The Way the Camera Bounces

I had to do little experimenting the other day and here is the artsyfartsy result.

And the Forecast For Today is Half Cloudy

Things I Miss About Budapest: People

Given the picture here I know just how you are going to interpret the title. And I have to admit that you are propably right. But I'll get back to my educated guess later. First I want to tell you what the title really means.

The thing I miss about hungarian people, I am not sure if I should say that in such a broad sense since I only have empiric studies from Budapest, is the way they know how to behave. Take the public trasportation for example; trams, buses, metro, you name it. Au contraire to what I have used to here in Finland, yet again maybe I just stretch it too wide since this may actually be Helsinki oriented problem, the people actually let you leave the public transportation before they try to get in.

It is oh so infuriating for example to stand in the metro car next to the doors when the train arrives to a busy station e.g. Kamppi or Central Railway Station and when you try to get off the train most of the time you need to use your elbows to make your way through the mass of people standing on the platform and rushing in the train the very second the doors open. For crying out loud the train is not leaving anywhere before a) the people wanting to leave the train have done so and b) the people wanting to enter the train in the immediate vicinity of the car have done so. Why the rush and rampage? Jeez...

And then my educated guess: Most of you propably thought given the photo that I miss the hungarian women. That is true too. My apologies to both of my female readers but I reckon that the ratio of women in good shape in Hungary and in Finland are pretty much inverted. If 1 in 10 in Finland is in good shape it is 1 in 10 in Hungary who are overweight. Ladies like her in the photo for sure are much more pleasing to the eye than your average finn. And majority of women I saw in Budapest were like her.

Not to mention the differences of the fashion... But I think that'll deserve a post of it's own.

Things I Miss About Budapest: Baked Roll

Nowhere else have I seen these baked rolls and there are quite many places I have visited. The kürtős kalács really is a delicasy you should not miss when in Budapest. Unfortunately I cannot recall the real name for these rolls right now but it does not diminish their great taste. Thank you christie and Enikő foreducating me on the name!

As you can see these rolls are cooked on open fire (well not so much on fire than embers). After they have baked enough yhey are rolled on sugar or cinnamon or what ever flavour you want (and is available to the stand).

These were just the perfect snack for a casual stroll through the streets and parks of Budapest. For me they somehow have stated to represent the feeling of not being in hurry to anywhere. Damn I miss that feeling.

And those baked rolls.

Things I Miss About Budapest: The Climate

I know this doesn't look much or anything special... But the picture was taken mid April. Here in Finland I have used to the fact that there is still heck of a lot snow on the ground that time of the year (yeah, well, not here down south in Helsinki, but where I grew up and went school to). And look at that! Trees have so green leaves! And that was the coldest April locals had experienced for quite some time.

Winter is nice. Snow is nice. But it is the cold and the snowflakes on my face that I can't quite handle. I like summer so much better. The warmth...

The warmth...

Things I Miss About Budapest: Presence of History

There are so many historical locations in the Budapest that just about where ever you are there is something historical around. Now looking back at the summer spent in Budapest I truly find myself longing for all those evidences of past times and the former glory. These ruins in the Margit Island is one good example.

And the Clouds Were Flattened

Last time while flying to Budapest I noticed this rather interesting phenomenon on the cloudtops. The cumulus clouds that usually have very distinctive puffy and round shapes were flattened like a sheet of transparent foil was pressed atop the clouds.

I am quite sure the reason for this is the difference in the airpressure but thinking too scientifically takes away the charm of certain things. Clouds are one of those.

Two Parallel Lines Never Meet

How about four?

It Is Not a Dog Eat Dog World

Every now and then I see things that remind me that the world is not that bad a place as the media seems to portray it to be. One such occasion was a couple of days ago at Ruoholahti where I saw this heart warming sight.

Summersports

Modern-day Rapunzel

Stop Motion

I like this picture pretty much. It looks a bit like there is three pictures of a single brown hare merged into a one picture. Instead it is three different animals as you probably could see for yourself but still the illusion on merging the pictures is there.

