Views from our balcony

The unprocessed, middle picture of three bracketed ones.

Today, I downloaded a trial version of Photomatix Pro (hence the watermarks). This software needs three pictures or more with different exposure to create one very detailed HDR (High Dynamic Range) version. This is my first attempt: I left it to the software to see what was best and didn’t change settings, but you get an idea of its potential. For me, it’s love at first sight... [Edit: I have now replaced the Photomatix-marked version with a clean one; I’ve paid my dues...].

Fellini sagte, daß er im Grunde immer denselben Film drehte. Das gilt auch für mich: Wer genau hinsieht, mag geringe Unterschiede feststellen, aber ins Gewicht fallen diese nicht... Fellini used to say: “Actually, I always make the same film...” The same with me: when you observe closely, you may detect slight differences, but these are of little consequence...

Ein letzter Blick von unserem Balkon aus auf die letzten Überbleibsel vom Gasthof “Zur Post”: jetzt sind nur noch Schütt und die gelbe Maschine da. Das Bild wurde bei derselben Gelegenheit gemacht wie dieses. A last view from our balcony on the last remains of the “Klostermaier” inn. The picture was taken on the same occasion as this one.

Ich war noch in der S-Bahn, zwischen Ebenhausen und Icking, als ich mich entschloß, meine Kamera zur Hand zu nehmen. Ob die Szene wirklich so schön war wie auf dem Bild? (Die Frage ist mir etwas peinlich...) Nein, vermutlich nicht ganz. Ich konnte der Versuchung aber nicht widerstehen, die von sich aus ansprechende Wirklichkeit noch geringfügig zu überhöhen... I was still on the commuters’ train when the beauty of the scene struck me. Was it as beautiful as this? (Don’t ask me: such questions make me feel bad...) No, probably not quite. However, I couldn’t resist the temptation to turn a fine reality to something sublime...

Gesternabend: schweres Wetter über Icking. Yesterday evening: Bad weather over Icking.

Gesternabend: schweres Wetter über Icking. Yesterday evening: Bad weather over Icking. [iPhoto: ISO 400 already yielded pretty much color noise, so I processed the original photo with “enhance” and the special effect “antique”.]

Gesternabend: schweres Wetter über Icking. Yesterday evening: Bad weather over Icking. [iPhoto: ISO 400 already yielded pretty much color noise, so I processed the original photo with “enhance” and the special effect “antique”.]

Gesternabend: schweres Wetter über Icking. Yesterday evening: Bad weather over Icking.

Shot not long before this one, but with a quite different atmosphere: There is a bird of prey cruising above Isar Valley –a familiar sight. Some of them are big and would eat a dachshund for breakfast. Robbie is aware of that.