2508 - under observation

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f4.0 | ISO100 | 1/800 | lightroom 4.1

this weekend i reside in laufenburg, a small city that is part of the district waldshut in the very southwest of germany, at the family of a work and cycling mate. laufenburg is located directly at the border to switzerland, opposite to the equally named swiss city and separated from the switzerland by the big river rhine.

on the german side of the border a huge monument, a stone eagle with widespread wings and a golden cross in his clutches observes all machinations on the (german and the) swiss terrain. the memorial was built in remembrance of the many soldiers that were killed in action in the first and second world war.

the relations between the germans and the swiss and germany and switzerland are matter for a separate story: huge wage differentials, tax haven switzerland, conversion rates, non-EU country and voluntary nation are only some keywords that describe the country switzerland and its relations to its neighbour germany. many things are handled completely different to germany, but the people of both countries have to live together on both sides of the border compliant with the rules and laws of the respective countries.

tomorrow i'll visit the swiss side for a long public cycling ride again. however today i haven't seen anything to complain about for the stone eagle.

cu, trshptr

2108 - entrance into new life

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f4.5 | ISO100 | 1/80 | +0.3ev | lightroom 4.1

it's safe to say that with marriage (at least a few) things change. the most people celebrate this transition with a huge multi-day party, usually they want to experience the best day(s) of their lives. subsequently the bride and the groom depart to the greatest journey they have ever planned...

well, this is the way the majority of the marrying people handles their weddings. not we. the documents were signed at half past 10 and in the afternoon tina went to work as usual. we didn't do many things different from normal days because we don't want our life to be different from before the marriage. it was great before this date and it hopefully will be also similar great after it. in our opinions great changes are followed by great disillusionment - of course exceptions prove the role.

for that reason till today we haven't trespassed the entrance into new life yet.

cu, trshptr

1308 - pomp and splendour

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f9.0 | ISO100 | 1/200 | -0.7ev | lightroom 4.1

the intermediate destination of my today's after work cycling tour was the splendid castle of heiligenberg. besides the cloister of birnau and the castle of salem "schloss heiligenberg" is one of the most famous medieval, architectural sights north of the lake constance. it was initially built in 1250 on a plateau more than 700 metres above the sea and almost 250 metres above the lake level and continuously enlarged. in 1559 the castle was rebuilt and remodelled in the renaissance style. with its famous hall of knights it hosts one of the most magnificent renaissance halls north the alps.

unfortunately due to the very misty weather conditions - i told you about the micro climate at lake constance - you can only see the lake and not the alps behind in the background, what would be theoretically possible on a day with foehn or low pressure and temperature.

cu, trshptr

1008 - blurry flashback

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f2.0 | ISO400 | 1/80 | lightroom 4.1

today in the morning all my beloved ones left me: marv and tina's mum had to depart to stuttgart for a wedding ceremony of a relative of volker, who is tina's mum's life partner. tina had to go to work, she is currently on duty. and nila was straying.

so what should i do on a lonely day off? all transactions were already transacted and all tasks fulfilled. but today i couldn't motivate myself to do anything beautiful (till the evening) and fell into a sort of limbo. well, i vegged out under the sun umbrella in the yard and went through the pictures of our last trip to portugal. fortunately my mood was lifted by viewing the images of this great trip and i braced myself up and set on the bike to ride to the lake and swim some minutes.

the really remarkable point of today was the flashback i had when i was investigating the pic of today's posting. the rossio square in lisbon is in my opinion one of the most beautiful urban places that i've seen in portugal. both at daytime when tina and i read our books under the slightly splashing water of the fountain and at night when we strolled about the square, this place appeared as a very inspiring surrounding. it has been the setting of celebrations, revolts and executions and today it's a preferred meeting place of locals and tourists. in addition to that the great architecture with the curved pavement patterns, the wonderful fountains and the monumental buildings at the edges of the square cap it all off.

cu, trshptr

2207 - magical column

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

0507 - lisbon's jewel

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f3.2 | ISO640 | 1/60 | lightroom 4.1

tina and i usually drift through foreign cities. of course, a minimum of preparation in advance is mandatory, but the most beautiful places always find you, not the other way round. on our way to the independente hostel of our new (world class!) canadian friends we discovered one of the prettiest monuments of lisbon by pure chance.

the church igreja de são roque is located in lisbon's historical district bairro alto and known as the jewel among the churches of lisbon. it is one of the most splendid churches in portugal. you can find a huge article about this monument on wikipedia (link) in which all its details are really well described.

the importance of this church is mainly based on the chapel of são joão baptista that you should definitely see over if you are going to visit the church at some point. igreja de são roqu is a relic of the portuguese renaissance, which has survived the vicissitudes of all centuries. it is an important mosaic of the former splendour of the mercantile and seafaring town of lisbon before the earthquake of 1755.

cu, trshptr

0407 - arco da rua augusta

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f2.8 | ISO200 | 1/20 | lightroom 4.1

for a beginner like me it isn't that easy to develop a different view on the common and sometimes most photocopied scenes of the world. there is a repugnancy: you want to attract the viewer but you don not want to bore him with well known images. for lisbon i especially set my sights on keeping the number of pictures within a limit and additionally i want to try to avoid pictures that in this way were shot already thousand times before.

let's get started with a view of the ceiling of the arco da rua augusta. it is a triumphal arch-like, historical building and visitor attraction on commerce square, built to commemorate the city's reconstruction after the 1755 earthquake. it has six columns (some 11m high) and is adorned with statues of various historical figures. originally designed as a bell tower, the building ultimately transformed into elaborate arch within more than century-long delays (source).

cu, trshptr

2206 - dead of night

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f1.8 | ISO800 | 1/40 | lightroom 4.1

after the easy win of germany over greece what we had watched at a huge public viewing event in ravensburg and a few drinks in a rather chilly bar we came home late in the night. despite a few suitable shots from the evening event that were already resting on my sd card i was still searching for one special opportunity for the daily pic - the in my opinion most beautiful house in my home village.

actually i have this night shot in my mind already since dozens of days but until today a boring-as-sin-housewife-volvo was parked in front of the more than 300 years old timber-framed house every night what would have distracted from the core of my image.

cu, trshptr

1706 - comfortable ambience

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f2.8 | ISO1600 | 1/60 | lightroom 4.1

if you sleep until noon you won't have a lot of time in lightness.

but on some days i don't want to worry about that. especially on sundays it should be entirely sufficient if you handle to charge up your personal batteries. if you additionally manage to set another highlight you are the master of weekend management.

well, that wasn't too difficult yesterday. a look into the fixture schedule of the european football championship gave us an evidence about our evening plan - we watched the match against denmark in the nice ambiance of the gehrenberg theatre in markdorf.

cu, trshptr

1406 - municipio

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 25mm | f5.6 | ISO100 | 1/500 | lightroom 4

a typical central square in an italian town. you can get an idea of the peculiarities that these places implicate!

what is sure is that you do not have to bother about your safety - one of the many roosting men would rescue you from any dangers. hopefully.

cu, trshptr