Croatia, Electronics and Me

Croatia, electronics and myself just cannot find a way to get along.

I have had technical difficulties since arriving here with everything from my dad's laptop not wanting to wake up, to my point and shoot not wanting to shoot, and most regrettably, to my good 17-85IS lens giving me an error message when I photograph. The laptop is fine now and I got my point and shoot to behave for a while, so I could take it out at night or when I didn't need my DSLR. However, that was short lived because I recently smashed it on a rock, so that the lens is crushed, twisted and makes a funny noise. It still turns on, and is able to capture images... but very, very blurry ones. So, if anyone wants a camera to make blurry art with, let me know. My point and shoot gone also means I no longer have a way of capturing video. :(


I have three lenses for my Canon 20d:
17-85IS F/4-5.6 - My all purpose, use it most of the time, lens. Currently works when zoomed out to 17mm, fails when I try to use the zoom. Ask me again tomorrow, for everyday it requires a new trick to make it work.
100mm F/2 prime - A beautiful lens for portraiture, low light, and a single plane of focus. Dropped once on Mt. Srd, slightly scratched exterior, but still works perfectly and makes beautiful images.
24mm F/3.5 tilt/shift - Borrowed from RIT for the quarter. Useful for architecture and stitching panoramas, but not suitable for anything requiring speed since it is manual focus only.

My other camera is a plastic, medium format film camera. Problems? Dropped once, but it being plastic and not having any electronics in it, makes it okay! I am also unsure if the film is closed tightly enough, but we will find out when it gets developed. Only two rolls remain, so this cannot be a relied upon medium.

Basically, the lens I use 90% of the time, is causing the most problems. I am in Croatia where I can not have it easily examined. To have it diagnosed and fixed would require shipping it home and waiting a month to hear anything, at which point I will no longer be in Croatia. What can I do? I researched the error online have determined it to be the lens connectors. I talked to my insurance company, who said they do not cover maintenance. I don't think this is a maintenance issue, since the lens is only a few years old and should last much, much longer. Canon can't do anything quickly and doesn't offer any type of exchange program. My best option is borrowing lenses from other students here, which they are gracious enough to let me do. However, this is only a temporary fix and I will have to deal with everything when I return to the states (on top of graduating and job hunting).

I will have to replace at least one camera, one lens, and probably make two new lens purchases. A tilt/shift to call my own, and a telephoto which is still a missing element in my camera bag. All on the budget of a recent grad. Wish me luck.

If you like my photos and want to contribute to the "Croatia ate my Camera" fund, contact me .

The Hospital Experience

One of my friends hit her head a few weeks ago, and had been very dizzy for a few days. We decided she should have it looked at just to be sure she didn't have a concussion or anything more serious. It was 7 o'clock one night, and we decided to find the hospital. Two bus rides and singing to some 80's American music under our belts, we arrived.

The hospital had that unreal, haunting quality you see in bad horror movies. We stood waiting at the reception desk for at least 10 minutes, watching the nurses go by on their snack breaks, ignoring us. Finally, one of them stopped long enough to ask us what we wanted. We handed over the slip with my friend's information that the emergency center had sent us over with, and she disappeared for a bit.

We were brought into a room with three beds, just behind the nurses station. One was occupied by an older woman, with a bandage on her arm. My friend sat, and I stood, looking at all the things around. It looked like an emergency center, but after seeing how much of the hospital was dark, I think it was just their late night area. A very tall and thin, male doctor came in, followed by a shorter man that looked like an assistant, or a nurse. There were three female nurses also milling around somewhere. Service was very slow, but communication wasn't terrible. There were a few rough patches, but it all worked out. After drawing blood, and having her tell her story a few times, we were led by the male nurse to another part of the hospital.

Hardly any lights were on, hence the eerie quality. We thought we were the only ones there, but there was another doctor in the new room they entered. I stayed outside and waited, as I was directed. Soon, we were back in the original room, and I was being kicked out again as a new doctor came in.

I took some photos while she was examined some more. The place was incredibly photogenic. The bright colors made it feel more like a fast food restaurant than a hospital. The medicine was on a shelf, in plain site, not hidden in cupboards like back home. The overall experience was just so different. The nurses would talk and laugh about things openly (in Croatian of course, so we had no idea what was so funny). Some answered cell phones, one even while she was drawing blood from my friends arm. The shorter male nurse even asked my friend out as we were leaving! What a strange place. It was clean, and they did a good enough job from what we could tell, but I hope the next time I go back is just with my camera, not another potential patient.

Herceg Novi, Montenegro

This is from last week, but it never made it up here, so I am trying to catch up. Enjoy.



Last weekend we had a planned, combined field trip with the photo and CS kids heading to Montenegro. We were to leave at 8:30 am, and return late that night. With four girls and one bathroom, I woke up at 6:30am and started the shower marathon. By 7:30 we were all showered, dressed, and packing to leave for the adventure. The sky was gray, and the clouds were leaking a little, but we were hopeful we would drive out of the bad weather when we drove out of the country.

7:30am, a knock at the door. The trip has been canceled due to rain. The now, wide awake and ready to go girls and I, were very upset by the news. We still wanted to go someplace, regardless of the rain. So, we walked to the bus station, and we went to Montenegro anyways! There was a bus leaving at 9 to Herceg Novi, just over the border in Montenegro. For just over $20, round trip, the passport stamps alone were worth it. As we boarded the bus, we remembered we were to tell our professor if we were going to leave the country.

