Skywatch-- Black Crows, Gray Sky

It's been fairly sunny recently, but it is now October, and gray skies may not be too far off.

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Theme Day--Contrast

Too common a scene in major cities. An old woman, who has fallen asleep while begging, sits in front of a fashionable window display.


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ABC Wednesday--"K" is for "knot"

Tie the knot is what my daughter and my new son-in-law did on September 19th. The day after, some visiting guests and I took a leisurely boat ride up the Sava River to the village of Jakovo, where I photographed these knots at the Fenek Monastery. The monastery dates from the second half of the 15th century, and the water there is said to have miraculous qualities. I splashed my face....

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Deflowered.... The dangers of macrophotography

I was so excited the other morning when I saw that one of my cacti had blossomed! A first for me! I grabbed my Gorillapod and set it up on my table, along with the cactus. Took a few shots with my 50mm (see above...), then decided to really go close with my macro. A few clicks later, the macro lens was on my Nikon on top of the little tripod. Oh, woe. In my haste, I didn't adjust the little twisty feet on the Gorillapod to support the somewhat heavier macro lens. It tipped over, and the lens hood on my macro lens deflowered the cactus. I was devastated! But at least here's one photo...

Actually, I'm laughing about it now...

Something to remind you...

My wedding guests have all but gone, taking with them fond memories of the wedding and Serbia. They've also taken along a few souvenirs, such as those seen here. The little sparrow, symbol of Belgrade, is wearing a typical Serbian hat, the šajkača, and there are models of typical dwellings and a church behind him. All, including the cute little guy with the candle, are standing on a runner with a pattern of rugs made in Pirot in southeastern Serbia.

The Blue-eyed Goose

Maybe all geese have blue eyes; I don't know. I woke this one up when I snapped its photo the other day along the river. The goose is actually standing in shallow water through which you can see goosey footprints.

Ooops.

Well, like this earlier posting of mine, here's another example of a wrong name selection, especially for marketing in English-speaking countries! Yuhor is the name of a meat processing plant that is over 100 years old. "YU" stands for "Yugoslavia," which no longer exists, but I could not figure out what the last three letters signify.

Anyone know?

SKYWATCH FRIDAY--not waiting for the bus.

I was actually on a cruise boat with some friends when I took this photo. Many people now choose to walk across Branko's Bridge, rather than wait for a hot, stuffy bus.

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Originality

While on an excursion near the village of Jakovo, not far from Belgrade, I came upon these signs on restroom doors. "Toalet" is the Serbian phonetic spelling of "toilet," but as you can see, someone needs to get their plurals straight. The interpretations of 'man' and 'woman' are clever, though!

ABC Wednesday 'J' is for 'Just by accident'

I truly do not remember exactly what I did to get this photo to appear as it does. I usually just sharpen and adjust the lighting on Picture Perfect (my Nikon software) but sometimes use the Shadow/Highlight feature on Photoshop. I think that's what I was doing when at one point this photo rendition appeared! I kind of like it, so I left it the way Photoshop suggested... Just by accident.

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One down, more to come

Autumn is here, and there's a slight chill in the air. Came across this lone leaf the other day in Belgrade's Bohemian Quarter, Skadarlija. More leaves have since followed.