Geneva at an ungodly hour...

Again got myself out before 5 am for another round of photos, this time in Geneva. We arrived well before any sign of light in the International City, and proceeded to make a tour of the waterfront. We did almost the entire shoreline of Geneva on this cloudy morning with the strong threat of rain. Was it worth it? Definitely. And the Starbuck's breakfast wasn't bad either...

Close enough to be eaten by a tiger...

Perhaps an overly dramatic title, but I couldn't resist...

Recently I picked up a new toy, a Nikon V1 camera. Not to get too technical here, but this camera is a wonder - I can use any of my Nikon lenses and it multiplies their magnification factor by 2.7x. So, for those of you interested, it makes my 300mm lens effectively an 810mm, which means I can get reeeeeaaallly close to my subject matter, while avoiding being a snack for carnivorous cats. Generally a good idea...

This for me was a test of this functionality. I am blown away. I have a new favorite toy, and I think it will be a favorite for a LONG time...!

Pre-dawn Montreux Switzerland and Post-dawn Ouchy (Lausanne), Switzerland

Recently I had to get up and out at 5 am to capture the morning light from one of my favorite places in Switzerland - Montreux. Many years ago, in 1994 I did a tour of Europe with a girlfriend - 1 month, 5 countries. Time was pressing, so we could only afford to spend one night in Switzerland, in Montreux. It always remained in my heart as my favorite place I had visited in my entire tour. In 2001 I found myself living in Switzerland, in Montreux. It was then and is today, still one of my favorite places on earth.

Natural Ice Sculptures, Paquis, Geneva and Versoix

Recently in Switzerland we experienced a cold snap such that we have not seen in many years...certainly not in my experience here. We had high winds and very low temperatures (by Swiss standards). The combination of these high winds with a lake as large as Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) was perhaps inevitable - large waves explosively impacting with the rocky shore...the photos below tell the story better than I could...

Apparently, it is recommended we do not swim or jump into the water...

Hope they had insurance...

Three cars were entombed in the ice at this location in Versoix : One of them was from France and the other Portugal...what do you do if this happens when you are in another country??

Natural art :

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