November 3/4th

Inspired by Jérôme, I have started taking and presenting a picture each day for the rest of November. I see this as a source of possible inspiration for myself while keeping busy doing something I like. I have thought about how to approach this and defined the mission parameters in my head, which I may disclose at the end of the series.

Just to make it clear up front, I am not seeking for any C&C nor am I seeking for positive acknowledgements such as "I like it". The pictures are presented as is and your kind C&C won't change anything about them. I don't want to know how you would take/process my pictures differently, which would make them your pictures and not mine. I would, in such cases, encourage you to take the pictures as you think they should be taken and share them here with us.

Don't get me wrong, it is your prerogative to provide any C&C if you want to or to even say "nice" and I will certainly appreciate that you took the time to write something. In any case, feel free to talk about the pictures, the circumstances, the weather, anything at all. The reason why the pictures are being presented is to engage in interesting conversations (either internally with ourselves or externally with each other) based on what the pictures make you think/feel. I will try to say something about each picture when I present them. I may ramble a bit, but that is to be expected.


So without further ado, here is November 7th.

November the 7th

November 7th:

The weather today is as depressing as it can get around these parts. Rainfall, dark grey skies, the whole works. I set out the house with my camera covered underneath my coat, in search of something which looks interesting. The streets are almost deserted, people walking briskly, hidden under their umbrellas. No window shoppers, no leisurely strolls. Then I come across the "oliebollen" stall, which temporarily settles down in one of the town squares during November and December each year. Oliebollen are a kind of Dutch sweets, a bit like donuts without holes. An elastic dough is formed into a ball shape and then deep fried. Which is then eaten with a layer of powdered sugar. The new year's eve is the time when they should be traditionally consumed, but not only then. These stalls are mobile and and they usually can be found at carnivals or fairs traveling around the country. There is a certain nostalgic look to them, even when they are brand new. They are supposed to cheer us up, with all the lights and the sweet smells emanating from them. A Venus fly trap, you could say. However, this doesn't seem to be working for this stall today. But the stall owner is in a good mood. He has a buddy with whom he can chat for a while. The buddy is one of the familiar faces I see around the town often, an elderly man who depends on his walker to get around. He has mounted his cheery umbrella on his walker and sits on the walker while chatting with the stall owner. He doesn't seem to be in any hurry, after all he is not really getting wet and he possibly does not have any other business he needs to attend to. The stall and the men form an almost surrealistic bubble within the otherwise grey environment. As you can imagine, I wanted to capture them in their bubble.

Cem_Usakligil said:

Inspired by Jérôme, I have started taking and presenting a picture each day for the rest of November. I see this as a source of possible inspiration for myself while keeping busy doing something I like. I have though about how to approach this and defined the mission parameters in my head, which I may disclose at the end of the series.

Just to make it clear up front, I am not seeking for any C&C nor am I seeking for positive acknowledgements such as "I like it". The pictures are presented as is and your kind C&C won't change anything about them. I don't want to know how you would take/process my pictures differently, which would make them your pictures and not mine. I would, in such cases, encourage you to take the pictures as you think they should be taken and share them here with us.

Don't get me wrong, it is your prerogative to provide any C&C if you want to or to even say "nice" and I will certainly appreciate that you took the time to write something. In any case, feel free to talk about the pictures, the circumstances, the weather, anything at all. The reason why the pictures are being presented is to engage in interesting conversations (either internally with ourselves or externally with each other) based on what the pictures make you think/feel. I will try to say something about each picture when I present them. I may ramble a bit, but that is to be expected.


So without further ado, here is November 7th.

Click to expand...

"Nice!"

"I'd cut it 1/3 and process it in "Word", PC version. The type face is cool, but the tonality is even.

Remember, the rule of thirds, it always helps in composition, but, of course, as the creator, you're free to make up your own rules, as you've done!"

