Morning Light

Somehow, unintentionally, this years Monochrome Madness turned out to be all about the light. Week after week my images focus on natural light, manipulating the light, playing with light…once again it is confirmed that best things come spontaneously.

This sepia image is one of my  early morning images I take every day, while walking with Berta. They are usually bound to be published on Instagram, but I decided to use this one for Monochrome Madness.

After few rainy days, Sava spilled out of its riverbed, as it usually does in rainy seasons. I love little details of this image, the anchor finally touching the water, the half-submerged panel with the instructions for rowboats on how to approach the pier, the fact that I can distinguish where the riverbed sits…

Sitting here and absorbing every little detail, only now can I appreciate the beauty I encounter on my everyday walks. This is just one more added value to the art of photography.

Next week we tackle another monthly theme, this time it is Lines. Again, few ideas are forming in my mind, but it is anyones guess how successful the execution will be.

That is all I have for you this week… for more excellent entries, you can check tomorrow Leanne’s blog Leanne Cole PHOTOGRAPHY.

January on Instagram

Expanding your creative horizons can come from so many different directions. There is no real excuse to not challenge and push yourself every day. Because the world is around you, everywhere you look…It is not in a far away land that you dream of visiting, once you find a better job and save some money. The world is at your exposure every morning when you open your eyes.

As you can see, my little Instagram project is still going strong. For almost 100 days I am taking pictures on my morning walks and I am still able to find something new. Weather it is a different subject or a different angle or a different light, I rediscover my little piece of heaven again and again. I don’t think I appreciated the beauty that surrounds me, until I saw all the images together.

There is even a fresh face this month, my best friends dog, a very irresistable Jack Russel named Vilma. Berta and I both adore her, I hope there will be some new images with the two of them. If I am able to catch them in the same frame. 😀

My beautiful railway bridge is officially named “Hendrix”! For over thirty years someone makes a graffiti at the side of the bridge and every time officials paint it over, but soon after the name “Hendrix” is proudly standing again. In the end, urban culture won. There might be hope for us…

I think Berta is warming up to my silly hobby, I managed to get few really beautiful images. She is still ignoring me, but at least she is still. 😛 I am quite taken by the colors in all these images, what a talented artist nature is. Looking at the collection, I am only inspired to continue with this Instagram project. Isn’t that something?

I got a wonderful Christmas present that arrived in the middle of January – Samsung Galaxy S6, the phone with the best camera. What a difference it makes, compared to my old iPhone 4S, a pure joy. You can find me on Instagram if you look for snowlocked, I would love to follow you there, too.

Lastly, I would like to share with you this heavenly piece of music, a beautiful soundtrack for my morning walks.

Every Step Holds a Story

Inspiration is a funny thing. You sit at home and wonder what you gonna choose for your next Monochrome Madness, because you already went through all the images twenty-seven times. And it’s hot outside, you really don’t feel like going outside.

But you have a dog. And she is wagging her tail and looking at you in that funny way, you just can’t resist. So, you go out…and just for fun, you take your camera with you. Even though you don’t think you’ll find anything interesting. Because, it’s hot and you are going to the same old place.

You go down to the river and sit on the dock. It is not so hot here, the water and the breeze offer comfort. Your silly dog takes a dip and gets you all wet, but you don’t mind. It is a beautiful day. No care in the world. And suddenly, this little duck appears, swimming around, not really caring about you or your problems. Yes, inspiration is a funny thing.

As always, be so kind to check other great entries in this week’s Monochrome Madness Challenge on Leanne’s blog Leanne Cole PHOTOGRAPHY.

Down By The River

Mondays are usually reserved for One Four Challenge, but this is a review month, so I am taking some artistic liberties. I will use this month to search for some images that I might use in the future OFCs.

I always leave everything for the last minute, that is a well-known fact. So, when Leanne Cole posted month ago that for the first August Monochrome Madness theme would be bridges, it was natural that I left it for this Sunday.

I overslept. So, instead of the beautiful sunrise light, I got scorching heat and blinding brightness. Instead of enjoying some quiet time, I stumbled upon fishermen with whom I hold a long-standing grudge. I managed to find a peaceful place on a wooden dock, only to be chased by the rowers who for the first time ever chose that exact spot to stop and rearrange their seating.

Ah, well….amidst all that drama, I did enjoy myself, watched Berta take a dip in the river, tried to take photo of some crazy fish jumping out of the water and took few images of newly renovated railroad bridge.

Not a great gallery, but not entirely bad. It is almost impossible to take a decent image of Berta, the second she sees my camera, she duck. The one where she is laying on the dock is the best I took in years. She heard the rowers approaching, so she turned around. Bingo!

As I said, there were so many crazy fishies jumping out of the water, but soon I found out it was impossible to catch them on camera. Like they took a page from Berta’s book. The one here is barely visible, but I liked the composition with that end of the wooden dock, so I played around with it. My friend suggested I take a video and extract an image from there, but isn’t that cheating?

The railroad had been under the construction for three years and is finally finished. Nicknamed “Hendrix” for the graffiti that was painted 30 years ago, the bridge was constructed in the year 1939. and it has a great architectural and engineering value, because there was no actual welding work and the main beam was strengthened through ingenious engineering of the arc. Although the Hendrix graffiti was painted without any real artistic merit and certainly without any deep message, over the years it acquired somewhat legendary status, especially to the “Lost” generation of 70s and 80s. In the latest reconstruction, a new coat of paint was applied. There were two separate attempts to spray “Hendrix” at the same place, center of the bridge, but the workers painted it over. Still, there is hope, now that the job is done, some brave soul will climb the bridge and make it “Hendrix” again.

Next Monday I would like to take you behind the stage of June and July One Four Challenge, on a stroll through Milan. Stay tuned. 😀

Sail Away With Me

We just received a big shipment of goods for my company and while everyone is helping (we are really small company), I managed to sneak out, just to write this post. I always schedule it in advance, but never compose my thoughts until Friday. So, here are my thoughts…

…well, in the meantime I had to return to work, so here are my thoughts now.

Sometimes just a small adjustment can make a big difference. I was surprised to see how this one came to life, when all I did was increasing temperature and saturation. Little bit of healing to make that boat more shiny and that was it.

See, I kept it sweet and short. First day of spring and all that…flying home on my broomstick. 😛

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You can check other entries over at Stacy’s blog Visual Venturing.

As usual, have a fabulous weekend and stay beautiful!