Learning Photography from my Brother

Oricat am incercat, postul asta n-a vrut sa iasa in engleza.

De cateva saptamani, inchipuirea mea de talent fotografic se chinuie, se rasuceste pe-o parte, pe-o alta, sa creeze ceva miscator (la propriu); daca nu din altceva, macar dintr-o tresarire inspirata a aparatului, care sa duca la un rezultat genial, la un e-motion, de care fotograful sa nu fie nici macar constient.

… si mereu in acest rastimp, pornesc la vanatoare cu ochiul incarcat de ale norei agapi “movingscapes” sau ale alinei andrei baltoace tremurate.

De fiecare data cand declansez, am un sentiment de nerealizare, de ceea ce-ar fi putut sa fie, si s-a ratat pentru totdeauna.

Si totusi, ca orice inchipuit care mai e si un pic fudul, ma gandesc ca tot amatorul are publicul lui, fie si creat din una si aceeasi persoana - el insusi. De ce nu si-ar face atunci o placere, sa-si publice propriile poze care il e-motioneaza foarte.

On Friday evening Nicole and myself took a slow train to Bulboaca, an average Romanian village where normal people live and night illumination is low enough so that one can watch the mid-August meteor shower in peace.

There, we met my brother and his young team of astronomers. I must say, broth has won the second price in the astronomy camp this summer (hurrah!) and therefore the mirrors to make his own telescope.

The kids took pity at me and Nicole and gave us a comprehensive training for the night’s activity. We were to dress as warm as we could, lay our sleeping sacks on the ground, sit on the back and watch the sky.

No, we could not put up a fire and grill something…
No, no alcoholic drinks were allowed :-(.
Finally, we were to relax and observe the meteors, or shooting stars, as they are called.

I don’t need to bother here with too much detail, but the way those kids talked was poetry to my ignorant ears. It was clear that Andromeda came along with Pegasus (that had a square) and was in a certain opposition to a well known triangle that belonged to the summer and was led by one of the brightest stars, Vega was its name.

I asked details of transparency, magnitude and why the h. do they call them Perseides. Quick answers emerged to my ears, but in the most cabbalistic way.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t take any pictures due to frequent lightning reflections (probably a summer storm nearby) that would have beclouded the film. We watched the sky until four a.m. when we finally fell asleep.

Yes, we were there, and here’s the proof:

6 a.m. is not a proper hour to wake up…

everyone’s too sleepin’ busy to notice the photographer…

nicole’s first warning (sigh)

a placeholder for the sun

no tiptoe as we’re leaving

one last photo…

I don’t know what happens with trains, one always feels the urge to fall asleep…