Szabi's photos

Kolozsmonostori Kálvária harangláb - Calvaria Mănăştur - Kálvária Bell Tower

2012-01-26T21:46:00.000+02:00

The belfry (Bell Tower) was designed by Károly Kós in 1922

Strange formations...

2012-01-22T22:25:00.000+02:00

2012-01-21T19:38:00.000+02:00

A few weeks ago, I upgraded my Pentax K10D to Pentax K7. I loved my old camera, the K7 technologically is more advanced, but physically the K10 was better for me. So,..., these are the first images with the "new" camera.I dedicate this post to Bogdan who is now the new owner of the K10, I hope he will enjoy the camera as I enjoyed it, to my friend Eduard, the old owner of the K7 and to an other friend Eugen, who came with me this afternoon to hunt these images.

Panoramas from Galbenei valley

2012-01-12T21:22:00.001+02:00

Farkas utca

2011-12-17T21:04:00.001+02:00

Belvárosi református templom - Biserica Reformată de pe Ulița Lupilor

Horse skull

2011-12-04T17:57:00.001+02:00

A duck from the recycle bin

2011-11-25T21:19:00.001+02:00

A few weeks ago, I cleaned my folders and I wanted to throw away this image, but after a small debate I decided to share with you,...,technically is a horrible image, but I kinda like it...

Small "diamonds"

2011-11-24T21:05:00.001+02:00

Galbenei Valley

2011-11-23T19:23:00.001+02:00

More shots on Eduard's blog HERE

Autum - somewhere near Padiș

2011-11-12T00:37:00.001+02:00

Galbenei Valley - The waterfall

2011-11-05T22:40:00.000+02:00

more to come...

Some abstract and the moon

2011-11-02T20:34:00.001+02:00

Bánffy Castle fragments

2011-10-22T16:31:00.000+03:00

EYE

2011-10-11T22:53:00.001+03:00

Airbus A320-232 touchdown

2011-10-03T21:34:00.000+03:00

Wizz Air Airbus A320-232 just after touchdown at Cluj Napoca International airfield

Blur is caused by the hot air shooting out from the engine.

Ancient sheets

2011-09-30T22:41:00.001+03:00

St. Mihaly church - Kolozsvar - Cluj Napoca

2011-09-29T22:05:00.001+03:00

Chestnut

2011-09-28T19:17:00.000+03:00

Target practice

2011-09-19T22:16:00.000+03:00

Koronás keresztespók - Păianjenul cu cruce (Araneus diadematus)

2011-09-18T18:57:00.000+03:00

This is a very common and well-known spider in Europa, generally found in gardens, it can grow up to 2 cm. Easily recognized by the cross on his back.

Carpathian brown bear (Ursus arctos)

2011-08-27T13:12:00.001+03:00

Kőhalom - Rupea

2011-08-26T23:01:00.000+03:00

Greece falls to recession?

2011-07-22T22:42:00.003+03:00

Hideg Szamos - Somesul Rece

2011-07-09T23:16:00.002+03:00

Ammonite

2011-06-28T23:02:00.001+03:00

Ammonites are an extinct group of marine invertebrate animals, more closely related to living Nautilus species.
When polished some ammonit fossils display iridescence, a rare and valuable opal-like organic gemstone Ammolite(background).
An iridescent opal-like play of color is shown in fine specimens, mostly in shades of green and red; all the spectral colors are possible, however.The chemical composition of ammolite is variable, and aside from aragonite may include calcite, silica, pyrite, or other minerals.
A close-up...

...and a macro, where you can observe the crystals in the shell.

First shots with my new 35mm

2011-06-25T23:59:00.000+03:00

Thanks to my friend Eduard I now own a Pentax SMCP-DA 35mm f/2.8 1:1 Macro Limited Series lens. I always loved macro photography, but never had a true macro lens, and the results were unsatisfied almost every time, but not now...some test shots in the kitchen with a tripod and a desk lamp:

Lunar Eclipse 15.06.2011

2011-06-16T21:02:00.002+03:00

The longest total lunar eclipse of this century graced the skies above Earth yesterday, with a duration of ~ 2 hours. I was a bit under prepared with my Tamrom 70-300mm lens at 300mm.Not having a great focus point, I couldn't take a real crisp shot of the moon, this image was shot at 300mm | f8 | 3 sec. with ISO200 - due to this long exposure the moon moved as the little star in the right corner.I used 3 second because this was the last minute before the preumbre. (pre-shadow)

Lunar Eclipse mosaic, photos taken between 1/60-4sec. | f5,6-f8 and merged together for a better view of the eclipse.

