Right... picspam time!

[kribu]

Why do I have the feeling that picspam makes up 2/3 of my recent posts? (And the rest is memes?)

Gah. Anyway, yesterday was pretty - sunnyish and not storm-class windy - although cold, which meant that my hands were absolutely frozen 20 minutes into the walk. Which meant complete reliance on auto mode (there was no way I was going to fiddle with anything more complicated than pressing the shutter button, which was hard enough) and thus some exposure problems... ah well. At least I got to take my wide angle lens out for some fresh air ... for the second time since I bought it, I think. About time, considering it's the most expensive piece of glass that I own!


Click for a bigger version.



The back side of the new Tallinn synagogue.



The front side.



A random door.



Reflections on a random house.



Some... things. I think they might be lamps.



An old grain elevator, waiting for reconstruction works to start.



Another angle, with the moon.



A random fuzzy cat on the construction site.



One of the department stores in the brand new / reconstructed Rotermanni quarter.



An entrance to the department stores.



Another angle.



And yet another angle.



Inner courtyard of the department store block.



Another building in the same quarter.



The department stores from another angle.



And in reflection.


Spent yesterday evening at home freezing ... at least it seems to be better now. Of course, the weather has also taken a turn for the warmer (=just above 0°C, sleet/rain, windy, disgusting). No going out today, yay.

Also just spent a quarter of an hour playing with Musti, throwing some wrapped-up tinfoil around and having her chase it all over the sofa and the floor. It's been a long time since Musti's been so playful, what with her arthritis and weight problems - but we've been lazier feeding them lately, and it seems both Musti and Kribu have become livelier. It's so great to see them running around and playing again.

Comments

[septentrion1970.livejournal.com]

The balls on the ground are not lamps, they're put there to prevent cars to drive on the pavement. We have the same here, only they're red or grey and nearly all of them have been smashed.

[kribu.livejournal.com]

Well ... we do have those too. They're different though. I'm fairly certain these were not road blocks ... and I have a vague feeling I've seen a picture of them lit. Perhaps a double purpose, but they were also slightly elevated from the ground, and a bit too fragile looking.

Our road blocks tend to be either random grey granite, or some rather lovely large concrete pigeons.

[kribu.livejournal.com]

Aha, found it! I've not seen them lit myself, but I remembered correctly - had seen one of mum's pictures from last year.



I think they're dual purpose road blocks / street lights.

[septentrion1970.livejournal.com]

They've put the lights under the road blocks! We were both right :-)

[kribu.livejournal.com]

Yes, indeed! :-D No wonder I was a bit confused by their purpose.

[camillo1978.livejournal.com]

Lots of new development in Talin! I like the arty reflections. What was the random door to?

[kribu.livejournal.com]

There's a lot of construction work going on in Tallinn all the time, yes.

The random door was to a random house. :-D A living house (flats), I'd guess from the early 1930s, but I wasn't really paying attention to the rest of the building (very narrow pavement and hard to get a good look at all of it!) so I'm not too sure.

[dickgloucester.livejournal.com]

Well, there's certainly some interesting modern architacture in Talinn, isn't there?

[kribu.livejournal.com]

Some, definitely. And while I love glass (reflections!), I'm also glad not absolutely every new building is all glass.

[ayerf.livejournal.com]

You've got some interesting architecture there. If I didn't know that modern architecture can look a little distorted, I'd think you'd been playing around in Photoshop.

What is it with cats and tinfoil balls? I think every single one I've had has played with them at some point.

[kribu.livejournal.com]

If I didn't know that modern architecture can look a little distorted, I'd think you'd been playing around in Photoshop.

A little of it is what they really are, the rest of the distortions come from the angles I picked and the wide angle lens itself. That always distorts things, but I can't help but love it. Maybe because I use it so rarely, and it's not something I can do with a pocket camera. :-D

No Photoshop at all here, just the tiniest amount of cropping and contrast/gamma adjustment on most.

What is it with cats and tinfoil balls?

I have no idea! Maybe because they're nice and shiny and also soft enough to get their claws into them easily enough? Not being too round and slippery. They really love them though - I have no idea why we ever bother to buy cat toys when a sweets wrapper or a tinfoil ball will do much better.

[ayerf.livejournal.com]

Ohh, I see. Yes, wide angle lens would give different effects.

Murli went for tin foil balls with more gusto than she ever did with a catnip cat toy. Past tense because she's too lazy these days...

[kribu.livejournal.com]

It's a lovely lens (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pentax-smc-DA-12-24mm-ED/dp/B000B8AF9W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1203262947&sr=8-1). I quite adore it. :-D Although I wouldn't mind having one even a bit wider... but I don't really want to go to total fisheye territory either.

Even cats seem to start behaving in a more respectable and distinguished way when they get older... it's partly why I was so happy to see Musti chasing it around today, I was starting to wonder if she ever would again! Not only will she (and Kribu) be 12 this year, but with her arthritis, she's really been having some trouble moving around too much in the last couple of years.

[droxy.livejournal.com]

OOOH a cat!! I like 3#

[kribu.livejournal.com]

Thanks! And it was a very cute fluffy cat.

[geminiscorp.livejournal.com]

I, for one, will never get tired of your picspam. You have a very artistic eye! (don't give all the credit to the lense you had to SEE the images first)

[kribu.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Glad you like them.

The lens makes it so much easier to capture the things I see though... :-D