landscapes from your country

[lefay82]

wow! fantastic pictures of the ice and leaves, very artistic! Your pictures are much sharper, clearer and the colours much brighter! If you were here you would have made awesome pictures, much more beautiful than mine

yes, the greatest improvement i've noticed with the reflex it's about sharp and brilliant colours. and also the possibility to shoot without flash and have great pictures also in interiors.
but also photoshop helps a lot.
i usually don't use too much photoshop, but there are two or three tools which are very useful to have better photos.
and keep in mind that you can use a format which is called RAW which is a sort of digital negative. the photo comes out the camera with no kind of elaborations, like happens with JPEG, so you can work on it in a freer manner, you can adjust things without loosing definition and details.
i assure you it's a new dimension!!!!

The combination of palms and snow looks so weird! I've never been to Italy but the pictures of your street reminded me of vacation pictures

yeah a pretty weird combination.
we usually have a different kind of flora, which is mostly made of bushes and trees. the most typical trees in my zone are pines, oaks, holm oaks, olive trees....palms are not typical, but the climate is quite warm so they can survive easily.
it looks like a vacation picture because i live in a very turistic town.

just to have an idea, it's in italian, but there are many photos
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macchia_mediterranea

are there boars in the park?? like in, wild swine? wow, we only find rabbits, hares' and deer's prints here...

the black and white pictures look grim indeed!

yes there are so many boars here!
once i went in the park and meet one mother with 4 little boars in her train, so lovely! but you have to keep the distance because i wish you will never meet face to face with an angry boar. you just have to run the faster you can and climb the nearest climbable tree you find because the boar will continue to follow you, and you will get tired much before him!!!!!
it's full of wild animals, you can meet a lot of them, especially at night, foxes, owls, squirrels, herons, storks, once i've seen also a badger, i was like what the fuck???? i had never seen one for real.
one night i found three deers walking along the street. and another night i also had to brake violently because my car's lights illuminated something big in the middle of the street, it was a big stag which was crossing the street.
once i went with some friends to a restaurant on the hills we have behind the city and we met two roes which were running on the street. i mean IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET! we have to follow them for about 2 kms because they didn't mean to leave the street, and they continued to run without caring of us. it was fucking hilarious because a long row of cars was born behind us, and nobody was able to pass them 'cause the street was too narrow.

 

[Elvina]

yes, the greatest improvement i've noticed with the reflex it's about sharp and brilliant colours. and also the possibility to shoot without flash and have great pictures also in interiors.
but also photoshop helps a lot.
i usually don't use too much photoshop, but there are two or three tools which are very useful to have better photos.
and keep in mind that you can use a format which is called RAW which is a sort of digital negative. the photo comes out the camera with no kind of elaborations, like happens with JPEG, so you can work on it in a freer manner, you can adjust things without loosing definition and details.
i assure you it's a new dimension!!!!

i only use PS for the photos to clean up disturbing stuff like pimples, red eyes and noses, yellow teeth, airplanes etc, and to try and rescue a picture if it turned out too dark, grainy or too light... I leave almost all of my landscape photos unedited because i'm no photographer anyway and don't have any professional cameras.

yes there are so many boars here!
once i went in the park and meet one mother with 4 little boars in her train, so lovely! but you have to keep the distance because i wish you will never meet face to face with an angry boar. you just have to run the faster you can and climb the nearest climbable tree you find because the boar will continue to follow you, and you will get tired much before him!!!!!
it's full of wild animals, you can meet a lot of them, especially at night, foxes, owls, squirrels, herons, storks, once i've seen also a badger, i was like what the fuck???? i had never seen one for real.
one night i found three deers walking along the street. and another night i also had to brake violently because my car's lights illuminated something big in the middle of the street, it was a big stag which was crossing the street.
once i went with some friends to a restaurant on the hills we have behind the city and we met two roes which were running on the street. i mean IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET! we have to follow them for about 2 kms because they didn't mean to leave the street, and they continued to run without caring of us. it was fucking hilarious because a long row of cars was born behind us, and nobody was able to pass them 'cause the street was too narrow.

omg now i'm soooo jealous! This is unbelievable!! :zombie: We pay money here to get to the National Park called Veluwe where you - maybe! if you're lucky - get to see red deer, boars and badgers, and then you're walking around there for entire day long and you don't see a (wild) thing!!

