Long Exposure #8 : My holidays

I have been married to Celine since 2006, and for the first time, we are going to be in France at the same time, together. In the past it was a hassle to leave the US and we preferred to stick to all the things we wanted to do there. Now that we can travel freely, we opted to spend our holidays among family.

Issue is, my parents live in Alsace (ie East of France) and Celine’s family is basically everywhere but there. It means we will travel a lot while we’re there and Celine has been working like hell to create a schedule that will accommodate most people. Here are the big steps of our trip:

• We fly from NYC to Paris
• We drive from Paris to Mulhouse to see my parents
• We drive from Mulhouse to Rennes for Christmas
• We drive from Rennes to Marseille
• We drive from Marseille to Paris for New Year’s eve.
• We fly from Paris to NYC.

I’m curious to see how these holidays will shape up. Last time I was in France was in 2008 for work. I can’t recall the last time I was in Alsace but I’m pretty sure it was before 2005. I want to show Celine where I grew up and why I am who I am. I wonder if she will like it, show me stuff I’ve never seen, thought of before. Then she will do the same for me plus will show me her friends and family. It will be a trip of “first”.

• First time my parents meet my wife since our wedding
• First time we will share where we used to live
• First time my parents and brother will meet her mother, brother and sisters
• First time I will meet her family and friends
• First time in Rennes, Marseille
• First time out of the US since 2008…

I can’t wait for these holidays to start, can’t wait for them to be over too, back in my home sweet home with my crazy cats and my loving wife.

Wherever and whenever you go, I wish you happy holidays and a safe trip. See you in 2014!

Macro

Macro is an extreme close-up.
I believe these links deserve a close-up 😉

• Challenges: You can still submit for Best of 50 (12/02 – 12/08), Theme 50 : Winter Holidays, Technique 25: Water from Faucet and Monthly Project 12: Winter on Photoblogchallenges. You can still vote until Sunday too!
• I’m not sure I understand but I have a lot of respect for The Longest Way
• This I understand completely and am in awe. There was not retouching to these pictures. Love the imagination and all the worlds she takes us into.
• Want: I have not seen Akira in a very long time, but I remember well that this lego version of his bike is damn accurate. I’ve been toying with the idea of buying back some Lego for some time and I think what gets me the most is all you can do with it.

 

By Sebastien Grobelny

Photoblog Challenges : Results #16

This week on Photoblogchallenges, the winners are  Xerraire for Best of 48 (18 Nov – 24 Nov) and Ruimnm for Theme 48 : Begins with “I” or “J”. Congratulations!

Celine and I are permanent guest judges and since the middle of the year we switched the roles a little. She has to pick one favorite from the winning pictures and I have to pick several “non-winners”. Each week I will try to shed some light on some of my choices.

• For Best of 48 (18 Nov – 24 Nov): I picked Droddel for a clear cold capture, Mittened Hands because I love the message and the title, Remus for a very controlled black and white with a nice play on the shadows and Shaker for a gorgeous light and sky.

• For Theme 48 – Begins with “I” or “J”: I loved Ruimnm and his jars and “Incas” from Larans (that was by the way a deserved spotlight on Aminus) and am glad they won. For this challenge I had only one pick and did hesitate a long time between Frances and her inquisitive giraffe and Locozoom. I ended up picking Locozoom for his great picture. It was his first submission and I would like to see more.

My pick of the week is Xerraire for her very intimate picture of a gorilla. I love how he seems lost in his thoughts and intelligent. It is in my opinion a great portrait.

By Sebastien Grobelny

Weekly Photo Challenge: Grand

The first word that jumped to mind was “Canyon”.
Issue is that I’m not a fan of the Grand Canyon unless you can’t see it under the clouds like here.
Lucky for me, during on of our first roadtrip with Celine around the USA, we ended up at Canyonlandsand its grand dramatic landscapes.

So here’s my first submission to The Daily Post. You can also submit by going to their page and following the steps

By Sebastien Grobelny

Macro

Macro is an extreme close-up.
I believe these links deserve a close-up 😉

• Challenges: You can still submit for Best of 49 (11/25 – 12/01), Theme 49 : Curves Lines, Technique 25: Water from Faucet and Monthly Project 12: Winter on Photoblogchallenges. You can still vote until Sunday too!
• Got no winner for the contest day. I will close it on the 12/14 the latest.
• Ever wondered if we could see climate changes impacts? Have a look over at Gizmodo’s article
• Everybody heard about the Amazon drones…Have you heard about the next step? Rockets?
• Amazing idea and execution: exploding toy cars
• This is not a portrait of Morgan Freeman

By Sebastien Grobelny

All you need is love

This shot was taken end of November 2013 at Staten Island abandoned Farm Colony buildings with Celine and Christine.

Click on the image if you want to see or purchase a bigger format.

By Sebastien Grobelny

Photoblog Challenges : Results #15

This week on Photoblogchallenges, the winners are Spectrum for Best of 47 (11 Nov – 17 Nov), Shaker for Theme 47 : Rainy and Pictografio for Technique 23 : HDR.Congratulations!

Celine and I are permanent guest judges and since the middle of the year we switched the roles a little. She has to pick one favorite from the winning pictures and I have to pick several “non-winners”. Each week I will try to shed some light on some of my choices.

• For Best of 47 (11 Nov – 17 Nov): This week I picked Pictografio with the polish aviation museum. I think it’s a nice architectural shot and being of polish ascent  it spoke to me too. I also picked Rue Du Lavoir for taking us in a factory without anybody. It has a quiet feel to it, almost abandoned. I finally picked up Weib for a very expressive cow with a nice processing.

• For Theme 47 – Rainy:  I’m glad that Shaker, Boxman and Mittened Hands are the 3 big winners this week as they each have a different approach to the theme. I picked Deja for a great action shot, Ellebelle  for the sharp droplets and Xerraire for risking her life in this downpour and still getting a nice shot.

• For Technique 23 – HDR: I do believe that HDR is a big divide in photography. You have those that can’t live without it and those that wouldn’t even consider it.  For me HDR has it’s ups and downs but most importantly it needs to be subtile. That’s the reason why I picked Frances and Shaker. They bring wide range of colors and details.

My pick of the week is Deja for Theme 47 – Rainy. I can really visualize what the experience must have been with the bikes roaring in the mud. This shot takes me in the middle of the action and without the rain it would be a completely different shot.

By Sebastien Grobelny