a photographer's view to the world – a traveler's blog
This weeks assignment for photographers at The Daily Post is again very challenging. They asked to tell stories at several layers of the photo. This is what I picked from my archive. It’s taken at a soap box car derby.
The one driver has beaten his opponent, and looks back, where he is. But he has steered his car in the side fixing and it looks like he wants to flee.
Have you ever visited such a race? Our neighbor town organizes one every year in fall.
Take care!
Do you remember Sandy, the heavy hurricane in the Caribbean from December 2012? Well, Cayo Levisa also was hit quite hard. Many mangroves were removed from the shore, trees were cut and several other damages. The hotel, consisting of about 80 log cabins and a central house of stone with the reception and the dining room, didn’t show any damages.
I guess, it will last many years, until the nature recovers from that storm.
Take care!
This time I want to participate in Cee’s fun photo challenge on the topic “water“. I hope, you like it.
Take care!
Twice a year our town organizes a huge flea market in the inner area of the town. A few streets are closed and two big squares, usually used as parking ground, too. One sunday in May and one in October, I already told about. It usually start officially at 6 a.m., but unofficially at 3 a.m.
In case, you want to make a bargain buy, you have to go very early. At least, before breakfast.
As you can see, I wasn’t so early at the market. But, I was there only for watching and for taking photographs. All I bought was an old leather suitcase to be used as a decoration for my people photography. My kids were lucky enough to find two 17″ LCD computer monitors as a replacement for their very old 15″ (1024×768) ones with display errors for only 10 and 17€ although they are rather young and made by Acer and Samsung. My wife bought a few things she could use for her memory work as a dementia attendant. As well as A4 prints of some of my photos.
The gallery at the end of this post ist quite large this time, because I want to give you an impression, what kind of stuff you can expect to find on a ‘good’ flea market. There are also some specialised kind of flea markets around, where you can i.e. find only books or computer parts or kids toys or car accessories (you got the idea).
Take care!
A few days ago, Leanne Cole wrote a post on the old gold mining town Walhalla in Victoria, Australia. That post reminded me to a trip I made. A few years ago I was in Bavaria for a short vacation. By incident I came along a historical place called Walhalla.
The name Walhalla is derived for the nordic sagas (mythology) and means hall of the fame (literally the place where the heroes or warriors, who died in a fight, will meet their war-god Odin in Asgard – kind of paradise of the vikings) . The building looks like an ancient greek temple and is located on a hill about the river Danube. It was built by King Ludwig I, the father of the famous Bavarian King Ludwig II, who build Castle Neuschwanstein. The cconstruction took place between 1830 and 1842. Inside you can find many busts of famous personalities in German history – politicians, sovereigns, scientists and artists. You can find i.e. busts of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, Ludwig van Beethoven, Albrecht Dürer, Nicolaus Kopernicus, Johannes Keppler, Peter Paul Rubens, Georg-Friedrich Haendel, Immanuel Kant, Wolfgang-Amadeus Mozart, Richard Wagner, Martin Luther, Friedrich Gauss, Sophie Scholl, Edith Stein, Johannes Brams, Georg Mendel, Albert Einstein, Richard Strauß, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen and many more. The common feature for all of these is, that they all were speaking German. The memorial displays some 65 plaques and 130 busts of persons, covering 2,000 years of history – the earliest person honored is Arminius, victor at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (9 AD) and the man, who is said to be the man who cast out the roman army from the area east to the river Rhine. Some of the busts are imaginary, because they show people, who were passed away decades or even centuries ago and no-one really knows, how they looked like. Wikipedia lists all of them, each one with her own page to describe, why they are important. For my selection, I picked people, I assumed you might already know them.
Even today, every now and then a new bust or plaque is accommodated in Walhalla.
Walhalla also has their own site in the web. You can find it here. The site also has an english section.
As you can see, we had very bad luck for our visit. Although it was that foggy, we stopped and had a look. We left the motorway and headed uphill. It’s a very huge building. Because of the size, it’s nearly impossible to take some photos. Taking photographs inside was forbidden, so I can only show a few photos from outside.
