How do I imaginatively describe my photograph to YOU, the viewer?
After a little research online, I gathered enough information for me to be able to compose a list of “must haves” in my accompanying text. Hopefully, this will enable me to produce an interesting and enlightening description of my photograph. My list of “must haves” appears at the end of this post.
Made you Think?
This photograph was taken at the beautiful Ostaria Veranda Restaurant, in Croatia. My first reaction when we entered the restaurant was “Oh my goodness there is a tree in the restaurant”! Not a small tree either! Once I sat down I was able to admire this huge ancient Wisteria tree twisted and stretched across the roof of the veranda. A fluttering canopy of green leaves covered the whole of the outdoor seating area. it was quite magical. I wondered how old the tree was and how many diners it had listened to. I am sure it would have a few tales to tell. Incidentally, Wisteria live to 50 years old.
On closer inspection of my photograph, I mentally complemented the restaurant designers, first for the beautiful calming blue and green theme running through the restaurant. Secondly, for the positioning of the huge mirror on the back wall reflecting the lush greenery across the veranda.
Speculation and Suggestion
Zooming in on the huge Wisteria I noticed it was netted, perhaps the drying bark was making its way into customers’ dishes!
The gentleman with the less than substantial hair looked as if he was the next target for a hitman! Unfortunately for him, he will have a nice rosy sunspot on his head, and perhaps a hole in his white shirt! The midday sun that day was very strong. I noticed he had obviously taken care with his outfit matching his crocheted looking top with a white plastic watch!
His female companion was most likely his wife, the telltale sign was her wedding band and the slightly bored looks on both their faces. Perhaps a wife of many years on their hols in Croatia? She also wore glitzy bangles and sunglasses. I struggled to understand why she was wearing them inside…maybe prescription lenses. The pink nail varnish made my eyes water, she was not nearly as colour co-ordinated as her husband.
They were both drinking wine, she on the rose and he on the white, (another clue they could be on their holidays) both had eaten a bowlful of soup…probably the popular fish soup as it was a fish restaurant renowned for its soups.
Moving to the back of the photo and that giant mirror, the reflections were amazingly pretty and a good focal feature for the restaurant. I thought the lady sitting beneath the mirror was laughing but in fact, she was actually yawning, is this another case of a “bored married couple”? I leave you to decide!
Made You Think?
Descriptive Tips – “Must Haves”
Give a brief summary of what you see, Describe your photograph in a logical order.
Talk about things that are in the photograph describing them objectively.
Add details describing your first impressions, good or bad.
On closer inspection – speculate imaginatively. Use vivid, imaginative language.
Speculate about the context of your subjects.
Highlight portions of the picture in an orderly fashion.
As always, thank you for reading. I shall end this post with a quote I like very much and aspire to.
“If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff.” – Jim Richardson
Today is a double special day for us! Six years ago (shockingly passed in a flash) we took the plunge and moved out here to pretty rural Hungary. We have found our feet, found our place in the community and are now excited for the future years.
Of course, it was not all plain sailing, many obstacles stood in our way. But this post is not to dwell on those issues, we tackled each problem…and here we are today… and as Eric, my husband would say we are “Happy as Larry”!! Ohhh yes we are. 🙂
When Haley arrived in our lives she gave us much joy and happiness. She passed away at age 4, she would have been 6 years old today. I want to celebrate her birthday joyfully by sharing photos with a little text about our mischievous Haley.
I thought it would be interesting to share photos of progress, the before and after shots, also a photo tribute to the beautiful very much missed Haley. ❣❤❣
If you would like to see a photo in a larger size, simply click on it to enhance your viewing experience.
After many viewings of affordable properties, we finally settled on this one. Our first viewing of this property gave us the good vibe feelings we needed to purchase abroad!
Not a pretty sight, the end gable was missing! But, it gave us the opportunity to add a laundry room which was something I had never had before. I appreciate it so much now.
