stalkin' the light

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i guess is what the landscapist might label it, but i can't help: this is part of bavarian pittoresque, like it or not. 10min by bike from my home, the farmers of "schleicherhof" accomodate guests and care for their fruit orchard and their horses. the farmhouse is situated at one of the most scenic points opposite the entrance of the valley to berchtesgaden, overlooking the meadows to grossgmain, a village already on the austrian side of the border.

only 2 steps left from the position where the lead shot was taken, the scenery to the right unfolds in front of the eye. probably this can be called 'kitschig', but at least i enjoyed the minutes up there, the talk with the farmer (well knowing the photogenic qualities of the orchard as well as the vista with the cross, "marterl" in local language), the smell of the blossoms the sounds of the bees within together with the warmth of the late afternoon sun. of course the cars from the valley could be heard, this is reality and not backdrop for a sentimental film.

a catkin and box bouquet like the one i showed in this post usually is put next to the cross in the living room or in the kitchen of the farmhouse, however big specimen of those (referring to probably pre-christian fertility rites) are traditionally put on the meadows for the easter week and later on may end up on the wall of the stable, like here.

this photo on flickr

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cross, st. peter's cemetary, salzburg

the wrought iron crosses on St. Peter's graveyard in Salzburg probably catched my attention. it is a nice and quiet place in spite of the many tourists that come and go.

lightzone's region feature helped in accentuating the foreground cross by just a little darkening of the wall of the chapel.

the slr's viewfinder, especially the bright focusing ground glass was of only little support when deciding if the subject was really sharp. the engineers' optimization for a bright screen unfortunately sacrifices the distinction between sharp and not sharp on the screen itself. i wanted to shoot wide open to have a nice bokeh on the background and make the viewer concentrate on the one foreground cross.

this photo on flickr.

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cross

visited the open-air farm museum of Ballenberg, switzerland. the weather was not to fine and the kids quite demanding, so from a photographical point of view the yield was lower than anticipated. but this cross and the mistletoe struck me as quite adequate for Good Friday.

this photo on flickr.

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