More views of the Oktoberfest

One of my favorite Wiesn attractions is the Riesenrad -- the giant ferris wheel. When you ever make it to the Oktoberfest, be sure to go for a ride -- the view is spectacular!

Another thing I like about the Oktoberfest is the old-fashioned and traditonal atmosphere which you can still find when you take the time to look -- for example the beautiful harnesses worn by the magnificent horses who draw the beer wagons which are decorated with flowers.

The fairground has lots of different attractions -- from old-fashioned carousels with organ music to the latest rides which make you to go upside down over and over again.

On the last photo you see the front of the tunnel of horror ride which scared me as a child. There's Frankenstein who turns to the left after a while and goes after a horrified maiden. He finally reaches her and slowly bows down while she shies away from him in horror. So much for my childhood trauma...

Getting to know Munich & Oktoberfest

Created with the Newspaper Clipping Generator -- great fun! As for the Oktoberfest or Wiesn as locals call it, I didn't go there this year. However, here are a couple of my photos taken in 2003 and 2006:

A typical gingerbread heart -- the words mean:
Greeting from the Munich Oktoberfest.

The Oktoberfest is probably best known for its beer. Above you see the part where the beer tents are located and below you can have a look into one of them.

Boo To You

The weather is mostly gray and dreary -- no wonder that Halloween is on my mind... Boo!

Halloween was on her mind

Are you getting into the mood, too?

Smile

I found this little fellow sitting on the wall of my study:

Pumpkin Harvest

One of my favorite fall joys are pumpkins -- the shapes, the colors, and also the taste! Moreover, I like the pumpkin plant itself with its curly knots and gorgeous blossoms. One of the many grasshoppers living in the garden chose a huge pumpkin leaf to enjoy the morning sun. Anyway, summer has nearly come to end in the meantime, so I recently harvested the eight pumpkins which grew alongside the house. Aren't they great?

Spider

Look who lives in the garden:"The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship."

-- William Blake

Enchiladas

I always enjoy cooking ethnic dishes. One of my favorite dishes are Enchiladas. I recently made them again -- a fantastic chance to use the funny western-style plates I bought at Auer Dult:

Strawberries

Aren't strawberries are a fantastic treat? They taste exceptionally delicious when the sun is shining and you freshly pick them yourself, eating them right away. What a fabulous taste of sun and summer! In June, I had the chance to pick strawberries on a nearby field.

Dragonfly

Aren't the colors of this dragonfly amazing? I found it resting on the patio and took the chance to take a photo:

Kaleidoscope

Don't you just love kaleidoscope patterns, too? I made the picture below from one of my photos applying a kaleidoscope filter first to the whole image, then to the diamond-shaped piece in the middle. I really like the result.

Happy 4th of July

Happy Independence Day! This year I don't have enough time to bake a cake, so the photos of the red-white-blue 4th of July cake from last year have to suffice:

More fractal art

Lately, I have been on a roll with all those gorgeous fractal images! Here are two of my fractals and how I further worked with them in Paint Shop Pro 9:

Fractal Art

Lately I have been more and more fascinated by fractal art. Apophysis is a fantastic software to create stunning fractal images. I enjoy making fractals very much, often using the images as background for digital collages. A word to the additional images I use in my collages -- I use as many of my own as possible, yet at times images I receive through sharing groups suit the mood of the collage better. Often enough people who share graphics can't name the image source, so it's frequently impossible to credit the original artists. In any case, the copyright always belongs to the original artists -- no copyright infringement intended. Anyway, here are a few examples of my fractal images and the collages I made from them:

Beautiful sunset on Mother's Day

On Mother's Day there was a beautiful sunset -- all those vivid colors and interesting cloud shapes! Of course, I had to take a couple of photos.On the last photo you can see the moon if you look closely at the middle of the photo. By the way, what do you see in the big cloud on the left? For me it's a teddy bear looking towards to the moon. Anyway, I used the photo for the tag below -- it was perfect to make an interesting texture!