andthennothing.net

There are a few things I don’t like about the autumn, like the humidity, darkness, and temperature. But the colors, and to some degree, the smells are great.

Yesterday was one of those wonderful autumn days with a clear blue sky and reasonable temperature. And since my plans for the weekend didn’t materialize I took my bike out for a spin—it was great biking on small roads through the woods. Since I started quite early I had the time to go for a long ride. There are not a whole lot of attention grabbers out in the middle of nowhere which makes all small things stick out—like all the litter (beer cans, a pizza box, a gas tank cap etc) or the boy trying to impress by skidding all over the lawn with his ATV. After 40 km I finally found a nice little lake with a landing stage where I could eat my sandwiches and take a break. As time passed by it got darker and eventually all I could see were things lit up by my bike’s front light. When I got home I was tired and happy after a 72 km long ride (the longest so far). A good way to spend a Saturday!

Tonight I went out on a bike ride down to the sea. The same trip I’ve done quite a few times now, but this time I discovered a cute little trail running a few hundered meters closer to the sea which is a lot more interesting. Unfortunately the rough(er) terrain made the handlebars come loose (I had nothing to do with it, honestly). It wasn’t the first time that happened, actually the same thing happened two weeks ago. That time I found a few guys after a few kilometers who were moving into a house who had a screwdriver that was good enough to fasten the handlebars to take me home (but evidently not enough to last). This time I had no such luck, so I ended up walking 15 kilometers to get home. Fortunately I had a bike torch (the woods were pitch black) and a mp3-player with good music and podcasts. Note to self: bring the tools the next time.

Just as it’s important to have the right tools when you’re out biking, it’s important to have the right tools when developing software… Sorry, just kidding. I won’t go there now, that would be cheesy :-)

It feels like the summer is over so each day when it’s nice weather it feels like the last hours of sun and it’s a shame to not take the opportunity when it’s given. So today I left work early (or at least earlier than usual) and went for a bike ride. I’ve checked out most places within 10-20 km so it takes a while before I get to see something new. Today’s ride became a little longer than expected, 55 km, and a bit chilly at the end. And I’ll surely think it was a bad idea tomorrow during the ju-jitsu, but in two months when it’s all dark I’ll think differently.

I was sitting there on the rock, by the sea, reading a book. It was quite a nice day, but rather cloudy. All of a sudden I heard the sound of thunder, the last sound in the world I wanted to hear, far away. I read one more chapter (fortunately a short one) and then I headed home on my bike. Legs tired, back tyre three quarters full, seventeen long kilometers from home. After a few kilometers the first drops of rain hit my face, but I got almost halfway home until it started raining. But when it rained, it poured. It’s been a while since I’ve rain-cycling, and now I know why I’ve stayed away from it. It took just a few minutes until I was wet, through and through.

(Ok, so I exaggerated a bit, it wasn’t “the last sound in the word”, but it sure came close.)

The weather has been really, really nice the last few weeks. Summer, for sure. But I have unfortunately not spent that much time outdoors during the days, you know work and all that. So I try to get out on my bike at least a few times a week. Today I was out for a good three and a half hours and enjoyed every minute of it.

I live in a really small town so there’s just a 15 minute bike ride until I reach the Baltic Sea and the country side. I usually just ride along and explore a bunch of small roads. I have taken the car a few times but it doesn’t have AC, you miss out a lot of the experience, and you can’t stop that easily wherever you want. And taking short stops all over the place, to check them out and perhaps shoot some photos, is a major part. (Oh, and I must have my MP3-player with me with some good music and podcasts, but that’s besides the point.)

I just noticed that I’ve taken over thousand photos in about two months. There are of course a lot of crappy photos, but that’s a good thing. Most is nature photography which makes them somewhat boring perhaps, but I don’t feel comfortable putting photos of friends and stuff online, just as I don’t feel comfortable blogging about those kind of things.

There are other ways in which photography relates to writing (or at least blogging). When I started blogging I sometimes did things in order to have something to write about. It can be a good thing using blogging/writing as an excuse to do things, but I didn’t like it too much so I unlearned that urge rather quickly. Photography can also be a driving force to do stuff. But at least for now I’m perfectly fine with that. I’m not quite sure why, but perhaps since when I’m photographing it enhances the experience and it’s done as soon as the button is pushed, whereas when I’m about to blog/write something I get somewhat disconnected since I’m formulating sentences in the back of my head and the actual writing takes place later on. I’m not sure if this makes any sense to anyone else, but I think that’s how I work.

Anyhow, I do think I understand a bit of how it is to be a journalist or a photographer. For a journalist every situation is a story, and for a photographer every situation is a photo. Or at least, that’s how I think it works, but I’m just rambling well past bedtime.

Yesterday I came home 9 p.m. and was really tired, since I’ve been away all weekend and didn’t sleep too much. So I took the opportunity to take a bike ride and try out the camera tripod I bought. First I stopped by a lake and took some pictures, but it was booring so I continued. Just as I reached 47.13 km/h (no I didn’t look at my cycle computer, it was the max speed when I checked afterwards) a deer showed up just 2-3 meters from the road. So I had to stop of course and take a photo of it, but that didn’t work since it escaped before I was able to get close enough to shoot him (photographically of course). But when I was about to leave I spotted two other deers, but they were too far away to be shootable in the poor light. So there I was trying to shoot some deers, one hare, with loads of bats flying over my head. I enjoyed it but night photographing isn’t easy by any means. However, I moved along and found a wooden tower that was perfect for some tripod testing. The level of details you get by just keeping the shutter open for 8 seconds is amazing. Unfortunately my super cheap tripod was not tall enough so the tower got in the way of some shots, but at least I know that it works. On my return home I saw another deer that crossed the road just a couple of meters in front of me. But it snuck away into the forest before I could shoot it (yes, still photographically, who do you take me for?).