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| 1 Probably an Assassin Bug (Pristhesancus plagipennis 3rd or 4th instar) |
for more information about assassin bugs and their bite go to
www.qm.qld.gov.au/Learning.../~/.../fact-sheet-assassin-bugs.pdf
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| 2 |
Thursday, 8 January 2015
Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Spearkilling...ceterum censeo
Finally, I managed to download pictures of a spearkiller in action. I took the photo with my Nokia C2-01 phone on March 10, 2012. This situation plays inside the Seaway where spearkilling is strictly prohibited. Actually, it is the concrete platform that is used by fishermen, scuba divers and surfers to get closer to or into the water.
This guy and his mate had the guts to go on the spearkilling spree on a busy day with plenty of big and small kids around, tourists, scuba divers, surfers in the water. The king of the Seaway - www.divingthegoldcoast.com.au - even shook this guy's hand instead of spitting into his face or at least remind him of his wrongdoing. Obviously, an important personality. That makes it ok, doesn't it!
Why does everybody think that those pathetic killers are fishermen? Only people without a brain would call criminals using explosives in the water fishermen, would they. They may have been fishermen in aboriginal times, those people with a spear. They may have hunted for a tucker.
Not nowadays. As you can see, they have the best and most expensive and deadly equipment. Is it for the money that those fish have to die for? Or is it for the fun somebody feels when he is killing a living animal, that he can exert power over? Is it nice to feel a fish fight on the line, and finally loose an unfair fight for its life? Is it exciting to lure for a fish in a camouflage suit? Or is it a kick getting out of the water and being admired by all real fishermen? They have to read the water, know where there is structure, be patient with odds of a successful catch that is close to zero? For a lot of them it is not about killing a fish but about the fishing experience. I don't understand why fishing lobbies don't throw those spearkillers out, marginalise and poo-poo them. Surely, most spearkillers could afford to buy the fish from licensed, real fishermen with a passion and an understanding of what they are doing and people who have to live from it.
Most fish are territorial and have certain places where they can be met. Scuba divers can almost touch precious big fish at the Seaway. Do they all have to go and die for some pathetic people? Spearkilling is sustainable, I was told once. It certainly is for all the scuba dive shops that seem to make some decent money selling the spearkilling equipment. So, is spearkilling really a sport? If so, why don't we have members of the riffle association go to public parks and shoot any animal that they can spot and humanely kill? Sustainable: how can it be sustainable to allow everybody to buy a killing harpoon and go out for a hunt? Are we talking about 10 people, with almost a 100% fish killing success rate that roam the sea, mostly near the coast line? Are we talking about 1000, 10000? How many spearkillers will we have if everybody finds out how simple it is to kill every fish, a million, ten million?
A protected Queensland Groper, a big, proud 2 metre fish, was sighted inside the Seaway a while ago with a spear sticking out of its body. One day, it will be me or another scuba diver. That was a mistake, wasn't it. But, what is the target fish of spearopaths, diamond fish, guppies, blennies? Whoever said that spearkilling is sustainable may have forgotten that the fish population is part of an ecosystem. So, let me also say something positive about spearkilling: apart from the occasional protected species, there is little collateral damage, at least direct damage to substrate. What you want, is what you kill. Unless, you find another fish that you want. There are always enough fish out there to feed your prey. If I get that right, some species will be targeted, decimated, some maybe close to local extinction. Who is competent to measure the sustainability of spearkilling? Who measures the effects on the rest of the ecosystem? Who is competent to interpolate and determine the tipping point when there are simply too many spearkillers out there that affect the system.
Great white sharks love spearkillers. Ta dum, ta dum, ta dum...great that thanks to spearos a culling of those apex predators can be politically justified and a culling of sharks suddenly seems a good idea in Australia. Please, if ever a Great White will take me, don't cull any of them. But please, if a Spearo kills me, get revenge and regulate the use of spearguns. Don't ever let this weapon near any of those psychopaths that now seem to flock in, buy this tool for their macabre underwater game. Great white belong in the water and the ecosystem needs them, not because they are attracted and eat the half dead fish zapping on the speargun lines. Spearkillers don't belong in the water with everyone else or should at least have a licence to do so. And they better not be short sighted! Of course, even if every household in Australian coastal towns owns and uses a speargun, chances to kill each other would be higher than to eradicate all fish species. No worries, not all fish will die but we will have sick, degenerated habitats if we allow spearkillers to play their games in our front yard.
