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

2007 - experimental views

July 21, 2012 in 50, art, blur, exhibition, face, germany, glass, markdorf, mirror, multilayer, nex 7, partial coloured, pattern, people, personal, reflection, sel, self portrait, sony, window

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f2.0 | ISO320 | 1/80 | lightroom 4.1

weekend time is visiting time. this weekend two fellow students are visiting me at lake constance. christian, who is the father of a two and a half year old, cute boy, hasn't been at my place since more than two years. and i've not seen karl, who is also a father since more than one year, since we ended our movement to the lake in summer 2009. a long time passed since then, but luckily we are still on the same page although we three are completely different as different can be.

after they'd arrived at my workplace, i've showed them everything in my company, the facilities and the beautiful surroundings at the lake. when we came home tina had already prepared the dinner so that we could directly have a seat for a great spaghetti bolognese and some beers. in the evening we visited the opening of the exhibition "experimentelle 17" and ended in a tiny little bar with another beer.

the vernissage gave variety in modern, experimental art: iron structures, paintings and sculptures of well- and also little-known artists are exhibited at five places at the lake constance for two months from now on. the work of peter casagrande was the most impressive one: he works with huge canvas and glaring colours, beautiful to look at. however the work of andreas lau was the most interesting one: as an example he creates plastic, three-dimensional images with dozens of multilayered dots with different diameters in front of a shadowed background. really formidable!

the image in my pic shows a blurred child, that is traversed by some parallel lines. if you view this image at a remove from some meters, the child is clearly visible. however if you see the painting from up close, everything blurs to a coloured mass. also very formidable and a top implementation by the artist!

for logical reasons i used the topic and the kind of implementation of "the child", my favourite exhibited painting, as an opportunity to implement my daily pic also of this character. my pic a multilayered, partly blurred, candid self portrait of tina and me in the environment of the exhibition.

cu, trshptr

1907 - nose against window

July 19, 2012 in 30, b+w, cobble, decay, fun, germany, glass, grey, markdorf, moment, nex 7, people, reading, reflection, sigma, sony, street, townscape, urban, window

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f2.8 | ISO100 | 1/250 | lightroom 4.1

today in the afternoon i met the myopic gran in markdorf while i was strolling about the streets. she is known all over in town. most of her time she sits at the bakery's and tries to read the newspaper which is displayed there. because of her malfunctioning eyes it seems to last hours till she has coped with reading the press.

it was the first time that i've seen her in the street, of course when she was reading again. unfortunately she is in a bad condition: she is myopic, a bad walker and realises almost nothing and nobody around her. maybe all of her senses go down bit by bit. but despite the physical decay she is really cuddly: funny to see how she pressed her nose against the window... and satisfying to assess how she masters her life after all.

cu, trshptr

1807 - orange patchwork

July 18, 2012 in 30, architecture, brown, colour, facility, germany, light, markdorf, nex 7, night, orange, partial coloured, pattern, shadow, sigma, sony, townscape, urban, walk, wall

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f2.8 | ISO640 | 1/50 | lightroom 4.1

today i hadn't had the time to catch a breath before half past nine. after work i had to wash all the bicycles, three in number, and do some maintenance work on tina's mountain bike. after all i have lingered after an after work coffee latte at a branch of a well-known big junk chain for the whole evening. at half past nine tina and i had finally accomplished our object, a tall latte for me and a vanilla frappe for her.

while we were stretching our legs subsequent to the drink, i spotted the illuminated, orange wall, that seems to be composed of dozens of rectangular patches. nothing spectacular, but beautiful to look at, especially because its recurring forms and the nicely produced shadows.

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

1507 - preparation

July 15, 2012 in 50, action, blue, cinema, colour, equipment, germany, glass, light, live, nex 7, open-air, partial coloured, people, public viewing, reflection, sel, sony, technics, window

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f2.0 | ISO500 | 1/80 | lightroom 4.1

one time a year an open-air cinema event is conducted in our small village bermatingen. a visit to a movie is nothing out of the ordinary, but an open-air cinema is always somewhat special. we got excited about this special kind of event already in our youth, because one of the few drive-in cinemas is located only a few car minutes from our hometowns and we have been there many times in our youth, by car and also by bicycle.

an open-air movie enjoyment is completely different to an indoor session: anyway it is especially cosy, the people are allowed to smoke and if the weather is suitable you can see the stars in the sky. and if the movie is as good as the yesterday's one - "intouchables" was shown - everything is inherently consistent.

as a sideline i have observed the preparation work of the operator of the movable cinema equipment some minutes before the event started. the used system still works with film roles that had to be fixed in the projector. of course the operator managed this task very meticulous and experienced.

cu, trshptr

1407 - spanish folklore

July 15, 2012 in 50, action, blue, bokeh, brown, colour, face, germany, green, guitar, hair, live, music, musician, nex 7, people, portrait, sel, sony, summer

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f2.0 | ISO400 | 1/120 | -0.3ev | lightroom 4.1

open air music, some beers and the setting sun - that's how an evening at the weekend should be. and if the music is spanish folklore and the beer tastes fresh and delicious, it would not have taken much for completing the vacation feeling.

unfortunately i don't know who the two guys are that made music yesterday afternoon near our home, but what i know is, that they are really good at playing their instruments and conveying the local mood of the iberian peninsula. thank you for the pleasant evening!

cu, trshptr

1307 - outstretched tongue

July 14, 2012 in 30, b+w, decay, eyes, face, lisbon, mood, nex 7, pattern, people, poor man, portrait, portugal, sigma, sony, street, suburb, tongue, tramp, urban

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f4.0 | ISO100 | 1/320 | lightroom 4.1

friday, the 13th. time for a recapitulation of my portugal trip. time to review the top 100 of images and also time to show some more of these pics. pictures of the tough reality at our beloved holiday destinations.

i have shot a similar image of a tramp in constance, germany, some weeks ago. poverty doesn't stop at borders and cares little about nationality.

cu, trshptr

1207 - roosting

July 12, 2012 in 50, action, animal, art, b+w, bird, blackbird, cloud, contrast, countryside, germany, grain, grey, immenstaad, mood, nex 7, old photo, sel, sky, sony

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