3008 - behind bars

August 30, 2012 in 50, animal, bokeh, brown, colour, contrast, countryside, eyes, fisheye, germany, hair, horse, langenbernsdorf, nex 7, orange, portrait, reflection, sel, sony, texture

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

keeping of animals is a sensitive topic. who gives the mankind the authorisation and permission to cage up animals of any kind? is it the evolution, our superiority? or is it outright ignorance?

every human being on this planet has to answer this question for itself. basically there are different reasons for keeping and caging animals and i don't want to kick off a huge discussion about the reasonableness of caged pets. only one question: dear lovers of nature and animal protection advocates, why is it okay for (the most of) you to cage up these wonderful horses?

cu, trshptr

1908 - retro charme

August 19, 2012 in 30, architecture, blue, brown, car, colour, contrast, crimmitschau, decay, germany, nex 7, sigma, sony, street, suburb, townscape, trabant, urban, wall

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f5.6 | ISO100 | 1/400 | lightroom 4.1

now, on sunday evening, the heat wave is almost over. we had a wonderful weekend at our beloved families and extended the trip for another night. therefor we will have to get up at five o'clock in the morning to arrive before noon at our place.

while walking through the town crimmitschau - the village where my mother lives belongs to it - we have spotted a tuned and modified trabant 601. the trabant is a car that was produced by the former east german car manufacturer veb sachsenring in zwickau. it was by far the most common vehicle in east germany. more information about the trabant on wikipedia.

the crumbled wall, the renewed street and the antique car - this could have been a retro-style scene of a movie from the 80s but it actually is the real life in 2012 in the eastern states of germany.

cu, trshptr

1808 - orange wisp of cloud

August 19, 2012 in 50, abandoned, blue, cloud, colour, contrast, countryside, germany, landscape, langenbernsdorf, minimalistic, nature, nex 7, orange, sel, sky, sony, sunset, tree, village

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

1408 - firefighting operations

August 14, 2012 in 50, action, bbq, contrast, courtyard, dinner, eating, food, germany, grill, hand, handicraft, home, meat, nex 7, personal, sel, sony, tripod, vegetables

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f1.8 | ISO200 | 1/800 | lightroom 4.1

during the last week a very special issue has caused topics for discussions in germany: highly probable germany's biggest poultry company wiesenhof will sponsor the bundesliga football club werder bremen. wiesenhof hit the headlines with information about antibiotics in the animal food, bunions, corroded lungs and absolutely disastrous living conditions for their animals plus killing in childhood.

as a result many club members are threatening werder bremen with their resignation if werder is really going into the contract. in my opinion the current discussion is bringing temporary awareness concerning the products we eat in our daily lives and how they are formed into the light of day again. no more, no less. probably rogue firms like wiesenhof are in the majority. everybody has to decide for himself how he manages the situation. and in a few weeks nobody will talk about this topic anymore.

i for one buy poultry and other meat only at the butcher of trust. if tina had her way we wouldn't eat meat anymore, but for me it's essential. fortunately today i didn't have to be behind the 8-ball: we had rib of beef of very good quality, and anyway the cows are reared completely species-appropriate.

cu, trshptr

0708 - skylight

August 07, 2012 in 30, abandoned, architecture, b+w, building, contrast, corridor, decay, door, facility, flight, floor, germany, glass, mittenwald, nex 7, sigma, sony, window

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f3.2 | ISO320 | 1/60 | lightroom 4.1

during the current course we are accommodated in brilliant located grounds that are really ancient though. the interior was already modernised years ago but some rooms and especially the floors are still in the shape of 1930 or maybe even earlier. however i find that quite charming, the old architecture and the timeless mountains are a very good match.

my daily pic shows the abandoned exit corridor of the auditorium. right from the first moment i saw this part of the building, i've fallen in love for the great skylights that illuminate the floor in a fascinating way.

cu, trshptr

0108 - action painting

August 01, 2012 in 50, action, art, colour, contrast, exhibition, festival, friedrichshafen, fun, germany, movement, nex 7, people, portrait, sel, sony, street, street art, urban, yellow

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

it is hard to ecstasiate on a wednesday. normally it isn't tolerated anyway in everyday life that anybody ecstasiates. our societies yearn after people that function. the majority frowns at crazy, quirky or curious people. these have to take cover from being treated as a freak in big cities and their dark suburbs. normally!

on some days the rules of (our narrow) life become soft. there are events where peculiarities are assertively desired. events like the currently happening culture festival in friedrichshafen that unifies people of different mentalities only with the central theme art. one kind of art you can play out there is action painting. it's a very colourful fun. there should more often be action paintings on wednesdays.

cu, trshptr

2407 - descending branch

July 24, 2012 in 50, agriculture, cereal, contrast, corn, countryside, field, flare, germany, hay bale, landscape, markdorf, nature, nex 7, orange, sel, sony, summer, sun, sunset