So, what can normal people and fishermen do to get Spearkillers out of the water? It is quite easy, make them get a licence to carry their gun. Register them and study them. Restrict their activities to some well defined areas and set hefty fines and imprisonment for breaches. Some of these people might just not reflect on what they are doing. It is like squashing an ant or mosquito where we don't think about killing but are actually proud of it. Maybe I am over the top postulating a ban or regulation on spearkilling. Maybe killing a fish doesn't mean a thing, as little as a killing a mosquito or your neighbour's cat. Maybe it's ridiculous to even think about it, making it an issue, let alone asking to legislate it. But edible fish are not insects and fish certainly do feel pain and do show emotions.
Did you ever swim with fish, have you ever made eye contact with a fish? You'd feel as if it could be your pet, your cat or your dog. They are intelligent. I vividly remember my first encounter with Grey Nurse sharks at South West Rocks or some encounters with Manta Rays. Fish know that you are there, they are interested in you. Swimming in a school of fish is better than seeing a flock of birds because you can become part of them. During some night dives, bait fish seek shelter and herd around me in thick clouds. Being one of them I can't see anything but them. They obscure my vision, make me feel more vulnerable to big predators. If shooting fish for sports, why not shooting pictures of them? I am happy to teach anyone the basics and really challenge some spearos.
If it were possible I would rather show my love for fish and the underwater realm than fighting the concept of spearkilling. Being negative and expose myself with the message calling for action, is not something I would choose out of free will. But, land people don't see the interconnectedness of the underwater realm and it's vulnerability. They don't care unless someone makes them aware of what is going on. Life is different under water. Spearkillers not only kill and eat or sell their fish, they will be responsible for degrading the sea that belongs to everyone and that a lot of people enjoy or even depend on for a living. Some tourists are at the Gold Coast and in Australia because of casinos but it is mainly the stunning beauty of the sea that attracts them. We should not put that on the line, not on the speargun line.
Have a look at the spearkiller and his spear gun. Does that look like anyone wants to be near him? Actually, that day they killed and brought back two beautiful, big fish and brought them out and posed with it at the same spot. We don't need to shake hand with them or treat them as heros. They need to realise that they are not welcome anywhere but in their own fish ponds.
Ceterum censeo...carrying a speargun and using it needs to be regulated in Australia. A licence should be reserved to competent people with no criminal history nor history of mental illness. The use of spearguns should be limited to private ponds or a few designated public areas where the potential and actual impact on nature has been researched and keeps being monitored.
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| Busy day at the Seaway with a spearkiller amongst normal people. |
Why does everybody think that those pathetic killers are fishermen? Only people without a brain would call criminals using explosives in the water fishermen, would they. They may have been fishermen in aboriginal times, those people with a spear. They may have hunted for a tucker.
Not nowadays. As you can see, they have the best and most expensive and deadly equipment. Is it for the money that those fish have to die for? Or is it for the fun somebody feels when he is killing a living animal, that he can exert power over? Is it nice to feel a fish fight on the line, and finally loose an unfair fight for its life? Is it exciting to lure for a fish in a camouflage suit? Or is it a kick getting out of the water and being admired by all real fishermen? They have to read the water, know where there is structure, be patient with odds of a successful catch that is close to zero? For a lot of them it is not about killing a fish but about the fishing experience. I don't understand why fishing lobbies don't throw those spearkillers out, marginalise and poo-poo them. Surely, most spearkillers could afford to buy the fish from licensed, real fishermen with a passion and an understanding of what they are doing and people who have to live from it.
Most fish are territorial and have certain places where they can be met. Scuba divers can almost touch precious big fish at the Seaway. Do they all have to go and die for some pathetic people? Spearkilling is sustainable, I was told once. It certainly is for all the scuba dive shops that seem to make some decent money selling the spearkilling equipment. So, is spearkilling really a sport? If so, why don't we have members of the riffle association go to public parks and shoot any animal that they can spot and humanely kill? Sustainable: how can it be sustainable to allow everybody to buy a killing harpoon and go out for a hunt? Are we talking about 10 people, with almost a 100% fish killing success rate that roam the sea, mostly near the coast line? Are we talking about 1000, 10000? How many spearkillers will we have if everybody finds out how simple it is to kill every fish, a million, ten million?