There is no parking ground at the river. So, you need much time, to walk over the river from the small town at the foot of the hill at the end of the bridge. I needed nearly an hour for the few photos because of the distances, while my wife waited in the car for me to come back. Because of the lack of a parking ground I jumped off the car to shorten the distance and she drove to a parking ground. When I was ready, taking photos, I called her at her mobile to pick me up.
Nevertheless, in case, I’m in that region again, I’d visit Walhalla again (hopefully with better weather).
Take care!
This weeks topic for photographers over at The Daily Post is “Twist”.
Although twisted has the meaning similar to “mixed up” or “tangled” for me, Krista was asking for something, that turned surprisingly to something unexpected.
So, I want to tell you a little story, happened to me a few years ago. I was out for taking photographs from blooming lilac. I already took some photos, when I noticed fine lines in the photos on the camera display. I went home, afraid of my camera or the used lens were broken. I was afraid, the lines were small cracks in the class or at least scratches.
But, when I watched the photos on my computer screen at 100% I was very relieved. Look yourself why:
The photo above was taken after I discovered the origin of the fine lines. To be able to see the fine spider web a bit better, I sprayed a bit of water on the web. Did you notice how tiny the spider is? Compare it to the small lilac blossoms.
Take care!
It’s incense, by an incense stick illuminated by colored light.
As I wrote in my last post, it was quite cool on Cayo Levisa because of the wind after the storm over the sea. As you can see in the photos nearly no-one is on the beach and the wind brings high waves. Also, the palm branches are bent by the heavy wind.
Our stay here was planed for being a beach holiday with swimming, diving and snorkeling. Instead, I walked around wearing more clothes as during the last days and enjoyed the nature.
I attached a few more photos than usual in this posts gallery at the end of this post. I hope, you enjoy them.
Take care!
I introduced Japantag here last year and the years before, too. On Saturday the 14. Japantag was held in Duesseldorf and (according to official announcements) 750.000 people showed up. The festival area is about 700 m long and goes along the river Rhine. Beside the promenade on 2 levels there are 3 squares directly connected to the promenade. Festival stages were set up on the squares for music and dancing performances.
This was my fourth visit in a row, but probably the last. I was way too crowded. Everything seemed worse than ever. Being with my car in a traffic jam is annoying, but being in a jam as a pedestrian is even worse.
Nevertheless, we have had wonderful summer weather. Just like the years before. But I missed out the fireworks although the fine weather.
As usual I admired the wonderful (usually homemade) costumes most of the visitors were wearing. They came from all parts of Germany, The Netherlands, Austria, France and certainly Japan. So, it was really a feast for a photographer. I attached photo gallery at the end of this post with a small selection for you to have a look. Enjoy!
Take care!
This weeks topic for photographers over at The Daily Post is quite hard for me. I’m a photographer and nearly all photos are well considered and designed by viewpoint, light and angel. So, I needed some time to find a suitable photo for you to show today.
Although many of my photos are considered being art (i.e here) because of the subject, the light setting or the editing I picked this photo.
Do you know, what you see? Try to guess, before looking at the answer.
Take care!
It’s incense, by an incense stick illuminated by colored light.
Cayo Levisa is a small island at the north shore of Cuba, right opposite to Florida. The bus needed more than two hours for the distance of about 50 kilometers from Viñales to the small ferry harbor, because of the very bad roads. The first 30 kilometers were quite fine, like most of the Cuban streets we saw. But, the remaining 20 kilometers were very bad.
We arrived quite early at the ferry harbor. While waiting for the ferry, we got notice of a coming up very slowly. It seemed, the car’d have a technical problem. When the car finally arrived at the parking ground next to the bar where we were waiting, we noticed, the car was a rental car and 4 young ladies came off. They checked the engine and some more parts. Some Cuban people also looked for the car. As far as I understood, the front axle or a wheel was damaged because the driver didn’t pay enough attention to the street or was too careless. I don’t know about the end of the story, because the ferry arrived and we got on board for our passage to Cayo Levisa. About an hour later we arrive on Cayo Levisa.
Unfortunately the same afternoon we were able to see a heavy tropical storm on the sea and the sky became cloudy and gray – no more tropical feelings 😦 This kept on until the next afternoon, when the sun came back. But, with a strong and cold wind. Being at the beach was quite difficult. Strong tropical sun forced us to put some clothes away, but the wind forced us to up them on again. I’ll tell a bit more in my next post.
