Croatia was never really a country that was on my radar in terms of places to visit, mainly because I really didn’t know a lot about it. However a few years while in a hostel in Malaga, Spain when I asked a French Canadian couple what country was their favorite from their European trip, they both said resoundingly, Croatia. They went on to tell me about the city of Dubrovnik and how wonderful it was, and then went on to tell me about the rest of Croatia. This stuck with me, and made me want to someday see this great walled city, and the rest of Croatia. Later on that trip during Oktoberfest I made friends with a Croatia girl named Sidonja, which gave me even more reason to goto Croatia.

So a few years later, I find myself with an unplanned Europe trip. The only commitment I have is to attend Regis and Johanna’s wedding. Apart from that everything was quite open. So I emailed Sid and asked if she would like a visitor in Croatia. When she told me she would love to have me, it was enough reason for me to put Croatia in my plans for this European trip.

When I told Jason of my plans he wanted to join in. He was thinking of going to Italy for the Palio di Siena, which would fit in nicely with a visit to Croatia due to the close proximity to Italy. We agreed to meet in Dubrovnik, and make our way north via rental car (another story in itself). So I arrived at the airport to find Jason waiting patiently for my flight to arrive. He had arrived an hour earlier from Zagreb where he had flown into the night before from Montreal. It was good to see my oft travel buddy again, and to take on a new adventure.

From the airport we took a bus into the city. The drive already got my excitement level up. We drove on a single lane road that was winding its way across cliff bluffs overlooking the Adriatic. When we turned one of the final corners and the city of Dubrovnik was there before us, I was blown away at how magnificent the city is.

We got out of our bus, and with a little help from my GPS we found where we were suppose to meet the lady who was renting us an apartment room. A few buzzes on her buzzer without any answer, forced us to have a beer and wait. Tough. An hour later, I decided to call her. She was busy, and came to find us. She showed us a smallish little apartment that was right in the heart of the old city, overlooking Stradun, Dubrovnik’s main street. In her broken English our hostess showed us on a map all the places to go, and the ones to avoid. “You go here 50 kuna beers, but if you go here, 15 kuna beers. I don’t know about you, but I like 15 kuna beers.”. As she parted she had 1 final rule to follow, “No sex parties.”, She then pointed at me and said, “You, girl”, then pointed to Jason and continued, “You OUT!”. She then repeated the rules however outlining what would happen if Jason had a girl; and yes, I was “OUT!”.

So over the next 2 days armed with the advice from our hostess we explored the city of Dubrovnik and all it had to offer. We drank cappuccinos in side streets with locals, had shots of slivovitch listening to live blues, watched a marching band parade up and down Stradun from our apartment window. We walked for hours around the city walls, ate squid ink risotto, and swam in the Adriatic. We partied with hundreds locals in a back alley, watched the daily lightning light up the night sky, and had drinks in a hidden tavern.

I had really high hopes for Dubrovnik before my trip, which is often a recipe for disappointment. In this case however, the city of Dubrovnik not only met my expectations, but far surpassed anything I had imaged. I will someday have to return to this lovely walled city on the sea.

I have posted a few of my favorite photos from my time in Dubrovnik. Hope you enjoy them!

As you may or may not have known, I spent the last 3+ weeks in Europe. The main purpose of this trip was to visit my cousin (or is it kleincousin?) Johanna, and attend her wedding to her love Regis. Now I have technically known Johanna since I was about 5. We were at a relatives 25th anniversary and we sat together at the children’s table. Johanna didn’t speak any English and the only German I knew was Du bist blöd, which basically means “you are stupid”. So as 5 year olds go, I called my cousin stupid, and she would respond with something similar, and on goes the story. What a lovely first encounter.

I really hadn’t gotten to know Johanna until I was 21, when she came to Canada for a visit. She came during the summer, during a time when I was unemployed due to the dot com crash. Since I had no job, I was able to tour around with her quite a bit and get to know her a little more. Since then we kept in touch, and every time I visit Europe I do my best to visit with her.

