0106 - something different

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f1.8 | ISO1600 | 1/25 | lightroom 4.1

finally we have visitors from central germany: our (best) friends jeen and diet(mar) from frankfurt are currently at our place for a flying visit - unfortunately on sunday they will leave us again for the continuation of their short journey to munich where they will call the concert of paul kalkbrenner, a reasonably famous german dj. for their visit we had to buy in, tidy up, clean house and so on - of course we wanted to receive our guests with open arms and well prepared.

back on topic of yesterday: see that i don't want to allow that the view of bermatingen develops as a completely boring but idyllic world i think that a contrary sight of approximately the same scene of yesterday's image might remedy. let me get this straight - bermatingen is not much different to the rest of germany. pleasure and harm, white and black, lights and shadows, all that is to be expected.

cu, trshptr

3105 - private peek

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f8.0 | ISO200 | 1/100 | lightroom 4.1

in regions with an appropriate social base money is not to be sniffed at. especially the area north of the alps and the lake constance profits clearly by its inherent natural beauty. the amount of money that is received in this way flows mainly back directly into the communes.

you can see this circumstance in any issue of daily life. one noticeable topic is the structural condition of the (most of the old) buildings in the historic townscapes. if you use f.e. the view of the cities in the east of germany as reference for comparison you will find a lot more derelict houses than here in suedbaden. so far, so good.  this comes as no surprise.

but what does that really mean? it seems to be a kind of vicious circle for the affected regions regarding different aspects: either tourists or qualified employees are attracted, therefor their money flows into other regions. so the communes have no funds to modernise their infrastructure, their townscape and so on. which means that everything remains as it is. unfortunately i know this phenomena from different regions of germany, among others my homeland.

the region of the linzgau was never affected by this vicious circle. the historic townscapes are in most cases proper, neat and tidy, even more than 300 years old houses like ours are in a good condition. way back when the municipal administration of our commune bermatingen had understood that buildings like the eichenhof have a great appeal with the tourists and therefor their money.

of course i rejoice at our home, it is individual, full of character and it's a pleasure to live here. i hope you enjoy the private peek, too.

cu, trshptr

2305 - castle of dreams

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f8.0 | ISO100 | 1/80 | lightroom 4

after three years of permanent, weekly travels because of my job i really don't want to be lonely anymore. for this reasons night duty days of tina sometimes put me into a slightly depressive mood. there it was a heaven-sent opportunity that my evening mountain bike tour led me into the well-lit forest where i finally was acting on my feelings. and fortunately on my way to nowhere i almost accidentally came by the castle of salem.

we live at the lake constance for three years now but during this time we have never been at the castle, even less its inner yard or garden. i did not know how great the whole grounds actually are. moreover today evening an enchanted atmosphere was dominating. the pic above expresses this hogwart like mood very well - no, i'm not a harry potter fan, i had to google the name of his school - although i applied only a little bit of post processing to the raw file, excluded the black and white conversion. i will definitely come back to this magnificent area to accurately inspect the total and its details and to tell you more about its history.

previously two more nice pics of today evening can be found on my flickr stream.

cu, trshptr

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

1504 - the wheel

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 18mm | f8.0 | ISO800 | 8s | aperture priority | raw files cropped, aligned and processed in lightroom 4 

the day after. slightly headache, thirst and haven't slept very well. what's the point - you must finish what you start. therefor we had a huge breakfast with toasted ciabatta, cold cuts and what else belongs to it. in addition to that strengthening i had to get a breath of fresh air. 

after my weekly football match on sunday noon i carried out some tiny little tasks like to put some things away into the cellar. there i hit on the idea to make the basement of our marvellous house the subject of today's posting. like i said before our house is more than 300 years old. also its basement is a feast for the eyes. it was used as a wine cellar for many a long year. today every now and then we hold a cellar party for our friends. the illumination with candles is stunning. during the residual time the basement lies almost empty.

today i caught sight of a very moody scene of wheels. the sparsely light was inciding through an old wooden wheel. our new neighbors must have parked an ancient blue bicycle in the middle of the place where the light beam was impinging on the floor today. and the profile of the room is a semicircle itself. 

great atmosphere in an almost complete circular surrounding.

cu, trshptr

3003 - symmetry

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 28mm | f8.0 | ISO200 | 1/200 | aperture priority | raw file cropped, aligned and processed in rawtherapee

a hard working day was followed by a great, atmospheric walk at lake constance. tina and i cut along the waterside until we arrived at one of my favourite memorials in germany - the war memorial in remembrance of the fallen troops of the world wars in the 20th century, named kriegerdenkmal meersburg.

while i was struggling with my tentative equipment through the last few days - birthday, where are you - today´s conditions where not really challenging for lenses and sensors. although the light shined a bit soft, this fact matched with the mood of this impressive place. again and again the clouds teared up for some seconds und let a bundled sunbeam pass their natural umbrella. 

today i captured several good pics, so that i had to decide which one should be published on the blog. i picked this one, because i love its symmetry, simplicity and clarity. these three keywords exactly express the heart of the subtext that the monument conveys. it is unalterable, will survive longer than the humanity is able to look ahead and stands for the lives of thousands of men. may they rest in peace.

if you want to discover the memorial in detail, please visit my corresponding album on flickr.

cu, trshptr

btw:

sony nex 5n

sel 16 + wide angle conversion lens [12/2.8 + 16/2.8]

slr magic manual special lens [35/1.7]

sigma e-mount [30/2.8]

sel 50 [50/1.8]

consistent bundle for a beginner?