Sony A99 – Page 11 – The Bald Heretic – Short, bald dude with a goofy beard

Madrid – Day 3

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Today, to our surprise, the sun came out again. There was still enough cloud cover to indicate that rain was still a possibility, but we ventured out without our raincoats or an umbrella anyway.

We decided to go to the Reina Sofia to see Picasso’s “Guernica” painting. This was our second opportunity to see this painting and it always moves me. Sadly, no photos allowed.

From the Reina Sofia we made our way to The Prado to see even more masterpieces.

This museum contains the definitive Goya collection. It is also home to Las Meninas by Velázquez which is always worth seeing in person. Sadly, no photos allowed in this museum.

We walked down Paseo del Prado taking in the sites. We stopped and had some lunch and the went off in search of the Caixa Forum to see the living art wall which is an outdoor vertical garden green designed by French botanist Patrick Blanc. This wall of green has 15,000 plants of 250 species covering a 460 meter square wall.

While we were admiring the wall it started to rain a bit so we made our way to the subway to go back to the hotel and have a siesta. I have to say, the siesta is now my favorite Spanish tradition.

After sleeping for a few hours we made our way to the Metropolis for some night photography.

(thanks to Cynthia for this photo!)

It was cold, but we had a great time shooting the Metropolis and the Plaza de Cibeles

After the photo session Cynthia and I found our way to a lovely tapas restaurant and had a fantastic dinner and a bottle of wine. We sat down around 9:30 and left around 11:30. Dinner comes late in Madrid.

Fisheye Fun

I just acquired the Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 HD Fisheye Lens with Removable Hood. It doesn’t quite give a full circular fisheye result, but it comes close on my new full frame Sony A99. Plus, it’s relatively inexpensive when compared to the Sigma. It yields some rather dramatic results and I think it will be a lot of fun to play with. The focus peaking feature of the A99 combined with the large live view screen allows for greater manual focus control.

Munich – Day 7 (Final Day)

It’s our last day in Munich. We head home in the morning. As much fun as this has been, I am ready to come home and so is Cynthia. Munich and Salzburg have both been great destinations and we have had such a good time, but we both look forward to not carrying around our heavy packs and having to put on and take off our heavy coats and scarves and hats.

We woke up this morning to temperatures well below freezing, but with lots of sunshine and blue skies so we decided to go to the BMW complex wich features a museum.

I have to say, this museum was one of the highlights of the trip. It is well laid out and very engaging. It’s like history meets science meets modern art.

The entire history of BMW was on display and it looked really cool seeing it presented in this venue.

After touring the museum we made our way back to the hotel to recombobulate and then treated ourselves to a very nice, very leisurely lunch/dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant.

We spent the rest of the day just relaxing and packing up. Our flight is at 7:00 am so we’re getting up pretty early to get to the airport.

Munich – Day 6

We are starting to wind down. Tomorrow is our last day here before we make the trek back to the U.S. and I think we are ready to be home.

The sun was out today. Bright, clear skies greeted us as we found our way to the transportation museum. We arrived around 9:00 and, as it turns out, they closed at noon so admission was free.

They had some interesting vehicles on display, All the way from bicycles to trains.

We took our fill of the museum and then found our way back to the hotel room and then went for some lunch. After lunch we went to the Isar River for the ritual releasing of the Zippy feather

The sun was shining so nice, but was on the way down so we took the opportunity to shoot some pics down by the river.

After this we went back to the hotel room and kicked off our shoes and relaxed for a few hours. After that we went back out and had dinner and a beer at the Hofbräuhaus

Cynthia is not a beer drinker, but decided that she would try one since we were there.

To her credit, she managed to drink half of it and even said it tasted good.

After dinner we went back to the hotel to get some more rest. The temperature outside right now is 17° F so we’re content to hole up here and save our strength for tomorrow.

Munich – Day 5

It has been snowing pretty steady now for the last few days and it is building up. The city is covered in white. I have not had any experience with this much snow and I have to say, it is a lot of fun. Of course I don’t have to deal with it in any practical sense, being as I am a tourist and will soon be returning to balmy Texas soon enough.

Today we decided to go to some art museums. We hit up the Munich Glyptothek as well as the Alte Pinakothek and the Pinakothek der Moderne.

The Glyptothek is a museum which was commissioned by the Bavarian King Ludwig I to house his collection of Greek and Roman sculptures. It makes for an interesting stroll. It’s not too big and it is well laid out.

From there we headed back in to the snow to walk to the Alte Pinakothek which is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses one of the most famous collections of Old Master paintings on the planet. Suffice to say, we saw some really amazing paintings. Notable artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Anthony van Dyck, Peter Paul Rubens and El Greco to name but a few. Check out the link above to read more about the gallery and the works that are housed there.

