Cold as Ice

It’s been very cold lately, but I couldn’t think of a way to capture this in my photos…

Staying at home, while the bright sun is flooding the rooms, you can be fooled into thinking that the spring has finally arrived. The second you leave your front door - it hits you! Then the song “Cold as Ice” by Foreigner comes to my mind and I can’t get it out while shivering in the icy wind.

Today, we were walking on the frozen sea; the temperature had dropped to only -7C, but I bet that these photos won’t reflect what I’m talking about. Yeah, what am I talking about? The sky is clear and light blue just like in the summer, the sun is shining like mad… but you’d better look down under your feet as it can get very slippery.

Have you ever been skating on the sea? I haven't, but I can prove that it is actually possible.

In some places Nature forces have formed icy terraces...

In other - pretty white lace ornaments.

The frozen water has incapsulated sandy hills, created by the Baltic waves.

It has trapped colourful pebbles and water bubbles...

And some seaweed!

No matter how spectacular it all looks, it’s very cold as well. I’m afraid on that you’ll have to trust me.

Turning into Something

Slowly my love for photography is turning into something. It’s come a long way, especially if I consider my first childhood memories as a photographer - being about 9 or 10, I was saving money for the photo developing equipment (to tell the truth even now I’d love to have that, oh, and a secret dark room as well!). Later on I was taking lots of crap photos that would be interesting just for the family or the ones involved and, even though they aren’t of any significant artistic value, it’s always nice to hear my friends say that I’m the one with the best documented school life. Being at uni I got my first digital camera and that’s when it hit me – I can practice as much as I like, as everything I don’t like, can be easily deleted.

At the moment I got to the stage where I’m not embarrassed to show my photos – some are better, some are worse and several can be called interesting. To my mind “interesting” is good, as it means the photo evokes emotions or makes you notice something you wouldn’t have noticed unless pointed to you. I’m still documenting everything what catches my eye and avoiding taking photos of people (although nice portraits is something I’d like to be able to capture; I guess that’s my ultimate goal). This year I’ve managed to compile a calendar using my images and suddenly got a few requests – in May I’m going to be shooting my first ever wedding and in the middle of the summer my first ever christening! But this means taking photos of people, so I guess I’m a BIT worried…

I’m very flattered my friends and family trust me and are sure they will like the results (I’m keeping my fingers crossed). I’ve finally started feeling that my photos are worth something and I’m not talking about money here. For e.g. I was very glad I could help out my friend taking photos of an interior she has designed and created – professionals might do a better job, but I know a few years ago I wouldn’t have taken anything like that. So while my portfolio is growing it’s time to think of the next step… An exhibition? Prints for sale? Why not! The bigger the goals, the more can be achieved. Hey, but first of all concentrating on the two requests.

A very cosy bedroom:

An art lovers office:

P.S. I love the paiting on the desk. It's painted by my friend, the flat owner, who has never learnt how to do that, so I guess it proves that all you need is a bit of enthusiasm and you can perform wonders.

Just Before Christmas...

Just before Christmas I wanted to share some photos of a beautiful church that is definitely “one of the greatest secrets of London“. I’ve been to this city for quite a few times now, but only on the last trip I’ve discovered Westminster Cathedral and how much effort people can put into building God’s houses.

Some facts that I didn’t know: "Westminster Cathedral in London is the mother church of the Catholic community in England and Wales and the Metropolitan Church and Cathedral of the Archbishop of Westminster. It is dedicated to the "Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ" (the Eucharist)."

It is the largest Catholic church in England and Wales and, to tell the truth, I've never seen anything like that before. The architecture could be called atypical as looking at the tower I'd suspect it's actually a mosque. And the interior is stunning - the colourful mosaics make you think you've actually gone back in time and ended up somewhere in the Byzantine Empire.

God inspires us to do great things, something you might not even think is possible. I hope you can keep it in your mind not just before Christmas and not only through the new coming year.

