When I saw this blue beauty I was blown away. I wanted to photograph her in a place like this because her wonderful dress goes so well with the "blue door" as they call it in Venice. This somewhat mysterious place is now known among photographers because it is a little off the beaten track of Venice's busy sights. There were moments of peace and serenity here and I was able to give Sandra back what she really deserved - attention and my time. I hope she likes my pictures. So we both got something that gave us great joy. Thank you very much, dear Sandra. They were unforgettable moments with you in Venice at the Carnevale 2025.

When I think of Venice, I feel like listening to beautiful music, reading a good book or talking to a loved one.

I like this song so much. It remainds me of this wonderful time together with my friends in Venice.

Eros Ramazzotti - In Primo Piano
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTSo4yhVAI8

Tags:   Venezia Venice mask blue Olympus EM1MarkII Carnevale-di-Venezia door costume Portraitphotography

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Indian Summer Part III 🇨🇭

... are a sign of transience. (Larches are the only conifers that lose their needles in autumn and sprout again in the following spring in beautiful green.) The year is drawing to a end and winter is not far away. It could have been the last beautiful autumn day, because in the mountains the weather changes are short and intense. What looks like summer and warmth today can look like cold and winter tomorrow. That's why it's a good idea to enjoy such moments of perfect beauty and harmony in nature. I tried to do this in the brief moments that presented themselves to me by this jewel of the swiss alps when the sun illuminated the golden larches one last time and gave me the greatest gift that nature can offer. ( You might take a photo like this once in 100 years because everything was just right here.) At least that was how I felt when I was able to experience this intense spectacle of colors in the land of my dreams.

A prayer of peace

May we seek the truth, and speak it quietly.

May we listen for truth in the words of others with open minds and hearts.

And may we always remember the peace that may be found in silence.
(From an Indian prayer)

You must speak straight so that your words may go as sunlight into our hearts. —Cochise, Chiracahua Apache

We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren and children yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can't speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish and trees.
( Indian wisdom from her native Land )

Tags:   Reflection Schweiz Switzerland Suisse autumn Fujifilmphotography FujifilmX-H1 Flickr21Challenge

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What kind of stranger are you? Never seen one like you here before. Are you part of the family or are you just passing through? Maybe that's what this curious Japanese macaque was thinking when he looked at me so strangely. We had wonderful moments with these intelligent creatures in a forest near Kyoto. We first had to walk up a fairly steep hill for a while before we reached the top of the hill. There, to our amazement, we saw many of these Japanese macaques running around in the forest, completely free and in the wild.

After a while, I managed to arouse their interest with my photo equipment, which I of course had with me. Luckily, I had the large telephoto lens with me, although it wasn't easy to carry it up here, but it was definitely worth it. I played with them for a while and the macaques seemed to enjoy it too. The weather was simply heavenly that day and the autumn colors were really bright. This beautiful autumn day will remain in my memories for a long time, especially the warm encounter with the Japanese macaques somewhere on a hill near Kyoto. 🇯🇵

It doesn’t matter how smart, rich or influential you are. What I care about is how you treat animals.

The most powerful language lies in the eyes of animals.

Tags:   Fujifilmphotography FujifilmX-H2S Japan animals monkey XF150-600mmF5.6-8 Japanese-macaques bokeh wildlifephotography wildlife Flickr21Challenge Curiosity

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I know that I have mentioned here several times how friendly and helpful the Japanese people are, but this encounter with the young Lady was unique. I actually really wanted to take photos of Geisha's in Kyoto, but unfortunately it didn't happen for whatever reason. So I visited Kyoto - the old imperial city - for the last time during my two-week trip to Japan. I didn't have much hope that I would be able to take photos of Japanese women dressed in traditional clothing. It was a bit early in the morning that day and therefore rather quiet with few people in the old town of Kyoto. The traditional wooden houses and the temple complex fascinated me again and again. My personal favorite city in Japan when I can say so.

