Category: traditional

…sword in hand…

I am a big sucker for swords and fantasy, no from my point of view, the swords tournament offered by the knights from Țara Bârsei was the highlight of the ONGFest. Too bad I didn’t know about it, I did’n plan shooting it, didn’t expect to say so late in the night so I didn’t have an external flash unit on me, didn’t have a secondary battery for the camera on me and as a result the photos were not the best and not as many as I would have liked. And I missed their following fireworks.

knights

Beyond the scenario, the fight was spectacular, they were putting passion into it: sparks on clashing swords, real kick throwing the opponent 2-3 meters away and making it roll in the dirt, all the audience enjoyed it.

sword fight

And where are knights and sword fight, there must be also princesses, balancing the male violence with their grace and providing the guys with a reason to fight. And maybe a prize, what I know?

princesses

So the old city of Bucharest, knights, swordplay, princesses… what do you want more? Oh, yeah, some drinks… they had that too 😀

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Children and traditions

I am not undergoing a pussyfication process, it just happened to be in the park, observe the subject and press the shutter, what else a photographer is supposed to do?

Children and traditions Children and traditions Children and traditions

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Traditional Romanian and the rural metropolis of Bucharest

Do not get fooled by the look with grass, weeds and flowers, this image is from inside the city of Bucharest, a large European metropolis but with large rural tendencies: you will see crosses on the street where people died due an accident (or like here next to the railroads), even if it is in the middle of the city.

Update: the high resolution of the photo(s) here were lost in an unfortunate accident(human error made by be) and a bit later the only copy remaining (resized for web use, hosted on flickr) was deleted by the yahoo bastards. I am very sad about the lost content, but is out of my control. My only hope is I will be able to replace them with more and better shots.

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Belly Dance

One of the most popular tourism destination for Romanians is Turkey, so inevitably agencies present at a Romanian Tourism Fair must attract visitors with some oriental belly dance and if you, as a photographer, spot a cooperative dancer, the shoting is set:

Belly Dance at the Tourism Fair

Belly Dance at the Tourism Fair

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Martisoare Fair at the Peasant Museum

Beyond selling martisoare at practically every street corner, at the Peasant Museum was organized a fair: the good part was that in a sea of kitsches, you were able to find some authentic stuff, the bad part is that the place was overly crowded.

Tirg de martisoare:

It was a good opportunity to see what the martisor originally was: a silver coin on a red string, a protective amulet to protect the children after the cold season, not the hypocrite gift you have to give to all women around you.

Tirg de martisoare:

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Martisor and the city

Saturday was the last day of the calendar winter, but it was a very nice, sunny day and the last chance for people to spend their money on the shitty Romanian tradition of Mărțișor, so the city was full with people selling and buying martisoare and also with photographers.

Martisoare in Bucharest

I am not sure if the photographers were out to catch the martisor commerce or just for the beautiful day …or maybe for both, but practically the city was full of people with cameras, including me. Only that I had also a secondary target: a nautical salon (more on that later).

Martisoare in Bucharest

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Angles

This week’s homework assignment for the photography course was to take photos of a subject from 3 different angles. I got the idea to shot a reproduction of the Hamangia Thinker and, as usually, went overboard and selected 6 angles (as the ultimate proof I don’t have self-control).

Angles

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Another Christmas try

After a couple of failures I tried another photoshoot. Being closer to the Christmas, this time the event was better organized, the place more crowded and this time the weather was friendlier with the photographer.

Christmas 2008: Kogalniceanu Boulevard

Christmas 2008: View to the tree on Piata Universitatii

Christmas 2008: Reindeer

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Cristmas Lights

A week ago, returning from the urban offroad shooting, I spend some time in the city shooting the newly installed Christmas city lights. I have not insisted very much, as I planned another, more focused, session.

Chrismas city lights in Piata Universitatii, Bucharest

So this week-end, despite the completely adverse weather (cold rain, cold wind blowing), I decided to get out and try something. I was unsuccessful, you can’t to good photos with water on your lenses.

Rain and Christmas Lights

Maybe next week-end I will have more luck, until then the city administration may even have some time to get the decorations better.

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Fingerless cimbalom (țambal) player in the tram

A night photo made with the on-camera flash on a moving tram is nothing you can be proud of but I found the idea powerful. And the way he hold the sticks…

Fingerless cimbalom (țambal) player in the tram

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Bucharest? Bombed?

A few weeks after the City Days, Bucharest looks like bombed (the Old City is under heavy repairs)

Disaster in Bucharest

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Bucharest days 2008

The anniversary of Bucharest, this miserable city we all love to hate, can’t be complete without a walk on Old City’s the streets and some cultural event with local girls.

Lipscani

Dance

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I like anime

Real life Anime in Vienna’s S-Bahn train

Anime plus

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Traditional Romanian food

Going to an event near Sibiu called "Festivalul Brinzei si al Tuicii", whhhat can you expect other than tuica, cheese, bacon and grilled mititei?

Meats

Tuica and cheese

Steaks and mititei on the grill

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