Architecture Photo

Architectural Detail, Antonio Gaudi

I came across this image while I was sorting out my photos. I really like the shapes and the lighting. This was taken on the roof of Casa Mila.

Stinky Cheese Tonight

Tonight we made raclette. This time we tried a new type of cheese. Garlic. The cheese really stank as it sat on the plate fresh out of the refrigerator. I was a bit concerned it would be too strong. After a quick stint on the grill and poured over the boiled potatoes and pickles it turned out to be just perfect.

Lately I haven't felt too inspired to write about Switzerland. I guess in a sense I feel like the novelty of it all has started to wear off. I am no more comfortable just living my life here. There are still things that surprise me but more and more, I seem to be at a point where I am just accepting they way things are because after all this is Switzerland, they do things differently here, and I just need to accept it.

I was glad this year that we did manage to mis Fasnacht (Carnival) in Baden this year. Our trip to Barcelona was perfectly timed to miss the Guggen music, banging drums and blaring brass bands for the 5 day racket fest. That is one element I will never come to quite understand.

HDR Images From Barcelona

La Pedrera, Barcelona Spain

This past weekend I had a chance to spend a few days in Barcelona. As always I brought along my full compliment of camera gear including a couple of additional pieces of gear that I normally don't carry as well.

In addition to my st camera and compliment of basic lenses I brought along a flash, two extra lenses, an extra camera body and 2 tripods. So why all the gear? My wife had decided to get me a photographic tour from Barcelona Photographer as a birthday gift.



Since it was the off season for tourism in Barcelona, Barcelona Photographer was offering private tours. The cost was a little higher than their standard package but considering we would get a personal guide for my wife and myself I thought it was still a good deal. I was hoping the tour would be a good opportunity for me to get some guidance from a local on the best locations for some great shots of Barcelona, while at the same time giving my wife a chance to learn something about digital photography with a digital SLR, a step up from her standard point and shoot camera.

I chose to do a night photography tour since I enjoy capturing night landscapes. Barcelona Photographer also offers day tours as well.

Our tour guide did a nice job of understanding our needs. He catered more towards working with my wife to teach her the ins and outs of a the basic functions of the digital SLR while pretty much leaving me alone while I took advantage of his past experience and comments on best spots or angles to photograph from.

As this was a private tour, I felt like there wasn't a lot of structure, and getting started was a little slow. The guide did a lot of asking questions about what we wanted to accomplish and after about 30 minutes of wandering and just conversing I felt like we really got started. I think most of that time was the guide just trying to figure out what we wanted to get out of the evening.

As a more experience photographer I don't really want to comment on the quality of the instruction because that wasn't my goal. What I got out of the tour, and I think what was the best value for me was the insight from our guide about the best locations to shoot.

Many of the great shots that I got from Barcelona were not taken during the tour itself but where rather taken during second trips to the same locations, or other spots that the guide recommended we return to during the day. Given that the tour was a fast paced 3 hours, I wanted to return to some of the locations when I had more time to be methodical and take photographs at a nice leisurely pace.

The tour gave me a great opportunity to practice my HDR (High Dynamic Range) image capture techniques. All of the photographs I am including in this post were based on HDR techniques. This is the first set of photos that I am really happy with. I am finally figuring out how it all works.

I am Old - Happy Birthday - Von die fantastischen Vier

My Custom Birthday Card

My wife works with a bunch of 'creatives'. Those are the types of people that sit around all day and dream up crazy ideas and make stuff in Photoshop and inDesign and other little technological wonders. These types of people always seem to go overboard on birthday cards.

This year, I had the distinct honor to be presented with a a custom birthday card created by a friend and co-worker of my wife. He created for me a custom card from an old copy of Die Fantastischen Vier, he even gave me the copy of the comic with a nice note that I could use it to practice my German.

It was a totally unexpected and really cool gift to get. How neat.

More Snow Today - Good For the Kids

Snow settles on the Castle

We had more snow today. Most of the morning it was snowing. It let up in the afternoon and then turned to rain as I was walking home from work today.

All the snow lately must be wonderful for the kids. Swiss schools are out this week for ski vacation. I don't have kids, but it always seems like the kids are out of school for some kind of vacation. So they have a week now in February, and then they are going to get another week in April for Easter. I know they have a shorter summer break than I was used to in the U.S. but sometimes I really wonder what the kids here in Switzerland are actually learning in school. Seems like they take a lot of vacations leaving not much time to study and learn.

That reminds me of a comment that a friend of mine made over the weekend. He was telling me that children really don't start official school until about age 6. This would be roughly equivalent to 1st grade in the US. What I mean by official school is there are 'classes' for kids that are younger but they don't start teaching kids to count or read until 6. I remember learning that kind of basic stuff starting in Kindergarten in the U.S. (Age 5). My friend is also not a Swiss so he too found the system a little strange.

