Lens-Artists Challenge #97 – “past times”

this week the Lens-Artists photo challenge is organized by a guest-host: Sue from The Nature of Things.

She told us that she’s currently locked at home as many (if not most) of us. So, there’s plenty of time to think about things and the past. That’s why she asked “pasttimes”.

When I thought about the topic, an idea came up to my mind: let’s dig in your digital archive and pick the oldest images you have.

I switched from film to digital in the fall of 2008. The first time I was only playing around with the camera to get used to it. I started photography in the late 1970s and bought my first own SLR in 1984. Up to now, none of the films of those days is digitized. In January 2009 I stumbled upon a group of photo enthusiasts organizing photography trips over the internet and I joined them for the February trip. These images are the oldest digital images I still have on my disk.

The funny thing is, the photo trip in February 2009 was to a garage for classic automobiles. Here you can buy and sell such cars. You can also find craftsmen being able to repair these old cars. The main floor of the garage is used to be a showroom. I really love such old automobiles. Unfortunately, they use the available space very efficiently. So, it’s no fun to take photos. There nearly no room to get good images. 😢

The second important thing is, I met a group of people I’m still friends with. We still meet once a month for photography trips. I’m so glad to have been brave enough to ask if I’d be allowed to join.

Take care

My Cuba calendars are available at the stores

Do you remember the Cuba calendars with photos of mine? They are back for 2015 – yeah!

Here are the ISBN numbers for ordering the 2015 calendar showing some of the fantastic vintage cars from Cuba as well as some insights into the old town of Havana. They are available in 5 country editions: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, United Kingdom and USA.

According to the publishing house, the ISBN numbers are internationally valid, and you should be able to get your copy by ordering it at a bookstore where you’re living. At least you can order them via amazon.de (*), amazon.at, amazon.ch and amazon.co.uk. At amazon.de you can also find an option for global delivery. So, take you chance!

German Edition:

2015	La Habana / Havana	Havana Portrait	Cuba Cars
Wandkalender DIN A4	978-3-660-71359-6	978-3-660-71493-7	978-3-660-69920-3
Wandkalender DIN A3	978-3-660-71357-2	978-3-660-71491-3	978-3-660-69919-7
Wandkalender DIN A2	978-3-660-71360-2	978-3-660-71494-4	978-3-660-69921-0
Tischkalender DIN A5	978-3-660-71358-9	978-3-660-71492-0	978-3-660-69922-7

US-Edition:

2015	La Habana / Havana	Havana Portrait	Cuba Cars
wall calendar DIN A4	978-3-660-90709-4	–	coming soon
wall calendar DIN A3	978-3-660-90708-7	–	coming soon
wall calendar DIN A2	978-3-660-90710-0	–	coming soon
table calendar DIN A5	978-3-660-90707-0	–	coming soon

UK-Edition:

2015	La Habana / Havana	Havana Portrait	Cuba Cars
wall calendar DIN A4	978-1-325-01576-4	–	978-1-325-01516-0
wall calendar DIN A3	978-1-325-01577-1	–	978-1-325-01517-7

AT-Edition:

2014	La Habana / Havana	Havana Portrait	Cuba Cars
Wandkalender DIN A4	978-3-660-90700-1	–	978-3-660-90488-8
Wandkalender DIN A3	978-3-660-90701-8	–	978-3-660-90489-5
Wandkalender DIN A2	978-3-660-90699-8	–	978-3-660-90491-8
Tischkalender DIN A5	978-3-660-90702-5	–	978-3-660-90490-1

CH-Edition:

2014	La Habana / Havana	Havana Portrait	Cuba Cars
Wandkalender DIN A4	978-3-660-99897-9	–	978-3-660-99845-0
Wandkalender DIN A3	978-3-660-99896-2	–	978-3-660-99842-9
Wandkalender DIN A2	978-3-660-99898-6	–	978-3-660-99843-6
Tischkalender DIN A5	978-3-660-99895-5	–	978-3-660-99844-3

(*) this link brings you to an amazon partner shop, showing a certain subset of the regular basket of good at amazon.de. You get the regular amazon.de prices, but I’m able to compile only these certain products for you.

 

 

 

My calendars are available at the stores

Do you remember? Recently I wrote here about 3 calendars being published, containing some of my photos taken in Cuba.

Here are the ISBN numbers for ordering the 2014 calendar showing some of the fantastic vintage cars from Cuba as well as some insights into the old town of Havana. They are available in 5 country editions: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, United Kingdom and USA.

According to the publishing house, the ISBN numbers are internationally valid, and you should be able to get your copy by ordering it at a bookstore where you’re living. At least you can order them via amazon.de (*), amazon.at, amazon.ch and amazon.co.uk. At amazon.de you can also find an option for global delivery. so, take you chance!

German Edition:

2014	La Habana / Havana	Havana Portrait	Cuba Cars
Wandkalender DIN A4	978-3-660-26955-0	978-3-660-27463-9	978-3-660-22007-0
Wandkalender DIN A3	978-3-660-26954-3	978-3-660-27462-2	978-3-660-22006-3
Wandkalender DIN A2	978-3-660-26956-7	978-3-660-27464-6	978-3-660-22004-9
Tischkalender DIN A5	978-3-660-26953-6	978-3-660-27465-3	978-3-660-22005-6

US-Edition:

2014	La Habana / Havana	Havana Portrait	Cuba Cars
wall calendar DIN A4	978-3-660-26920-4	–	978-3-660-22011-7
wall calendar DIN A3	978-3-660-26922-8	–	978-3-660-22008-7
wall calendar DIN A2	978-3-660-26921-1	–	978-3-660-22009-4
table calendar DIN A5	978-3-660-26919-8	–	978-3-660-22010-0