Anna called Denis. "Uh, Hi, Denis. ... we are on a bus to Montenegro... Yeah, we found a good deal on the buses, so we decided to go... yes we have our passports... okay, we will... thanks, bye." I could imagine the shock in his voice, even though I couldn't hear it.

We had a great time. It was overcast, but we never got rained on once. The sun even peaked out a few times. We met some amazing people, including this guy who is biking from Germany to China. His adventure puts mine here to shame, but I defintily recommend checking it out at cyclingwithoutborders.org.

One of the first things we found after getting off the bus, was an outdoor market. The people were very friendly, but few spoke English. One woman had me try three different kinds of cheese. They were really good, and I'm not a cheese person!



We met one little old man who spoke barely any English, but we tried to communicate anyway. He would speak, and we would smile, and he would think we understood him. After about 10 minutes of this, he showed us his wallet, and very slowly, in broken sentences, told us the picture was of his daughter, and she spoke English. He was very proud to show us.



For more photos from the trip, check out my Google photos page.

Costumes, Peacocks, and Cold Water

The island of Lokrum is just off the coast of Dubrovnik's old town, and took only 15 minutes to reach. However, we didn't look like your average tourist when we boarded the boat to go there... we were in authentic Renaissance garb. All seven photo students, our professor, and Brana, a representative from the school who got us the outfits, participated in this dress up day. She was dressed as a joker, the men were all in tights, and the girls had long, heavy dresses. All except Anna, she had a nice light dress that actually looked good on her!

When we got to the islands, we were greeted by wild peacocks which call the island home. They are unafraid of people, and walked very close to us. While we werent afraid of other tourists stealing from us, we had to watch the bread we brought with us, because the beautiful birds were trying to pick our pockets!

The island offers many rocky beaches, with breathtaking views of the sea. We were determined to swim as the day was sunny and warm, but the water was not inviting. There was a little pond by the sea that offered original views, and we only had to go in waist deep to get there. That was a good enough wake up call for me! A few people jumped in the still icy water, but we didnt have much time, for the last boat home leaves at 5pm. No one is allowed to sleep on the island, for it is said that it is cursed. We didnt want to upset any mystical natives, so we left the island, and by the time we got back to the apartment, I was ready for a nap.

I am local news!

I did a video chat interview with the Finger Lakes Times last week, and they ran it front page! The other students here aren't all visual media majors, and only a few of us are seniors, but otherwise its pretty accurate. I hope you enjoy reading about me!

Boats on the River Ombla

A photo I like, taken from the bus.

Cel-e-brate-good-sports, come on!

The Croatians take their sports seriously, and they like to reward their athletes that do well, with a concert! Last Friday night and this Monday night there were concerts on the main strip of Old Town in celebration of athletic jobs well done. The Friday night one was very well attended and had two big bands, while the Monday night was a little smaller and just one band. It seemed to be more locals out for the first event, and more tourists at the second. Kara and I were a bit confused when we heard "Celebrate," in English as we approached Old Town, but the rest of the songs were all in Croatian. I enjoyed the music of the opening band, but the techno stuff was just not my style.

Beware of Dogs

The girls and I had a good laugh last night as we exchanged stories about all the guys hitting on us here. It seems everyday we add a new person, and most of us have been hit on by the same men at different times. It does matter the age difference, they dont care! These guys are 25, 35 and 45 from left to right.

Bachelor Number 1 seemed like a nice guy when I talked to him. He interpreted for me at the market, and it wasn't really creepy until I found out he had also hit on Anna. Bachelor Number 2 liked to watch me work, and was the reason I was able to get some photos in a certain church. Bachelor number 3, also known as "Cassanova," has really gotten around. After my encounter with him where he could not understand my being in a long distance relationship (no matter how I explained it), he tried his moves on Kara and Kayla, also to no avail.

There are more men like these out there, but this is just meant to be a warning for all of you ladies who visit Dubrovnik: Beware of Dogs.

power? no. mouse? yes!

We woke up this morning to a dark, rainy day, and a dark apartment. We called the landlord, who called the power company, and found out that all of Gruz was without power until 4pm while they did maintenance. Cold showers for everyone! While we were discussing what to do about the contents of our refrigerator, Kayla draws a deep, dramatic breath and stares directly behind the couch which I am sitting on. I jump up in reaction and move to a chair a few feet away. My first thought is there is a spider crawling near me. After a few moments, she finally relaxes enough to tell us that she saw a mouse.

I laugh hysterically, while terror creeps slowly through the apartment. Kara finishes her dark shower, and hears us talking about a mouse. She says "A mouse, where? Here? In the kitchen?" Kayla says, "No, in your room." The living/dining/bedroom has a new resident! Kara lets out a nice little scream to break the silence. Time passes as we sit around, discussing what to do, staring at the couch where it ran to. I dont think any of us had plans to kill the animal, we just wanted it out of our apartment. I went into the shed to find some brooms, thinking we can scare it out and then show it the door. Two of us were now armed and ready, so I lifted the couch and we all kind of jumped in unison. Nothing.

We took everything off the couch, took off the pillows and cover. We started to pull out cushions, and Kara screams again! There is a box type thing under the cushions, which the mouse crawled out of and onto the floor. Then he disappeared again. We looked for him some more, but he went MIA. We finally got out the door to start our days, but he is still waiting for us when we get back. Though by then, we will have power, so we wont be fighting him in the dark! Stay tuned as our new pet is bound to make another appearance...