After taking in all that the Alte Pinakothek had to offer we made our way to Pinakothek der Moderne which is a modern art museum.

Now frankly, I don’t get modern art. Most of it is not very compelling. But it was interesting to walk around this space and see the exhibits.

I will confess, I was rather amused at one display which was part of a modern design exhibit that featured 80’s era computers.

And I was mildly excited to get to see a few original Andy Warhol paintings. I suppose mostly because it was a name I recognized.

By the time we had finished touring these galleries it was rather late in the afternoon. We found our way back to the area near our hotel and found some food.

I will say this, walking around in the cold takes it out of you. Between the freezing temperatures and the wearing of pounds and pounds of winter clothing combined with moving in an out of the cold it wears me out.

We rested up for a few hours then went back out to just walk in the snow amongst the booths in the Christmas markets. It is still very idyllic with the snow on the ground and the warm lights glowing from the booths.

Munich – Day 4

Today we visited the Munich Residenz, the former royal palace of the Bavarian monarchs in the center of the city of Munich, Germany.

We first stopped by St. Peter’s Church, but they were holding services so touring the church was not allowed.

We moved on to the Munich Residenz to tour the facility and also to visit the Schatzkammer der Residenz (Residenz Treasury) where they keep the crown jewels.

Fot me the best part of this destination was that Antiquarium. Since we are early risers, we managed to beat the crowds which allowed for me to take some of my best photos of the trip.

I even took a photo where I placed my camera on the floor and set the timer and walked away. This allows me to properly expose the photo without motion blur. Much in the same way you would do if you used a tripod.

This and many others can be found in my “Camera On The Floor” set.

After the Antiquarum, which was a very long tour as it turns out, we headed over to the Schatzkammer der Residenz to see the crown jewels.

Since it was practically next door and well after noon we decided to try our luck again at St. Peter’s Church. By this time the services were over and we figured we could have a look around. I particularly wanted to see the jewel encrusted skeleton of St. Heilige Munditia.

We found her right where the guidebooks said she would be. Unfortunately, she was behind a metal grate. I had to push my camera through the bars to get a reasonable photograph. I am just lucky I didn’t drop the camera.

After our tour of the church we headed back to the room.

After resting for a few hours we went back out (in the snow) and found some dinner. When we were leaving the restaurant we noticed it was no longer snowing so we went to the hotel room and grabbed the tripod so I could try some night shots at the Marienplatz

It decided to start snowing again so we came back to the hotel room for the night. All in all, today was a VERY good day.

Munich – Day 3

Today was an adventure. We tackled the metro and used a combination of the subway and the tram system to get ourselves out to the Nymphenburg Palace. We managed to sort it out and only headed off in the wrong direction one time. And it only took us a stop to realize it. After that it was smooth sailing.

The temperature when we got out there was around 19° F. It had snowed the night before so everything was dusted in white. Plus, the sun was out and the skies were blue with a few clouds. We have not seen much sun lately, so this was very exciting.

The palace looked fantastic as we walked from the tram stop. As we got closer we saw the pond was icing over, but that there were some thawed sections filled with swans, ducks, geese and seagulls.

We didn’t have any food for them, but we enjoyed watching them even though we were freezing. I only almost slipped on the ice and fell in once.

Inside the palace it was warm and we took ourselves on a self-guided tour. As palaces go, it was interesting to see, but not too terribly interesting to photograph.

Once we were done with the palace we caught the tram back to town and found some lunch. Being Sunday, many things like the better restaurants were closed. We eventually found something.

After going back to the room and warming our weary bones we decided to go out and try some night photography.

Upon exiting the hotel we realized that it was snowing very hard. I thought I would still give it a try, but didn’t have much luck. I need to do this shot again when it is not snowing.

We walked around a bit and took on the snowy scene. It is very Christmasy when the snow is falling and the lights from the market stalls are glowing in the darkness.

The best photo of the night came from Cynthia while using my iPhone.

Munich – Day 2

Today we went to the Deutsches Museum. This took up much of our day as the place is really quite large. It is on par with the Smithsonian in Washington DC.

Lots and lots to see. Including an Enigma Machine

Also, the geek in my was happy to see a very well preserved UNIVAC 1, the first commercial computer produced in the United States

After spending the day in the museum we had a late lunch/early dinner at a little Italian restaurant near the hotel.

From there we walked over to have a look at the Hofbräuhaus. I had been to the one in Las Vegas so thought I should see the original.

Sadly, today’s activities were not filled with many photographic opportunities. I don’t do well shooting in museums. But I did come away with one shot I really like. This is the spiral staircase inside the Deutsches Museum.

Time to rest up for tomorrow. Did I mention it is VERY cold here?