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Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Travel Tuesdays #3 - Still in Hvar, Croatia + Giveaway winner!

First, I'd like to thank everyone who kindly left a comment in my vanilla bean giveaway. I was delighted by all the suggestions made by everyone. Using the random word generator, I found myself a winner! I was thinking if I should printscreen the results of the word generator, but I thought nah, since this is a small giveaway and rather informal anyways. I've to admit that coincidentally, the result was my favorite number (mainly because my birthday falls on that number) and coincidentally, the winner's suggestion was one that I was really interested in seeing - number #3, which was Alan! I've tasted the original PH Tarte Infiniment Vanille, and sorry I've to use this word, but... it was orgasmic. Crude word, yes, but the tart was really really really heavenly. I'm not a food writer, so I can't fathom the words suitable to describe the explosion of tastes and textures in my mouth. So Alan, I'll be contacting you very shortly and will be eagerly awaiting for your post on the tart/macaron :] As for the others who kindly commented, I'm sorry I couldn't give each and everyone of you vanilla beans, but I do have some more ideas up my sleeve once I'm done with my exams, so do stay tuned!

Back to Travel Tuesdays - I decided to stay on Hvar since I think it's a place that few people outside Europe would think of travelling to. Like I said earlier, Croatia is like an unpolished gem of the Mediterranean - not as popular as Greece, but equally beautiful (or even more so). What's amazing is what a long way it has come from the war that plagued it (as well as Serbia and Bosnia) in the 1990s. You can still see reminders of the long drawn war in the bullet-hole-ridden walls and buildings, but it doesn't detract from and merely adds to the rich history that places like Dubrovnik and Hvar brim with.

Anyway, on the lighter side of things - I'd like to think of this picture as one of my better 'flower/insect' photographs. What they say is true, sometimes the best photo opportunities come to you at the most opportune moments. Kel and I were cycling along the island of Hvar, when I stopped to smell the lavender flowers. There were many bees hovering around, but one tiny one just happened to buzz by and hover over the very plant I was near. I grabbed my camera which was already hanging on my neck (yes, I cycled with one hand on the handlebar and one protectively holding my camera) and took a couple of shots. Everything was on Auto Mode (blasphemous when using a DSLR I know, but cut me some slack - I was (and am still) a noob) but the photo turned out pretty good (in my opinion). All I had to do for the photo below was to brighten it up a little. It's also one of the rare times where I managed to get my focus right, on the flower and on the bee. Although upon closer inspection, there seems to be that flower on the bottom that seems to be in focus as well and the 'in focus' flower isn't as sharp as I'd like it to be. 

Lavender flowers in Hvar, Croatia

As usual, any comments and critique will be most welcome!

11 comments:

sotong said...

I really like your pic!

Anonymous said...

OMG... i can't believe that I won! Thanks Janine! Let me try to look for an email addy somewhere.

Love the "moment" being captured in the photo! The scent of lavender in the air when cycling through the fields must be "breath-taking" quite literally!

The Sweetylicious said...

congrats to alan (:
GREAT JOB! the pic look so nice! (: (:

Janine said...

@sotong and jasmine: thanks :)

@alan: no problem! just email me at ask.thekitchensink@gmail.com when you have it! and yes, it was breathtaking - you feel so soothed with the balmy wind especially since it's the scent of lavender, plus it just looks awesome to be looking at fields of purple :)

hanushi said...

Nice photo of the lavender and the bee... Hehe... And congrats to the winner Alan. :)

Anonymous said...

Wow, i could imagine how hard it was to capture this shot! congratulations. I guess sometimes the best things in life doesnt come planned. I think the focus on the flower is already very sharp. You are being too hard on yourself :)

Angry Asian said...

as a fan of the color purple, lavendar and pretty flower pictures, your capture is lovely!

Anonymous said...

Great capture of the bee!
Don't worry about the lower flower, its so low in the frame that it doesn't really garner that much attention

lena said...

that's a very beautiful shot in an unexpected moment!

Janine said...

@hanushi, crustabakes, angry asian, jacob and lena: thanks for the comments! i take note of every comment and keep every single one in mind each time i do a new photo post :)

Unknown said...

I think the shot is really really great even on auto mode! I can't even capture that with my DSLR :( Blame my poor photography skills. I am still learning, real hard.

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