Monday 23 August 2010

Christmas Lights in August

We went to my sister-in-law, Ilona's flat on Saturday for her Name Day celebration. She lives on one of the Warsaw tower block estates in Gocławek (Gots-wa-vek) on the east bank of the Vistula. Standing on the balcony in the dark, I was rather taken by the focused concentrations of lights from the flats and streets against the ambient dark and light contrasts of sky, shadows and buildings.

The photos do not do it justice - my little snapshot camera does not have an effective night setting, but you can get a rough idea from them. A view to the left:
From 2010 08

And to the right:


The overall charm of the peace and calm, leaning on the balcony on a quiet Warsaw Saturday evening, was something worth simply standing there and absorbing. The sound of distant explosions enhancing the sense of relaxation. Then Babcia (Grandma - my mother-in-law) came out and said "shooting" and started to get worried. It was just a firework display, though, out of sight.
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2 comments:

  1. Michael Dembinski23 August 2010 at 07:54

    Steve - it's good to see you blogging regularly! Look forward to more.

    Night shots - worth investing in good image processing software (Adobe Lightroom is good) - you can pull a lot of detail from the shadows.

    If you camera allows for shooting RAW format - do so (for the tricky shots) and a tripod is useful too.

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  2. Pan Steeva25 August 2010 at 06:53

    Thanks for the advice. I always wonder what type of camera you use when I marvel at those beautiful, rich-coloured pictures you publish. I think you've given away some of your secret.

    I'm more of a snapshot taker, carrying a small camera in my pocket almost all the time and just using Picasa.

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