Spring urge

Now that we are reaching March, I can't wait for Spring to come at last!

I've been missing the opening buds on the trees, the colorful flowers by the roadside, the buzzing insects and everything which comes with the warmer temperature and the bright sunbeams, and for quite some time now.

It's definitely time to begin enjoying Nature again; I need to think about new photography subjects and interesting places to go to within the few next weeks!

Some green pictures from last summer to set the mood :-)

White umbrella

Red bark

Yellow stripes

Photo mash-up #8

I felt like making a new photo mash-up (even though the last one was but a few days ago...) so here, a new theme which is not a color this time: NARROW STREETS!

How about a stroll in Paris old streets & passageways?

 

 

Happy passageways day :-)

Doorknobs

I really enjoy photographing close objects; for instance, small items like doorknobs.

In any case, I just love photographing doors :-). They evoke a sort of  mysterious atmosphere, maybe because of my having read too many of fantasy & sci-fi  novels (the parallel worlds or portal things, I guess ;-D).

So, here are a few doorknobs of varied shapes and colors:

Sculpted metal

 Rusted doorknob

Hand-shaped

Blossoms

Though I'm supposed - from my somewhat Biology background ;-) - to have some knowledge in Botany and more especially in botanical determination of plants & trees.

However, when I came across those early February blossoms it got me confused and I am not even sure of which kind of tree they belonged to: was it a plum tree? A cherry tree? Or even an apple tree?

My guess is a plum tree, but correct me if I'm wrong :-)

Blossoms in blue and white


Bokeh and blossoms


Blossom and blue sky


Blurry atmosphere

Photo mash-up #7

Today theme is BLUE!
Be it blue sky or blue water...

 

 
Happy blue day :-)

Snowdrop

Spring is coming! 

Wandering today in a small forest nearby, I was delighted to come across some beautiful and delicate snowdrop flowers. 

They were all gathered on a patch of grass, slightly away from the most frequently followed paths and bathing in the early sunset light that was filtered through by the surrounding trees.

What a refreshing view for all nature lovers :-)

Snowdrop flower


Snowdrop bokeh


Eerie atmosphere

Bokeh again

One evening this week & suddenly feeling like walking a bit, I took a stroll outside my apartment in the early night - carrying my camera with me of course.

There were a lot of beautiful lights, so I ended up capturing quite many bokeh samples!
A few of those pictures below:

Blue and yellow bokeh

White and yellow bokeh

Orange bokeh

Moon-shaped bokeh

Photo mash-up #6

A photo mash-up about the color ORANGE - light tones, but cheerful enough to chase Winter away and welcome Spring!

Happy orange day :-)

Photo of the day

Sometimes, there are pictures that you really want to get - that you have been planning to take for ages - that require this light here, and this piece of water there, and those people at the back, and this object at the front, and so on...

And sometimes, though the result is almost always worth the trip, you have to go through pretty hard times in order to get them: stay in the cold wind for hours, get a blocked back or a sore neck sitting in an awkward position, or get yourself drenched (or your camera)!

Hard time being a photographer

Paris at night

Today, following my photography companion after sunset in Paris streets, I endeavored to learn something new to me: taking pictures of famous monuments through their reflections in large puddles from below / further around.

I was fascinated as always by the lights at night, so I did not take just the few pictures I had been planning to try, and had not the opportunity to take more than one reflection... But the idea went out quite well and I will surely try this method again, on a future rainy day ;-)

Below my first try with Notre-Dame, the magnificent cathedral that is famous across almost all countries in the world - and another picture from a similar night so that it does not feel too lonely here:

Notre-Dame Cathedral


Street lights

On a rainy day

Though the weather has not been so cold for the season, we've had a lot of rainy days recently - not a good time for photography... Unless you get the chance to take a closer look at raindrops that came hanging at every leaf or outdoor object. 

And yet, the sky and nature are so sad, that it is not always possible to get an interesting color assortment! I'm eagerly longing for Spring now :-)

A few picture of my most recent trips around my place:

Multi-colored pavement

Frozen lake

Reflections in a small pond

Photo mash-up #5

I haven't been following the Catchy Colors contest for quite a while... I must give it some time on the following days :-)

In the meantime: a photo mash-up about the color BEIGE (stone beige here, more precisely)!

Happy beige day :-)

Macro or not macro

Whenever I take photos of very close objects, and/or with a large DOF, I feel attracted to the prospect of getting a macro lens :-) 

My only fear is that if I had to swap lenses, I would be much bothered about the dust or any king of particles that could get on the sensor (problem that I've experienced very recently ^^). Of course, I could get the appropriate material to clean it on my own - yet, is the benefit worth the trouble? Can I manage without an additional lens? 

To buy, or not to buy - that is the question: whether 'tis wiser to change my 50mm over...
(I don't think so, for the moment!)

Light ray on moss


Through the wires


A ram's head?

Evanescent shadows

Some shadowy twigs and branches that were shaken around by the wind over a silent lake, on a cloudy and rainy morning...

What a mysterious - even unsettling - atmosphere!

Stem shadows


Shadow of a maple tree fruit


Leafy shadow

Lost phone

On another day during my time in the Deux-Sèvres, I went on a quite long trip over hill and dale on my (wheel-fixed) bicycle - a lot much further than I had planned. And here again, I had a share of (light) misfortune. How Typical!

As I wanted to have a closer look at the beautiful countryside surrounding me, I climbed on a fence made of some barbed wires - no need to say that I got my feet trapped in it and consequently fell on my back... And as I ran away from the place, for shame that someone could have witnessed the stupid accident, it was only 1 hour later, reaching home, that I discovered my phone was missing :-(

I had to make the trip again in the reverse direction, checking every bit of the way, until I reached the barbed wires place - of course, there it was! A lot of exercise therefore but quite worth it, for the view which was really nice :-)

Misty morning


Mist on the road


Into the meadow

Bicycle trouble

My time in the Deux-Sèvres was (surprisingly, as you might think) far from being boring: besides having a sunny weather which allowed me to spend a lot of time walking and cycling, I happened to get into quite a lot of (little) troubles ;-)

On the first day after I arrived, a highly colored sunrise drove me out of my bed early; as I was eager to discover what had changed in the area, I quickly settled for a little trip all around with my old bicycle. Alas! Endeavoring to follow what I thought was a shortcut to where I was headed, I made the wheel bump into a particularly sharp stone which left me with a giant hole in my bicycle inner tube (of course I had no spare piece with me). I had to walk all the way back, carrying my bike up and down the hills...

A nice way to get a closer look at everything, though!

Stinging nettle


Under the wind


Fallen leaf