Monet

Have you ever visited the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris?

You should. It's magical.

It contains an oval room, with his Nymphéas painting 360° round.

Not quite the same as the pond in the park.

But something like it.

Shadow bouquet

The magic of matte glass doors -

and a gifted bouquet of flowers (thank you, love).

in the dark

Photography class last week was about lightmetering and focus. As an exercise, we had to take portraits of each other against a black background, and try to get the black to genuinely look black (instead of gray) but get the subject to be well lit. Turns out the camera I have on loan while my own is in repair does not perform too well in poor light conditions. Even in the artificial light of the classroom, the light sensitivity just wasn't good enough to make good portraits. The result is a series of grainy, dark portraits. Perhaps not what I wanted, but in retrospect they do look kind of cool. Some portraits are so grainy they almost look paintbrushed. And most are so dark that the person's face almost seems to float in the dark space - like pictures of ghosts. How Halloweenesque.

Oh hai there. This is me.

Boo.

Cityscape + skyscape

Who said anything about landscape?

Recognize the view from my living room yet?

This photo was taken in the morning, as the sun struggles to break through the clouds.

This time of year is perfect for photographing the sunrise from where I live, because the sun comes up right in front of our living room window, and right around the time when I get up in the morning.

The picture below was taken on another morning, when the morning fog was thick but the rising sun submerged everything in a golden light.

Almost sunshine

Or almost an alien abduction.

That would have been an interesting morning.

October

Hide and seek.

Zenith.

All natural.

(haha)

Mumford and Sons

Yes, this is my idea of funny.

But seriously, this photo was taken at the Mumford and Sons concert at the Cirque Royal in Brussels on September 30.

Okay, okay, I'll give you some 'real' proof:

Click for bigger.

September skies

On the hunt

My photographically minded colleague and a good friend of her went on a photo hunting trip through Leuven last weekend. We walked through the beguinage, and visited the fair and the train station at night. Below some of the loot.

Birthday bash

A good friend celebrated his birthday with a party and a concert in a café. Taking pictures in poor light conditions is still not one of my fortes. I certainly hope to learn more about it in photography class. In the meantime, I do my best with high ISO and playing around with saturation on my computer.

The youngest fan of the band.

In deep conversation.

Impressions of Istanbul, pt.II

By now I've had the chance to explore some of old downtown Istanbul, where the great monuments such as Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque are, as well as the bustling bazaar. I thought that with all the beauty around, it wouldn't be hard to shoot a few beautiful pictures, but actually the circumstances proved quite challenging: harsh middle-of-the-day sunlight outside, dim light inside the mosques, and constant movement in the bazaar. I edited most of the pictures I took, adjusting the contrast and the brightness and sometimes cropping them to get annoying passers-by out of the frame. All in all I can't say I'm really excited about any particular picture - who knew tourist photography could be so challenging?

The Aya Sofia - literally, 'the seat of wisdom'

Inside the Aya Sofia there are several chandeliers hanging quite low from the ceiling, providing an interesting dark contrast to the bright gold domes.

The dome above the altar has a stunning 5th century mosaic of the Virgin Mary with Christ.

The Blue Mosque, seen from the adjoining courtyard.

The Blue Mosque.

Inside, the Blue Mosque is decorated with inumerous painted tiles, mostly in blue - hence the mosque's popular name. The vertical lines you see are holding up the chandeliers that are suspended relatively low above the ground.

The Egyptian spice bazaar.

Men washing their feet outside a mosque before Friday prayer.

The late afternoon crowd strolls by in Sultanahmet. An elderly man charges people to weigh themselves on his scale. I observed him for quite some time from a bench across the street, but did not see any customers. I wonder if he makes a lot of money - who would like to pay for what is inevitably bad news anyway?

Moonrise

I told you the view from my apartment window was bound to make a few comebacks. Tonight my beloved and I were just sitting in the couch going over some household issues, when suddenly he exlaims "Look!" and points to the big orange moon rising over the Leuven skyline. I ran to get the tripod to make a few nightshots. It's not often we get such a beautiful view of the moonrise.

Paris

Seen this one before? Sure. Want to make my own version anyway? Totally!

A brewy day in Brussels

Art or eccentric?

Le mont des arts.

Turbulent skies

The skies were turbulent today. At the end of the afternoon, thick cotton clouds in various shades of grey rolled over Leuven. At times they concealed the sun, ringing in an early dusk, then again the sun broke through with force casting a glow on the rooftops. A chronicle of today's nightfall...

The roof of Huis de Munter lights up as the sun breaks through.

Thick grey clouds hover over the towers of the Klein Begijnhof and Sint Maartensdal.

A lead-coloured blanket attempts to cover the sunset.

Cotton candy turns blue as dusk sets in.


Told you this sight would come back.

Museum

A museum is a place with things worth looking at on the inside.


But the outside is ever fascinating, apparently.

Sunset Palette

Another oldie, this picture from December 2008. I took it in Nieuwpoort, at the Belgian coast, from the balcony of a friend's apartment. The setting sun paints the sky in luscious shades of purple and red, and lights up the water on the sand. By contrast, the lampposts cast an orange light, glowing off the pavement, transforming the promenading people into shadow puppets. The Christmas tree on the first lamppost hints at the time of year.