365 Project - Day 350 Planet Photography

I have been experimenting with a new editing technique to make "Planet Photographs". It's a lot of fun!!

Here's one I did from a panorama picture I took in New York City in February:

This was from a 360° picture I took last night from the middle of the Old Bridge in Heidelberg:

and this is from a panorama picture I put together from a number of pictures of Brianna and Niklas taken today:

and if anyone is interested in trying this out, I followed a great tutorial found here: http://www.dirkpaessler.com/blog/index.php/photographers-tools/2006/09/06/tutorial-create-your-own-planets/

365 Project - Day 349

Mirko and I don't get out for "dates" that often anymore, but tonight we had a babysitter and went out for supper in Mannheim and then drove to Heidelberg to watch the sun set over the Neckar. It was a beautiful warm evening and the sunset was perfect!

And a special "Happy Birthday" today to both my mom and my father-in-law. Both live too far away for us to spend time with them personally today. Missing family birthdays seem to make me feel extra homesick.

365 Project - Day 348

365 Project - Day 346 Mannheim Water Tower | Mannheim Wasserturm

Yesterday evening, we took a quick drive to Mannheim so that I could try out a night time shot of the water tower in Mannheim. We had to wait until 11 pm before it got completely dark so this was about the only angle/view of the tower that I photographed as Niklas needed to get home and go to bed! It was a beautiful summer evening and I would have loved to experiment more with night time photography so I definitely plan on doing this again sometime either with a babysitter for Niklas so I can stay out later or waiting until it starts to get dark a bit sooner!

Here's a bit of information I collected online on the Mannheim Water Tower:

"Mannheim's famous landmark stands on the highest point of Friedrichsplatz square. With its magnificent fountains, this square is considered one of Europe's finest Art Nouveau architectural ensembles. In the summer, the area around the water tower is a popular meeting point for people of all ages. It's also a great place to stroll, relax, enjoy festivals, unwind and escape the stresses of everyday city life. In the winter a Christmas market surrounds the tower."
http://www.live-like-a-german.com/destination.php?destination_id=140

"Mannheim is an attractive city called Quadratstadt (Squared Town), with the downtown laid out (unusual for an European city) as a checkerboard of 144 blocks. Each block is identified by a number and letter to designate an exact location.
In Friedrichplatz, the unusual Wasserturm (Water Tower) was constructed between 1886 and 1889 when the city decided to expand its municipal water supplies. The Wasserturm contains nearly a million gallons of water. Nearby there are ornamental fountains, and a conference and convention center."
http://www.travel-tidbits.com/tidbits/005869.shtml

"This water tower, the town's landmark, is completed in 1889. The height is 60 m / 197 ft, the diameter 19 m / 62 ft and the tank comprise 2000 m3. Until 2000 he did his job very well. On the top you can see the goddess Amphitrite, wife of Poseidon. The Austrian Engineer Oskar Smreker (1854 - 1935) planned and built this water tower."
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMDNC

365 Project - Day 345

Due to a photo challenge I'm involved in, I did some experimenting last night with light in darkness. I was using shutter speeds between 5 and 30 seconds and experimenting with moving as well as stationary light. Here are some of the fun shots I got. Tonight I plan on experimenting some more in the city (if the weather permits!)