The White Silence

How many photos of snow can you take before you get bored? Me? Thousands!

There’s something so special about snow covered trees, fields and little houses. The scenery is so calm and peaceful, a perfect set for proper white Christmas. And while watching TV you can be disturbed by the white noise, such “white silence” (a new term, no doubt) makes you wonder - where’s all the life gone? The sneaky foxes and the fast running hares, the vivid little birds and the hard working woodpeckers? They surely have to be hiding somewhere underneath this thick blanket?

P.S. On the way home I saw two deer in snow up to their bellies, grazing on the bushes that could still just about be seen above the piles of white.

Christmas Colours (London)

Shop keepers definitely know how to get their shops ready for Christmas. Every detail counts and the neatly arranged stock simply lures the passers by to go inside. I’m afraid the spell hasn’t worked on me – I was impressed, no doubt about that, but these days I’m glad to just seal all this up into an image and later on, when I’ve got time, to admire the creativeness and imagination that can make Christmas feel special again, just like it once was – in our childhood.

You could say that too much colours and glitter makes us forget what Christmas is all about. Well, if you’re only interested in stuffing your belly and getting some presents it certainly isn’t the right way, but if your festive ornaments are just the means to make this holiday the most special in the year, why not?

2 Good Weekends

I must admit we have been spoilt with the weather. I thought that by now it would be raining every day and that we’d have one of these miserable autumns where all you want to do is to stay indoors. But I don’t think I have a right to moan. Yes, we had some frosts and it is wise to start wearing gloves, but the last two weekends have been absolutely fantastic!


I loved our walk on the beach. The sea was very calm and the water was clear – just like during a summer month. Well, you could easily be fooled it still was summer!

And that’s what you see if you get to the beach early enough – before crowds of people have flooded to enjoy the clear air:


It must be really nice to gallop on a lovely horse taking in the scenery from above.

By the way, this reminds me of one photo seen in some magazine about the south of France, where they also take horses along the coast. I never thought I’d see anything like that in Lithuania though. France and, of course England, are countries with deeper equestrian traditions, so somebody riding a horse is not a rare sight. Meanwhile here, in Lithuania, it isn’t that popular – I think we are only starting to revive such traditions and I’m really glad about that.

And yesterday was all about leaves… After clearing some in our own garden we headed to have a look at the changing colours in a park.

The Green seems to be giving up and the Yellow and the Red are starting to prevail, before they force the leaves to slowly cover the ground.

It’s a constant battle even for the clouds and the sun. Look at that angry sky! Lucky this didn’t turn into a storm and the clouds were pushed away, so I could continue trying to capture yellow leaves spinning in the air before reaching the still green lawns.

At the moment it’s only one or two at a time, but any stronger wind will leave the trees naked… It will take time to get used to this, but by then we’ll be looking forward to seeing some snow – sooner or later winter will win the seasons' battle.

Colour Scheme

I’m trying to choose 12 photos for my 2011 calendar, but it seems it’s too hard… I have lots of photos that I like, but I need to stick to those that would represent each month best. So far I have chosen about 15 for January and wanted to put all of them on one page as little images, but I guess it won’t work – the pc is too slow to cope with high resolution and huge files. So I’m back to the process of slowly browsing through the photos I have taken in the last 5 years and noticing something I haven’t before.

I’m still obsessed with colour and I must admit I’m happy we have distinct seasons - this makes it easier choosing photos for eg for Spetember or October. Yet with all the red and yellow leaves around us I’m still fond of green and it's shades!

I’m sure I will figure out something, maybe will even change the whole approach and have a distinct calendar with images that are linked together in a certain way (lets forget the 12 months!). Hope this doesn’t evolve too much as I’m already getting too fascinated with the colour world and the weirdest titles someone’s come up with: atomic tangerine, banana mania, electric lime… Well, wish me luck.