Although we did see a mother boar with piglets a few years ago there as well, they crossed the path like 30 m in front of us!! It was such a great experience although i must say i was already looking around for a tree to climb on because we were exactly between the mother and the piglets so i was already holding my breath! But the mother decided they should better beat it so they run off fast with much squeal and grunt

How come all those animals just wander around on the roads at your place? Here they kill them all because "they are a great danger to the passing cars"!!! Only yesterday there was a news flash on tv that more of deer will be shot!!! I can't believe what this country is doing to its nature, how many forests are being cut every year and more and more animals are shot because they are supposedly a danger for the cars or the crops! People jogging in those little patches of forest still left standing have no idea that there are deer, badgers, foxes and martens still living there!! They think that the only wild left are rabbits... I have a feeling that in a few years it's going to become true too The authorities are doing their best to rid of the last pieces of "wild" nature still left in this country, it's soooooo sad...

 

[lefay82]

i only use PS for the photos to clean up disturbing stuff like pimples, red eyes and noses, yellow teeth, airplanes etc, and to try and rescue a picture if it turned out too dark, grainy or too light... I leave almost all of my landscape photos unedited because i'm no photographer anyway and don't have any professional cameras.

i usually use three tools, which are a sharp tool, saturation and levels (which are used to give more contrast to the photo and rescue some too dark parts)
but that's all. i'm not into photoshop, and i'm quite unable with this program, i only learned those basilar things to improve some little aspects of photos.
for example even if i've arranged my camera to a medium value of saturation sometimes photos come out a little bit washed out so i need to adjust colours. i could arrange my camera to an higher value but then i risk to have too much saturated photos so i prefer to have a medium value and operate after the shoot.
i've discussed a lot about this with some friends of mine which are photographers. there's a big collision of ideas regarding the use of photoshop.
someone are against it, some one are in favour of it.
those who are against assert that the true photography is made with the camera not with photoshopping, the ones who are in favour of it assert that when digital cameras didn't exist photographers did the same adjustation during the processing of negatives, like using different kind of powders and chimical elements. and that's true. a non-photographer went to a shop to have his photo developed but photographers did it by their own to have the right result.
i'm in a middle position. i think that not everything can be done only using the camera, it's really rare that a photo comes out perfect from the camera, maybe it need only some soft retouch, but on the the other hand i'm against heavy alterations, like someone who changes position to subjects, delete parts, and totally destroys the original photo.
in medio stat virtus...

omg now i'm soooo jealous! This is unbelievable!! :zombie: We pay money here to get to the National Park called Veluwe where you - maybe! if you're lucky - get to see red deer, boars and badgers, and then you're walking around there for entire day long and you don't see a (wild) thing!!

Although we did see a mother boar with piglets a few years ago there as well, they crossed the path like 30 m in front of us!! It was such a great experience although i must say i was already looking around for a tree to climb on because we were exactly between the mother and the piglets so i was already holding my breath! But the mother decided they should better beat it so they run off fast with much squeal and grunt

How come all those animals just wander around on the roads at your place? Here they kill them all because "they are a great danger to the passing cars"!!! Only yesterday there was a news flash on tv that more of deer will be shot!!! I can't believe what this country is doing to its nature, how many forests are being cut every year and more and more animals are shot because they are supposedly a danger for the cars or the crops! People jogging in those little patches of forest still left standing have no idea that there are deer, badgers, foxes and martens still living there!! They think that the only wild left are rabbits... I have a feeling that in a few years it's going to become true too The authorities are doing their best to rid of the last pieces of "wild" nature still left in this country, it's soooooo sad...