UK-Edition:

2014	La Habana / Havana	Havana Portrait	Cuba Cars
wall calendar DIN A4	978-3-660-26917-4	–	978-3-660-23194-6
wall calendar DIN A3	978-3-660-26918-1	–	978-3-660-23193-9
wall calendar DIN A2	978-3-660-26915-0	–	978-3-660-23195-3
table calendar DIN A5	978-3-660-26916-7	–	978-3-660-23196-0

AT-Edition:

2014	La Habana / Havana	Havana Portrait	Cuba Cars
Wandkalender DIN A4	978-3-660-26985-7	–	978-3-660-23274-5
Wandkalender DIN A3	978-3-660-26986-4	–	978-3-660-23273-8
Wandkalender DIN A2	978-3-660-26984-0	–	978-3-660-23275-2
Tischkalender DIN A5	978-3-660-26987-1	–	978-3-660-23276-9

CH-Edition:

2014	La Habana / Havana	Havana Portrait	Cuba Cars
Wandkalender DIN A4	978-3-660-26982-6	–	978-3-660-23278-3
Wandkalender DIN A3	978-3-660-26986-4	–	978-3-660-23277-6
Wandkalender DIN A2	978-3-660-26984-0	–	978-3-660-23279-0
Tischkalender DIN A5	978-3-660-26981-9	–	978-3-660-23280-6

(*) this link brings you to an amazon partner shop, showing a certain subset of the regular basket of good at amazon.de. You get the regular amazon.de prices, but I’m able to compile only these certain products for you.

 

Update:

I attached the official catalog pages for you as a preview.

More on taxis

In case, you get lost in Havana, you might take a ride at a taxi. They have government operated cabs / taxis with a fixed tariff and a taximeter, private taxis without taximeter and tariff but a wonderful old car, tuktuks (cuba taxi), motorbikes and bike taxis.

The government taxis are cars build in the 1970s or (a bit) younger. Most of them were built in (former) Eastern bloc countries, i.e. Czech Republic or Soviet Union. The really young cars are of chinese production.

The private cabs are private owned vintage cars, build in the USA in the 1950s or earlier, as I mentioned in my last posts on cuban cars. Yellow eggs on 3 wheels and even regular motorbikes are used as a taxi.

Parts of the old town of Havana (and other cities, too) are closed for cars and only pedestrians and bikes are allowed here. So, bike taxis are cruising in these areas and offering their service for the people. Here, you also have to negotiate the price with the driver. In case, you got lost or running out of time, they will be happy to bring you to any place you want: back to your hotel or to a restaurant or any other place.

Even the locals use such vehicles. I saw i.e. private taxis with up to 10 people inside (I noticed them entering the car). It was really enormously, how many people were sitting in such a car without thinking about safety, although they also have busses as a kind of public transportation.

Take care.

And, while waiting for my next post, you might have a look on my previous posts on Cuba!

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Rolling, rolling, rolling

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I saw many vintages cars over there, for which Cuba is famous for. You know, when the Cuban Revolution took place in the late 1950s, they created a new government model following communistic ideas. As a result, Cuba was isolated and had serious problems getting modern technical equipment. So, the people took serious care i.e. for their cars. As a matter of fact, today still hundred-thousands of cars build back in the 1950s and earlier are still in use. So, they are more the 60 years old and are still rolling. OK, here we also have such old cars on the streets, but they aren’t in daily business anymore. Instead, they are pampered and well-tended, but used only for rare showcase events, because they are so precious (because they are so rare).

In Cuba, I saw many of them in the street, operating as private cars or as private taxis. Yes, although Cuba is a communistic country, they allow private businesses. Most of the cars, I’ve seen, were in perfect optical shape. Well-kept. But, according to our guide, the engines aren’t. They were replaced by Diesel engines by i.e. Toyota  back in the 1970s.

If you want to take a ride, you can hire a car for a certain destination or for a certain time. You only have to negotiate the price with the driver,  who usually is the owner of the car. There are also government operated taxis in the streets working on a fixed tariff and having a taxi-meter.

There are also other kinds of taxis in the streets, but I’ll show them in my next post.

So, enjoy some of the wonderful, old cars, I attached here.

While waiting for my next post, you might have a look on some past post.

A few days ago a photo calendar was publish, containing some of my photos. Currently you can order a german, an US and an UK version of the calendar. An austrian and a swiss version are on their way and need a few more days. I’d also put up a french and a spanish version, but I’m unable to write the  marketing texts in that languages 😦

In case, you’re interested, here are the ISBN numbers for the calendars and a link to a special partner shop at Amazon:

Cuba Cars 2014 (DE)

• A5 = 978-3-660-220005-6
• A4 = 978-3-660-220007-0
• A3 = 978-3-660-220006-3
• A2 = 978-3-660-220004-9

Cuba Cars 2014 (US)

• A5 = 978-3-660-220010-0
• A4 = 978-3-660-220011-7
• A3 = 978-3-660-220008-7
• A2 = 978-3-660-220009-4

Cuba Cars 2014 (UK)

• A5 = 978-3-660-23196-0
• A4 = 978-3-660-23194-6
• A3 = 978-3-660-23193-9
• A2 = 978-3-660-23195-3

Update:

Cuba cars (CH Version)

• A5 = 978-3-660-23280-6
• A4 = 978-3-660-23278-3
• A3 = 978-3-660-23277-6
• A2 = 978-3-660-23279-0

Cuba cars (A Version)

• A5 = 978-3-660-23276-9
• A4 = 978-3-660-23274-5
• A3 = 978-3-660-23273-8
• A2 = 978-3-660-23275-2

According to the publishing house, the ISBN numbers are internationally valid, and you should be able to get your copy where you’re living.

Take care.

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