Experiencing climbing

Taigi, mano blogas liko užmirštas kuriam laikui. Per tą laiką be abejonės nutiko daug įvairiausių smagių dalykų, kuriuos būtų gerai įamžinti. Taigi, slidės liko padėtos į kampą kuriam laikui, nors aš jas net spėjau pagalandyt (nes pastarąji karta paaiškėjo, jog per ledinį sniegą su jom nepaslidinėsi, o tik paskraidyt gali). Todėl sekantis kartas turėjo būti itin geras, bet jo dar nebuvo, dėja. Bet užtad šitą džiaugsmą aš išmainiau į eksperimentinį nuotykį - laipiojimą. Hm, galiu pasakyt, kad slidinėt yra smagiau, bet laipiot yra lengva ir greita. Tik tai kad pavargsti baisiai greitai neturėdamas daug raumenų. Kas reiškia - 2-3 dienas jauti visą kūną. Na, man taip nenutiko, laipiojau ne per daugiausiai, bet ant vieno įdomaus akmens užlipau, o tada jau pajutau savo rankų raumenis... aj kaip pasijuto. Bet tik vienai valandai :)


La Turbie, above Monaco


La Turbie, above Monaco

Ah, dar vienas įdomus pastebėjimas dėl laipiojimo: kai užlipi, tai gali būti apdovanotas gerais vaizdais. Ana diena tai buvo vaizdas į žydrąją pakrantę su Monaku apačioje - kvapą užgniaužiantis vaizdas.

Taipogi, per mano nebuvimo bloge laikotarpį teko nemažai 'pasivažinėt'. Taigi darau sąrašą chronologijos tvarka:
- Briuselis
- Londonas (2-as kartas)
- Koblencas, čia Vokietyje jei ką. Gavom baudą autobane už greičio viršyjimą :))
- Štatai, vakarinė pakrantė. Pagrinde nacionaliniai parkai į rytus nuo CA. Bet čia jau ilga istorija, todėl kol kas tik maršrutą paviešinu.

Tour through National parks of US western coast

Fountains: Antibes

West American national parks

I know, I know... I kinda promised some stuff about American food, but there's just too much stuff at the moment to write about. So, during the weekend we had unbelievable trip through western national parks of USA like Death Valley, Mohave desert, Sequoia, Joshua tree. And it's easier to show some pictures then to describe anything :) And this time I had somebody to take pictures of me :) Big thanks!

Also, after some time of hesitation I have purchased a new instrument for macro - Tamron 90mm macro. It suites well for pictures from the car as it has F2.8 and also is perfect for portraits. However, I was unlucky to find any suitable infrared filters, which is strange. Will try next time :)


Bad water, Death Valley, CA ("Below sea level")


Blooming cactus, Death valley, CA


Exploring off-roads, Death Valley, CA


Testing new macro lens, Mohave desert, CA


Object for testing :)


"Working" down the Grand Canyon, AR


Old corvette on Route 66, AR


Until the sunset

Maitinimasis "uz balos"

As noriu padaryt mini apklausa ir paklausti sio blogo skaitytoju stai ko:

1. Koks yra "nacionalinis" amerikieciu patiekalas?
2. Kokia yra klasikine amerikieciu maitinimosi istaiga?
3. Ar visada (dazniausiai, 99%) amerikieciai palieka arbatpinigius?
   

As manau nebuciau anksciau atsakius :)

Testing Nikon lens

Today I had a moment to play with Nikon D80 and it's macro lens. Here are my findings, right from the hotel yard and straight to my blog :) Even if it's 60mm and the minimum length between object and lens is about 14cm, I would prefer sometimes having a little more of distance. I think 70mm could be a good choice, but need to search for an option suitable for my Pentax.

moment VS moments

Today while continuing experiments with water, I found out about another method for picturing it. It is possible to capture one tiny moment of water movement or... a whole path of it's movements painted like smooth, blurry curves. Previously (2 years ago) I was trying (with a soap camera) to make the same effect, but I succeed only now.

