Learning to Swim

My son is learning to swim and consequently I am regularly spending time at the pool. I recently took a camera along.

Swimming Lesson

Stefan Schoberth of www.kinderschwimmen.de is watching a student who is quite low in the water ...

Saved!

... until he reaches solid "ground".

I like how closely Stefan pays attention to the children, creating a safe environment for them to experience water on their own terms. It seems that it's not just the children who are having a great time!

Swimming Instructor Stefan

A word of advice: because a lot of intense sunlight passes through the giant windows the air temperature can easily reach close to 40°C (104°F) with high humidity. Cold metal or glas immediately collects a film of condensation. On the one hand this can quickly damage the electronics, on the other hand it is not really possible to take a picture through a fogged lens.

In order to avoid this, the camera and lens should have enough time to acclimatize and reach the ambient temperature. This is best done in an airtight plastic bag. I have had good results using Ziploc bags, such as Ziploc Double Zipper Gallon Storage Bags. Pick a size suitable for your camera. If you do not get the double-zipper bag, you can use two bags, one inside the other, to ensure that the content is really kept dry.

Two Cats Playing with Water in the Sink

In my experience, most cats do not like water - at least not on their fur. I was quite surprised when I opened the door to my friends bathroom and I was overtaken by two cats that jumped into the sink.

Since I wanted to wash my hands, I lifted the two out of the sink and opened the tap. Quick as lightning (certainly before I had my hands wet) the two cats were sitting the edge of the sink to ...

Two Cats Playing with Water in the Sink

... play.

Usually the first contact with the cool fluid provokes a disgusted look and a revulsed shake to get it off. But not with these two!

Clearly enjoying themselves and playing with relish these two explored and prodded the dripping and running liquid. Even when water ran over their fur the two just shook themselves a little and carried on. That was definitely a first for me!

Later, they repeated their game in the kitchen and I was told that they will even hop into the running shower - one of them had even fallen into a filled bath tub when curiosity got the better of her. I wonder, if they will learn to enjoy swimming at some point? :)

Water Lily

The water lily (a.k.a Nympahea) in the image below was in a pond in a public garden. It was evening (we actually made it out just as they where locking up) and rapidly getting dark. I did not have a flash ready, so I shot a few frames as ISO 800, meaning to capture the wonderful dark pink color of the petals and the rich dark yellow of the stamina against the reflections of the dark water.

It turns out that I dislike the noise in the color image to the point of finding it objectionable. Noise reduction did not really work for me, because it removed all the texture from the petals due to smoothing. Before tossing the image, I decided to try it in black and white (thanks, Lenswork, for reminding me that black and white is not dead! But that's for another post.)

In black and white, I like the slightly gritty texture on the petals that is caused by the noise.

Water Lily

What is, unfortunately, not visible here is the huge number of tiny drops on the petals. You can
see some of them (as splotches) on the petal in the 9 o'clock position, but there is a huge number of them on most of the petals. Either they are too small to be seen at this size, or my skill is insufficient to make them visible at this resolution - they are definitely there in the full image.

Does anyone want to purchase a print? ;-)

Surfer riding the Waves

Apparently the Eisbach in München is a hot place to ride the waves on a surfboard. As you can see from the photo below, it is not very wide (only a few meters) and there is quite a crowd queued up on hot summer days waiting their turn. There are many, many more spectators milling about, so if you are a beginner, you might want to choose someplace more private to fall in. :-)

This surfer did quite well, staying on the board for a long time while riding back and forth as the waves took the board:

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Surfer riding the waves."] [/caption]

I like the stark contrast between the foamy white spray, the rich green of the water, and the dark silhouette of the surfer. Look at how the line formed by the torso and head is mirrored in the lines of the waves in the background.

To me this picture shows the dynamic, fluid unity that the surfer needs to achieve with the water in order to stay on the board.

Black and Yellow Butterfly

Earlier this year, I visited a show of tropical butterflies. It was cold outside and way too hot and humid inside. However, the water drops dripping about everywhere made for some really nice pictures with the colorful butterflies:

Black and yellow butterfly on a green leaf.

Notice how the narrow depth of field draws your eyes to the eyes of the butterfly. I feel as though it will dip into the drop of water for a quick drink before taking off again.

Unfortunately, I did not take any notes and I can not find the name of this wonderful little critter.

For the technical minded: the picture was taken in available light at ISO 400, 1/80s, f/2.8. It would interest me to see how the image would look at f/4 or even f/8 with increased depth of field to include the butterfly wings ... next time. :-)

Frog on a Rock

While spending some time at the riverside, I noticed a frog sitting on a rock in the water. He held still just long enough for me to expose a single shot, then he dove into the water and hid under a rock.



I like the way the shape of the rock mimics the shape of the frog - or is it the other way around?

Rocks and Ice

While out for a walk, I saw ice on the water surface and some rocks. This is one of the images of the series, "Rocks and Ice XXI" as it came from the camera (the raw converter, actually).



Here is what the image looks like after some mild editing:

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Rocks and Ice XXI"][/caption]

The web version looks pretty good, but I am still not entirely happy with the way the prints for this series are turning out. The prints lack the final bit of "punch" that I'm looking for. I think a lot more time in Photoshop is called for ...Â