1107 - humanoid camera

July 11, 2012 in 50, beard, blue, contrast, eyes, face, hair, light, mirror, mood, nex 7, night, people, personal, portrait, sel, self portrait, shadow, sony, texture

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

0707 - depth

July 08, 2012 in 50, architecture, b+w, bokeh, bollards, cobble, grain, grey, lisbon, nex 7, pattern, portugal, sel, shadow, sony, street, suburb, texture, townscape, urban

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

unfortunately vacations seem to end always in the high of the personal emotions. just when we felt comfortable with the whole surroundings in lisbon, we sadly had to depart to faro to catch our flight to memmingen.

summarising can be said that the south of portugal is also definitely worth a journey or a even longer trip in vacations. thereby both the southern region around the algarve and the north around porto have their special issues and pros and cons: as i had supposed the southern landscape is more rocky and touristic than the rest of portugal, on the other hand the north-south shore of the north is more suited for surfing.

the duel between the cities porto and lisbon ends up in a tie: both cities are located at the atlantic coast and at the mouth of a big river. both profit from the maritime influence of the seafaring, the fishing and a dozens of thousands of seagulls. porto convinces with its naturalness and unobtrusiveness, whereas lisbon scores with its variety and a great nightlife. i think i'm going to see over both of them during the next years surf trips again.

a special detail of lisbon's townscape are its streets: cobbled streets and steep descent make your life a living hell if you are old and it teems down so that the cobblestones become slippery. what appears for the visitors as an eye candy, discommodes the lives of the local citizens. good if you can move hand over hand along a dozens of bollards.

0207 - parallel running

July 03, 2012 in 50, art, b+w, bruno guerreiro, contrast, eyes, face, glass, lagos, light, nex 7, night, pattern, people, portrait, portugal, sel, shadow, sony, street

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

2206 - dead of night

June 23, 2012 in 50, architecture, building, countryside, germany, light, monument, mood, nex 7, night, pattern, sel, shadow, sony, street, street lamp, texture, timber-frame, village, wood

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f1.8 | ISO800 | 1/40 | lightroom 4.1

after the easy win of germany over greece what we had watched at a huge public viewing event in ravensburg and a few drinks in a rather chilly bar we came home late in the night. despite a few suitable shots from the evening event that were already resting on my sd card i was still searching for one special opportunity for the daily pic - the in my opinion most beautiful house in my home village.

actually i have this night shot in my mind already since dozens of days but until today a boring-as-sin-housewife-volvo was parked in front of the more than 300 years old timber-framed house every night what would have distracted from the core of my image.

cu, trshptr

1706 - comfortable ambience

June 18, 2012 in 30, architecture, art, balcony, ceiling, fun, germany, light, markdorf, monument, nex 7, night, people, public viewing, shadow, sigma, sony, sport, texture

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f2.8 | ISO1600 | 1/60 | lightroom 4.1

if you sleep until noon you won't have a lot of time in lightness.

but on some days i don't want to worry about that. especially on sundays it should be entirely sufficient if you handle to charge up your personal batteries. if you additionally manage to set another highlight you are the master of weekend management.

well, that wasn't too difficult yesterday. a look into the fixture schedule of the european football championship gave us an evidence about our evening plan - we watched the match against denmark in the nice ambiance of the gehrenberg theatre in markdorf.

cu, trshptr

1106 - filler house

June 11, 2012 in 18-55, 400d, abandoned, alley, architecture, b+w, building, canon, contrast, corridor, eos, house, italy, sardinia, shadow, street, townscape, tree, trip, urban

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 48mm | f5.6 | ISO100 | 1/320 | lightroom 4

it should not be forgotten that some facts differ from country to country. therby in sardinia a wrong assumption played into our hands.

wednesday seems to be a day of rest in italy, we had to learn this fact. all the shops were closed. that's why besides us almost nobody else was walking through the narrow alleys of bosa, a mountain village at the east coast of sardinia. so we could enjoy the special architecture of bosa without interruption.

cu, trshptr

1006 - save port

June 10, 2012 in 18-55, 400d, b+w, boat, calm, canon, contrast, eos, gangplank, harbour, italy, light, minimalistic, reflection, rest, sardinia, sea, shadow, trip, water

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 55mm | f8.0 | ISO100 | 1/500 | lightroom 4

the port of villasimius radiated calm and rest. only a few anglers were engaged. the few boats were harboured. while the sun was setting, tina and i observed the tugboat that was reflecting the sun. favourite place!

cu, trshptr

0906 - mugging

June 09, 2012 in 18-55, 400d, action, b+w, canon, contrast, eos, face, italy, light, people, poor man, sardinia, shadow, street, suburb, summer, trip, urban

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 27mm | f4.0 | ISO200 | 1/1000 | lightroom 4

really admirable that this hampered old couple had shouldered burden and stress of a bus or an air trip - they seemed to be dutch - only for some days of sightseeing. they were walking around alghero within the context of a guided tour group. although i haven't seen any smiles playing on their lips they for sure enjoyed the experiences they had gained in this historic city.

really pesky that this beggar-woman bothered the two of them. i indeed appreciate poverty and starvation of the immigrants but i'm not willing to accept a mafia-like rip-off - we met the lady later in the bus: her supposed baby was a doll.

fortunately the tourists had summed up the situation - they gave the beggar the cold shoulder.

cu, trshptr

0506 - encased latern

June 05, 2012 in 50, architecture, b+w, building, countryside, germany, house, light, nex 7, night, sel, shadow, sony, street lamp, texture, townscape, tree, village, wall, window

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

0206 - tally

June 03, 2012 in 30, constance, decay, eyes, face, germany, mood, nex 7, partial chromatic, pattern, people, poor man, portrait, shadow, sigma, sony, street, suburb, tramp, urban

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f3.2 | ISO100 | 1/200 | lightroom 4.1

there are people who have much to answer for. somehow facetiously that i've shot this pic only one day after preaching the prosperity of the region around lake constance.

you can choose different approaches to handle scenes like a confrontation with a social poor situated guy: first and common one is to ignore the fact that there are people that have to live in these circumstances. this is the path of least resistance and completely stressless. most of the people would go and go this way. second one is to take notice of and maybe to pay a minimum of attention to him. i appeal to your common sense - you don't have to talk to him or donate food or money, a inviting smile should not be too much to ask for.

unfortunately there are also people who had quit their lives in spirit already well before. i rather think that the guy in my pic comes under this ones.

cu, trshptr