Today's flowers - Messengers of Spring

Kuhschellen/Pasque Flowers/Pulsatilla vulgaris

We found this early spring flower yesterday on our hike through the ridges of the Wienerwald
on the steep hills of Leopoldsberg on a sunny and extremely dry place.

Maybe the flowers have chosen this place also for its lovely view over Vienna and the river Danube?

Enjoy many, many more flowers from all around the world here:

A sunny Saturday in Spring

Finally temperatures are pretty warm!

16°C /60°F

This morning I met a friend at Naschmarkt. We drank coffee and then strolled through Vienna's oldest market. The place was extremely crowded as everybody was outside to enjoy the first sunrays and the warm air.

Sunglasses were advisable,

and a palmtree with a single leaf was out in the open for the first time too.

I nearly got blinded by the bright sunlight and the radiant colours of the tropical fruits and spring flowers.

In the big park near Karlskirche, people sat on the benches face up to the sun, some of them were even lying on the benches and napping.
A street musician played a melancholic song (what else?).

Look how nice and neat she took off her red shoes!
And the funny stripes of the shadows and her socks!

The sky above was covered by fleecy clouds. Really pretty!

The trees are still bare in Vienna, but I have seen crocuses and tulip bulbs displaying the first colours!

Visit skywatchers all around the world by clicking on the icon below!

Take a virtual trip around the world here:

Snowdrops and a photo workshop

Today at my second photo workshop:

We wanted to find Pasque Flowers, but we only found Snowdrops!
In Austria, Winter still has us in its grip!

Nevertheless, our photo workshop was wonderful!
We practised in Breitenbrunn am Neusiedlersee, in a romantic "Kellergasse",
a street with traditional wine cellars.

Perspectives

Lenses

Unique angles

Light

Zooming

Portrait format or horizontal format?

Compositions

Exposure time and apertures

And, beside all the useful technical information:

We spent a very nice day, enjoyed our hobby, and made some very nice new friends!

Bingo! Christoph Waltz wins Best Supporting Actor

Austria's Christoph Waltz has won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a Nazi in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds."

Do you think he deserved to win?

Here is a link to an interview with Waltz on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af0-9HBn5xM&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Sky Watch Friday - Sunny skies

On our walk through the wetlands of the River Danube, we had a wonderful sunny sky with big white clouds sailing along.
From time to time, one of the clouds got caught high up in the treetops ;)

Finally, a cloud shaped like Austria appeared. On the left, Switzerland drifted westward...

Pretty skies, really nice after so many bleak winter days...

Watch the skies from all over our planet!