A different perspective

So I have this photoblog and there’s this addon that allows me to show exactly where the picture was taken on Google Maps. Only thing is, the addon is not working properly. When I show the position of an image, that position is used for all the other images. So a shot taken in Istanbul or so, shows up as being taken in Hawaii. That’s not the case.

Anyways, so I write to the person I thought wrote this addon and explained to him the issue I was facing and he writes back saying that he doesn’t support the addon, but “the problem is very oddity”. Indeed a very odd problem. Can’t have all my pictures taken at the same place when they’re worlds apart.

Wat was supposed to be a day of celebration for the dutch Queen and her family, turned out to be a drama. For many a nightmare.

At the same time the queen and her family, in an open air bus, turned the corner of a main street in Apeldoorn, a guy in a black Suzuki Swift drove through a barricade, swerved off to the left missing the bus and crashed into a monument. Latest count is 7 dead and 12 badly wounded.

This was one of the first times a direct attack was made on the dutch royal family. Yesterday was Queen’s day and it’s always a day of festivities and the Queen has made it a point to be amongst “her” people.

Anyways, the guy who was driving the car, has passed away himself so there is no finding out what his motive was. Facts are still, due to his actions, he has taken innocent people with him and damaged the festivities around Queen’s Day. Question is how the Queen and her family will celebrate the next and coming events. Time will tell.

Take care, wherever you are….

Spring is here and in the previous post, I wrote something about color. There’s another part of photography which I’m now getting into and they call it Macro photography. It’s not really known where the term came from, but maybe it’s due to the size or impression of the picture one is taking.

With macro photography, you’re basically taking a 1:1 picture of your subject and for the better work, you’d probably be using a dedicated macro lens. Normal zoom lenses do not magnify as much as a macro lens and their focusing distance is not as short. So I decided to get myself one. The Canon 100mm/f2,8 is pretty hard to come by, so I got the Sigma 105mm/f2.8 instead. Quality is very good and very sharp too. Downside of this lens is that the autofocus can sometimes be very slow and can hunt at times. But hey, on a tripod and manual focus does the job better. Macro photography takes getting used to, at least for me and it’s nicely challenging. But hey, the colors make up for any mistakes…..;).

Just like with the other lenses, you tend to find what kind of subjects you like. I don’t know about all those closeups of insects, almost close enough to bite you, but who knows. I tested the lens out at the Keukenhof and very happy with it. For the next few days, I’ll post a number of the shots on my photoblog.

Color. For some people, color just brings out something. It works on their senses, bringing out various emotions. Joy, happiness, beauty, sun, etc. We use color to relate to things, events, emotions. Expressions like “a dull day” ( no color, grey), “red with anger”, “what a lovely sky (blue)”, etc.
And so, when one goes to the Keukenhof in Holland, you can’t help but to succumb to color.

The Keukenhof, or Kitchen Garden is named “The most beautiful Spring garden in the World” and I have to simply agree with that tag. Keukenhof translates to “kitchen garden”. Many centuries ago, the location was once a hunting ground. It was also used as a location to gather herbs for the kitchen of a castle and so it got its name “keukenhof”.

Every year, in Spring, for two months from March to May, the park of about 32 acres is open to the public. A show of color, passion, patience and loads of flowers. One doesn’t particularly need to have a passion for flowers to go to the park, but to admire the work that others have put in to it. It’s already a ball in motion, celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, but every year brings something new somewhere in the park. On a good day, not too sunny, not too cold, you could easily spend the whole day at the park. For young and old, I could recommend it to anyone. It’s one of those things in the world that one should see. So next time you plan to pass through Holland in the spring, make a point to stop at the Keukenhof. Hahahaha, don’t worry, I’m not getting any kickback for recommending the park……it’s just simply amazing. And if you like taking pictures, you will have a wonderful time.

Cheers, wherever you are….

I must be about one of the last people on the planet, who hasn’t been up to date with 24. Well, maybe after my dad, but I won’t be surprised if he’s watched one or two episodes.

I’m talking about the top series 24, with Jack Bauer. Do they call this a show or a series? Anyways, I decided it was time to play catch up and got myself Seasons 1 to 4. Finished off season one in like two days. The tension and suspense was good, very good actually. Someone told me it would be very addictive, he was telling the truth.

So I have, for example, the DVD box of season one so I can watch whenever I want to. But back then, one had to wait like a week to see the next episode. I wonder how people managed. Respect…..;).

For someone who hadn’t slept for almost 24 hours, Jack played his role well. Season two is almost as good. They have about 3 hours left to find the bomb.

Cheers, wherever you are….