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Almost Ascension Day

Today is Ascension Day. Quite a nice day weather wise, although it is raining as I write. This morning’s walk through the colourful Spring countryside was really quite pleasant, so it’s a pity I left the camera at home and missed many very promising photo opportunities. But as luck would have it I had a day off yesterday too, and took care of a backlog of garden chores in the warm bright sunshine. It wasn’t until early evening, whilst quenching my thirst with a cool beer and fiddling with sausages on the barbecue, that I decided to take the camera for a walk round the garden. Totally inspired and motivated by the latest issue of “Black + White Photography” magazine, I decided to do something in Black and White.

Smoker – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Smoker – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Auffahrt_Roof
Roof – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
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Springtime 2

The weather forecast prophesied rain for this weekend, so I decided to forget any ideas I may have had about cutting the lawn or trimming bushes in the garden, and concentrate my energies on shopping, drinking coffee and taking photos. That was the plan. But as I peered out of the window early Saturday morning and saw that ‘snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even’ I opted for ‘plan B’ and spent Saturday afternoon fiddling with Gimp. Somehow I felt that the last few months had seen enough snow covered landscapes.
Today’s photo was actually taken as a colour image together with those of my last posting on 18th April. But a bright yellow spring looking daffodil didn’t seem to fit in at all with yesterday’s weather mood.

Daffodil – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Daffodil – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
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Fence

Once again I was strolling about the countryside at the weekend,  and by chance stumbled across his fence and the heap of stuff.

Fence – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Fence – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Stuff – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Stuff – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
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Easter Greetings

To be fair it is only just Spring, in fact it’s not even April, not quite.  I’m sure May will be a blaze of Spring colours and the birds and bees will all be up to their birdy and beeish things.  This Easter weekend I was hoping to be out and about with the camera, poking my lens into bunches of daffodils and struggling against blinding sunshine. Alas it was not to be. I did point the camera out of the window last night but was happy to close it again as soon as the shutter clicked.

Snow shower-Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Snow shower-Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Snow shower-Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Snow shower-Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
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Rugged Beauty

When snowdrops bloom and primroses flower and daffodils eagerly try to make their presence felt before Easter, the town’s garages open their doors for a weekend to display their wares. This afternoon I found myself strolling around a few forecourts and showrooms, eyeing enviously polished bodywork and technical goodies. Despite all the streamlined, low slung and very fast sporty toys, in my opinion there’s nothing more attractive than the good old Landy.

If only those Euro Millions would come my way 😉

Rugged Beauty: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Rugged Beauty: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Rugged Beauty 2: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Rugged Beauty 2: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
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Twelfth Day of Christmas

According to my calculations today is indeed the twelfth day of Christmas. But we won’t be putting our Christmas decorations away until tomorrow, January 6th.  Tomorrow is  Three Kings Day when traditionally we tuck into sweet bread (Three Kings Cake) and hope for the piece with the little plastic king in it enabling the lucky finder to live like a king for the day. I’m sure all this 12 Days and 3 Kings business is explained in depth on the web, so I’ll say no more about it. The project motivated me sufficiently to use my camera a lot during the festive season but I’m not sure whether the resulting images really met my original ideas. I wasn’t after ‘Christmasy’ photos, but upon reflection they could perhaps have been just a little more seasonal. Today’s works simply satisfy this afternoons urge to look at something old…..   without gazing at the mirror 😉

Castle Hegi-1: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Castle Hegi-1: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Castle Hegi-2: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Castle Hegi-2: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Castle Hegi-3: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Castle Hegi-3: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
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Eleventh Day of Christmas

Today I decided to continue the B&W theme which seems to be running through this ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ project. Nothing typically Zurich, in fact the scenes could be anywhere I suppose. I’m beginning to grow quite fond of not only Black & White images, but also night shots… I’m sure there will be more to come.

Suburb by night: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Suburb by night: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Suburb by night 2: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Suburb by night 2: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Going Home: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Going Home: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
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Tenth Day of Christmas

Back to work today. The canteen, or restaurant as it likes to be called, will stay closed until next Monday so I decided to go for a brisk walk and a tram ride. It was in the tram that I hit upon the idea for today’s blog entry.

View from a tram: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
View from a Tram: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
View from a Tram 2: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
View from a Tram 2: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
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Eighth Day of Christmas

New Year’s Day, and a new chapter in life’s fascinating book begins. Apart from the usual New Year’s resolutions, early to bed, healthy eating etc. etc. we do have a few trips planned during the coming 12 months. Nothing earth shattering! No climbing Mount Everest or exploring the Arctic on a bicycle, but nevertheless we do have one or two short excursions in mind that will hopefully motivate and enable my photo efforts to attain new heights 😉  – So to get off on the right foot, we decided to leave our village behind us this morning and visit a nearby pond….  well it’s a start isn’t it!.

Pondside Hut: Panasonic DMC-LX2; f/4.9; 1/30s; ISO 100; Developed with GIMP
Poolside Hut-1: Panasonic DMC-LX2; f/4.9; 1/30s; ISO 100; Developed with GIMP
Poolside Hut-2: Panasonic DMC-LX2; f/3.2; 1/40s; ISO 100; Developed with GIMP
Poolside Hut-2: Panasonic DMC-LX2; f/3.2; 1/100s; ISO 100; Developed with GIMP
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Forth Day of Christmas

Having received two copies of Black + White photography magazine a week or so before Christmas, I am obviously eager to experiment with monochrome. It’s interesting how     B & W images are still so very popular, but somehow they do hold a certain fascination.

A seat: Panasonic DMC-LX2; f/5.6; 1/400s; ISO 200; Developed with GIMP
A Bench: Panasonic DMC-LX2; f/5.6; 1/400s; ISO 100; Developed with GIMP
A Window: Panasonic DMC-LX2; f/5.6; 1/200s; ISO 100; Developed with GIMP
A Window: Panasonic DMC-LX2; f/5.6; 1/200s; ISO 100; Developed with GIMP
Across the pond: Panasonic DMC-LX2; f/4; 1/125; ISO 100; Developed with GIMP
Across the pond: Panasonic DMC-LX2; f/4; 1/125; ISO 100; Developed with GIMP