So back to the main story. I came to Europe to attend the wedding, and was going to do a bit of touring afterwards. I packed a light camera bag with a couple 2 somewhat wide lenses and a 50mm prime. Good lenses for touristy pictures. At the wedding I hadn’t planned on taking many photos. Usually weddings have photographers hired, and every guest tends to have a camera. So I decided I would leave my camera in my hotel room.

German weddings have 2 parts. The first ceremony which is the state wedding which takes place at the town hall usually, then the second church wedding, well … in a church. So I headed off to the town hall, with nothing but my cellphone for the odd snap or video. As I expected everyone had a camera, and everyone was taking loads of photos. I felt relived that I made the right choice; or so I thought. After the first ceremony, after congratulating Johanna, she said to me with a very stern and serious look, “Why are you not taking any photos?”. I told her my rant on how everyone was shooting, which she replied, “I want you to take our photos.”

So it was settled. When I got back to my hotel room, I grabbed my camera bag, and thought, for Johanna I will take some photos. So during the church ceremony, I snapped off some shots, and continued to do so outside the church after the wedding. I got a few good shots here and there, thinking nothing more of it. However after a short gathering after the church ceremony, it was time for couples photos. Up until this point one of Johanna & Regis’s friends had been shooting a lot of their photos. So I had assumed he was their unofficial photographer. When it was time to take the couple photos however, Johanna grabbed me by my arm, and told me to come along too. She wanted me to take their photos as well. I am sure there is some sort of rule about saying no to a bride on her wedding day, so I agreed and went off with them in their Mercedes to take photos.

For the rest of the day I proceeded to act as the alternate photographer for the wedding. Taking shots of whatever I could. Since this was a bit of a surprise to be shooting the wedding, I didn’t really have time to prepare, so I just flat out winged it. As for the results? I am relatively happy with some of the shots I got. I think I probably would have been able to get a lot nicer shots if I had prepared for the day, however for a first time I am satisfied. Anyway let me know what you think of the shots. Most were shot with my 50mm f/1.4 lens. A couple I used my wide angles. Below are some of my favorite shots of the day. Oh and congratulations to Johanna and Regis!

So I heard through the grapevine (Facebook) that on Saturday Vancouver had the most amazing mix of sunset, lightning, and fireworks all in one. You can view a bunch of really great photos of the action on Flickr by searching by date for July 25th and ordering by Interestingness:

Vancouver Lightning on Flickr

Also checkout the katkam webam archives for the day of July 25:

Katkam Archives for July 25

Baked some chocolate chip cookies today. It is a pretty standard recipe I think I initially found on allrecipies.com. Basically following the common ratio of 1 cup butter to 2 eggs and 2 cups sugar.

Some people like their cookies thin and crunchy, if that is the case then this recipe might not be for you. However if you are a fan of a meaty moist cookie then look no further!

Here is the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies/Detail.aspx. Give it a go for a tasty treat.

Milk and Cookies Moustache:

“They have built a business around selling plastic discs, and nobody wants plastic discs any more.”
- Trent Reznor

So last weekend I decided I had enough with my cd collection sitting around collecting dust. So I decided to remove my cds and inserts from their jewel cases, and store the cds in a binder, and all the inserts and digipaks in a box. All the cds that I didn’t have as digital media on my computer yet, I ripped to mp3.

After separating all the cds from their jewel cases I then put back together all the empty jewel cases and made a tower.

Finally all the inserts and digipaks in an old shoebox.

Definitely much better, and no longer do I have to deal with the pain of dusting every cd I own.

Roughly one year ago I took the plunge and bought myself a DSLR. I had always enjoyed taking photos, but never really taken it too seriously. After being pushed by my friend Lee, and positively reinforced by Laura, I ordered my Canon Rebel Xti. When I first started I had no idea what aperture was, when the best times of day were to shoot, and generally how to operate an SLR camera. So I got a bunch of books on the subject, and started to experiment.

My first couple weeks with the camera I shot all the time. Like non stop. I would go out on my lunch breaks, before and after work and shoot. It was a learning experience to say the least, but I was loving it. The more I read, and the more I shot, the better I got a feel for how the camera worked. At that time I also started to get into Flickr a lot more. I found Flickr to be extremely helpful as I was able to find photos that I liked, and try to examine how they were created, and what made them great.

