20 min concert

Well the concert itself lasted for much longer than that. It was only that I was there only for that long. Then I had to rush and sort something out, but then I did not feel like returning as my ear is keeping me away from noisy places at the moment. I liked the 20 minutes I heard though, and I did manage to take some photos. I chose this one for the blog because Balanescu is smiling and looks very happy while playing his violin even though sweat was already pouring down his face. And I think I usually feel the same way when I take photos. Smiling. And I was told I have a big daft grin on my mug :). So here it is for you to enjoy. Look at Balanescu and imagine me smiling :)

Plane spotting

Risking you thinking I am a soppy little thing I will have to admit that today's most exciting thing was that my dad flew into town... I suppose if you see him 3 or 4 times a year for a week or so, that is quite exciting, is it not? And guess what? I only went to fetch him from the airport. As I was a tad early I managed to photograph the plane he was on as it was landing.

Full Moon

over the castle hill.

The plant

that will save my ear and get me back to concerts... well that is the plan anyway. I was looking forward to the Sunday evening concert (as one does) for a week or so, but as my ear hurt for the third day on Sunday I decided it might not be the best idea. It was a tough decision though. As late as 20 minutes before the concert I was still thinking: well if I put the earplugs in and go there by car instead of by pedal power (which I otherwise do only if it is raining when I actually set off) and if I stay there for only half an hour or an hour tops... it could all work out... I could take a few photos (am I addicted?)
In the end I did not go and as it all revovlved around my ear the photo of the day is of this plant the juice of which is supposed to be good for infected ears.

Here is one I know I haven't done so far

it's my cooking. A bit of stir fried vegetables to go on my rice. With a bit of curry and a splash of chilli. How does that sound?

Photo

of a photo. What's the point? Well sometimes I just need a little reminder of something that I saw and I found it interesting on some level. And most people might bring out their Palms, or fancy mobile phones or moleskins or just a normal little notebook... I often take my little pocket cam from my pocket and take a photo (I do also carry a little notebook and a fountain pen for when I need to write something down, but often taking a picture does it for me). Here I liked the way a square in the centre of Ljubljana was assembled together, so I took the photo and knew that I will take a look at what the guy does on the internet when I come back home. And on the bonus side, you have a photo of the day, 'cos this was all I took in the entire day.

Music

and lots of it... In the late afternoon I went to the cancer clinic where they had 2 choirs singing for the patients... One all the way from Japan. It was a sort of old ladies' choir and it was quite interesting to hear them as they do seem to have songs that are quite different to the Slovenian choirs I have heard so far. Then there was a classical sort of Slovene choir, which well, nothing new, but with rare exceptions they can all hold a note, so that was good. After that i had a little tea break and then went to a concert of three bands. One from Murska Sobota (Slo), one from Banja Luka (B&H) and one from Split (Cro). At this stage I wasn't feeling my best, as I had a slight throat ache and an ear ache, so I didn't really get into the concert until the last band, when I started enjoying it (this does not mean that the first two bands were not good, it was just that I was not feeling my normal self). But still, once I came home I made my Lemsip and went to bed...

The different roles in life

Just like in this monocomedy, one often has different roles in life. You know, being a son, or a father, lover, worker, entertainer, friend... And sometimes you can get a bit lost in these roles. Some of them you might not even choose yourself but they are just given to you, or forced upon you or you might not even know that you have that particular role... But somehow we have to struggle or sail through them...

studio 3eme fois

In the studio for the 3rd time in three weeks. For the 3rd time in my life. Enjoying it big time and learning quite a bit as I go along... I know it might not seem like it from the photographs, but there is more processing going on behind that camera than you would think... The brain is actually working and thinking what to do next, how to achieve something that flashed in my mind... It is a strange process... so far I have always been dealing with seeing something I like and trying to capture in exactly the way I saw it (which admittedly can be completely different from the way you would see it) and hoping that I will be fast enough to do so (usually concert and theatre photography). In the studio it is completely different... Well not always... If the models are relaxed enough they just do their thing and you just capture the moments... but a part of the studio experience is also to visualise a picture in your mind and then make sure you reinact it in the studio, just so you can take a photo of it. And hopefully it will match the one in your head or even surpass it.

1984

That sort of feeling... If you have not read this book, you really should. This photo is from a performance that has nothing to do with 1984, well, maybe not nothing, there are certain elements in there that can be linked to the book and film - at least I saw them... argh I am going to get in a twist about this one.... anyway read the book, broaden your mind.

Just when you thought

you have got it all sorted, everything turns a bit topsy-turvey. So here is a photo that will help you remember this.