As I walked through the alleys of old Kyoto I saw a young Lady in front of me wearing a beautiful Kimono and clearly enjoying the warmth of the morning sun. She was with someone who took photos of her from time to time. Suddenly I couldn't resist any longer and spoke to the two of them, because the beautiful surroundings of Kyoto fascinated me and her dress was simply stunning. So I asked the Japanese lady if it would be possible to take photos of her? She smiled at me and said yes to my answer very kindly. She took time for me and I was deeply touched. So much kindness, so much warmth and joy that this young lady radiated was something so touching for me on this wonderful morning in Kyoto. The day couldn't have started better for me and all the wishes I had before were quickly forgotten.

“A smile is worth a hundred words.” („Hyaku go yori isshō.“)

“Nothing is more expensive than what you get for free.” („Tada yori takai mono wa nai.“)

Tags:   Japan Fujifilmphotography FujifilmX-H2S Kimono smile Kyoto XF56mmF1.2RWR Lady 日本 着物 京都

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There is a fascinating story about this very unusual and lovely little bird that I would like to tell you here. 🇯🇵

On this beautiful day in December we planned to visit the national museum in Hiroshima - Japan to commemorate the mostly innocent victims of the first atomic bomb being dropped in human history. My wife and I decided to visit the memorial in the large park in the middle of the city and not the picture documentation in the museum, because that would have been very difficult for us to bear. In this beautiful park there were many trees and flowers that had all been newly planted after the Second World War. It was beautiful to see how all the new life blossomed and grew over the decades. We were very impressed to see this. In the middle of the park and very close to a memorial stone we saw a beautiful tree full of fresh blossoms that looked more like spring than winter. We were very surprised, because where do you see such plants and flowers that have come to life in the middle of December?

To our further surprise, we suddenly heard a lot of birds chirping in the park. On closer inspection, we recognized many different birds in the trees and bushes that were very interested in the beautiful flowers. One of them was a particularly beautiful one, the Japanese white-eye. This delicate bird seemed so happy to me, because it was moving from one flower to another, sometimes upside down so that I could look it into his eyes for short. I had to laugh and was so happy to see it, the little acrobat in the middle of Hiroshima.

A little later I had to recover a bit from the lively little birds that demanded everything from me photographically. I was looking at the photos on the display of my camera when an older man suddenly spoke to me and asked me what beautiful thing I was looking at? I explained it to him in a friendly manner and he told me about the little acrobat and that this bird was very popular in Japan. We talked for a while and I explained to him why we were here in Japan and that I came from Switzerland. He was very happy when I told him that my eldest son was going to marry his Japanese girlfriend in a few days. The friendly old man thanked me for the nice conversation and then visited the park in Hiroshima. I told this story to my future daughter-in-law and she was delighted because the Japanese people are usually rather reserved when it comes to talking to strangers or tourists. In this sense, visiting the park in the middle of Hiroshima was full of new and old life when I can say so, which was like an answer to many of my questions. Japan has been brought back to life after this catastrophe with the atomic bomb and I was able to witness this in a small place in a big city that has been completely rebuilt.

Informations about the little acrobat:
The original distribution area of the Japanese white-eye extends across the whole of Japan, the south of the Korean peninsula, the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan and southern and eastern China. The Japanese white-eye is also widespread in the north of the Indochinese peninsula. In large parts of its distribution area, the Japanese white-eye is a resident bird, but in the north of the Japanese main island of Honshū, on Hokkaido, Sakhalin and eastern China it is a migratory bird, whose wintering areas are in Southeast Asia, Burma, Vietnam and Hainan. The distribution area of the Japanese white-eye overlaps only slightly with that of the very similar rusty-flanked white-eye.

The Japanese white-eye lives in open, summer green and evergreen forests with trees and shrubs that bear flowers and berries. However, the birds can also be found near human settlements, in gardens, parks and agricultural areas. Mangrove thickets are also among the preferred habitats of the Japanese white-eye. The inhabited area extends from sea level to the tree line. 🇯🇵

“The beauty of birds lies not only in their sight, but also in their song, which touches our hearts and makes our souls sing.”
- Emily Dickinson

Tags:   Japan Fujifilmphotography FujifilmX-H2S bird animals blossoms japanese-white-eye bokeh XF150-600mmF5.6-8R birds bold Flickr21Challenge

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