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Tag: beach
Throwback Thursday: working on my backlog
For a couple of months, I work to reduce my backlog of undeveloped images whenever I have some spare time. Over the years, some (many) folders of undeveloped images found their way only to my external disk The oldest folder is dated from 2009 😲. In general, these folders contain quite often only images of flowers, birds, cats or so and nothing from more important trips. But, also a couple of trips are among these, just like the one, I’m talking about today.
Back in October 2014, I was in Flandern at the Belgium coast. A few images were already developed, but the majority were still waiting.
When looking at the image files, I remembered at once, why they were still waiting for development. Especially in the upper parts of the images, the sensor captured a lot of dust spots. I haven’t counted them, but I guess, each image had more than a hundred of these spots to be removed. Fortunately, I took those images raw, so that the removal didn’t cause any quality problems and the raw development software is so well developed to remove these spots in general without any glitches.
Although having dust spots is not that uncommon, the enormous number of them, I was faced with, is. You have to clean your sensor when photographing with a camera with interchangeable lenses regularly. Back in film days, you did this each time when putting a new film in. Now, having a digital sensor, the sensor has to be cleaned regularly. In case, you’re not familiar with this, drop me a comment below.
As I said, having dust spots is annoying but not uncommon. But, the camera I was using at that time, had a huge problem. Those spots were not only dust. In addition, each shutter release distributed a tiny amount of machine oil being used for the mechanical part of the shutter over the sensor. Fortunately, this issue was accepted by the manufacturer and a portion of this camera model based on a certain range of serial numbers was called back for repair. Also, I would have been glad, if the call back was much earlier.
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Wordless Wednesday: well distributed
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Throwback Thursday: “Three of One in Barcelona”
This week’s LAPC “One subject, three ways” hosted by Patti was so much much, that I prepared a second port. My first contribution was published on Saturday.
This time, I take you back to my visit to Barcelona in February 2014. I went there with some friends on our annual carnival escape. Many of my images are already here on my blog. For the challenge, I’m focussing on a modern and iconic building right at the beach: Hotel W
A wonderful challenge and again a great opportunity to look through the archive and discover the images from a different perspective.
Maybe, I was able to inspire you to dig in your archive and find some images, you can publish your images on your blog and set a link to Patti’s inspiration post. Don’t forget to tag it with the tag LENS-ARTIST, so that we can find it.
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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge 220: “One Subject Three Ways”
This week for LAPC Patti asks us, to spend some time with a subject to find the ‘right’ angle of view. In the past, I already walked you through a set that way, like here, here, or here.
Today, I’ve chosen a slightly different approach than cropping or getting closer. Instead, I visited the same location on three consecutive days and spend some time on my subject: driftwood on a quite remote part of a beach.
On each of these three days, I was happy with my final image and I still am. But, when I was back the next day, that piece of driftwood pulled me in again. Each of the days (4 in total – but during my first visit I wasn’t in that particular part, where these trees were laying in the water), I spend hours on that beach and working some time with these trees. Because of the remoteness, the beach and the cliff above are more or less untouched. No-one tidies up, except Mother Nature herfelf. So, you can discover a lot of things.
My conclusion of those days is (and I also experienced this in other places too), sometimes you have to call it a day, pack your gear, and go home. But, you have to come back another day (or time) to find the final image.
A wonderful challenge and again a great opportunity to look through the archive and discover the images from a different perspective.
Maybe, I was able to inspire you to dig in your archive and find some images, you can publish your images on your blog and set a link to Patti’s inspiration post. Don’t forget to tag it with the tag LENS-ARTIST, so that we can find it.
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Throwback Thursday: I’m back ….
Last week I was on a short family vacation at the Northsea: me, my wife, and our grandson (5 3/4).
We were gifted with fantastic weather. Nicely warm and sunny days at the beach and on the many playgrounds the town set up over the years. We visited that town not for the first time. So, we were able to see the development. Especially my wife was there quite often when our kids were smaller. She went with only one at a time, while the others stayed home with me. Now, all of them are adults and traveling with their partners.
Being at the coast means having a good portion of wind around you all the time. During low tide, the beaches grow. When low tide is in the evening, you can have much space for flying a kite. We’ve chosen that way for the kite instead of going to the kiting ground because there are more pro-kiters and a small kid does not have the room he needs for his little kite.
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Throwback Thursday: A day at the sea
12 years ago, my wife spent a week with our youngest at the north sea. Thanks to a very proposing weather forecast, I came up with the idea, to surprise them by making a day trip to visit them. So, I told the other two kids to prepare some breakfast suitable to be eaten on the road and get up that early to be able to be on the road at 6 a.m. What a surprise, when we arrived at noon. At that time, the motorway ended early and the remaining nearly 100 km had to be covered on regular country roads. Nowadays the highway reaches much closer to the coast and shortens the distance to only a little more than 3 hours.
After having dinner together, we headed back home and arrived at about 1:30 a.m. What a day!
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Wordless Wednesday: nightfall
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Throwback Thursday: kite surfing
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Throwback Thursday: Türelüre-Lißje
Maybe, you remember my post from Sunday, when I included a part of a sculpture I stumbled upon a few years ago in Aix-la-Chapelle during a day trip. I liked the artistry of the sculptor, and how he was able to model the mimics of the kids. Later at home, I tried to find out a bit more about it.
When spotting the fountain from a distance, you can see kids playing. While trying to find a good angle to take an image, I came closer and closer. When coming closer, I noticed the faces and wondered about the discrepancy between the face of the girl in the middle in comparison to the boys’ faces dancing around her.
The scenery consists of four kids. Three boys form a circle with their arms around a girl, apparently of the same age, crouching down in the middle. When looking at the very detailed modeled faces, you can see, that the boys are happy, mischievous, and showing some schadenfreude.