That leads me to think about all those studies in the U.S. that have shown more school earlier can be shown to correlate to higher academic achievement. Swiss wonder why they don't have leaders in their own economy, and why they must import a lot of talent from abroad to keep the economy going. As an example a huge portion of the IT work force in the country is foreign citizens. Newsflash, look at your school systems. There seem to be some major flaws in the way the system is set up.

I mention reading and writing as one point. Another oddity to me is the exam that kids take at age 12 that dictates if they go to vocational school or are tracked to the University. What is strange to me about this is that kids have no choice in their future after they take this test. The test dictates do you go to the hair stylist vocational classes or do you learn physcis and spend time building the next super coilider under Geneva.

I do exagerate a bit, and I am sure I don't have all the facts straight. But one thing is clear, I too would have a bit of an apprehension about putting my Kids into the local school system.

Walk In The Woods

Trail in the Woods Near Baden

There was some fresh snow on Saturday morning. Unfortunately though, we didn't get a chance to get out on Saturday to take advantage of it. Today we made the time to get out and enjoy the nice sunny day.

Knowing there was a fresh snow fall I also wanted to take an opportunity to bring my camera and tripod along to play a little more with some HDR photography. The trail above is about a 10 minute walk from our apartment. The final image was made of 5 individual images put together with Photomatix version 3. You'll have to excuse the watermarks, I was trying the demo version of the software trying to decide if it is worth the $100 before I buy it.

I am currently using Picturnaut, a freeware tool for my generating HDR images but after using Photomatix I may make the switch. I like the results of Photomatix were much better and simplier to achieve. The interface is a little more robust as well.

One area I need to improve is sharpness. The image above it a little soft and I haven't quite gotten the hang of putting together a nice sharp HDR image. Guess I need a little more practice.

Snow for Valentines Day

Today I woke up to a pile of snow for Valentine's Day. I wasn't expecting snow at all. The city looks fantastic in a new layer of white.

We are planning to take a quick trip to the store for our standard Saturday errands. Grocery shopping and a few other things. As Valentine's Day is kind a special day in the U.S. I have also planned a date with my wife.

This could be considered monumental by some regards. We made a decision early in the week that we would try to go to a movie. If you have read some of my other posts you may know that getting tickets is a pain in the rear. As the Swiss love to plan ahead you often times have to buy your tickets in advance. It isn't all all like the US where you just show up and there are 16 screens showing the movie you want to see.

So after trying to figure out how to buy the tickets online I caved in and went to the the movie theater on the way home from work this week and bought some tickets. I managed to get through the conversation to buy the tickets without the cashier asking me to repeat myself so I must have done pretty well with my German.

So tonight its off to the Kino to see Slum Dog Millionaire. I hope its a good show after all the extra effort.

Cafeteria Fish Dinner

I do not like to admit this but I enjoy the fish dinners at our company cafeteria. I wouldn't say I love it. But given the choice between geschnitzeled beef in a heavy gravy and a nice fried fish fillet, the fish fillet wins.

Considering that I have found several sources on the internet that suggest Americans consume 25% of the worlds beef you can imagine my feelings for the geschnitzeled variety. I would have rarely eaten cafeteria food, let alone cafeteria fish in my previous life. But now, somehow, I find it palatable.

Stuckey's Pecan Log

Stuckey's Pecan Log Roll

Sometimes you just crave for something familiar. That was the case this evening. As I was rummaging through my cabinet O' American goodies I cam across something that brought a smile. A Stuckey's Pecan Log Roll. A true treasure to behold when one has a craving for home.

Me and Stuckey's go way back. I remember being a kid on a vacation with the family, driving across the U.S. and my parents would spot a Stuckey's and they would tell me the story about how they remembered Stuckey's and how they had these famous peacan rolls.

Stuckey's was founded in 1937 and is known for its pecan candies. Although their website states there are still over 200 locations I am usually hardpressed to find one. I know of only two places to get the world famous peacan rolls. The Stuckey's on interstate 64 just east of Williamsburg, and the hostess factory outlet in countryside Illinois.

I remember in college I had a t-shirt that said 'Stuckey's, An American Tradition.' Can you believe that most of my peers had no idea what the heck a Stuckeys was!? Had these kids ever been on a road trip? Were they all jet-setters and never had the opportunity, or shall I say privalege to spend 14 hours driving across the state of Nebraska with nothing at all to see except the glimmer of hope that was the Stuckeys blue roof spotted from 250 miles off on the flat expanse of the midwestern great plans. And these poor kids called themselves American.

Well, when I want a taste of home. I have two time tested and trusted friends. My Jif peanutbutter and my Stuckey's Pecan Log Roll. So tonight here is too Americana in all 720 calories of glory.

Starbucks Bald In Baden

No Starbucks didn't lose its hair. Although it sure sounds that way from the headline in the local paper we received this week but the truth is they are almost here. Right across the street from us the American chain will be opening a new store.

I am not a huge fan of Starbucks, but on a cold day I do enjoy there hot chocolate. I would imagine I might stop by once in a while for a coffee and a good book but we'll just have to wait and see what kind of crowd it attracts.

