Fresh Air

The prompt for Picture the Holidays today was "a breath of fresh air". Everything is still covered in snow and it's freezing - so the air is really, really fresh... Apart from the fact that I'm made more for summer temperatures it's absolutely lovely.

Have a good start into the last week of 2010!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

After a lot of rain and unseasonably high temperatures during the last few days it has started snowing again yesterday and we are now enjoying a white Christmas!

Visit the Mortal Muses to admire all sorts of ornaments or maybe even share your own favourite!

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope you are having a good time!

Sweets

Okay, so I admit it... I bought these sweets solely and explicitly for my photo shoot today...! Such a good excuse, isn't it? The moment I read the Mortal Muses' prompt for today I knew I was doomed...!

Have a sweet Monday!

Bells

Textures by Kim Klassen

Today I planned on participating at Macro Friday with a macro shot of the cookies I was baking. All cookies packed away I wanted to upload my photos when I noticed that the memory card was still sitting in my card reader and not in my camera... So much for the cookies!

Considering my options I decided to take up the Mortal Muses' Holidays prompt which today is "Bells". I'm looking forward to seeing all the other bells at the Mortal Muses and maybe even a cookie at Blogging From Bolivia...!

Have a wonderful Friday and enjoy your weekend!

Christmas Lights

Sometimes I think that those Christmas lights are here to make up for the short days, to give us something to enjoy during the long nights. For more light enjoyment hop over to the Mortal Muses to see all of today's entries.

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Giving

The wonderful Mortal Muses are doing a daily Holiday prompt and today's word is "giving". To me the most important aspect of giving is, that it comes from the heart. I also associate "giving" with warmth and so I chose to share this warm glow of a candle light to represent the prompt.

Have a wonderful day everyone and do have a look at all the entries!

Christmas Cards

I have the feeling that each day goes by even faster than the one before. There is such a lot to do and I'm so far behind with my Christmas preparations this year. I haven't even started with writing my Christmas cards! Have you?

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Photo of the Day

The last days of freezing and thawing and raining and snowing have left a very rough icy surface on the lake and this leaf is caught just beneath that last layer of ice. Some more leaves are farther below and account for the dark and brownish spots in the photo. Isn't nature just fascinating?

Have a wonderful Monday!

Christmas Colours

I'm not so much the gold person when it comes to jewellery, but for Christmas it's almost a must! This year, I absolutely love the combination of gold, cream and white tones. There are also some purple/silver decorations around that are simply adorable.

What are your favourite colour schemes this year? Just hop over to A Common Thread and share your favourites - we'd love to see and read about it!

This is also my entry for Macro Friday at Blogging From Bolivia - do have a look there, too, the macros are always so amazing!

Have a wonderful Friday and enjoy your weekend!

Signs and Messages

Today's prompt for Picture the Holidays was to have an open eye for signs and messages around us.

On my way home from work I took the time to look around, even made a little detour to a bookstore (just to be on the safe side and really find something written there for me...) and strangely enough, there were a lot of messages everywhere.

After yesterday's post - and thank you all for your responses, I'm so relieved not to be alone! - I decided on the above. I think I could do with both at the moment: relaxing and uplifting...!

I wish you an uplifting or relaxing Thursday - whatever is best for you!

Creative Exchange

I know, I'm a bit late for it, but I wanted to participate at Lisa's Creative Exchange. This is a macro shot of a star made of glass, and as you can see I was playing around with Kim Klassen's textures again.

I don't feel so very creative at the moment and it's really difficult for me to focus. Is it just me or are you also having difficulties to get everything done and still have time for your creative projects?

I wish you a creative Wednesday!

Candle Time

It's so cold outside and it has been raining for hours on end! Time for candles - I love to snuggle up on my sofa wrapped in a cosy blanket, enjoying the warm glow of the candles.

I hope you have a good start into the week with something to keep you warm and well!

Unplanned

The two days of absence here were not planned, but sometimes you don't have much choice and can't always do what you'd like to do...

Today, I just pop in to share this heart with you - it's a little "Thank you" for your lovely comments, and also my entry for Macro Friday at Blogging from Bolivia. Do have a look at all the entries, it's always so amazing!

