net. and if you don't score you won't win.

now i wish the italian team the best of luck to beat the spanish. contrary to all other teams the italians have managed to improve their performance with each match. on sunday they will have to perform once again.

cu, trshptr

2606 - dead wood

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f1.8 | ISO100 | 1/640 | lightroom 4.1

tina is one of the old school - reading becomes accepted only on paper. printed matter is highly regarded by her, kindles are admired but fundamentally not used (yet).

"there are enough reasons against these items. what would for example be that they don't smell. or that i can't open a kindle up."
"yes, you can. use a cover and you will be able to open it up."
"but the smell..."

ok, a compelling evidence is nonexistent, but life isn't always logic and coherent. reading a novel has to do with dreaming and the medium has to transfer this atmosphere. so i can absolutely take her point.

for our upcoming surf vacation in portugal we bought a novel for each of us: tina is going to take jonas jonasson's "the hundred-year-old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared" along and i'm going to read mcgrath's "white heat". maybe i'll tell you more about these two pieces of poetry after the vacation.

since we ignore electronic reading material we put a direct strain on the nature - for the most part paper is made of wood. i don't exactly know what is worse for the environment: the complete life cycle of a handheld reader or the consumption of the at least renewable resource wood. my gut says that i'm currently on the correct side of the green conscience, even if only just.

cu, trshptr

2306 - torture ship

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f3.2 | ISO100 | 1/320 | lightroom 4.1

tolerance is a quality you have to work hard for. it seems to me that not everybody achieves this goal. today at the boarding to the fetish party on the so called torture ship where i sensed some interesting photo objects i again became aware of the parochialism of the people in germany. i had to hear dialogues like "yuck! despicable! but we watch them every year." and "kinkier!".

i don't want to live in a country where the people are insincere and mindless like that. the basic question that arises is who is perverse? the people before or the people behind the barrier?

cu, trshptr

1806 - closing time

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f4.0 | ISO800 | 1/60 | lightroom 4.1

new week, new business trip. this time austria, this time more comfortable than last week. instead of subject-specific training the central topic of the further training of this week is team building.

besides the arrival in steinplatte a short mountain climbing was planned for the schedule today. nevertheless some participants of the training decided to rest at the cottage where we will live for the next three days and a few people set off to the summit of the duernbachhorn (1776m).

after a sporty way up in today's summer heat we were sweating that much that we necessarily had to undress our shirts. never mind, thereof you won't see any pics, censored! fortunately I spotted an even better scene at our stop at an alp inn while decline.

a lumberjack was resting on a bench after his hard daily work and reading the daily press. he was a very representative sample of the common mountain men - wiry, fit and above all very kind!

cu, trshptr