Feb 1 2011

Bokeh no. 1: the definition

The term “bokeh” (pronounced /bɒkɛ) comes from the Japanese word boke (暈け or ボケ), which means “blur” or “haze”, or boke-aji (ボケ味), the “blur quality”.
In photography, bokeh is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or “the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light.”


Aug 25 2010

A larger slice of time

A photograph is usually a very small slice of time.  A modern day camera can take  slices out of time which last about 4000th of a second. The average photograph is taken with an exposure (because that’s how these slices of time are defined in the world of photography) of about 125th of a second. Of course, one can extend the exposure time to a 30th of a second or a 10th or perhaps one whole second, depending on the amount of light which is available. The less light there is, the longer the exposure time needs to be in order to get a proper photograph.

There are some interesting side effects to this and it is quite often interesting to consider using longer exposure times, not so much because of the low level of light, but because of the side effects it brings (which suddenly means that low levels of light are a necessity). The Light Moves series are an example of wanting these nice side-effects and therefore having to use long exposure times.

Another example is using long exposures in combination with flowing water. Of course, one has to stand ankle deep in a stream of freezing cold water, in the dark, getting bitten to death by a rich assortment of mosquitos and other nocturnal insects…but I think the result is worth it


Jun 30 2010

Through the lens


Jun 16 2010

Two little known facts about Maine Coons

1) they like to pose in high-key settings.
2) they like to eat potato crisps in unusual ways


Apr 27 2010

Kytky

translation from Czech: flowers


Apr 21 2010

the death of a cyclist and the birth of a bike

On January 2nd, 1960 the legendary Italian cyclist Fausto Coppi died, age 40. From 1940 to 1954 he earned the title of “Il Campionissimo” or Champion of Champions. His victories included the Giro d’Italia, the Tour the France and the notorious Paris-Roubaix race.

To commemorate Coppi’s 50th year of death a special theme bike is build, which will participate in this years’ amateur edition of the Paris-Roubaix race.

the bike’s creator can be found here


Feb 7 2010

The final race

A small registration of the very last race at Col Du Darc. Very soon it will be permanently closed to make room for luxurious apartments starting at $1,000,000.


Jan 2 2010

and a fish

because cats like fish.


Aug 11 2009

Lost marbles

to loose ones marbles: to go grazy.

it must have been a child who came up with this expression after loosing his marbles in a game of marbles (or better, it was his opponent who came up with it). I played marbles a lot and lost lots of them. There’s basically three type of kids:

  1. The one that came to school with a certain amount of marbles. He/she would play marbles all day and return home with the exact same amount of marbles.
  2. The one that came to school with no marbles at all, borrowed one marble and returned home with almost all the marbles present at the schools playground that day.
  3. The one that came to school with lots of marbles and returned with none.

I had a tendency to be a type 3 marble player. Please don’t feel sorry for me, I still have lots of marbles.

marbles


Jul 3 2009

Boys and their toys

Boys and their toys