Winter Nights in my Hometown (pictures)

I was doing a lot of night photography lately, to capture all the lights of the Christmas time - and our big Christmas candle, of course!

From all the pictures I took, this is my favourite:

http://www.catmom.de/2012/winter_18.jpg


This was two days earlier; during a snowstorm:

http://www.catmom.de/2012/winter_10.jpg


Our candle:

http://www.catmom.de/2012/winter_16.jpg

http://www.catmom.de/2012/winter_17.jpg

http://www.catmom.de/2012/winter_19.jpg

http://www.catmom.de/2012/winter_03.jpg

http://www.catmom.de/2012/winter_01.jpg

http://www.catmom.de/2012/winter_02.jpg

http://www.catmom.de/2012/night_13.jpg

http://www.catmom.de/2012/night_14.jpg

http://www.catmom.de/2012/night_15.jpg


The tower of Tillyschanze, where my parents have their restaurant (behind that tower, anyway)

http://www.catmom.de/2012/night_12.jpg


Our candle again:


http://www.catmom.de/2012/candle_a.jpg

http://www.catmom.de/2012/kerze_04.jpg

Your usual beautiful pictures, Kirsten, My favorite is #6 pink.

My those first pictures, you are the Brueghel of the camera!

Awesome as usual-- love the second picture with the snowfall, it would make such a nice card. Everything looks so cheerful with all those lights...

What lovely photos! Thank you so much, Kirsten, for sharing your wonderful gift with us again.

God bless,

:love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love:

Great photos!

Thank you for taking the time to look... :)


Barbara, that's a great compliment; thank you! :)

Spectacular as always! You live in such a beautiful area - a photographer's dream.

Great photos, you did a fabulous job! I am never patient or still enough, I guess, to get good photos of Christmas light. And I love the giant "Christmas Candle," such a fun idea! I love the snowy one just as much as the top one. One author who shall remain nameless* lost Paul's respect within the first two paragraphs of a novel by describing the city as being dark, even darker than nomad because it was snowing, where you and I, and everyone who has ever been in a Northern city at night knows that a snowstorm means everything is lights, as the snow reflects every bit of light as it falls, and the heavy clouds trap the light of city below them and reflect it back as well!

*A New Orleans native

Thank you, pomtzu! And yes, tourists usually say it's a nice area, so I guess it is... :)

Karen, you're right about the snow reflecting the remaining light, this is why I was waiting for it to take these pictures. Had to work with exposure latitudes, though. The longest exposure time in some of the pictures where 2 minutes and 20 seconds! Of course it's impossible to do this without a tripod. I used mine a lot lately! ;)

Kirsten, your new pictures of Lily and Luna in your sig are beautiful, too!

Pat

Wow, Kirsten! I'd like to step through the monitor and be there right now! I love the one with the white lights - each light is a tiny star shape. And the one Freckles already wrote about, with the pink. Just beautiful!

Kirsten - your photos are extraordinary!! I have copied a couple from here and some from your website to use as desktops here at home and at work. People always comment on how beautiful they are.

Kirsten, these are stunning. They literally made me stop and say, "Wow" and my husband even said they were stunning.

Also, your new pictures for your signature are beautiful! Luna & Lily have never appeared lovelier!

It's beautiful where you live. Great pics!:)

Kirsten,

You are now responsible for a few workers spending 20 minutes just looking at your photography and wasting valuable time doing so.

:p

Beautiful pictures, as always. It also reminds me of why I want to go back to Germany without the funny green suit and visit a few places at my leisure.

When I first came upon this thread, it would not allow me to see your pictures. So then I refreshed the post and I literally GASPED when your first picture came up on the monitor - and then the second - in the snow.

I just sat here and stared and stared at these beautiful pictures.

Thank you, thank you.....................

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lady's Human

"wasting valuable time."

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Not True.

Beautiful shots!

Outstanding photography - and what a lovely town to live in. :)

Thank you everyone for your encouraging comments - and also for the compliments on Luna's and Lily's new pics in the siggy... :)

Snow is gone for now, temperatures are rising; so winter is taking a break...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lady's Human

You are now responsible for a few workers spending 20 minutes just looking at your photography and wasting valuable time doing so.

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Hahaha!! :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by robinh

Kirsten - your photos are extraordinary!! I have copied a couple from here and some from your website to use as desktops here at home and at work. People always comment on how beautiful they are.

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Thanks for doing this; I feel honoured... :o

Freckles, I think Lady's Human was joking....:)

I know.

These are absolutely beautiful, as always, Kirsten!! :D The first few pictures look like a christmas card! Beautiful, thank you so much for sharing!

I seriously do not understand why you are not a professional photographer. These photos should be on calendars, post cards, greeting cards and even blown up and framed!
I was also going to comment on your siggie pics of the girls. :) And I think I will also use some of these photos as my desktop here and at work!