A protected Queensland Groper, a big, proud 2 metre fish, was sighted inside the Seaway a while ago with a spear sticking out of its body. One day, it will be me or another scuba diver. That was a mistake, wasn't it. But, what is the target fish of spearopaths, diamond fish, guppies, blennies? Whoever said that spearkilling is sustainable may have forgotten that the fish population is part of an ecosystem. So, let me also say something positive about spearkilling: apart from the occasional protected species, there is little collateral damage, at least direct damage to substrate. What you want, is what you kill. Unless, you find another fish that you want. There are always enough fish out there to feed your prey. If I get that right, some species will be targeted, decimated, some maybe close to local extinction. Who is competent to measure the sustainability of spearkilling? Who measures the effects on the rest of the ecosystem? Who is competent to interpolate and determine the tipping point when there are simply too many spearkillers out there that affect the system.
Great white sharks love spearkillers. Ta dum, ta dum, ta dum...great that thanks to spearos a culling of those apex predators can be politically justified and a culling of sharks suddenly seems a good idea in Australia. Please, if ever a Great White will take me, don't cull any of them. But please, if a Spearo kills me, get revenge and regulate the use of spearguns. Don't ever let this weapon near any of those psychopaths that now seem to flock in, buy this tool for their macabre underwater game. Great white belong in the water and the ecosystem needs them, not because they are attracted and eat the half dead fish zapping on the speargun lines. Spearkillers don't belong in the water with everyone else or should at least have a licence to do so. And they better not be short sighted! Of course, even if every household in Australian coastal towns owns and uses a speargun, chances to kill each other would be higher than to eradicate all fish species. No worries, not all fish will die but we will have sick, degenerated habitats if we allow spearkillers to play their games in our front yard.
So, what can normal people and fishermen do to get Spearkillers out of the water? It is quite easy, make them get a licence to carry their gun. Register them and study them. Restrict their activities to some well defined areas and set hefty fines and imprisonment for breaches. Some of these people might just not reflect on what they are doing. It is like squashing an ant or mosquito where we don't think about killing but are actually proud of it. Maybe I am over the top postulating a ban or regulation on spearkilling. Maybe killing a fish doesn't mean a thing, as little as a killing a mosquito or your neighbour's cat. Maybe it's ridiculous to even think about it, making it an issue, let alone asking to legislate it. But edible fish are not insects and fish certainly do feel pain and do show emotions.
Did you ever swim with fish, have you ever made eye contact with a fish? You'd feel as if it could be your pet, your cat or your dog. They are intelligent. I vividly remember my first encounter with Grey Nurse sharks at South West Rocks or some encounters with Manta Rays. Fish know that you are there, they are interested in you. Swimming in a school of fish is better than seeing a flock of birds because you can become part of them. During some night dives, bait fish seek shelter and herd around me in thick clouds. Being one of them I can't see anything but them. They obscure my vision, make me feel more vulnerable to big predators. If shooting fish for sports, why not shooting pictures of them? I am happy to teach anyone the basics and really challenge some spearos.
If it were possible I would rather show my love for fish and the underwater realm than fighting the concept of spearkilling. Being negative and expose myself with the message calling for action, is not something I would choose out of free will. But, land people don't see the interconnectedness of the underwater realm and it's vulnerability. They don't care unless someone makes them aware of what is going on. Life is different under water. Spearkillers not only kill and eat or sell their fish, they will be responsible for degrading the sea that belongs to everyone and that a lot of people enjoy or even depend on for a living. Some tourists are at the Gold Coast and in Australia because of casinos but it is mainly the stunning beauty of the sea that attracts them. We should not put that on the line, not on the speargun line.
Have a look at the spearkiller and his spear gun. Does that look like anyone wants to be near him? Actually, that day they killed and brought back two beautiful, big fish and brought them out and posed with it at the same spot. We don't need to shake hand with them or treat them as heros. They need to realise that they are not welcome anywhere but in their own fish ponds.
 |
| This photo is not staged. It shows a speargun lying at the concrete platform, at a public place where normal people have to pass through, where there are often children. In Australia, kids are protected and everyone with a swimming pool has to build a fence around it. But weapons can lie around like this in plain daylight. |
Ceterum censeo...carrying a speargun and using it needs to be regulated in Australia. A licence should be reserved to competent people with no criminal history nor history of mental illness. The use of spearguns should be limited to private ponds or a few designated public areas where the potential and actual impact on nature has been researched and keeps being monitored.
