It doesn't have to be quite so challenging if you have a tripod, but my tax return has yet to come in, and besides, tripods are a pain the @$$ to lug around. So I just try to stand very, very still--and of course, the harder you try, the more you shake. But still, Maastricht is decked out for the holidays, and a lovely city in its own right acquires a touch of magic when the lights come on:
In Nijmegen, the holidays are marked by the arrival of the olliebollen carts, which also sell waffles. They are the only time of year you can reliably purchase waffles at the market, but they are a poor substitute for the heavenly fluffy denseness that is a Pinky's Waffle. On the other hand, Nijmegen does have a regular stroopwaffel maker, which my friend assures me does not exist in Maastricht.
This one-or-the-other, the give-and-take, the back-and-forth (in my case, literally), has really started to erode the boundaries that have thus far defined who I am. As I start to get more comfortable here, really learning the language and getting along, and traversing the distance between Protestant Holland and Catholic Limburg every week (there really is a difference), it sometimes feels like my pieces of my identity are being scattered in the wake. On the one hand, it's silly: I know who and what I am. On the other hand, it's kind of weird--because none of the words that I used to use (American, Asian, Democrat) apply any more.
the blur coursed by the night photography of the band looks great. It really adds to the photo.
ReplyDelete@ Stu: It's blurry because they're moving and my exposure time was something like 4. But I don't think it's a bad thing in that photo. What's a rule for, if not to break? :-)
ReplyDeleteI brace the camera against walls and arches to get it steady, sometimes using a shutter delay with the built in timer so that I don't shake pushing the button. Still, about one in three comes out like I want it. Your photographs are really crisp and the colors are very nice.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a good technique for getting a good shot, but I'm afraid that I have no sense of time. What I do have is a Nikon D90, and while it's pretty smart for a camera I still had to shoot on "manual" for these shots.
ReplyDeleteI won't embarrass myself by revealing how many photographs I have to take to get one that looks good. "Only ever show people your best" is the operative rule here :-)