That leads to another discussion. When we first arrived in Switzerland the only sign of Americana in the town was a lone McDonalds. At about the rate of one a year American franchises seem to be coming to town. Last year it was Burger King, this year Starbucks. What will be next?

In a conversation this morning I had my money one KFC, while my wife thought Subway. Although I would agree with her that Subway is more likely because I have seen 1 in Zurich. KFC is just my little pipedream. I tried to convince her that it might be realistic given the amount of schnitzel that is consumed here. To me Schnitzel and fried chicken seem to be in the same family.

I guess I'll just have to wait and see, read the papers and wait for the next surprise.

12 years, Wow, Thats A Long Time.

I was reminded this week that I have known my wife for 12 years. I actually remembered, but my better half wanted to be sure I remembered. I just so happens that I met my wife on my Father's birthday so it's not too hard to keep track off.

12 years. Wow, I just can't believe that. It seems like such a long time. I guess we were pretty young at the time. It is funny how that kind of thing happens.

I remember the second time I saw her. We went to lunch together with some friends. She told me she played piano. Somehow the fact that she told me she played piano made me think that I should really keep a hold on her, she could be the one.

What a ridiculous thing to think, but I do believe it was a very good hunch.

The Balloon

Looking Up

I really like this photo that I took at Chateau d'Oex during the balloon festival. The composition and colors are really amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better shot. Just so happened that this balloon was floating over my head and I pointed my camera directly up and got lucky.

Cornered By German

I was at a work event last week. An apero that was attended primarily by my Swiss co-workers. At one point I was sipping on my glass of wine speaking to a colleague that I have worked with recently just sharing some light chit chat. He is fluent in several languages including German however when we work together we tend to operate in English.

At one point another woman from the department came over and started talking to my colleague in German. Their working language was surely German as she was Swiss. As I also had worked with the woman before, in English of course, she turned to me to politely ask if I spoke German. In my mind such a question is not really meant to be a question about your language skills but rather a polite unassuming way to send a signal that she would prefer to continue in a different language, do you mind.

Having had enough training I switched to German and replied that I could understand quite a bit and that I would not mind at all if she would like to continue the conversation in German. At first, I was following the conversation and nodding and laughing at the right times, but then, they must have figured I really was following the conversation and not just playing the smile, nod and try not to look like and idiot game.

So slowly I was brought into the conversation, at first just a few simple questions. Where do you live? How long have you been here? Did you travel home for the holidays and so on. As I got more comfortable and 'warmed up' I was even more talkative and started telling a few stories. I wasn't sure how well I was doing. People were nodding and laughing and I wasn't sure if there were chuckling at my bad German or my story.

As I was just about to give up, someone else walked up and one woman told the new joiner about my story, paraphrasing it in a couple of sentences. That is when I knew I had achieved my goal. To share a couple of ideas in another language and be understood. And for once, I wasn't asking for a glass of water without gas.

On The Superbowl

Yes I am aware that the Superbowl is today. Or, really it is on February 2nd for us in Europe. I think the kick off time is actually 12:30 AM local time on Monday morning.

As I have no close ties to either team this year I will not being staying up to watch it. Instead, I have set my trusty Windows Media Center to record the live German broadcast on Eurosport. There is something slightly wrong about American football in German, but you gotta take what you can get.

I don't think I'll watch the entire game tomorrow but I will at least go through it. I'll probably fast forward through commercials and dead time and I bet I can squeeze the entire program down to about an hour and a half. At least I'll have something to look forward to for after work tomorrow.

Chateau D'Oex International Festival of Balloons

A Glimpse To the Skies Above Chateau D'Oex, Switzerland.

This weekend was the 31st annual festival of Balloons at Chateau D'Oex. Having read in 1000 places to see before you die a couple of weeks ago that this was something that should be seen my wife put together a travel plan to visit the small town in the Alps for two days during the 10 day festival.

I wasn't really sure what to expect other than a bunch of hot air balloons. That is pretty much what we got, but to see so many balloons concentrated in one small valley was really a magnificent sight to see.

As we got off the train everyone craned their necks skyward to get a glimpse at what seemed to be about 20 balloons, quietly floating thorough the blue skies with the majestic Swiss Alps as a back drop. As many pictures as I can post, I just don't think the photographs do it justice.

On Saturday there was a special exhibition of crazy shaped balloons. One of my favorites was 'Western Spirit' I'll let you guess which balloon that was from the picture. The best thing about the balloon is it was a perfect example of what the Swiss think of Americans. Cowboys riding horses through the western desert. Yep, and I can't believe I forgot my cowboy hat back at the apartment this weekend.

In all fairness 'Western Spirit' was piloted and owned by an American that brought his balloon in for the event. He assured the crowd that he would be back next year as well.

I've had a great time taking pictures and have a pile of images to go through. I'm sure I'll share more in the coming days.