So I continued to shoot and experiment. Learning as I went. Initially I didn’t quite fully comprehend a lot of what the books talked about, but as time went on it really began to sink it. Like how important the light plays in photography, or what makes a good composition. While photography is not a science, there is science and psychology behind a lot of the principals, and it is important to understand them, to be able to take a good shot.

I think when things started to sink in, and I really started to get it was when I visited Laura in London. It was a wonderful trip, one in which I was able to take a few photos (probably not as many as I should have) that I could start to apply the techniques I was learning. My first ever photo “Explored” on Flickr was of Laura’s shoes. At the time I didn’t even know what explore was.

As the summer progressed I experimented more, and continued to grow. I started to play with filters, shoot macro shots, and play around more with HDR images.

Come fall I think I started to put all the things I had learned together. A trip to visit my friends Joe and Kasie in Ventura, California really topped things off. During my week there I was able to get out and shoot daily, and feel extremely positively about the images I shot during my week.

Now I am by no means close to being a good photographer, but I think I now have the basics down. There is still a lot to learn and improve on, and so much more to explore. This is by far the most exciting hobby I have found, and am forever grateful to both Lee and Laura for pushing me in the right direction.

So last but not least a few tips for anyone else starting off in photography.

Know Your Light – Learn when the light is harsh and when it is soft. See the effects each has on shadows, and contrast. Go and shoot during the golden hours (before and after sunrise and sunset) and then go shoot the same things during midday and see how each type of light affects your image. Understanding lighting is probably the most important thing you need to learn.

Focus on your Composition – If learning the affects of light is the most important thing, then learning about composition is probably the second most important thing. Learn the rule of thirds. Then break it. Then go back to it. While it is not a hard set rule it does hold weight. Play around with placing objects in different locations in a shot, and see which ones you like best.

Simplicity is King – It is really easy to want to put lots of ‘things’ into a photo. Generally these types of shots just look cluttered. Try and simplify things, and see the result. Focus on what you want to say in your photo.

Explore – Go out and explore. Take lots of shots. Like seriously, take loads of shots. With digital now you can! You don’t have to share them all (most people say to only share your best shots anyway), but the more you shoot, the more you will learn. Find shots you really like on Flickr (or any other photo site) and try to decompose how they made the shot. Read blogs, books etc, and most of all have fun.

Looking forward there is still so much for me to learn. Some key areas I really want to focus on in 2009 are:

Taking more photos of people: Most of what I have shot so far is typically landscapes. I really would like to get a lot better at taking photos of people (either staged or candid).

Learn to Off Camera Light: I have just gotten into off camera lighting, and would really like to explore it more. In 2009 I plan to fully scour the strobist blog and learn the ropes of off camera lighting.

Utilize my Filters Better: I am still learning the ropes of the effects filters play on an image. I want to become more confident using them, and be able to choose the right filter for the right occasion.

Feel More Confident Behind the Lens: While I have come a long way since I started, I still have a ways to go. I think with continuing to learn, and continuing to shoot though this should fall in place.

2008 was another really good year for me. I was able to do a lot of traveling, see some good shows, spend time with family and friends, and find a new passion in photography.

At the start of the year I decided I wanted to get into photography. So as a Christmas gift to myself I purchased an entry level DSLR, and made a commitment that I would learn how to use it. Over the past year I have thoroughly enjoyed learning and shooting as much as I can. I will be posting a 1 year of photography post later so I will leave this at that.

As far as shows go this year I didn’t go to as many as the previous couple years, but the shows I did see were pretty special. Some of the bands and festivals I attended this year:

Justice, Eddie Vedder (x4), Black Mountain, Metric, 3 inches of Blood, Bison, Shawn Smith, Wintersleep, Bonnaroo, Wolf Parade, Pemberton Music Festival, Stanley Park Singing Festival, Finntroll, Mission of Burma, Sigur Ros, Gogol Bordello, Neil Young, and the Cave Singers.

