spring2life take2

Thumsee, Melting Ice

Markus — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:00:05 PDT

Since some days the temperatures are slowly rising, the snow mixes with rain and the ice on the lakes and ponds changes sound and color: the sound gets powerless, foul and the color undecided, the reflectivitiy is lost. Definitely signs for the end of the winter, even if the snowdrops are still invisible in most of the places. Thumsee again is a place for recreation, to re-gain power, to recharge and find peace.

Cafe Schatz, Salzburg

Markus — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 14:57:53 PDT

Located in a “Durchhaus”, probably best translated as a combination of passageway and courtyard, is the Cafe Schatz in Salzburg. From all the Cafes – and as a coffeine addicted I do know many – this seems to be one of the eldest and most traditional ones in Salzburg. The coffee is great, so is the pastry, and the whole institution including the waitresses has an aura that seems unchanged from maybe 40 years past.

This is even more stunning as many of the streets in Salzburg now are governed by the great international brands, leaving less and less space for local flair. So the “Cafe Schatz”, and “Schatz” means treasure, really is a precious place, moody and relaxing (at least off season).

Update: I had edited the first version of the lead image on a color calibrated, yet not brightness calibrated monitor, and this resulted in an image that was way too dark. Lesson learned: I wil redo the calibration and double check the brightness level instead of using the all-auto setting.

Christmassy Easter-Eggs

Markus — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 11:19:18 PST

I found these in Salzburg. The center of this town is so attractive for tourists from all parts of the world, that they have a shop selling Christmas decoration throughout the whole year. But to top this, they’ve invented easter eggs with Santa on it. That’s what I’d call real creativity and serving their customers. And if people buy this…

Warm it’s only Inside

Markus — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:00:26 PST

Having packed up work, it’s almost dark again, especially when thick clouds dim the little daylight even more. This matches the winter’s cold, and it makes the warm light out of the windows even more attractive. The best time to see and capture this is twilight, just before the street lights get switched on and shift the light’s colour to a, well, less attractive one.

The building in the background to the right is the old royal spa center (featured here, here, here, last image) and here), which has the most beautiful hall here in Bad Reichenhall, used for concerts and receptions.

Robots in Standby

Markus — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:39:23 PST

Estimating how often I had passed by this arrangement of cute robots (water and electricity dispensers) in the train station of Freilassing, where I change trains when commuting to work, lead to a figure in the thousands. Don’t ask me why it took so long until I realised this image. One explanation – the one which I like best – is that photography leads to opening the eyes leads to better photography leads to … You get the picture. It could be that perception can be trained like the biceps.

Windshield Wipers

Markus — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:15:17 PST

A quiet, snowy image again, after the last two more lively ones. I love the repeting forms here, not only of the wipers, but also the arcs, beginning from the canopy to the right, repeated in the bushes, over the cleft in the snow to the roofs of the small cars. Definitely not surprising as Paul Maxim demanded and substantiated for good reason here in his blog, but for me in its quiet harmony still fulfilling.

Further Push-Up Needed?

Markus — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:22:38 PST

“Sizzling Silhouette” would have been a headline matching the ad for an “Erotic Trade Fair” even better, but Debra from A Passion in Frames had already used it for her post of today. Maybe take it as an encouragement to look in her blog.

White Parcel Courier

Markus — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:46:15 PST

One of the results of a lunchtime stroll. No story behind, just delight about that blue-white combination. You can’t always resort to greek islands for this color combination, so I decided to take what I could get.

Orange Overcoat

Markus — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:15:12 PST

Photography is not in highest esteem by everybody, but the people in my surroundings are accustomed to my switching to a cyclopean life-form from time to time. And the kids, so I thought up to yesterday, should see it as perfectly normal as they know about my hobby/obsession/… But my daughter was cringing when she saw me walking behind that lady with the orange coat: she felt my behaviour was completely indecent. It seems that next time I’ll have to go alone to buy bread if I dare to take a camera with me.

Call of the Wild

Markus — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 14:49:27 PST

Thoreau’s Walden for sure is not on everybody’s reading list over here, but the craving for the “genuine” life out there in the woods seems to become stronger with every degree of civilisation’s comfort and amenities.

My snowstorm images of the last days finally got distilled into a new small gallery, here.