kribu: (Okkad)
[personal profile] kribu
Yesterday was a lovely warm sunny/cloudy summer day, without rain for a change (for this week), and as mum had realised that the Tallinn Town Hall is open for the public in the summer, we decided to go. I've been inside a few times over the years, but she never has.

Click for bigger versions.



Random street artist in front of the Town Hall.



A ring of some sort, in the ceiling of one of the rooms inside. With shadows.



People outside. I love the effect the crown glass window gives - sort of painting-like.



One of the rooms.



The Citizens' Hall, with its painted columns. I've always loved that room.



Staircase (obviously not very old) to the attic.



The attic - one place I'd never been to before, either. I don't think the attic's been open to the public until more recently.



The clock from the inside.



Clock mechanism.



View at the Town Hall Square from the attic window.



The staircase again, looking down.



Vana Toomas, the original weather vane (1530) of the Town Hall.


Off to see Prince Caspian now - have been meaning to go for weeks, but haven't got around to it until now. Not having any huge expectations, so I'm hoping I'll like it - didn't have any expectations for the first Narnia film and ended up being reasonably entertained.

And last but not least:

If there are one or more people on your friends list who make your world a better place just because they exist, and who you would not have met "in real life or not) without the Internet, then post this same sentence in your journal.

Date: 20 July 2008 10:58 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ayerf.livejournal.com
Ooh! Very nice pics. Town hall looks very... um, pretty doesn't seem quite the right word.. definitely worth seeing, anyway.

I enjoyed Prince Caspian. I would've enjoyed it more without having read the book.

Date: 20 July 2008 17:42 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kribu.livejournal.com
Hey, pretty is a very good word for it! ;-)

*huggles her Town Hall*

Date: 20 July 2008 11:19 (UTC)
ext_76688: (Default)
From: [identity profile] septentrion1970.livejournal.com
That building is gorgeous!

Date: 20 July 2008 17:43 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kribu.livejournal.com
I quite agree - it's not as grand as a lot of town halls in Central or Southern Europe, but it's a wonderful example of Northern Gothic. And I'm really rather fond of it.

Date: 20 July 2008 12:43 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] beffeysue.livejournal.com
That building is beautiful. The Citizen's Hall is georgous, as is Town Hall Square!

Date: 20 July 2008 17:44 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kribu.livejournal.com
I'm glad you think so! I'm quite fond of it, but then, I've had a lifetime to admire it.

Date: 20 July 2008 13:09 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sc010f.livejournal.com
How cool! I love the picture of Vana Toomas!

Date: 20 July 2008 17:46 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kribu.livejournal.com
Thanks! He's pretty much one of "the" symbols of Tallinn - I'm just glad the original one has survived, what with all the wars and everything.

Date: 20 July 2008 13:28 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dickgloucester.livejournal.com
Lovely pics - it looks a fascinating place.

I enjoyed Prince Caspian very much. I hope you do.

Date: 20 July 2008 17:48 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kribu.livejournal.com
Thanks. It is - and very nice and cosy for a place like that.

I might have, but mum started feeling unwell quite soon, so we ended up having to leave some 45 minutes into it. I wasn't terribly keen on it at that point, but that might have had to do with worrying about how mum was doing - I might pick it up on DVD at some point.

Date: 20 July 2008 14:29 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] geminiscorp.livejournal.com
I love the pics with the shadows and the Citizens hall looks very impressive. Where you live is very beautiful. I'm happy I get to visit through your pictures. =D

Date: 20 July 2008 17:50 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kribu.livejournal.com
Thanks! And yes, it's certainly impressive - not overly large, but wonderfully airy, and I rather like it.

Having been ruled by Germans for so many centuries did have its good points, yes. ;-)

Date: 20 July 2008 21:26 (UTC)
ext_28553: stirred (Default)
From: [identity profile] duniazade.livejournal.com
I love Vana Toomas! And the painted columns, and the photo through the crown glass.

I should try to learn a bit of photo technique. Some day...

Date: 21 July 2008 05:00 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kribu.livejournal.com
Thanks!

Photo technique... erm, yes. Mine is very simple: see thing, point camera at thing, click. :-D

Date: 21 July 2008 10:29 (UTC)
ext_28553: stirred (Default)
From: [identity profile] duniazade.livejournal.com
Really? No choosing settings, focals and I-don't-know-whats?

In that case, may I ask again the type of your camera? I want one like that!