¡Ay Caramba! Now We Dance Samba!

It was that time of the year again. For the 17th time the Samba Carnival took over the city Center of Helsinki and for once the weather was favorable for the event. And to be honest I think this year's event was the best so far.

Lots of dancers, beautiful dresses, dancing, fair ladies (in all the good and bad most of them were Finns), pounding music... And of course the sunshine. I think I got a sunburn to my right wrist. You know, the one that that was all the time exposed due to fact that my hand was almost all the time at the trigger of the camera.

Ah well, small price to pay if you ask me. Besides I do get sunburns really easy.

I'm Gonna Huff and Puff and Blow

Wouldn't you like to blow the dandelion seeds too?

And the Colourful Painting Was the Sky

I can hardly remember when was the last time I wanted to tell the driver to stop the car and let me out to take a picture. Yesterday was such a day. Or evening to be more exact.

We were driving back from a BBQ-evening with some friends and heading home when this magnificent sunset revealed itself to us. I told the driver to stop the car and let me out I would walk the rest of the way home I just needed to get a picture of this. A bit puzzled he pulled the over and let me out and I sprang into motion and headed to a close by rock overlooking the fields with better view.

I panted and wheezed when I got up there after having spent an evening with two cats to which I am allergic to but oh it was so worth it.

Freeeeeeedoooooom!

Freedom of expression. Sure. But one could do it with more style.

The Dark Side of the Moon

Yes I do know that the dark side of the Moon never faces towards Earth so technically this is not a picture of the dark side per se. But nevertheless it is cool to see the shadowy side of the Moon.

I considered calling this one "Here's the sickle, where's the hammer?" but decided otherwise.

Howl at the Moon

Latokartano by Night

The citylights at nighttime have always fascinated me. There is somekind of magic in them. I remember this one time in Norway when I was a kid. The sun had set a while ago and the surroundings were all black. We were driving high up in the mountains and were about to arrive into some town anytime soon.

Soon enough the citylights came to view when we drove around the mountain. Way down in the valley there was this little haven of light inviting us to arrive.

Starlit Sky

It obviously is spring since I didn't freeze my ass off out there. Huzzah! That does mean more photo opportunities for me due to the sheer fact I once again can face the elements outside.

I decided to go out and try to snap some pictures of the halfmoon and test if I could capture some stars on the cell as well. The moon pictures turned out ok but I do like this picture of the starlit sky on which the moon makes his presence quite clear without stealing the whole show.

For those interested:
Exposure time 30s
f/4.0
ISO100

The Staring Contest

I lost.

The Frozen Waterfall

So it is officially spring here. Finally I might add.

At long last I got myself out and shooting some pictures. Nothing much since the main point of the walk was to just be outside on the glorious day but still. Some fresh material to post even if I shot only a 15 or so pictures.

And the weather seems to continue to be nice for a while longer too.

Happy happy joy joy!

Red

As I might have mentioned earlier I have participated in small community photo contests at the discussion forums of the Pelit magazine. This is one of them and propably the best of them too. And the only one I have put any effort in to building up to composition.

Most of my shots have been more or less just a snapped shot from here and a snapped picture there which is pretty much clear if you look at them. But then again that just seems to be me. I don't seem to have the patience to build up any settings. Propably because I demand way too much from myself. Perfection right away and no slip ups allowed.

And that is just the thing. If I cannot get what I want right away I just give up. I'll have to work on that and just train on making those setups.

Tired Earthwalker

On long walks taking photos one just might get tired. Then it is time to take a little rest and relax a bit.

The Art of Wushu

Chinese calendar turned to the year of the pig at New Year, 18th February. To celebrate this a festival was held at Lasipalatsi Square in Helsinki. On the square there were many little stands offering things to eat and information about China and all that sort of stuff.

But the thing that caught my attention was the main (an only) stage on which were different groups performing. There were chinese dragons and lions and a wide variety of wushu performers. Here is one example for you people.