well it happens because the park embraces the town, so there are some streets that cross it...
i link you my city with google maps.
i live in torre del lago puccini (which is a hamlet of viareggio).
http://maps.google.it/maps?um=1&hl=it&q=mappa torre del lago&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl
the park starts here and follows the coast for several kms. it's very exotic in some parts, because the park melts with the beach, the trees start to become littler the nearer they are to the sea, and they are also very twisted for strong winds. then they leave the place to shrubs and bushes and then to dunes with grass clumps. looks like desert in some points

what???? people kill animals because they are dangerous?
they are humans which are dangerours with their cars! if they would drive slower no wild animal and no car would be hurted.
it's a total madness!
we have some traffic signals which advices people of wild animals, we also have one funny signal near the river which advices of ducks crossing the street!!! something like this one!!!!

 

[Defiance]

i was born and spend my childhood and teens in Russia where the snow covers the streets for good 6 months a year without melting and nobody complains about ice on the roads because it's just a part of the daily life. When i was a kid we had to spend our school mandatory gym classes outside during the winter months, in the nearby forest or park, where we learned to ski. And those classes got canceled only when the temperature fell below -15 deg. C. So almost all russian kids could ski, although i don't know if the school rules had changed much since when i was a kid...

Interesting! I want to study Russian so I can read Crime and Punishment in the original form . The thing about the ice roads is just like in Canada, although people do complain there . And I'm glad that not all Russians are blond. I guess that's, perhaps, more of an Ukrainian-prostitute stereotype?

@ Lefay: I don't want to quote you because your posts are too f* long har har.

I really liked the pictures, especially the ones of the leaves and the road with tress.

I have a similar one:


Untitled by daniel_josephy, on Flickr

(I know I know, the bloody numbers on the left side. Stupid me. Although I should be able to correct that in CS5.)

The park stuff is really amusing, I guess that happens here in the mountains, but not in central, urban parks. One can find snakes every now and then, but insects are much more common. Looots of insects.

How come all those animals just wander around on the roads at your place? Here they kill them all because "they are a great danger to the passing cars"!!! Only yesterday there was a news flash on tv that more of deer will be shot!!! I can't believe what this country is doing to its nature, how many forests are being cut every year and more and more animals are shot because they are supposedly a danger for the cars or the crops! People jogging in those little patches of forest still left standing have no idea that there are deer, badgers, foxes and martens still living there!! They think that the only wild left are rabbits... I have a feeling that in a few years it's going to become true too The authorities are doing their best to rid of the last pieces of "wild" nature still left in this country, it's soooooo sad...

Sad, indeed. That's one thing I now recall of Nederlanden, the lack of trees/nature that is quite evident in some parts. Just like DE, they're destroying everything.

 

[Elvina]

Interesting! I want to study Russian so I can read Crime and Punishment in the original form . The thing about the ice roads is just like in Canada, although people do complain there . And I'm glad that not all Russians are blond. I guess that's, perhaps, more of an Ukrainian-prostitute stereotype?

hmm i don't know where you got that from that russians and ukrainians are blond typical russian appearance is light brown hair, grey, grey-blue eyes, fair skin. I don't know for sure about ukrainians because i've never been there but the stereotype ukrainians known in Russia from pictures and cartoons have jet black hair and fair skin, more alike hungarians or romanians i guess. I would say that blondes are much less common in Russia than dark haired or brown haired people.

I don't have typical russian appearance at all, i have some polish and ukrainian blood too but don't really look like those either.

 

[Defiance]

hmm i don't know where you got that from that russians and ukrainians are blond typical russian appearance is light brown hair, grey, grey-blue eyes, fair skin. I don't know for sure about ukrainians because i've never been there but the stereotype ukrainians known in Russia from pictures and cartoons have jet black hair and fair skin, more alike hungarians or romanians i guess. I would say that blondes are much less common in Russia than dark haired or brown haired people.

