Spring is Finally Here???

Today's weather is so nice and sunny and warm that I am going out on a limb and proclaiming the end of winter here in Sarajevo. I think by next week, some of my photos can be of budding trees etc. In the meantime, these were all taken less than a week ago...


Snow Encrusted Tree Limbs - Sarajevo




Snow Covered Tree and Blue Sky - Veliki Park, Sarajevo




Snow - Koševo Šehidsko Mezarje, Sarajevo




Tombstones in Snow - Veliki Park, Sarajevo

Final Snow?

I hope so. I'm ready for spring. It snowed so hard and fast last night that the snow simply could not melt as fast as it was coming down... despite ground and air temperatures above freezing.

Weeping Willow - Sarajevo

More Red Bugs...

Last week I went back and took more photos of the red bugs. The first shot I posted from a few weeks before was actually a pretty severe crop as the rest of the photo wasn't in great focus and the glare off the bugs was fairly distracting. The other shots suffered the same shortcomings....so now you know.

It seems the bugs are called "red bugs". aka Cotton Stainer, Firebug, and Pyrrhocorid Bug. This time I used a tripod, used a polarizer to take some of the glare off of their backs, increased the f-stop to get better depth of field and also tried the to line up the shots so that the field of view was in the same as the plane of focus. Even still, in a couple of shots the bugs are moving too fast and are a bit blurry.

Red Bugs - Veliki Park, Sarajevo




Red Bugs - Veliki Park, Sarajevo

A Couple More from the Pivara

Some day I'll get some good photos of the interior of the Pivnica and maybe the exterior of the brewery itself, in the meantime, here are a couple more photos from today.

Bottling Line - Sarajevska Pivara, Sarajevo



Brewing Tanks - Sarajevska Pivara

Sarajeska Pivara

Sarajevska Pivara - Sarajevo



I went on a tour of the Sarajevska Pivara (Sarajevo Brewery) today. It was interesting since they weren't in production right now, so all the bottling lines were idle and the various tanks used in the stages of brewing were empty. The tanks, the automation, the whole process fascinates me...it is the combination all all that machinery....like a kid gone mad with legos and tinker toys, with chemistry and cooking...

It is one of, if not the smallest brewery I've toured...well not smaller than a couple brew pubs. Certainly far smaller than the last brewery I toured, Gallo's brewery in Guatamala City. Although I wouldn't be considered a big beer drinker, I do continue to collect beer cans in my travels...

Afterward, Elesa joined up with me and a number of the "tourists" who stayed and had lunch in the attached restaurant "Pivnica". It is one of the largest restaurants in town, the food is good, the atmosphere is nice (if you can get beyond the smoking especially at night) and the old photos of Sarajevo on the walls are fascinating. Plus, they have "Tamno Pivo" their dark beer on tap. They don't bottle or can it, so the one place you can have Sarajevsko Tamno Pivo is at the Pivnica.

Bottling Machinery at Rest - Sarajevska Pivara, Sarajevo

Tree Fungi Cropped

Then, after looking at it a bit, I think I like a crop such as this a bit better. To my eye, it seems to bring out the intricate patterns in the fungi a bit better...

Tree Fungi - Cropped Version

Tree Fungi in Black & While and Color

I don't know which version I like better...the straight-on center composition is usually not my style...but in this case I at first I thought I sort of liked it....

Tree Fungi - Veliki Park, Sarajevo





Tree Fungi - Veliki Park, Sarajevo

Bugs Get Ready for Spring

the next warm day that I have a chance, I will re-shoot this photo and post it. At that point I will tell you why :)

Red Bugs - Veliki Park, Sarajevo