Photography and me

I have always liked photography... I enjoyed the time when the parents would take out the diaprojector and diases and we would sit and look at all those interesting photos. But taking photos was father's domain and so I never really got the chance to try myself in the art of photography.

I bought my first camera - it was a point and shoot 35 mm pocket snapper (Yashica I think) when I already had a job. It took nice photos but that was that. The films had to be developped and photos ordered and that wasn't cheap. And the fixed wide angle lens didn't allow for much variety in framing motives.

A couple of years passed and I got another compact 35 mm camera, this time with a zoom lens. I took some nice shots with it but once the lab destroyed two of my films (with some valuable photos), I had enough and put the camera away and forgot about photography for several years.

The digital era reestablished my interest in photography and I got my first digital camera - a compact Canon Powershot A620 just over two years ago. That's when my affection with photography really began. The camera was great (in fact, it still is - and I carry it everywhere because it is small and handy and fits in a purse or a pocket) and I snapped photos on every occasion. I had no idea about composition or the meaning of shutter speed and apperture and stuff like that, I simply enjoyed taking photos. However, after about a year and a half I felt I needed to make a step forward. So, a DSLR was a natural choice. I had no previous experience with such cameras so I settled for an entry model and soon (but not without trouble) became a proud owner of a Canon EOS 400D (Digital Rebel XTi on US market, I think) and I'm still learning to use it.

I take photography as a hobby and have never had any commercial interest in it. I have still too much to learn to be able to say I take good photos. Well, some turn out well and I have an eye for finding motives but I still lack the knowledge and experience. And processing photos is yet another thing I know almost nothing about.

Water...

...fascinates me

Stuff

I'm sure you noticed there was no post here last night. Oh well, I had a hectic day. Busy as hell at work and I had to attend my French class afterwards. No need to say I came home as drained as could be.

Had a better day today, though. The weather looked promising in the morning so I just drove around through a snowy landscape, although I must admit I didn't expect all the snow (and sorry, no photos) and then found a nice inn along the road where we had a delicious lunch.

Later on, we were almost caught in a thunderstorm but escaped by a whisker. And just when the sun was about to set, the sky began to clear again...



this photo was taken a few minutes after the sunset

Farewell winter?

The last boxcar of a southbound freight train is disappearing behind the greening bushes. Is it carrying the winter away? Let's hope so...

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Robert Frost

Light

Oh well, after a number of colourless wet slushy days the sky cleared for a wonderful, if chilly, morning. It didn't stay clear for long, most of the day was still covered in clouds of various shapes and forms. But the evening brought another display of colour... this particular shot was taken a little too late but I hope it gives the idea how it all looked.

Some more thoughts about food

As an adolescent and way into my 20s I could eat huge amounts of food without putting on any weight at all. I was slim, almost skinny, and would love to gain a few kilos at the time. I was an active basketball player, though, and needed all the energy I could get.

My wish to gain some weight came true all too soon. I was still active but got my first job at the office and that slowed down my pace to some extent which soon resulted in a slight increase of weight. But the radical change occurred when I quit playing sports. I was used to quantities of food my body no longer needed and inevitably, the figures on the scales moved up until they reached a level which made me think and decide I needed to do something. So I did and managed to reduce weight to an acceptable level, learning to eat much less in the process. But sweets, chocolate in particular, are still irresistible to me.

Then there are occasions like family reunions where food is abundant and hard to resist. And I almost always eat too much at these gatherings. The parents' conviction, perhaps, that I still need volumes of food, and my reflex to eat everything I am served on a plate like I was taught as a child. Anyway, overeating doesn't feel good and neither does being overweight and I know both all too well.

Overdose?

Why do we think we have to eat everything we see on the plate?

The family brunch was yummy today but... my stomach feels heavy from all the food it has to process. And I haven't eaten nearly as much as I used to. Getting old, it seems... pft.

Oh nooo!

Isn't it supposed to be spring? Flowers blooming and birdies singing and all that jazz?
Well, this what got this morning again... and it ain't over yet. I'm not fond of snow even when it's time for it but now..... pft!

A scatological post

Good Friday is a bank holiday in the euro zone. But it is not a holiday in Slovenia which means regular work time regardless of the profession. My job is related to the finance sector so we had little work today and I could afford a nice walk through the park during my break.

The weather was hardly appropriate - the wind was strong and carried occasional raindrops. The gales were so strong at times that they stopped birds mid-flight and made them turn off course so many kept close to the ground.

