Sea, Sky and I…and Berta

I took a mini-break few weeks ago and traveled to island of Brač. It was the middle of February and I needed to refill my batteries. So I woke up one Saturday morning, threw few things in my bag and Berta and I hopped into my car for a  3,5 hours drive from Zagreb to Split.

One ferry ride later I was in Supetar. The weather was perfect and the moment I stepped on the ferry deck, my vacation truly started. Accompanied by seagulls and light breeze, my ferry trip was made perfect when this old ship offered itself for a photo opportunity.

There is a special place where Berta and I used to take morning strolls years ago and it was nice to return to that very spot. Naturally, Berta behaved in her usual manner, completely ignoring my attempts to capture a photo of her. But somehow, her pose suits this composition…observing the sunrise. So I pretend it was just the way I wanted it.

After few minutes of walking we ended up in the little cove and Berta decided to dip her paws just a little bit. I am lucky she decided it was too cold for a swim, because despite a very sunny day it would be a nightmare drying her afterwards.  Small miracles and all that…

On our way back we ran into a flock of little birds who performed a concert for us…even Berta was interested in their music and she is a tough crowd to please.

Croatia is famous for its stone walls which dates back thousands of years . The art of dry stone walling, know-how and techniques in Croatia were globally recognized in November 2018, when this form of art was added to the Representative List of Intangible UNESCO Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

This particular forest follows the coastline for few kilometers and it offers some splendid views over a Brač channel to the mainland coast and the mountains Mosor and Biokovo. Although a popular tourist destination over the summer, I think people should visit these parts in winter months, when the weather can be so nice and you don’t have to fight for your spot under the sun.

And finally!!!! A success!!! She was kind enough to pose for me.

Thank you Berta! ❤ ❤ ❤

After 72 hours of bliss it was time to head back home. But it was worth it and I returned reinvigorated and with high spirits. Now it’s time for a new adventure…I wonder where Berta would like to go next.

As always, you can find me on Instagram under the nick snowlocked. I would love if we could connect there, too.

 

Advertisement

Summer InstaFun

June on Instagram was not very fruitful, but it still gave me one of my favorite images ever. I find it a great success capturing bugs in their everyday life. Stalking this little bee probably looked strange to passersby, but who cares? 😀

A flower here, a pine cone there, you never know where you will find your own treasure chest.

My usual suspects, Hendrix and Berta, can not escape my attention. The heat wave shortened my morning walks, that is why there are so few images.

As always, you can find me under the nick snowlocked. I would love if we could connect on Instagram, too.

Ahoy Snaily!

Nothing special here, just another close encounter on my morning wanderings. Thankfully, the snail is very slow by nature, which allowed me to come close. Interesting thing is that I just noticed one of its upper tentacles is half missing., meaning we have a one-eyed snail here! Poor thing, who knows what kind of adventure resulted in that.

As always, hop to Leanne Cole’s blog Leanne Cole PHOTOGRAPHY, where every Wednesday she hosts The Monochrome Madness Challenge, with many excellent images.

Better Late…

I needed some time away from my computer and it took me almost two months to come back. But I continued my Instagram fun, taking pictures on my morning walks. This set of images is from April, when the sun was still soft and gentle.

Spring was in full swing and I was surrounded by flowers.

I’ll have to wait for autumn to get these kind of images again, these days the sun is too high too early.

Macro world is charming as ever and I was lucky enough to stumble upon slowly moving creatures, the only kind that has patience for my photography attempts.

One side of my bridge is irresistible at dawn, while the other shows its glory when the sun hits hardest.

My dearest companion was very patient with me and graced me with few poses and even a smile. One of my favorites is the early morning landscape with her in the middle, what a beautiful morning that was.

As always, you can find me under the nick snowlocked. I would love if we could connect on Instagram, too.

Peace Lily

My victim for this week’s Monochrome Madness Challenge is my little Spathiphyllum, the only plant that can survive my caregiving. And it even blooms! Considering me being a serial killer of plants, it is a miracle. On the other hand, it would be quite a miracle if I managed to kill this one, considering it being very resilient. I finally found a perfect match for me. 🙂

The only thing worth mentioning about my post-processing is adding a frame. It seldom works, but I find it quite an improvement here.

For more interesting monochrome images, I recommend a visit to Leanne Cole’s blog Leanne Cole PHOTOGRAPHY, where every Wednesday she hosts The Monochrome Madness Challenge.