Tuesday, 6 January 2015
Landscape macro
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| 1 Blue sky |
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| 2 Swamp grass clouds |
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| 3 Bearded dragon (Am aware that this is an extremely bad photo and that the depth of field is horrible. But it is a species that I don't often see.) |
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| 4 My favourite photo, love it. |
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| 5 Trees in a row |
Sunday, 4 January 2015
Saturday, 3 January 2015
Smokin' hot grassbirds
Nature is beautiful. Rain has transformed the landscape. Birds enjoy grassland, seem to have enough water to drink and food to eat.
There was not a particular plan to photograph birds. Admittedly, I am on the lookout for a bird, a big beauty that I could not identify last time I strolled around in that area, maybe a pheasant coucal with a mighty call, resonating through the swampy grassland.
Today was a hot and muggy affair. My camera would not go smokin' hot with action today, I had assumed. It was more about sucking up the rich and colourful landscape, watching distant waders and the occasional singing bird. The air smelled of freshly cut grass and pollen, salt and marshland, with that particular hint of foul swamp.
Ready to call it a day, some tiny and faithful friends got my attention. Fairy-wrens, I have come to love them over the past half year. We shared so many amazing moments together. Another story about a Fairy-wren family, mainly the mother and daughter still has to be told one day.
Approaching the flock of grassbirds allowed me to spot several blue and therefore male Superb Fairy-wrens with quite a few females around. They hopped around on perches formed from fallen branches in the deep grass. The sun was standing behind them, not ideal for photography. But sometimes it is not much about the brilliant shot, sometimes it is about witnessing behaviour that only a few of us are privileged to come across.
Nearby, but a bit further away, a pair of Red-backed Fairy-wren caught my attention. If only, I could crawl closer. But even with freshly cut grass, crouching and crawling around in wet snake country is not on top of my favourite pastimes list, especially if I am sore and can hardly move.
In proper Fairy-wren manner all birds often changed position, would not stay still for long. They are definitely in for some Ritalin. So was my camera in the meantime. Frame after frame were shot, sometimes reminding of a machine gun. Just smokin' hot. When I finally managed to release the trigger after having pushed it for too long, all that was missing was that short, almost invisible smoke coming from my SLR, that all knowing, silent and guilty smoke of settled fire. Maybe it was the green grass background, that kept me documenting the birds.
Red-backed Fairy-wren are not as common as their blue version cousins. Maybe they normally are just more difficult to spot. Today, this couple was visibly busy dancing around each other for a while. They calmed down and settled on a dry branch sticking out of the high grass. Sure enough the perch hid some of the action with the fine dry twigs almost impossible to incorporate or keep out of the picture.
The dry twigs served the two lovely birds well though. Soon the two lovers sat next to each other, not for long at a time but over quite a considerable length of time, always coming back to each other, sometimes an arm's length apart, but most of the time right next to each other. Them flying a few metres away kept my adrenalin level high. But sure enough they came back. With my photographic equipment, I knew that I was still too far away to properly document these small birds. But why scare them and ruin the situation.
What was that? The red-backed male started poking the brown female in the chest. Seriously? Sure enough, the same behaviour was repeated several times. My camera went into machine gun mode again. No guilt, just excitement. The pictures confirmed that I was not dreaming. It looked like the male would pick out lice from the female breast plumage. She visibly enjoyed that session, the head and neck feathers raising and the eyes starting to get that dreamy look, the head raised, eye lids slightly closed, an eerie stare into the wide, green landscape while the male beak and head sunk into her soft feathery breast.
Was that part of a mating ritual? Was I to witness more of it? Bliss won't happen for an eternity. With Red-backed Fairy-wrens it seems to come piece after piece. Short intervals of chest massage, picking lice or kiss. Of course, it is always the male that has to initiate. Who would be surprised about that. But after enjoying the male attention, the female started returning the favour. Her sitting a bit higher on the dry branch probably predisposed her to not focus on her male's chest. The male spread the scarlet-red wing feathers and she gained access into it a few times. In between she faced away from him. When she turned back at some stage, she also started picking his head. It looked like a head massage, like a wood-pecker going for grubs under the bark. Just more pleasant and reciprocally beneficial for all involved.