On a narrow asphalt path leading to the park stood a male blackbird scavenging for food. He stood the ground as I approached but when I came to less than a metre he dropped his poo and flew away. I shruged my shoulders and continued on.

Then, a few minutes later, a different path, a different bird but a similar situation. A big hooded crow standing near the footpath squatted and dropped his poo when I approached. This made me wondering if these birds are trying to tell me something, but what? That I suck, that the day sucks, that the weather sucks? Who knows... could be all of that.

***

Q: What is the white thing in the bird poo?
A: That is bird poo also.

Pft

Have you ever done something reckless and hasty? Like, for instance, spend 1000€ or so in a split second for something you could easily live without? Well, that's what I just did. So I'm about to become an owner of a new telephoto zoom lens. Insane? Perhaps, but I don't really care.

Murphy

Oh well.. I know I keep repeating myself... another terribly busy day with a number of Murphy's laws in action. Hope I'll have some time to breathe later on.

Today

Woke up this morning and lo, there was this:



Later in the day, still grey but the snowing has ceased...



Most of the snow has melted away by the evening and tomorrow is supposed to be sunny with only occasional cloud. But more snow is possible later on... wh well, why does it always have to wait till the arrival of spring...

Busy

A busy day is behind me but not in a bad way. Some problems have been (temporarily?) solved, some ideas exchanged. Will see what the future brings...

Sunday afternoon

The heavy clouds hung low over the landscape, threatening to unleash their wet load any moment. But nothing happened - yet. The crocuses and wood anemones were undecided whether to keep their blossoms open for a passing gnat or bee to sip some nectar and maybe pass on their genetic material or fold them at the threat of rain. A pair of jays hopped from branch to branch, then down on the path and back again. Crows scavenged the field for a potential snack. A kestrel swooped down on an unsuspecting rodent. Birdsong mixed with a steady drone of traffic from the motorway. On a nearby path humans walked or jogged by without noticing these things.

Take me down to my boat on the river...

And now for something completely different...

Oh well... something today reminded me of a certain song and I couldn't get it out of my head. So I thought I'd share it... enjoy (or not)

Bad hair day

Big cats

They don't look too distressed, just bored with all the humans passing by.

Golden eagle

His wings clipped, the once magnificent bird of prey perches apathetically in his aviary...

Ganga

A giant of gentle disposition, she is the only elephant in the zoo. She used to have a partner but allegedly there isn't enough space for two elephants so the other one was given away and Ganga remained alone and lonesome.

Animals in captivity 2

There is a small number of wild wolves in Slovenia. They roam vast areas of forested land but here at the zoo about half a dozen (maybe one or two more) are confined to perhaps about a hectare of forest.

Why I hate seeing animals in captivity

There is a zoo close to where I live. But I rarely visit it. Watching all those animals that should roam wild behind bars or netting makes me sad. I made an exception today. And once more I wonder... what gives us humans the right to take other living creatures from their natural environment and put them in prison and on display for own amusement...
It is true that most of the animals living in zoos know nothing about living free, and yet...
The picture speaks for itself.

Who put all that rubbish in my front yard?

Small talk

The two of them are sitting in a cafe, slurping their respective coffees, each immersed in their own tohughts.
He breaks the silence first: "Thank you for getting us here safely. But you were nervous on occasions."
"Nervous - me? Tell me, how was I nervous?"
"You drove fast."
"I drove fast?! What do you consider fast? We arrived on time because I drove the way I did. And I never exceeded the limit on the motorway."
"You pushed hard."
"Tell me, when and where do you think I pushed hard. I would like to know."
"What do you expect, that I remember the exact minute and kilometre? I can't do that."
"Then remember the next time or shut the hell up."
"But... I was nervous."
"Aha, projecting your feelings on me. Give me a break, will you. I have enough problems of my own but I knew I had to get us here safely and on time and was as cool as a cucumber doing so. Unlike you, I can do that, you know."

Running on empty

My head is full of stuff that wants to get out but the words are simply not there. I have to go on a journey tomorrow that I can't say I'm looking forward to. Perhaps when I'm done with what needs to be done the ideas will hatch and take wing. If not... well, in that case they were not meant to be, I suppose.

Leaving

I wish I could say that for winter...

8

Normally, crocuses have six petals. But here's one that ignores the rules.

promise of spring?

Well, it was a gorgeous warm first Sunday in March. Bees collected nectar from various blossoms, butterflies fluttered across the meadow, birds were singing in the treetops. And I walked through all that splendour with a few people I care about and we had a good time.

There may be snow in two days' time, though.

Strange

I do not remember ever seeing forsythia blooming outside at the beginning of March.