Persongalleriet #640: Beijing, Day 7

Monday the 20th of June, 2016.
I had decided to take the Monday off. No shooting and some rest for my aching back. And also resting my head from a, so far, pretty tough work schedule. But, still, I couldn't resist doing the morning walk! It was another sunny morning, and the light was wonderful!  :-)

A lot of the subjects you'd want to photograph are bound to be in the shadow, even in the relative cool of the early morning. (Even more so in the full blast heat of the day).

At the end of the walk I stopped for some more of those addictive little dough-buns:

After a while this guy sat down at my table to have his breakfast. He had some preserved vegetables with his dough-buns and rinsed it all down with some rice gruel.

Be well, everybody.

Persongalleriet #599: Blomma och bi

Singularis!

Bilden tagen den 5/7 2015 i trädgården till ett av Englands fina slott, Penshurst Place i Kent.

Ha det gott, alla!

/Niklas

Persongalleriet #598: En skogstur med hunden

Ja, det börjar vara några dagar sedan nu. Den 1/5 fick jag med mig hustrun ut på hundturen för dagen. Brukar passa på att ta med mig kameran då och ta några bilder!
Vår borderterrier Sydney fyllde 10 år i april och börjar bli ordentligt grå i pälsen.

Ha det gott, alla!

/Niklas

Persongalleriet #585: Selfie with Cat & Hen

March 12th, 2016.
I'm used to all the stray dogs and cats here in Istanbul, but to find a hen and a cock strolling around a courtyard in the very centre of the city shook me up a bit.

The blog's title goes with this here pic:

At the other end of the yard was a male specimen of the same species. For a title for the next picture I was thinking of "Three Men and One Cock", but maybe that could be interpreted as a bit mean. What about "Three Men and a Cock", which gives us a bit of literary reference? Or maybe "Three Men and a Rooster", which should be harmless enough not to offend any sensitive viewers that might be out there somewhere??? Enough of titles, here's the photograph in question:

I'm writing this from a hotel near Sabiha Gökcen airport, so this is the last "live" blog this time around. But of course I will show more pictures from this trip and the other trips I have done and from the ones I hope will follow!

Be well, everybody!

/Niklas

Persongalleriet #582: More Istanbul Ramblings

March 10th, 2016.
On my own again yesterday, I rambled, after blogging etcetera for the better part of the morning. After a few minutes in "my" neighborhood, I took the tram west to Yusufpaşa to retrace some steps from last year. Couldn't really find the inspiration. Had two cups of çay in an alley and decided to go ride the ferries instead. Walked to Aksaray tram stop and found this:

Rode the tram to Eminönu to catch a ferry. When I got there I felt a hunger pang already, since I had such a late start to the day. I remembered seeing the fish sandwich seller from last year close to Karaköy and decided to walk across Galata bridge to try some! Saw my own shadow as I was walking down the stairs and waited a little while to get something interesting:

At least interesting to me!  :-)

The fish sandwich guy wasn't there today, but I found a simple little restaurant which made a damn good one! Shooting didn't stop just because I was having lunch:

Here's another shot from 50 meters away:

Beyoğlu is the part of central Istanbul where I have found the most graffiti. Here's a shot where I found a "Blue" theme:

Got on the Kadıköy ferry at Karaköy (finally getting the hang of which is which!!!) Walked around for a while getting som quick shots of the passengers. Sat down with the camera in my lap to enjoy the sea view. Looked down at my tiltscreen and found something to shoot a little bit closer than that:

Getting off at Kadıköy there were some police with uzi-like machine guns. Finger on the trigger and all, so I decided to go straight back with the ferry, now to Eminönu. I don't mind police with holstered pistols, but when carrying guns like this, it seems to me a shot could go off at any moment, by mistake or otherwise.

After resting my legs for a while I took the tour of the ferry. A small band was playing the most beautiful music you can imagine!

I talked to them after. Their name is Ateş Band and HERE is their facebook page. They didn't have any record to sell at the moment, but there are some mobile phone videos on there that will give you an idea, although the super talented girl singing and playing flute is not featured in any of them. I also always love a mandolin played so well as this! I shot a short video and will post it later, but I'll first need to convert it to a format youtube accepts.

Found some more geometry I liked on this ferry:

As I was getting off the ferry I saw the people waiting to get on behind closed doors. Then I saw the reflection.

As I was buying some simit for a simple dinner in my room, these two young women started chatting me up. Of course I asked to get a picture, with simit and all!

This was turning out to be a it of a geometry day and I found one more shot like that before calling it a day:

Be well, everybody!

/Niklas