Shades of Green

With a “to do in the garden” list ticking like a time bomb I’m taking photos of the indoor plants. I must be going mad! I should be outside: digging, planting, gathering, covering etc. But to tell the truth once you are woken up by a pouring rain and, after taking the dog out, realise that your back lawn has turned into a swamp, there’s not enough motivation for everything mentioned above.

At the moment the sky is clear, but it’s so unpleasantly damp outside… I’d rather be scraping everything indoors - till the door knobs shine! I’m only joking. The day like today is for snuggling up cozily with a good book, for sipping hot tea, for enjoying an interesting film… Oh, and then the sun comes out and I feel so guilty – there’re so many plants that need repotting, so that when the winter comes they can ornate our rooms with those perfect shades of green.

“Repotting” is only one, but a very important item from my non existent list. Well, the list is real; it’s just that it’s not on paper, YET. It’s in my head, getting bigger and bigger constantly. I’m so scared of forgetting something that I can feel how the list is turning into a monster. I need to get in control. Definitely. All I need is a pen and paper…

And while I'm writing this it started to rain AGAIN - looking out of the window I’m considering putting “build an arch” as number one. This time I’m not joking. I've just found out that the forecast is like that for another 4 days. I guess the garden and my plants will have to wait after all...

In the last photo – leaves of my fragile pomegranates that have been grown from seeds. They have sprung so much, but at the same time look so thin and week. I’m really not sure how to turn them into proper trees.

Autumn out of Focus

Sometimes it’s enough to change your point of view and you’ll get a completely different picture. You might create an illusion, but if it makes you feel better, why not? Wouldn’t you want just for a moment to become a magician who can bend the reality? I certainly need this ability, if just to survive the cold period that is slowly creeping up.

Oh, if I could perform miracles… I’d try to do it with an even bigger precision and patience than a spider, who can easily divide space using perfect lines of the web.

At the moment I feel like a photographer, who can’t get a clear image as everything is out of focus. I’m trying hard to avoid autumn, but it will come anyway, won’t it? I still believe that we will get hot days and a chance to go swimming, but it gets colder and it gets darker, so my hopes are shattered every time I step barefoot into the morning dew.

I guess I’ll have to give up fighting the inevitable – first I’ll need to get the warm boots out and then... try and focus on the beautiful things that the new season will no doubt bring. Will it work?

Magic! It already does.

P.S. I'm not sure I will remember I need to start putting warmer clothes on, so the whole process of "bending the reality" might take time.

Holiday Photos Part 3 - CULTURE

While being abroad I love to have a glimpse at the country’s history and culture. This can easily be arranged by visiting museums or old castles, manor houses. I prefer the latter as museums can sometimes be boring, but castles never cease to amaze me – vast spaces, colourful rooms, smallest details, huge fires and kitchens, where servants prepared feasts for the rich...

I’m really glad that this time we managed to visit Schleswig and Glucksburg, right on the Danish border.

Scloss Gottorf - has been turned into a huge museum; it has several halls that can make you say you've never seen anything like that before.

A wine inn that used to be in Lubeck. The whole room has been brought to Gottorf! If it stayed where it originally was, we wouldn't have seen it - the inn was destroyed during the war.

The Hunters Hall. It's a shame that nowadays the cellings are mostly only white...

The cobbled yard. I'm sure it looks nicer on a sunny day...

Glucksburg - a little town right next to the Baltic Sea and the beautiful Castle that was featured in a German TV series my grandma used to watch last year!

Huge yard and nice paths. The gardens must be taken care of by several gardeners.

The entrance - believe it or not, but you can take cars down there.

Coming up to the castle. (We were unlucky as we got there to late and couldn't go round the inside, but I was lucky as there was no one around and I could take uninterrupted photos.)

If I had such a post box, I'd expect to get letters every day!
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I guess it’s time to forget the holidays. The kids are back at school, the trees are changing their colour and the autumn is here, so it’s time to think of something else to look forward to... Well, in the coming cold and darkness it has to be Christmas, although I’m sure there’ll many more nice things in between.