glass stories – by [refro-to] robert freudenthaler

21Feb

impressions of Friuli

In europe, Fuji X-E1, Fuji X-Pro 1, General, Holiday by admin / 20160221 / Comments are closed

friuli neither is the most impressive nor the most visted part of italy, but definitely has it’s own character, secrets to be uncovered, plenty of history and culture and offers beautiness for those, who are willing to take a second look.

most people don’t pay any attention to the beautiful lake of cavazzo, they just rush along the motorway to reach the adriatic beaches. they miss a piece of jewellery called venzone – hit hard by earthquakes in the past (1976) and rebuilt originally brick by brick. cozy village with a lovely shop for lavender based-products and frightful, curious mummies to visit in the crypta of san michele.

we made a short side trip to the fortezza di osoppo, after all world war one had it’s centenary recently and the historic fight places between the austrian hungary and the italian military are still very present as well as he fortification used in these days. he fortezza turned out to be a lovely green and restful place to stay with a nice cafe. offering a great view to the surroundings.

next stop san daniele del friuli, well known for the famous prosciutto. interesting to see how how professional & touristic the big companies act along the sr463 in terms of marketing & selling their products. we turned away from those crowdy places towards the magnificent frescos inside the chapel sant antonio abate and enjoyed silence and wonderfully lit, intense colors of the frescos.

following the river tagliamento downstream we reach villa manin (gallery) near codroipo, the residence of the last doge of venice – lodovico manin. this historic building even hosted napolean bonaparte, who commented on the palace the following sentence bon mot: to big for an earl, but too small for a king :)

a few kilometres to the east lies palmanova, a unique star-shaped city designed at the drawing-board, once built as a supporting base for venice and fortress against the turk. nowadays more known for a huge shopping center in front of city.

as we head on to direction “mare” (the sea) we pass aquilea, once the biggest city in italy and today well known for its art treasures like the mosaic in the cathedral. we also enjoyed the sweets served in the cafe near the cathedral as well as a truly recommendable museum dedicated to the story of pinocchio.

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on the way to trieste it’s mandatory to stop gradisca d’isonzo, a really pretty village well suited as a base for visiting all the historic places of world war one, which are located along the river isonzo. this includes a trip up the monte san michele, a small hill, from which one can enjoy a wonderful clear view of the surroundings up o the alps in the north. it’s so quiet an peacful up there that all the cruelties of the famous isonzo-battles are hardly to imagine. in a short footwalk around the top of the “monte” those deaf witnesses of the grimly fights 100 years ago – the emplacements and caves of the austrian and italian military – can be visited.

Sacrario Militare di Redipuglia
the fascistic monument in redpipuglia – errected during mussolini’s dictatorship – for the italien soldiers, plays in class of it’s own compared to the austrian-hungarian graveyard, which is located one km to the north of redipuglia. the sunset in the evening during my visit gave it an almost unreal though peaceful paint, covering the monument’s hard and bombastic character.

heading direction trieste on the magnificent coastal road ss14, along the carso, miramare palace, faro della vittorio, grotta gigante, …, so much to visit, so less time…

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of course we stopped in udine on our way home, a strange place, which felt like a relict of medevial times – dark and threatening.

enjoy my friuli-selection in the gallery :)

02Jul

graffiti of Interneppo, Bordano & Gemona

In graffiti, Holiday by admin / 20150702 / Comments are closed

Von kärnten kommend brausen die urlaubsmassen auf der friulanischen autostrada A23 durch das majestätische kanaltal der karnisch-julischen alpen richtung flachland – sonne, sand & meer respektive lignano, caorle und jesolo heißen die heißbegehrten ziele aller sonnenhungrigen, dass es schnellmöglichst zu erreichen gilt – ungeachtet der schönheit des oberen friauls.

coming from carinthia most sun hungry austrian rush along the autostrada A23 to quickly reach the upper adriatic beaches named ligniano, jesolo and caorle, leaving beside the wild beautiness of the upper friuli.

