#Hungary - Little details

One of my Favorites from Hungary.
Memories of the beautiful nature :-)

Waiting, Blue Damselfly macro Post Cards by NicoleB Photography

#Hungary - Branched out

From Hungary

Hungary  2008

#Hungary - Glory

Sunset @ Rinyaszentkiraly, Somogy 2006

From Hungary

Week 2 - G+ Advanced Mentorship for Photographers by Ron

One of the goals for this week was to shoot 3 images of one topic. 
Done that.
Another goal was to produce them tack sharp.
Failed.

Foggy, gloomy conditions make a bit of a trial for taking tack sharp images.
I got some good tips from our mentor and will (hopefully) give it another go today or tomorrow, depending on the weather and depending on how my cold advances and how I feel.

At least I used my Tri -  and Monopod this week. 
That was another task, start to form some good habits. 
I failed on the Shop and Storage clean-up part, but I keep working on those two habits ;-)
Forming bad habits seems to go faster than the good ones ;-)

From G+ Advanced Mentorship for Photographers - Playbox

From G+ Advanced Mentorship for Photographers - Playbox

From G+ Advanced Mentorship for Photographers - Playbox

And here is my original Plus post for this week, just for my own memory:

Mission 2 - Plus post

Well, well, I did manage to go out and shoot. Time and weather sure wasn't on my side, but that's just a lame excuse.
I did get my three photos, even the ones I did plan and the way I thought of them.
They are not tack sharp as requested, me bad.
I DID use a monopod (tripod was too much of a haul for the distance I had to cover and the little time I had), I did use AP since the camera has been smarter in this kind of weather than me.
But the foggy, cloudy conditions are defo not my best friend.
But I tried (and nearly froze my ass off, there's enough left of it though ;-))

As for the habits, using a tripod wasn't on my list, but since I did better with that than with the planned half hour work in my Zazzle shop and my archives, I think I should mention, that I took my tripod out (and used it) two times this week. And one time I took my monopod.
I still keep my planned new habits on my list and will follow through with them.
I guess new habits don't form overnight.

As for learning buttons on my camera, that came in handy today while trying to snatch some shots of a raptor in a far away tree. I wanted to rush to get my proof shots of my Lifer (Birding terms for a new bird that I hadn't seen before) and so, knowing where the buttons were and remembering that I can see what I am dialing in my viewfinder helped a lot while using exp. comp. I just took a few photos to get the bird. 
Then I could take all the time I wanted to set up my tripod and camera and shoot for better detail :-)

#365-2013 / 005 - Step by Step

Step by Step - leads to understanding

From 365 - 2013

Week 1 of the Mentorship program is already over.
Hard to believe.
This time it was more reflecting and writing about oneself, instead of taking photos. It's a good start. Putting things into words that effect me personally isn't my greatest strength.
At least I got back to taking Photos. And having fun doing so :-)

For the ones interested, we had to write an open letter to Ron, our mentor in the mentorship program.

Here's what I put together:

Dear Ron,

During the past few months I have lost my mojo and I hadn’t picked up the camera in weeks. I expect the program to motivate me again, which it already did.

Other than that I want to learn to see things differently, or show them differently. That was one major step stone during the last mentorship program and I expect that we can look forward to something similar this time.

I want to be able to show the magic I see in nature better, than I did  in the last few years. Maybe via techniques or via correcting things I do wrong in camera usage (wrong lens aperture, ISO, etc.). Not sure if the latter will be part of the program, but I am sure whatever comes along will help me in the future.

I am currently struggling with showing the magic. I am showing nature, I am showing photos, I assume people like, but I am missing something in them. It would be great to find better ways and options to get them in there.

Since 2004 I have seldom let my camera out of my hands. I find it fascinating to show people the world I live in. Be it the nature, wildlife, architecture, animals or decay. At first it helped me remember the places we had been to, stories to go along with the photos. It soon developed into something more. I wanted to show beautiful photos with a bit more artsy skill behind them. I looked at how others did it and soon developed my own ways a bit farther down the road from simple snap shooting. I still love to show the world around me and that is why the camera usually isn’t far from me.

I love to shoot nature (landscapes, wildlife – usually birds, macro). I would really love to dig deeper into this subject by getting the ‘right’ gear for great bird photos and landscape photography.

I also like architecture in cultures, hence old buildings, temples, monuments, etc. and people from various cultures. I am not exactly good at architectural photos though and a bit shy when it comes to Portraits.

