Out to sea

I don't really know what to say about this one, which is just as well, since I don't much feel like writing anything today. So maybe this once, it'll just be the photo:

Splendor in the grass

I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to share something in color for a change, so I'd like everyone to meet my mother's unnamed pseudo-bonsai tree:



Also, wouldn't you know it, it's voting time again for the Photo Friday challenge. This week's theme is 'Monochrome', and I've submitted The Street as my entry. So if you have a minute and happen to like that particular photo, be a dear and head on to the voting stall, and cast a vote for entry #305.

I didn't make it to the final pick from last week's challenge, but you know what they say - if at first you don't succeed, pester them till you do. Cheers!

Rollin' on a river...

Well... not actually a river and not really rollin', but you get the picture. Apparently I'm continuing the black and white streak with another oldie from Bulgaria, reminding me just how much I miss the sea. Hell, how much I miss being on holiday... anywhere. Either way - boats on a break:



In other news (wow, a lot of "other news" lately), I'm seriously considering a major make-over, along with moving to WordPress, since Blogger is becoming quite limiting, so if anyone has any wisdom to impart in that area, don't hesitate to hit the comments button. Oh, and thanks a bunch to whomever took the time to vote for my entry in the Photo Friday Challenge!

Vintage II

I'm back with the second installment of my small "Vintage" series, another detail shot - that is, until I manage to find myself a decent matte white background, so I can afford the luxury of stepping away from my subject before pressing the magic button.



In other news, my last post, Vintage I, has been polished and prettified and sent off to the photo blog equivalent of a beauty pageant over at Photo Friday, so if anyone happened to like it, has a minute to spare over the course of next Friday and Saturday (June 12th and 13th), and would care to be a total sweetheart (man, that's a lot of conditions), then pop on over to your favorite blogger's entry (no, silly, I mean me) and click the magic vote button. Voting is only open during those two days, so I can't give you an exact link until then, but I'll post one as soon as it becomes available, this being only the heads-up. So thanks a bunch in advance to whomever fits the above criteria.

Vintage

I was digging through some "old stuff", so to speak, a couple of days ago, and happened to stumble upon what is probably my dad's most treasured possession - my grandfather's old camera, a vintage Zeiss Ikon acquired circa 1948, that got to witness and immortalize pretty much all my dad's holidays while growing up. After being somewhat afraid at first to even touch something so precious, it occurred to me what a fabulous subject it would make, so I got around to playing quite a lot with it. Here's the first shot in what I hope to be a small series...

Discarded Sunset

I thought I'd take a small break from all the snow (although I seriously wouldn't mind some right now) and show you a quickie I took quite a while ago and completely forgot about.



This was taken in the tiny seaside resort of Balchik, Bulgaria, the day after New Year's. The entire day was unbelievably warm and sunny, and I especially liked the warm sunset light flooding this empty terrace.

Sunny Side

Here's that same place, from a different perspective.

Which Way?

I'd like to start a short series of photos I took during my last hiking trip, up to the Malaiesti cabin, in the Bucegi mountains. The track itself was a tad too tricky to stop for photos, not to mention the fact that I obviously didn't have my tripod with me for those long exposure night shots. Oops... I didn't mention we left Busteni at 10 p.m. and got there at 5:30 a.m., did I? Good thing my parents don't read this...

However, once we got there, I was fortunate enough to get this glorious picture perfect weather that morning (after a couple of hours of sleep, that is), so I figured I'd share what I have to show for it.

Silhouette

I happened to find this little fellow sitting right outside my window one fine evening. It proved to be my most cooperative live subject so far.

House of Wine

Footsteps

In Vino Veritas

Come One, Come All...

...Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, watch and be amazed!

I was quite literally stunned a couple of days ago to find a real-live Ferris wheel just sitting there all bright and pretty, right next to, of all things, a shopping mall. Sadly, I didn't have my camera with me at the moment (indeed, shame on me, I should know better by now), but I did manage to right the wrong earlier this evening. Armed with all necessary things, I returned to immortalize it in all its picturesque beauty. And get a bird's eye view of... the mall parking lot.



Not surprisingly, even parked cars look pretty when viewed from the top of a Ferris wheel.

P.S. As always, click the image to view full size.

Four bottles of the Apocalypse

For some strange inexplicable reason, I've always been fascinated by the grungy, chaotic scenery of urban decay, and this town provides plenty of it, as long as you know where to look. The problem, however, is that you're usually likely to find more than just good photo opportunities in such places, and the expensive camera and dorky look don't do much for one's safety.

Which is why I was beyond delighted earlier this evening to find something along those lines, hiding in plain sight. If anyone has any doubts as to the integrity of the scene, I assure you the empty bottles were there to begin with. I found the entire decor simply too priceless to meddle with it.

So without further ado, I give you Urban Decay... with a twist.



As a side note, I have now officially vandalized the first public place with one of my infamous stickers. I kept it decent enough, though, no harm done.

Jaded...