Whatever they were doing, both visibly enjoyed the encounter. They didn't seem to mind most of my voyeurism and me taking pictures. Surely, I enjoyed watching that sort of bird intimacy. Soon, the birds flew away and who knows what they were doing afterwards. I'd like to think that they are a faithful and happy couple, that enjoy each other, their freedom and the beautiful landscape: just smokin' hot grassbirds!
There was not a particular plan to photograph birds. Admittedly, I am on the lookout for a bird, a big beauty that I could not identify last time I strolled around in that area, maybe a pheasant coucal with a mighty call, resonating through the swampy grassland.
Today was a hot and muggy affair. My camera would not go smokin' hot with action today, I had assumed. It was more about sucking up the rich and colourful landscape, watching distant waders and the occasional singing bird. The air smelled of freshly cut grass and pollen, salt and marshland, with that particular hint of foul swamp.
Ready to call it a day, some tiny and faithful friends got my attention. Fairy-wrens, I have come to love them over the past half year. We shared so many amazing moments together. Another story about a Fairy-wren family, mainly the mother and daughter still has to be told one day.
Approaching the flock of grassbirds allowed me to spot several blue and therefore male Superb Fairy-wrens with quite a few females around. They hopped around on perches formed from fallen branches in the deep grass. The sun was standing behind them, not ideal for photography. But sometimes it is not much about the brilliant shot, sometimes it is about witnessing behaviour that only a few of us are privileged to come across.
Nearby, but a bit further away, a pair of Red-backed Fairy-wren caught my attention. If only, I could crawl closer. But even with freshly cut grass, crouching and crawling around in wet snake country is not on top of my favourite pastimes list, especially if I am sore and can hardly move.
In proper Fairy-wren manner all birds often changed position, would not stay still for long. They are definitely in for some Ritalin. So was my camera in the meantime. Frame after frame were shot, sometimes reminding of a machine gun. Just smokin' hot. When I finally managed to release the trigger after having pushed it for too long, all that was missing was that short, almost invisible smoke coming from my SLR, that all knowing, silent and guilty smoke of settled fire. Maybe it was the green grass background, that kept me documenting the birds.
Red-backed Fairy-wren are not as common as their blue version cousins. Maybe they normally are just more difficult to spot. Today, this couple was visibly busy dancing around each other for a while. They calmed down and settled on a dry branch sticking out of the high grass. Sure enough the perch hid some of the action with the fine dry twigs almost impossible to incorporate or keep out of the picture.
The dry twigs served the two lovely birds well though. Soon the two lovers sat next to each other, not for long at a time but over quite a considerable length of time, always coming back to each other, sometimes an arm's length apart, but most of the time right next to each other. Them flying a few metres away kept my adrenalin level high. But sure enough they came back. With my photographic equipment, I knew that I was still too far away to properly document these small birds. But why scare them and ruin the situation.
What was that? The red-backed male started poking the brown female in the chest. Seriously? Sure enough, the same behaviour was repeated several times. My camera went into machine gun mode again. No guilt, just excitement. The pictures confirmed that I was not dreaming. It looked like the male would pick out lice from the female breast plumage. She visibly enjoyed that session, the head and neck feathers raising and the eyes starting to get that dreamy look, the head raised, eye lids slightly closed, an eerie stare into the wide, green landscape while the male beak and head sunk into her soft feathery breast.
Was that part of a mating ritual? Was I to witness more of it? Bliss won't happen for an eternity. With Red-backed Fairy-wrens it seems to come piece after piece. Short intervals of chest massage, picking lice or kiss. Of course, it is always the male that has to initiate. Who would be surprised about that. But after enjoying the male attention, the female started returning the favour. Her sitting a bit higher on the dry branch probably predisposed her to not focus on her male's chest. The male spread the scarlet-red wing feathers and she gained access into it a few times. In between she faced away from him. When she turned back at some stage, she also started picking his head. It looked like a head massage, like a wood-pecker going for grubs under the bark. Just more pleasant and reciprocally beneficial for all involved.
Whatever they were doing, both visibly enjoyed the encounter. They didn't seem to mind most of my voyeurism and me taking pictures. Surely, I enjoyed watching that sort of bird intimacy. Soon, the birds flew away and who knows what they were doing afterwards. I'd like to think that they are a faithful and happy couple, that enjoy each other, their freedom and the beautiful landscape: just smokin' hot grassbirds!