Along with a fallen down house, we bought much land with a fantastic opportunity to grow our own fruit and vegetables. We managed to achieve that dream and ate produce we had grown ourselves.
The main entrance needed a serious upgrade.
I felt like I was going back in time walking around our future Hungarian home. I found it difficult to visualise what our dream home would look like with the owners furniture sitting there.
This was the kitchen area, with bottled gas for cooking.
This is our kitchen, we have mains gas. We opened up the inside, knocked down a few walls now we enjoy open-plan living.
During the renovation we had an ENORMOUS amount of rubbish and rubble, the only place to dump it was our garden.
I took this photo yesterday, on a bitterly cold November day. If I had done a little more forward planing I would have taken photos during the summer months.
Another winter photo taken last year. “Our Street”
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HALEY
A fun play on words and photos.
Hello Haley remember when…
..You forgot you were a husky and supposed to like the snow, not sit there with your eyes closed, you’ll freeze your little toes!
..You wanted to try that yoghurt and really quite enjoyed it.Dad gave you his pot to lick and said, its also good for diets!
..You decided you needed a hole, secretly dug in my beautiful garden.Raff yelled “hurry, come here mum” your not going to give her a pardon!
..I was not best pleased with you but apparently that is what huskies “do”! The bonus was capturing this shotand forgiveness was given to you!
..You often gave dad your outstretched paw, repeatedly hoping and begging for more. Sometimes the treats were often all gone, so you looked like a stern husky with a batman mask on!
Sweet Fruzsi from Hungary painted you a card, a portrait with a Santa hat on, how absurd! You weren’t sure at first, so you gave it a sniff, then agreed it was lovely and a fantastic gift.
..Your eyes at the window are telling me something, you want to come in to have treats or just anything. This frequent sad eye request is not going to win, fresh air and vigorous exercise will get you let in!
..You and buddie Raff, both lounging on my sofa. Out of bounds for doggies and accompanying young loafers. I know you’re plotting what the next step will be, I hope to see you off my sofa so I can go and make the tea.
..Your toys were often scattered round the garden, remember Morgan Bear and Prickly Blue? You loved Prickly Blue, he was never out of your sight, I tried to retrieve him once and you nearly gave me a bite.
..It’s that time of year for grooming, when the annoying brush is produced, to groom your fur to perfection and get your “blow coat” reduced.
..Goodness me, whose legs are these, must be Haley’s with mud up her knees. “Where have you been you naughty girl?” Just roaming and digging, patrolling the garden, it’s dirty work being guard dog, I need another pardon!
..Your love of the sun I found a little strange, a sun loving husky must be the current rage. I thought Husky’s were cold lovers, ice peaks and snow, not our madame Haley which is quite good to know.
We had some snow, it covered your ears, only a light dusting but you looked full of fears. We sat on the veranda and admired the lovely snow, me taking photos and you just ready to go.
..The camera was always there, to record such moments like these, I know I was sometimes annoying, but I only did it to please. You see, now we can look back and smile, at all the memories we have made, particularly the good times, I think we made the grade.
Happy Birthday Haley….Remembering you today and every day.
I zipped the blinds up and saw the neighbouring chickens had escaped again! They were having a sneaky wander in next door’s garden, oblivious to the fact that their owner was looking frantically for them!! I love chickens, these escapees seemed particularly cheerful today. 😀
If you would like to see a photo in a larger size, simply click on it to enhance your viewing experience.
Another “Good Morning” was from one of the many donkeys that live very comfortably on a huge animal farm on the way out of the village.
After a thirty minute drive, we arrived in the village of Ozora.
Lots of traditional Hungarian houses look like this, square like a box with some sort of arty decoration on the outside. I thought it looked rather enchanting.
Some houses have verandas that have been enclosed to make additional living space and draped with three quarter length nets. This property looked like it needed urgent attention!
I am accustomed to British car-boot sales and spent many pleasant hours on a Sunday morning in the UK browsing for bargains.
Hungarians do things slightly differently.