Despite finally being on holiday, after two or three weeks where my life just seemed like one giant homework, I'm still finding it a bit hard to enjoy the Christmas cheer that goes with the season. I was in a profoundly jolly "if I were to put in my two weeks' notice tomorrow, would anyone give a rat's behind?" sort of mood earlier today, so I suppose I should be thankful I'm now in that slightly more cheerful state of numbness where you manage to drop a sock into the turtle tank and find it mildly amusing.

Normally, I'd dismiss that sort of thing saying nobody wanted to hear about that, but my turtle glared at me as if wanting to express how deeply un-amusing he found the incident. It was probably at that point that it occurred to me how I still was yet to offer him center stage in my strange little corner of online space. It seemed like a good way to make up for the sock incident and all...



So that would be Mitica, in all his algae-prone, thermometer killing splendor.

In other news, the stickers I was talking about last time I dropped by are printed and all nice and shiny and ready to vandalize buses and park benches all over town.

I am a bad person

I must be. How often can you hear a normal, decent person say they single-handedly reduced to silence a highly frequented forum thread of one hundred and forty-six pages, with one post? I should take note and refrain from having my critique requests unleash further death and destruction upon the world.

Then again, at times, I briefly think to myself that maybe my photos were so inspiring, that everyone was too much in awe basking in their glow, to actually reply. Because I'm confident, like that.

No matter, the show must go on. (I feel I've said that somewhere before. Either that, or I'm suffering from deja-vu syndrome, which sounds so glamorous, I couldn't help but see a silver lining in it all.)

Fearful as I may be of the consequences, I dare present to you my latest weapon of mass forum destruction...



As you may suspect, this was also taken sometime this summer, and I hate my then self with a vengeance for being in a warm sunny place, with glorious mountains to gaze upon and not a care in the world. I also hate my future self for being not just cold, but at the very least snowed upon.

However, it has come to my attention that I am beginning to make less and less sense, which can only be a clear indication of the fact that I am now too sleepy to be coherent. I shall now bid you good night, before I start quoting limericks in a shakespearean tongue.

Facing my Nemesis

I'll start by saying that I've always had somewhat of a phobia of taking portraits, mostly because I was never quite sure what to do with my subject, and I suppose on some level, because I'm also not much of a people person.

But then again, my grandpappy used to say - or someone else's, I forget - that one should try everything at least once. And I, being the good granddaughter that I am, now find myself facing what has turned out to be my greatest fear as far as photography is concerned.

The result...



Should one find oneself wondering about the nature of the funny looking light streaks - wonder no more, they are soap bubbles. And no, I am not five years old. I dare you to claim otherwise.

The triumphant return...

...Exactly how triumphant we shall see after the exam results are posted.

Yes, my darling audience (do I have such a thing?), I return humble and apologetic after having gone A.W.O.L. for the past few days, due to circumstances beyond my control. Homework and exams, to be precise. Not that I would right now be in the clear, but I reserve myself the luxury of not working on Friday evening.

Have I brought any goodies, you ask? Hard to say, considering my camera is more or less in a state of hibernation these days, but fear not, I shall make up for it yet. In the meantime, I allow myself another moment to reminisce about my lovely lovely vacation this summer. And after all, what better defines a novice photographer's portfolio than the mandatory cliche sunrise/sunset?



Consider this my two cents on the matter, and accept my sincerest apologies. It won't happen again.

The Photographer

About time or not, I've decided to try my luck with colors this time. Once again, Photoshop stepped forward as my knight in shining pixels. I still get the distinct feeling that so far I've only been exploring the proverbial tip of the iceberg in terms of its capabilities, but I am working on it.

So without further ado, I give you... The Photographer.



Alright, so I have to admit the idea wasn't entirely mine - inspiration came from Bent Objects. I've been meaning to do something like this for quite a while and since I happened to stumble upon a suitable length of wire (or two), I thought I'd take the opportunity and put it to good use.

As a side note, in case you're wondering - with two certified engineers and one in the making living under one roof, it's not unusual to find things like wire, electric fuses and multimeters lying around the house. Good to know...

From the top, with feeling

And hello again.

I thought I'd start with - what else - the beginning.
And in the beginning there was... the camera. In my case, and my humble uneducated opinion - a darling little toysie with smarts, named the Olympus SP-560UZ, perfect for the semi-beginner with high aspirations. Or as I have affectionately dubbed it - Wallie. Needless to say, the debate around the name was beautifully surreal.

That having been said, I now give you my first attempt at urban photography...


A little crowded, a little amateur, a little clumsy in postwork. And I hereby dub it "the starting point". The original photo was taken this summer, somewhere in Rethymno, Crete.

I happen to be quite fond of this genre and I suspect there's going to be some hefty amount of further experimentation for me in this area. Then again, I'm in that stage where I feel the need to experiment with pretty much anything, so Lord knows what will catch my eye next.

As a side-note on the postwork, I should say I've worked with Photoshop for some time now, but never with more advanced photo retouching, so I was in for quite a revelation upon discovering its versatility. I know it's immensely tempting at first and I expect to rely heavily on postediting for quite some time, but I am doing my best to move on to a stage where my photos won't need that much tinkering with to just be decent.

So there you have it. I'll be back with more, but sadly, right now I have homework to do. Cheers!