The name of this sculpture is “Türelüre-Lißje”. This is not German. It’s in an old local dialect relative to Lower German.
Lißje, or Lieschen is a belittling form of the woman’s name Lise (short from Elisabeth, sometime Gisela). The other part “Türelüre” is a kind of ring-a-ring-a-roses. When pronouncing this, it’s also a reference to the time, when the story happened: the time of the French occupation in the Rhineland (1794-1814)
You can see, in this image, that the nearly kid-sized figurines are part of a fountain and the water below the girl is also a reference to the background story. The girl was stopped by the mischievous boys and prevented from going to the toilet. They danced around her until it was too late.
This final image is in my option the essence of the scene: the girl is captured and in fear while the surrounding boys, although only one is visible in this frame, are blocking the viewer to come any closer and at the same time hindering the girl at least on two sides to escape. In addition, the boys are leaning towards the center and covering the girl even in this direction.
For me, it’s kind of a memorial and picturing the cruelty already available even in small kids.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, “Let men be noble, helpful and good”. It’s the first sentence of a hymn, he wrote in 1783. It’s a wish and a product of education. It’s not god-given. We have to work hard to respect each other and treat everyone equally.
These are the lyrics of one version of the old song (local dialect) handed down from the 19th century with my translation to German and English:
Türelüre-Lißje uus Klapperjaaß
Wovör hat dat Kengsche et Böksje esue naaß
Haue die Schelme va Jonge jeddooe
Haue dat Kengsche net pesse losse jooeh
Türelüre-Lißje uus Klapperjaaß
Dovör hat dat Kengsche et Böksje esue naaßTürelüre-Lieschen aus der  Klappergasse
warum hat das Mädchen ihr Höschen naß?
Haben die Schelme von Jungs verursacht
Haben das Mädchen nicht pinkeln lassen
Türelüre-Lißje aus der Klappergasse
Darum hat das Mädchen ihr Höschen naß.Türelüre-Lißje from Klappergasse
why did the girl wet her panties
the rascals of young boys have made things
didn’t let the girl pee
Türelüre-Lißje from Klappergasse
that’s why the girl wet her panties
Klappergasse (rattle alley) is the name of a small street in Aix-la-Chapelle. It’s said, a windmill once stood here. Maybe the girl used to live here because the lyrics says “Türelüre-Lißje from Klappergasse”.
We have a saying here in Germany:
Was Du nicht willst, was man Dir tue
das füge such keinem Anderen zu!
What you don’t want, what people do to you
don’t do that to anyone else!
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Wordless Wednesday: Happy Independence-Day, Seychelles!
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Monochrome Monday 9-07
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Throwback Thursday: In between
For decades, a secured border parted two countries here on Usedom: the German Democratic Republic (since 1989 a substantial part of the Federal Republic of Germany) and Poland. While about 90% of Usedom kept German after WWII, approximately 10% belongs to Poland since 1945. Nowadays, you can roam freely from one side to the other and the wooded path, built in the former no-man’s land, leads you right to the shore of the Baltic sea.
All humans (and animals as well) are living together on this wonderful planet. Despite cultural differences, it’s great to roam freely and get used to these differences. All of us can benefit from knowing each other Even when it comes to misunderstandings sometimes, in general, all of us benefit.
Goods, habits, culture, and much more enrich our lives, our minds, our experiences, and our common ground for further growth as mankind. Help to keep the fences down between states, countries, and people! Or, to quote a song by the British rock band Pink Floyd “Turn down the walls”.
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Throwback Thursday: On the beach
The sun is warm,
the sea is cold.
The surf rolls in
and wets your feet.
Collecting shells,
finding colorful stones,
watching the gulls passing by,
listening to the wind
carrying their cry.
Enjoy your life
before growing old!
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Wordless Wednesday: self-made picture postcard from Ahlbeck on Usedom at the Baltic Sea
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Monochrome Monday 8-42
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Wordless Wednesday: prominent
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Lens-Artists Photo Challange 163: “keep walking”
“keep walking” is the topic for this week’s Lens-Artist’s Photo Challenge hosted by Amy.
Today, I have a fun pic for you. I took it a couple of years ago in Belgium. This young guy apparently didn’t want to get sandy feet. So his girlfriend (?) or sister (?) had to carry him.
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Monochrome Monday 8-06
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Monochrome Monday 8-05
This weekend, I was reminded of my visit to Zingst 4 years ago. I was there to visit the Photo Festival “Horizonte”. During that week, I attended one workshop (photographing trees in the famous forest of Zingst). We had a guide to find some of the centuries-old trees in the National Park. In the evening we had to select our images and present 10, as a result, the next morning. 2 out of these 10 were selected to be presented in a slideshow that evening at the beach to a huge auditorium. Both of my selected images for the daily slideshow were in monochrome. You can find the other image here
This image was even selected for the final slideshow containing the best 15 images of the festival.
Btw. I’m currently running a raffle. You can win a license of Excire Foto. Check it out!
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Monochrome Monday 8-01
Today I’m starting in the 8th year of this continuously running series of presenting monochrome images and I still love doing it.
Today, we’re back in Iceland again. This is Djúpalónssandur beach located on the south-western edge of Snæfellsnes peninsula.
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Travel Tuesday: a sunny day at the coast
feels kind of strange in Scotland (at least for me). Having such wonderful weather while being on the coast and even have a sandy beach and wearing a warm jacket is strange. Although I was already on Helgoland in mid-January, this felt kind of wrong.
On the other hand, the Icelandic beaches are different. Even when having one of these warm days hours with a blue sky, the beaches are black and the waves huge. They don’t invite for a bath.
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Monochrome Monday 7-33
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Monochrome Monday 7-32
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