Mario Tomic

Soulmates, travel, forever…

// April 1st, 2008 // 4 Comments » // b&w, people, portrait

This is Dragana. A close friend of Ana..my friend too (though sometimes I believe she loves my camera more). She’s one of those girls that won’t comment Sweeney Todd as a movie with too much blood :D That’s why we like her company :) But, this is not a story of her…I don’t have that much time today :P This is a story of new friendships, people that deserve their name to be remembered, written or mentioned later.

Although I consider myself to be a lone wolf, running without a pack, occasionally I do feel very emotional about people I meet.

Last night I took a Belgrade – Vienna train. I was getting off at Novi Sad. Two hour ride from Belgrade. I shared compartment with a Peruvian woman Isabella, her, I believe, husband Kelly from States and Australian guy with Italian ancestry and Italian name which I forgot (edit: could be Salvatore). Entering compartment I prepared my headphones planning to plunge into the world of music, but I got so much carried away talking with them, that those 2 hours passed like a minute. We talked about cultures, traveling, politics, conspiracies, families, hobbies, plans, …

When I left the train I felt a bit sad…we’ll never meet again, they will not know I talked to you about them now. They left with a part of me..that little piece of soul that travel with people we meet, with people we like and with people we love. And if you ask me where have I been, I can tell you I haven’t seen much of this world, but my soul will keep on traveling long after I’m gone.

DRESSED FOR SUCCESS

// January 14th, 2006 // 7 Comments » // nature, people, portfolio

This PhotoFriday’s challenge (Success) made me think of life..my life. Why do I always connect word success to life, as if they were ment to be bind together.
Freud would ask me if I had a happy childhood :) I ask myself if I am happy with who I am now. The uncertainty about the straight answer would tell something to both of us :)
…after some thinking..hestitation some might say… I am happy with who I became. Taken the spiritual dessert I grew up in, I turned out to be quite a good cactus :)

Speaking of success..I’m very happy I’ve found this photo (finally), as I thought it got lost somehow. It’s taken from the Petrovaradin bridge during one of my river-inspired walks.

Sometimes, while passing them by, I find myself envying those people holding fishing poles at the river bank. They look so calm..so satisfied..so happy with where they are. I call it ‘a success’. I’ve chosen some other path in my life..I cannot imagine myself sharing their kind of destiny. I part of me regrets it already (I smell a weekend warrior:)

Who is more successful..a man with a pole in his hands and a smile on his face or a taycoon with a briefcase and a grin?

…it’s your call…

…sinister laugh…

MEMORY REMAINS I

// October 2nd, 2005 // 16 Comments » // b&w, people

You wouldn’t believe how many people believe me when I say this one was shot at the lady’s funeral :) Actually it’s shot in a public transport in Bgd, followed by Ana’s adorable you’re-not-really-gonna-do-that look :) The bus was crowded and the lady was asleep.
I got back my large prints (sent almost 4 months ago) from a photo exibition. I was surprized to see that one of my photos (know to you as “Olive way”) was actually chosen to appear on expo, which followed the exibition. Funny thing is that I promissed to give that one to a friend when it’s returned to me :) Should have offered him some more photos ;) I got the expo brochure and must say I’m amazed with the mediocrity of good deal of displayed photos.

Is there a difference between avoiding a dispute on a good taste and ordinariness? What about darkness and aging? Does it bring you into solicitude?

NOTICE: I owe an apology to everyone who tried to get in touch with me through the email form at this site. It was late when I realised it’s not working properly. Every mail sent from there was delivered without sender’s email address and the message body. If I haven’t answered it, I haven’t received it. I’ve changed the script now (didn’t miss the chance to redesign it a bit:) and the title=”GET IN TOUCH WITH ME FROM THIS PAGE”>Contact me form is on-line again. Please check it.