Take care!
You know, every first Saturday of a month I have an appointment in my calendar: the photo round table! I meet with other photographers in different places. We negotiate the destination in the week before online in a web-based internet forum. We are over all about 15 – 20 people. But, not everyone is there at each meeting. Usually we meet outdoors and visit nice places, sometime we visit exhibitions and museums. Every now and then I’ve posted some of my results here in the blog. Usually we meet at 2 p.m. walking around, chatting and taking photos. In the evening we visit a restaurant nearby for diner, chatting and looking photos i.e. taken at photo trips.
This time we visited a horticultural show. Each year we have a federal horticultural show. It takes place in different cities each year. Some states also organize such horticultural shows on a more regional level. The schedule is not that tight. Here in my state it seems over the last years, that it is organized every other year. Opening time is from March until October.
For me, it was the first time to visit such a show. The entrance fee was quite high: 15,50 €. My membership in an automobile club was good for a 1,50 € discount and parking was free. But I was quite disappointed. Although the park was nice and offered many options to look and photos, but I expected to see more of the designed gardens.
Don’t take me wrong. All the parts of the parks were very nice. They also integrated the remaining ancient town wall and towers and did it very well.
In my photo gallery you can see a few of the designed gardens as well a some flowers and parts of a (intentionally) wild meadow. I hope, you enjoy the photos.
Take care!
Do you know the stories of Mary Poppins, Jane and Michael’s nanny?
One day, when their father was looking for a new nanny for his kids the wind turned east and Mary Poppins arrived in the Cherry Tree Lane number 17 on a gust of the East Wind. She greets their mother, and slides up the banister. Now, Jane and Michael’s lives are turned magically upside down.
On one trip the kids and Mary Poppins met a carousel, just like the one in my photo. Although on the carousel I met no-one was able to ride one of the carousel horses free and follow the real horses on their track by leaving the carousel, like carousel horses were able to do when Mary Poppins with Jane and Michael entered the carousel. But I was reminded to those stories and edited this series to fit in that scene.
When I arrived at the carousel, it was spinning around slowly and the music came from the old fair organ in the wagon in the background. A very special sound, not comparable to current carousels.
I hope, you like it
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This week’s assignment for the weekly photo challenge at The Daily Post is “On the move”. Cherry asked us, to focus on traveling. Otherwise, I’d have chosen another photo. But here is my contribution:
This photo is taken in Paris. For those of you knowing Paris well enough, try to guess, where I took it before scrolling to the answer.
It’s taken while going upwards to Sacre Coeur with the funicular railway.
You can find much more posts on Paris here in my blog. Check them out. Have fun.
Take care!
is a cave near by Vinales. For an entrance fee of 5 CUC you can visit the first dry part of the cave and get a boat transit to a flooded part of the inner cave as well as getting transported to the exit by boat.
The ground of the cave is covered by plan concrete and equipped by a few steps. Some passages are very low and you have to pass them ducked.
Tha cave itself is washed out by water and thus quite interesting.
It’s only a short stop near the road for about an hour or so. I guess, you need more time for all the gift shops at the exit after leaving the boat, then for visiting the cave itself. Btw. you can even only visit the gift shops without visiting the cave. But, in that case, you have to find the exit on you own. Hint: look for the parking ground (located left to the entrance) and you will see a bunch of small log cabins at the caves exit. You can also find a bar for getting a refreshment right next to the cave’s exit.
Take care!
Tulips are sawn by putting onions in the ground. That’s different from i.e. weeds, grass or many flowers. Here you only have tiny seeds, often not much
bigger than pinhead. Thus, you won’t expect to find plants i.e in the unploughed strip or in the boundary ridge. So, you won’t imagine that such a big seed would get lost. But, it happens, as you can see.
Living in the row means shelter for each single flower. So, i.e. they can stand hard wind easier or cold nights. Although, some of them seemed to have decided to live their own live, separate from the others, more than a meter (more than 3 feet) away from their siblings in the rows. And they are also still standing.
