Although I did end up completely blowing the sky on either side and could not avoid the intense glare towards the left, PP did help in reducing both to a certain extent, I do like the perspective in this shot. This is from under one of the main (and perhaps oldest?) bridges across the Rhine.

Finding very good deals, I splurged and bought myself two wonderful cameras recently, one is the professional film camera, Minolta Dynax 9 and the other is the excellent Minolta Dynax 7D, the bigger sibling of my existing 5D. The former, now sadly discontinued, I bought cheap because of a defect and so is sent for repair but I took the latter out for a spin yesterday and today. The 7D is a superb camera to handle, fitting like a glove into my hands, with every control at your fingertips like in the old film cameras and not buried in some hidden menu feature. Due to Minolta’s exit from the camera business there are some really good deals to be had for the 7D (or the 5D). If you are looking to buy a dSLR I’d very strongly recommend this (or the 5D). I’m sure you will not be disappointed by them.

This is from yesterday’s shoot. It is the shop front of the recently opened Peek and Cloppenburg store. The building was long time in the making, needing nearly four years to finish after a series of delays. Clothes are really good, but of course, it is uber expensive and only for those whose wallets are really heavy!

This is the final photo in a series of three photos of the Dom. This was a pretty difficult photo to shoot as it was shot in the night, handheld, and using the dim available light. With any other camera it would have been impossible to get a sharp image. But as my 5D has anti-shake built in I decided to give it a try. I got a decent shot on my second or third try, not completely sharp but that was taken care of by some sharpening while PP.

As I’ve a couple of things that need to be done before Wednesday I’ll be very busy and unable to post a photo tomorrow. So see you on Wednesday again!

Second in a series of three. This is the Dom from a different angle. I don’t know how much this photo works as I was shooting handheld and because of the high ISO used there is noise. But I kinda like the angle and it is one of my rare night shots.

Today, after a long time, I managed to go out and shoot something. This is the magnificent Gothic cathedral of Cologne, also the tallest Gothic structure in the world. It is one building that overpowers your senses with its sheer size. Even after being in Cologne for more than two years now I never got around to photographing the Dom (as it is called in German) properly. So I’m glad that I finally got some decent shots. This will be the first in a series of three shots. This one was shot towards late evening. I blew out the sky during PP to let the building stand out better.

The Dom has a lot of interesting history behind it. Including interruptions, it took more than 600 years for the building to be completed (1248-1880). It was even the tallest structure in the world between 1880 and 1884! It’s Sarcophagus of the Magi is thought to contain the remains of the Three Wise Men. It was hit 14 times during aerial bombing in WWII but managed not to collapse. And it also has the world’s largest free-swinging bell!

One suggestion, this photo is best viewed full screen. Press F11 to go into full screen mode (and press F11 again to exit it).

I seem to be posting only b/w photos of late here. But I could not think of posting this in color. Instead of doing the same old thing with such shots I tried to do something new, as the title of the photo suggests. I hope you like the result.

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!

I got back my 5D from repair quite earlier than expected. To celebrate this pleasant surprise I shot something that I had been wanting to do for a long time and here is that result. I’m not sure if it has come out any good as the light was very low and I was forced to use the only fast lens I had with me today, the 100 macro whereas a proper wide angle would have better I think. Also, it was a weird angle to shoot from.

If in case you are wondering what it is. This is looking up from the bottom of the stairwell up all the way to the fifth floor along the staircase in the old Institute for Genetics building where our mouse facility is based.

Disaster seems to have fallen in love with me. The day I turned in my 5D for repair I came back home to find that my external hard drive had crashed. To make matter worse I had failed to backup my most recent photos, numbering around 150. I tried to recover, but as my luck would have it I could recover almost everything else except for my photos!

This is one of the three original (RAW) files I managed to recover. Oh well, I hope my luck in the new year will be better. On that note I’ll sign off for now. Here’s wishing you all a Happy New Year. Hope the year ahead will be good for you. See you next year!

Eighteen times I breathed, in your arms, waiting for your answer. Eighteen times I cried, on your shoulder, overwhelmed by my desire. Eighteen times I laughed, on your chest, watching your silly faces. Eighteen times I died, in your words, overcome by sadness.

(Perhaps the last of the recent series of photos from my trip to Berlin last year. Again shot with my Dynax 5 film SLR. This is an installation in the Ku’damm area of Berlin near the Europa Haus.)