Not Doing Regular Posts For a While

When I started the Bi-Weekly Photo section, my main concern was finding time to write. I didn't think I was going to run out of pictures to post. I was actually hoping that, once I'd finished the lab course last month, I would have a lot more time on my hands and could go out and take pictures. I was wrong. I already missed last "By-Weekly Photo", and I still haven't got any more interesting material... While I'm not as busy as last month, I've still got a lot to do, so for the time being (might be the entire semester), I'm going to stop posting regularly.

I hope to be able to post every once in a while, though. On the bright side, my brother wants to get his car over to Germany, so I might even have another road trip from Spain to Germany coming soon.

In the meantime, here's a sight we had been waiting for here in Munich:

Spring's finally back. We can stop complaining about how cold it is. Sure, in about two weeks everybody's going to be complaining about how hot it is, but hey, right now the weather's great!

Bi-Weekly Photo: Garching Forschungszentrum

On the day of my last exam this semester I took my camera along to take a couple of pictures of the campus while there was still a bit of snow left.

The first one is right behind the faculty for mechanical engineering. This is not what it looks like while there are still lectures, it's usually quite lively, since its right in front of the faculty's cafeteria and on the way to the parking lot.

The second one is a picture of my faculty, computer science and mathematics. The trees arranged in a triangle and the binary counter lanterns in the foreground are a nice decoration which fits both the faculty and the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre, which is just outside the picture's field of view to the left.

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.

Bi-Weekly Photo: Experimenting With Long Exposure

One of the things I wanted to try when I bought the camera was long exposure shots, but I didn't try it until last December. I suppose I was too lazy to get out after dark to take some pictures alone. Fortunately, Pia saw a short clip about light painting on TV and wanted to do it herself, and since here in Munich "after dark" means at 4:30 PM during the winter, it was more like an afternoon walk.

In case you don't know what light painting is: if you have a scene with very little light or simulate that using a filter, you can capture that scene nontheless with a long exposure shot, where the shutter remains open for a long time period, "gathering" more light. If you take a strong light source and move it around the scene, that light source is "burned" into the image at every point it passes through, leaving a trail. This can be used to "draw" some interesting forms on your image.

We went to the park looking for a spot without too much artificial lighting and found this:

This was a rather quick shot (81s according to the Metadata), which is why the startrails are so short. It turned out to be one of the best shots, however. I still have a lot to learn about photography...

Here's one light-painted by Pia. I didn't manage to draw anything good...

PS: Yes, the white, red and purple spots on the image are hot pixels on my camera's sensor... It was the first time I used the sensor for long periods of time. I suppose it got a little hotter than usually, revealing the otherwise less obvious hot pixels.

Christmas in Germany - Feuerzangenbowle

It's that time of the year again, when magic and freezing temperatures turn the reaction to cheap warm wine from "eeewww!" into "mmmmhh... Can I have some more?". Once again, Munich is filled with christmas markets with all sorts of beautiful [and slightly overpriced] ornaments, delicious foods and of course, hot beverages, mostly alcoholic, to keep us warm. Here's a picture of an ornament shop at the christmas market in the "Marienplatz", with the town hall in the background:

Ever since I saw the movie by the same name I've wanted to try a "Feuerzangenbowle", a traditional christmas beverage made of hot wine with cinnamon and other spices, which is then sweetened by a block of sugar soaked with rum and melted by lighting it on fire. It was quite interesting to hold the cup and watch the sugar burn, slowly melting into it.
I burned my tonge attempting to drink it shortly after the flame went out, but once it cooled down a bit, it was really a treat! This is what it looked like half way through the "melting process":

Munich in autumn

I was thinking of posting a photo that I find interesting every two weeks. I didn't manage to post a single photo since the trip in September, so I'm not sure if I will manage to keep up, but it's worth a shot.

I want to start by posting one of the more recent photos. Since we're having great weather conditions this weekend in Munich, my girlfriend and I went for a walk in the park ("Englischer Garten") and took the camera with us:

PS: Feel free to leave a comment below! I would love some feedback, and it would be great to get to know my audience :)