Hello all!

99,9% of you didn't notice, but I have been away for several month now. I'm glad summer is over now, time to get creative again, time to get moving. I just can't get anything done in the heat of summer, when I feel overexposed at last 3 stops all the time.

But of course, summer was not the real reason for leaving without a note to the 0,01% of people that care. There were other reasons. But I'm very sorry about that!

Ok, the journey.

I hope you don't mind that the ride to Europe's biggest cemetery was just 20 minutes from where I live, here in Vienna. It is called "Zentralfriedhof" and is so big that it has got its own busline!

So, my wife and I, we wanted to have some time for our own, no people, no noise. We were wandering between the old, crumbling crypts, talking or just being silent. I had my camera with me, I just longed for some shooting again. When Katharina set down on a bench with a book, I started to take images. I had so much fun!! It was as if photography got a breath of fresh air. I really didn't worry about the results, I just wanted to have fun and experiment.

For example, I used the image parameters of my 350D for the first time. Usually, I would shoot RAW, or use very conservative settings when shooting JPEG for later postproduction. But this day, I only wanted to have fun. I used the B/W setting with various tones, filters and high contrast settings. I wanted to create some eary, moody images, and tried to get some distorted lines by using a wide angel. I didn't review any image, it was like shooting film. :)

Interesstinly, the pictures do not represent that day at all! It was a very nice, late summer day, not at all gloomy or dark like on the pictures. I was very pleased with them when I came home.

Ok, this post turned out to be something like a diary entry. Enough talk, here come the pics, I hope you enjoy some of them. But please remember, I was not after the perfect shot on this day...

This church neary fell apart and was restored not long ago. Right beside are the crypts where my "Straylight Run (http://nordic.smugmug.com/gallery/1586184)" series was shot.

A lot of hidden places here...






Down.

A single flower. Thank god I didn't shoot RAW, otherwise I couldn't have resisted the urge to leave only the flower in color...

Looming...

From the outside...




...and from the inside.

I just held the camera in the crypt, as the door was rusted and couldn't be moved.

I hope these were not too many pics, but have oatience with me, as I didn't post anything for such a long tome. :)

Kind Regards,
Andreas

Really nice shots.....what they do for me is make my longing to be back in Central Europe nag at me even more......I never made it to Wein, but once I am back in Praha I will visit the great city (Wein) for shots of the un-ordinary......

Keep up the great work.

We all should have more fun and not worry about the results. It is in my plans to do very soon.

Love the shots, I realy like to explore grave yards as they can tell so much about the civilisation in which you find them. Excellent.... Ian

When I went backpacking in Europe one of the friends I traveled with was a bit obsessive about visting cemetaries. We missed Vienna but I remember how cool the island in Venice and some of the others were.

They often have amazing art and statues as you captured so well in your photos. The black and white works well in these.

Very nice!

Ian

Right on! Photography is supposed to fun - thanks for the diary entry, it was actually a very good intro, and welcome back!

Great Series... Welcome Back

Thank you very much for your nice comments!!

I just found that the cemetery pics where mentioned in the smugmug-blog here:
http://blogs.smugmug.com/found-on-sm...ntralfriedhof/

Haha, I don't know who made that entry, but thank you very much! :)

(Sorry for bringing this thread up again, but I haven't checked in to thank you for a few weeks...)

Kind Regards,
Andreas

Hey Andreas I knew you were gone
Been waiting for you to come back

Very nice photos looks like you had lots of fun.
Boy I need to work on my tilted shots...yours are very nice.

And care to share how you did this one?



Fred

Originally Posted by USAIR Hey Andreas I knew you were gone Been waiting for you to come back Very nice photos looks like you had lots of fun. Boy I need to work on my tilted shots...yours are very nice. And care to share how you did this one? Fred

Hi Fred!

Thanks a lot!
I'm afraid there is not much to tell about this picture. It was a small crypt with narrow windows at the sides. It had a heavy, rusty door that wouldn't move a single cm. It was about 20cm open. I figured I could squeeze in and ruin my clothes, or just hold the camera into the crypt and fire away blindly. This is what I did. I was shooting like a P&S-tourist.

The combination of this shooting position and the long shutter speed gave this blurry photo. I also like it! ;) It is like somehting captured out of a dream...

BTW, I think your galleries are outstanding, and I love the IR one!

Kind Regards,
Andreas

Originally Posted by Nordic Hello all! I'm glad summer is over now, time to get creative again, time to get moving. I just can't get anything done in the heat of summer, when I feel overexposed at last 3 stops all the time.

I know exactly how you feel, I'm also glad the summer's over. Really enjoyed your pictures, thanks for sharing.

Charlie

Originally Posted by thebigsky I know exactly how you feel, I'm also glad the summer's over. Really enjoyed your pictures, thanks for sharing. Charlie

Thank you, Charlie!
Yes, this summer was terrible, we broke the record in Vienna with 38 C.
The Problem was that it didn't rain for many weeks. The woods were dry as a bone. Awfull! I hate to see this, because I love nature so much. I can't stand those stupid people that complain when it is raining once every few weeks. Sometimes I think they would be happier in the sahara dessert.

Ok, sorry for venting!

Your flower shots are awesome!!

Regards,
Andreas

Thanks for your kind comments about my flower pics. Someone once said there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.

That's some serious heat you've had, we had to have fans running all night in our bedroom for quite a few nights.

This summer was the longest continuous period of hot weather experienced in the UK since records began. A study for the Met Office found that the five months from May to September were warmer than any equivalent summer since 1659.

I'll never understand the desire to live in permanently sunny parts of the world, but being contrary can be irritating at times however, especially when you moan about the heat and people reply, 'you'll be moaning when it's cold.'

Er no, I'll just dress appropriately.

Charlie