oh weekend

i so, so need this weekend. and the sun is out, spot-lighting some of the very few leaves still left on the tree outside my window, what a good morning. last weekend i had visitors: my sister and her family were here. my nieces loved looking out the window too, as you can see. if that's no proof we're related, i don't know... we also went for a ferry trip to kladow and a walk at the wannsee, which is where we saw those lovely autumn leaves.

apart from all this, i really enjoyed my photo classes last week. already learned a lot. we have a very open theme which should be guiding us when taking photos for the course these next few weeks. 'me, my friends, my flat, my neighbourhood' we can pick one aspect and interpret it or do a combination. haven't decided yet which angle to take. maybe i could do a portrait series (portraits scare me, so that would be a bit of a challenge) or a series about my flat (that would be staying in my comfort zone i guess). hm. we're going to work with black and white film. honestly, i have no idea how it will turn out.

and finally: today might be the day i buy a DSLR. after long to-ing and fro-ing it looks as if i'm going for the nikon D3000. a D90 is simply without my reach at the moment. it's a first step.

and no - of course i won't stop using my analog cameras, i love them far to much!

have a wonderful weekend.

corner view: contrasts

contrasts are fabulous. thinking about it - without them we wouldn't even SEE anything, right? i love colour contrasts, the contrast of shadow and light, the clash of styles. my photos were taken in september, at art forum, berlin's annual art fair. isn't the colour contrast in the first just a dream? i couldn't believe my luck. the visitors in front of the neon tubes in the second shot almost turned into silhouettes against the bright light. and the clash of classic midcentury modern, scandinavian furniture with contemporary painting and those dramatic and yet calm african and asian artefacts was so inspiring.

generally, i'm a harmony seeker. sometimes perhaps overly so. but i think contrasts are making our world so much richer (and that includes contrasting opinions). they are really rather something to embrace, don't you think?

for more corner views around the world go visit dana's. jane is back from philly, back on the corner view carousel next week. welcome back, jane!

p.s.: if you have any thoughts on my camera question, please leave a comment, i'd love to hear from you! lots of food for thought already - thank you, me dears!

camera question

being a bit absent here - so much work! i have a wee little question for you though: still thinking about that DSLR i'm going to buy. i'm tending towards nikon. the usual forums feature very different opinions on whether to go for a new model D3000 or D5000 or rather go for a used but new-ish D80 or even D200. i've read a bit about the technical differences but still can't make up my mind. what would you say? (personal experience, gut feeling, what you've heard - i'm taking all votes... ;)) many thanks!

saturday inspiration

1. Untitled, 2. Untitled, 3. Diana mini, 4. Handful, 5. Untitled, 6. in from outside, 7. Lomo, 8. baking, 9. Untitled

i am so spoilt. the boyfriend here once a week although he lives several hundred kilometres from here, and my sister and her family visiting this weekend. having a wonderful time with them, in particular my nieces (2 and 4 yrs old), who make me laugh a lot. plus lots of inspiring work. counting my blessings.

hope these images by gifted flickr photographers and bloggers inspire you as much as they inspire me. click on the captions to take you to their flickr streams.

p.s.: i haven't forgotten. there's the prints for my giveaway winners to be sent out next week. and the post about my five obsessions. and that idea about a swap. will do as soon as i can!

p.p.s.: a huge thank you for all your comments on my 'one hundred' post. you're just too kind. it means a lot. oh, next week my photo classes (b/w photography and dark room work) are starting!

corner view: water

when i was a child our family lived near a big river. we used to go for walks there, and my father loved to take his folding boat and go for little day trips. the river could be quite busy, with big ships sailing, so he used to go with a friend or by himself - for us kids it would have been to dangerous. every now and again though, he'd take the boat to a smaller river nearby and take some of us with him. here it's me and my youngest brother, 9 years my junior. (my father had been going to israel a lot back then, that's why he's sporting that fabulous yellow el al sun hat.)

these days, my favourite bit of water is the wannsee - a huge lake in berlin. going for walks there somehow really calms me when i'm tired or upset or just need to get out of the rat race for a little while. i haven't been going a lot recently. but i miss it and will go as soon as i can!

for more corner views, go to dana's while jane is away.

p.s.: as a postscriptum to last week's corner view "love", here's a sweet song i discovered via handmade love.

and the winner is

thank you all for bearing with me - i didn't have time for a post yesterday, even though i promised the winners of my giveaway would be drawn on monday. so here they finally are - 

ulrika, máni and kristina (not myself, obviously, but kristina from sweden!). 

congratulations, you've each won two prints of your choice from my blog. please just send me an email (see right in my profile section) with your postal address and the photos you'd like and i will snail-mail them to you as soon as i can!

today's photos show scenes from a 1920s dinner party / poker night here in berlin - a surprise party for a friend of mine, organised by some of his super creative friends last sunday. we all had to dress up accordingly. so much fun! pictures are quite grainy, since i don't like using flash and have somehow become a dedicated follower of "availabe light photography". (if you'd like to see more of it, head on over to my flickr.)

happy tuesday.

you can still enter

took these pictures a few weeks ago on a walk on a very windy day. spectacular skies. we walked along the river spree for a bit and had coffee at the house of world cultures. i really love that little pavilion tucked away behind the main building. the tiling is so cool.

oh, and before i forget: just a quick reminder that you can still enter for my giveaway on the occasion of my onehundreth blog post. three winners will be drawn at random on monday.

otherwise: have a wonderful weekend! what are you up to? snuggling up with woolly socks and a book on the sofa? or out for a autumn walk? making pumpkin soup? baking an spiced apple sauce cake? whatever it is: enjoy!

p.s.: i've been thinking about organising a little swap here. i'd put up some goodies i'm happy to swap - and who knows, maybe something catches your eye. what do you think?