Archive for December 2013

Carcolor 40: Reflective posterior

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

This is my carcolor composition number 40 (it is the 41st photograph, because there are two versions of Carcolors 30) and for the time being it is the last one to be shown. The building reflected here is close to where I live and it has served as the template for several carcolor photographs (only one was shown; Carcolors 19). However, this particular (expensive) type of car is a new addition to the carcolors series. I like the apparent symmetry of this photograph, which is not at all perfect: If you look carefully, you immediately see the windscreen wiper, the rear mirrors, or the reflection of the sun, which disrupt the symmetry. How many suns do you see?
If you would like to have a look at the preceding 11 carcolor compositions, please follow THIS LINK. All 40 carcolor photographs are in the extended gallery and you are also welcome to check out my earlier carcolor posts. Thanks for visiting!
I have also just "officially" printed the first nine carcolor photographs, because they will be exhibited at the photo14 in Zurich (from January 10-14 in the Maag Event Hall). If you are in Zurich, please consider visiting!

2013/12/30 by Unknown
Categories: , | Leave a comment

Sea of fog over Zurich - emerging Prime Tower


Depending on where you live, fog is a frequently recurring meteorological phenomenon, a rare event, or nonexistent. Also, the persons concerned may perceive fog as a fascinating condition, consider it an aggravation, or meet it with indifference. I mostly embrace fog and "fog season" as fascinating and only become depressed when it persists for weeks (without ever dissolving), which can happen in Zurich.
Yesterday, on the other hand, the warmth and brightness of the sun was felt already in the morning - a clear sign that the thick fog was going to dissolve. We took advantage of the promising conditions and left for a morning family hike, hoping that we would reach the sun and observe the fog disappear in front of our eyes. When we reached a small hill and a viewpoint close to where we live, we were already in the sun, but the city below was filled with a thick, white soup of fog. It was so bright that I had to squint my eyes and it was hard to see anything on the LCD screen or in the viewfinder of the camera.
At the beginning, the whole scene was a sea of fog and we could not even see the mountains on the horizon or even the close-by Uetliberg. After a short wait (it was long according to our children - they wanted to leave already), the mountains suddenly appeared and we started to watch out for the roof of the Prime Tower, which soon emerged. It was a fascinating display of fog waves bathing the skyscraper, sometimes revealing a large portion and in the next moment hiding the whole building. The foggy cover also hid the large number of tower cranes, which blight the view of Zurich at the moment.
I have already shown you two similar views that I have photographed almost three years ago (Link 1, Link 2). This time (only the second time I observed the disappearing of such a fog scene over Zurich), I even had a tripod with me and took many photographs of different "hiding stages" of the building. Instead of boring you with many separate images and to avoid having to select only one photograph, I have assembled two series of photographs into a kind of movie (my first attempt with this technology - there certainly is room for improvement). I think it illustrates well how quickly the scene was changing and I hope you enjoy.


2013/12/28 by Unknown
Categories: | Leave a comment

December 2013 prints: 9 Carcolors 2013

First print 12/2013 (1) 
The December prints have just been completed - it is not one monthly print, but nine! The photographs printed this month are nine carcolor compositions taken during 2013. The nine photographs will be shown, matted and framed, in the upcoming photo14 exposition! I am very happy that my carcolor photographs have been selected and I look forward to the exhibition (I have never shown "real" photographs anywhere ever before). I hope that it will be an interesting experience and a worthy (temporary) conclusion of my carcolor project. If you happen to be in Zurich between January 9th-14th, consider visiting photo14 and please stop by my stand!
As always, let me know if there is any photograph (that has not been printed yet) that you would like to receive a print of - I will print it for you in January (and you will receive it for free). 

First print 12/2013 (1) 
First print 12/2013 (1) 
First print 12/2013 (1) 
First print 12/2013 (1) 
First print 12/2013 (1) 
First print 12/2013 (1) 
First print 12/2013 (1) 
First print 12/2013 (1) 

2013/12/26 by Unknown
Categories: , | Leave a comment

Seattle EMP museum

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Glowing orange-brownish EMP facade. This is not a typical EMP museum photograph, but I like the composition and in particular the colors.

