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

Baby Sycamores

my fascination with trees continues...maybe it will surpass cemeteries??? Again from walks with my sister-in-law and her dogs in Indian Hill.

Baby Sycamores - Indian Hill, Ohio

Gazi Husrev Bey Madrassa

Right across from the mosque of the same name, on the main rough stone street in Baščaršija, behind a stone wall with "windows" and iron bars, sits the intriguing Gazi Husrev Bey Madrassa and Khaniqah (Gazi Husrev-Begova Medresa i Hanikah). It dates from 1537...


Gazi Husrev Bey Madrassa - Baščaršija, Sarajevo



Gazi Husrev Bey Madrassa - Baščaršija, Sarajevo

On the Walk To Work

this is what the gravestones looked like in Veliki Park this morning. I took the same basic photo with my cell phone (it sucked). I can't decide how I want the color temperature or even if maybe I should do this in black and white...

In the meantime, at the rate the snow is coming down, I suspect that tomorrow morning some of these gravestones will be completely covered.

Gravestones and Snow - Veliki Park, Sarajevo

Barrel of Fun

well actually red wine vinegar...sort of like the past two days have been,

American Oak Port Barrel

"I Take Photos"

so it says now that I re-did my blog format. But lately I haven't taken all that many. So after redoing the blog the other night, I've made an effort to update my list of photos to take here. And now two days running, I've taken my camera out and walked around. I used to do that all the time here in Sarajevo, but in the past year or so, I sort of fell out of the habit. Today the light quality stinks in that with the snow and heavy cloud cover, the light is very flat. So many of the photos I took today and yesterday were more "reminder" photos. so that I remember to take them again when the light is better. That is one of the good things about living here, and living in the city, I can always go back (well at least until I move). Here are a number of the photos that didn't suffer too much from flat lighting.


The same hillside as this, but from a slightly different vantage point, and emphasizing the color of the houses contrasted with the snow and trees, vice the great light in the original

The Foothills of Trebević - Sarajevo



In October of 2006, I spent a day walking around town taking photos of the various sculptures/reliefs on buildings. I blogged about it in December of 06. If you want to go back, you can see those entries you can go here#1 here#2 here#3 and here#4

Man On a Building - Sarajevo




Ever since I first saw it, the ultra-modern glass at strange angles next to the Turkish style domes, I've been trying to figure out how to get a good photo of the Bošnjački Institut (Bosniak Institute). This still isn't what I'm looking for, but I'm always a sucker for a good reflection.

Bošnjački Institut - Sarajevo



This mosque is on Pigeon Square in Baščaršija, and is probably my favorite mosque in Sarajevo. For this mosque, adhān (call to prayer) is done by a human with no loud speaker. The contrast of the lower small dome still covered with snow and perfectly white, against the main dome clear of snow and copper green prompted me to take the photo.

Čaršijska džamija - Baščaršija, Sarajevo



Last one for now...the flood wall of Rijeka Miljacka...I like "flat" things for background, the not so quite patterns and a host of other reasons not easily explained.

Rijeka Miljacka - Sarajevo

Sarajevo Door Handles

Took the camera with me while I was doing a bit of my weekly shopping today. The door handles in Sarajevo are a little unique and the metal working and door handle stores in the old town were on my list of photos to take...


Door Handles For Sale - Sarajevo

More Cell Phone Snaps

From walking home and walking the dogs in the snow last night...


Tree Limbs at Dusk





Snow & The Color of Light - Veliki Park, Sarajevo




Snowy Path and Empty Benches - Veliki Park, Sarajevo

So I Messed With Success

And changed the template on this blog. Mostly I wanted to add easy links to the labels I use on photographs, and condense the archive down to previous years, and the current year's months. At some point I may add a photo across the top...I hope my thousands of avid readers like the new template...

Abstract "Art"

I felt like I had to take photos and post photos of something...here you go

Puffs of Smoke


and another...

Infant

The Sun Was Out Today

Sun Through Glass - Veliki Park, Sarajevo

Frozen Creek

As I recover my keyword list in Bridge I grab a photo here and there to look at a little closer. This one I saw today, that I took back in December along the path my sister-in-law walks her dogs...I think it is in Indian Hill

Frozen Creek

Vratnik Window

Vratnik is the section of the old town of Sarajevo that sits up on the hill guarding the river and the valley pass to the east toward Pale. In the olden olden days, it was a fortified and walled section of the city. Some of those fortifications remain and some such as the White Bastion (Bijela Tabija) have recently been restored.

It is one of my favorite places to walk with visitors, and today was no different. We walked up from Pigeon Square past the Šehidsko Mezarje Kovači (Martyr's Memorial Cemetery Kovači) to the Žuta Tabija. Then we continued up through Vratnik on up to the Bijela Tabija for the view. As we walked back through Vratnik and just before passing Kula Širokac (Širokac Tower) I took this photo.

Window - Vratnik, Sarajevo

The Wall

I believe this is post #300. In any case, this is a photo of a rock wall I ran across today during my effort to repopulate AdobeBridge (after reviving my computer last week) with the keywords I've applied to all my photos the past 3 years or so, It is about here, March of 2008 that Bridge keeps choking on loading/saving the keyword lists and I keep banging my head against a wall.

