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.

0307 - sea level from above

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f8.0 | ISO100 | 1/800 | lightroom 4.1

before we leave the algarve towards lisbon besides surfing a bit of landscape exploration had to be done, too. after we visited the north of portugal with the regions around porto, aveiro, figueira da foz and peniche whilst the second of our last year's surf trips with their long and flat beaches for this year we expected a rocky and mountainous shore and more clayey soil.

and we weren't disappointed by the south of portugal: along the seaside we were walking for round about three hours from porto de mos to dona ana. it was a constant up and down with the view of beautiful postcard pictures.

despite everything i was especially taken with the special angle of the view on the things on the sea level. it was a bit like flying over the shore and observing the activities from this special position.

cu, trshptr

2006 - royal lake

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f8.0 | ISO100 | 1/125 | lightroom 4.1

as you would expect our nature oriented training day became an idyllic one. the koenigssee, what proverbially would be royal lake or lake of the kings in english, is a very pretty place in germany and recommendable for everybody who has a thing for the landscape of for example norway or canada.

apparently there was no way round this fact for the authors of travel guides of germany. already in the early morning when we arrived at koenigssee dozens of japanese have jumped on the first boat to salet, the southeastern end of the lake. they all must have read of the speciality of the most southeastern corner of bavaria and germany in any guide, otherwise they still would have been sleeping in their hotels.

almost every asian man and woman was armed with a huge dslr (except two girls who have used the nex 5 - well chosen, ladies), most of them with nikons, and not really provided with any composition strategy - trial and error seems to be the shooting method of the most of the southeast asian tourists. why not...

nevertheless the journey was definitely worth the early getting up. due to our fast step we have been the first people who entered the valley today. unfortunately the air has been very foggy so that a lot of pics didn't turn out very well. but a few of them even profited of the special air conditions - while we were sailing over the lake suddenly the sun came into the lakeside and illuminated an abandoned gangplank. the complete rest of the hillside was residing in the foggy and misty dark. a mysterious mood came over me. nice place to be there for a while, also if you know of and live at the lake constance.

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

2004 - enchanted forest

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 27mm | f5.6 | ISO800 | 1/200 | aperture priority | raw files cropped, aligned and processed in lightroom 4 

only nearly a month till my birthday. on the last day of our home visit i had a long walk in the dreamful forest  of goettendorf with tina's grandpa and his dog lea. we had already ranked big rape fields until we reached the entrance into the woods. a black mood was dominating, only very few light beams pierced through the tree crowns and the evaporating rain caused dense fog inside the forest.

how shall i put it? i love the pic above, it turned out very well. in my opinion the low local contrast post processing is well-suited for this kind of scenery. the forest and its trees signifies infinity, clarity, purity and naturalness. for me it's a kind of ablution to have a walk in such a genuine surrounding.

cu, trshptr

btw: my publications will be continued a week from now. i will sojourn at a place in the middle of nowhere, only with tina and - unfortunately still - my 400d. postings will handed in later. take care!

1204 - upstairs

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 37mm | f5.0 | ISO400 | 1/25 | aperture priority | raw files cropped, aligned and processed in lightroom 4

there are people that always use the elevator. they use it also if they work in the 3rd floor and their toilets are located in the 2nd one. indeed there are people that use the lift to go up and down for a cigarette. it's not just that they contaminate theirselves and the environment, additionally they don't go a few steps down- and upstairs to compensate their pollution.

there are people that suffer from a cardiovascular disease. fastfood, an awful lot of coffee or / and alcohol and far too little exercise confuse the human organism. if you do not take countermeasures, you will perish. 

and there are people that are aware of these and all the other critical problem areas. their daily lives are mostly characterized by stress, pace and they are often pressed for time. but they know that every thought about provision is not about half the price of the measures to revise the problems in old age.

i think i rank among the last group. i avoid to use the elevator. i do not smoke anymore. i moderately drink coffee and alcohol. i excercise minimum twice a week. i'm aware of the problems of the modern society. at least i believe it.

for this posting today we made an exception and used the escalator. however there you can also go upstairs.

cu, trshptr

1803 - looking down and up

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 48mm | f6.3 | ISO100 | 1/640 | aperture priority | cropped, aligned and processed in rawtherapee

later in the day we again recognized why the area around lake constance is famous for its grey days: within minutes the very intense micro climate caused by the lake by itself and the alps produced heavily fog that melted the sky and the horizon to a milky, grey mixture.

an old man looking down and feeding the ducks gave me a perfect contrast to the upwardly directed field glasses. i like the minimalistic character of this image, its huge grey areas realistically reproduce the drop of temperature and change of mood caused by the rapid weather turn.

cu, trshptr