If money weren’t’ an issue, I would start a class in photography to learn it from scratch, I would get the best gear I could lay my hands on afterward and would travel the world. I would capture the wild nature of places, the cultural heritage and it’s people. Before it gets all lost due to human stupidity.

As far as Self discovery goes, the pattern I can find is, that nature always has been a part of my photography. Trees in all forms, flower, insect close ups, wildlife in general. Colours were usually ‘normal’ tones, pretty close to the natural vista (not over saturated, etc.) and cropping changed only in bits with developing skill and eye. I was also drawn to architecture (houses, monuments, way crosses). Usually something out of the ordinary catches my eyes, some decay, something quirky and I feel like capturing it – or try at least.

As for the pinning part, I am drawn to beautiful images with colours and some sort of magic in them. Great clarity and crisp details. Speed pinning draws me pretty much to the same photos. In the few Portraits I have pinned, it’s the personality of the people and also the crispness and quality that has drawn me. Those were usually fascinating characters where the photo alone already talks a volume.

 Here's the link to said Pinterest board:

http://pinterest.com/nicolebphoto/inspiration/

And here's a link Ron provided us with, well worth the 10 minutes watching for anyone who is into photography:

http://www.zarias.com/transform-a-short-film-for-scottkelbycom/

#365 2013 #002 Freizeitzentrum Mayen

This morning I’ve walked a path I’ve walked many times before.

Huge icycles below the Viadukt

From 365 - 2013

I’ve also taken photographs here many times.

Smaller ice blossoms

From 365 - 2013

That is possibly one of the reasons I have left the camera at home these past few weeks.

Strange tree trunks and folks asking me what the heck's so interesting here ;-)

From 365 - 2013

The feeling that I cannot capture new things.

Strange tree trunks and folks asking me what the heck's so interesting here ;-)

From 365 - 2013

Or the feeling that I cannot capture the Beauty adequately. 

Moos und Schiefer = Heimat

From 365 - 2013

Meaning I take the photos with the wrong camera settings (exposure, etc.) and being disappointed with myself when viewing them at home.

Fairy caves

From 365 - 2013

BORED!

From 365 - 2013

More strange trees and fairy caves

From 365 - 2013

More strange trees and fairy caves

From 365 - 2013

I will try not to fall into a slump again and instead just shoot with trial and error, sometimes use heavy editing and come along with a result that looks utterly different from what I have seen. 

Just home

From 365 - 2013

Which is what I did before too, but for some reason I stopped enjoying it.

Fantasy Reality

From 365 - 2013

With the new mentorship program on its way, I will open my mind again and just enjoy whatever I come up with.

Scrubby du

From 365 - 2013

Visit from Holga

From 365 - 2013

Kloster Helgoland voraus

From 365 - 2013

It’s not perfect photography . It probably never will be. But it’s me.

Trial and error

From 365 - 2013

#365 - 274 / I love this region ;-)

#365 - 272 / A beautiful day

#365 - 261 / Layer upon Layer - once it was trash

This has once been a trash dumping ground, right beside where they carved stones out of the earth and where they now still get gravel for construction sites.
There are no open dumping grounds left in Germany.
The old ones are covered with earth and some even have new housing sites on top of them.
Many of those face problems now, because the trash decays.
Humans are so smart!

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Irgendwann vor etlichen Jahren war das hier ein Schuttabladeplatz (Kaul).
Direkt neben den Steinbruechen und den jetzigen Kiesbaggergruben (oder was auch immer die da ausgraben).
Offene Muellhalden gibt es heute in Deutschland keine mehr. Die alten sind zugeschuettet, ueberwachsen und oft bebaut. Viele stehen heute vor Problemen mit Ihren Neubauten, weil die Erde absackt, da der Muell sich zersetzt.
Menschen sind so schlau!

#365 - 260 / Einwanderer - Invader

#365 - 252 / Nature's gifts

#365 - 243 / Hanging in there

#365 - 234 / A rose is a rose

#365 - 230 / A place to watch folks walk by

it's amazing how few people see you sit there when they walk by

#365 - 207 / My daily playground

#365 - 159 / Roemerwarte, Nettetal

#365- 155 / When Life throws you a curve ball

#365 - 153 / Roemerwarte Mayen

#365 - 152 / Maerchenwald

#365 - 151 / 10K hike