Christmas and computers

They speak for themselves.

Straw

Another one from the Delta trip. This is the straw used to thatch the roofs. It grows everywhere in the Delta, but isn't much harvested now. The morning light was coming from the right and bouncing off the grass, which gives an unusual uplighting effect on the straw.

Shell House

Another one from the Danube Delta. This was taken on a bright early morning with clear skies; the lack of any texture in the sky in the photograph shows this, there really wasn't any to show. The house is still in use, although not for humans, and the thatch roof is maintained. The next photo I upload will show the raw material, in the same early morning light.

Hair

Just to show something a little different. From the Theatre Festival in Sibiu, June 2007 when Sibiu was European Capital of Culture.

Delta

The first example from my trip to the Danube Delta. I think it combines all of the key elements of the Delta, even if only symbolically. The wood for the trees and the scales for the fish and, by extension, the water. There's probably a splodge of birdshit there as well.

Water wheel

There's something about the use of wood in Romania. It seems to age more gracefully than we're used to in Ireland; it must be the climate, which is much dryer in Romania. The working is usually fairly rough to start with, for objects like this in any case, and age adds to both the grain texture and the natural lumps and bumps in wood.

The light in this was interesting, but made for fairly strong contrast between the top, which is in full sunlight, and the lower part, much of which is in deep shadow. Happily the light was spring rather than summer and in a forested area which seemed to help keep the sunlight manageable.

Sparkles

Light on the water, taken in Azuga. I had intended to make a series of exposures and layer them to open up the exposure on the stones under the water, but when I saw how each exposure turned out in itself I decided to leave well enough alone.

Roof and moon

The very strong graphical element attracted me to this composition. The building is in a fairly poor state, but seems to be undergoing work of some kind - althought it's been in this state for quite a while. It's located right beside the Old Court in Bucharest, the first royal court in the city and the photograph was taken at about 11:00 am.

Most of the people I was with were so busy taking photographs of the rather attractive rubble and exposed steel on the inside that they didn't look up. It just goes to show, you've got to keep your eyes open.

Trees and grass

Another one from Sibiu. It's all about the textures with this one - the bark and the grass.

Cart #4

Taken at the medieval fortress in Rasnov. This is one of those gems you find in Romania and not many other places. It was left to rot for many years and looks it, but because of that it really gives the impression of a fortress and not a prettified castle.

Wandering around I happened upon an old cart with a huge selection of cartwheels stacked up behind it. The light was good - the exposures needed almost no work to retain details in shadows and highlights - and I ended up with a series of three or four interesting compositions. Of course, you can't tell they were taken in a medieval fortress; I usually find interest in the details and not so much in the grand sweep.

Across the river

Azuga, July 2008. It's odd how you sometimes have to look at things twice to see them. I recall taking this while hoping that the sun would come around to the another part of the river bank. This looked alright, but I didn't really expect anything.

Going back over the files from Azuga, I looked at it again and looked a little more closely. I realised that inside the fairly flat colour file was a much better shot trying to get out. It didn't take too much work to get there - half an hour's tweaking and I had it.

I'm particularly fond of the contrast between the three sections of the frame - the smooth water, the sharp angularity on the rocks and the foliage.

Stump

Self-explanatory really. It was a tree stump near a river. I like the silky texture of the water in the background.

Prayer beads

Taken in the Turkish mosque in Bucharest. The varnished wood was something of a challenge being varnished. This made it difficult to control contrast and retain the detail of the grain. I'm not sure it's all that it could be, but the shine of the beads helps to lift it.

Statue, Bellu cemetery

The Bellu cemetery is in the centre of Bucharest. It is where most of Romania's great and good are buried, and features some very ornate memorial work. Many of the tombs are above-ground chalets, and many of those below ground feature striking statuary. Like much of the rest of historical Bucharest, it is for the time being rather run-down and overgrown but in many ways this adds to its attractions.

This statue is fairly typical of the monuments there. It is quite a work of art in its own right, but surrounded by the overgrown vegetation it takes on a surprising aspect. It seems to emerge from a forest, unexpected and out of sync. There are other graves around it, but you have to look pretty closely to see them. In a clean, well-maintained setting I'm not sure that it would seem as attractive as it does in this context.

Cupola

This is to be found in the centre of Bucharest, above a covered arcade that runs between two streets in the old part of town. The light is surprisingly subdued considering that it was taken in the middle of the day, but the interior is very high with not much light other than what comes in through the cupola itself and the doors.

The arcade is like the cupola - subdued and slightly flaking, but is slowly being restored to its former state.

Japanese drummers, Sibiu 2007

I took this at the opening celebrations for the International Theatre Festival in Sibiu in 2007. I was trying to capture something of the atmosphere of the performance through the stage lighting, but more importantly the energy of the performance. These drummers pour their energy into an extraordinary performance, one of the most exciting spectacles you can imagine.

Photograph #1

For the first entry in this blog, I thought I'd use the first photograph made with digital technology. Well, not actually the first digital photograph I took, but the first which persuaded me that digital was good for more than snapshots.

The slide (the big concrete thing is a slide) is in a park near our house in Bucharest. I was particularly attracted by the contrast between this large, heavy and rather run-down object and the lightness of the trees and leaves, and of course the sky, surrounding it.