Posted in Christmas, Photography, Portraits, Travel, tagged Canon A620, Christmas, Christmas market, Vienna, Vienna Austria on December 11, 2012| Leave a Comment »
One of the most interesting aspects of any outdoor market is watching people, including the salespeople. In my experience, the vendors tend to be outgoing people who try to attract passersby to stop at their stalls and purchase what ever they are selling. Here are some photos I took of three of the vendors at the Christmas market in Vienna. The lighting is a bit harsh, but I decided to take the photos without flash to be less obtrusive.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Christmas, Photography, Travel, tagged baked potato, Canon A620, Christmas, Christmas market, lebkuchen, Merry Christmas, potato, Vienna, Vienna Austria on December 10, 2012| 1 Comment »
This evening I had the chance to visit again the Christmas market in front of the Rathaus (City Hall) in Vienna, Austria and got better photos. Why? It was less crowed, the weather was better, and I was alone (rather than with three friends who were more interested in shopping than in taking photos).
The first sign was from a stall that was selling lebkuchen, a German baked product that is a lot like gingerbread. I really like the hand-carved look of the sign.
The second sign is a sign for a stall called “Potato Jim” that sold stuffed baked potatoes. I am not sure who “Jim” is, but I thought the sign, with a potato wearing a Santa hat, was cute.
The third sign is one that was at the entrance to the Christmas market. The big letters spell out “Merry Christmas” in German and the small lit sign to the right spells out “Vienna Christmas Market.” The building in the background is the Rathaus (City Hall).
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Photography, Travel, tagged architecture, Canon A620, Vienna, Vienna Austria on December 10, 2012| 6 Comments »
Yesterday I had a chance to photograph one of the coolest buildings in Vienna, Austria. I plan to write a little about it and post a few more photos later this week, but I thought I’d post a photo now as a sneak preview.
What do you think is the main function of the building, a part of which is shown in this photograph? Could it be an art museum or an apartment building? Stay tuned for the correct answer.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Photography, Travel, tagged Austria, Canon A620, Christmas, Christmas market, Vienna on December 9, 2012| 6 Comments »
You probably noticed that the subject matter of my blog is different in this posting. I am away from home on a short business trip to Vienna, Austria. I arrived this afternoon and had the chance to visit several of the Christmas markets here. They were all very crowded and it was also well below freezing and windy, so shopping was not a lot of fun. It was actually more fun to watch people.
The biggest Christmas market was at the plaza in front of the Rathaus, the city hall. I have only a point-and-shoot camera with me, but I managed to take a couple of shots to give you a sense of the venue. According to Wikipedia, the beautiful Gothic-style building was constructed between 1872 and 1883.
I’ll try to post a few more photos of Vienna, a beautiful city with lots of charm, while I’m here.
Rathaus at dusk
Christmas lighting in Vienna
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, Travel, wildlife, tagged birds in flight, Branta canadensis, Canada Goose, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, flight, humor, Huntley Meadows Park, pun on November 20, 2012| 3 Comments »
Geese and ducks continue to arrive and depart with such frequency in my local marsh that I feel like I am in a major bird airport. Fortunately, there are no long lines or security checks for them to endure. We must have a special arrangement with our northern neighbors, for the Canada Geese are not subject to any special customs scrutiny.
I continue to try to take photos of the geese while they are in flight, usually when the are coming in to land or taking off. Often the geese will circle around and honk loudly to announce their arrival (a kind of bird intercom system). Perhaps the birds on the ground can interpret the honks to mean something like, “Now arriving on pond number one, Canada Geese flight number one from Toronto.” My first photo is one of a Canada Goose banking. No, he is not at an ATM machine, withdrawing cash. He is making a sharp turn as he prepares to land.
Banking goose
The second photo shows a goose in flight. If you click on the photo, you will notice that the goose has a zen-like look of contentment on is his face. Scientists have been working on implanting a tiny device into geese that will provide them an in-flight entertainment package (and autopilot features too) and this goose may be one of the early test subjects.
Goose in flight
Some geese hate to fly alone and prefer companionship during the long flight. A new business has sprung up that provides escort service for the lonely goose, a fledgling matchmaking company that is just getting off of the ground. The company’s contracts are full of fine print about additional charges, but some geese continue to be surprised with the bill they are presented at their final destination.
Lonely goose escort service
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Humor, Photography, Travel, tagged belgium, brussels, Canon A620, mannekin pis, mustache, prank on September 7, 2012| 2 Comments »
I know that periodically the statue of mannekin pis in Brussels is dressed in a variety of different outfits throughout the year. However, yesterday he seemed to be wearing an unauthorized additional item—a mustache. 
Close-up of Mannekin Pis with Mustache
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Photography, Travel, tagged brussels, Canon A620, Grand-Place, St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral, stained glass, travel on September 7, 2012| 3 Comments »
I had a chance to walk around Brussels a little more yesterday and wanted to post a few more photos before I head back to Virginia today. Most of the photos are from the Grand-Place, the central square of the city and I have tried to capture some of the wonderful details of the buildings there. The last two shots are of the Saint Michael and Saint Gudula Cathedral, a really beautiful church that I was able to visit.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Photography, Travel, tagged blue skies, brussels, Canon PowerShot A620, city hall, gold, Grand-Place, shadows on September 6, 2012| Leave a Comment »
The light was dropping lower in the sky as I stepped onto the cobblestones of the Grand-Place in Brussels, causing the gold decorations on the buildings to glow and adding interesting shadows. The sky too was beautiful, a brilliant blue with a few puffy clouds. It is a little overwhelming when you’re in the square surrounded by the guild halls and the spires of city hall—everywhere you look there are interesting details (and that’s not even counting the people passing by).
