scratching the (white) surface

March 20, 2013 in 35, architecture, b+w, building, car, contrast, facility, germany, grain, mirror, monument, movement, action, nex 7, pattern, people, reflection, sel, shadow, snow, sony, street, townscape, trip, truck, urban, wall, water, window, winter, stairs, bridge, river, crane, sky, berlin, bundestag

as threatened yesterday i have to torment you mercilessly with images of this white, consolidated mass of water this week again - the forecasts predict nothing but winter. thereby i try to allot not more than a minor role to the still not escaped, meanwhile less strongly loved season and hope to cope with using its peculiarities as a stylistic device.

the german bundestag is the place of our government here in berlin. the shown, very cool and artistic building with a huge glass facade is one of the great many facilities that are occupied by parts of the governing parties and belongs to a vast complex of modern architecture in the middle of historic monuments besides the river spree.

there are a great number of things why i take to this photograph: the multifacetedness, the snow blower or the lonely soul in the middle of the frame, but i especially like the three-dimensionality of the picture - from the front with the blown snow flakes via the building with its diagonal stairs to the bridges and the crane in the reflection that had been located behind my point of view there are a lot of layers superimposed by each other.

sunset divers

March 04, 2013 in 50, atmosphere, backlight, candid, boat, contrast, fog, germany, landscape, light, mist, mood, nature, nex 7, orange, people, sel, shadow, sky, sony, sun, sunset, water, lake, lake constance, unteruhldingen, reflection, wave, mirror, minimalistic

although i usually don't take the line of rushing, with my today's posting i'm only scratching the surface for once: what a bike ride (after work), what a weather, what a sight, what a sunset and finally what a day!

lens head

February 14, 2013 in fun, self portrait, mirror, reflection, germany, home, nex 7, night, sony, walimex samyang rokinon

you might wonder about the new design here. well, i've finally decided to get a full website. besides the blog there is nothing working yet, but this will change during the next days. i'm going to vitalise the whole site with a lot of stuff, so stay tuned. target for today was to get a funny self portrait with the message: don't take yourself too seriously. if you are a rather serious person (as i am), this mantra seems to be a proper approach to life.

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.

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.

2601 - the fridge

January 27, 2013 in 35, candid, face, germany, indoor, light, mirror, mood, nex 7, night, party, people, personal, portrait, ravensburg, reflection, sel, sony

the fridge - sony nex 7 | sel 35 f1.8 | f2.0 | ISO1600 | 1/320

up to yesterday i didn't know that a fridge can be such a social place. during the evening every guest of my mate dominik's great birthday party availed oneself perceived three to four times with beer and other chilled stuff from the refrigerator. if you had set yourself the goal to meet some new people, you simply had to wait at the fridge for the next thirsty person.

thank you all for the wonderful night.

2101 - cat's eye

January 21, 2013 in 50, b+w, bokeh, cat, eyes, face, germany, hair, home, kitchen, mirror, nex 7, nose, portrait, reflection, rest, sel, sepia, sony, whiskers

cat's eye - sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | f1.8 | ISO200 | 1/6

it's a good thing to share the flat with a kitty. whenever you are sick, the cat will befriend and care about you, if only by taking a nap on your stomach. although nila isn't resting on my body in the pic above, she basically acts as a great supporter in bringing me back to health.

1601 - ifa kipper

January 17, 2013 in 35, blue, car, colour, contrast, germany, home, indoor, light, macro, mirror, model, motor, nex 7, night, red, reflection, sel, sony, truck

ifa kipper - sony nex 7 with sel 35 f1.8 | f2.0 | ISO500 | 1/60

today i like to give away something: my grandpa has no need for this brand-new model of a former, east german truck 'ifa h6 kipper'. so if there are any collectors of historic stuff between my readers, please don't hesitate to write me an email or comment below this post - i'll send you the miniature replica of this historic art of engineering from the gdr for free.

1001 - clear-cut

January 10, 2013 in 35, abstract, architecture, colour, contrast, friedrichshafen, germany, glass, grass, landscape, mirror, nature, nex 7, pattern, plant, reflection, sel, sony, urban

clear-cut - sony nex 7 with sel 35 f1.8 | f2.8 | ISO100 | 1/60

if urban structures and natural elements converge on the same place, at times interesting contrasts occur. do you go for curves or rectangles?

0701 - reflection

January 07, 2013 in 35, beard, bokeh, deeper meaning, eyes, germany, home, light, mirror, mood, nex 7, night, people, portrait, reflection, sel, self portrait, sony, texture

reflection - sony nex 7 with sel 35 f1.8 | f2.0 | ISO1600 | 1/13

today was a good day. fairly old, pretty good memories appeared and caused a lot of questions in my mind. self-reflection is a process that i've internalised during my trainings, but this is of course way beyond looking at oneself in the mirror - have i changed for the better or the worse since a certain point? highly likely this question has to be answered by others.

any way, today is a very good day.