Learning how to flash

I'm sure you were expecting to see some photos and prose regarding my recent trip to Germany. You'll have to wait. All of my photos from Bonn were deleted (by Windows itself, thank you very much), so I'm currently in the process of recovering them.

In the meantime, I had the opportunity this weekend to learn how to flash... or rather, I visited my good friend Richard, and he opened the secret door to the forbidden world of flash photography.

Having recently visited my friends in Germany - one of which is a wonderful studio photographer - I got a little bit inspired to take off my 'outdoor/landscape/nature photographer' hat, and try on something new. I checked out the well-known Strobist blog to get an idea of what flash photography is all about... and I realized that what I don't know about it could fill a warehouse (or a blog about flash-photography).

Richard has been doing more than a little dabbling in studio photography, and I have been impressed with his results, so I was hoping to get a tutorial. I borrowed a flash (SB-600) from Ryan and Richard and I set up shop.

It's incredible to think how much altering the lighting on a subject can change a photo so dramatically. Studio photography is very meticulous work, requiring careful study of the results to determine what should be tweaked (light intensity?, aperture?, angles?, diffusers?, more lights?, less lights?, etc...) to get the shot you want. On the other hand, it opens up a whole realm of creative possibilities, allowing you to simply experiment.

Here is a sample of a series of shots I took of some lillies that Richard bought (uhm, for his wife, right Richard?). I won't explain what I changed between each shot (like I remember!), but the session was a struggle between getting a nice bright shot, while emphasizing the form and depth, and still retaining detail in highlights and shadows.



I think the end result is pretty good, at least for a first-timer.



It was wonderful being able to utilize my macro lens properly - with still subject, sturdy tripod, and good lighting. A pop-up flash doesn't quite cut it for a macro image with 'pop'. I think - one of these beautiful days - that I will invest in my own flash so that I can continue to push my creative boundaries... or, perhaps Ryan won't notice that he's missing his :P

Thanks to Richard for the help, and for a fun (albeit short) photo session.

Heidelberg (with photos)

By popular demand, I will post some photos. Tonight may be the last night I have internet access (well, free and unlimited internet access anyway), so I figured I should finish my Heidelberg story at least.

Ah yes, I was driving around Heidelberg, trying to coax the GPS to give me proper directions to Karlsruhe. Well, as luck would have it, I stumbled upon a giant blue and white 'P' and decided to give "ol' Heidi" a second chance.

I was now at the river-level of Heidelberg, where the peasant-folk live, but as my preferred mode of transportation is my two feet, I was happy. U-turns are really easy when you're walking.

I figured I need to go up. So that's what I did.



It turns out this is the road to somebody's house.

In my meandering I eventually saw a sign. Now I don't know much German, but I can put two and two together.



So up and up I went, and first went to an outlook on the south(ish) side of the castle (partly because I wasn't sure which way the castle was). The view was lovely, and especially after coming from freezing temperatures and deep snow, it was refreshing as well.





Here is a (cropped) view of the platz where I parked my car. Funky trees.



And here is die schloß, under renovation of course, as many of Europe's finest buildings are.



So I walked over there and bought a ticket to go inside (truthfully, the washrooms were inside the castle, so I had no choice). I didn't want to wait for the tour so I just showed myself around. Here is a gargoyle that I liked.



And here is another view of the city. I don't think it's quite as nice as the original view.



Also, here is a cat that was outside the castle. (It's not a George travelogue if there's not a cat photo.)



Finally, here is a (poor) photo from the platz where I parked my car. You can see the castle in the background, and the funky trees.



So that's about it. I left Heidelberg for Karlsruhe in the afternoon and I made it there in one piece. I survived the week and now I'm traveling the countryside as my ancestors once did, hunting for goats. I already visited one city today (but I won't say which one!) If you're lucky, I will get internet and post some photos. Tomorrow I head to Bonn to visit with a couple that Carolyn and I met in Berlin in '06. The adventure has begun.

Chus!

In 400 metres, keep going straight...

So said my helpful GPS system to me on the way home this evening. I still can't figure out whether that is supposed to be helpful, reassuring, or impertinent. In any case, I'm going to assume that motto for my integration trip: "keep going... and when you get there, keep going some more".

But this isn't the story about my work... it's the story about a little boy from a small country called Canada, who struggled against all odds to get a blog so that he could tell his story.

Where did we leave off? Ah yes, lost and bewildered in Heidelberg. So I plugged "Heidelberg schloß" into my trusted electronic companion and put my fate into her cold, digital hands (and pretentious British accent... no way I'll be ordering the Globe & Mail from her!).

After the seven or eight prerequisite wrong turns ("Oh, did I say turn right? I meant left. Please make a U-turn when it is legal to do so.") I found myself winding up the switch-back road to the castle. I got stuck for several minutes behind a large tourist bus attempting to do the same thing; after a failed attempt at a 19-point turn at the elbow, it decided that perhaps the tourists didn't want to see the castle that day and that the candy store was open. You like candy, don't you?

Somehow, some way, I took a wrong turn. I don't know how this is possible, but I did it. I parked (probably illegally), took some photos of the vista, and made my way back down so that I could head - defeated - to Karlsruhe.

