The Munchkin's Notebook

Today we drove up to Heidelberg, to see Heidelberg Castle and to Konigstuhl (Kings Throne) which is 1,800 feet above Heidelberg. We rode the funicular, which is a cable up to the castle and then to Konigstuhl. Out first stop, was at the castle which dates back to the 15 th century and is part ruins and partly being resorted. We did not take the tour so did not get to see the inside of the area that has been resorted.  However, there were several photo opportunities around the outside of the castle, which was rather interesting. We walked most of the grounds and visited the apothecary museum inside the castle.  We also go to see the view from the top of the largest wine barrel in Germany, made of 130 oak trees and holds 58,500 gallons of wine. If you’re wondering why they needed a wine barrel that big it is because they used wine to pay taxes and had to hold it somehow. On an interesting side note we had a random person from Kent State talk to us while on the castle grounds b...

Today we traveled into France to see the Maginot Line and visit Strasbourg (yes it is in France).  The Maginot Line bunker we visited was interesting we walked 3km (~2 miles) of tunnel to see everything in that particular bunker to include the living area, power plant, hospital area and of course the munitions and guns.  It is about a constant 15C or around 60F in the tunnels and bunker. To transport items they used electric powered mini trains which ran down track inside the bunker tunnels.  The living quarters were kind of tight especially if you were not an officer.  The power generators were huge and used multiple large inline 6 cylinder engines (the cylinder were close to a foot in diameter) to produce the power needed.  The counter weights to move the turrets up and down are impressive and still contain all the necessary the gears to move the turrets.  I also determined that medium caliber munitions racks would double nicely as a wine rack (I need to...

Unfortunately I did not sleep at all during the 8 hour flight over to Frankfurt, so I have been awake for over 24 hours and I’m tired.  The flight was smooth and arrived a little early, and we made it through customs without any problems.   We were met by the travel agent after clearing customs and baggage claim. It was nice to see someone holding a sign with our name on it and also nice to meet the person I have been coordinating with for the past few months. She went over the whole itinerary, any questions we had then got us to the train station and proper plat form. I think that is where our journey really began. We had first class tickets (a separate compartment) for the high-speed train to Baden-Baden. There we were met by the second travel agent who picked us up, gave us the rental car, an overview of German traffic signs, and a quick driving tour of Baden-Baden before taking us to the hotel.  We are staying at a nice four/five star hotel. The room is huge...

I love travel. Let me be a little more specific I like seeing new things and going to new places. I don’t like necessarily having to pack or the whole airport process.  I think it was possibly easier to pack when travel was supposed to be luxurious and people were treated like people not cattle being hulled around.  Now you have weight restrictions for your luggage as well as limits on the number of free bags (international) or you paying to take your stuff (national).  Then there is the process of checking in and getting to the gate which really makes you feel like you are being herded, moo.   But in the end I suppose it is all worth it, to see and explore new places.  So I will continue to mutter to myself as I pack, and trying to take the right stuff and fit it in small bags without going over weight. I’ll put my liquids into little zip lock baggies and smile at the people at the airport.  Because while I sometimes worry it is not worth the cost, a...

Last weekend I did a photo shoot for one of my good friends. She wanted a fantasy shoot similar to what I did for myself awhile back.  While I wanted to go for a Viking theme it turned out to be more along the lines of a D&D elven ranger.  I had limited supplies to work from but with a cloak, a leather skirt, two sarongs, a staff and a drinking horn made for a decent ranger look.  You can see the whole gallery here . I used a standard backdrop, two stand light, and an off camera flash for lighting. I shot using an 18-55mm lens, at an aperture of f8, multiple shutter speeds and a 200 ISO.  I then post processed the images in LightRoom and then again in Photoshop Elements. Took around a 100 shots but ended up with only 38 good images. I eliminated many of the shots because they were unflattering.  Overall I do like the look of the shots I did keep and think they do capture her inner ranger.     

Last weekend I had the pleasure of doing a family portrait session for one of my close friends.  This was one of the first family portrait sessions I have done and I’m glad I did it. The little girl was cute and was definitely a little ham at times and very fun to work with.  While the little boy, once we got past the silly faces and not listening I got some nice photos. I will say one thing, he did try his mother’s and my patience I was able to capture some nice images.  The mother and children shots turned out pretty good, but I was disappointed in my capture of the father and children shots. However I was able to capture one very cute father daughter picture.  We did the whole family last, which I think was a mistake on my part since I could tell the kids were tired at that point.  I did my best to make it work. I learned many lessons from this session. The main one being you have to do the group shots first, and then do the individuals. Also I ne...

While most people went home to celebrate Easter and chocolate bunnies, I went home to celebrate my little brother’s birthday (he isn't that little anymore). His girlfriend threw him a surprise party with family and friends, at a local restaurant in Ohio. It was a nice party, and he was truly surprised.  I was the unofficial photographer for the party. ( pictures here ) My Brother and His Girlfriend Now an ode to my brother. My Brother and Me To my brother Steve, you are a unique individual in every way.  Growing up you would wear buckets on your head; make lizard faces at mom and grandma to make them laugh and had a love for A.L.F (which you still walk like on occasion) and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  You loved attention and still do. You are the practical joker; have the special talent of getting people to believe outrageous stories and to get everyone to like you.  While we each did our fair share of things to each other; it was all out...