The dragon or the swan?

This was taken in Lisbon, Portugal. After a relaxed lunch I walked near the Tejo river on Parque das Nações. Very nice walk looking at the flowers, water, sky and people walking by. On my way back, watching the clouds, I saw this particular one. At first it seemed to me to be similar to a dragon. Taking the photo I was carefull enough to include some of the flowers the composed the scenario that attracted me in the first place. Back home, friends and family told me that it looks more like a swan. Dragon or swan it's a question of perspective. In the end it's whatever you want it to be.

Unexpected

This was one of my first digital photos. I was excited. My new toy (a brand new Sony DSC-V1) just came in the mail and I was anxious to try it out. First thing that came to my mind at that time of the day was to catch the sunset. So I went to the highest point in town and took a series of photos that proved me that I had much to learn (and after all these years, I still do). The available light was decreasing by the minute. So I was almost ready to leave taking a last shot to a street lamp when all the street lights lamps turned on. I stared for some seconds and decided to try a different composition. So here is the first attempt. This was one more lesson about light. I was amazed how I got the right parameters so quickly... and how, after several attempts, I couldn't repeat the unexpected.

Reference

Look at the picture and try to figure out where is it... Have you ever been to the UK? Ok, it's in the UK... If it's a known place? Yes, very famous... Ok, it's London! Well... it's near. See those tall buildings on the top right? That's actually Canary Wharf. Where did a take the photo? Greenwich. Yes, it's near Greenwich's Royal Observatory where the longitude is 0º. It's also the reference for the GMT time zone. Or now often refer to as UTC, Coordinated Universal Time. You know it's 8am where you are, based on your distance to this place. GPS will tell you how far you are from this place to East or West on Earth. Still, most people (like me :) ) would just want to play on the beautiful grass. A reference is something you just need to know where it is to relate to it. It doesn't mean that you have to know how it looks like.

Skiing

Did I already told you that I like skiing? I like ski. I like skiing through the mountain, feeling the cold air on my face, the speed, the exercise... seeing the landscape, earing the silence of the mountain, the white fluffy snow :). But one can find some unusual things while skiing. Near this track, I was attracted, like a crow, to a very bright glow on the snow. It caught my attention on the first pass. And on the second pass I stopped and discovered that it was actually a mobile phone. It was still working although it had a broken display and was covered with snow. We toke the mobile phone with us to give it to the lost&found but the owner called and soon we arranged to leave the mobile phone on his hotel reception desk. Curiosity saved a mobile phone :) Did I say already that I like skiing? ;)

Mountain 'flowers' hotel

Trying to imagine this hotel without the flowers... now add lots of snow... Would you stop the car just to take the photo? Probably, no. That's why the flowers make all the difference. It's the red of the flowers, the green of the trees, the mountain background, the walls and sometimes a bit of snow. Also the location in the middle of a Pyrenees valley (in Andorra). Added with good memories. It's those thinks what makes a place worth stopping by and take a photo.

Karneval

Some years ago, for the first time, I had to work during the Carnival. I was in the north of Germany and it was cold! But, we were determined to make the best of the non working hours we had. So we asked around and we were told that there was some interesting Carnival on an nearby city, Köln. The experience began on the highway where we could see entire families properly masquerade for the occasion inside the cars (very hard to miss :)). When we arrive we were amazed with all the special customs and the joy on the air. We watched closely the parade. I was amazed that even with a small compact camera people would stop and pose for me! Suddenly everything ended too soon, due to the cold (the highest of the day was -2 celsius). One should never stop being amazed with new things :)

'Sun work'

Every single day on the beach I watched this man working. He basically rents you a 'shadow' on the hot sand during the summer. The rent starts as soon as the sun rises and ends just before sunset. During this time he doesn't rest. He controls who is using the rented space and material without paying and makes new clients. His skin tone shows the dedication to his job. And, as any other business, he has 'regular' clients that know his story. Here he is packing everything to unpack again early in the morning of the next day. For some, Summer means beach, sea, sun, relaxation,... For him it means necessary money.

Summer shower

It's was a partially cloudy warm August day. A little windy but not too much. I was walking through a green grass field near a coast. I remember looking at the sky a long time, don't know why. While looking I started to notice the cool effects of very dark clouds with the bright sun. I was amazed and taking pictures of it. Well, this one was the last before it started raining. Not your regular light summer rain here and there. No, this was the real thing. The "very wet" but warm version :) But I was loving it. It's great the sensation of being on the middle of warm rain :) It was near Corunã, in the north of Spain.

Teutoburg Forest

Some time ago, in my way to work everyday, I had to pass through a forest. I kind of miss those times. Passing through it on the end of the day with the last rays of sunshine, on the morning with the first rays of sunshine and sometimes (too many) during the night. I watched all seasons of the year on it. It also makes me remember all the laughs and talks between colleagues while driving through. During happy times and also sad times. Nowadays it makes me remember one of the guys that is no longer with us :(. This particular shot was the first time I saw the forest cover with snow. It's the Teutoburg Forest on the north of Germany.

Dam

At the first glance it doesn't seem but, if you look closer, it's actually a dam's water reservoir. Me and some friends found this place during a car trip stop on the nearest coffee shop. After the coffee, we walked around a little to stretch our legs and prepare for the rest of the trip. And while we were walking behind some nearby houses, we found this landscape. The place was very nice and we could noticed that it had been equipped for picnics. So nice that we actually stayed there more time than what we initial expected for this stop. The curious thing is that years have passed by and for several times we made similar trips around the same area, but we never found the coffee shop and the hidden landscape again.

Waiting...

So, what do you do while waiting to board near a gate? You phone someone; You check your email or read a book; You look out of the window to get a close watch on airplanes moving around the airport (snowing is usually extra); And, of course, you take pictures of the airplanes and to people doing all of the above :) (Frankfurt, Terminal A)

"Moonset"

I love to fly during sometimes of day. Especially when coming home :). With the right combination of clouds and sunset there are some special beautiful sights. Just stretch on your seat, put some of your favorite music on your mp3 and just look through the window and remember happy things. In my case I also grab the camera :) This one was shot during one of those flights. I wanted to capture the moon and the sunset at the same time but it simply wasn’t possible. So I stick with the easiest one. You can not catch them all so catch the ones you can.

Snow Bicycle

It's was a regular medium cold Saturday on the north of Germany. Clear sky and sunny. Me and some colleagues went to a local bar/restaurant to lunch. In a table near the window we eat, talk and laugh for over two hours. But during desert we noticed that something was different: everything outside was slowing becoming white. It's was snowing!! Impossible, we said. But the sky was now very cloudy. And has we walked away from the restaurant it's snowing with more intensity. Still amazed and trying to walk faster this bicycle caught my attention. Didn't think too much and here it is. Expect the unexpected :)