My first image is my last ...

Kézdivásárhely - Retro

2011-06-06T20:15:00.000+03:00

Kézdivásárhely - Vigadó Művelődési Ház - House of Culture

2011-05-08T22:55:00.000+03:00

Stream

2011-04-27T22:20:00.000+03:00

Little Fellow

2011-04-26T21:07:00.003+03:00

Happy Easter - Kellemes husveti unnepeket

2011-04-24T21:22:00.001+03:00

Dead vessel

2011-04-18T22:11:00.000+03:00

Colours of Spring...

2011-04-17T22:35:00.001+03:00

The playground

Church Visits in Háromszék

2011-04-13T22:26:00.002+03:00

Perkő, near Kézdiszentlélek

The Church near Esztelnek

The Church near Kézdialmás

Cemetery

2011-04-11T15:43:00.002+03:00

Church - Kezdivasarhely - Tg-Secuiesc

2011-04-07T15:02:00.000+03:00

Hooded Crown (Corvus Cornix)

2011-03-27T14:39:00.000+03:00

Bird "hunting"

2011-03-24T22:50:00.000+02:00

I didn't found the moon today, but I did found these birds capturing the last sunbeam....a Hooded Crown (Corvus Cornix) and a Seagull (maybe Western Gull, but that seams to live on the western coast of North America )

A whole new level

2011-03-18T09:26:00.003+02:00

A new level because instead of a 70-300mm I was playing with a sigma 50-500mmm 4-6,3 and with my Vivitar MC 2X-22 Tele Converter, I was able to capture the moon with 800-1000mm.the diference is obvious, more detail and the moon almost in full frame.Yesterday was almost a full moon so there are only a few spectacular craters, but after the new moon, if the lens and the whether stays with me, will be spectacular

Dolmányos varjú - Hooded Crow (Corvus Cornix)

2011-03-15T20:14:00.001+02:00

Blackbird - Fekete rigó (Turdus merula)

2011-03-13T22:51:00.000+02:00

Entering the gate of bird photography...obviously I have a lot to learn, and it is very hard to take a decent shot from a tiny bird.So how hard can it be?!?
VERY.
The lights must be perfect, the equipment must be perfect, the background must be perfect, to say wow, it is really hard...just when I get home and checked the net for Blackbirds, I was stunned, and disappointed...I have a lot to learn!
Obviously, nice shots are a result of numerous birdwatching, hours of patience, spying on the birds...when I went out in the park, I discovered my lens is not for this, it produces a horrible CA an I can't go lower than f/5,6, so these are today's greatest shots, I am very amateur in this kind of photography...but I'm not giving up!!!

Rigo enek

Dolmányos varjú - Hooded Crow (Corvus Cornix) and a duck

2011-03-12T21:13:00.000+02:00

Boldog Nok Napjat - La Multi Ani de 8 Martie

2011-03-08T13:20:00.000+02:00

Black Knight - My Volkswagen

2011-02-28T21:22:00.000+02:00

Cross

2011-02-26T16:31:00.000+02:00

Extinct reptiles

2011-02-13T00:37:00.001+02:00

What would you do? Run? or stay still?

Last moments of you're life!

photos where taken by me and mixed by me :)

Frozen

2011-02-10T18:52:00.002+02:00

Ice

2011-01-30T22:38:00.000+02:00

HDR-ish Mathias Rex

2011-01-28T23:30:00.000+02:00

Simple Sunsets

2011-01-19T15:00:00.000+02:00

The tree and the moon

2011-01-18T00:16:00.000+02:00

"X Ray" Kiwi

2011-01-15T19:45:00.000+02:00

Seagull 2

2011-01-15T19:41:00.000+02:00

Seagull

2011-01-11T19:52:00.001+02:00

You may observe the color difference on the leg and toe, it is not a result of bad white balance, just natural, can vary from bird to bird.

New moon 2011

2011-01-08T21:47:00.002+02:00

Winter (high key)

2011-01-06T21:11:00.002+02:00

Last sunset of year 2010

2011-01-01T23:07:00.000+02:00

Long exposure shots (12-15 sec.), it was very dark almost night, but snow reflects well the light...the last sunset of 2010 from Ciurila

Merry Christmas to you !