Asher

Cem_Usakligil said:

November 7th:

The weather today is as depressing as it can get around these parts. Rainfall, dark grey skies, the whole works. I set out the house with my camera covered underneath my coat, in search of something which looks interesting. The streets are almost deserted, people walking briskly, hidden under their umbrellas. No window shoppers, no leisurely strolls. Then I come across the "oliebollen" stall, which temporarily settles down in one of the town squares during November and December each year. Oliebollen are a kind of Dutch sweets, a bit like donuts without holes. An elastic dough is formed into a ball shape and then deep fried. Which is then eaten with a layer of powdered sugar. The new year's eve is the time when they should be traditionally consumed, but not only then. These stalls are mobile and and they usually can be found at carnivals or fairs traveling around the country. There is a certain nostalgic look to them, even when they are brand new. They are supposed to cheer us up, with all the lights and the sweet smells emanating from them. A Venus fly trap, you could say. However, this doesn't seem to be working for this stall today. But the stall owner is in a good mood. He has a buddy with whom he can chat for a while. The buddy is one of the familiar faces I see around the town often, an elderly man who depends on his walker to get around. He has mounted his cheery umbrella on his walker and sits on the walker while chatting with the stall owner. He doesn't seem to be in any hurry, after all he is not really getting wet and he possibly does not have any other business he needs to attend to. The stall and the men form an almost surrealistic bubble within the otherwise grey environment. As you can imagine, I wanted to capture them in their bubble.

​

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Cem,

Great start to your offering of daily pictures. This is really unique! I wonder how the "oliebollen" tradition started. Did you take more pics of the umbrella man? He seems an especially interesting character. Must have wet socks after a while!

I can imagine this also early morning with a rising mist around and the guys lights still on and the umbrella man asleep!

Asher

Asher Kelman said:

"Nice!"

"I'd cut it 1/3 and process it in "Word", PC version. The type face is cool, but the tonality is even.

Remember, the rule of thirds, it always helps in composition, but, of course, as the creator, you're free to make up your own rules, as you've done!"

Asher

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Very witty.

Asher Kelman said:

Cem,

Great start to your offering of daily pictures. This is really unique! I wonder how the "oliebollen" tradition started. Did you take more pics of the umbrella man? He seems an especially interesting character. Must have wet socks after a while!

I can imagine this also early morning with a rising mist around and the guys lights still on and the umbrella man asleep!

Asher

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Your imagination is rather good Asher, I'd love to be there to see that morning scene! Kind of like a Fellini scene.

Re. the olibollen, here is some info to be found.

I remember having seen similar stands in the Netherlands, but the man with the umbrella was not present. Well seen!
And welcome to the rest of November.

Jerome Marot said:

I remember having seen similar stands in the Netherlands, but the man with the umbrella was not present. Well seen!
And welcome to the rest of November.

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Thanks Jérôme, we'll see how it goes.

A warm, color bubble at that. She should let the guy in to get warm and dry, instead she teases him with conversation and questions about how many and what to drink with them. The inside looks like her living room with a stove built in. What's with the chandeliers and the clock. And the painting to the left? Looks like something you'd see for sale along the highway out of town. You know the stuff. Velvet paintings with giddy colors and stylized figures in a background of lime and black. A likely gift from the mother-in -law which only gets hung when she comes for lunch on Sundays or less frequent, whichever can be organized without offending.
The Dutch have this way about them when it comes to decorating. Frilly, lace curtains, trinkets along the window sills, ornate decorations on the walls. A somewhat hostile environment for someone who grew up in a bomb shelter for 11 people. Most Europeans might find the warmth and homeliness of the bubble here most welcoming, although the guy on the Zimmer frame doesn't seem to be getting the welcome mat laid out for him. Maybe she's the witch with the ginger bread men, tempting crippled old men into the light so she might size them up for a strong, thick broth; he being the chief ingredient. Plucking off the vulnerable might well be her way of contributing to the reversing of global warming. After all, old men do fart more often than the younger Dutchman. I believe there is such a thing as a Dutch Oven that can be a terrifying experience for the partners of the elderly, although I fail to comprehend how this phenomenon could be restricted to the elderly. In my experience, the Dutch seem self-assuming enough to inflict such discomfort on their cohabiter at any age.
In closing, although this might seem a harmless image of a customary event in the life of a Turk in the Netherlands, take it from me; everything does not appear what it seems.

