Only a few weeks left until I'm headed back home for good! I'm trying my best to walk around Geneva as much as possible and make the best of what short time I have left. There have been so many positive things that have come out of this trip and I will always be thankful for it. But, there are also many things that I'm just getting tired of.
At first, I didn't really think there were many cultural changes between here and home. But, now that I've been here a good 4+ months, and also visited home at Christmas, I realize there are more differences than I thought. To be honest, I don't think I really ever fully adapted to the differences. I am almost sure that it would be very difficult for me to live here on the long-term.
Today was just such a picture perfect day. It seems like in the last few months when it turned to fall/winter we have had clouds like 98% of the days. So the sun and blue skies were very welcomed!
I'm trying to be less selective with my photography. I've noticed that I'm super picky with my photos and if there is one small thing that's distracting my eye, there's a pole in a weird place, or people walking through that don't look natural I won't take the photo. Or I tend to take a super-minimalist approach sometimes and and focus on one element in a photo that actually has more meaning from a further distance.
Example :
Cool sailboat, blue water, sky colors are neat.
I think it looks like a stock photo and something someone would hang on the wall of their nautical-themed bathroom. In that case, the image is for sale. LOL. You look at for a few seconds, enjoy, and keep scrolling because there is nothing else to look at. I get really bored with my images when I get into the habit of doing this.
I think there is a specific time and place for extreme miminalism in photography. One of those times is this :
(Bill Van Zuiden Photography)
On the otherhand,
I think this is a little better, because it still has a focus, but it's more interesting. Bottom line : I'm too picky and I end up only liking one or two of my photos. Grow up, Kirsten.
They all seem too generic to me and somewhat boring. So, I'm trying to be less selective and just snap the photo if something intrigues me right away or looks pretty. It's hard but it's much more interesting to look at photos that make you think and search through every corner of them looking for different things that are going on.
Those mountains in the background! I always thought I was a beach girl, but Switzerland has taught me that I definitely prefer the mountains. I take every chance I can get just to see them.
All about the panorama shots tonight!
I found this at the Bains des Paquis. "I prefer to die standing than to live kneeling. I am Charlie" . If you haven't been following the news about the attack in Paris on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, do a Google search.
Awkward Kirsten experience for the day :
I was at the Bains des Paquis, where I took most of these photos today. You can get an idea in the photo above, a long pier that extends into the lake. It's super busy during the summer with people swimming and laying out and in the winter there are saunas and you can get massages inside.
So I'm walking around looking for the bathroom and kept turning down different hallways that were really long. I turn the corner and sitting right there, legs spread wide open, staring back at me is an older gentleman who happened to have ABSOLUTELY NO clothing on at all. Hello, awkward! I tried my hardest to not bust out laughing, but as soon as I got back around the corner I couldn't hold it in anymore. OMG.
Found the bathroom and got outta there.
Sometimes I wish I would learn that if I didn't drink such an obnoxious amount of water I wouldn't have to spend so much time searching for restrooms all the time. Being dehydrated just isn't my style though.
Until next time. Peace out.