I'm signing off for the weekend and hope to be back on Monday catching up with all your blogs and comments. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

The Last One

This is my last photo for Justine's November in Black and White. I had never realized that I'm such a colour person and black and white was really hard for me. But it was a great experience and I even contributed more black and white photos than I initially thought I would.

Thank you, Justine, for initiating that challenge and for being such an inspiration - your black and white photos have been so amazing!

Have a wonderful Tuesday with colourful Christmas decoration just around the corner!

Two More Days

It's only two more days for November in Black and White with Justine - I can't believe how time flies! This is what I saw today while waiting for my train.

Have a wonderful start into the week!

The Sunday Creative

Justine is hosting the Sunday Creative and today's prompt is "material". Well, Madonna's song "Material Girl" was really the first thing that came to my mind. However, with only little time on my hands today for photography I stuck with the definition "a textile fabric", showing you the fabric of one of my favourite cardigans.

And isn't it just convenient for the "November in Black and White" photos that this cardigan's colour is grey!

Have a wonderful Sunday and enjoy the creativity at Justine's blog!

Let's Party

It's Macro Friday at Blogging from Bolivia and it's also party time at A Common Thread - a perfect reason to choose a "party-inspired" macro today!

Why don't you join us!

Have a wonderful Friday and enjoy your weekend!

Thank You So Much

The Mortal Muses are organizing a blog hop to celebrate Thanksgiving and share what everyone is thankful for.

I'm thankful for all the inspiration I have got from all of you by seeing your photos and reading your blogs.
I'm also thankful for the encouraging comments on my blog that egged me on to keep going and try new things.
And I'm thankful for having met each and everyone of you - I do so enjoy our time together in this community!

And a special "Thank You" to Jude, Justine and Lisa for starting out on the adventure of setting up a blog together.

I'm linking this up to the Mortal Muses' blog hop - wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Black and White Wednesday

My day today would definitely need more hours... so I just link my photo to Black and White Wednesday at The Long Road to China and hope to visit a few of your blogs, too.

Have a wonderful day!

The Last Lily

My lilies have dropped their petals and this is the last one still holding up, posing for my photos. As it is Creative Exchange time at Lisa's blog I worked with textures by Kim Klassen on this photo and also tried a few of Kim's tricks on saturation and gradient map.

Have a wonderful day and enjoy all the creative entries!

Getting Dizzy

Today I found these stairs and thought black and white might suit them. It was a funny feeling bending over the railing - I was so afraid to drop my camera!

Have a wonderful Monday everyone - and if you are ready for a surprise: head over to here and enjoy!

Sunday Creative

Justine is hosting the Sunday Creative today and her prompt is "Indulge". I hope you are not bored by the fact that I come up with yet another flower shot but inspiration seems to be a bit slow today for something really brilliant.

Here is my train of thought how it meets the definition of indulge: I "yielded to my whim" of taking a flower shot and I also was "lenient" towards myself as I took the time to take this shot despite that fact that we will be having guests in short time and I should rather be in the kitchen at the moment.

And I even include a black and white version to yield to my wish to participate in Justine's November in Black and White.

Have a wonderful Sunday and indulge yourself with going over to Justine's blog and enjoy the entries.

Light, Please

After having completed my Saturday To Do's I suddenly realized that it was already getting rather dark - and I hadn't taken my photo of the day yet! Experiencing something close to a panic attack I grabbed my camera and rushed out... Thanks to that lamp I was spared improvising an indoor shot today.

As I rather like that blue (it's SOCC), I won't post the black and white version I tried for Justine's November in Black and White.

Have a wonderful Saturday everyone and enjoy your weekend.

Macro Friday

Here it is - my first black and white macro! I got these beautiful (soft pink coloured) lilies last Saturday and as they still are in pretty good shape, I decided they deserve to be my entry for Macro Friday at Laura's blog Blogging From Bolivia.

Have a wonderful Friday and enjoy your weekend!

Photo of the Day

Only 12 days left for Justine's November in Black and White! I have the feeling that somehow with projects linked to certain dates, time goes by even faster than it normally does. Anyway, as my contributions to Justine's challenge haven't been so numerous so far, I decided to have another go at black and white.

Thanks so much for your encouraging comments - without them I wouldn't have dared to join in this black and white adventure.