GEOMETRY OF HARMONY

// April 18th, 2005 // 5 Comments » // people, portrait, sepia, studio

As an intro I’ll say I’m sorry to all of you who visited this site looking for update and found status quo. Besides some minor (I hope so) health issues I’ve been going through some other personal..thingies :) which are now behind me. Also, my laptop charger exploded leaving me practically without laptop and I didn’t felt like making my working environment at desktop once again. But there are some people it’s all worth doing for.
During those rainy days of personal struggle I relised, once again, how much I love this girl above :) It’s been more than three years ago since we met and fell in love (though it was the other way round)..one could think that the chemistry between us should evaporate by now..but, no. It seems that there’s some stronger bonding :)

Why am I writting this you might ask. I see it as a milestone..you can see it as an sweet not-everyday story :)

More to come…

Techical data:
Camera/Lens: Nikon D70 / Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G
Date: 16.04.2005 11:26:42 AM
Exposure: 1/200
Exposure bias: 0.0 EV
Exposure program: Shutter priority
Aperture: f4.5
White balance: Manual /Cloudy/
Focal length: 62 mm
ISO: 800
Flash: Built in + Nikon SB600 /bounced/
Original name: DSC_3285

MY DAY IN FULL COLOR

// March 24th, 2005 // 5 Comments » // b&w, people, portfolio, street

Dunno bout you, but this one’s definitely one of my favorites :) I took it while finishing my photo day the day before yesterday.
The kid at the picture just got his helium inflated baloon and one could read happiness at his face :) You can see him marching proudly as if he’s holding a flagpole. That moment he was the king in his own castle in his own world. I shared his joy..I captured his coronation.
I miss a better focus though..that’s why the photo might appear oversharpened or grainy to someone. However, I liked that touch of “gramma’s old photo album” :)

Techical data:
Camera/Lens: Nikon D70 / Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G
Date: 21.03.2005 4:08:20 PM
Exposure: 1/250
Exposure bias: 0.0 EV
Exposure program: Aperture priority
Aperture: f4.2
White balance: Manual /cloudy/
Focal length: 38 mm
ISO: 200
Original name: DSC_3142

HE AIN’T HEAVY

// March 12th, 2005 // 3 Comments » // people

This is just an odd coincidence. Last night I decided to dedicate more time to publishing my photos and while browsing through the archive stored on my HDD, I’ve found this photo of Mladen, my brother, taken a month ago. As I’ve never mentioned him before (except at my about page) I thought it would be nice to introduce him to a wider audience :)

Mladen was born in a year of George Orwell as a scorpio, is a completely different person than I am (thanks god, he will add :) ), has a very cool hair and people are just tempted to touch it. He is a second year student graduated English at University of Philosophy here in Novi Sad, is a walking encyclopedia, listens to different kinds of metal music, plays a guitar in a recently formed (AFAIK) band called Empiria, loves his N-Gage, would be an excellent football manager and a 21st century Napoleon (according to the scores in his favorite games), loves strudel filled with plum marmalade, loves all kinds of fish and sea food, is not fond of vegetables, has a great sense of humor and is a great brother :)

Update as of 2008 AD: He is also very good at astrology ;)

Techical data:
Camera/Lens: Nikon D70 / Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G
Date: 24.02.2005 8:07:41 PM
Exposure: 1/500
Exposure bias: 0.6 EV
Exposure program: Shutter priority
Aperture: f4.5
White balance: Manual /Flash/
Focal length: 55 mm
ISO: 640
Flash: Nikon SB600 /bounced/
Original name: DSC_2531

SPIRIT OF SUMMER

// February 12th, 2005 // 5 Comments » // light, people, sky

There were several things I wanted to write about, now I can’t think of any..I’m just too darned tired..yawning all the afternoon :) I’ve been off-line for several days cos I’ve been messing with Windows system files which I had to reinstall afterwards, which screwed up my MBR so I couldn’t boot Linux either and had no time to fix the mess :) All that fuss because I decided I want my Windows to look more like Mac’s OS X Panter :) Geeks will understand my urge :) You do? One word..g33k! ;)

Ah..the photo..well I still haven’t finished our little January the 8th tour :D But we’re getting to the end. This one’s a typical winter sunset..that is if you forget the snow for a second :) Speaking of which..it snowed last week and it was freezing -20°C..and as apeaking of freezing, right now I’m listening to Siberian Winter by Running Wild..a fast-lane instrumental.

And tomorrow, after Saturday morn at work, I’m off to Belgrade, to meet my lovely spirit of the summer! :)

Techical data:
Camera: Nikon D70
Lens: Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G
Date: 08.01.2005 3:56:29 PM
Exposure: 1/640s
Exposure program: Aperture priority
Aperture: f4.5
White balance: Manual /cloudy/
Focal length: 38 mm
Flash: Off
ISO: 200
Cropped: Yes
Original name: DSC_2197

OLD MAN’S BENCH

// January 27th, 2005 // 9 Comments » // b&w, people

Do you remember your fears when you were a kid? I used to have two. Those were a sort of nightmares in a tea cup :) One of them was a childish fear of me not knowing how to make a signature in the book which soldiers sign when joining the army and the other was a sense of embarrassment I thought I’d feel when I’m about to kiss a bride in front of all those people staring at us at my wedding :D I’ve got rid both of’em. I won’t be joining the army and I won’t have a large wedding :lol:

But really..when we were kids we used to worry about totally different things. When people grow up (if ever) I guess they’re most terrified of death, especially of beloved ones. But what are we afraid of when we get older. We lived with the fact that one day we won’t wake up all our life..we kinda got used to it. I figured out that people at the end are terrified with a fact that they could end up alone..without family, friends..actually anyone who they could talk to.

We’re still in Dunavski park with this one. I was shooting some water reflections and turned around to see this old man looking at the swan pond. I realized he’s not there to relax..or if he is, it’s just an excuse. He sat at the end of the bench, leaving enough space for other people to sit, inviting them to break his solitude and talk to him for a while. I leaned forward aiming my camera towards him, followed by Ana’s You’re-not-really-gonna-do-that look. It seems I didn’t interrupt his thoughts after two shots as his face remained calm.

I dedicate this one to all of the souls wandering alone.

Blessed are those who share joy and sorrow with people they love, for cold are the days when we fade away forgotten, for cold are eyes when no one meets them, for cold is the heart when no one grasps it.

Techical data:
Camera: Nikon D70
Lens: Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G
Date: 08.01.2005 15:22:08 PM
Exposure: 1/60s
Exposure bias: 0.0 EV
Exposure program: Aperture priority
Aperture: f4.5
White balance: Manual /cloudy/
Focal length: 70mm
Flash: No
ISO: 200
Cropped: Yes
Original file name: DSC_2165

STREET CANTATOR

// January 14th, 2005 // 13 Comments » // b&w, people, portrait, street

This is a man people call Bracika (Bruh-tzee-kuh)..I don’t know much about him..moreover, all I know about him is that he likes to sing aloud in the streets, amusing people. Once he told me that he used to sing in an opera house. He often comes under the windows of a girls’ boarding school singing “O sole mio” and some other songs. Poor guy..he definitely lost one of his marbles. But who didn’t.

I like noticing details at people..especially at the photos. Bracika’s long nail at his right arm’s little finger, his watch glittering from his sleeve, his clumsy sewed left coat pocket..it seems I cannot be just a mute spectator. People have a soul and a spirit..and photography captures it.

Techical data:
Camera: Nikon D70
Lens: Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G
Date: 08.01.2005 14:59:49 PM
Exposure: 1/500s
Exposure bias: 0.0 EV
Exposure program: Aperture priority
Aperture: f4.5
White balance: Manual /cloudy/
Focal length: 70mm
Flash: No
ISO: 200
Cropped: Yes
Original file name: DSC_2143

SK8ER

// January 13th, 2005 // 5 Comments » // b&w, people, street

This one was taken when Ana and I got to the city core on last Saturday’s walk. The graffiti covered building in the background is Serbian National Theater which is a favorite hang-out place for young people who like rollerblading and scateboarding..OH MY..”young people”..does it mean I’ve stopped counting myself as one?? Now, where’s my rainbow-colored soother!?

Techical data:
Camera: Nikon D70
Lens: Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G
Date: 08.01.2005 14:52:53
Exposure: 1/1000s
Exposure program: Aperture priority
Aperture: f4.5
Metering mode: Matrix
White balance: Auto
Focal length: 70 mm
Flash: Off
ISO: 200
Quality: JPG Fine
Cropped: Yes
Original name: DSC_2133