I don't have typical russian appearance at all, i have some polish and ukrainian blood too but don't really look like those either.

As you said, it's just stereotypes. Then again, one of my students, who was Ukranian, was the typical blond we're talking about. Do you speak Polska? I recently "got" the Biatowieza Forest Saga book; I can't wait to read it! '

But wait, aren't all Russians bears on monocycles?

 

[Elvina]

As you said, it's just stereotypes. Then again, one of my students, who was Ukranian, was the typical blond we're talking about. Do you speak Polska? I recently "got" the Biatowieza Forest Saga book; I can't wait to read it! '

But wait, aren't all Russians bears on monocycles?

no, rather bears drinking vodka (after 10 years in NL i still can't ride even a bicycle although i don't drink vodka)

the ones on bicycles are the dutch, the ones on skis are scandinavians and the ones with a baguette under their arm are french

no i don't speak polish. Even though most poles can understand russian, most russians will only understand just some words of polish (or other slavic languages). I was just trying to read some ukrainian text about what a typical ukrainian features are and i had hard time understanding even that I think there are more similarities between norwegian swedish and danish than between russian and ukrainian... at least the written language is quite hard for me to understand.

 

[Defiance]

no, rather bears drinking vodka (after 10 years in NL i still can't ride even a bicycle although i don't drink vodka)

the ones on bicycles are the dutch, the ones on skis are scandinavians and the ones with a baguette under their arm are french

no i don't speak polish. Even though most poles can understand russian, most russians will only understand just some words of polish (or other slavic languages). I was just trying to read some ukrainian text about what a typical ukrainian features are and i had hard time understanding even that I think there are more similarities between norwegian swedish and danish than between russian and ukrainian... at least the written language is quite hard for me to understand.

10 years in TN and you can't ride a bike? Preposterous! Seriously, how come? Lack of equilibrium or something? Hahaha 10 years, I'll be damned hahahaha.

I quoted the other part so as to not derail the thread too much .

 

[Azzor1911]

That's unique...
I think I learned how to ride a bike before I could even read, like every other kid who grows up here

 

[lefay82]

That's unique...
I think I learned how to ride a bike before I could even read, like every other kid who grows up here

i've learned very young too, with those special bikes made for kids with the two little wheels that can removed in a second time when you're more skilled and trained. i'm not sure if you know what i'm speaking about. are they used worldwide?

 

[Elvina]

10 years in TN and you can't ride a bike? Preposterous! Seriously, how come? Lack of equilibrium or something? Hahaha 10 years, I'll be damned hahahaha.

yes indeed. I think i start learning anew every summer but i was never consistent enough to finish the "course" so that every next time i have to start all over again Last time i could already ride without help but i will never go riding on the dutch streets like that!

That's unique...
I think I learned how to ride a bike before I could even read, like every other kid who grows up here

you don't say! :Smug: where i grew up only the rich kids had bikes, and neither i nor most of my friends were rich. There was a girl i knew well who had a bike, but she also had a brother, so all her friends and all of her brother's friends were always waiting in line for their turn to take a ride on that bike. I'd never had time enough to learn back then.

every time i tell people here in NL that i can neither ride a bike nor swim they look at me as if i told them i cannot read or write...

i've learned very young too, with those special bikes made for kids with the two little wheels that can removed in a second time when you're more skilled and trained. i'm not sure if you know what i'm speaking about. are they used worldwide?

yes, that's the one i can ride any time

 

[Agah]

Wow. This is the first time I've ever heard of a person over 6 years old who can't ride a bike. Here even the poorest people have a bike of some sort.

 

[Elvina]

no matter how hard anybody tries to make me feel ashamed for this fact, i will always only feel more special i guess. The only thing i can add to that is - you people should sometimes just take a moment, look around you and appreciate all little things like that you've got, there will always be somebody somewhere else in the world who can never even dream of things you own!

