haiku my way

i wonder
what he's thinking...
moonlight in the dog's eyes

Otočec

I wasn't at work today. In fact, I took a couple of days off (the weather being sure sign of which: overcast and sultry with heavy rain forecast later in the day) But I didn't want to stay at home either so we set off toward a nice little place called Otočec - which, appropriately, means something in terms of 'small island'. There is indeed a small island in the middle of the river called Krka, connected to the mainland by a wooden bridge on both ends, with a small castle which is now converted into a high end restaurant. I didn't go in there but took quite a lot of time ambling about with my camera. There was a swan family paddling about, a grey heron fished at the far end, a few dragonflies and numerous damselflies hovered around, some mating, some laying eggs, others just resting on the lush vegetation.

The castle:



Swanning around:


The fishing guy:


Fitting in:


Swingers:

Just for fun (or embarrassment)

I just said somewhere else that I instantly delete my flawed photos but, lo and behold, there are a few in my folders that could qualify for the Muffed Target challenge (which I am not entering).
This was supposed to be a photo of a pigeon who landed on the ledge of one of the office windows, and it was a quickfire shot. Before I could adjust the settings and fire away again, the bird was gone. The photo was preserved because it was still on my memory card after my old laptop had died and I downloaded it again.

(yet another) weather report

This time with a photo (especially for you, Thom)



The day began so humid I started to sweat as soon as I moved my eyelids and turned around in bed. It continued in the same fashion with the sun beating down as well (notice: I am not complaining, merely observing. I don't suppose anyone will ever hear me complain about the sunshine or the heat; the humidity may be a slightly different matter, though)

Then, around 3pm, all of a sudden (and it literally only took a few minutes) the sky darkened, the wind started to blow with remarkable force, the sky looked magnificently dramatic but changed almost by the second and I only managed to take 2 or 3 photos before the rain came lashing down in buckets with small grains of hail mixed in for good measure. The show only lasted about 20 minutes before tamer clouds took over and the temperature dropped for about 6-7 degrees (Celsius, that is) so we were finally able to breathe.

Odonate reflection

The sun reflecting off the wings of a dragonfly perched on a blade of grass above a slow flowing stream

Min dof

Nothing much to add... the blossom is tiny, perhaps about 6mm wide

Just a sunset pic

This is today's sunset as seen from my balcony. It was a hot and humid day but as the night sets in it gets colder rather quickly.

Last night the sunset sky was overcast, edges of clouds taking on shades of pink and salmon. Then a thunderstorm rushed in very quickly and it turned dark in a few minutes. There was a lot of lightning and thunder but not much rain.

I've been trying to capture a lightning flash on camera for a while but with no success. They come too erratically and unpredictabely to be able to point the camera in a certain direction and wait for the discharge. I have also tried tripod and longer exposures from the safety of my balcony but again, no luck. I'll get it one day, though...