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…and a Happy New Year

During the traditional New Year celebrations with friends the conversation inevitably covered a wide range of fascinating topics. For some inexplicable reason the subject of model railways came up more than once – what a coincidence 😉     Today it was clear to me that somehow a railway would have to feature in the first blog posting of 2016.

Strolling around a neighbouring village I stumbled across a vacant bench and a somewhat dilapidated poster, then off to a local railway station for a bit of motivation; Will 2016 actually see the start of my model railway project?

NewYear – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
NewYear Bench – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
NewYear – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
NewYear Old Posters– Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP

 

NewYear – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
NewYear Buffer– Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
NewYear – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
NewYear Rails– Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
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Festive Rain

On Thursday evening the Christmas lights were switched on in Zurich. Apparently ‘thousands’ gathered to witness the spectacle, visit the various Christmas markets and of course sample the first mugs of mulled wine. I’ll probably wait a while before plunging into the spirit of Christmas, but I was delighted to take advantage of Friday evening’s wet weather on the way home. Lights reflecting in wet roads never cease to fascinate me!

The Aperitif Tram or perhaps the Fondue Tram?

Old Tram – Sony Xperia Z3 compact smartphone. Developed with Gimp
Old Tram – Sony Xperia Z3 compact smartphone. Developed with Gimp

Snow would certainly be more seasonal, but we’re happy with rain.

Christmas Lights – Sony Xperia Z3 compact smartphone. Developed with Gimp
Christmas Lights – Sony Xperia Z3 compact smartphone. Developed with Gimp

Hurrying past with the shopping.

Christmas Shopping – Sony Xperia Z3 compact smartphone. Developed with Gimp
Christmas Shopping – Sony Xperia Z3 compact smartphone. Developed with Gimp

The wet weather even seems to make that clumsy roof look light and festive…. see also The Railway Station  and Taj Mahal

That Roof Again – Sony Xperia Z3 compact smartphone. Developed with Gimp
That Roof Again – Sony Xperia Z3 compact smartphone. Developed with Gimp

 

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Eating Out

Having a barbecue on a mid November evening is, to say the least, a bit unusual around these parts. But with the long hot summer continuing on to a beautiful Autumn we decided to fire up the grill once more before the cold weather arrives at the weekend. While waiting for the burgers to brown I just had to fiddle with a camera. The subject matter was somewhat limited but I enjoyed playing. One huge advantage compared with summer barbecues….   no wasps, no moths and no creepy crawly things trying to share my meal.

November-BBQ2 – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
November-BBQ2 – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
November-BBQ1l – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
November-BBQ1l – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
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ND Filter

Sometime during the summer months I bought myself a variable ND filter, but until yesterday hadn’t got round to using it. In hindsight I’m not sure whether it may have been better to buy a fixed filter instead of the variable variety, time will tell. The weather was pleasantly autumnal but a bit on the grey side and the sky was featureless.  I was lucky to be with someone who has considerable expierience in the mysteries of Neutral Density Filters and was pleased to get few tips and try one or two of his filters too. Thanks Dominik. For a first attempt I’m quite happy with the results and hope to capture a waterfall or something in the near future 🙂

Lake – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Lake – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Lake – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Lake – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Lake – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Lake – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Lake – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Lake – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Lake – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Lake – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
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Geneva

Yesterday, as part of the ‘Around the Edge‘ project, we decided to spend a few hours in Geneva.
The city is quite large, and in just a few hours we could only hope to scrape the surface. But we did manage to have lunch, drink a coffee, capture the material I wanted for the project and even take a photo with my smartphone just for fun. I used Snapseed to develop the image and gave it a contrasty, dramatic look because I thought the original colour photo looked a bit drab.

Jet d'Eau – Sony Xperia Z3 compact smartphone. Developed with Snapseed
Jet d’Eau – Sony Xperia Z3 compact smartphone. Developed with Snapseed
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Too hot to take pictures?

No of course it isn’t, but it’s been well over 30 degrees for about a week and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed doing very little. Laying about on the lawn (too hot and lazy to go out and photgraph) gave me ample opportunity to explore the delights of not only the smartphone’s camera but also the photo app ‘Snapseed’. It’s certainly different working with a very small screen, but quite fun nevertheless.

This image of Zurich’s main railway station is not only my very first attempt at developing with an app, but also my very first post directly from the phone.

Main Station - Sony Xperia Z3 compact smartphone. Developed with Snapseed
Main Station – Sony Xperia Z3 compact smartphone. Developed with Snapseed
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On my way home

Enjoying a beer or two this evening I made my way home a little later than usual. There is a very special atmosphere later in the evening.

View from a tram – Sony-Ericsson W995 mobile phone. Developed with Gimp
View from a tram – Sony-Ericsson W995 mobile phone. Developed with Gimp
All alone with a hamburger – Sony-Ericsson W995 mobile phone. Developed with Gimp
All alone with a hamburger – Sony-Ericsson W995 mobile phone. Developed with Gimp
Waiting for the train – Sony-Ericsson W995 mobile phone. Developed with Gimp
Waiting for the train – Sony-Ericsson W995 mobile phone. Developed with Gimp
View from a train seat – Sony-Ericsson W995 mobile phone. Developed with Gimp
View from a train seat – Sony-Ericsson W995 mobile phone. Developed with Gimp
No Comment – Sony-Ericsson W995 mobile phone. Developed with Gimp
No Comment – Sony-Ericsson W995 mobile phone. Developed with Gimp
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Shower

Stopping to buy a lottery ticket on the way home a couple of nights ago, I was fortunate enough to miss my regular train. This gave me time to stroll around within the shelter of the main station and watch people run about in the heavy shower outside.

Shower – Sony-Ericsson W995 mobile phone. Developed with Gimp
Shower – Sony-Ericsson W995 mobile phone. Developed with Gimp
Shower – Sony-Ericsson W995 mobile phone. Developed with Gimp
Shower – Sony-Ericsson W995 mobile phone. Developed with Gimp
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Easter

Easter doesn’t stand or fall by the weather, so we decided not to head south in search of warmer climes. We had plenty of chocolate eggs to tuck in to, and the K30 performs well in rain, sleet and sunshine – and we’ve enjoyed all three. The three Black & White images were captured on a Good Friday stroll around the village. The three colour images were taken today, Easter Monday.

Easter Bunny – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Easter Bunny – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Castle Girsberg – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Castle Girsberg – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Castle Girsberg – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Castle Girsberg – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Good Friday – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Good Friday – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Good Friday – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Good Friday – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Good Friday – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Good Friday – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
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Down by the River 2

As a short sequel to the last post, here are a couple of images of mud shovelling excavators.
Unfortunately it was Sunday, so they weren’t actually shovelling, but quite fascinating nevertheless.

Excavator – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Excavator – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Excavator – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Excavator – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP