I borrowed a fisheye lens from my volunteer job for a shoot this last Saturday.  Well, needless to say, we couldn’t help but play with the thing a bit.  It is a very fun lens, and I enjoyed being its temporary owner over the weekend.
Please notice Jason’s ease-of-jumping in the shot below–the ample amount of air, nice form, etc–this was his first, and only, attempt.

I, on the other hand, am apparently meant to keep my two feet firmly planted, because it took four tries to capture my less than stellar jump shot below.

These two amazing portraits were taken in our apartment Friday evening when Tyler and Antje came over for enchiladas.  I think Antje snagged that shot of Tyler.  The lighting in our little kitchen area is horrible, but these were just too funny not to post.  It was actually quite difficult to stay focused while editing these, and I kept laughing to myself randomly–Jason thinks I’m an odd one.

And here’s one last shot from the courtyard as we were walking back inside.  That’s Jason’s beanie in the air.

Allie, a good ol’ Flagstaff friend, came to visit us for the first few days of 2009.  She was officially our very first guest!  Allie and I took German classes together at NAU, and she is currently living in Spain teaching English.  Go check out her blog, here.  Jason took the first shot below while we were enjoying our Brötchen and tea Saturday morning.

Later that same day, Allie and I walked just a few minutes to the Biebrich Schlosspark.  The little pond was frozen, and we admired it from the side.  We walked through the park and then down to the Rhine.

On our way back again we noticed that there were a lot of people playing on the pond and ice skating, so we figured that if they were doing it, then why not give it a try?  Below is Allie standing on the frozen pond, which wasn’t too slippery because of the layer of snow.

And finally, here is a photo of Jason and I at a local Italian restaurant called Vapianos.  We went there for my 23rd birthday, and it was yummy!

I know that the New Year has come and gone, but I still have some Christmas photos to show you–better late than never!  Jason snapped this first one as we were driving along taking in the sights (we did stop and get out of the car; not even Jason has that steady a hand).  He likes his sunflare shots, and what can I say, he’s darn good at them.  The second and third shots were taken while we were walking around in Salzburg, Austria.  If you look closely at the yellow building there you will see that it reads “Mozarts Geburtshaus”.  Mozart was born here on January 27, 1756.  This just goes to show how cool people born in January are

These next three photos were taken at a coffee shop we stopped at on our way to Kufstein.  We weren’t in Kufstein yet, but I can’t remember exactly where we were…Tyler, Antje–chime in if you know!  If you notice below, Jason managed to get a shot of all four of us!  The white and yellow church was right across the street from the coffee shop.

This last shot was actually in Kufstein.  Jason took it while we were on our way to this cozy little restaurant for a bowl of the Knoblauchsuppe that Tyler kept raving about.  It was very delicious, but that wasn’t the best part.  The owner of this restaurant was quite the practical joker.  When he brought out Antje’s hot tea, he was holding a decoy teacup and saucer in his other hand and he proceeded to drop this one in her lap, with the most horrified look on his face.  Needless to say, the cup was empty and was connected to the saucer with a piece of string.  We all laughed hysterically after we realized that Antje was not actually burned by boiling water.  In case we didn’t already love the guy, he had another trick up his sleeve.  While we were all enjoying our Knoblauchsuppe, our table suddenly lifted up from the ground a few feet.  Jason’s first reaction was to push down on it, thinking that it might be tipping over.  That night is one I’ll always look back upon with a big smile.   All-in-all our time in Bavaria (and Austria) was absolutely wonderful and went by much too quickly, but hopefully we can visit again before too long!  Thanks for looking through the last of our Christmas photos!

Jason and I had such a wonderful time in Aschau, Bavaria.  We took so many pictures and I’ve only posted a few of them so far below.  I will post the rest of them in a little while.  We were able to spend our Christmas holiday with Antje’s amazing family.  Her uncle has lived in Bavaria all of his life; he and his family were so hospitable and generous to us.  The evening Jason and I arrived we were greeted with hearty hugs and a “Grüß Gott” from each one.  The first shot below is of my hubby standing in the beautiful field that was right outside of the apartment we stayed in.   Next is the church that Antje’s family went to for the Heiligabend service before we arrived.

On Christmas day we went to a cute restaurant where they had set aside a whole room for our group.  Jason and I got to eat the traditional goose meal and it was delicious!

Here is a church that Tyler, Antje, Jason and I walked to from our apartment the day after Christmas.  The sunlight was streaming into one of the windows, which created some beautiful lighting.

Finally, here is an amazing shot that Jason took of a beautifully decorated, traditional Bavarian building.  We were driving by the building when Tyler asked us if we wanted to take a picture of it.  Sadly, I must admit, I dismissed the idea as I couldn’t really envision how I could photograph the building, with all the cars and shadows from the sun behind it.  Jason, on the other hand, jumped out of the car and took a few shots.  When he came back with this one I was truly amazed.  He has such a great eye and our perspectives differ greatly when photographing.  It is always good to have my eyes opened by seeing the world through another’s.