2010-12-24T22:53:00.000+02:00

Moon Aura

2010-12-20T22:29:00.000+02:00

Today instead of "crater hunting" I turned my attention to a relatively rare phenomena, Moon Aura. Most often it is due to fine ice crystals at high altitude reflecting the light overwhelmed with even slight cloudiness or pollution.It was like a Rainbow around the moon, but for some reason only the variation of blue and yellow was captured by the sensor a 6 or 8 sec. exposure with f8 and ISO 200 ~150mm. I added a bit of contrast and replaced the moon overexposed silhouette with a correct exposed one...

Winter trip

2010-12-18T19:37:00.000+02:00

Today I went out with my wife and 3 month old son for a small trip near the city, when I saw this nice composition in my rear-view mirror.

Winter trip

Testing the Vivitar MC 2X-22 Tele Converter with Soligor 60-300mm

2010-12-18T00:42:00.000+02:00

Today I was trying my luck with my Soligor telephoto lens, the result I think was better, of course I needed to sharpen the image, but this 20 year old lens has a finer focus ring then the Tamrom I used the other day...

Testing the Vivitar MC 2X-22 Tele Converter

2010-12-16T00:37:00.000+02:00

About a month ago I brought a Vivitar MC 2X-22 Tele Converter for moon photography, from a 300 mm telephoto lens I can get out about 600 mm, BUT I was shocked about the result,..., negatively.It is very hard to take a sharp image with TC manual focus, I need to rise the ISO to 800 which is the extreme acceptable limit of the K10D, outside the temperature was around -12 Celsius, not the clearest sky, so I need to test a little more for a final verdict! I'm going to regret that I bought this Tele converter?!?

Click on the photo for original size, 300 mm (photo taken in october) compared to a 600 mm (photo taken in december) with tele converter:

What is you're opinion?

Candle

2010-12-05T00:22:00.002+02:00

Candle

Inside Bánffy Castle II.

2010-12-02T18:51:00.000+02:00

Inside near the main entrance

Time

Inside Bánffy Castle

2010-12-01T11:54:00.000+02:00

Back side of the castle, the enterence to the tower HDR B&W

Door in the middle section of the mansion HDR

Original decals found on the floor

Original decals found on the floor (Hand held and a bit blurry)

Light Bokeh

2010-11-19T22:51:00.000+02:00

Light Bokeh

Half Moon

2010-11-15T21:22:00.001+02:00

Half Moon ( I really need a teleconverter) 100% crop

Sunbathing

2010-11-15T21:20:00.000+02:00

Sunbathing

The Moon today

2010-11-12T23:13:00.001+02:00

The moon - Pentax K10 | 300 mm | f11 | 1/90 sec.

Streamy Waterfall III.

2010-11-11T23:07:00.000+02:00

Streamy Waterfall III.

Cemetery

2010-11-05T22:20:00.000+02:00

Cemetery at Calvaria Church - Cluj

Poor or rich,..., at the end, we all experience the world beyond our imagination

Autumn Abstract - Reflection

2010-11-03T23:47:00.000+02:00

Autumn Reflection

Happy Halloween

2010-10-30T23:29:00.000+03:00

I ain't afraid of no Ghost !!!

Streamy Waterfall II.

2010-10-30T11:33:00.000+03:00

Streamy Waterfall

2010-10-29T00:12:00.001+03:00

Streamy Waterfall with fallen leaves

Bánffy Castle front

2010-10-26T23:27:00.001+03:00

Bánffy Castle front in Black&White

Bánffy Castle inside room

2010-10-25T22:54:00.000+03:00

Bánffy Castle

2010-10-23T20:02:00.001+03:00

Bánffy Castle is an architectonic Baroque monument situated in Bonţida (Bonchida), a village in the vicinity of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. It was owned by the Bánffy family , sometimes also called "The Versailles of Transylvania".
The castle was desecrated during World War II by German troops and neglected by the communist regime in Romania;Currently is being restored but anyway, this castle has it's magic even it is ruined...

HDR and B&W

HDR


Original

More to come...

A bit of texture abstract

2010-10-22T22:26:00.000+03:00

Dewy Morning

2010-10-22T00:02:00.005+03:00

Chestnut

2010-10-17T20:51:00.000+03:00

White Orhideea

2010-10-16T22:23:00.004+03:00

Calvaria Church

2010-09-20T00:02:00.001+03:00

Fragments from the Castle of Buda - Budapest-Hungary

2010-09-10T00:45:00.004+03:00

Alfa and Dorka

2010-09-09T23:26:00.006+03:00

Dragonfly ...