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Friday, 2 January 2015
Landscape 1 to 5
Just doodeling with my iphone.
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| 1 |
Am happy with the picture but would have preferred a big snake in the sky rather than a mushroom. I love the overgrown trees, the row of trees and some clouds emanating from the gap in them. With a better sky, this picture would have had more potential.
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| 2 |
Frankly, I like this picture and it is my favourite in this series. It works for me. To me it is interesting in all its parts. It could maybe be improved with a passing, red and blurred formula 1 race car, preferably my own Ferrari if I had one, on the path. But other than that, I wouldn't change a thing.
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| 3 |
What I like about this shot are the puffy clouds in the middle, arranged like dots of cream on a cake and with some distant clouds reflecting in the water. I also like the tension between the bushes linked by the beach, the water wedging two different greens from the pasture and the mangroves. Whenever I am at this place, I can not help wanting to be behind the mangroves, submerged a few metres, scuba diving right under the distant clouds.
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| 4 |
This situation had probably the most potential. I tried to work the scene but could not get the light right. Something is wrong and I still can't see what it is. Oh, it'll come to me one day. It is still an impressive picture in my books.
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| 5 |
Here is another take on the scene in picture 4. As much as I liked the sky and the landscape, I could not get the light right. The right is a black disaster. But I am starting to realise that I am into dark, obscured, sombre scenes with lots of contrast and story in the sky. It's the same issue as with one of my Moskito creek pictures. So why change it! Maybe some filter might help one day.
Hope you enjoyed. Always happy to get a feedback and could certainly do with some hints.
Happy New Year
Happy New Year
Christian Grund and Maurice Haas, with their official photo of the Swiss Federal Council 2015 are challenging my new year's resolution.
I want to be enthusiastic about photography, make friends with my positivity and mingle with nice people like myself.
Such a fantastic photo, isn't it!?
This valuable photo can be downloaded by everyone for free.
![]()
http://www.admin.ch/br/dienstleistungen/00094/index.html?lang=en
The following webpage gives details on the 'making of':
http://www.admin.ch/br/dienstleistungen/00094/00636/index.html?lang=de
This photo simply has to be shared. It is like the bread at the Last Supper. You could also print it on toilet paper, if you fancy, to make the picture live up to its expressive tonality, brown on creamish yellow white. I love the way that the simple, brown, wooden, fish-grid floor sets a balance to the powerful women and men.
I love the tree that you can see outside the window. Just spectacular, isn't it? This must be the Windows 8 - a strike of genius, isn't it - with curtains that never do what you want them to do! I think that version of windows works in the picture. The two photo artists also manage to place the anti-cloud in the picture. It is so innovative to not have a white creative cloud but black shadows instead, under the bums where they belong. - And on the left under the phone: totally blacked out space. Diabolically sophisticated, isn't it!?
Isn't it just amazing how it looks like a coincidence that the heads of the heads of one of the most beautiful countries on this planet are aligned with an old fashioned phone in one straight line. I'd love to have one of these rare bakelite antique phones. And the meticulously planned and arranged fruit - don't they just complement the simple table. Photographers just know what works and sometimes it is just a glimpse of colour that can do the trick, isn't it!?
Did you notice that the light almost forms a heart shape? How could concordance - governing with heart - Swiss style be better promoted and explained? Cute, isn't it. Just beautiful, isn't it? The Christian party lady with the white blouse centred in the picture - oh, I like her style and always liked her rhetorical skills in TV discussions. Refreshing. The Christians, aren't they supposed to naturally get all the attention? Don't we love the laugh that she shares with her right wing colleague? It looks like the harmonious family scene. We don't necessarily have to agree that the family is the core of everything in society. In this picture, we can simply just feel it. It is teleportated to us, isn't it!?
There isn't anything in that picture, anyone could not like, is there?! Even when we have a look at the photographers' homepages, all you can see is positivity. Awesome! Those photographers know what they are doing. Their clients include all the big and famous Swiss companies, no room for random low budget clients. They simply must be good and know what they are doing. And they have met and portrayed celebrities. Isn't that just fabulous? I think they are celebrities themselves and I'd love to meet and learn from them.
It is all so nice! I like nice! I like to be nicely positive! If I could make a wish, I'd one day like to be as good a photographer as Christian Grund and Maurice Haas. It almost makes me cry in joy that they even bothered to share how they created that piece of art. So, I can learn. L e a r n! Yes, don't we all like learning? Learning to take nice and beautiful pictures and share them with the world.