I have a number of unfinished (photography) businesses at the moment (writing blog posts is just one of them), which are the reason for the irregular updates of this blog. This is the second blog post meant to share faraway summer holiday photographs from Seattle (the first one was the Seattle Central Library). The second building that I was interested in and wanted to photograph in Seattle was the Experience Music Project (EMP) museum. The EMP museum is a wildly crazy building of incredible colors, shapes and curves. It has been invented by Frank Gehry, who has designed several buildings that seem to lean and bend in unexpected ways (unfortunately, the EMP museum is the only one that I have seen so far). I visited the building (only the outside) three times and therefore even had the opportunity to experience its facade with different shadows and under different lighting. Most of the photographs shown here have been taken on my first visit, when the sun was still high in the sky and fascinating pink and orange light was emanating from the building. These were the most unexpected and colorful plays of light that I have ever witnessed. Of course, technically, these are not even photographs OF the EMP museum itself; but rather compositions of light that is shed of the facade. Besides the  play of light category, some of these EMP museum photographs also fit the facades and the reflections themes.

I thank you for your visit, hope you enjoy and wish you peaceful and enjoyable holidays!

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Reflected plays of light on the EMP museum. I am a little bit reminded of butterfly wings.

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Space Needle reflection in the EMP museum facade.

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Convoluted EMP museum facade and plays of light.

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Pink and orange EMP museum play of light.

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
EMP museum play of light and shadow (the "shadow" in the pink-orange area is the reflection of the shadow).

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug
Curvatures on the brownish EMP museum patchwork facade.

2013/12/23 by Unknown
Categories: , , , , | Leave a comment

Carcolors 39: Blue carcolor mountains

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug


The building being reflected and bent in crazy ways (it is perfectly straight in reality) is a new office building in Zurich Oerlikon that has just been completed. This is another example of a reflection of a reflection. However, the whitish blue is the sky - either being directly reflected in the car (on the top) or as the reflection of the reflection from the glass facade.  The building that served as the template for this reflection features a dark glass facade interspersed with white blinds, which are visible as white bars, sometimes bent and distorted, in the middle ground of the photograph. If you are interested, you can find many more carcolor compositions in my carcolors gallery and in earlier carcolor posts.

2013/12/16 by Unknown
Categories: , | Leave a comment

Nearby: Chain shadows

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

For once I am not showing you a nearby photograph of a building, but a composition belonging to the "drapes & blinds" theme (it would also fit the light & shadow collection). In contrast to most other photographs shown on my blog (so far), this example was captured very recently (at least for my standards, it was last Saturday). The barriers at construction sites often feature interesting shadow displays of invisible "things" behind them. In most cases, the fabric of these barriers is loose and full of crinkles, which results in distorted shadows and interesting patterns (as is some of my other drapes & blinds photographs). In this composition, the fabric is tightened and flat, but the chains attached behind create an interesting subject (in my opinion).

2013/12/09 by Unknown
Categories: , , | Leave a comment

Carcolors 38: Concentric carcolor circles

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

As a contrast to last week's carcolor composition, I am showing you here a very colorful example of red, blue and white carcolor circles. The composition resembles Carcolor 23 and was indeed taken at the same car dealer in Geneva. It has a fancy roof with red metal beams that are reflected and distorted in this car body. In the photograph above I quite like the two circles (they are rather ellipses than circles, actually) that face each other as if they were each others mirror image. Even more carcolors are exhibited in my carcolors gallery and in all the earlier carcolor posts.

2013/12/05 by Unknown
Categories: , | Leave a comment

Nearby: EAWAG 3

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

This is the third photograph of the Forum Chriesbach building at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG) that I am sharing in my nearby series. Here, you see the staircase in between the mobile, blue glass panes and the main building itself. In this composition, I like how the blue panes and the reflections of the stairs and the handrail create a kind of repetitive pattern. On the leftmost glass element there is again a hint of a moiré pattern (as in earlier compositions of the EAWAG and PWC buildings).

2013/12/02 by Unknown
Categories: , , , | Leave a comment