Date: 21 July 2008 10:43 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kribu.livejournal.com
I tend to stick to P mode, yes (P = programmed auto, basically auto but lets you set some things like ISO and white balance if needed).

Only when I see that P doesn't work (when it's clear enough on the LCD after taking a picture - too dark, too light or so on), I start thinking about changing anything, but that's needed very very rarely really, only in exceptional circumstances. 99% of time, I let the camera take care of exposure settings (and with my eyesight, I don't even want to think about manual focus, so it's autofocus all the way).

Focusing is ... well, obviously one needs to focus first (with the shutter half-press - I think all modern cameras require a half-press to set focus and exposure first, then full press), but that's about it. And zooming, if one has a zoom lens, but that's part of the "see thing" bit really and not something I think about. :-O

Right, to modify the previous statement: see thing, raise camera to eye, zoom in to the desired view, click. :-D

(As for my current camera - erm, well, I have a few! The compacts work well enough, but the last few sets of pictures are all with the Pentax K20D (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PENTAX_K20D).)

Date: 21 July 2008 11:23 (UTC)
ext_28553: stirred (Default)
From: [identity profile] duniazade.livejournal.com
Thank you so much for the explanations, because they help me to measure the depth of my ignorance! I have understood almost nothing. I didn't know the half-press was for setting focus and exposure, and I have no idea how to set them - for me the half-press was just "if I don't do it, the damn thing won't work."

I do need to read the instructions of my compact, but I've always been deterred by the 100 pages of fine print.

*sigh*

Date: 21 July 2008 11:36 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kribu.livejournal.com
I didn't know the half-press was for setting focus and exposure, and I have no idea how to set them

Now you do! :-D As for the how - the half-press tells the camera to take care of that, so that really is how it's done. (Immediate full press should sort of work for most cameras, but means that it will take more time and the camera might not have a chance to get either the focus or the exposure right, so even if you can do it, it's not really recommendable.)

The thing with most modern compacts is that there isn't really much to do for the user, even if it has manual setting options - they won't make much difference and in the great majority of cases, the camera will have picked the optimal settings anyway (and if the result sucks, it's because the camera has reached the extent of its capability - for example, there just isn't enough light, or the contrast in the scene is too high for the sensor to cope).

IMHO, the only useful things to know with compacts would be where and how (and why) to change the ISO (sensitivity - the less light there is, the higher the ISO needs to be, but for compacts, high ISO means pictures with a lot of "noise" and mushy details), and where, how and when to change the white balance (auto is good enough for natural light most of the time, but it's sometimes helpful to change it indoors, when the light comes from tungsten or fluorescent lamps, or the colours will be very off).

Date: 21 July 2008 12:09 (UTC)
ext_28553: stirred (Default)
From: [identity profile] duniazade.livejournal.com
Yay! That was extremely helpful and I think I've understood a few important things. I'll check for the ISO and white balance - I suppose that's why all my indoor pics were awful.

Thank you so much! I hope I'll be able to show you the results of my enlightenment!

Date: 21 July 2008 12:37 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kribu.livejournal.com
It's also possible that your camera just can't deal with the light indoors - about the only current compact cameras that can handle indoors without flash somewhat reasonably (provided there isn't much movement) are the older Fuji F-series ones, as they use a slightly larger sensor than the others.

The rest have completely useless higher ISO - anything over ISO 400 is just lousy, but indoors one really needs a good ISO 1600, which compacts can't provide (their sensors are too small). The only real option is to use flash, but ... again, compacts not that good, as flash range isn't too great (so you get the subject washed out by the direct flash while the background goes all black).

It's worth trying and experimenting, but quite honestly, I wouldn't expect really decent photos indoors from a compact camera - there's only so much one can do. (The only way to get good pictures indoors with a compact is to use a tripod and long exposure times, but that only tends to work for interiors or immobile things, not people.) In general, it's either to use flash and accept that the results are what they are, or to get a DSLR with a low-light capable lens and/or an external flash.

Date: 22 July 2008 02:07 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ubiquirk.livejournal.com
Gorgeous! You always have such fantastic light. I'm supremely envious of the ability and way too lazy to do anything about it. (laughs)

Date: 22 July 2008 05:14 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kribu.livejournal.com
Thanks! The light just tends to be there, heh!

I wish I had the energy (and proper desire) to actually put some effort into learning something about this stuff. I know the basics, but generally don't bother thinking about settings and just let the camera take care of everything.

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