Top of the world

Sometimes it is surprising how low the top of the world can be. You needn't go high. A minor climb will take you there. And today it did.

Old school

I managed to turn the entire day into one long photograph. First I went to a studio shoot which was again great fun and a great learning experience for me. You would be surprised how many things you can pick up by just playing around and experimenting with the settings. Of course it is much more fun if the people around there are fun and relaxed, which was the case here. Then I went to an archaeological site to take a few photos of the things they are up to... They are uncovering a 4500 years old layer and so far it seems to be interesting. As much as I understood the great find so far is that they found a horse bone, which is the first one so old in this area, which sort of shows that there was at least 1 horse around here at the time. And the archaeologists seemed well chuffed with that one. I thought I might show you two old school weapons or tools, depending on their usage. Not because this is the best photo I took today, but because it is a bit different, and what is life if we don't learn something new every now and then? EH?
After that I actually had some time to grab something to eat and then off to the concert I was. Naturally, with my camera...

Prisoner

Sometimes we are held prisoner in a world we do not like. Sometimes not everything goes according to plan and sometimes everything seems to go wrong. And when it does you feel trapped. You can not move left, right, jump up or bury yourself underground. Trapped in a body you do not like, trapped with a mind that plays tricks on you, trapped in a country that doesn't give a toss, trapped with a partner who feels equally trapped or just trapped (or maybe stuck in this case) in a moment you do not like (that seems to be on repeat).
(Even though we are all prisoners of our lives, no prisoners were harmed in the making of this photo)

The French

are in town. Of course they decided to have all day street performances on the very day I really do not have the time to follow them round... I did manage to take a photo or two of one of their events and this seemed so typical I could not make myself not post it. Does this say French or not? To me it does :)

P.S. I have no idea if this is related in any way, but spring is also in town. For all you doubting Thomases and OMG-I-do-not-believe-this Lillies, here is proof.

Pining

No, not for fjords... well maybe a bit. But yesterday I was pining for a general improvement in my state of mind and I probably looked a bit like this geezer, who I photographed in the evening at a play that my friend wrote and directed and is going to be staged in Litija. Well, by that time my pining paid off to some extent and better it was. But I still pine for the fjords and London.

Lured

Monday night. I want to go to a poetry evening and then to a concert. Poetry evening starts at 8. It is 7.40. I am lying on my couch, reading a book. Too lazy to move, too snug. Oh well, I will skip the poetry evening, just this once and go to the concert at 11. I continue reading. By 9.30 I have a feeling I should get up if I want to go to the concert, but decide to read a bit more. By 10 I am fast asleep on the couch. By 10.15 I am probably drooling all over it. As the evening was all about the couch and books, without further ado, I present them to you.

Classic

Ying & Yang. I am not much of a collage person, but for a touch of a diversity I can give it a twirl. Yeah, I know, I could spend more time fiddling about with it and making it better, but it is just a quick exercise, 'cos I have a day job I need to attend to.
But them two are a great example of two people complementing each other. Ah, one day...

ET phone home

Those who know me will understand, the others unfortunately will not. But I guess I am entitled to one of these every now and then, eh?

Concerts

second day in a row. Seen eight bands in the two days, so I suppose it could be called a mini festival. It certainly knackered me, photographing both evenings, and that is after I finished with my day job. But as a friend said when she saw me: You look happy and mischievous today. I really seem to be happy and a tad mischievous once I am behind the camera. And I suppose the more time I spend behind it the better for me. So here is to plenty more photo ops.

Dance

or was that jump? Went to see 4 bands and this is what I have to show. Well, no, obviously there are some other photos, but for a moment I am going to pretend that Nike is the proud sponsor of my blog :)

What to do

when somebody invites you for a drink to a place with this?

Playground

I was invited to come and have fun in a photo studio today, so of course the blog has to be about this, as it was my first time. I know, I am such a late bloomer...if bloom I do that is. And it is just so different from taking photos of concerts and plays... imagine you can actually influence things like lighting, props, poses... But I am on a slow, slow learning curve and this was my first time. But great fun. Thanx go to Moni for inviting me to the playground and the models for being relaxed & fun :)

See?

See what I have done? Again? Total anarchy... It is just to keep you on your toes. For the first time in over a month I didn't take a single photo. I was supposed to go and phorograph something in the afternoon and I wanted to go to an exhibition opening in the evening, so I thought: ample opportunities. But no! Terror and grief (and disaster). I felt poorly and I didn't move from my couch the entire afteroon and evening... and then I just wobbled to bed at some stage. But tomorrow will bring us all new joy. Until then...

