Posts in Category: in the city

Röiven

There is something gracefully magical about them, the ravens. Always dressed up in their black feather tailcoats, they are everywhere. The common raven itself lives up to 28 years and we know from fairy tales and legends that they are clever. But even on the street you can see them cracking nuts by placing them on rails or dropping them from a height onto hard ground. Here are four beautiful pictures of the raven.

Kea

Keas are considered one of the smartest bird species in the world. They use tools and recognize their own reflection, they are playful, bright and take everything apart… including sheep. Yes, exactly. Keas have been observed attacking sheep in packs, scratching the fur and skin with their sharp claws to get at the body fat. This resulted in an estimated 150,000 kea being killed by the early 1970s.

In the Frankfurt Zoo they live somewhat hidden, behind the large playground and are definitely worth a visit.

Humboldt penguins

The Humboldt penguins at Frankfurt Zoo are a funny bunch. One of the things I particularly like about them is that you can read their expressions and see what they’re up to. They are far from being cunning and if something doesn’t go right, they complain loudly and even throw some slaps. The one on the big picture was dozing in the late october sun.

Gorillas

Browsing through my photos of this year and sorting out massive amounts, as space is scarce I found these two pictures of probably the boss of the lowland gorillas. Impressivly strong animals. Would have loved to spent much more time with them, but family dragged on. A truth about photography: it takes time to do it right. As much as I love to have the kids with me on a photo-trip, I don’t think it going to happen anytime soon. And so the clock often runs in favour of the family which is absolutely correct decision, but the images suffer. Probably I love being surrounded by animals, even kids. 😉

golden lion tamarin

The name is actually not that strange as it seems. Take a close look at its face. It’s got the expression and shape that resembles a lions face although not the eyes – the mane does the rest. Like those little critters! Shot through thick glass at the Zürich Zoo so images are not particular sharp.

As all the sorts of lion tamarins their population is constantly decreasing due to Barzil clearing off their rainforest.

 

Zoo Frankfurt

The kids got their school reports and as a tradition we as a family do something special on that day. We went for a nice asian buffet (we ate far too much) and headed for the Frankfurt Zoo. When we arrived, it was raining and only about two hours left before it closed, so not the best signs. The images you see here were all shot with high ISOs and were partly very noisy. I had to push them through a few tools and so they are all heavily altered.

The all new enclosure for the penguins is great. All my life, I saw them in the Exotarium, living in that tiny space behind glass. Now they got their new home right next to the seals – outdoor and a much bigger basin to swim in with a viewing area for the visitors. Great! The old reigns has yet to be redefined, as many of the penguins uttered calls to mark their territory.

The humidity was so hight that I could not get my lens clean, when entering the ape house (Borgori-World) – next time.

the krestel and the jay

This weekend was nice weahter. i had an appointment in Mainz, to pick up a new/old treassure for my computer collection – a sought after Commodore PET. Nadine joined me on the trip and the plan was to enjoy a walk in the sun, along the Rhein. The guy who sold me the PET was already waiting for us and I asked him if he knew some nice area to take a walk. He said we should go and try right behind some buildings nearby… so we did and found a nature reservoir, between the motorway and the city. A rounte went through the reservoir and due to the nice weather, a lot of joggers and other people were around… and birds. This amercian krestel was hunting together with an eurasian jay… I couldn’t believe it, but they really did. Evidence will come in the next pitcture.

Dragonfly


Summer seems to be early this year. It is the beginning of June and the thermometer already passed the 25° C mark. Afrer meeting with friends ind Frankfurt for lunch I took a small detour on my way back and wandered through the beatifull Bethmannpark. Besides the hughe coys in the pond, a couple of big dragonflies where doing their maneuvers. This particular one was taking a break in the late afternoon sun…. and yess, I still don’t have a macro lens, but Sigmas 135-500 does a fabulous job, don’t you think? 🙂

[lightgrey_box] Facts würden hier stehen [/lightgrey_box]

reflections

There were two docks in Urk and when we passed the latter we had a fabulous sundown. I couldn’t resist and take this shot, as it reflects all that I learned about Urk that day.

say wooof

I can only guess what the dog is thinking at this very moment. What do you think?

winterstorm

Together with a bunch of friends, we spent Sylvester in the Netherlands. Although our house at Lemleveld was about an hour away from the next coast, we were all atracted to the sea and so we visited the small town Urk at the coast of Ijsselmeer. Water has something to it that makes people want more, even in winter, when like at this time the dark clouds swalloed the sun.

anti warbird

Down at Battery Park, right where the ferry starts off, you will find this huge statue which is the central part of the East Coast War Memorial. Black and white once more… it just fits.

freedom, or so

I was asked to help our Nike away team to join them on their mission to brush up Rucker Park, Harlem, NY for the Nike World Basketball Expo. Sure thing I went and while the show finally started on friday, me and a colleague Björn went sightseeing. We caught the ferry at Battery Park last minute and had perfect weather to visit the old lady at the harbor entrance. I don’t know why, but pictures of New York have to be black and white, don’t they?

michael

Ok, ok… calm down… it is Michael Air Jordan and thanks to my all access batch I got really close to him. He payed a visit to Nikes World Basketball Expo at Rucker Park, NY and man, this guy has a presence – almost a force field – around him. Go Micheal!