My time is a bit limited this morning for this posting, so I’m including just a few photos that I especially like from last evening. (I may have the chance to post some more photos tonight.) I also would note that I am using a Canon A620 point-and-shoot camera with relatively modest capabilities, rather than my normal DSLR. There were definitely times when I would have welcomed having the ability to zoom in a bit closer, but some of the results are pretty good and it does force me to move around to try to frame the photo better.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Photography, Travel, tagged brussels, Canon A620, city hall, city scenes, mannekin pis on September 5, 2012| 7 Comments »
I’m in Brussels, Belgium for a few days for work and have been “encouraged” by Sandra of Another Perspective Photography to post some photos of the city. So I stood up my co-workers for dinner tonight and went off on my own to shoot a few photos of the sights of the city in walking distance of my hotel. This first batch is an assortment of photos of various subjects. I plan to do a second batch with photos of the Grand-Place.
No trip to Brussels is complete without seeing the statue of Mannekin Pis, the little boy peeing into a fountain (or what some might call the “wee lad”). There seems to be a great deal of uncertainty about what exactly the statue commemorates. Wikipedia lists five different legends and there are almost certainly more. I’ve enclosed two photos, one of which is a close-up. The latter photo is specifically for Sandra, who specializes in taking photos of babies, often in an unclothed state.
The other photos show a few views of the city. The tall steeple in several of them is the city hall building.
I realize these are touristy type shots, but thought some others might enjoy some scenes from Brussels.
Mannekin Pis
Mannekin Pis Close-up
View of Brussels
View of Brussels through a fountain
Interesting clock in Brussels
Unidentified church steeple in Brussels
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Landscape, Photography, Travel, tagged beauty, brussels, building, Canon PowerShot A620, Grand-Place on September 5, 2012| 5 Comments »
The Grand-Place in Brussels, the central square of the city, is a wonderful location, full of ornate buildings and teeming with people at almost all hours of the day. UNESCO considers it a World Heritage Site and it was voted the most beautiful square in Europe in one survey, according to Wikipedia.
I find the buildings in the Grand-Place, though, to be a little too ornate and overly decorated. As I stood in the center of the square and looked diagonally toward one of the side streets, though, I caught a glimpse of this building. It is simple and elegant and much more to my taste.
Building in Brussels
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Humor, Insects, Photography, Travel, tagged Canon PowerShot A620, coincidence, grasshopper, Handsome Meadow Katydid on September 3, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Just a few days after posting a photo of a neon-colored grasshopper (who turned out to a Handsome Meadow Katydid), I saw another one. Well, actually I encountered a giant sign for a toy store featuring a cool grasshopper that looked a lot like “my” grasshopper.
How many passers-by realize that there is an actual grasshopper with colors as bright (or even brighter) than the one on the sign?
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Photography, Travel, tagged Canon PowerShot A620, mill, New England, photography, water wheel on July 28, 2012| 3 Comments »
On an early morning walk today I saw this old mill, which has been converted to a restaurant. I currently am in Franklin, Massachusetts for a few days for a family wedding and somehow this mill reminds me of historical New England.
Although I have no experience photographing buildings or converting images from color to black and white, I decided to step out of the comfort zone that I have established recently shooting insects, flowers, and wildlife and try something totally different, including using a different camera (a Canon Powershot A620 instead of my usual Canon DSLR).
I am moderately satisfied with the resulting photos. Putting aside the results, though, I am happy that I was willing to risk failure by trying something new. As the old saying goes, the only way for a turtle to make progress is to stick his neck out.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Gardening, Macro Photography, Photography, Travel, tagged art, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, flowers, gardening, impressionism, Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, l'Orangerie, lily pads, Monet, Paris, pink, water lilies on July 9, 2012| Leave a Comment »
For much of my life I have loved impressionist paintings and especially those of Monet. Monet painted a series of approximately 250 paintings of Water Lilies (or Nymphéas) and they were the main focus of his artistic work for the last thirty years of his life, according to Wikipedia .
Last November I spent countless hours at the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris visually exploring eight massive paintings of water lilies by Monet that covered the walls of two large oval rooms. The painting were all different and covered the themes of morning, clouds, green reflections, sunset, reflections of trees, clear morning in the willows, morning in the willows, and two willows.
The Musée de l’Orangerie allows you to see each of the paintings in high definition on the internet but navigation is not exactly direct. Click first in the left column of the main page on “Les Nymphéas” and then on “L’ensemble de l’Orangerie” which brings you to a page with all of the paintings. You click on the painting you want to examine and click again on the box that says “explorez le tableau” (“explore the painting”). You then can drag your mouse to see each part of the painting or zoom in at 2x or 4x. There also are detailed explanations of the paintings in French that are fascinating, as is a history of Monet and these paintings. You get to that part of the website by following the previous directions and selecting “De Giverny à l’Orangerie” instead of “L’ensemble de l’Orangerie.” I should warn you that it is very easy to lose track of time as you take in the beauty of these paintings.
I love photographing water lilies surrounded by green lily pads, with reflections of their beauty in the dark water, the same flowers featured in Monet’s paintings. Until this past weekend, however, all the water lilies that I had seen had been pure white in color. At Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens I encountered and managed to photograph some water lilies that were a beautiful pink in color. They made quite an impression on me.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 