..::cAHOONAh::..

R.I.P. grandpa

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 19:20 +0200

There is a saying within my family: When death comes around he will pick three of us. How right that saying is we all got to know when grandpa died
last month, being number three after my cousins grandma and Lutzi. Ninetysix years is a big number and he made his peace with the circumstances, knowing that he won't carry on - but the fact remains: Death just hurts for the rest of us, even if we could say good bye. I hope that you and granny are reunited and have a good time now. R.I.P. grandpa. Picture was taken one and half year ago, when he turned 95 and grandma was gone already. He was so brave and carried on as good as he could, not showing any laxity in his routine and always with humor… just carrying on as life came along. Big rolemodel...

R.I.P. Lutzi

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:35 +0200

She was alway there - the whole 13 years. She was one of the best friends we had and she was a big part of our family. Today the cancer won and we had to go and see the doctor for a final visit. Now there is a huge emtpy spot on our sofa and in our hearts. We had to let go and we hope that our poor little friend is now in doggy heaven. We miss you Lutzi! I hope you are now at a better place, without pain.... peace!

kite fight

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:27 +0200

Our last stop of our trip was in Goa. Right the first day, we stepped out of the airport I noticed flock of huge birds in the sky and they where everywhere else to be found as well, but in Goa I finally had the time to sneak by and take some shots not without fretting about leaving my big lens in Germany. Anyway here you can see two young black kites practicing some dogfight maneuvers.

Hoopoe

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 05:11 +0200

Our second day in Hampi we descided to shift back one gear and have a relaxing day by strolling around, visiting the places we missed the day before and stay longe in one spot. First animal of the day that we noticed was this hoopoe, passing us by couple of times at top of the virupaksha temple. Nice catch, isn't it?

bangalore bear massacre

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:39 +0200

Not to give you a false impression of the trip: the cities are hard to stand and I coulnd't bear any longer than a couple of hours, before I got fed up with all the noise and dirt. Looks like some bear in downtown of Bangalore didn't make it on time and put an end to its existance.

macaque #3

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:29 +0200

He was the most curious of the bunch. He came down the tree and sat a few meters away from us.

new macaque

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:19 +0200

Here we got a tiny macaque, a new one, if you will, staring after his pears who where bussy breaking a jack fruit.

Toque macaque

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:15 +0200

The old world monkey, as it is calssified. Our first day in Kandy we went to the botanical garden and althoug quite impressive it was the monkeys that cought my eye. After one of the elders tried to ripp of our bananas from Nadines bag, we choose to follow them to their spot. After a couple of minutes they almost ingnored us and we could observe them quite well. This one reminds me somehow of Bob Marley…

Indian Woodpecker

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 11:59 +0200

You could find woodpeckers all over the world. There are about 200 known species and non the less, I was surprised to find it in the Indian jungle. The best part about it is that indian birds are not shy at all. So I could get quite close and som decent shots. Not that it uses its tail as tripod… a camera and we would probably be really good friends.

Smaragdspint

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 11:21 +0200

…or green p, as they are called by the natives. It is not very shy, rather curious and so you find it flying around you almost everywhere. Mostly they tend to seat on a low tree or cable and catching insects out of the air. Green-Bee-eater, so hi sofficial name in the rest of the world.

delawella beach

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 14:14 +0200

Listed as one of the ten moste beautifull beaches of the world and we found it… by accident. One of the most relaxing stays of the whole trip an one of the finest places.

Kingfisher

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 07:42 +0200

Despite beeing a very tasty beer of India (and an Airlines as well) they are to be found everywhere. Very, very shy, I had to improve my sneak up techniques. In the end I found this guy who was not so shy at all.

mudskippers

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 08:47 +0200

Half fish, half reptile they are somhow arkward creatures. They can breath through their skin as well ais their mouth, depending if they are in the water or on land. This cutaneous air breathing functions much like a skubadivers system. However their gills have to stay wet and so you mostly find them on the rocks along the shore. Flexing their body they can jump uo to 60cm in one leap. Be sure to stay calm and do not move when you want to observe them - their eyes are really good.

old varanus

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 06:38 +0200

On our second day in Hikkaduwa/ Sri Lanka, Santa took us to a nearby lagoon and the first animal we met, was this old, big varanus, about 2m long and really looking hazardous. They are known to be very clever and can count up to number six, which is quite big thing for animals from the times of dinosars. Now I am frightened.

the krestel and the jay

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 15:14 +0200

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.

neighbours

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:14 +0200

We really enjoyed the nature, the slow pulse of France everything and so did the animals as well. A stork visited the crane and... nothing happend. Looks like they seem to have enough food around to not go wild on each other.

who's controlling who?

