365/86 – Puppy Love

Someone thought they felt puppy Love. Not us. Don’t get me wrong. We love puppys, but we already have two pooches.

Nope. Someone gave this beautiful fur ball to one of the guards downstairs. And he came up to our door and gave it to us. “Or he would have to dump it”, he said. Don’t get him wrong now. These guys work 12 hours and live in cramped quarters. He said an Arabic Lady came to him and pushed the leash in his hand, saying “she doesn’t want the puppy no more”.

Right. Now what? I called the shelters and they told me they can pick him up ‘maybe tomorrow and maybe they have room’ (they are all pretty much filled to the limit). Understood.

Plan B. I went to Stephen, our laundry and pet rescue master. He made a few phone calls and we found a loving family, an elderly Filipino couple withour kids that were on the search for a puppy (update 1 month later – he’s doing fine and is still much loved).

So, this lovely, brave pooch found a good home. Trust me, I would have kept this one, funny, cuddly, brave.

I actually wanted to post about pancakes I made this morning, but this guy just stole the show (even though the photo doesn’t give him enough credit – and no, we didn’t try to save on dog food, but all he wanted was a few morsels and it took us forever to get him to lick a few drops of water).

365/60 – Learning curve

I still have a steep learning curve ahead of me.

Despite shooting manual since almost a year, I still make many mistakes when it comes to the mix of focul length / aperture / f – stop.

It has something to do with doing the math. Math never has been my strong part. But I start to see the mistakes I am making. I guess you can call that progress.

My example shot above is not the perfect example per se. It was a hazy day with a bit of dust. The settings on my camera were ISO 200 at a Focal length of 18mm, at f 14 and 1/200sec (I guess the latter measurement is what killed me. Maybe using the exp. compensation and underexpose a bit would have helped?).

In both photos below I edited the Levels, brightness, contrast and saturation. The first one is edited in Lightroom and the second in Nikons home software Capture NX. Capture NX is harder on the editing progress, but it doesn’t contort the colours and quality as much as Lightroom seems to do in some cases. But for real editing, both pretty much suck. But I am disgressing.

If you can tell what the correct settings should have been for me for the original shot, I’ll be much obliged. Until then, I go and keep learning

I need a serious lens and mirror cleaning too, but I’m afraid of how the Pro shops here do it. Has to wait until we are back in Europe. Costs more, but is done right.

#365/20 – No More

I am currently following the Events in Bahrain and the Middle East, following the revolution in Tunisia and Egypt.

What happened in Bahrain yesterday still leaves me shell shocked.

After Egypt, this is yet another place I have been and come to love.

Gentle, friendly people.

Watching the latest Video on Al Jazeera English this morning had me finally in tears after the day yesterday, weeding through tweets, gathering photos and news left me just numb.

Watching a doctor explain that they got attacked by the police force in a medical tent, while they were helping the wounded protesters, did it for me.

They beat the doctor and left him for dead. He is currently unconscious and on a breathing machine.

Four people are confirmed dead, over 200 wounded, 60 are missing.

The correct numbers are still in the dark.

The government claims they warned the protesters to disperse and leave the Pearl Roundabout. After 3am in the morning the Riot police came and attacked the sleeping, peaceful demonstrators. Women and children included.

What is going on in Bahrain has not started as a revolution. It was a simple demonstration for a change in government, for reforms.

It is not a religious conflict between sects. In fact Sunni and Shiite have been standing together as ONE Bahrain in a movement since a long while.

Today will be the funerals for the dead. Massive amounts of people are expected.

Tanks are still in the streets of Manama and police forces are on patrol.

Let’s hope this will not turn into yet another bloodbath.

Please!

I am currently following the Events in Bahrain and the Middle East, following the revolution in Tunisia and Egypt.
What happened in Bahrain yesterday still leaves me shell shocked.
After Egypt, this is yet another place I have been and come to love.
Gentle, friendly people.
Watching the latest Video on Al Jazeera English this morning had me finally in tears after the day yesterday, weeding through tweets, gathering photos and news left me just numb.
Watching a doctor explain that they got attacked by the police force in a medical tent, while they were helping the wounded protesters, did it for me.They beat the doctor and left him for dead. He is currently unconscious and on a breathing machine.
Four people are confirmed dead, over 200 wounded, 60 are missing.The correct numbers are still in the dark.
The government claims they warned the protesters to disperse and leave the Pearl Roundabout. After 3am in the morning the Riot police came and attacked the sleeping, peaceful demonstrators. Women and children included.
What is going on in Bahrain has not started as a revolution. It was a simple demonstration for a change in government, for reforms.It is not a religious conflict between sects. In fact Sunni and Shiite have been standing together as ONE Bahrain in a movement since a long while.
Today will be the funerals for the dead. Massive amounts of people are expected.Tanks are still in the streets of Manama and police forces are on patrol.
Let’s hope this will not turn into yet another bloodbath.
Please!

#365/6 – Love - My Love for nature, for outdoors, for finding pretty things, for photographing them.

I wish I could Love the people I know feel contempt or hate towards me because I am what I am: A woman and a Westerner.
I wish I could love the men that look at me like I just stripped naked only for them, because I accidentally looked at them or gave them a friendly smile (by accident, since I am used to being friendly).
I don't know if I can.
I will keep trying.

#365 - / Me, myself and I

From 365 - 2006