Friday, November 15, 2013

To Greece and back

It's been a very long time since I wrote here. That's because I went to Greece for a bit less than two weeks and I was kind of too busy for posting. But I took some very interesting photos which I will present you here soon. Also, we did another movie, all from scratch. You will find out more in the next weeks, hopefully.

Today's photos were taken in November 3rd, somewhere near a lake at the Nestos area. It was near sunset, so the lighting was beautiful. And I was with Perix, whose page you should check if you want to see some photos of extreme quality, so I had some expert guidance too. Let's check the material now.

The temperatures were beautiful while I was there. Even if the trees weren't fooled and lost their leaves on time.
With the editing and the enhanced colours, as usual, the photo looks much more interesting.
Here I'm trying Perix's 10X magnifying glass on the 18-55mm lens, on the fungi on a tree.
And here I'm using some editing. The depth of field is extremely narrow, as you can see, which meant that I had to be very still if I didn't want to lose the focused part.
But, as it happens usually, soon the sun went pretty low. Still, it made for some great shots. This is just one of them.
Click on it, so that you can see better the flock of birds at the center of the photo. Click on it and you'll see all of the photos better.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Disneyland Paris, just before Halloween

Something that I didn't talk about on the previous post, was the fact that Disneyland is expecting Halloween and is decorated accordingly. Even though I'm not a very big fan of such days where everyone is supposed to do something specific etc, I couldn't help feeling fascinated, just like in the x-mas market at La Defense last year (we'll have some photos of that in late November!)

Anyway, some more photos from Disneyland.

Yeah, sorry about that. I just wanted to continue with the water effect from the previous post, because it looks so nice.
As usual, click on it and check it out in all its detail and glory. Isn't it very nice? 
This is a Disney castle. Some princess is supposed to be there. You know, one of those who find their heads rolling in a big coffin, because Bastille is not far, baby!
Now that I see it edited, it looks more like a Game of Thrones castle. Still, the ending will be similar. This time the head will be on a stick.
Here, what was I saying? They started already. The first victim of the revolution was princess Minnie Pumpkinface, the first of her name. Look at that frozen smile. Oh, the horrors she must have seen.
I'm kind of worried for my mental health. On a post about Disneyland and Halloween, I see Game of Thrones and brutal executions.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

A day in Disneyland Paris

We've been several times in Disneyland Paris, one of the most visited places in Europe, but it was the very first time that we had the Canon 650D with us. I didn't spend the whole time taking photos, obviously, since we had to go to the attractions as well. But the few I took (around 100), looked like they were worth taking. Let's see three of them!

Seagulls and ducks. Somewhere in Discoveryland (Disneyland has various such lands, with a theme on each one of them). Lots of coins in the water. Many wishes not granted or just a fancy way to get rid of the extra change.
"By the way, dude, you went to freaking Disneyland and you took photos of some birds again? What's the matter with you?!" Relax, will you? I'm not done yet.
There. This is some water. With the shutter speed on 1/3 sec making it hard to stay perfectly still (I had no tripod), I managed to take a few photos with this nice water effect.
Click on the photos and see the effect everywhere. Also, on the top and a bit to the right, two people are walking. Unlike the others who are still, these are just some blurry smudges.
Still, the photos I took, could be taken everywhere. Right? Well, not all of them. I gave you this moving water effect because it's beautiful and also, to prepare you for the next photo. Behold.

This photo is from Fantasia. A movie of 1940 by Walt Disney, one of the absolute classics. You can see the water falling from the buckets held by the living brooms.
And if you cannot see it, then click on the photo! How many times do I have to tell you? Anyway, I'm quite happy with today's photos!

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Still at Domeniul Greaca

What can I do? The good photos from Domeniul Greaca are too many to ignore. But today I combine a nice place with an awesome person. Some photos of Dana, who worked extremely much in order for this congress to be successful, and she deserves her own post. Not only because she worked a lot but because she's awesome anyway. There we go.

The light is very important in night photos. The lights there were just great. They were giving beautiful colours, something that we saw on the previous posts.
The editing adds a bit to the lighting without exaggerating. I know you can't see it now, but if you click on the photos, the difference will be obvious.
Here is Dana and behind her is the pool. And the hotel.
And here with more intense colours, as I like to edit my photos in general.
I think that I prefer this photo over the previous one. The lighting is better and the details clearer.
Yeah. You can even see the details on the bottom of the pool. I love night photos. Perix, brace yourself! In two weeks I'm coming!

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Back to Domeniul Greaca (poolside)

I told you already, I have a couple of thousands of pictures. And many of them are very interesting. Let's go back to Domeniul Greaca and see some interesting shots.

I know that I don't post a lot lately, but I have some other projects as well, for which we will talk when the time comes. Also, I'm lazy.

Peace, truth, hope. You can find these stones while going to the swimming pool of the hotel.
The great lighting helped me get some beautiful detail here. You can click on the photos to see them better.
Talking about the swimming pool. Check this. It's like we're back in Tunisia, not Romania! This photo is like made for a card! But wait, there's more!
OK, I'm not experienced in taking photos, but a good photo for me is one that keeps you staring at it because you like it (not because of its ugliness), even if there are some flaws. This is one of those photos. The blue is beautiful here.
The young lady on my left is Marina. After some group photos next to the pool in the evening, we stayed a few more minutes to try and see what we can do with long exposures.
I like very much the colours of the night photos. Especially the green of the grass and the details of the motionless parts are great. Click on the photos! See them in all their glory!
Also, I wrote on a previous post that the Peleş was something like Ceauşescu's house. I was mistaken. He didn't like it and he had closed it from 1975 until his execution. Shortly after that, it opened again.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Half here, half there (Bucharest-Paris edition)

The long trip to Romania ended. What I got was a great time with great people, some terrifying snow that I will never get over, and about 2000 photos plus some videos. You have already seen some of the photos, and you will see some more.