They're all beautiful. Thanks for sharing them with us.:) I don't think that you could ever take a bad picture of anything.;)

I saw some of these on Facebook - your photography is just stunning, Kirsten! You should make Christmas cards out of these and the bullfinch photos. :)

I have a little, fibre-optic, Christmas ornament of a snowy village scene, I think your beautiful town might be the real version it was based on! :D

Kirsten, I would love to see one of these as the daily Bing photograph that people see when they first go to the Bing site! I'm with Tracey - I don't think you could ever take a bad picture of anything. Your new Luna and Lily photos are so sweet!

Snow falls on the ancient city
Lit now by modern electric lights
And every flake reflects that light and more
All hard edges are gone, softened by snowfall and time
Winter branches just black silhouettes
Stark against the scene below.
No artificial snow globe could capture
The beauty of timeless structures
Sprinkled with modern lights and merry brightness
Punctuating the swirling softness of snowfall
A winter night at its
Most picturesque

Disregard the cold,
Sparrows, doves are sleeping
The finches fluffed and nestled trunkside
Deep within sheltered nooks, and evergreen coves
The house cats are curled for the night
Cozy and warm inside
Homes whose windows glow golden with warmth from within
In the cold city night
And a stillness descends over the scene
The only sound the shushing of snow
As it falls steady
Drink in the beauty, and hold it inside
A treasure of German winter
A priceless instant
Captured forever

http://www.catmom.de/2012/winter_10.jpg

Amazing pictures. Such a beautiful scene. Looks absolutely magical.:)

Where did you stand to get the above ground (looking down) angle on your pictures?

Oh my gosh Kirsten, what a great photographer you are, and your city is beautiful,,thanks so much for sharing.

Kirsten,
Once again I'm in awe of your extraordinary talent and ability with a camera. As for picking one favorite - forget about it! Your new pictures of Lily and Luna really captures their sweet personalities, I can almost hear them purring. Thank you for getting my work day off to such a positive start, your photography is always a treat!!!

Sending lots of lovies to Lily and Luna :love: :love: :love: :love:

My goodness, they are all so beautiful to look at...I can't pick one. These were just breath taking.

Attachment 55555

As always, I amazed at both your amazing photography skills, as how beautiful of an area you love in!! Absolutely breathtaking!!!!

I am another who is in awe of your work Kirsten. Just stunning :love:. Thank you so much for sharing with us.

I need to apologize for my late reply, I've been dealing with some health issues again the week before Christmas, and on Christmas itself; I've been busy...

Anyway, I'm glad so many of you like these pictures. :-) I would have loved to make much more of them, but the snow is gone now (in fact, we're experiencing the warmest Christmas we ever had!).


Karen, love your poem! Isn't it funny that whenever we look at houses like this from a distance, you cannot imagine that there are any jerks, morons or low-lifes living behind these windows; instead, we tend to think it's like in these Christmas tales where everyone is good and kind. Looking at things from a distance often makes them look so much nicer than they really are...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Taz_Zoee

I seriously do not understand why you are not a professional photographer. These photos should be on calendars, post cards, greeting cards and even blown up and framed!

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Well, I think I have reached a point now where I really would like to give it a try. Just wish I could rely on my health, but all these things I'm dealing with make it so hard because I never know how I'll be doing the next day. Also, I cannot ignore the fact that I don't have a pro equipment; I'm far from that...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by krazyaboutkatz

I don't think that you could ever take a bad picture of anything.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by cassiesmom

I don't think you could ever take a bad picture of anything.

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Oh, believe me, I can! lol I have thousands of bad pics on my hard drive, it's just that I don't post them! ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lizbud

Where did you stand to get the above ground (looking down) angle on your pictures?

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I was standing on a hill, a little below the tower of Tillyschanze (third picture from below). You can see the hill quite well in this picture:
http://www.kirsten-scheffel.de/urban_03.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kirsten

I need to apologize for my late reply, I've been dealing with some health issues again the week before Christmas, and on Christmas itself; I've been busy...

Anyway, I'm glad so many of you like these pictures. :-) I would have loved to make much more of them, but the snow is gone now (in fact, we're experiencing the warmest Christmas we ever had!).


Karen, love your poem! Isn't it funny that whenever we look at houses like this from a distance, you cannot imagine that there are any jerks, morons or low-lifes living behind these windows; instead, we tend to think it's like in these Christmas tales where everyone is good and kind. Looking at things from a distance often makes them look so much nicer than they really are...

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And the ultimate example is the astronauts looking down on Earth for the first time from space, noticing how peaceful it all looked, just one big blue marble, no border lines drawn or countries, just one world!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Karen

And the ultimate example is the astronauts looking down on Earth for the first time from space, noticing how peaceful it all looked, just one big blue marble, no border lines drawn or countries, just one world!

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That is true, puts things in perspective, doesn't it?