0206 - tally

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

2505 - confusion

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f1.8 | ISO200 | 1/4000 | lightroom 4

in terms of any issue yesterday was a very beautiful day. although i had to work until the late afternoon what in my case is unusual for a friday the tide turned at the latest after having a picnic together with tina on the stairs in the middle of friedrichshafen. couscous salad, baguette, burgers, herbal curd and a few beers - this made my day. along with it we had prime weather, at 8pm the thermometer showed still 22 degrees.

yesterday even the crowd of tourists kept within reasonable limits. exceptionally the locals were in control of the situation at the boardwalk. this state maybe concerns with the forthcoming long weekend, it was so to say the silence before the storm. as i said before i simply love the spring with its awful lot of feast days.

one or two tourists showed up yet again. one of them was especially confused, he stood next to us and gazed into space. instead of helping him i took my nex and captured the scene. evil local!

cu, trshptr

1405 - architectural ulcer

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 25mm | f5.6 | ISO200 | 1/320 | lightroom 4

in my opinion symbiosis can not only come into being between biological species, but also between different other types of things. architecture or perhaps feelings are imaginable.

in my concrete case of today's posting an architectural masterpiece - the house of media in friedrichshafen - shows a symbiosis between clear and straight glass facades and a rough and structured cement ulcer. these two pieces match perfectly.

today in the afternoon - after hard work - we really enjoyed the mood of the area around this building.

cu, trshptr

2804 - enlightenment

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 55mm | f5.6 | ISO200 | 1/500 | aperture priority | raw files cropped, aligned and processed in lightroom 4

first of all i like to excuse for my very short statements belonging to the last week's postings but i think that the pictures tell their stories by themselves. furthermore i concentrated on the photography itself, its choice and post-processing. if there are any questions concerning more details of the story - be my guest and write a comment.

summarising i have to pinpoint that not all questions could be anwered till the end of the trip. why are the temperature sensitivities of natives and tourists that different? a local women wearing a down jacket is reading the newspaper in the sun at almost 30 degrees while hot pant wearing, central european ladies are cooling down in the shadowed gelateria lane.

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 37mm | f5.0 | ISO200 | 1/100 | aperture priority | raw files cropped, aligned and processed in lightroom 4 

and why is there always a libertine, doubter or sun worshipper?

in this manner both stand in the sun, the spotlight or the centre of interest. it is easily visible that either of them feels more comfortable than the other.

2704 - togetherness

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 55mm | f5.6 | ISO100 | 1/160 | aperture priority | raw files cropped, aligned and processed in lightroom 4

prejudices and pigeonholing. things that i try to avoid. but sometimes a chliché is perpetuated by the person concerned. study the photography and you will understand what i mean.

2204 - taking small steps

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 28mm | f5.0 | ISO100 | 1/400 | aperture priority | raw files cropped, aligned and processed in lightroom 4 

during the last week's road trip we rested as often as possible at interesting locations on our 1000km route. the town oristano was one of it. we have had a walk after lunch in the historical district when i discovered the greek-like scenery shown in the photography above.

1904 - things have changed

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 18mm | f8.0 | ISO200 | 1/125 | aperture priority | raw files cropped, aligned and processed in lightroom 4 

... in east germany. 

after my yesterday's discrediting posting i would like to balance the representation of my homeland a little bit. as i had already addressed the boom of the last twenty years, the city hall of greiz called vogtland halle was built in the last three years as part of this era.

the hall is a venue for different kind of events for example concerts, lections and public events like youth dedication ceremonies which have survived the turnaround and the former times. like these rituals a great many old city mansions have resisted the ravages of time, in some places you can find them directly next to newly built lighthouse projects such as the vogtland halle.

i really get into a balanced mix of monumental, old architecture combined with modern glass and metal structured buildings. i like the pic above because of its clear and straight lines and the melted architectural trends, that also mirrors in the reflections.

cu, trshptr

1804 - time has stopped

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 18mm | f8.0 | ISO100 | 1/160 | aperture priority | raw files cropped, aligned and processed in lightroom 4 

... in east germany. 

like i said yesterday we unfortunately had to give an immediate family member to tina's grandma. ria, as tina's grandmother is called, lives in thuringia close to the town zeulenroda with her husband guenther and her dog lea. because tina and i want to support zizou during her acclimatization here in thuringia, we'll stay at grandma's home until friday. besides fitful sleep this circumstance means that i'll have the opportunity to shoot some decay-tinted pics in the rustic area of the former gdr.

i've really turned the kind of today's photo over in my mind. should i publish a espacially brutal and negativ photo of a destroyed factory that you can find here at every turn? or shall i take a pic that shows the great boom of the last twenty years? i decided to pursue the middle course. on the pic above you can see an old disused building of the former government enterprise wema, what is a german abbreviation for tool machinery factory. as you know the german democratic republic was an almost complete closed economy. that's why a great many of companies had to be closed in the course of the german reunification, the so called turnaround in 1990. 

as part of the omission of the gdr four to five years after the turnaround the wema broke away, too. the clock on the front of the wema building seems to act out of spite - it has stopped years ago.

cu, trshptr

1304 - upright

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 22mm | f4.5 | ISO400 | 25s | manual mode | manual focus | raw files cropped, aligned and processed in lightroom 4

while i was cruising around by bike this evening i saw different places and objects that were worthy of detailed examination. in so doing my short ride was extended to a two hour trip. as a result i have really struggled with choosing a candidate for today's posting. finally i decided to apply the upright photography that you can review above to animate my blog today. some other samples are listed at my tumblr webpage dated today.

the pic of the building site was shot in markdorf again. the light conditions were really very, very bad, the usage of the automatic focus wasn't possible. so i had my first attempts with complete manual shooting: both focus and exposure were manually controlled by me. to accomplish a suitable exposure i had to raise iso speed to 400 and aperture to the almost fastest configuration at this focal length - although i exposed for a long time... i think you can reconstruct how dark it was there.

why this composition? for a variety of reasons... the pillars seemed to have an infinite depth, the lights were playfully reflected by them. the streamers that were hanging from the ceiling breezed in the wind. the silence was impressive. only every now and then a car went past. fortunately i caught one by shooting the pic above.

btw: i have raised the local contrast of the pic while postprocessing to create a hdr-like effect. accenting the size of the builing site i renounced to remove distortion caused by wide-angel.

all being well my project will finally start next week. officially.

cu, trshptr

1104 - moonless night

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 25mm | f8.0 | ISO100 | 15s | aperture priority | multiple triggered with android application dslrcontroller | raw files cropped, aligned and processed in lightroom 4

urban abandoned places at night have a great appeal with me. see that i had to cater anything for dinner this evening, an urban self-shot was obvious.

while i was driving around the town i was on the look-out for a moody place where i could capture a frozen long-time exposed, depressed shot of a small being in the middle of impressive architecture. really no easy statement of task in the middle of nowhere but i'm not going to lower my sights until i hit the wall. satisfaction implies stagnation.

in my opinion except a little light scattering in the lower middle the picture turned out very well. it shows the educational center of markdorf that was built in 1972. i love the architecture of the 70s with its straight lines, strict symmetry, the plain facades and the primary structures made of metal. it is simple and timeless. and if you put an outlined, shadowed person in the center of attention and illumination, your composition becomes clearer and more consistent. a picture turns into a story.

cu, trshptr