And success is not a far step away when you are creating beautiful pictures, is it!? This picture might not be censored at the www.zumstein.ch photo competition. It would win any day. It has the quality to win for sure. It is a winner! Not only that: nice pictures are talked about for ever. They get the attention they deserve. I just loved the Bennetton ads, you know, the beautiful brown ads with colours. We could talk about them for years, even analysed them at Uni. When you are creating a picture like Leonardo Da Vinci did, you will be immortal. Isn't that nice!? Especially, if you are still alive and can enjoy all the fame and rewards that come along with it.
This picture makes me feel my passion for photography. I am so fortunate that I have studied at the most beautiful university in Switzerland. From the nice people there, I have learned so much about communication, about messages. They must be excited there about this New Year's picture. It shows a well designed picture across all aspects, not a single discipline neglected, be it marketing, finance, psychology, language, law, politics, economics, communication. So nice, and well-balanced, isn't it!?
Everybody in Switzerland talks about this photographic exploit, exploiting all the values that originate from within this photo. I wish there was more positivity in society and I am glad that some people point out how difficult it would be to take such a picture. Good on them. They are nice people - very positive people that every society needs. I am glad that I belong to those positive people for once thanks to my New Year's resolutions. I have come that far, that I can even see some positive about the predominant negativity in media. It has to be said over and over again: So nice!
Most of all, I am excited for Switzerland. We now know, that Switzerland has the best government that you can wish for. They make their hard work look like a walk in the park. That is nice, isn't it!? So beautiful, isn't it!? And we know that pictures coming from elected Swiss officials and pictures coming from the beautiful parliament house can be exciting and worth talking about.
However, being so excited and positive, I simply can not become a traitor of all my values. I am an honest person, with high moral values and hopefully integrity. I can not lie to you. I might not be beautiful but I am seriously a very nice person. So, this is a bit embarrassing. There is simply no way around but to admit that I don't have any New Year's resolutions. And also, I will never be able to make friends and mingle if that means pretending and being nice. Everybody can just see through me, can't they!? Which, of course, is very nice! But let me try to formulate it nicely for people who maybe don't understand my nice sarcasm.
The photographers are not nice. They have not created a beautiful picture. This may be a successful picture for them. Because: they are talked about. And they will have their names promoted. They made history and became immortal. At the same time, we can be proud that the Swiss government doesn't care about photography and the messages they portray. They have better things to do than supporting the domain of bonvivants and mentally ill people that mess around with cameras and light. People that - we should all know - mess around and manipulate reality.
Society, there are more important issues out there than bad pictures! Yes, of course, I agree. It is not an important matter at all.
Unless you are really passionate about photography!
I wish everyone a great, successful, healthy 2015 with lots of beautiful and nice pictures that may win recognition for the very right reasons! And may your New Year's resolutions have a lot of niceties and standing power.
Christian Grund and Maurice Haas, with their official photo of the Swiss Federal Council 2015 are challenging my new year's resolution.
I want to be enthusiastic about photography, make friends with my positivity and mingle with nice people like myself.
Such a fantastic photo, isn't it!?
This valuable photo can be downloaded by everyone for free.
http://www.admin.ch/br/dienstleistungen/00094/index.html?lang=en
The following webpage gives details on the 'making of':
http://www.admin.ch/br/dienstleistungen/00094/00636/index.html?lang=de
This photo simply has to be shared. It is like the bread at the Last Supper. You could also print it on toilet paper, if you fancy, to make the picture live up to its expressive tonality, brown on creamish yellow white. I love the way that the simple, brown, wooden, fish-grid floor sets a balance to the powerful women and men.
I love the tree that you can see outside the window. Just spectacular, isn't it? This must be the Windows 8 - a strike of genius, isn't it - with curtains that never do what you want them to do! I think that version of windows works in the picture. The two photo artists also manage to place the anti-cloud in the picture. It is so innovative to not have a white creative cloud but black shadows instead, under the bums where they belong. - And on the left under the phone: totally blacked out space. Diabolically sophisticated, isn't it!?