Car-Booting Hungarian Style
In Hungary large canvas tents are erected in front gardens of houses in the little villages dotted all over the country with anything and everything for sale. They are usually held at the weekends whatever the weather and throughout the year. You wander the streets, enter people’s gardens and browse the mountains of goods for sale. Nothing is priced and often goods are in very poor condition. If you have the time and the patience you can pick up some great bargains.
Ozora village has a significant Gypsy population and a Hungarian minority. Ozora is known as one of the car-booting capitals of Hungary!
We had been advised years ago that if we visited Ozora without a Hungarian speaker we would become the easy target for overpriced goods. Living so rural, foreigners do tend to stick out, nothing is priced and bartering is expected, which is quite hard in a foreign language!
This lady was looking through piles of clothes in someone’s front garden in the hope of finding something suitable to buy.
The vast majority of goods for sale were bikes, mowers and skiing equipment in the gardens and “Bric-a-Brac” and everything else in the marques and garages.
Walking through the village I noticed many houses accommodated an array of trinkets, ornaments and statues strategically placed for maximum enjoyment. Frogs!
Ducks!
The roof truly was this colour…with a cockerel strutting his stuff!
I am not sure I find these galloping horses very pleasing, obviously the home owner does!
This was quite a distressing sight, I could not work out if the sheep was there to cut the grass (common sight in Hungary) attached to a tyre by a pathetically short rope or for sale to the public?? Eric wanted to rescue the poor sheep and bring him home but I said, regrettably no! We have had sheep in the past…but that is another blog post!
A rather congested bike house!
Bike take over…same house…more bikes!!
If you need a bike you know where to come!
Wandering past the many bike gardens I reached what appeared to be a popular meeting place for the youth of Ozora. Lions standing to attention!
The bright yellow pillar states in Hungarian, “The Garden Area – Smoking Forbidden!” This guy must have missed that instruction!
“Business finished let’s get going!” I like the guy with the shades and confident step, he’s going places.
A slightly more pleasing lion! Those colours and design are from the flag of Bavaria, Germany.
I rather liked this….especially as it was written in English in a remote rural Hungarian village.
Curiosity took over here. The dark maroon area is a rusty metal fence with a missing panel. Squatting down it was perfect for a framed shot of a rather pleasantly green garden. I liked the rustic look of the fence and the softness of the nature scene beyond. Nice contrasting colours too.
This lovely building was next door, a pretty window caught my eye framed with matching spruce, it is Illyés Gyula Általános Iskola. (Meaning: Illyés Gyula Primary School).
The primary school took the name of Gyula Illyés in 1985. His bust was placed in front of the school on the 90th anniversary of his birth. He had strong connections with the local area. “Gyula Illyés (below) was a three-time Kossuth Prize-winning Hungarian poet, writer, playwright, translator and newspaper editor.
The Roman Catholic church St Istvan King, was built in 1728 Baroque style. Annoyingly, the overground power cables were everywhere obscuring my view. I thought that perhaps as they they were part of the landscape they should be included in my blog.
Street Photography
These next four photos represent my street photography for the day. Each one is taken to make you think about what you are seeing and what your conclusions are.
Hello?
How much?
Keep up Mate!
Self-Explanatory!
I continued to walk through the village, past colourful window boxes filled with plants, they looked very pretty and well maintained by the village Council staff.
Carved for the Millennium 2000.
My intention with this shot was to frame the statue of the fallen man with the yellow leaves of the tree. A combination shot portraying a poignant moment.
An Autumn scene portraying village life in Ozora. I loved the quaint bus shelter with a tiled roof and lantern.
The river was running dry but made a rather interesting “green” shot.
Ozora Autumn display, these colourful displays are a common sight in Hungarian rural villages.
How pretty this display of flowers, visible from the main road welcomes visitors to the village.
Ozora has a 15th century beautiful castle.
Pipo Ozora, King Zsigmond’s patron, began building it in 1416. The Renaissance world was recreated with its renovation, which was completely completed in 2015.