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:37 +0200

At the risk of getting you bored by all these dragonfly pictures that lately come up here... just one more. This couple was one of many at a river in Cromartin/France. Sadly the upper one shifted out of focus. Did I mention that I need to get macro? I could swear, I told you that before... ;)

ghostly horse visit

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 03:31 +0200

My aunt invited the whole family to Chiddes, Saône-et-Loire, France, for her birthday party. My parents couldn't come, though and as we just got married, they gave us the big house, they had rented. Our honeymoon, if you want. The first night at a new location is mostly not the one I'm gonna catch alot of sleep. At 3.a.m. I found the meaddow behind our house in dense mist and some sparkling stars from above shingin through. After I took a couple of pictures, I heard snuffle right beside me and when I turned around, that grey horse lady was right beside me, curious about what I was doing at this time. We became somewhat firends after that nightly encounter. Sorry for the unsharp image, but I broke my wireremote port and so I had to keep the button pressed by hand and count the seconds manually, but it puts everything in that fairy tale glare.

6818 ft

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 12:02 +0200

There was not much sun at this years mountain retreat in Eggberge, but non the less nature didn't let me down. Turbulent weatherchanges, low clouds, strom and lots of rain. Here you can see peak Rophaien in the evening, reaching out of the clouds. I like the (g)loomy attitute of this.

into the spiders nest

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 10:52 +0200

Spiders - hoooh! Scary creatures, but if you take a closer look, they are actually really instresting. They got eight eyes and up to eight legs! Found this tiny nest at my marquee on the balcony. The nest normaly keeps a certain temperature and amount of humidity inside. Lowering the marquee seems to have raptured the hull that gave me this insight. Hopefully they wil make it anyway and keep the mosquitos out of my way.

grasshopper

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 18:31 +0200

I don't know in how many countries "Biene Maja" is known, but as an essentially German story from Waldemar Bonsels from the 1920s, it is hard to surpass it, when growing up in Germany. I always liked the character of Flip the most. He was funny, had a chapeau and whenever something dangerous came around the corner, he was jumpign away with his infamous "Hü-hüpf!" cry. Well, in reality they have not battelcry and they definately don't wear a hat, but they jump away at an remarkable pace and great distance.

locust

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 17:47 +0200

In comparison to the grashopper on the previous image, this fellow was about double the size, rendering it a real monster in front of my lens; shy, non the less. I figured that they rather tend to jump away on slow movement, where as they stay when I jump near them and hold still for a second. For spectators this must have been a funny show: Me, with my big lens in my hand, jumping after a big grasshopper in the field. Turns out it was worth rendering me a complete jackass.... the picture is good and it even looks as if it is trying to fake a smile.

ESI for real

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 13:07 +0200

Good old times, do you remember? There was a time, when cameras were analog and there was a time where ESI ruled the planet of C64. Thanks Dan, Ladyhway, Mitch... and all the rest for making my C64 times worthwile. You definatley rocked the scene. I knew what I had to do with this picture, right when I shot it at the Fasanerie in Hanau. RIP Eagle Soft Incorporated.

dragonfly

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 16:03 +0200

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? :)

halo

Tue, 10 May 2011 12:31 +0200

Really... time is a missing factor these days and photography has taken a beackseat, or at least the post has to wait. This one is from last years visit to La Palma. On top the Roque de los Muchachos we had plain sun, slight clouds and than this halo appeared. Now I know when people talk about having visions... this occurrence is by no means only visible on the picture. You can witness it right at spot. Amen!

reflections

Sun, 02 Jan 2011 17:28 +0200

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

Sun, 02 Jan 2011 16:15 +0200

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

winterstorm

Sun, 02 Jan 2011 15:37 +0200

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.

the raven

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 18:08 +0200

Our last day on the Island and together with Luca we headed for a small round on the Cumbre Viecha. It turned out that we took the wrong turn and were on the long way down, to the camping site at the bottom of the Caldera. As soon as we noticed we just went all the way back and at the parking site a friend was waiting for us or better for our Maria cookies.

just the two

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 13:48 +0200

Last year I thought I was lucky when I shot a dragonfly in midair, but it turned out that Karins pool is THE spot to witness more happenings in the lifeof dragonflies. There were constant fights about the territory - two male insects doing unbelievable maneuvers over the pool. Here you can see a couple on the way to the oviposition. I got more shots that are a tuck sharper, but I like the female insect touch the watersurface. And, did I mention that I have to get a macro lens? This was shot with my 500mm.....