Attention to detail

I have no idea why, but it was one of those days that I seemed to enjoy paying attention to detail. And as great as this is, you sometimes fail to see the larger picture while doing so. This was exactly what happened to me. In the evening I went to photograph a dance performance, so I met the crew a bit before the performance and started photographing. I think I was so into details from my afternoon stroll, that I wanted to take pictures of everything up close (well close being a relative notion). So I took a few photos (you know where to find them) and then when the performance started I went to sit in the very back row, right on top - as far as possible from where I took the photos. And I got a completely new perspective. Wished I took a few photos from up there also, just to have as a comparison, ah well, next time... Must remember for next time... if I have time I should try and distance myself from the action for a second or two.

Day? Night? Dusk? Dawn?

...seen them all... This weekend I just merged it all into one long weekend. All the birthday parties, the concert, the dance performance, the disco, the walkies... all just one long single breath. And here is a snippet from today.

IntoSomething

My brother is into something. His cousins are into something. Everybody yesterday was into something. I am into something. You are into something. Doctor Who is into something. Keira Knightly is into something. Robbie Williams is into something, as is Kylie. Leonardo da Vinci was into a lot of things. Luckily we are not all into the same thing.

What one wants and what one gets

Yesterday I finished with one of my translations. This in itself might not have that 'WOW' factor one would expect to find in my blog. The 'WOW, Gee Whizz, Cor Blimey' factor is that it is the first time in months (certainly this year, but certainly also before that) that I have nothing at home to translate. Nada. Zilch. Zip. Niente. Zero. Ok stop me now... So that is great. A little break. At least a few days. Or will it flow into a recession? Arggghhh... As there is no way I can do nothing for more than 17 seconds (at 3.29 am when I sleep) I quickly sorted out some photo ops. I went to photo a dance performance (but again met poor lighting conditions, so not the best of photos) I tried to arrange to go and photo a concert but failed miserably and then I went to am extremely fun hmmmm poetry reading (I guess that is what it should be called) by one of my mates. And guess what? I took some photos. But today I am back to my 1 photo a day routine, so if you want to see those ones you should know by now where to find them. If not, a small hint, the answer can be found on this page, if that does not help you, then I do not know, write me an email or something :)
You can see I am not in a hurry to get down to work as I am just writing and writing and writing... Oh do stop me please....

Hey, it is my blog

so I can change the rules. Or at least bend them. Probably a result of waking up too early (before 6) and deciding that I can't decide what to do with it. I took 3 pictures yesterday. 1 was terrible because it was of a concert I just passed by and I only had my little pocket cam which does not give me the results that I expect. So that one was eliminated easily. Then I was stuck with 2. The first one of the day was taken from my bike (again on my pocket cam), but I liked it, 'cos it seemed fun. It was like this is how one parks his heavy machinery in the town centre. No parking spaces, no problem. We have converted this bar on prime location into a garage just for you. Park your heavy machinery vehicle here and spend the day in town shopping with no worries.


And yes, the second photo (I know it is nothing special, just a snap shot of people having fun in a pub) of the day comes with the following text:

Dear diary
I went to a pub quizz tonight for the very first time in my life. This is important because it is one of those Muhammed and mountain thingies. And probably for the first time in history I meet some new people in a Slovene pub that were not introduced to me by somebody else. You know real strangers type. So we made our own little team (called the newcomers) that consisted of 2 Danes (no, not Great Danes) 1 Norwegian and two of us half-breds (Eng/Slo) and we managed to squezze in 5th spot convincingly (out of 6 teams)... but then 2 teams were apparently disqualified for cheating (what's the point?)... like that really helped them. At least when I cheated today with my blog, I managed to give you all a little bonus, appart from the photo I would have published also a little insight into my slightly more personal life.
With this I will bid you all with G'day as my new Australian friend would say. G'day all.

Trying to make people think of something else

Once again I saw that it is the fleeting moments that last. It seems that life is full of short, smidgenesque type moments that we remember and cheerish and large patches of time that we tend to forget about of just go through the motions in robot style. Obviously the solution is to cram into your life as many good moments as possible. Sometimes, you just do not have the energy to do it and then you need other people to provide such moments for you.
(Dedicated to all the patients at the cancer clinic and all of those who try to bring a good moment into their days)

Moving towards graphic prints

In search of new things, constantly on the move (across a rather small terittory admitedly). Once you have seen it all on your daily walkies you have to try and see them in a different light or in a different way. Well, yesterday I did stumble across a deer, but it was too far for me to photograph without a zoom lens. So I present you with some trees. As in forest. But a bit differently... like they would have done in the 'olden days...