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

2905 - morning bloom

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f2.8 | ISO100 | 1/1600 | lightroom 4

although i'm a huge fan of the dark side of life - autumn, fog and mist, darkness, rain, all things that i go for - currently i'm unable to struggle against the ongoing summer. in the morning everything is still a bit wet of the dew but in the end of may the sun has already risen and the temperature has reached almost 20 degrees when i'm on my way to work by bike.

a wonderful enchanted mansion is located along the way to immenstaad. even if flowers and blossoms are not my favourite scene, i was fooled into interrupting my drive because of the great mix of the corn poppies in the middle of the dreamy cottage garden in front of purple foxgloves and the rising sun in the background.

when i reached work i had donned a protective cloak against stress, mischief and hustle and bustle. days should always start like that.

cu, trshptr

1505 - rear view

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 55mm | f5.6 | ISO200 | 1/800 | lightroom 4

the rape's blossoms were sprouting quickly during the last days. now the yellow colour mixes well with the green stems. moreover today we had perfect dramatic nature shot weather. the weather conditions were changing, strong winds came down. therefor all parameters seemed to fit for a nice landscape pic.

fortunately i was able to convince tina to model for me. she was the most important parameter. she was the most important parameter for my shooting. and indisputable she is the most important parameter for my life.

we've had enough of words - a beautiful rear can also endear.

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

0705 - downhill force

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 18mm | f4.0 | ISO800 | 1/800 | lightroom 4

actually i'm a big fan of the uphill climb. that's why i own a hard tail mountain bike and a racing cycle. although i'm usually not frightened to go downhill, there are enough reasons for me to live without a full suspension bike.

besides the huge maintenance expenditure of the additional hinges, the irreversibility of the drive train, the higher injury risk while going downhill and higher acquisition costs the main purpose of my in the summer almost daily used bike was the clincher: i use it especially to get to work, to go on excursions with tina and to exercise my endurance. therefor you don't need no soft tail. that's enough of factual explanations.

after a usual working monday i had to supply my need for a little uphill tour. while i was sneaking uphill i thought about the loneliness and solitude that you can find in forests only on monday afternoons. everybody seems to have more important things to do than a walk through the trees. fortunately i had resisted the rationality and suddenly my life was enormously slowing down, if only for this brief moment.

only the downhill force awaked me from my daydream.

cu, trshptr

btw: no, the pic above was not shot with a go pro hero. 8) sadly the exposure time was set up a little bit too short to show the real speed of me and my bike of round about 30km/h. at least the fork is sharp.

3004 - s-curve

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 18mm | f5.6 | ISO100 | 1/640 | aperture priority | raw files cropped, aligned and processed in lightroom 4

today and tomorrow are fortunately still non-working days, at least for me. tina had to work today because diseases aren't directed by the calendar. so i had decided already at the weekend that today should be a bicycle day for me.

while my excursion i was cycling through three countries: of course germany with its regions baden and wuerrtemberg, austria with the vorarlberger land and finally the switzerland. at romanshorn i took the ferry back to friedrichshafen. at the end of my tour i had driven 120km by bike. not that bad, besides my butt i feel fine. you can comprehend the whole route here [click].

one special thing attracted my attention: after the very modest, peaceful and contemplative holidays in sardinia i was really shocked by the prosperity tourism and the conceited high society that i had to see today. it was a scenery like a disney land for pensioner. huge mercedes benz with gold decorated ladies inside were parking in front of showy golf and yacht clubs. barf!

cleanliness, perfection and wealth - these things were hard to take for me today. fortunately the surroundings were getting more authentic in the switzerland. i saw construction zones, suburbs and eventual more normal people than tourists. finally i found the gangplank shown in the pic above near rohrschach, where ornithologists had arranged themselves for the observation. moody chill out area.

cu, trshptr

2904 - green lungs

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 18mm | f9.0 | ISO800 | 1/125 | aperture priority | raw files cropped, aligned and processed in lightroom 4

again at last the first night in my own bed after the return of two weeks of travel. once i had ended the first session of post-processing of the accrued pictures at 0130am and my subsequent sleep at 0900am i considered the next big bunch of pics that i had shot in sardinia. unfortunately i'm still not half-done. cheer up, the way is the goal. learning by doing, that's what it is all about.

at 0300pm tina took me out to an excursion to a keep-fit-trail in the middle of the forest of the hill gehrenberg. we really had a lot of fun while we were running through the course. 13 sporty stages had to be done.

the 14th one was called breath. always keep breathing.

cu, trshptr

2504 - insights

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 18mm | f11 | ISO100 | 1/100 | aperture priority | raw files cropped, aligned and processed in lightroom 4

okay, it's an idyllic shot. but you would have been impressed, too. please enjoy the view over baunei, a beautiful mountain village to santa maria navarrese and the tyrrhenian sea. the altitude difference between the site of capturing and the sea amounts round about a half kilometre. really stunning.