0208 - around the corner

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f8.0 | ISO100 | 1/60 | lightroom 4.1

a building that attracts me already since a few months is the nurses' hostel in friedrichshafen. the corridors are visible from outside through a huge glass facade. living in this big hostel has to feel more or less like living in the big brother house:

too disclosed to feel unobserved and too impersonal to feel home.

cu, trshptr

1907 - nose against 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

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

1607 - plump vs. lean

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

0707 - depth

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.

0607 - pulling the strings

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

the tram of lisbon is world-famous. the "carros eléctricos de lisboa" are operated by electricity already since 1901. due to the partially historic transport fleet and the interesting routing across the hilly townscape of lisbon the tram is very popular with the tourists.

besides the obvious points of the tram as a wonderful infrastructural feature of lisbon it attracted my attention with its spiderweb of contact wires that is pulled across the whole city centre and in that way indirectly influences the townscape. in spots only one ring sticks a lot of wires together. amazing thing!

cu, trshptr

0107 - flagged

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f2.0 | ISO400 | 1/20 | lightroom 4.1

till wednesday everything revolves about surfing. so at present there is hardly time for other activities because after three hours of surfing you are simply dead.

after a restful sleep of minimum six to seven hours you have to breakfast extensively to accumulate an adequate amount of energy for the first lesson. after the transfer to the surf sport monte clérigo near aljezur at the west coast you complete your equipment and before the action restarts in earnest. three hours of surfing that are divided by a break of round about one hour for lunch.

in the evening we are completely starved and exhausted so much that after another extensive meal in the historic town of lagos in the most cases the next way leads us directly into bed. anyhow one or another photo opportunity falls to me. probably i'm going to zero in on photography in lisbon again.

cu, trshptr

1106 - filler house

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

0707 - lined lady

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 55mm | f5.6 | ISO200 | 1/100 | lightroom 4

when you visit an european city you'd expect that free-roaming cats influence the townscape. thereby in sardinia pets aren't that high rated as the people do in germany. many cats have to run their own lives. funnily also the dogs do as they please. especially in alghero we often saw dogs walking on their own, there was no human being on view far and wide.

hopefully the lined lady of my pic will get along furthermore.

cu, trshptr

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