But, is that what happened? Stay tuned until next time George has enough time and energy to make up tell his stories.

Day 1-2: The departure and arrival

So for those of you who don't appreciate the delicate prose of my grand travel epics, please click here to get the synopsis or "Coles Notes" version. For the rest of you, it's too late to turn back now...

In usual Vnoucek fashion, I finished packing for the trip about 5 minutes before my shuttle (well, can you really call a Mercedes a 'shuttle'?) arrived to take me to the airport. I think the only thing I forgot to take is a travel alarm clock.

I'd have to say the journey from doorstep to plane seat was wonderfully pleasant and uneventful. I arrived at the airport in plenty of time to line up in the inevitably long check-in queue... but not 30 seconds after I lined up did the Air Canada assistant direct me to the queue in the other aisle... so off I went to discover I was now first in line for the executive class check-in. :) Four minutes later I passed through security like a ghost, and then I was free... the airport was my oyster. So of course I proceed to do some work. But it was stress-less and soon I was on the plane.

The flight was like any other flight, except that the plane, source and destination, crew, passengers, and weather conditions were probably different... but we did fly through the air, and the movies weren't very good. Surprisingly the food was edible and almost enjoyable (I got some beef noodle dish). And the wine certainly helped Mr. Sandman find my seat. Aside from some turbulence, the flight too was a non-event. We landed safe-and-sound in Frankfurt shortly after 7am CET.

Customs, check. Baggage, check. Rental car, check. GPS, thank goodness! I ended up getting something called a Zafira, which is like a short station-wagon, or an elongated hatch-back. It took be 5 minutes to find the parking break, and another 10 to figure out the GPS, but by 8:15 I was on the road, headed towards Karlsruhe.

It probably hit me about 5 minutes into the drive that I was definitely in Germany. I was probably driving around 140km/h in the right-hand lane, and I was continuously being passed by cars (mostly Mercedes and BMW) going probably an extra 100km/h faster than me. It was crazy. But it seems to work. The slow cars go in the right, the faster ones move to the left to pass, and then go back. Everyone knows the system. I wish it were like this back in Canada.

I should mention that the weather was absolutely lovely. Clear skies, and I'd guess it was between 0 and 5 degrees Celsius. Seeing as I was making good time, I decided to stop in Heidelberg on the way. This is when the GPS became both my best friend and enemy at the same time... like that clown friend that everyone has that is eager to help but then forgets to show up... but you can't not ask for help because every now and then he comes through. This was my GPS. Often it would lead me on the right track, but it would not be fast enough, or tell me ahead of time, so I can't tell you how many times it told me: "at the next possible place, make a legal U-turn". Arg.

I finally found (quite by accident) a tourist information booth, so I parked (after about 10 minutes of driving through the city trying to get back to it, and I think at least once driving on the wrong side of the street) and discovered that of course the building was geschlossen. Boo.



But here was what greeted me on the other side of the street.





Kinda funky. Don't ask me what it is. I was quite ready just to head to Karlsruhe, but I forced myself to buy a drink (banana-kiwi) and ask how to get to the Heidelberg Schloß. Thankfully almost everyone here speaks English, because my knowledge of German phrasebook ends at the "kein Deutsche" section. They kindly told me which train to take, but I realized that taking the train would involve more embarrassing interactions so I opted to try the GPS again.

[Editors note: This post is taking much longer to write than originally expected. Stay tuned for the remainder of this story, and find out more about how George's first day on-site played out.]


The synopsys

I made it to Germany alive. Tomorrow will be the real test.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Well, I was planning on being more productive with my blogging this year, but it looks like I'm on an anemic one-post-per-month pace. I have good reason though (as all of us lazy bloggers always do). I've been busy working on a project for work that has my flying to Germany this afternoon. I'm working specificaly in the city of Karlsruhe for about one week, integrating the software we've written at my company with the hardware at our customer's site. It's my first integration trip so I am still naively optimisticly, but I'm sure that will fade quickly ("what do you mean I have to send the commands in German?!?")

After my work week, I've taken the next week as vacation (I had several days accrued from last year). I'm planning on visiting some friends that Carolyn and I serendipitously met in Berlin in 2006. They're living in Bonn so I'll be heading up there, and then I'll be touring Cologne and probably Koblenz. Many thanks to my mom who spent hours researching potential sites of interest, train schedules, etc., since I have had no time to do so myself. I have a big stack of printouts that I'll be reading on the plane. :)

As has been my practice when travelling (especially alone), I'll probably post more than usual. I'm lugging my precious D70 with me (how could I not?) so I won't miss a photographic opportunity. The weather is quite a bit warmer where I'm going (5°C as opposed to -10°C... and getting warmer!), albeit a bit rainy, but I'm not going to let that stand in my way of seeing the sights... but if I do, I'll at least take some pictures from my hotel/hostel window :P

My escort to the airport is picking me up in about 4 hours (with a fresh French Vanilla cappuccino for me!), so I'd better get packing. Wish me luck, and I'll keep you posted on any tales of interest.