Squirt

I have seen my fair share of fountains that spout high columns of water every now and then. But this one was inside a shopping mall in Mammuth II, Budapest, Hungary. The column of water reached to the level of the third floor (the floor the fountais is beign floor 0) very easily. And the water shot up so straight that barely any water at all sprinkled outside of the fountain below.

Over the last couple of weeks or so I have found myself longing for Budapest. Despite all of it lacks and flaws that became apparent after living there for 3 months and some odd weeks I actually do miss the city. Yes, the poor city is in sad state of disrepair but it is being renovated. Yes, poor me don't speak hungarian and only a small minority of locals speak english. Yes, my Diners Club card is practically useless there. But still, the city is beautiful, it has beautiful parks and the people are nice even though we might not quite understand each other.

As much as I wanted to get away from there during the last month I lived there, now I just want to get back.

Dock Your Airships Here

Whatcha Staring At?

Solar Eclipse By a Sculpture

I just had to test my camera back in Hungary just to see how it would handle the backlit situation. Pretty well I would think.

This patricular statue is located at Hősök tere in Budapest. I like how well the details of the statue are visible even when taking a shot against such a strong lightsource as the Sun. If I remember correctly I couldn't see any details with naked eye on the site.

The settings for this shot were 1/400s, f/14.0 and ISO100

Until Death Do You Apart

We happened to stumble upon a wedding party in Budapest. The happy couple was wed in St. Stephen's Basilica, which is quite magnificent church. The whole wedding party, as far as I could tell, was dressed up in pretty extravagant clothes. All that white cloth shined quite bright in the midday sun, lucky me I had my sunglasses on.

But that is one heck of a wedding dress the bride is wearing...

Art of Ice

We had an ice sculpting competition last weekend here in Helsinki. The competition had participants from variety of countries and the resulting sculptures were mainly amazing. To make the scultures even more impressive than they already were, they were backlit with colored lights.

The sculpture presented here wasn't the winning one, but I did like it quite much. But the main reason I am posting this one is that I think this was the best picture I shot that evening. It is pretty hard to take pictures in dusk. And the fact that I was just about freezing didn't make it any easier.

I'll look through my pictures from the competition again later. Maybe there are some others worth posting. There should be if I weren't so selfcritical about my photos.

Whoa man, look at the colors!

Way too many buildings look way too boring at night time. Either they are just about pitch black, glow in orange or white. Little more creativity please. Use of colors, besides the orange, shouldn't be that challenging. I mean, take a look at this building here. Normally, I bet, that stairway would be lit with white lights but with a little creative use of colorlights the building looks actually quite amazing.

The Fennia building in downtown Helsinki is another good example of non-traditional lighting of a house. It is lit with lights that change the color every now and then and it is beautiful. But for some reason it feels like it is illegal or something to use any other color of light than white or orange to enlighten (public) buildings.

I should photograph that Fennia building too sometime.

Roof Art

Everyone living in a bigger town than 10 or citizens (or at least visited such a town) has surely seen some graffitis. Most of them are ugly as hell but there are some really artistic among them too.

But if you are going to art of grand scale on a public building then do it with style. Like this 175-year-old roof graffiti in Vienna, Austria. Now there's style!

What did you say? It is not a graffiti? It is a colorful roof tiling?

Oh yeah, no kidding?

Been Kind of Busy

First of all I have to apologize for the three or four regular visitors and the bunch on non-regular ones for not updating for quite some time.

The reason me being somewhat busy is this little fella here. He is our litlle five (close to six now) months old testudo hermanni boettgeri or western hermann's tortoise. I have had quite a lot to learn about how to feed this guy what are his habits and so on. But most of my time has gone by mostly just watching him eat, sleep and wander around.

Quite not surprisingly most of my recent pictures are of him so I don't have much new stuff to post. I presume I am to dig to my archives yet again and try to find something worth posting.

Oh, one more thing, we call him Radagast even though it takes a decade or so to know his gender for sure.