It seems to be similar to us. Some people also decide to live their own live, independent from others and different in style.
Respect each individual. Regardless of their origin and their (cultural) background.
Take care!
On Thursday morning I was out for taking some photos. As I wrote in my post on May 1st, that day is a public holiday here.
That cottage is near my town, about 10 km away from my home. I passed that cottage quite often on my way to one of the motorways. Every time I passed it, I made a notice in my mind, to come back on a day with beautiful weather and take some photos.
On Thursday we have had fantastic weather and I didn’t have to work. On my way to another location I stopped and took some photos. I’m very happy about the cows on the meadow to be an additional interesting feature for this photo. I’d have composed it different without the cows.
As you can see, there are many clouds in the sky. So, the light conditions were changing quickly. When I arrived, the whole scene was shaded by the clouds. But, in such circumstances, it’s necessary for a landscape photographer to have time. Time for waiting that the sun comes back. The upper atmosphere was in heavy movement, so, I didn’t have to wait for a long time. The sun came from the left and after a short while every part was back in the sun.
Those kind of cottages is very typical for this (wider) region. Houses were built in that style for centuries and in many different sizes. I’ll put another post online showing several different houses to give you a better impression. As I wrote in the topic, I want to focus on a completely different aspect. As you can see, I converted the photo to black and white. I do that every now and then. Black and whites need structure and contrasts to be impressive. Not every photo is suitable for being converted. This one is! It’s because the clouds really pop out and create a dramatically ambient.
As always, you can click on the photo to open it on its own. Another click will bring it to the maximum size. This works at least in Firefox, Chrome and Safari – sorry, I don’t have an Internet Explorer.
I’d like to hear your opinion on both of them. Use the comment field below for give me some feedback. Do you convert photos to black-and-white? What do you think about black-and-white photos?
This photo is also part of Leanne Cole’s monochrome Challenge #10. Go there and see more fantastic work in black and white from many other photographer around the world. You can also find some of my monochrome photos here.
Take care!
Spring is a wonderful season – especially for a photographer. All the flowers pop out of the ground, trees are blooming, the air is getting warmer, everything is colorful. In my last posts, I already showed many flowers. So I want to show something different today as my contribution to this weeks photo challenge at The Daily Post.
I took these photos about two weeks ago. The ground is green and many small flowers are blooming. The trees already have leaves, but the aren’t too thick to hinder the sunlight to reach the ground. A few week later, the area will look very different.
Take care!
Los Acuáticos de Viñales is a tiny village at the side of one of the hills above the Valley of Viñales. The path to that village looks more like a dry riverbed than a path. It’s narrow, steep and stony. You really need solid shoes for that trip. And you need a local guid to find you way. Neither street signs nor direction signs will help you find this village. According to our guide, there are only about 12 people are still living in Los Acuáticos.
The name was given to the village, when an old, wise woman lived there like a hermit. She was a healer and was assumed to be able to heal with water. In the rush time, there were 60 people living there. But now, since the old woman passed away several decades ago, more and more people moved away to find another place, where living is a bit easier. The remaining families are still farmer and work in their steep fields as you can see in the photo gallery at the end of the post. Continue reading “A hiking trip to Los Acuáticos”
May 1st has several meanings here in Germany. It’s workers day and used by the workers unions for demonstrations for workers rights, as in many other countries, too.
But, it is also a very traditional public holiday related to spring and fertility. May trees (usually birches) are erected in the middle of the town or village and decorated with colorful ties. Also, some houses are decorated with birch branches left and right the door. On April 30th traditionally “Dancing into May” are held. These habits are common for centuries.
Here I have 3 photos taken this morning (May 1st is a public holiday here, as I mentioned above) from our towns May Tree. The tree stands here the whole year, but is decorated with the wrench and the ties on May 1st. In other regions or town the may tree is erected on April 30th. There a also some habits around the setup. Usually it is made from a birch and thane decorated with birch benches.
This May tree also has labels with the logos of our town, the 13 neighborhoods, the dealers guild and a special label for our fun fair.
This morning a jazz band was playing dixieland jazz. A beer stand and a stand selling grilled bratwursts were also in place.
Do you have similar habits, where you live? I’m looking forward on you comments.
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