Silhouettes.....
My Photography Group meets monthly and we have a SHOW & TELL session to present our work to the other members.
We vote on an optional theme for the next month and
"Silhouette" was picked for March.
Members can choose to shoot pictures that support that idea.
Or, ignore it and bring a few favorite shots they'd like to share.
15 is the maximum for each member ...or we'd be there all night.
The last option is to look through your files and seek out pictures that match the theme
Each month I usually try all three options. My
"biergarten" shot in Munich came from the files.
I was in Germany a few years ago and enjoyed an evening of Oktoberfest. This was in September.
Details are a little vague.
This was followed by a late breakfast the next morning in an outdoor setting.
Yes, those are BIG glasses.
My boutique hotel in Germany was very close to the
Munich U-Bahn subway station - on purpose - so no driving was involved.
No matter what hotel you choose, the party continues there night after night and mine followed that rule.
This shot is not really a silhouette but has a nice combo of light and dark.
The train stations in Europe are HUGE and very busy. Few in the United States reach that level of activity.
Each rail hub is a small city with food, drink, benches, shops, stores, cabs, buses and parking.
Also a police force, municipal workers, and sanitation facilities.
A weary traveler is well served.
The Oktoberfest survivor needs all the help he can get.
In England's capital, it is hard to ignore
"The London Eye."
I'm sure the name has changed since it opened in 2000 and was known as the British Airways London Eye.
It stands 443 feet high on the south bank of the River Thames and now is known by the newest sponsor name, EDF Energy.
We do that - selling a sponsorship when naming a football stadium or other big buildings or structures.
But, it makes a good silhouette picture.
I recall that I had that in mind when I snapped it.
The
Cliffs of Moher is where Ireland meets the Atlantic Ocean.
Hmm, is THIS a true silhouette?
Our tour guide/bus driver warned us that it was a foggy day so the odds were against us.
It depended on the wind whether or not we would see the view on the western seaboard of Clare County.
Sadly, it was socked in when he was parking the bus but we trudged to the viewing areas anyway.
The wind picked up, the fog was blown back to sea and there they were, all in a row. "Wow," I recall saying.
This view from the plane coming back to Philadelphia certainly qualifies as a silhouette.
I've noticed that more and more of the
Photo Group members are dipping into their saved world-wide photos to meet the challenge of a monthly theme.
Doesn't bother me.
The photo is a souvenir, a keepsake, a memory-flogger.
One of the many beauties of photography is the chance to revisit an experience.
(Click on the photos for more details.)
Back-lit is pretty close to a silhouette. We'll see if others feel that way at the meeting on Wednesday.
Thanks for stopping by. Bring your camera and come to a meeting.
* I have 99,618 hits on my blog right now.
Should hit 6 figures any day now.
Labels: beer garden, biergarten, British Airways, Cliffs of Moher, EDF Energy, Ireland's County Clare, Leonardo boutique hotel, Munich, Oktoberfest, The London Eye, U-Bahn, Western seaboard of Ireland
Oh...Did I Mention Beer ?
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Part of the vacation included a 4-day trip to
Munich.
They sure LIKE their beer in Germany.
This was actually part of a poster in the U Bahn and the subway crowd looked at me funny.
Not funny
"Ha Ha." More funny
"strange."(Well, this is after I used Photoshop. Before that, it DID look a bit odd.)
There also was an
Oktoberfest going on and 6,000,000 beer drinking buddies would be gathered, crowded into about 15 HUGE tents.
Only 6 different beers are featured and - checking as many tents as possible - I did NOT see any Guinness.
Those liter-size glasses would be great for a perfect pour of Irish Stout.
Each tent has it's own large band and they play a LOT of drinking songs.
Well, duh.
Labels: bands, drinking songs, Irish Stout, liter glasses, Munich, Oktoberfest Tents
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Back in the early 1970s, I HAD to fly to Munich, Germany to attend an international tourism convention.
Hey, this was part of my job!
I was promoting
Missouri as a tourism destination so I had to observe how all the other places presented themselves. It was an awesome experience to see the world package itself to accommodate visitors.
At the end of the official event, I joined a small group of fellow Missourians in two rented VW vans for a 5-day "quick Tour" of Germany, Bavaria, Austria, Lichtenstein, Switzerland and a tiny piece of France.
Just outside of Munich, in Upper Bavaria, we saw the
Mad Ludwig Castle which was the inspiration for Disney's Cinderella Castle and stopped and walked through a pilgrimage church called
Die Wies (The Fields).
Here is the picture I snapped back then of the beautiful church and also a link to a Virtual Tour that offers even better views than we had in person.
So, 30 years later, skip all that airport security angst, delays and expense and sit down at your computer and see the world.
Must be tough to be a State
Director of Tourism these days.
(Click on the title and "roam" all around the church).
Labels: Austria, Bavaria, Die Wies, Munich, pilgrimage, Switzerland
Sektember means ...Oktoberfest!
Munich is a great place to visit ANY time of the year, especially in September when
Oktoberfest is celebrated.
But, since my 1979 business trip to Germany was in mid-October, I was pleased to find the beer tents still were in place, the oomp-pah-pah bands still played and prices had dropped.
A typical
"tent" holds about 7,000 people and there is a staff of 5,000 to keep the beer flowing and the delicious food coming from the kitchens at a steady pace.
I was the Director of Tourism for Missouri and was attending an international gathering of tour and travel officials and we were taken all around Munich - the Bavarian happy place - compared to dour Berlin up north.
If you want one beer, you hold up your thumb. They kept bringing me two because I did the American thing of holding one finger in the air. I am a VERY slow learner.. Prost!
One of our group, a young Missouri co-ed on a European tour, had enough nerve - or enough beer - to accept the baton and lead the band. She had a very supportive listening audience.
Did I mention Prost?
(Full disclosure: the lady with 12-pack is from online)
Labels: beer garden, Co-ed, Munich, Oktoberfest, oom-pah-pah, Prost
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