So, next experiments are going to be with waterfalls?.. and spring is a perfect time for them ;)

Parisian fountain

Do Re Mi

Playing with water - results!

This was the target :)


And the results are not too much exciting as I thought, let's say it was a first time. While watching the photos, especially the last one, they remind me a process of creating/constructing an electronic music - adding various elements, patterns and as the result you get some nice music. Here is quite the same idea - there is a nice fountain and you can decompose it into small pieces using high shutter speed and manual focus basically. I was trying to follow Roota's recomendations, however it was not possible to find 90 angle, as a result the focus range is very small on pictures.





Inside the fountain:






Right side of the fountain:






Incrising shutter speed up to 4000 I got some kind of molecules in various forms:






C'est tout! ;) Have some nice shots!

Playing with water

I am glad to announce that today I had a photosession according to Roota's tips with Monaco's fountain and the results look great from the first site :) Tomorrow I'm going to check closer and share them. As now it's time to watch a dream after extremely joyfull day in French Riviera.

Wine tasting party

Taigi, per sias iseigines pagaliau padariau tai, ka seniai norejau padaryt perskaicius ivadinius strapsnius vynogide. Todel kai tik pamaciau naujai atrastoj pardoj teisinga vyno pasirinkima (teisingas man siuo atveju nemaisytu vynuogiu vynai ir pigiai, ale ~2eu), tai ir griebiau atskiru vynuogiu rusiu vynus. Stai cia yra tie vynai, kuriuos teko paragaut:

Sauvignon Blanc, Carbernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Gamay

Trumpai uzfiksuosiu ispudzius apie kiekviena (is kaires i desine):

1. Sauvignon Blanc. Baltas. Tikejausi sauso, bet is tikro jis rugstus ir maziausias sausas is vysu situ vynu. Su zuvim turetu but super.
2. Cabernet Sauvignon. Raudonas, maisytos 2 vynuoges. Sausiausias is visu, bet sodrus skonis.
3. Merlot. Raudonas. Labai sodrus skonis, bet jo sausumas mane visgi atstumia. Su mesa turetu but pats tas.
4. Syrah. Raudonas. Sodrus ir praktiskai nesausas, lengvai geriasi su ivairiais produktais.
5. Gamay. Raudonas. Gaivus, panasus i stalo vyna.

Sia degustacija verta apturet geriant prancuziskus vynus, kadangi jie labai daznai gaminami maisant skirtingas vynuogiu rusis ir aisku tai apsunkina vyno issirinkimo procesa vien pagal jo kilme. Beje, italiskam vynui galioja visiskai priesinga taisykle: vynuoges dazniausiai nemaisomos, o ir vynus jie labiau megsta saldzius.

Pastabele: Vynai rusuojami ne tik pagal vynuogiu rusys, bet ir pagal kilmes krasta, pvz. Côtes du Rhône, Côte de Provence ir t.t..

Double fiesta

1. Today a monthly rain has began :) By meteo people predictions it will last for 2 days, yahoo!
2. Yesterdays photo-theory course has ended today with positive practical results :) Hyperfocal focusing test I think that was passed.

CICA area, Sophia Antipolis

Here I used telephoto lens with 50mm, too lazy to change for more appropriate wide angle. However, with f11 aperture I achieved not bad focus of the whole picture. Lens focus distance in this case is from 4 to infinity meters. So, I was too lazy to make foreground completely focused :) Any technical comments would be highly appreciated, there is still lots of space to enhance.

Night photo tests

Today I've made first shots of night photos with Pentax. The tunnel I'm passing everyday:

"Capitale de parfume", Grasse


High-way, Grasse

Testing new equipment

I am happy to announce that an upgrade from Olympus to Pentax was made. Currently I am migrating from point and shot type to DSLR type camera and here are the results of first experiments.

Outside and inside:



Macro:






Wide angle:


Lastly, I was searching for the answer why the background gets so blury. The answer - playing games with exposure. The key for this trick is that you need a camera and manual setup for aperture and shutter.