Tom dinning said:

...In closing, although this might seem a harmless image of a customary event in the life of a Turk in the Netherlands, take it from me; everything does not appear what it seems.

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Also, objects in the mirror are closer than they appear!

November the 8th

November the 8th:

Sigh, barely the second day into this exercise and I am already wondering how shall I ever get to the end of this month. I give myself a kick in the butt and leave home around noon. At least the weather is a bit nicer than yesterday, dry that is. I am walking around the town center and I see very few people. It is so noticeable that I wonder if should try to capture it somehow. I end up trying but I am not happy with the results. Kind of disappointed, I head back towards home. And there is my good friend Alex, going home for lunch with his lovely daughter Jasmine. Alex has just bought some sandwich bread and he seems to be in a good mood. We have a short chat and I attempt to make a joke about Jasmine's plush seal puppy, which she does not find funny. Then we go on our own ways again. At which point I turn around and see Jasmine skipping happily while holding Alex' hand. And that becomes today's picture.

This is nice as well and, since there is a discussion about the use of color in street photography, I would like to draw your attention on the fact that this picture would not work in black and white.

Jerome Marot said:

This is nice as well and, since there is a discussion about the use of color in street photography, I would like to draw your attention on the fact that this picture would not work in black and white.

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It would 'work' differently, Jerome. All images achieve something, even if its a minor stimulation of the visual cortex. Once it's sloshing around the synapses its up to the owner of said brain to make something of it. Isn't it pleasant to think that one person's brain can make a silk purse from a sow's ear and another will be happy to leave it on the pig.
There are three levels of interest in the photograph: the thing, the composition (the photographer's methods) and the viewer. As you know, I'm only interested in big tits and fast cars, color or B&W. But because my friend, Cem, took this I become interested at a different level. Sure, the color is an important ingredient but its not the only one. Cem's story adds another level of interest, the place, the performance, the dog/cat relationship, the guitar, the bikes, the possible formulation of an OCD story in my head seeing the young girl avoid the cracks. Is she skipping? I think not. She is doing what all children do when faced with paving; she's doing the hop-scotch step. Even the very idea that such an encounter put a smile of Cem's face and he was happy enough to share it with us encourages me to spend a little more time looking. We are as close to being there as we can get.
That's what makes a photograph 'work'.

Tom dinning said:

Isn't it pleasant to think that one person's brain can make a silk purse from a sow's ear and another will be happy to leave it on the pig.

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Well said!

Tom dinning said:

As you know, I'm only interested in big tits and fast cars, color or B&W.

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Big tits, is it, Tom? Small one's can be perfectly fine for my liking! Doesn't beauty and color ever make up for size for you? Here, the "tit" is not the size you go for, I guess, as you didn't even stop to say "Hi!"


Asher

Jerome Marot said:

This is nice as well and, since there is a discussion about the use of color in street photography, I would like to draw your attention on the fact that this picture would not work in black and white.

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Jerome,

I'm not sure why you say that? If it's about the little girl skipping, then what would you lose in leaving the color behind. Frankly, I'd love to see that blue go away! To my tests, B&W works well too. sure it's different, but since we all have widely different references, surely saying it won't work in B&W is a bit strong a statement. OTOH, it's entirely possible that the significance and work of the color went over my head.

Asher

Asher Kelman said:

Well said!




Big tits, is it, Tom? Small one's can be perfectly fine for my liking! Doesn't beauty and color ever make up for size for you? Here, the "tit" is not the size you go for, I guess, as you didn't even stop to say "Hi!"

Asher

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I did drop by, Asher. My response was the same as it would be if Christine had asked me to go shoe shopping with her. Fain ignorance and leave the room.

Asher Kelman said:

I'm not sure why you say that? If it's about the little girl skipping, then what would you lose in leaving the color behind. Frankly, I'd love to see that blue go away! To my tests, B&W works well too. sure it's different, but since we all have widely different references, surely saying it won't work in B&W is a bit strong a statement. OTOH, it's entirely possible that the significance and work of the color went over my head.

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What I meant is indeed that it would not work in the same manner. I did not want to say that the picture would be bad in B&W, but that the color elements define the composition in the present picture.

