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Magnolia magic
Magnolia trees occur in many sizes, shapes and even colours, and I always love to see one. They are both impressive and delicate and decorate their surroundings beautifully. In their presence, I am sometimes feeling out of breath and could stare at them for quite a long time… The tree in my photos below grows in Prague, in a place above the river Vltava, where you can come and sit or walk in the park, and the vivid colour adds unmistakable magic to the place. Have you known that although Magnolias’ origin reaches far back to history, the trees were named Magnolia after a French botanist Pierre Magnol in 1703?…
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Unexpectedly beautiful
Some time ago my husband and I visited a small hydroelectric power station “Vydra” in Šumava mountains. Its history goes eighty years back but it was modernized and is still in operation when there is enough water to propel it. Adjacent, there is a small information centre showing some history and interesting facts about how local watercourses have been used and then there is a window, through which you can see the actual power station consisting of two Francis turbines and generators. I loved that glimpse into a technical colourful world where flowers and machines enhance one another and the high space adds certain loftiness to the whole view. Sometimes…
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Frosty walk in Rejvíz
The village Rejvíz in Jeseníky mountains is a place where I like to come back. I always enjoy strolling through the village and a walk to the adjacent Great Moss Lake is almost a must and definitely a welcome relaxation. During our last visit we could enjoy charming frosty views and as it was quite early in the morning, also not so many people in this usually quite intensively visited area. That was good, I find it important to get away from crowds here and there to listen to both sounds and silence of the nature around… When I was looking at my photos later at home and was editting…
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Botanical garden in Prague
Before winter definitely puts down roots here, I would like to share a few more photos from the botanical garden in Prague. We visited it many years ago and for quite a long time now I wanted to return there. This July we managed to do that and spent a beautiful afternoon amidst its flowers, trees, art pieces and wonderful views. It looked even more interesting than I remembered it… So here is a small selection of what I captured. Not everything looked so good in a photo as it looked in reality so e.g. my photos from the Japanese garden did not make it into this selection as they…
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For the love of succulents
As seen in and inspired by a botanical garden in Prague…
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Walk in Dobřív
There are many ways in which you get to know new places. I came to Dobřív along with my husband last year to capture some photos in the local hammer mill. We found out that next to the old mill there are also other interesting buildings in the village, houses keeping the air of old times. Here are a few photos from our walking around…
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By contrast
We encounter many contrasting places, objects, thoughts and people in our lives, some of them more prominent than others… In Giant Mountains, there are many nice old houses typical for the long-gone era of our ancestors. The houses look lovely and cosy, such as this one in Rokytnice nad Jizerou. In my opinion, there used to be different roofing material, this one looks too modern to me, but the house itself radiates the history. And it definitely shows a stark contrast to the contemporary houses in its surroundings. The new may not suit the old yet one day the new will become old as well and another level of contemporary…
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Lost beauty of old factories
You must have seen them. Old factory buildings that used to be full of machinery producing all sorts of goods but after the companies lost their success at the market, all that remains is emptiness and a state of gradual dilapidation. I came across one of those buildings during our holiday in Giant Mountains, in the town Rokytnice nad Jizerou. The building housed one of the textile factories of the company SEBA, a company that used to employ altogether more than four thousand people. The local textile industry did not survive all the changes happening in the ninetieth and many of the factories were abandoned. There were some plans to…
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Technical Příbram
This year I’ve been pursuing a photo project called “Technical”, you can read more about its rules and my expectations here. My first target for the project was the town Příbram and its vicinity and here are the photos I liked most. When editing the raw files, I was aiming rather at the atmosphere than at the actual look, there is often much more to it than what we see with the naked eye, isn’t there? Click on the photos to enlarge them if you want to see them better. Příbram used to be a mining town and the traces of its history are present in many of its parts.…
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Nature reserve Drbákov – Albert’s Rocks
At the end of October my husband and I went to the national nature reserve Drbákov – Albert’s Rocks, where one can follow about 7 kilometres long nature trail. We thought it could be an interesting autumnal photo trip with a bit of exercise. We arrived quite soon at the starting point of the trail. When we got out of our car and set off, we soon got enclosed by foggy surroundings. The fog added magic and charm to the area but was way too dense so we just hoped it would fall down eventually revealing blue sky and sunny day as the forecast promised the day before. The trail…