Instafreeze

I can’t remember the last time we had so many days with temperatures way bellow zero…We are used to subzero temperatures, but 40 days in a row is too much, even for me.

It was challenging to take photos on my morning walks, even few seconds without the protection of gloves was hard to bear. And still…there were many beautiful mornings that beckoned me to capture them.

We had very little snow, but it stuck around for long, transforming in low temperatures from soft cover to icy trap. What a fascinating thing to observe, how nature struggles and embraces all the changes in different seasons.

But I don’t think anyone enjoys this weather more than Berta. She bursts with energy, running and playing in snow and her fur is so rich, shiny and soft…And she smells like cold winter and snow.

As always, you can find me under the nick snowlocked. I would love if we could connect on Instagram, too.

Instagram Adventure Continues

I took a bit of a break for holidays, enjoyed some time with family and friends. Now that the work started, I am starting to work on my blog, too.

All through the last year I had enormous fun with my Instagram project, taking photos on my morning walks and posting them with minimum processing. December was no exception, I experienced great weather and some pretty amazing mornings.

A professor of mine used to say “It’s all about the details.” and more often than not I can’t argue with that. It is very rewarding when you rediscover an old thing that you’ve been passing by for years.

The gentleness of winter sunrises always leave me breathless, it almost feels like the sun shyly invites you into a new day.

Being the month of December, it was impossible to avoid few Christmas images. But I managed to control myself this time and posted just the few.

Month after month my Instagram project continues only and only because of Berta. She is my driving force for all the morning walks, I don’t think I would be up and about in freezing conditions morning after morning, if it wasn’t for her. And sometimes she gives me the best and funniest images I could ask for.

My Instagram feed was swamped with everyone’s #best16of16, so I had to do it myself. It was interesting to see which images were most popular and I was quite surprised to see almost 10.000 likes. I have such a small group of followers, so that number is pretty amazing.

My Instagram adventure continues in 2017. and as always, you can find me under the nick snowlocked. I would love if we could connect on Instagram, too.

 

Horton Hears a Who

Another Tuesday creeped upon me and I found myself searching for an image to play with for this week’s Monochrome Madness. Last few months I was just doing my Instagram project, using my phone camera, so I constantly go back to older photo sessions, trying to find something interesting.

Today I was lucky and stumbled upon this image fairly quickly. I took it two years ago, around this time. It is an abandoned flowerpot in front of the neighbouring building, where all these little succulents grow wildly. I love their little world and I remember I spent quite some time just sitting and observing how they intertwine and reach out.

Editing was very light, just a touch of softness and a gentle vignette. Sometimes, you don’t have to step all over it, just leave it be. I think I might go and look for them again, to see what happened in last two years. Maybe this time I’ll find a hidden world, just like Dr. Seuss described so long ago.

As always, for additional monochrome images, visit Leanne Cole’s blog Leanne Cole PHOTOGRAPHY, where every Wednesday she hosts The Monochrome Madness Challenge.

 

Instagram…I have failed you

It finally happened, I slipped…Only six images in July. But I have a good excuse. The sun is too high on my morning walks and everything is too bright, scorched, flat…

And still…everything is here. My Berta, the bridge, the river bank, flowers…everything that makes my mornings beautiful.

The railway bridge is just perfect subject for this “Shock” filter, it makes it look so raw, harsh, exposed…I love it.

Hopefully, August proves this was just a glitch and my fun with Instragram continues. As always, you can find me under the nick snowlocked. I would love if we could connect on Instagram, too.

Hey Instagram! Still here…

My June on Instagram proved more diverse than ever…From macro world to cityscapes to forces of nature.

I captured the image of basil leaves on my friend’s balcony in the middle of the day. It is always interesting how you can achieve different things by playing with light. And it is especially rewarding when you can manage to capture a little life on the flower.

Unfortunately, only two images of the Old town…I went to the theater the other day and couldn’t resist the beautiful sunset reflecting on the cathedral and the adjacent buildings. I might go to the city just for a photo session.

As usual, I posted few images of my part of the woods…or to be exact, riverbank. We experienced some extreme weather changes in the last month, stormy and sunny in the span of minutes.

My Instagram wouldn’t be complete without Berta, my trusted sidekick. She is really persistent in ignoring my photographic attempts. But, I am so used to it by now, it would be quite shocking if she decided to look straight at the camera.

As always, you can find me under the nick snowlocked. I would love if we could connect on Instagram, too.