I’m still depending on photos from about ten days ago as I haven’t shot anything in between because of the terrible weather here. This is from the same place as the one I put up yesterday. The lake had frozen and so people were having fun walking, skating and playing over it. Didn’t realize what the guy on the extreme right was doing until I came home and was reviewing the shots!

On another note, I finally decided to order the Minolta Dynax 7D as it was very attractively priced. I’m eagerly awaiting its arrival!

Quite surprisingly, this was selected as the photo of the fortnight in one of the photography forums I’m part of! Even without that this would still be one of my favorites as I’m happy with the way it came out. And oh, I think this is the first photo here with my recently acquired Minolta 17-35mm zoom lens.

Here is the same cut down tree stem from yesterday but shot from a different angle. I’m not sure which one of the two I prefer. Both appeal to me in different ways!

I found myself getting drawn to this photo for some reason. Initially, I considered posting this in color but then I saw it in b/w and my decision was made! I’ve some shots of this from a different angle, one of which I might post tomorrow.

Starting with today, over the next few days, I’ll post some of the photos I shot while taking a walk through a park near my lab a couple of days back.

This photo was a completely random shot. But while reviewing the photos from that day, it seemed to present some interesting possibilities. So I put it through some ideas and this was the result. Nothing serious, just channel mixed in monochrome with the sky pushed near white, then opacity of the layer reduced to zero to retain the faint sepia-like color of the auto white balance and some sharpening in the end to finish things. I think this processing perfectly reflects the title of the photo, and which, in the first place, attracted my eye!

I had noticed this in a shop window while on the way to work a few days ago and had made a mental note to take a photo the next time I had the camera with me. Today, I took my camera out after a long time so I managed to shoot this. Later in the afternoon, I went out with a friend to a park near my lab and took some photos in spite of the freezing cold…brr! While coming back we were rewarded with one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen. But more of that stuff in the days ahead!

Here is the other rain drops shot that I was supposed to put up yesterday. Converted to b/w as I like it in this version.

I could not manage to post-process the other water droplets photo that I was supposed to post today. So here is something from my film archives instead. This is a photo of an acquaintance from my last trip to Berlin in June 2005. This was shot on top of the Reichstag. I like the dreamy expression in his eyes even though that was only a pose!

This is a part of the Cologne skyline. In the distance, almost dead center, is the magnificent Dom (cathedral), an amazing example of Gothic architecture. This perspective does not do much justice to the sheer size of the cathedral. I’ve some photos of it that I shot from near it that need to be scanned. If possible, I’ll post them soon.

Some trivia, apparently, there is a building rule here which forbids any building to be taller than the Dom and that the Dom should be visible from any side of the city!

Continuing with Cologne’s Christopher Day Street Parade. This guy had the most outlandish costume I had seen in the parade!