First time in Ireland

Ireland. I had never been there before, and I was eager to visit my friends who have been living in Dublin for a long time now.

I am afraid of the cold, so I picked summer to be the best time for a visit. It turned out to be a lovely four days, and even when it was not a designated photo trip, Susi & Brian were very kind to put up with my photographic desires and peculiarities: Oh! There are sheep/boats/nuns (see above!), could you just quickly stop the car? Or: The light is so nice, can we delay dinner?

It was cooler than expected for a trip within Europe in the midst of August, around 17 degrees, a bit warmer in the sun. I was confused by the palm trees. What a lie! But the light was great! The sky offered dramatic shows with dark blue rain clouds, distant rain shower rays, and peek-through sunlight. Catching the right moment to capture that white romantic house in the cliffs was a nice challenge. The wind was massive, call it storm even, my hair was a mess! And when we were up in Wicklow mountains, the 300mm lens could only take decent pictures when supported by the car's window sill. Wicklow mountains were actually my personal highlight. What a beautiful nature! And it is just a short ride South of Dublin. Glendalaugh was another great destination, a glacial valley where we took a 10k hike and visited the monastic settlement with an old church and graveyard. It all reminded me of Harry Potter.

It was a great stay, and apart from joys of photography (slideshow here), I enjoyed the time with my friends Susi and Brian. I finally got to see "Riverdance" at the Gaiety Theatre (what?! You have never seen that? We have to go!), a great show with great singers and dancers. I liked it so much, I could have gone again the next day. But this was when I had to leave. And fly back to (the last days of) Vienniese summer.

One wish remains: Ireland, please stop painting red dots on your sheep. It looks ugly and takes time to photoshop that!

Primavera with mummies

Four people, one rental car, a few cameras. Last week, we were on tour to enjoy, explore and capture spring time in Sicily. It was only mid March, but all kinds of blossoms were out, ready to provide foreground color for Greek temples and other landmarks of Sicily.

The weather was not always cooperating, and we had to deal with grey skies, a few raindrops, and even snow when we cut through the mountain area heading from Taormina to Cefalù. To escape dull colors, we went underground and also hoped for clear views in the Blue Hour at night. But in neither of both scenarios were we welcomed with open arms:

In Palermo, when we took pictures of the mummies in the Catacombe dei Cappuccini, an  obviously not amused guardiano had caught our (officially forbidden) photographing on video cam and made a long announcement in German, specifically for us, the photographers, who had disturbed graveyard peace of these  dead souls. "Katastrophe Germania", he shouted over the loudspeakers. His anger echoed in the lifeless halls of this mysterious place. When we dared to leave the dead and ascended to the ground floor, he followed us on our way out, shouting. We fled in a tiny taxi on three wheels and wondered whether we should feel guilty. (We decided we didn't. If it was for the peace of the dead, they wouldn't sell tickets.)

Then in Agrigento, the Valle dei Templi. Sneaking around with our tripods to await the Blue hour, we were detected as being professional (= presumably commercial) photographers, i.e. a species unwanted.  After we had waited in the (beautiful) area for 3 hours, amusing ourselves with second best photographs of landscapes and temples in grey light, yet another guardino approached and insisted that tripods would not be allowed during the Blue Hour. "Only out of hand". Mood was not good. But we finally did well. Using our camera bags as bean bags we succeeded anyway. The above picture of Ikarus in front of the Concordia temple is one of the results. More pictures to be looked at here.

Luckily, there is good food and wine: Pasta con le sarde, cannolli, and Caponata, a vegetable dish which I especially like. When it heavily rained, we went for dolce vita. The trip was molto bene!

Shalom, and happy 2014!

My first time in Israel. I had decided for that spontaneous winter break because I wanted to celebrate New Year's in a warmer place than Vienna. It worked out well. On January 31, 00:00h, we were toasting with sparkling wine from Galilee at Tel Aviv Beach (while some idiot stole all my money, but that is another story). Let's just say it was a great trip. I spent one week in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and the Southern tip of the Dead Sea.

In retrospective, my most memorable stroll was the exploration of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem. It is the most famous neighborhood of ultra orthodox Jewish life. Big signs in English ask women to enter this area in decent clothing (i.e. long skirts), and they explicitly prohibit photography. Alright. So, I went in a long black skirt – and the Nikon went too, but packed away, in a big shopping bag. I really did not intend to use it, for reasons of ethics and angst. But when I entered this secretive neighborhood, on a very sunny Friday morning, and I saw all these men hustling around… in black suits, with serious hats and long beards… buying bread and flowers for Sabbath… I simply could not resist to secretly reach for the Nikon and quickly "click" in their direction. Operation paparazza. By time, I got more courageous with the camera. In a street junction, in front of one of these billboard newspapers, I positioned myself and waited for interesting characters to walk right into my picture frame. This trick always works. I stood there for several minutes, took some of my now favorite pictures, and nobody rebelled. I still wonder how that worked. Maybe my disguise was just too good, and nobody even dared looking at me, as I was just the typical female black bundle walking around. Men respectfully changed the street side when we approached each other. These pictures, along with all others, can be looked at here.

Other rewarding photo moments were me witnessing some romantic wedding photography in Jaffa at New Year's Eve (look here), playing around with the red bar lights at the beach (or here), or becoming acquainted with the loveliest animal ever: the rock hyrax (fall in love here).

Israel is a great place for a winter get away, for experiencing religious conflict first hand…, for good food (oh, the food really! Shakshouka!), and definitely for photography. It offers interesting landscapes with the Sea, the Dead Sea, and the desert. And: people are relaxed getting their picture taken. I think I might return…