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f13 | ISO100 | 1/160 | lightroom 4.1

sometimes life is a bunch of contrarieties: tina has a day off, these days the sun appears at 5am on the eastern horizon and sets not before 9pm in the west, the water temperature is absolutely refreshing and normally the work brings more joy than worse. regardless real pleasure isn't raising at the moment. why that?

today the other side of the coin is the outlook to tomorrow: tina is going to undergo a medical examination tomorrow and i won't be able to support her before or afterwards the appointment because at the same time i will be at work in munich for a business trip. unfortunately!

so today was characterised by the preparation of tina's nasty examination. she had to take a bunch of medicine and she isn't allowed to eat anything for the period of 24 hours before the examination. an undesirable side effect of the medicine is the rising probability that you break into shivers. although there are still 28 degrees at 8pm in our yard, she isn't feeling like sitting outside in the setting sun but tucking herself up with a blanket and drinking a pot of hot tea.

this is only one of many contrarieties of our lives, but fortunately anytime everything will be balanced out again. that's why i'm thinking positive and looking forward to thursday evening, when i'll be back home and enjoy the warm summer and the chilly lake, in that case together with tina again.

cu, trshptr

2207 - magical column

July 22, 2012 in 30, architecture, art, b+w, cloud, contrast, flare, germany, light, light beam, meersburg, memorial, monument, nex 7, sigma, sky, sony, street, street art, sun

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f13 | ISO100 | 1/3200 | lightroom 4.1

despite the conservative mindset of the people at lake constance a very special landmark was established in 2007 on the gangplank of meersburg. the artist peter lenk executed a column that illustrates the satirical portraits of all public characters of the history of the city.

the poet annette von droste-hulshoff is characterised as well as her brother baron joseph von laßberg, a collector of medieval manuscripts. at his side there appears cupid, at the same time damsel and winery owner wendelgard von halten comes down handsomely in an impressive pose and also the exorcist johann joseph gassner, whose actions are illustrated in a very grotesque way, is involved. the artist lenk also devoted attention to the "miracle doctor" franz anton mesmer, who is considered by many as the father of modern hypnotherapy.

in my pic i want to empower the mental superpowers of franz mesmer with catching the sun in his horseshoe.

cu, trshptr

1706 - silhouette of a latecomer

July 17, 2012 in 35, b+w, bokeh, contrast, countryside, field, flower, fujian, germany, hair, landscape, leaf, light, nature, nex 7, shadow, sony, summer, sunflower, sunset

setup: sony nex 7 with fujian 35 f1.7 | 35mm | f1.8 | manual focus | ISO100 | 1/1600 | lightroom 4.1

today a rather usual business day was followed by a great bicycling tour with my mate andi. after that when i'd finished personal care and eating it was already eight o'clock. at the moment i have only little interest in television - the program is simply awful. it's about time that the olympic games start, so that there would be at least one reason to switch the tube on.

because the opening ceremony will be broadcasted not before next friday evening, i used this chance for a photo walk. the sun was already setting when i reached the fields in the south of my village. unbelievable how fast everything changes these days.

only a few creatures are stunted, like the slim sunflower whose illuminated silhouette traces the shape of a young plant that actually had to be a good deal bigger. don't worry, little flower, the sun will assist you with your growth like it had done today evening.

cu, trshptr

1607 - plump vs. lean

July 16, 2012 in 50, architecture, art, b+w, contrast, deeper meaning, facility, germany, markdorf, minimalistic, nex 7, pattern, sel, shadow, sony, street, street lamp, texture, townscape, urban

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f8.0 | ISO100 | 1/640 | lightroom 4.1

during the last few weeks i've begun to be satisfied with the technical implementation of my pics. slowly but steady i have a handle on my nex 7, i do not have to think about its operation anymore. conversely i'm really impatient of a few of my daily pic ideas or/and the composition of these images. precisely because there is a lack of interesting photography opportunities in the area around lake constance - besides the often shown and captured idyllic scenes - the collocation of a well composed image has to be reconsidered again and again. as from now i want to take into account all factors: concentrate on the full details, compose a statement and affect the viewers, if possible.

let me begin in a small way: some parts of our societies discriminate against people, that are plump or lean. the most people do not have the balls to voice this, what makes them appear even more ridiculous. fortunately there is a lid for every pot, as you can see in the image above. everybody has to have the right to exist regardless whether he, she or it is thin or fat, black or white, tall or small.

my story may seem quite a stretch, sorry, but this is what i've thought when i spotted the scene today in the afternoon in markdorf. cultivated coexistence, nothing else matters! no fence between the individuals, no podium for anybody, because there is no right or wrong. so as you can see the composition of today's pic is still not perfect, but the architectural circumstances were set... ;)

cu, trshptr