The castle is a wedding venue and they also have rooms to let, fully furnished in the Renaissance style. I believe you can hire the whole castle for an event.
The Ozora Festival, also written O.Z.O.R.A., is an annual open air psychedelic music and arts festival in Ozora, Hungary. It has been held since 2004 and takes place in a giant field, in a valley, just 30 minutes drive from where we live.
The first week in August the whole area becomes very busy, even in our village (15 miles away) with festival goers looking for accommodation for the week long festival.
The spectacular entrance to the annual Ozora Festival.
The autumn leaves are truly spectacular this time of year.
Palinka Apples!
Leaving Ozora in the afternoon sun we whizzed past this little stall. We did not stop but I managed to catch a shot.
These are “Palinka apples”, sold on the village roadsides for the production of Hungary’s national drink… Palinka (similar to brandy). The leftover apples from the recent crops, the bruised or damaged ones are not wasted but sold cheaply to make Hungary’s favorite fiery liquor!
It is considered impolite to refuse a shot of homemade palinka from your neighbour, especially if they have made it themselves. Of course, theirs is the best in the village!😆
This particular Palinka was a lovely gift to us, homemade and given with love.
This is also Palinka, 70% alcohol, VERY strong, deliciously potent and also a gift to us from kind friends.
Witchy fun day at the camel farm!
On our way home we stopped off at the local camel farm to buy some fruit and veg as they have a handy shop on site.
There were several “witches” walking around chatting, preparing for an event at the farm for Halloween. A large inflatable entertained the little ones…I impulsively bought candy floss and hotdogs to take home for Raff and Eric!
We made our way back home, I had thoroughly enjoying myself with my camera cruising around Ozora. I am very lucky to have a willing taxi driver husband who made this trip out possible. Thanks Eric 😎
Raphael was happy we were back too…squinting in the sunshine appreciating his candy floss!
Thanks for reading my post, hope you enjoyed my photography and that the street photography shots made you think? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Enjoy your weekend 🙂
*A genre of photography that records everyday life and events in a public place.*
The very publicness of the setting enables the photographer to take candid pictures of strangers, often without their knowledge.
What I think makes a good street photograph.
A good street photographer focuses on capturing the lives and emotions of people at a particular moment in everyday life. The subjects of the photos are clearly defined, tell a story, and evoke emotions.
*The photographermakes the viewer pause and ask questions, provoking a deeper thought or emotional response.*
I hope my work incorporates these ideals.
I named this photograph “How Much?”
On the banks of the River Sió, on the northwestern border of Tolna County lies Ozora, Hungary which has a significant Gypsy population and a Hungarian minority.
In the centre of Ozora, situated off the main square, stands the former famous “Dukes Inn”. Within those walls, two famous Hungarian poets/actors visited and performed many years ago. Today it is a tourist information centre, hall and theatre. These boys were sitting on its famous steps!
I was looking around the empty square with my camera eye, searching for something interesting to photograph. I had come to the right village. Several groups of young people stood around chatting, their bikes dumped unceremoniously on the ground none of them taking any notice of me. After all, I looked like any other tourist with my camera slung around my neck.
I spotted this group of boys casually sitting with each other on the steps of this building. The framing was good and there was lots of interest in the shot. The leaves on the ground said it was Autumn, the clothes the boys wore suggested it was relatively warm. A splash of red sweatshirt leads the eye to the edge of the frame. I was happy with the composition.
It wasn’t until I got the photo on the screen at home that I realised what was being suggested right before my eyes. It appeared that the older boy was holding a pair of snazzy looking trainers out to the enthusiastic younger boy, perhaps for sale??? I am just guessing. As “wheeling and dealing” is a common way of life for the gypsy communities in Hungary this is probably not very unusual. It just gave me a bit of a reality check! Street photography certainly throws up some interesting thought provoking shots. Do you agree with my thoughts and observations about this photograph, I would be interested to hear in the comments? Thanks for reading. 😁
Making Hungary Home 