OCOLOY 2025: April
8 May 2025
April came sooner than I expected, and I didn't choose a proper side challenge in advance. Combined with the fact that I was away on a conference at the start of the month, I quickly picked an admittedly quite "simple" one: portrait orientation.
Surprisingly, it wasn't as uninteresting as I'd thought. If a scene isn't obviously made for a portrait shot, then I shoot it landscape by default. Therefore, working against that automatism was certainly interesting. However, it didn't motivate me much to go out. More motivating were the few days with good weather that I enjoyed.
Due to the circumstances during the last month (I was sick for more than a week and the rest was quite full with other events) and my current wider spread focus, the genres of the photos are quite different. Next to the "typical" street scene and landscape shots, there are some close-up nature, night street photography and also woodland. So, without further ado, here are my top 10 OCOLOY photos of last month.
During the first few days of April, I was in Darmstadt (Hesse, in the middle of Germany) at a conference. That was quite time-consuming and left not many opportunities for photography. However, on the second day, I had time for a few snapshots. In this scene, the building in the background with the wind wheel on top piqued my interest. The small store building, the morning light and the cyclist driving by made for a pleasing composition.
Admittedly, nothing special. But I like the classic scooter which fits very well in the surrounding environment: the tree with its new leaves and the historic building in the background. Additionally, the colour has a great contrast to the otherwise relatively dull area.
A few years ago, I was really into taking close-up photos of plants and especially flowers. And every year during spring, that interest comes back a bit. This year was no exception to that, and so the tree with its fresh blooming branches captured my attention.
A few steps further, I was intrigued by the currently empty resting place, accompanied by the large tree, and the warm light during sunset. I like the symmetry of the tables and the current emptiness (and therefore also calmness) of the area.
On a long walk in a nearby woodland, I enjoyed the already blooming ramson covering practically the entire ground. Just around very few trees, a bit of earth could be seen. This was one of the few examples. In this shot, I especially like the texture of the bark, how the lower branches are growing, and the many blossoms at the foot of the tree.
A bit later, the already setting sun and the denser woodland made for some very beautiful lighting conditions. Additionally, I love how the trees (especially the foremost) are arching above the path.
During that evening, I played a bit with high ISO values on the Ricoh GR IIIx and was pleasantly surprised to get some relatively clean shots even at ISO 8000. Besides that, the row of street lamps fascinated me, and I like how the foremost lamp is covered by the tree.
A more classic street shot for a change. Loved the light and the layers: the tree in the foreground, the tram shelter and person waiting in the middle, and the rest of the stop in the background. Additionally, it was quite a relatable moment since not only was I completely alone taking photos, but so was this person, waiting for the next tram.
Again, a small practice with layering, though the tree in the centre of the background is my main subject. Love all the greens during that time of the year: everything is so refreshingly green. Sadly, time goes by very fast.
Love the framing in this one. Just the tram and the flowerbed are "highlighted", with the flowers contrasted against the asphalt of the street.
That's all for April! A third of the entire year is already over, and I'm slowly getting the hang of it (the OCOLOY project, that is). This side challenge was neither well prepared nor well chosen (though, it could have been worse), and that in turn didn't motivate me to go out as much. May will be different! Though it's still early in the month, I have a lot of fun with the side challenge I've chosen this time, and I'm actively looking for photographic opportunities. However, it will get trickier to cull through all the photos and pick ten favourites.