So ist es auch nicht verwunderlich, dass niemand von der wilden romantik des türkisblauen lago di cavazzo wahrnimmt und noch weniger von den leidvollen geschichte dieser region im ersten weltkrieg sowie des furchtbaren erdbebens am 6. mai 1976, dessen epizentrum vom direkt am see angrenzenden berg san simeone ausging und die dörfer interneppo, bordano sowie venzone vollständig zerstörte. als symbol der erneuerung und als hoffnung an eine erneute metamorhose der region wählten künstler die in dieser region heimischen farfalle (schmetterlinge) als ziermotiv für häuserwände. zudem findet sich in einer kehre der verbindungsstrasse bordano- interneppo eine hommage an italienische radsportgrößen.

so they don’t take any notice of the magic of the turqoise lake lago di cavazzo and the woebegone history of this region in first world war as well as the terrible earthquake, which happened on 6th may 1976 and destroyed the nearby villages interneppo, bordone and venzone, in which you can find beautiful butterflies painted on the houses as well as a painting of the all-time-stars of italien cycling.

das nur ein paar kilometer weiter südlich gelegene gemona besuchten wir kurz wegen des doms und des neuen, wiedererrichteten campanile, der ebenfalls ein ofer des erdbebens wurde. bei der weiterfahrt entdeckte ich in der nähe des bahnhofs ein paar tolle graffiti, bei denen ich nicht umhin kam, sie fotografisch festzuhalten. viel spaß beim betrachten dieser kunstwerke in meiner gallerie.

a few kilometres south we had a short break in gemona for visiting the cathedral and the newly errected campanile (tower), which has been destroyed during the quake, and discovered som really nice paintings / graffiti nearby the railway station. enjoy the artistic ideas behind them watching the pictures in my gallery.

16Jun

lokwelt freilassing

In Fuji X-E1, Fuji X-Pro 1, Holiday, Shooting by admin / 20150616 / Comments are closed

vistiting the lokwelt in freilassing happened a little bit per accident – during a short visit of my wife in salzburg i picked up a parcel at LogoiX (which offers very useful postal services eg. a german mail address for austrian citizens) and fell across a sign pointing me to the lokwelt. having had enough time and showing a passion for old trains i was curious enough to give them a short stop and haven’t been disappointed.
once a very important railway station during the past century – even for the railway station of salzburg – freilassing’s station lost function year by year and finally was closed in 1998 through the DB (deutsche bahn = german railway). luckily the beautiful engine shed was put under monument protection and got refurbished by the local railway association, now hosting a museum with several lovely (steam) trains. you can find a short list of all exhibits at the homepage of the lokwelt.

the stop of an old steam train during my visit in the museum was a nice extra bonus and i could watch the 360°-turning platform in action :)

although i never felt “being out of light” inside the engine shed, my x-pro 1 & e-1 really had to struggle in terms of iso-sensitivity. having had “auto-iso” enabled resulted in many pictures with iso 3200 and 6400 – still with more than usable output once more showing what capable high-iso performers these two x-trans-cams are, respect!

so it’s time to take a virtual walk through the engine shed in my gallery and enjoy these fine technical pieces of human inventive genius.

17May

pics from my hometown

In Fuji X-E1, Fuji X-Pro 1, linz by admin / 20150517 / Comments are closed

“you never walk alone” was the title of a song, which accomplished a german tv-series a few years ago. but: you never walk alone also is a true statement for photographers – never walk without a cam. some carry more on their back, luckily that’s not the case with fuji-x-shooters :)

normally i travel by bike through my city, often visiting the same places over and over again – like the danube haven (it’s not really big enough to call it a harbour). interestingly the same place present themselves always in a slightly manner or maybe it’s just a different mindshift, which causes this experience? besides of the nature influence of course, like weather or seasonal changes.

part one – pics from my hometown – show some impressions from the warmer monthes. part two – hometown pics 2 – is a small selection from january to march (2014) , allowing the photographer a different view at the danube due to naked trees. nothing very special, just some shots from scenes which immeadeatly get framed in my brain and which i regard worth a picture in my glass-story-gallery.

17Apr

demolition lunzertrasse

In linz, Shooting by admin / 20150417 / Comments are closed

ever since i owned a camera i have been fascinated by morbidity, by the passed glory. the demolition of the old working homes in th south of linz have been a perfect opportunity to capture some dramatic black & white picures – enjoy them all here in my gallery.

seit ich fotografiere war ich immer schon fasziniert von morbidität, von dingen, die eine prachtvolle vergangenheit hatten, einst in “glanz und glorie” einen schönen verwendungszweck zugeführt waren und nun dem verfall preisgegeben waren. das müssen keiner prachtbauten im engeren sinn sein, sondern schönheit findet sich auch im banalen, ganz alltäglichem wieder. vielleicht liegt es daran, dass vielen menschen die fantasie ihrer kindheit verloren geht, um aus teilen die vergangenheit wieder lebendig zu machen und neue abenteuer im kopf mit diesen bruchstücken auferstehen zu lassen.