Jerome Marot said:

What I meant is indeed that it would not work in the same manner. I did not want to say that the picture would be bad in B&W, but that the color elements define the composition in the present picture.

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Now you're dodging and weaving, Jerome. I think its far better if you remain ambiguous and we completely misjudge your intentions. That way we can continue the conversation and get nowhere - as usual.

November the 9th:

November the 9th:

Photographically speaking, this was a prolific day. My wife and I have gone to visit the Markiezenhof. The Markiezenhof is a beautiful late Gothic city palace, one of the largest and best kept in Europe. It was built in the late 15th century by the famous Flemish master builders Anthonie and Rombout Keldermans as the residential palace of the Lords and Marquises of Bergen op Zoom. Nowadays, it serves as a regional museum and it is it is just 500 meters from our home.

You know how it goes. We all have some point of interest nearby where we live, but we never seem to find the time to actually visit it. Whereas tourists from all over the world travel there to see it. Well, we walk by the Markiezenhof almost daily but didn't visit it for quite some while. For the past few months, it has housed an exhibition called Rembrandt in Black and White, showing a few hundred of very rare etchings by the great master. Since tomorrow is the final day of the exhibition, we finally went there to see it. It was a great experience, sorry I was not allowed to take any pictures so I can't share them with you. But I could take pictures elsewhere in the palace and I am going to show one of those today.

I was taking my time, looking around for a nice composition and my wife walked ahead of me as usual. That is why she usually becomes an extra in many of my pictures. All of a sudden I have realized that her purple sweater was complementing nicely with the color of the rugs along with the smooth light filling the rooms. That had to be captured, of course!

November the 10th:

November the 10th:

This has been a tough day. I couldn't get really interesting pictures which I can talk about, even though I have been out to shoot twice. So I am going to post this particular one because I find it striking. I suspect that it will ruin any reputation and goodwill I might still have left with some of you. If so, please forgive me.

Boogie is a good mate of mine. Being a cat, he has his quirks and of course many prerogatives. One of them is the avoidance of the camera at all times. This morning, just for a split second, he decided to look into the lens instead. I think that he must have felt that I was that desperate.

Desperate is so right! Now I'm desperately seeking my medication and a place to hide.
I thought you were a friend of mine?
Your ex-mate,
Tom

Tom dinning said:

Desperate is so right! Now I'm desperately seeking my medication and a place to hide.
I thought you were a friend of mine?
Your ex-mate,
Tom

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Ah c'mon Tom. Don't let the laddie come in between us.

Love the eyes on that Kitty Cat.

Cem_Usakligil said:

Ah c'mon Tom. Don't let the laddie come in between us.

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Now look what you've done. I hyperventilated into a panic attack and collapsed on the couch where I remained for some 24 hours dreaming of cat hair caught in my throat and fleas covering my body.

Your aversion therapy isn't working on me.
Quick! Post a photo of the scantily clad woman on the Ferrari before I go into shock.

The palace has nothing on him! He has attitude, he's distinguished and seems to have royal mind of his own!


Asher

Asher Kelman said:

....The palace has nothing on him! He has attitude, he's distinguished and seems to have royal mind of his own!

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Absolutely! We, as his minions, are just happy to serve.

Tom dinning said:

Now look what you've done. I hyperventilated into a panic attack and collapsed on the couch where I remained for some 24 hours dreaming of cat hair caught in my throat and fleas covering my body.

Your aversion therapy isn't working on me.
Quick! Post a photo of the scantily clad woman on the Ferrari before I go into shock.

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Hmmm, I will just take my time to find those Tom. How long can you old on?

Cem_Usakligil said:

Hmmm, I will just take my time to find those Tom. How long can you old on?

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Not long. But don't fret. If she doesn't appear soon I'll start without her. She can play catch-up. That should be worth looking at. One pussy isn't the same as the next.

Chris Calohan said:

Love the eyes on that Kitty Cat.

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They are smashing, aren't they?

November the 11th:

November the 11th:

I haven't had the chance to go out to shoot today so I had to improvise with a grab frame from the garden.