Daily Picks - # - More than Photos -- Jerry Barton, Austria

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Jerry Barton > Receding Waters
2013-06-15 The flood channel in Vienna did its job - now the waters are receding - leaving several meters of heavy mud. Here along the Neue Donau recreation area the paths have been scraped and the garbage containers and picnic tables have reappeared - as have the fishermen and the sun bathers. No grass to lie on and the waters are still too dirty for swimming, and I wouldn't want to eat any fish caught right now.

Jerry Barton > Grounded
2013-06-14 Hello! I am a white stork, posing in front of the nest built with branches and twigs provided by the gardeners of the "Flower Garden Hirschstetten" in Vienna. I was injured and cannot fly. They found an injured mate for me, too and now we live on the ground. Come and visit me.

Jerry Barton > Water Works and Water Play
2013-06-13 A snapshot today of the water tower in Vienna's 10th district. It was built in the late 19th century to hold water for the higher districts of Vienna (but was only in full operation for a decade or so, as a second high mountain water source was put into operation). The buildings around are part of the Vienna water works. And under this marvelous beach and playground is one of Vienna's water reservoirs. Isn't it nice that children in this heavily populated part of town have a beach. Behind me are some fields for ball games.

Jerry Barton > I can see you.
2013-06-11 We had two days of sun and warmth, and the frogs became really active. This one is in a pond in a park in Vienna.

Jerry Barton > Cycling Home
2013-06-08 A real sunset - the first in a long long time - found these cyclists heading home from their exercise on the not quite totally flooded Danube Island in Vienna.

Jerry Barton > First sunshine
2013-06-07 One more shot of the flood waters. This is again the 'New Danube' flood control channel. This shot was taken Wednesday about 5 p.m. I talked to one of the water officials yesterday who said that the flood peaked just below the bridge shortly after midnight. Waters are receding now everywhere in Austria except the far eastern border. The waters here were flowing at over 10 mph. The bridge is above a weir with large sluice gates - totally submerged here.

Jerry Barton > Can I reach the nectar?
2013-06-06 I was walking along the Danube Island yesterday (the bits above the flood waters) and the sun came out. Immediately dozens of these small butterflies appeared. I hope they found some nourishment in the 10-15 minutes before the dark clouds closed in again. So instead of a flood picture, I decided to post a butterfly picture.

Jerry Barton > High Water
2013-06-05 What you are looking at is the "New Danube" doing what it is supposed to do, namely protecting Vienna from floods. For 99.9% of the time, the sluice gates at both ends are closed and the waters and shores are available for recreation (see my recent shots of wakeboarding and rowing). But when the sluice gates are open, up to 14,000 cubic meters of water per second can flow past Vienna at speeds up to 20 km/hour. The pedestrian bridge in the foreground was opened several days ago. The food and dance establishments along the shores are of course flooded - they expect it from time to time. The last big flood was 2002. My prayers go out to those elsewhere in Austria and in Germany and the Czech Republic where flooding was not controlled.

Jerry Barton > A Parade in One Picture
26 traditional Austrian marching bands performed and marched along Vienna's Ring last Saturday. Here you have spectators, band, traditional uniforms, classic buildings all together. For more impressions from the parade, take a look at my Vienna gallery: http://www.jerrybarton.eu/Landscapes/Vienna

Jerry Barton > Contemplation
2013-06-03 Not everything in life is party, party, party. This young man chose a seat outside the "Theseus Temple" in one of Vienna's parks to site and think. [The Theseus Temple is a small folly in the Volksgarten, built in the early 19th century to hold a sculpture of Theseus fighting a centaur. The sculpture is now in the art history museum, and this 'temple' now holds contemporary art installations. It was recently renovated]

Jerry Barton > Historic Car
2013-06-01 A somewhat more serious shot today. This is the car in which the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were riding when they were assassinated by a gunman in Sarajevo on the 28th of June 1914. The car is a Graf & Stift Double Phaeton, 4 cylinder, 28 HP. It is in the Military Museum in Vienna (Heeresgeschichtliches Museum). The consequences of the "shot heard around the world" started the first World War.
There was very little light in the room, except single spots - and no daylight. This shot was underexposed at ISO 2000, then the raw shot brightened in Canon DPP, denoised with Topaz DeNoise (I tried Noiseware, but liked Topaz better) and "pepped up" with Color Efex. I had to use my wide angle to get the shot so the max aperture was 5.6. I tried ISO 4000 and ISO 6400, but they were no more detailed - the additional detail was 'eaten' by the additional noise.

Receding Waters
2013-06-15 The flood channel in Vienna did its job - now the waters are receding - leaving several meters of heavy mud. Here along the Neue Donau recreation area the paths have been scraped and the garbage containers and picnic tables have reappeared - as have the fishermen and the sun bathers. No grass to lie on and the waters are still too dirty for swimming, and I wouldn't want to eat any fish caught right now.