• Plzeň
    Focused on photography

    The challenge of visualisation

    How important do you think visualisation is for one’s artistic work? I read in several articles that visualisation is vital to art and I thought about it many times. In dictionaries, visualisation is defined as “the act of forming a picture of somebody or something in your mind”. Does that mean that to create art you need to be able to imagine the picture of what you want to achieve? The final result? I believe there are painters who look at an empty canvas and see a masterpiece. I believe there are photographers who look at a model and see an artistic portrait. I believe there are sculptors who look…

  • Plzeň
    Places in Czech Republic

    Pilsen in morning light

    Pilsen with its about 170 thousand inhabitants is the fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic and it is mostly known for Pilsner beer and former Škoda works. In Czech, the city is called Plzeň. I was born there, grew up there and have been watching its transformation throughout the years. Times, they are changing… and the city has changed as well, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. The other day my hubby and I went to Pilsen to try and take a few interesting photos. We went in the morning to catch some early light and were lucky to get it. We also got a surprise but…

  • Focused on photography

    Part of the whole

    It is the last day of February today and according to the rules of my 12-month photo project I am supposed to publish 3 to 5 photos that I took throughout the month based on the theme of the month, which this time was PART OF THE WHOLE. Part of the whole can be interpreted in many ways so for the sake of this project, the meaning was limited to a detail that defines the whole so that from the detail you can say what the whole is. Simply said, the detail should not be abstract. Without further ado, here is my selection: No. 1: Part of a plane I should call this…

  • Focused on photography

    When sunny day turns into foggy view

    …and vice versa. The other day I looked out of a window early in the afternoon and saw a beautiful sun-lit scenery embellished with fog forming layers in the distance. I thought it could be a nice photo opportunity and decided to go and give it a try. I even tempted my hubby to go with me but when we arrived at a neighbouring village, instead of facing a breath taking vista, we found ourselves surrounded by dense fog. The impenetrable foggy scenery continued further so we decided just to buy some groceries and return home. I can’t tell you how disappointed I was and unwilling to give up… so eventually…

  • Reflections

    Following and imitating, or rather not

    A few days ago I arrived at the parking lot in the premises of the company where I work. I chose a place to park at and directed my car to the place. There was snow in the parking lot and the borders of the parking places were not quite clear but I did my best to fit in there. Yet when I stopped the car, I noticed that I was not aligned to the car in front of me so I shifted into reversed gear, reversed and then aligned my car with the one opposite me. When I got off, I found out that my car stood quite amiss,…

  • Places in Czech Republic

    Visiting Klatovy and leaving way too early

    In January my hubby and I visited Klatovy, a town in Western Bohemia. There are nice places to take photos of but unfortunately the weather changed significantly while we were going there and when we arrived at the town, it wasn’t much favourable for shooting outside. Having said that, we didn’t let the weather deter us entirely from our intentions and spent some time in the town. I would like to share a few photos here that I took by on old church situated not far from the town’s centre. I wanted to capture the side wall of the church with the adjacent little house when the man with the children stepped in front…

  • Focused on photography

    Buildings

    It is the last day of January today and according to the rules of my 12-month photo project I am supposed to publish 3 to 5 photos that I took throughout the month based on the theme of the month, which was BUILDINGS. It wasn’t easy to select those 3 to 5 representative photos for this post but here is the selection. In my opinion, these photos fulfil the theme appropriately and are interesting enough to stand on their own. They are presented in random order. No. 1: A house in Dobřany The simple and yet prominent shapes and lines of this house felt attractive to me and the snow covering…

  • Around home and village

    White January

    Unlike many previous winters, this year we’ve had beautiful white and frosty January. After the muddy and windy Christmas time it was a welcome change. One morning a few days ago I looked out of the window and saw a beautiful scene lit by early sun rays… I grabbed my camera and ran to the garden, the light and fog and colours felt wondrous and magical… We were lucky not to have many problems with the snow at the part of the Czech Republic where my family live, there were other parts that had to deal with serious problems, but the truth is that after several quite mild winters we’ve…

  • Focused on photography

    12-month photo project – first lessons taught

    My hubby and I have made four little trips since the beginning of the year to get some interesting photos of buildings for the first month of our 12-month photo project and already those little trips taught me a few lessons that I would like to share with you. Lesson 1: Take your timeIf you are busy, you usually don’t want to waste the time you have and hurry in many regards. But photography needs certain slowing down, pushing away other matters and paying full attention to what you see, what you perceive, what you are looking for. Thinking about it, making your choices, using a tripod if necessary, and…