Belleville, early morning, September

So, Lately I got myself a refurbished Nikon CoolPix compact camera, because I wanted to have something reliable on me at all times. The DSLR is too heavy and big and the phone is just not good enough. The 16 megapixels of the Nikon make a nice job here, don't they?

This is Belleville, by the way, about 7:10 on a Sunday morning. This morning, September 20th, 2015.

I was waiting for the bus and I had a bit of time to experiment a bit. It's not easy to play with long exposures, since it's impossible to stay still long enough, but in this case here, I made it. I love how one bike has left while the other one is still waiting for the green light. I love this photo.

Insects everywhere! (macro)

Yesterday I decided to turn the lens around and go to explore the garden. The findings were very interesting, although I had lots of trouble to get them stable. You know what happens with these things. The slightest move looks huge when you try to take a macro photo. As usual, click to enlarge.

That's an ant. They run like freaking hell. I couldn't catch them properly. It was unbelievable.

I had caught one of those an evening and it was moving a lot. This one did me the favour to remain static but the leaf wasn't very willing to cooperate. Anyway, I managed to get this shot.

This one was the most helpful. Did you know that they look green with the naked eye? I was shocked to see that the colour difference between this and the plant is so enormous.

More macro (probably there will be many of those)!

The chance I was waiting for ever since I got this little ring that allows me to magnify small stuff, came last night. There was a spider in the house. So, I grabbed the little torch and proceeded to use her (or him, I don't know) as my model. The results are here. As usual, click on the photos in order to see them bigger as a slideshow.

Unfortunately, because of the inefficient light, the ISO was skyrocketed and the noise is too much. Nothing like the sunlight, I guess. But we have to take some photos somehow.

The same model from a different angle. Notice the spark in the eyes. All eight of them.  

As I was escorting the first model to the exit, another one appeared and I took the chance. Unfortunately, this model was not very static and I didn't manage to get any very good photos. But still, I managed something little. Not very bad, I'd say.

Macro! (+ bonus)

After a very long time, I decided that I want to post something here. Some macro stuff, because it's freaking beautiful! Without further delay, we're going right to the photos! As always, click on the first one so that you can see them bigger, as a little slideshow.

This thing here is supposed to be a tiny snail. I'm impressed with what you can do with a small ring that adjusts to the lens and makes it magnify stuff like this.

This cutie was upside down, but I preferred to turn it around for the artistic purposes of this blog. Ain't she a beauty? Yes, she is. I mean, she must be female, right?

This one is the reason why I made today's post. This must be one of the best photos I've ever taken. And I was quite lucky to get it perfectly sharp on my first effort too, because almost right after that, this long fly-like insect flew away. This is just awesome. I'm actually proud of this photo.

This is the bonus photo. Kevin Spacey is great, but my stupidity couldn't resist.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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!