My only regret was that I skipped the Mars Volta concert. I had tickets, but arrived back from England a few hours before the show, and didn’t have the energy to make it out to the PNE.

Speaking of travel, in 2008 I really began to take advantage of my ability to work anywhere with my Job. My first major trip of the year was a 5 day stay in California with Joe and Kasie for the Vedder tour. I found I was quite able to work productively with a noisy distracting environment. At one point I was even worked in the back of Joe’s Prius!

The Vedder tour also was the catalyst for my next trip. For the 2 Vancouver shows I had invited a Flickr friend, and fellow Pearl Jam fan from London to come spend a week in Vancouver with me and come to the shows. She accepted, and during her 1 week stay we really hit it off. A month after she left I flew out to London to visit her for two and a half weeks.

I had a fantastic time in London, and was even able to spend a weekend in Paris visiting my cousin. Surprising Jason on my arrival was also a nice bonus. However he really didn’t seem to shocked to see me there.

In June I flew to Nashville and embarked on a mini adventure with Jason and Lester through the south. We drove south from Nashville to New Orleans, then up through Mississippi to Memphis, and finally back to Nashville. We ate food at a Bar with a Kitchen, saw some fantastic live jazz, saw the home of the King, and had our vehicle fully searched by the police. All in all a great adventure. When we arrived in Nashville we met up with Kasie and Joe, and made our way to the Bonnaroo music festival.

Bonnaroo was a real blast (and did I mention extremely hot?), even if on the first day I didn’t quiet feel into it. However after seeing a couple of really great sets I got right into it. There were some really great acts at Bonnaroo, and it was a real pleasure sharing the experience with some of my best friends!

After Bonnaroo I flew east to Montreal where I spent a week visiting with my brother and nephew. I was able to celebrate my nephews birthday, take part in the Saint Jean Baptiste celebrations, as well as do a search for the best poutine in Montreal. On my way home from Montreal I made a brief stay at my parents place to deliver my nephew to them for his summer stay.

July began with another visit from Laura. We had a pretty chilled out time together touring around some of the summer hot spots in and around Vancouver. Despite nursing a horrible toothache, Laura was a really good sport all week. The day after Laura left, my parents came for a short visit. They stayed a few days before bringing my nephew to the airport and send him on his way back to Montreal. The day after they left I headed out to Pemberton with Lester and Bernie to take part in the inaugural Pemberton Music Festival. Despite a few hiccups the festival was a glowing success.

August was a relaxed month. I spent a bunch of time in Fauquier, and got to attend the wedding of high school sweethearts Dustin and Sarah. At the end of the month I went with Lester and Bernie to the first ever Stanley Park Singing Exhibition put on by the New Pornographers.

September I invited Kyle to Vancouver to attend his first “real” concert with a band he really liked. It was great having Kyle around, and to take part in his first ever concert. We also managed to organize a session of hockey for him, and were able to get Jen and Steve out.

October I caught a bunch of really good shows (Gogol Bordello, Sigur Ros, and Neil Young). Near the end of the month I had my wisdom teeth removed. While in November after the depression of the Canadian election, and the exciting of the US election, I took a trip to Ventura, California to visit Kasie and Joe. It was a really relaxed visit. We played lots of settles, surfed, protested, ate some really excellent food, and I took some of my favorite photos of the year. Like all visits this one was too short.

At the end of November I organized a surprise stag for my best friend Joern. Bernie, Lorne and myself kidnapped him after work and flew him to Calgary to attend a Flames game, play paintball, and visit with some of his close friends. I would like to say I was the star of the weekend for doing something really cool, unfortunately this weekend will go down in everyone’s memory as the weekend Stefan jumped (or was it fell) down 5 rows at the Saddledome.

Finally December marked the end of the year. It was a true December, with snow, sledding, family and fun. It was also one of the best Christmases I can remember.

So tonight I will cap off another great year, and look forward to the new year ahead, and a month (or more) in Hawaii.

Happy New Years everyone!

You can find the best of my Sasquatch photos at photos.kloppmagic.ca