 

[Agah]

no matter how hard anybody tries to make me feel ashamed for this fact, i will always only feel more special i guess. The only thing i can add to that is - you people should sometimes just take a moment, look around you and appreciate all little things like that you've got, there will always be somebody somewhere else in the world who can never even dream of things you own!

Not trying to make you fell ashamed, I just saw it as a strange cultural difference.

 

[Elvina]

Not trying to make you fell ashamed, I just saw it as a strange cultural difference.

it's not a cultural difference, but a financial one. And an enormous one. Last time i had to calculate my mother's (who still lives in Russia) yearly income for some formalities here it came out at something around 600 euro (that was 3 or 4 years ago). It's not like russian kids would not LOVE to have a bike of their own, or that they don't enjoy riding one. But at the times i was a kid in USSR only people that really needed a bike for, say, their job or something would buy it, and certainly not to spoil their kids. It was a luxury. I am sure it's much different now for russian kids as well, but still not as spoiled as here.

 

[Defiance]

That's unique...
I think I learned how to ride a bike before I could even read, like every other kid who grows up here

Haha indeed. Another thing to learn? Beware of bike thieves (Dave Kinkade *cof cof*).

i've learned very young too, with those special bikes made for kids with the two little wheels that can removed in a second time when you're more skilled and trained. i'm not sure if you know what i'm speaking about. are they used worldwide?

Yeah, I used one too (I think). You call those bikes training/children's/bikes (the latter being a category on Amazon), and sometimes tricycles or trike (a bit rarer, since it can be different).

yes indeed. I think i start learning anew every summer but i was never consistent enough to finish the "course" so that every next time i have to start all over again Last time i could already ride without help but i will never go riding on the dutch streets like that!

you don't say! :Smug: where i grew up only the rich kids had bikes, and neither i nor most of my friends were rich. There was a girl i knew well who had a bike, but she also had a brother, so all her friends and all of her brother's friends were always waiting in line for their turn to take a ride on that bike. I'd never had time enough to learn back then.

every time i tell people here in NL that i can neither ride a bike nor swim they look at me as if i told them i cannot read or write...

Haha yeah, I guess riding a bike is essential in Nederlanden. Maybe you should try to learn again, it's quite useful. Just wear a helmet so you don't get killed .

So in Россия having a bike was/is a symbol of social/economic status?

no matter how hard anybody tries to make me feel ashamed for this fact, i will always only feel more special i guess. The only thing i can add to that is - you people should sometimes just take a moment, look around you and appreciate all little things like that you've got, there will always be somebody somewhere else in the world who can never even dream of things you own!

Haha you're not the only one, so don't worry about it. My ex girl friend didn't know how to ride a bike, since, well, she never had one as a kid because her father left home so, in a male chauvinistic society as CR; she never had a "male" role to teach her how to ride one. That, and the lack of means to buy one I guess. It was quite funny when I tried to teach her to ride one. Funny and weird at the same time.

I wish I could ride a bike here, but the streets aren't safe to do that. And since I live in the suburbs, there are lots of cars. If I were to ride a bike it'd have to be in the mountains. Ohh so sad .

it's not a cultural difference, but a financial one. And an enormous one. Last time i had to calculate my mother's (who still lives in Russia) yearly income for some formalities here it came out at something around 600 euro (that was 3 or 4 years ago). It's not like russian kids would not LOVE to have a bike of their own, or that they don't enjoy riding one. But at the times i was a kid in USSR only people that really needed a bike for, say, their job or something would buy it, and certainly not to spoil their kids. It was a luxury. I am sure it's much different now for Russian kids as well, but still not as spoiled as here.