The Easy Way

Yes, I admit it! I made it easy for myself today for Black and White Wednesday at The Long Road to China, as colour is not the crucial factor in this photo, as it seems to be to me when shooting flowers or the like.

This is an underground corridor (with orange walls and a yellowish floor) and I very much like the form and curve of it.

Have a colourful Wednesday - despite the black and white!

Texture Time

Time flies - it's Tuesday again, the day for Lisa's Creative Exchange and my occasion to play around with textures!

I used Kim Klassen's amazing textures here and also applied some of her tips on using different blending modes. So much to learn, but also so much fun!

Enjoy your Tuesday!

Hello?!

It's Mid-November and a daisy was the last thing I would have expected  to find on a photo walk these days - but here it is!

As a contribution to Justine's November in Black and White I converted the photo, although it looked so pretty in the green grass with the brown leaves as backdrop.

Well, see for yourself... I think I prefer the colour version. What do you think?

I wish you a colourful Monday!

Back Again

Last week was really exhausting and while it felt odd not to have time for my usual photography activities, it is now somehow strangely difficult to get back "into the flow" again, to get the focus back from only work. Weird, isn't it?

So today I had my first photo walk after over a week, and I was so glad to have a goal - finding something to interpret today's prompt for the Sunday Creative hosted by Justine at the moment. The prompt is "lonely" and I was really lucky to find this solitary leaf on the tree right in front of my apartment. I'm looking forward to seeing all the other entries there.

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone and I hope to catch up on you during the next days!

Macro Friday

It's Macro Friday at Blogging from Bolivia and also Justine's November in Black and White.

I really did try to combine this into a black and white macro today... deleted them all! Maybe my eyes are not made for black and white or maybe there are still too many colours around. Let's try that black and white macro again in a week!

This is probably the last photo until then, as I will be travelling and might not be able to go online. I wish you all a great Friday and a wonderful week!

Sunny Day in Black & White

The sun is shining, blue sky, yellow, red, green, orange leaves, deep autumn colours everywhere and in the middle of this: I - looking for a black and white shot...! Tough, very tough! But I tried and thanks to the sunshine I found some nice shadows.

I wish you a sunny Thursday!

Black and White Wednesday

It's Black and White Wednesday at The Long Road to China. I've been visiting quite often to have a look at all those wonderful entries but never joined, as black and white photography isn't really my strong point.

But today, with Justine's challenge of a "black and white November" in my mind, I decided to participate with the photo above. The original shows that it's the broken window of a red-brick building - obviously abandoned.

Despite the black and white I wish you a colourful Wednesday!

Creative Exchange

It's time for Lisa's Creative Exchange again. Lisa has created her first texture and used it on a photo - very impressive! Go over and have a look!

For me it's textures, as well, today, and no black and white, as it just didn't work out with what I was trying. I decided to take one step after the other in this whole learning process... I used Kim Klassen's textures, by the way. She is so amazing and I'm really glad about her video tutorials on working with textures.

Enjoy your Tuesday!

Dramatic November Start

Yesterday, Justine has challenged us to join her for a month of black and white photos during November. She didn't use the word "challenge" and maybe it's easy for you, but for me it's a real challenge! Not technically, as Photoshop Elements very conveniently offers the possibility to convert into black and white with a mouse click. My difficulty lies in my imagination - I can't foresee whether something colourful really looks good in black and white and mostly the photos turn out just dull.

I told Justine that I would join in not for the whole month but once in a while to use it as an opportunity for practice. So here is my first black and white photo - with a lot of help from nature, as a nearly leafless tree in front of an overcast sky presented itself almost perfectly in black and white already.

The Sunday Creative

Today the Sunday Creative challenge is hosted by Justine and the prompt is "obsolete". As mostly with prompts I was completely at a loss and then took a walk hoping for inspiration...

I found this chair which meets the definition "no longer in general use" (I wouldn't want to sit on this one...) and obviously it has been "replaced by something newer or better", so here it is, my "obsolete" entry. I'm only sorry it wasn't disposed of properly.

Have a creative Sunday and enjoy looking at all the entries at Justine's blog.

