I spontaneously decided to start my 52-weeks-project right now. So from now on I have to take a selfportrait once a week and post it here and on flickr. For the upcoming 52 weeks… Let’s hope I can keep on track without any breaks. My first try did happen quite unplanned, so it wasn’t easy to find the right picture. One time the light wasn’t right, the focus didn’t seem right or I just looked dumb. But this photo I liked from the first sight. Maybe not perfect or artistically, but it fits. It fits the mood, the colors and the light are good… Yeah, this is the one. Welcome to week 1!
This morning started with horrible news. By now everyone should’ve heard about the huge earthquake, tsunamis and aftershocks in Japan. The pictures are terrifying and I hope that the worst part is over. I don’t know yet, if I am going to be in Japan in about a month – the coming weeks will show. At least I think that Japan is the best prepared country for this kind of catastrophe and this kind of preparation saved Japan from more dead or injured. I hope that my japanese friends and their families are doing fine – my thoughts are going out to you…
This week I had to go to Aachen for work again. I already knew the area around the cathredral from my former visits, so I decided to take my camera and tripod with me this time. So, on the second evening I packed my camera and went to town. In search of a neat place to eat, I made some shots near the cathredral – nice, but nothing special. I was accompanied by my colleague, so I couldn’t keep him waiting all night. Also, I was quite hungry and the longing for something to eat distracted a little
Aachen in the late evening
We ate at a restaurant called Pasta. If you like noodles in all kind of ways, you’re definitly gonna like this place. A nice ambience, friendly and attentive staff and of course delicious food. I had the so called “Puttes Ravioli” with apple sauce. Yummy!
After we finished we went back to the hotel, but not without stoping again to take some more pictures. We were in a cozy and nice enlighted street with view of an old house and a starlit sky in the background. The moon didn’t want to join in, but the colors of the enlighted street together with the lights in the house looked really cool ^_^.
Historic center of Aachen
Same street, less lights
After a few shots I was satisfied with the outcome and it was time to go back to the hotel…
Yes! I did it once again^_^. My camera managed her way out of it’s packing case. Yay me
I used the massive snow and free time between the years to test my camera once more. I produced a lot of not usable pics, due to the fact that I tried to use no flash light. I still need to learn more about camera… I have to say, that I like the outcome and I will use the flash less in the future – even if it takes more time to get the final photo. Practice makes perfect. I also did some portraits, but this is a really difficult area. I really need to learn more about this topic ^_^;. Maybe I’ll try a photo session with a friend of mine.
OK – I’m too tired to wright a lot. I didn’t sleep enough the whole week, because I’m still on holiday-mode. Means, I did go to sleep at 1 up to 2 am >_<. In German I’d say, that I’m a night hawk…
Enough talking. Here my photos – I hope you like them.
So! It’s just about time. Today I got the entry form for the anual Trierenberg Super Circuit. I’m exited and looking forward to this challenge. Last year I participated for the first time and I was satisfied with the outcome. I decided on a very short notice to take part, so I was happy that 2 of my photos were accepted. So I’ll definitely take more shots in the near future and think about which category might be the right one for my pics. I think, I’ll give it a try with 3 categories. At least I’m interested in the following ones:
Night images and artificial light
Nature
Phototravel
Landscape
Seasons
Sunrise-Sunset
My best holiday images
Nature and environment
Arab photography
To many categories! I need to browse my photo-collection and think about in which category my best pics might fit into…
I know, I’m a quite ambitious who loves challenges and isn’t satisfied with the results too often ^_^;. My next goal for the Super Circuit is to get one of my photos into the catalogue. Don’t know, if it happens this year – let’s see. If not, it challenges more for the upcoming years. I don’t quit that early . I’d love to send some photos for the category “Portrait”, but there’s still a long way ahead of me. Maybe I should try to gain some experience by taking pictures of some friends. I coudl ask a friend of mine, who is into cosplay. That might bring some interesting photos… Let’s see ^_^.
So I’ll try to get inspired and carry my camera with me more often. But I should buy an new camera-bag before that. I need one to carry my Canon 450 D with an additional lens. It shouldn’t be too big and I need to get hold of my camera as fast as possible. If you have a good advice for me: please tell me .
OK! I received my report-card for the Trierenberg Super Circuit 2010 on last week`s friday – and I am really pleased with the outcome:
I submitted 8 photographs for 2 categories. In the end these photos got 4 out of 20 possible acceptances (is that the right word?). The picture “Moschee in Dubai” got accepted from 3 out of 4 salons in the category “Travel”.
Moschee in Dubai
In the category “Sights and Architecture” you could only get one acceptance per photo. My photo that got accepted is the picture of the cityhall in Tokyo:
Rathaus Tokyo
Quite fascinating how pictures get evaluated in a competition. I liked the photos of the clams, the trainstation and the waterfall the most and thought that they had better chances to get accepted. This way, it`s interesting to see what kind of expectations a jury has ^_^. I try to make the best out of that experience and try to achieve a similiar or even better result at the upcoming competition (Al-Thani Award).
Now I have to wait for the picture-book of the competition, that should be coming to my place in july. I can`t wait to see the selection of the best photographs.
It is time again to take a look into my sketchbook. Today I decided to take a quick sketch. Nothing special, I just needed 5 minutes to draw it. I have to work on sketching more often. Maybe a challenge to sketch once a day? Hm, let’s see… Right now I don’t find enough time for creativity – I work or prepare some job applicatons. And then I still need (or want) to sleep =_=.
Yeah, this was a kick-ass saturday. Not only because Lena won us the Eurovision Song Contest. To be honest, I couldn’t even watch the show, because I sat in the Rheinenergie stadium in Cologne, watching the first show of P!nk’s Funhouse Summer Carnival. And let me tell you: It was one hell of a show – P!nk totally rocked the house and 42.000 Fans partied along with her. Here a short teaser of my upcoming review of the show ^_^:
