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MEMORY REMAINS I

Posted on 2 October 2005 by mario

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.

Posted in b&w, people | Tagged black'n'white, female | 16 Comments

MEMORY REMAINS II

Posted on 22 September 2005 by mario

This one was taken a while ago. I’m expecting large prints to be returned from a photo exibition held in Niš, so I figured out it’s about time to share it with you :) I have a few more in old-postcard style, which I plan to publish sooner or later (later, knowing myself:) No you didn’t miss number one from this series :)

Posted in sepia, street | Tagged bicycle, sepia, street | 17 Comments

NOVI SAD

Posted on 18 September 2005 by mario

Yesterday I was invited to be a sort of a tour guide to Novi Sad :) Rasha, the girl I met at the train station few weeks ago, is an exchange student from Syria. She decided to bring a group of her friends to visit Novi Sad once again, before she returns home. I was glad to meet Rana, Zacarea and Asen from Syria, Osama from Jordan and Jerkin from Kazakhstan. We had great time together, visited many interesting places in NS and the most interesting was on Petrovaradin Fortress and SPENS just before the basketball game between SCG (ex. union of Serbia and Montenegro) and Israel.

This photo is dedicated to them.

Here you can see one of the symbols of NS..it’s a tower clock at Petrovaradin Fortress. I bet you can’t tell what time it was :) It’s small hand shows minutes and a large one hours :) Is done that way for practical reasons, so that Danube sailors could see better what time it is :) Also, guard shifts were on every hour, when the clock makes a dong sound, so the minutes were not that important back in the past :) The clock is winded manually by a single man, everyday. Ppl call it “The Drunk Clock” as it’s late when it’s cold outside, and it runs faster when it’s hot :)

Posted in architecture, isolated, portfolio, sky | Tagged fortress, isolated, monument, Novi Sad, Petrovaradin, Serbia | 6 Comments

BLUE BREEZE

Posted on 9 September 2005 by mario

I almost forgot about this one..as if it was taken ages ago. I was lugging bags to the Belgrade bus station looking forward to the rest of the summer holiday and the seaside when I found myself stunned with this scene. The sun just set behind horizon and the clouds were still lit with wonderful red light. It affected the colors of the sky at this one (compaired to the previous one where PS did it:) The building was well illuminated so it retained its original colors. Ppl from Bgd will recognize the building..it’s some governmental..and I’m very sceptical when it comes to shooting gov, mil and other forbidden-for-common-people sites, but this is one one of those shots that makes you extremely satisfied when you take it and makes up for all those crowded bus rides and long walks when you had a 2-pound camera strapped around your neck :) If you have one, you’ll get my point :) If you don’t have one..get it..join the club! :)

If you should notice that I’m posting sky twice in a row, I must say it’s a coincidence :) Photo Friday challenged us with Massive, and this one came to my mind. What could be more massive than a gov building :) Alloy of concrete and bureaucracy.. :)
And apropos its name..as you can see from my latest screenshot, I was listening to an old Dutch blues-rock band called Livin’ Blues and their song Blue Breeze was on in the moment I was saving this for web..perfect match :)
I’ve also discovered Tony Joe White who, just like Livin’ Blues does, leaps out of conventional understanding of blues. Thumbs up for both of them.

Posted in architecture, light, portfolio, sky | Tagged architecture, Belgrade | 12 Comments

OUT OF THE BLUE

Posted on 4 September 2005 by mario

G, I missed you all :) I guess you think I was fed up with everything, took a 3 month break and sailed to some exotic Polinesian island? Well..you’re right! :) Naah..you’re not :)
From today on, I can show off with my new MT 3.2. I was messing with MT 3.1 and 3.17 three months ago and screwed it, that’s why I took that “3 month trip to an exotic island” :)
Other, more important, things in life occupied me, forcing me to neglect the site, but it all settled down fine, so I’m back in the saddle :)

So, it wasn’t an exotic island, but nevertheless I had a great time in Boka Kotorska. Some other time I’ll write more about it.

My efforts to go to a 2-month traineeship (mandatory for continuing my studies) to Izmir, Turkey failed so I looked for one round here. I got a chance to be a trainee in a local company dealing with financial expertise and auditing (my proffesional call). By the middle of the week I was offered a freelancing contract, and by the end of the week they offered me a full-time job :) Whoa..a chance no to be missed :) Right out of the blue :) Well..what can I say..there is that thing about me..I’m irresistible ;)

The photo? You get my point :)

Ana’s bday is tomorrow :)

Let’s rock’n'roll baby! :)

Posted in architecture, light, sky | Tagged architecture, Novi Sad, Serbia | 7 Comments

SYMBOL

Posted on 28 May 2005 by mario

You might have learnt Annabel Lee dozen times so far, so I figured out it would be nice to upload something else :)

I love coincidences..yesterday I decided to (finally) process a photo of an unusual doorhandle I shot last week in Belgrade. So, yesterday I did it, and as you can see, it does look like some sort of a symbol..head of a scepter..and later that day I saw that PhotoFriday challenged us with Symbol! Conspiracy? :)

Talking abouth symbols (of power?) I’m thinking of buying an Apple 15″ PowerBook. Would you talk me into doing it..or away of it?
One more thing while we’re in IT waters..if you’re an Nikon D70 owner, there’s firmware v2.0 out there :) New menu look, improved reading of number of exposures remaining when you’re shooting RAW and improved performance of the 5-area AF system are the most significant on it’s done list.

Techical data:
Camera/Lens: Nikon D70 / Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G
Date: 27.05.2005 4:30:59 PM
Exposure: 1/20
Exposure program: Aperture priority
Aperture: f4.5
White balance: Manual /cloudy/
Focal length: 70 mm
ISO: 200
Original name: DSC_4068

Posted in b&w, shapes, street | Tagged details, symbol | 1 Comment

BRACELET OF ABSTINATION

Posted on 20 May 2005 by mario

ANNABEL LEE

by Edgar Allan Poe
(1849)

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;–
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

She was a child and I was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love–
I and my Annabel Lee–
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud by night
Chilling my Annabel Lee;
So that her high-born kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me:–
Yes! that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of a cloud, chilling
And killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we–
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in Heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee:–

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I see the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea–
In her tomb by the side of the sea.

– THE END –

Techical data:
Camera/Lens: Nikon D70 / Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G
Date: 06.05.2005 9:19:24 PM
Exposure: 1/500
Exposure program: Manual settings
Aperture: f4.5
White balance: Manual /cloudy/
Focal length: 70 mm
Flash: SB-600 sync. with built in flash unit
ISO: 200
Original name: DSC_3855

Posted in light, macro, studio | Tagged fashion, macro, studio | 2 Comments

ILLUSIONAL FREEDOM

Posted on 13 May 2005 by mario

Not in a mood to talk much..that’s why I do photography ;)
I shot this one the very same day when I shot this one. I walked down the Danube quay that day and I found particulary interesting shooting “seagulls”. This is one of the photos that turned out to be as good as I expected :)

Techical data:
Camera/Lens: Nikon D70 / Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G
Date: 21.03.2005 3:33:18 PM
Exposure: 1/2500
Exposure program: Aperture priority
Aperture: f4.5
White balance: Manual /cloudy/
Focal length: 70 mm
ISO: 500
Cropped: Yes
Original name: DSC_3068

Posted in birds, nature | Tagged bird, freedom, sky | 3 Comments

HELP

Posted on 10 May 2005 by mario

“Nationalism is, primarily, negation, a negative category
of spirit, because nationalism lives on denial and of
denial. We are not what they are. We are the positive pole, they are the
negative one. Our values, national, nationalistic, bear meaning only when
opposed to the nationalism of those others: we are drinkers, they are alcoholics;
our history is correct only compaired to theirs, our language is pure only
compaired to theirs.”Danilo Kiš in the interview “On nationalism, A negative
category of spirit”, 1973.;

“Nacionalizam je, dakle, prevashodno negativitet, nacionalizam
je negativna kategorija duha, jer nacionalizam živi na poricanju i od poricanja.
Mi nismo ono što su oni. Mi smo pozitivan pol, oni negativan. Naše vrednosti,
nacionalne, nacionalisti?ke, imaju funkciju tek u odnosu na nacionalizam
onih drugih: mi smo pijanci, oni alkoholi?ari; naša istorija je ispravna
samo u odnosu na njihovu, naš jezik je ?ist samo u odnosu na njihov.”Danilo Kiš u intervjuu “O nacionalizmu, Negativna kategorija
duha”, 1973.

About Danilo Kiš /yu/eng/eng/fra

Techical data:
Camera: Nikon D70
Lens: Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G
Date: 10.05.2005 2:29:59 PM
Exposure: 1/1250s
Exposure program: Aperture priority
Aperture: f4.5
White balance: Manual /cloudy/
Focal length: 70 mm
ISO: 200
Original name: DSC_3949

Posted in isolated, street | Tagged emotion, isolated, symbol | 4 Comments

LOVE BRACELET

Posted on 7 May 2005 by mario

There is a song by Deep Purple called April..one of my favorite. It does depict that month in it’s full spectrum. A lot of sudden changes and turmoils, storms and sunsets, clouds and rainbows.. This is gonna be a long entry I see..so if you’re impatient, leave at once..go download April, listen to it..then come back :) The point was that this April was the one I’ll never forget.
One of the reasons was my birthday (and I am not to keen about it) at the end of the month. The bracelet you see at the photo is my bday present from Ana. If I tell you that’s hand made (by her, of course) you’ll understand why I love it so much! :) The silver bands are strips of tin, and the rest is leather. I can only imagine how much work it took, but when you love someone..there is no mission impossible :)
On photo techique used to shoot this one..I used external flash unit (though this one might not be the best illustration of what I achieved with it :) ) placing it left of this pro looking setup :p In order to achieve more diffused light I covered the flash with newspapers :) The distance of cover varied..so is the quantity of burned paper smoke :) At the moments I had feeling I was shooting near some incense sticks :) In the background you can see two couch cushions :)
One of the things you might find interesting is that I finally bought charger for my laptop, so I’m back in the blog-game. Damned thing was neither easy to find nor cheap. I was tempted to make it on my own!
One more thing I feel good about is that I finally found some time to finish “Neverwinter nights”. An RPG game I played two years ago for the first time, but never finished it. This year I started it from the beginning and devoted all free time in last couple of days to get to it’s end. My hero (ranger/cleric) saved the city of Neverwinter and all I can do now is to recommend it to you :)

Techical data:
Camera/Lens: Nikon D70 / Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G
Date: 06.05.2005 9:01:46 PM
Exposure: 1/500
Exposure bias: 0.0 EV
Exposure program: Manual settings
Aperture: f4.5
White balance: Manual /cloudy/
Focal length: 70 mm
Flash: SB-600 sync. with built in flash unit
ISO: 200
Original name: DSC_3826

Posted in light, macro, studio | Tagged fashion, macro | 3 Comments

INSPIRED

Posted on 22 April 2005 by mario

The other day I was in doubt which photo to upload first. The one you already might’ve seen or this one. Now I’m in doubt whether to post this one or the one rotated 90° CW. I’ll stick to this one.
For this time I chose to share with you my love story. I’m proud of it, and you might find it interesting.
All my girlfriends? I’ll start alphabetically..heading to the letter Z. There was Yvonne..then Zelda..then.. :) It’s Benny Hill’s gag :)

I’ve “met” Ana in a chat room in summer 2001. That day I’ve met several other people (read: girls) as well, and while conversation with them followed an expected pattern (a/s/l, blah..music..blah..movies..) the one with Ana went an unexpected way. For instance, we talked about wedding rings :lol We kept meeting at chat, then stared e-mail converstaion and finally mobile text messaging. We phoned each other not very often, but we definitely made it up by sending hundreds of text messages each day. That was one of the key points of our relationship. We learned to talk..to talk things out..to overcome every problem with conversation.
Even writting this excites me :) Our first meeting (live) took place almost six months after we met on the chat. I’ll never forget that afternoon. She was waiting for me at previously arranged spot, feeling the same emotions..the same bitter sweet insecurity I felt rushing there with a rose in my hand. Yes, it’s a cliche, but this time I was starring :)
We started visiting each other more often and often..but even present rhythm of one day a week (mind the holidays and vacations) is not far enough. Yup..we’ve become slaves to the distant relationship. And we’re enjoying every single second of it! The good thing of that kind of relationship is that whatever bad happens during the week is going to be healed over the weekend :) One bad side, on the other hand, is that time takes by much much faster, as our minds are warping through the week eagerly waiting for the weekend to come.
Do I sound confusing? Like I’m in love? Well.. :)

Both pictures (this one and the last one) are taken spontaniously and both are symbols of mutual state of mind when together. Weekends bring us mental rest (apart from phisical exhaustion..even when we behave) and calmness, peace of mind..and her gaze at the previous one depicts our absence from this world when we’re together. We’re there, but we don’t interact with it..observers from above..like those two angels from Wenders’ Der Himmel über Berlin. There’s a whole new world around us..just for us.

Techical data:
Camera/Lens: Nikon D70 / Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G
Date: 16.04.2005 11:22:28 AM
Exposure: 1/60
Exposure bias: 0.0 EV
Exposure program: Shutter priority
Aperture: f4.5
White balance: Manual /Cloudy/
Focal length: 70 mm
ISO: 800
Flash: Built in + Nikon SB600 /bounced/
Original name: DSC_3278

Posted in light, portfolio, portrait, studio | Tagged female, portrait | 6 Comments

GEOMETRY OF HARMONY

Posted on 18 April 2005 by mario

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

Posted in people, portrait, sepia, studio | Tagged female, portrait, sepia | 5 Comments

NEW YORK LONDON ABSTRACT

Posted on 2 April 2005 by mario

How often you find yourself lost in the mess you made? How often do you see no way out?

This one was taken at the same site as the last one. Something just attracted me to that pile of nylon bags..it was a bit mysterious..there could be a cut-off human head beneath it..one can never tell :)

Oh, nylon was not named after New York and LONdon. Read more.

UPDATE: 09. April 2005. I’m signing this one in for PhotoFriday’s Plastic Challenge.

Techical data:
Camera/Lens: Nikon D70 / Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G
Date: 18.01.2005 3:37:10 PM
Exposure: 1/125
Exposure bias: 0.0 EV
Exposure program: Aperture priority
Aperture: f4.5
White balance: Manual /cloudy/
Focal length: 70 mm
ISO: 200
Original name: DSC_2279

Posted in light, shapes | 1 Comment

OLIVE WAY

Posted on 30 March 2005 by mario

This one has appealing color composition. It reminds me of an aquarel painting.

If you noticed a sign between the window and the doors, it reads “Fire way” :)

I installed KDE3.4 and I’m quite satisfied. But..then I discovered Fluxbox and these days I’m fluxboxing non-stop :)

Techical data:
Camera: Nikon D70
Lens: Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G
Date: 18.01.2005 3:36:02 PM
Exposure: 1/125s
Exposure program: Aperture priority
Aperture: f4.5
White balance: Manual /cloudy/
Focal length: 18 mm
ISO: 200

Posted in architecture, street | Tagged architecture, ruin | 9 Comments

MY DAY IN FULL COLOR

Posted on 24 March 2005 by mario

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

Posted in b&w, people, portfolio, street | Tagged black'n'white, emotion, kids | 5 Comments

PHARAOH

Posted on 20 March 2005 by mario

I’ve never been to Egypt. Though I plan to go. So this is definitely not an obelisk :) Chimneys like this one are widely spread throughout Vojvodina. They are usually part of old factories used for clay brick manufacturing. I’ve just realised I’ve got some other shots with chimneys, taken somewhere between Novi Sad and Belgrade.
An interesting detail with this one could be the airplane trail in the lower middleof the photo :)
I’ve upgraded my Linux box from SuSE 9.1 to 9.2. I can see no major changes. Hmm..new KDE 3.4 is out! I see my modem will become red-hot this night :)
I wanted to watch Brazil tonight, but I’ll call it a day now.

Techical data:
Camera/Lens: Nikon D70 / Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G
Date: 18.01.2005 3:28:37 PM
Exposure: 1/800
Exposure bias: 0.0 EV
Exposure program: Aperture priority
Aperture: f4.5
White balance: Manual /sunny/
Focal length: 24 mm
ISO: 200
Original name: DSC_2260

Posted in architecture | 2 Comments

DEPTH OF FENCE

Posted on 19 March 2005 by mario

Shot demonstrating DoF metaphorically called Depth of fence :) That was the last breath of winter for this year I hope.

Techical data:
Camera/Lens: Nikon D70 / Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G
Date: 05.03.2005 1:15:24 PM
Exposure: 1/400
Exposure bias: 0.6 EV
Exposure program: Aperture priority
Aperture: f4.5
White balance: Manual /cloudy/
Focal length: 65 mm
ISO: 200
Original name: DSC_2909

Posted in shapes, street | Tagged details | 2 Comments

NEBO 2

Posted on 16 March 2005 by mario

I was invited to participate in project “Nebo” (“nebo” means sky in many Slavic languages. Their site doesn’t exist anymore). The task was to shoot sky above your place of living on the 11th of March and the aim of the project was to connect different people from different countries with an obvious message that we’re all living under the same sky, sharing the same sun, no matter who we are or where we live.

Sane people 1 – Idiots 0

Techical data:
Camera/Lens: Nikon D70 / Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G
Date: 11.03.2005 1:02:06 PM
Exposure: 1/800
Exposure bias: 0.6 EV
Exposure program: Aperture priority
Aperture: f4.5
White balance: Manual
Focal length: 44 mm
ISO: 200
Original name: DSC_2922

Posted in architecture, sky | Tagged architecture, patter, sky | 3 Comments

HE AIN’T HEAVY

Posted on 12 March 2005 by mario

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

Posted in people | 3 Comments

2 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT

Posted on 2 March 2005 by mario

This is the “Cathedral”, the one and only in Novi Sad, built between 1893 and 1895 in neogothic style. If you ask me, that’s the most beautiful building in Novi Sad. And “2 minutes to midnight” is a song from Iron Maiden. When you add a vail of night to a religion, what you get is more than ghostly..it’s horror :)
The building itself is not this bluish, but the white balance was set to tunsten and some big street tv screen was playing some blue video, so I turned out completely diferent..ghostly :)

However, these days I’ve been poisoning myself with something else..C.C.R. and The Chemical brothers.

Techical data:
Camera/Lens: Nikon D70 / Nikkor 18-70mm 1:3.5-4.5G
Date: 24.02.2005 8:07:41 PM
Exposure: 10sec
Exposure program: Aperture priority
Aperture: f22
White balance: Manual /Tungsten/
Focal length: 18 mm
ISO: 200
Original name: DSC_2822

Posted in architecture, light, street | Tagged architecture, Novi Sad, religion, Serbia | 1 Comment