Yeah, the USSR was quite unfair to most people. The former student that I mentioned was born there, and he said his dad used to make "radios" for the government. Turns out, those weren't really radios; they were missiles ( ). But he told me he used to live a very luxurious life, and due to that he still believes in communism. I tried to explain to him that most people lived in poverty, but he couldn't understand it. I once played the old USSR hymn to him (which, incidentally, is an excellent one –at least musically speaking&#8211 and he started crying. It was a fine moment, no doubt about it.

 

[Elvina]

Haha indeed. Another thing to learn? Beware of bike thieves (Dave Kinkade *cof cof*).

euh... what? did i miss some cool story?

Haha yeah, I guess riding a bike is essential in Nederlanden. Maybe you should try to learn again, it's quite useful.

nah i can live without it. Besides i'm used to people's reactions. Although if i want to get a motor bike drivers license i should better learn to ride a bicycle first Just not right now. I would much rather learn to swim. Come 2012 this could turn out to be a lot more essential in this water country

So in Россия having a bike was/is a symbol of social/economic status?

among the kids maybe a bit yes

Haha you're not the only one, so don't worry about it. My ex girl friend didn't know how to ride a bike, since, well, she never had one as a kid because her father left home so, in a male chauvinistic society as CR; she never had a "male" role to teach her how to ride one. That, and the lack of means to buy one I guess. It was quite funny when I tried to teach her to ride one. Funny and weird at the same time.

I wish I could ride a bike here, but the streets aren't safe to do that. And since I live in the suburbs, there are lots of cars. If I were to ride a bike it'd have to be in the mountains. Ohh so sad .

i have exactly the same problem, that's why i never really learned... there's no quiet place in the town to learn without drawing shocked people's stares. Also i need a good bike to learn because my bf's bike is the one for males and it's too huge and stuff, not very easy to start learning on.

we went far off topic as usual, but i don't have any new pictures to post

 

[Defiance]

euh... what? did i miss some cool story?

Haha well Dave's bike was stolen in Nederlanden.'

nah i can live without it. Besides i'm used to people's reactions. Although if i want to get a motor bike drivers license i should better learn to ride a bicycle first Just not right now. I would much rather learn to swim. Come 2012 this could turn out to be a lot more essential in this water country

Haha you can't swim either? You are quite similar to my ex when it comes to physical activities . Yes, swimming will be important, especially in Nederlanden hahaha.

among the kids maybe a bit yes

i have exactly the same problem, that's why i never really learned... there's no quiet place in the town to learn without drawing shocked people's stares. Also i need a good bike to learn because my bf's bike is the one for males and it's too huge and stuff, not very easy to start learning on.

we went far off topic as usual, but i don't have any new pictures to post

Cool, I guess it can be somewhat of a social status here, as most poor people can't afford a bike. I guess it's more of a bragging right around here.

Well go and learn, people can go screw themselves. I hate when people stare at you when you're different/doing something strange. You should get a bike, how do you get around? Walking? Tram?

But be careful, you don't want to lose your virginity when you're riding the bike .

Oh well just to stay on topic, me in Colorado:


Mountains in Colorado by daniel_josephy, on Flickr

 

[lefay82]

Yeah, I used one too (I think). You call those bikes training/children's/bikes (the latter being a category on Amazon), and sometimes tricycles or trike (a bit rarer, since it can be different).

i don't know which is the name, but they are normal (small) bikes with 2 big wheel and 2 little wheels on the sides of the rear wheel. those 2 wheels are screwed and can be removed when the kid is more skilled to ride the bike.
i search a photo...

@elvina: i think it will be quite hard for you to learn because kids has no fear at all and they do silly things without caring about consequences. an adult can be less relaxed and this will prevent him to learn.
for example i've learned to skate with roller skates first and then with rollerblades when i was very young, i suppose 5 or 6 years. i haven't skated for a long time now, but i'm sure i'm still able.
my boyfriend never skated, i tried to teach him and he couldn't. he was attacched to me and he didn't want to leave me and go on his own. quite funny!!!! ehehe

 

[Agah]

They are called training wheels.