What we have today are two photos from the Otopeni airport in Bucharest and two photos from the entrance of our building. Yes, after all the flight and the train and the carrying of those enormous bags, the first thing I did when I came back home was go back down and take photos. Not because "photography is my life" and all those big words, but because it was freaking worth it! Bear with me, you'll see!

To the photos, my friends!

So, there is a place, after the security check, with restaurants and such things, with a common area with tables. And two little swallows were taking advantage of it.
Click on it if you want to see the photo a bit bigger. It was funny to see two little birds in an area where you don't normally expect to see them!
So, if your ticket says that you board from the gates 20 to 23 and you're not flying to Hogwarts, what are you supposed to do?
No, really, this is a wall. You move towards the wall and you just pass through it? For now we don't know. Maybe we will, some day... (always put three dots at the end when you want to add suspense)
And then, we returned to Paris. We took the RER, we took the bus from La Defense, we arrived home. What do we have here?

All right, this time our pet spider has brought a friend. And, just in case the friend feels cold, the caring host offered a blanket. A hand-made one, to be precise.
You see this? You'll never be as good a friend as this cute spider. You'll never take so much care of someone. How does that make you feel, huh?
Look how comfortable it looks. Everyone would be lucky to have friends like that. The spider is too good a friend to not be guarding over the sleeping guest. If it wasn't so noble, it would almost be creepy.
Friendship in all its glory. Noble spider, I salute you. I hope I will become just like you one day. Really, click on the photo, you will like it.
Just to show you how much I care for you, I have two videos of spider hospitality! For your pleasure!



Friday, October 4, 2013

A tireless little fellow

Today, for the first time in the long, almost 4-month, history of the blog, we will have only one person as a subject. And this person is my friend, Luca, from Bucharest. The photo shoot took place on Sunday morning and it was not scheduled. It was more like "Hey, why don't you take some photos of Luca?" and so I did.

The only little problem was that Luca doesn't speak english yet and I had to give him directions with my poor romanian. Of course, it was a chance for me to practice it since almost all the adults speak english and I always get tempted to use what is easier for me instead of pushing myself to improve my other languages. Same thing happens with french as well. Where were we?

Ah, yes. So, Luca was a professional some times, staying perfectly still when needed, which led to some very nice photos. Of course, when he got bored, he would prefer to use me as a trampoline. Yes, this is the word he used when he was jumping on me. Hey, don't get me wrong! Children who run around and play are healthy! You cannot expect them to stay down and read all the time or else they will end up like, well, me.

Off to Luca's photos now!

After bouncing around, Luca would stay still suddenly and I would have to be aware so that I could capture the moment! Here, the daylight was behind him, which didn't help very much.
Technically, this is not a very good photo, but his face says something like "Yes, yes, I'm calm and nice but turn your eyes away for a second and you'll see then!" A very nice one, among many nice photos!
And then we turn around. Against the daylight now. The difference is so obvious that no further comments are needed.
And with some necessary editing, even better.
I don't know what he was looking at. But he helped me get a very nice shot.
And here we see the same photo with some editing, of course. Notice how the light comes from the right side.
With the daylight against him once more, another nice photo. We took more than 100 photos many of them were quite worthwhile.
And with the edited photo, we are done for with today's post. Luca is a fun little guy and the whole photo shoot had lots of laughs. Remember to click on the photos to see them bigger as a slideshow.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Panning and getting dizzy

While we are at Poiana Brașov for the workshop Metamorphoses V of UNESCO and I'm dearly defeated all day because of the snow that hasn't stopped since morning and has covered the whole place, I will give you some photos from previous week, when I had experimented with panning while in the train and returning to Bucharest.

Seriously, it's October 1st. I know that we are in the mountains, but snow?! And so much? At least in Paris it snows in January and February, when it's still sad but at least it's expected! Anyway. To the photos.

So, trying to have one part of the image clear while the others look like they are in motion, I tried to follow one spot with the movement of the train. This is one of my successful tries.
And this is the same try, with more intense colours, clearer and with your beloved watermark.
A small, lonely little tree seems to be motionless while the world around it is running. I like a lot this one.
As you expected, I like the edited one more. Imagine if only I had edited the photo only to like more the unedited one. This would be the definition of fail, actually. But it's not. No, not today.
Come on, get dizzy with me! Wheeeeeeeee!
I like this effect. Enough with it for now though. Next post will have more normal photos! For now, remember to click on the photos to see them bigger.
On a side note, I cannot hide my joy for the fact that the neo-nazi criminal organization is being dissolved and its members incarcerated with lots of heavy charges, but I cannot hide my worries for the timing. Many people have known them and their sick nature for many years now. But the government found out only after the murder of Killah-P? And now suddenly many politicians and opinion manipulators (who work as journalists) became antifascists? Would I be too strict to say that Greece is a bit messed up?