Wall - Zámek Žleby, Czech Republic

Jeff is...

that little greeting on Facebook always gets me thinking. One thing that comes to mind it that this Jeff character does an awful lot of stuff throughout the day. Another thing is, I wonder if anyone really cares. Today went something like this:

Jeff is making coffee
Jeff is walking the dogs
Jeff is thinking the weather stinks
Jeff is drinking coffee (this continues until the pot is gone in about 6 "Jeff is's")
Jeff is copying backup files over from his 1TB NAS to the reformatted hard drive
Jeff is making/eating homemade banana, blueberry, oatmeal, buckwheat pancakes made with kefir vice buttermilk
Jeff is listening to the news/Bulls and Bears/NPR etc (off and on for a few hours)
Jeff is reading the news on the internet
Jeff is researching RAM for his computer
Jeff is wondering if anyone would have 168pin 512MB PC-133 DIMM sticks they no longer want/need
Jeff is researching broadband internet options for the house in Milford (executive summary - they suck and the two providers are incredibly overpriced)
Jeff is wondering if anyone needs 256MB DDR RAM for laptops (maybe to trade) or HP Pavilion zd5000 laptop parts
Jeff is cutting his hair
Jeff is taking a shower
Jeff is scrubbing the shower floor
Jeff is thinking Geraldo is an idiot...an obnoxious idiot
Jeff is chatting with Elesa
Jeff is walking the dogs
Jeff is researching craiglist and freecycle (in conjunction with thoughts on old computer parts)
Jeff is eating some indian chicken w/rice he made last night (a spicy version similar to chicken tikka masala)
Jeff is checking to make sure his USB external backup still works, how full it is, and what is on it
Jeff is now a member of the freecycle yahoo group for CinciEast http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CinciEast
Jeff is changing a couple lightbulbs
Jeff is making Thai Coconut Curry Chicken and brown rice
Jeff is pondering juicing the mandarins or whatever they are, because neither he or Shelby like the seeds
Jeff is fiddling around on Facebook, still trying to understand the logic of the layout
Jeff is adding this blog to his "notes" on Facebook
Jeff is copying more backup files from the NAS
Jeff is an idiot and hit "Publish" instead of "Preview"...but he is not obnoxious
Jeff is getting tired of thinking what Jeff did all day
Jeff may have his photoshop and photos all working by tomorrow
Jeff is saying goodbye for now
Jeff is wondering if this should be labeled "rant" or "humor"

White on Blue

One of the photos I referenced in my last post...

Sycamore BarkMilford, Ohio. - December 2008

Blue and ...

white sort of. This photo is also from our afternoon on the mall. I'm not sure what type of tree it is.

I have a number of photos from the Milford area of sycamore trees that I will be going through soon. Some of the photos are more in keeping with the theme of earlier blog entries covering the seasons in basically two colors and one may make the cut to fill the "Spring" slot. Click the following to see Fall Winter Summer


Tree Bark and Blue SkyWashington D.C. - January 2009

Petrified Wood

Carl, his friend and I, spent an afternoon walking around Washington D.C. last week. Frantic preparations were underway for the inauguration. Most importantly, the port-o-potties...hundreds of which were being loaded off trucks and lined up along the reflecting pool. It was a clear, sunny but cold day. We spent some time in the Air & Space Museum and the National Gallery of Art, walked up to the Lincoln Memorial (stopping by to peek at the White House on the way and ponder whether the Obama kids would get to play hide and seek outside on the grounds). Also stopped by the Korean War Veterans Memorial, which is my personal favorite among the war memorials.

While walking along. I took this photo of the petrified wood on display near the entrance to the Museum of Natural History.


Petrified Wood Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural HistoryWashington D.C.

Above the Smog

I figure I'll work my way backwards through the photos from the holidays...

I took this photo a few minutes after an aborted landing Saturday in Sarajevo. We ended up landing in Zagreb and getting home a mere 9 hours later after a bus ride and all the fun that entails. The flight was diverted due to weather (fog) which in fact is not fog at all but pure pollution...it is so pure they should bottle and sell it. The air quality is always really bad this time of year due to burning low quality coal, wood and whatever else will provide heat, With temperatures in the teens (Fahrenheit), the past few weeks have been greatly aggravated by the Russian's shutting off the natural gas pipelines to Europe (and in particular Bosnia, which has no domestic production nor any storage facilities or reserves). With no gas for heat, that many more homes fired up the old coal stove...and what remains of the air is just lovely to breathe. The sun has truly been just a bright spot in the night time the past few days.

Above the Smog - SarajevoJanuary 2009

It is Cold

It is cold here...mid teens (in Fahrenheit) so the first photo I'm posting from vacation is a shot of Dianne and Andy's fireplace (which was very toasty). Since it is now officially winter, a version of this is now my new background, replacing a fall shot of Vintgar Gorge.

Toasty Fire

Coming Soon...

More photos...been on "vacation" for a couple weeks, with one week to go. I think I'll have a few good photos when I get back to home base.