nun bin ich nicht aktiv nach vergänglichem auf der suche, der abriss der geografisch isolierten, ehemaligen arbeiterhochhäusern im süden von linz bot jedoch eine tolle gelegenheit, den zahn der zeit im bild einzufangen. abendsonne, dramatisch wirkendes schwarz-weiß, sowie beginnendes blau der nacht ergeben facettenreiche möglichkeit die szenerie ins bild zusetzen.

hier gibt’s die bilder in meiner galerie, wer weiterführende hintergrundinformationen sucht – bittesehr: 1 | 2| 3

11Jan

höhenrausch 4

In Event, Fuji X-E1, Fuji X-Pro 1, Höhenrausch, linz by admin / 20150111 / Comments are closed

the “linzer höhenrausch” (thrill of heights) – which took place in it’s 4th edition in 2014 – really is one of my annual long awaited and favorite events in linz.
beside the cultural context and great ideas the artists came up with, it always has to offer some magnificent angles, structures and patterns – stuff i really enjoy to play with.

waiting for sunny autumn weather last year postponed my vistiting date and i feared, that the event will close the doors before i had the opportunity too shoot, but finally the weather god had mercy with me at the end of september, allowing me and my family to take some fabulous pictures.

if you are interested in the various artistic installation, which can be seen in my pictures, then you might take a stop at the official homepage for some more information (in english).

please move on to my gallery to watch all images i’ve taken – enjoy!

06Jan

cornfield

In General by admin / 20150106 / Comments are closed

There are plenty of wonderful cornfields just around the corner of my workplace.
Despite to the amount of corn it seems, that there’s just one single harvester available for all local farmers, which leads to half harvested fields or sometimes last the whole autumn untouched and therefore can be looked at for a long period of time – under different weather conditions a simple “must shoot” for photographers :)

Especially in the evening, when the light is low and the sunset generates a warm, golden and magic ambient worth taking some pictures.

In conjunction with the some nice filter effects from the nik collection one easily gets some very pleasing pictures. Quite understandable why it sometimes is so hard forme to pick the best shot out of very different moods…
a very simple explanation why i simply show them all :) or at least a few! i invite you to watch them all here in my gallery.

01Jan

urfix

In Fuji X-Pro 1, linz, Shooting by admin / 20150101 / Comments are closed

the “urfix”, which is the loving and colloquial abbreviation for “urfahraner jahrmarkt” – an amusement fair held twice a year in the northern part of linz (urfahr) since decades near the river danube – offers pretty much too shoot: forinstance as an street-art event with plenty of crowdy young people, long exposures in the night, freezing movements in stills or – as I did this year – as a still place with polished machinery before the big opening, offering deep and intense colors not often seen in such a static scenery. polished up a litte bit with the help of nik filters :)

watch the whole story my gallery.

31Dec

scotland

In Fuji X-Pro 1, Holiday by admin / 20141231 / No Comments

well I know – this draft didn’t get posted for the last year, for whatever reasons (lack of time of course). but now it’s time to press the “publish-button”, alone for the sake of keeping the order of pictures an posts in a sequence – although with a big time gap – but who cares? better now than never!

-*-*-*-

ever felt of knowing a country although you’ve never been there? well, this was the case with scotland.
of course i have been there for several times – virtually ;-)
through films and with the help of books i established quite a good estimation of how it would feel – and well, what can i say – it even felt better :)

mostly nice weather (central europe sweating near the 40° border), friendly people, plenty of history history, tremendous landscapes, suprisingly really good food in cosy and wee restaurants and some unexpected, country specific peculiarties accompanied our trip – what more could you expect?

from a photographer’s perspective i remember being scotland a canon dslr dominated place, only a hand-few nikons, vastly no mirrorless. why? and most tourists were scots themselves, so no excuses here.
secondly i had to lough about the signs indicating speed cams, this memorable picture of an old fashioned camera model really made me smile.