NY life

It is a common fact that the more the climate changes during the year on you homespot, the more you spent inside the house, whereas in countries where the temperatures stay on a certain high, people are mostly outside the house. New York seemed to be different…. but maybe it is due to the fact that there live so many people that you can see them in the streets, all the time.

frankfurt skyline

I was tinkering with this one for quite some time. First I wanted to show the smog that and haze that was clearly to be seen on this beuatiful day and cut off all the woods in the foreground. Now that I made the 5th version of it, I think it is even clearer with the trees in sight. Damn big cities… no good for everyone.

shitepoke

Shitepoke? Really, that’s the name of those… see for yourself! Actually this three-colored one belongs to the herons, off which 62 different species are known. When I started photographing some years ago, I thought those were rare visitors here in Germany but they seem to be everywhere, known for having a “cosmopolitan distribution”. Lately a couple of families are nesting in Frankfurts Ostpark, so I could testdrive my Sigma 150-500mm lens and get some decent shots.

brommobieltje

One week off… finally. My whole family went to Bredene/Beligum for a little recreation. In nearby Oostende was an oldtimer ralley/festival and I couldn’t resist to take some snapshots. This very day the motorcycles seem to be on the list. Now I wonder who’s older… the riders or the bikes. More pictures on my Flickr account.

wee snail

Snails are a very strange species: tentacles and eyes combined, slow gliding, building and carrying their own house made of calcium carbonate that they can lock with a “door” – well, sounds like they got all they need for living. Indeed snails can reach an age up to 15-30 years, but only held captive in more or less strerile surrounding. Into the wild they usually become 5-7 years old. This littel exemplar has a long way to go… let’s hope it’ll make it and stays out of our sink, where we found it. Did I mention that I need a macro lens – could only go high contrast with this one?

S-Bahn

Did you know that 388 million people are using the public means in berlin every year. So in order to get to know the real Berliner, you have to take the public transportation… really. Here you can witness the best stories that no Spielberg or Lucas can tell.
I really do like the lighting in this shot. The sun was bounced back from the houses on the opposite roadside and gave everything a warm and friendly touch.

chilling

This is another one from our trip to Berlin. Two ladies chilling, enjoying the first warm sun beams of the year. Lazy me totally missed the blooming season. As soon as my bike is fixed, I am out again and will post new stuff… promissed.

lucky place to be

Our trip to Berlin was great and we strolled the streets alot. Passing this shop with the headless bear in front of it and a sticker on the showcase saying “lucky place to be”…. that’s Berlin!

Ninhursags messanger

Jonas dropped by with his new Nikon D90 and we went down to Offenbachs harbor. It came in handy as I had to shake off last nights exodus effects from having too much alcohol. This cold winter seems to tap new grounds for the animals. A red fox tried to sneak behind us inwardly but we saw him and for a short moment he sat down and stared at us. Later, when we took a small break at Hafen2, Mr. Reinecke passed outside shocking the gooses and the two sheeps on the lawn.

road to nowhere

Fog, so dense that you couldn’t see 20 feet ahead. Jürgen and me had a little beer in the fields of Bieber. The last shots I took were from the bridge over the B448.

bryggen

Bryggen, the old quaiside of Bergen, burned down a few times, last 1940. Today it is restored in old manner and looks like 1834. Thank god it is not smelling that way. Word has it, that people from the Hanse were not keen on visiting their outpost in the north. The arome must have been terrible.

hot spot

When we arrived at Bergen, weather was all bad. It was raining buckets and girls gave away raincapes, branded with the logo of a noble cafe – saved our day. They know their tourists quite well.

On a pole right across the mainstreet, a gull took a rest on a latern. Guss it was warm an cosy from beneath.

lazar

At first I didn’t notice him, because we came from the opposite direction, but than I couldn’t help and take a picture. I didn’t read the sign on the ground, but it nice that some healthy country sets up a statue for the poor.

Bergen

Bergen has been a blast. A nice town, with an ancient city center. Despite being overcrowded by tourists and rain during the day it was really good. I was having big trouble to choose one picture for that day. On one hand, I like to show the city, as it is, the life, the skyline, the staues, but on the other hand, there are so many spots, beside the mainstream that are worth showing. To end this debate in my head, I will go on and show you a couple of pics from that very day. Here’s the typical bergen skyline, like you will find it on postcards.

close bonds

Zoo Frankfurt is always worth a visit, although the idea of locking up animals in small cages is not what I would call good. None the less, it is still a place I like to go and at least support the zoo with my entrance fee. This orang utan mother and its baby were both in one cage, with no fences between them. I just removed some of the bars to make it more dramatic. Did you know that urang utan is the Indonesian word for forrest people? (orang = person, utan = forest) And indeed they are. Let’s hope the all new “Bonoboland” arrea gets ready soon so that those two get back on trees, where they usualy spent most of their time.

nightstation

Even in Offenbach you can have some spectecular sundown. You will have to search for a good spot, but than…
This one was shot at Offenbach Ost trainstation (obviously).

spring is comming to town

It was raining all day long and suddenly the clouds opened up and sun send its rays, leaving every drop a spectacular prism. I stumbled outdoors and took this one right on my doorstep. The sensor inside my D50 overloaded because of false settings and where you see the sunspot right now a bold white strip was reaching from top to bottom. Due to heavy-happy photoshopping it is gone now.

blackout typo

One should think that London is a modern – if not one of the uptodate towns – in hindsight of electronics. Maybe it is around city center and shopping malls, but in certain places it can’t hide it’s age.
Gave this pic a go, as I had some problems with my typo3 insallation lately. To be honest: Typo is by far too big to use it for such a small site.

blue sky, dull pegs

I found those pegs haning in front of this great blue sky….

jack, where are you?

Nadine and me spent a couple of days in Potsdam. It was pretty cold and we stayed at my cousines flat, where we had to fire up an old charring furnace with coal from the basement. The last day we spent wandering trough shopping mile and sun went down and snow set in… …Mr. J.Ripper would you please step out of the dark?

hallgrimskirkaja

We went to Iceland in order to attend Holger & Mias wedding. We stayed at Red Erics place which was right across the street from Hallgrimskirkaja. The first two days we had dense fog…