Another View of Sarajevsko Groblje Bare

Between my earlier photo, and this, maybe you can get a feel for the scale of it.

Bare Cemetery - Sarajevo

Via the "Way Back" Machine

From June of 2006, the early days of my digital camera, what sunrise used to look like...

Volcan Pacaya - Guatamala City

Sunrise

From a couple weeks ago. The color only lasted a minute or two, time enough to get my camera, turn off the alarm, open the door and take one shot.

Sarajevo SunriseNovember 2008

Reflection

St. Joseph's and Sarajevo Streets - Unitic Towers, SarajevoNovember 2008

You First Read It Here

not that I take any joy in being right, or first in this case, (it is actually sad) but over the past couple days I've seen this theme repeated in the general and business press:
Bailouts: $7 trillion and rising

Almost 2 months ago, the millions of avid readers of my blog read it HERE first.

More Snow

It is dumping down snow tonight. Walking the dogs, it really didn't feel that cold. I took some more cell phone camera shots. I find it hard to hold steady to get a sharp photo.

Snow at Night - Veliki Park, SarajevoNovember 2008

At The Other End Of Madness

My "good" camera is a Canon EOS-5D. a model that came out 3 years ago. After 3 years, it is finally being replaced with the 5DII which should be available any day now. 3 years is a VERY long lifetime in the universe of DSLR cameras. Quite frankly, I don't need a 5DII (probably didn't need a 5D:) The limitations and any general suckiness of my photography can't be blamed on my camera as it is rarely, if ever, the weak link.

In the meantime, I have this new cell phone for work that has a camera. I've taken to messing with it while I walk the dogs at night. Below are a few of my creations. On one hand, they probably won't be mistaken for high art from a high end camera, but on the other, I find the camera and the results interesting...

Shadow - Self PortraitNovember 2008



Pine Tree with Snow - Veliki Park, SarajevoNovember 2008



Tree Branches - Veliki Park, SarajevoNovember 2008



Tombstones at Night - Veliki Park, SarajevoNovember 2008

This Year's First Snow

Both these photos were taken today from the warm comforts of my apartment...although it is not nearly as cold as it looks :)


The Foothills of Trebević - SarajevoNovember 2008



Veliki Park Trees - SarajevoNovember 2008

The Wave

I continue to organize and process older photos...

Wave - Destin, FloridaNovember 2007

Last Year

Nature's ScribblesSea Oats - Destin, Florida 2007

Jeff Takes People Pictures Too

They are a very small percentage of what I take, and I'm not particularly good at it (especially not good using flash), but occasionally I end up quite pleased with some of my informal, non-posed portraits.

Elesa Remembers What it is Like to Have Little OnesCzech Republic, Spring 2008

Shazam!

From a little over a year ago. Everytime I've seen this statue, I expect to see lightning flying from his finger tips...

Grgur Ninski - Split, Croatia

Sunday Drive

Today was a beautiful day and we went for a little drive out towards Tuzla. We had pleasant lunch at a restaurant overlooking the town in the valley below...

Bosnian Countryside

Looking...

Out the Window - Somewhere Over the U.S.September 2007

At Least It Can Make For Beautiful Sunsets...

...pollution that is :(

I was up at the Bijela Tabija (White Bastion) once again with visitors a few days back. Sky wasn't so clear this time, the smog had pretty much taken over.

Afternoon Smog - Sarajevo

Vintgar Gorge

Just a couple miles or so outside of Bled, is the beautiful Vintgar Gorge (Soteska Vintgar). This time of year it proved to be a beautiful walk, and being a Monday after the normal vacation season, there were few other visitors.

Flowing Toward Sunshine - Vintgar Gorge, Slovenia




A Splash of Color - Vintgar Gorge, Slovenia

Lake Bled, Slovenia

Just spent a beautiful weekend at Bled, Slovenia. The weather was near perfect, the fall colors were gorgeous...and the company was fine too! So putting politics and banking aside, back to photographs.

Bled Island, Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of Mary, with Bled Castle in the background



Blejski Otok, Cerkev Marijinega Vnebovzetja, Blejski Grad

More..."No Photoshop Required"

This could be funny if it wasn't about to cost each and every U.S citizen about $23,000...$7 trillion true cost of bail out divided by 300 million citizens (approximate population of U.S.) and greatly prolonging the downturn in the stock market, housing prices and general economy.

Section 503 of the bill the Senate is about to vote on:
SEC. 503. EXEMPTION FROM EXCISE TAX FOR CERTAIN WOODEN ARROWS DESIGNED FOR USE BY CHILDREN.
blah
blah
blah

I'd post all the other stupid pork here (basically the entire 500, 600 and 700 sections which start at page 261 and go to the end) and some of the glaring loopholes in "taxpayer protections" (the first 261 pages:) but then I'd have to add a tag in the blog for depressing. I'd also like to encourage others to read the Senate's 451 page "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008". I can pretty much guarantee that your senator hasn't read it. I doubt the House Representative's read their version. It was light stupid summer reading of only 110 pages...it skipped the part about toy arrows :)

...even the Exxon Valdez made the bill....I thought we had our fill of that in "Waterworld".