12 days just gave us an overview about this beautiful country and more than once my heart was bleeding because we had to move further from a region touching me emotionally, just to fulfill our preplanned tour.
on the other side individual tourism is hard to practise in scotland, since it is nearly impossible to occupy a room during high season spontanously – everywhere we dared to ask in the tourist office the clerks stared at us faithlessly.. if we didn’t know that.. and why we haven’t made any reservation.. well, too many people for too less beds.

we enjoyed the already crowdy edinburgh a few days before the fringe festival, an exciting city built on different topgraphic levels with far the highest density of buses in kingston road ever seen so far. we were overwhelmed by the spectacular firth of forth bridge, spent a lovely day in cairngorn national park, took a trip with the ancient strathspey steam train, walked along the river ness in inverness watching the sunset, passed the dark and windy loch ness (don’t miss the entertaining loch ness visitor center), felt the pouring rain at the eilean donan castle and set over to sky with direction portree.

the isle of skye really was a magical place to be visiting the beautiful landscape with the old man of storr, passin the quiraing, hikibk in the black cuillins, taking pictures of the fairy pools, etc. – only the crowdy tour at the tallisker whisky destillery was disappointing – demystifying one of my favourite single malt. well, next time, let’s visit islay :-)

the area between mallaig, fort william and glen cloe was nothing less than stunning. a wonderful coast, glennfinnan and the jacobite train, the mountains, these intense colours due to the changing light every minute, calm lochs in an untoched and healthy environement acting as mirrors for kitschy sunsets and clouds passing. magic moments in a magic landscape with hospitable scots – more than enough energie to refill one’s batteries.

reaching loch lomond an everthing changed again (a little bit back to normality). the landscape gets smoother, the people less understandable due to this nice dialect spoken araound glasgow. the owner of our b&b was a very communicative person, but i needed a day to get used to the different pronounciation to understand a bit of the content of his stories.

the scottish independence poll passed and time moves on! we’ll meet again scotland, soon.

now it’s time to invite you to watch my scotland pictures in the gallery

part one – the city of edinburgh
part two – aviemore & inverness
part three – the isle of skye
part four – mallaig & glencoe
last part – loch lomond & the falkirk wheel

enjoy!

03Jan

the art of graffiti – linz 2013

In Fuji X-Pro 1, General, graffiti, linz by admin / 20140103 / No Comments

i always connected grafitti with big cities like vienna, berlin, NY – overseeing the fact, that also linz seems to have a really vital scene – at least in terms of the speed the walls get overpainted ;-)

i became aware of some fabulous paintings in october ’13, while slendering along the river danube near the römerberg-tunnel and really was stunned about the high quality of the artwork. since then, i opened up my eyes, googled and found some more places – all of them officially released for graffiti paintings from the administration of linz – and even got in contact with some of the artists.

they paint as fast as i am able to take my shots, so they keep me rushing once a week through all the locations to document the goings-on.

as most of the paintings are done in pedestrian underpasses, photographers have to face with two imponderables – limited space and irregular lightning conditions.
the first thing simply can be surpassed with a wide angle lens. i mostly used the xf14 for taking the pictures, but somethimes wished to already own the forthcoming xf10-24 as tunnels offer limited possibilities to alter one’s own shooting position.
but i also like the pictures shot from a perspective view (with the xf18-55), as these add depth and a nice kind of athmospheric feeling, including the immediate surroundings like neon tubes, pedestrians and part of the floor and ceiling.

the different lightning conditions are a little bit more of a hard nut to crack. sure – the x-pro 1 is capable of delivering good high-iso shots, but the neonlights just burn in the night – making it even darker and more complicated during the daytime – and many of them are burned out, leaving dark areas on the walls and thus resulting in an unbalanced illumination.

a tripod of course can ease the problems, as well as using a flash – in my case a fuji ef-42 with soft bouncer – the latter with surprisingly good results compared to my old nikon d80-dslr with external metz af-48, although it also depends a lot on the colors used for the graffiti paintings itself. glossy silver or dark surfaces like brown and black deliver often unwanted bright spots during flashing, as the used acrylic spray print gets a highly smooth surface when dryed up reflecting light fairly well.

overall i’m quite pleased with the results i got and it’s in the nature of graffiti to produce punchy, colorful and highly saturated pictures, leaving plenty of room for post processing steps like applying b/w-conversion or trying out different film-simulation modi.
just in case you’re interested: the jpegs have been developed with corel’s aftershot (sometimes using sean m. pucket’s wonderful nostalgia plug-in), the raws undergone processing in LR5 with silver efex2. pictures in the gallery nearly all show the jpeg-version, as i am mostly quite pleased with the results i am able to obtain from them – so enjoy viewing them here..

***

so what about my new year-wish? linz, please give the boyz more space to paint!
and linz note:
there’s no fairy needed for fullfilling the wish to make all our lives a little bit more colorful – just a few more walls ;-)

“Guads Neichs” (= happy new year in upper austrian slang ;-) auch für euch Pius, Kosh, Syno, Keos, Hoek, Thys, Members of the One Two Crew, Method, Urag, ..