It's been a long, long time....

...that i've mentioned in my blog that i've taken some interesting pictures in my hometown but wasn't allowed to show you them because i never got the permission to do so.

That was because the organisation behind the cemeteries here is the only one which prohibits taking pictures there. This is quite bizarre because the only spot where i couldn't take pictures for this ...well let's call it hobby, strange as it is... was my hometown!

Last may though i requested to do so and since i was the first to do that i had to invent a application form for this myself. I solemny swore that i never would take pictures there to make any kind of money whith them and included the promise that no actual names of the dead would be visible.

But still they didn't answer until last week. I got the permission orally. Which isn't very satisfiying. Still: I'm taking the chance to publish them here and now and i'm keeping my fingers crossed that i'm not going to earn money with them....

A warning though: The cemeteries in my hometown are small. And protestant. So don't expect anything extraordinary. The love for beauty and for style is not a protestant thing. They rather go for simple and dreary things. Still there are some gems i'd like to show you:

The inscription reads as follows: " The only Paradise from which we cannot be expelled is the Memory."
It's only a rather small pebble but it is more moving to me than some of the great tombs i've seen so far.

Here's the best sculpture i've seen on a Cemetery in Bad Oeynhausen: It's a good example of northern cemetery art showing the broken coloumn (which is found on nearly every cemetery i've seen so far) and a lady looking rather gloom and unhappy (which is not really surprising since it's a grave).

January... It's the most dreadful month of the year so far...

....which is not surprising since it's the only month so far in 2011. But even when it sounds a bit silly: I'm guessing it will stay that way. February will be better: It's shorter. And the days will grow longer. And lo! Spring approaches. My point is: January sucks! Today, for example i've got an appointment with my dentist. This is one of the real dreadful things in life. Black despair is what i feel right now......

Which brings me to my pictures for today: They were taken exactly two years ago in Brügge, Belgium and since i'm in terrible need of hope they show the man who died for us and our sins...

Cemetery Bad Pyrmont.... Some winter impressions

Two days ago my wife suggested it was time to do something because the christmas break turned out to be quite boring for all of us. Constant hanging around in the living room is not very satisfying. Thank god the weather decided to be warm and nearly all the snow was melted away. So we gathered our stuff together (the equipment for geocaching and the camera-gear; not to forget the umbrella since it was raining...) and we went off.

After finding the cache and having a bit of sightseeing in Hameln we went to the nearby town of Bad Pyrmont to visit the cemetery.

It's been nearly two months since i've seen one and now i was anxious to try out my new lens: A prime lens made in the german democratic republic about 30 years ago: a Pentacon 29 mm 2.8. It works well with a converter for EOS-Cameras  and here you can see for yourself:

This one was taken in Hameln City; it's a detail of a sculpture at the marketplace. 

Now for the cemtery Bad Pyrmont:

The lens has a strange circular effect in the background, you'll notice it very clear at the second image. But can notice it slightly at the third one too: The bokeh is strangly distorted in a slight circular manner. 

The lens requires a bit of practice since everyting is handled manually. The aperture as well as the focus. Especially getting tack sharp pictures is difficult. But i think the effort is worth it.

This last Image is a good example for the extraordinary quality of the lens:

All in all not bad for a lens that was less than 50€ including the converter...