We've had some snow in Stuttgart these past few days. The little statuette which I was given by the Czech woman who sold me her late husband's piano looks particularly poetic these days.

 

Recently in the new art museum in Stuttgart...

I came in from the cold and my lenses still had a bit of David Hamilton fog on them. I thought it added a nice touch to this picture.

Up in the restaurant overlooking Stuttgart, you got the feeling as if angels were keeping watch over the city.

Down on the second floor a woman was taking pictures of the Christmas market below.

 It looked as if she were saying goodbye to someone or something.

Then she left.

This past autumn had some beautiful sites to offer.

The statues in the upper Schloßgarten reflected the beautiful setting sunlight.

 The figures around the fountains and on the rooftop of the new palace are also very attractive.

The duckpond at sunset. What peace!

The plantain trees in the Schloßgarten are magnificent.

Joggers and bikers enjoy the tree-lined paths that run up and down the Schloßgarten.

The dog owners can also be found here.

This is what a poplar forest looks like if you have set your white balance manually.

And this is what it looks like if you let the little computer in your camera do the thinking for you!

Fireworks over the Katharinengrab

New Year's Eve I wasn't feeling well enough to celebrate, but I did take a few shots out of our window.

Early in the evening (11:30 p.m.) I could still see the mausoleum on the hill.

Then things started getting hot:

And with the fire came smoke (not the other way around this time):

Happy new year, everyone!

Big bounce and a Tamron, too!

Christmas at Oma's was as rich and gemütlich as ever!

Fynn and Fiona eagerly awaited the Christkind, the Weihnachtsmann and Santa Claus. Ahhh - the joys of living in a multi-cultural family.
Even cousin Ivo profits from this international celebration of Christmas.

Last Christmas I was still learning how to use my my new Sony A300. The available-light photos from 2008 were fairly "artistic" looking.
This year - thanks to a Big Bounce from my Christkind - we were able to shed some good light on the family. My goal this year is to learn how to regulate the placement of the flash and the amount of light it produces.

So guess what my present was? A Tamron f2.8/70-200 lens. It has done wonders and I wonder what wonders it will continue to do!

The day the circus came to town

Here are a couple of circus pictures taken in Rösrath on Christmas Day with my new Tamron 2.8/70-200 lens .

This was Pepino (the father) and Banane (the 7-year-old daughter). Fiona was impressed by the little girl and has been doing some circus tricks for visitors ever since she saw the circus.

Pepino showed a large snake to the crowd.

Ivo, Fynn and Fiona loved the show!

Deborah juggled, did some numbers with animals and shone with her hula hoop prowess.

Would you let your husband throw knives at you? This look seems to say, "Concentrate, pleeeeze!"

The 16-year-old daughter was very limber and did some gymnastics numbers as well as some hula hoop magic.