2010-08-22T23:52:00.004+03:00

...and the Moon today

...and yesterday.

2010-08-20T23:08:00.000+03:00

A few hundred km difference...

20.08.2010

Moon

2010-08-20T00:02:00.002+03:00

The moon today...

Salt Mine - Turda - Cluj County

2010-08-14T22:15:00.001+03:00

Today we went out to visit the newly renovated Salt mine, I was a bit afraid because in this country renovations has an other meaning, renovated places are "soul-less", shiny, polished, colored, full of colored bulbs like a Christmas tree.Well this time was no other.But at least there are no blue lights.Inside hundreds off people, attracted by the hanged lights and the new elevator, where pouring left and right, these images are the result of tens of minutes of patience and tolerance.
Hopefully, there are some places that remained the same, so hurry up!

2010-08-12T18:58:00.003+03:00

Shots from the past...

A crab spider...

I found this guy in a field near the observatory in Cluj, a couple of months ago, and now I made a bit off research (google) to find out which species belongs to.It's a Crab spider, pls don'n shoot me if I'm wrong, correct me.

Crab spiders do not build webs to trap prey, but are hunters and ambushers. Some species sit on or among flowers, bark, fruit or leaves where they grab visiting insects. They use their powerful front legs to grab and hold onto prey while paralyzing it with a venomous bite. These spiders change color by secreting a liquid yellow pigment into the outer cell layer of the body. On a white base, this pigment is transported into lower layers, so that inner glands, filled with white guanine, become visible. If the spider dwells longer on a white plant, the yellow pigment is often excreted. It will then take the spider much longer to change to yellow, because it will have to produce the yellow pigment first. The color change is induced by visual feedback; spiders with painted eyes were found to have lost this ability.

Some Black and White

Rocks in the sand, near Aghires lake
The valley of Dragan, view from the dam.
The observatory near Cluj ...

2010-08-07T11:23:00.001+03:00

B&W fragments from Castle of Buda - Budapest

2010-07-26T21:43:00.004+03:00

A piece of history, the Nyerges-tető
If you are a hungarian, transilvanian, austrian, russian or even romanian I'm pretty sure you heard about the 1848-49 freedom-fights, about the revolution.
At an altitude of 875 m, in the mountains of Ciuc is a place we call Nyerges-tető, a holly place were one of the last battle of the 1848-49 revolution was fought.This is the place where major Tuzson János and his handful of soldiers fought bravely against the mighty Austro-Russian army.The battle was won by the Austrians by treachery.The fallen heroes body was berried in a common grave in this holly place, where now, you can find this sea of crosses.

2010-07-26T21:02:00.002+03:00

Some shots from the past month...
A bit of landscape ... somewhere near Csikszereda (M-Ciuc)

A flower from the garden :)

Lola of course ...

And a spider (unfortunately it's not the Audi R8 spider or the Lamborghini Gallardo spider ) eating a fly ...

2010-07-14T00:25:00.002+03:00

Before the storm raves...

I love the cloud formations before the storm, they are very heavy and aggressive, there is a nice contrast between densities...no HDR was used only gradual filter...

... same place, but with a bit of PS

After the storm, a nice rainbow...

2010-07-02T00:13:00.001+03:00

Poppys near the railway ...

2010-06-24T23:18:00.004+03:00

Grassalkovich mansion Gödöllő - Hungary

Gödöllő is a town situated in Pest county some 30 km from Budapest.The mansion at Gödöllő was originally built for the aristocratic Grassalkovich family, later Ferenc Josef Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary and his wife Elisabeth "Sisi" had their summer residence here.

2010-06-06T12:17:00.002+03:00

The field...

Just a gradual gray filter, not a HDR,...,and I want to dedicate this one for a good friend, who has the same passion like me,...photography! We discuss a lot about photography, changing ideas and sometimes we go out for a "photo session".I hope he will like this one more, than the previous post's first shot!Who is this friend?A hint,.., he's a vegetarian!

2010-06-05T17:09:00.001+03:00

The quiet before storm...

2010-05-31T22:25:00.002+03:00

11000 meter above the Earth...

In February we where flying to Germany and back, I had the occasion to make some decent shots "above the Earth" I was lucky not to sit above the wing (many time happens) and I had my camera on board the window was clean (rare happens).
For somebody who is flying very often, this post may be boring, but for me was a real adventure.I love flying and love to look at these amazing cloud formations.

But especially love to look up, to that deep dark blue sky.