Isn't it just amazing how it looks like a coincidence that the heads of the heads of one of the most beautiful countries on this planet are aligned with an old fashioned phone in one straight line. I'd love to have one of these rare bakelite antique phones. And the meticulously planned and arranged fruit - don't they just complement the simple table. Photographers just know what works and sometimes it is just a glimpse of colour that can do the trick, isn't it!?
Did you notice that the light almost forms a heart shape? How could concordance - governing with heart - Swiss style be better promoted and explained? Cute, isn't it. Just beautiful, isn't it? The Christian party lady with the white blouse centred in the picture - oh, I like her style and always liked her rhetorical skills in TV discussions. Refreshing. The Christians, aren't they supposed to naturally get all the attention? Don't we love the laugh that she shares with her right wing colleague? It looks like the harmonious family scene. We don't necessarily have to agree that the family is the core of everything in society. In this picture, we can simply just feel it. It is teleportated to us, isn't it!?
There isn't anything in that picture, anyone could not like, is there?! Even when we have a look at the photographers' homepages, all you can see is positivity. Awesome! Those photographers know what they are doing. Their clients include all the big and famous Swiss companies, no room for random low budget clients. They simply must be good and know what they are doing. And they have met and portrayed celebrities. Isn't that just fabulous? I think they are celebrities themselves and I'd love to meet and learn from them.
It is all so nice! I like nice! I like to be nicely positive! If I could make a wish, I'd one day like to be as good a photographer as Christian Grund and Maurice Haas. It almost makes me cry in joy that they even bothered to share how they created that piece of art. So, I can learn. L e a r n! Yes, don't we all like learning? Learning to take nice and beautiful pictures and share them with the world.
And success is not a far step away when you are creating beautiful pictures, is it!? This picture might not be censored at the www.zumstein.ch photo competition. It would win any day. It has the quality to win for sure. It is a winner! Not only that: nice pictures are talked about for ever. They get the attention they deserve. I just loved the Bennetton ads, you know, the beautiful brown ads with colours. We could talk about them for years, even analysed them at Uni. When you are creating a picture like Leonardo Da Vinci did, you will be immortal. Isn't that nice!? Especially, if you are still alive and can enjoy all the fame and rewards that come along with it.
This picture makes me feel my passion for photography. I am so fortunate that I have studied at the most beautiful university in Switzerland. From the nice people there, I have learned so much about communication, about messages. They must be excited there about this New Year's picture. It shows a well designed picture across all aspects, not a single discipline neglected, be it marketing, finance, psychology, language, law, politics, economics, communication. So nice, and well-balanced, isn't it!?
Everybody in Switzerland talks about this photographic exploit, exploiting all the values that originate from within this photo. I wish there was more positivity in society and I am glad that some people point out how difficult it would be to take such a picture. Good on them. They are nice people - very positive people that every society needs. I am glad that I belong to those positive people for once thanks to my New Year's resolutions. I have come that far, that I can even see some positive about the predominant negativity in media. It has to be said over and over again: So nice!
Most of all, I am excited for Switzerland. We now know, that Switzerland has the best government that you can wish for. They make their hard work look like a walk in the park. That is nice, isn't it!? So beautiful, isn't it!? And we know that pictures coming from elected Swiss officials and pictures coming from the beautiful parliament house can be exciting and worth talking about.
However, being so excited and positive, I simply can not become a traitor of all my values. I am an honest person, with high moral values and hopefully integrity. I can not lie to you. I might not be beautiful but I am seriously a very nice person. So, this is a bit embarrassing. There is simply no way around but to admit that I don't have any New Year's resolutions. And also, I will never be able to make friends and mingle if that means pretending and being nice. Everybody can just see through me, can't they!? Which, of course, is very nice! But let me try to formulate it nicely for people who maybe don't understand my nice sarcasm.
The photographers are not nice. They have not created a beautiful picture. This may be a successful picture for them. Because: they are talked about. And they will have their names promoted. They made history and became immortal. At the same time, we can be proud that the Swiss government doesn't care about photography and the messages they portray. They have better things to do than supporting the domain of bonvivants and mentally ill people that mess around with cameras and light. People that - we should all know - mess around and manipulate reality.
Society, there are more important issues out there than bad pictures! Yes, of course, I agree. It is not an important matter at all.
Unless you are really passionate about photography!
I wish everyone a great, successful, healthy 2015 with lots of beautiful and nice pictures that may win recognition for the very right reasons! And may your New Year's resolutions have a lot of niceties and standing power.
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