Bi-Weekly Photo: Snapshots in the Snow

After the birthday party last Tuesday, Pia and I were waiting for the train and I pulled out my camera. I like natural-looking night shots, without using a flash, so the 50mm prime lens came in handy. At an aperture of 1.4 it made it quite difficult to focus, but provided more than enough light to take some very nice shots.

There was a thick layer of fresh snow on the ground acting as a large and very diffuse reflector. On the other hand, Pia's umbrella blocked any direct light and provided a blue background, which is supposed to be a good choice when taking portraits. Combined with the warm color of the street lamp on the platform, it led to a very soft and pleasing lighting.

Birthday!

My birthday was on Monday. Due to the exams the celebrations were cut a bit short, but Pia found some time to bake a cake:

We celebrated a day later with some friends at a bar, where they gave me a collective present: I get to jump off a plane! I've really wanted to try skydiving for some time now, but the high prices always threw me back. Pia had been planning this for quite a long time and managed to get lots of friends to chip in to make it possible. Thank you all! I love it!

Bi-Weekly Photo: Segovia

Today's picture shows my hometown Segovia as seen from Valverde del Majano, where my grandfather lives (to be specific, it was taken from here). It's a bit hazy, and the shot is a bit wide (it was taken with my 18-135mm lens at maximum zoom), but it shows all the important details pretty well.

The tower in the middle belongs to the cathedral, and to the left you can see south-western side of the Alcazar.

Todays Bi-Weekly Photo...

... will be delayed a bit. I did not have time to write one. I'll post it this afternoon.