Flowers on Saturday

I discovered the challenge Flowers on Saturday at Ewa's blog and decided to take a little good-bye shot of these yellow flowers on my balcony. I was lucky to have a bit of sunshine while I was taking this photo, so they could present themselves at their best at what was probably their last shooting this year.

Have a wonderful weekend and a happy Halloween!

Macro Friday

It's Macro Friday again at Blogging From Bolivia. When I was surprised by a very nice colleague at work today with this sweet above I decided to take a macro of it for today's challenge. It's an Italian speciality called "Tartufo Bianco" and consists mainly of hazelnuts. The hardest part was not to unwrap it immediately but bring it home, put up my tripod, unwrap it, try a few angles and take a few shots... and THEN have a bite - so delicious!!

I'm afraid my Friday is very busy so I'll have to catch up on all the blogs over the weekend. There are always such great entries at Laura's blog, do have a look, too!

Have a wonderful Friday everybody!

Autumn Colours

After over a week of wet and dull weather we had sunshine today and I immediately grabbed my camera and headed out again after coming home from work. Although temperatures were really low, I enjoyed every minute in the sun and of course the light for taking photos.

I found the above leaves hidden behind a bush with red berries which add a (in my eyes) nice reddish blur around the yellow of the leaves.

I wish you a sunny Wednesday, too!

Creative Exchange

It's Creative Exchange again at Lisa's blog White Cotton Tee. I'm still a bit insecure with textures and which photos to use other than flowers (and not even every flower seems to work...), so today I decided to try something different.

As I already told, you I'm not so experienced with my software and somehow don't get around to really learn it. If I do use it, it's either something simple like adjusting the levels or I play around, mostly not able to reproduce the same effect again later on.

The picture above is a result of playing around... I converted the original photo into b & w and then used the solarize filter and adjusted the brightness.

Have a creative Tuesday!

Difficult

It's becoming more and more challenging to take a decent photo with that little bit of light available after work. And that dull and rainy weather doesn't help either...

Before I continue with lamenting and complaining I'll rather wish you a happy Monday!

Sunday Creative

It's Sunday Creative today at Madeline Bea's blog and I've wanted to participate for some time, but could never come up with an apt photo for the respective prompt.

Today started out no different - the prompt is "dynamic" and I went out brainstorming while walking along, looking for dynamic athletes or dynamic cars like a Porsche. As I wasn't lucky with any of these and couldn't come up with another idea, I decided to try it again with next week's prompt and just go about taking my photo of the day.

I was concentrating hard on a daisy I had discovered between fallen leaves when I heard something squeaking next to me... and looking up I saw this beautiful Retriever running and jumping around (dynamically!!), playing with his toy. Unfortunately, my photos are not as sharp as I would have liked them to be due to really bad light today, but I hope you can see the dynamic, anyway.

Have a wonderful Sunday, either dynamic or calm, whatever is best for you!

Photo of the Day

This is just a quick "Hello" posting today's photo for my 365 project - a feather I found drifting in the water. Shortly after that shot I met the owner of the feather, too...

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Macro Friday

Can you believe it's Friday again?! Macro Friday at Blogging From Bolivia! My entry this week is a macro of a ribbon for decorating presents. I have to admit that I have two left hands as far as gift wrapping is concerned but I do love all those varieties of ribbons and bows that are available.

I'm in a bit of a hurry today but I'm looking forward to reading your posts and admiring all the macros at Laura's blog over the weekend.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Connections

Today's prompt at Picture Fall was "connections" and while my mind was offering me a big question mark, my eyes spotted the above.

This is definitely no flower, no leaf, nothing from nature... and it feels so weird showing this here. However, I'm somewhat fascinated by the links and bolts - and I'm curious what you think of it!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Creative Exchange

It's time again for the Creative Exchange at Lisa's blog White Cotton Tee. I had a go with textures again - this time using one of Kim Klassen's  textures and also trying out her fabulous tips and tricks. There is a lot to learn with textures - I'm still at a loss what pictures work best for textures and what textures to use - but it is fun and I'm glad to have a reason to try it on Tuesdays!

Have a creative Tuesday, too!

Photo of The Day

Today is a wet and cold and grey day - and nevertheless somehow it's colourful, too (no editing - that's really how the colours are)! Autumn is fascinating, isn't it!

I hope you have a good start into the week!