Richard Vanek - Black and White Photography

I decided to join PhotoBlog Awards 2007. It is rather late (end is at 15th Dec. 2007), but I hope that participation will bring more attention to my images. If you like my photographs please vote for me here. You need to create account there, it is very simple just login name, email and password needs to filled.

My web page is now, after one day, moved from Upcoming section between Nominees. I have now 12 votes. I would like to thank all of you who voted for me!

As you come closer you could feel that wet air, all the sun and air trapped inside it. Greenhouse the place where all is growing so fast.

I have updated design of my website today. Colors are different, some internals are better (more CSS). Also whole design is not fixed width anymore. It is, what they call elastic with min and max width. There is of course a problem Internet Explorer IE6 has problem when you resize its window and it doesn't keep min and max width. It always goes full width. I may in time find a way around it, but I decided to put this design on-line anyway. It is done for few weeks now.
Web shop has some old colors, but it will be solved soon. Please let me know if you find something working strange or wrong. Especially IE6 users. Thanks for your support!

I have included on each page in right corner small button from Add This! server. Using this icon you can bookmark any page at www.piskoftak.com to almost any bookmarking/social server or own bookmarks/favorites of your browser.
I hope this is useful. You may let me know if you think otherwise. Thank you for your feedback.

Now big brother, before careful buy...

Now my site, thanks to fluid design, allows me to use also bigger images. The first bigger one is already published yesterday. I hope it doesn't make any trouble for anybody.
Please let me know if you have problems not only with image size but also with other parts of web site. -r-

I guess I am more or less finished with adjusting colors and layout. I manage to change (hopefully) all colors in shop as well. Now commenting is in the same color scale.
So I am done with all this. Bit tired of it, but glad it is all working. If not please let me know, by leaving comment.

So one of the last free prints. I will keep it until the end of year, but there was no interest (which I do not understand) for last four month or so.
Otherwise, busy daily life, what should I tell you. I do not have even time now to shave. This must stop ;-)

I know! I only like to inform you about another change I made on site which could effect browsing. hopefully it does only in positive way. I design now pages and images access now such a way that they use cache. So loading pages should be faster. Based on my tests the front page is now loading 3 times faster and images as well.
An from now I promise I will for some time write about non tech stuff, photography perhaps. ;-)

As you walk by old houses, sometimes you do not see what you should see. You need to take different point of view to see hidden places.

I am really surprised. This month free print is almost sold out. Last one from this special edition of three is available. Each person can get this print only as first from me and only once. Otherwise the purpose of it would be not fulfilled. There is also one more advantage of ordering it. If you make your next order in 30 days after ordering the free print, you get 10% discount on your order. So who is going to be last one this month? Nobody from Europe? That is strange so little orders from Europe. These two prints are going to Canada and USA.

After two hours later there is no more free print available! Incredible. What is also nice that the third print is going to UK. I think I can conclude: People would like to have free print, but they do not know about it.
Anyway for this month free print is over. In November there will be one as well. I believe it will be a little special as I am changing my technology a bit. So that free print edition will be done slightly different way.

Almost ready to get started. Long run, for few kilometers. All kids are quite now, looking bit confused around. Where should I star. Who is good. Am I better?

Minutes after midnight, sleeping in front of TV. Day after day, Tired, you would like to be somewhere else. So why you are here?

It was a nice day, now dark is coming and cold from the fields. Everywhere is night only the west sky is a bit lighter. We should go home, but game is so nice and everybody is still here. I will wait until dark is everywhere.

This summer 2007 I went to visit school where I learned to read and write. School is forty years old. Classrooms looks almost same as thirty years back when I was there every day. Just a black board is different. A lot of memories comes in mind and I have much more images from this visit.

Tomorrow I am flying to Slovakia, where Tuesday next week I am opening my solo exhibition of Remembering Childhood project. It will be available for five weeks. It was rather some amount of work to manage everything and still, I didn't make all I wanted. Well never mind. I know more for next time. I am really looking forward to see few friends there. Wednesday I am planning to come back for few days and than I am off to London for a week.
I guess I will write more about it later as I see how it all goes.

As a kid I never saw our classroom so empty. I needed thirty years to come back and see it. This summer. Felt strange, no kids, no friends and no desks, just old shades on windows and smell of old wooden floor.

I have arrived yesterday evening with delayed flying to Bratislava. Spent night talk with my years long friend and than had a good sleep. It is incredible hot here. I mean inside of every house, shop, anywhere. I am not used to overheated places anymore, coming from country where weather is very mild and house temperature is around 18-21C I am knock-down by 26C in house and more in shops. Especially when you dressed for outside and you came in.
Now sitting and sweating in Internet cafe I need to stop and get out. I'll write more later

Today at 16:00 is the opening of my solo exposition of black and white photographs. All seems to be ready. I am expecting quite a few friends to come, Most of them I didn't see for bunch of years. I am looking forward to see them all.

I only like to thanks to all who came tonight to the opening of my photo exposition. It was very nice evening and I enjoyed talking to all people very much. I am flying tomorrow back to The Netherlands. For rest of you I will post some images later tomorrow. Thanks and goodnight.

We just arrived back home. I spent last two days in Amsterdam with my wife and kids after I returned from opening the exposition in Slovakia. After I look through my email I noticed that my project "Remembering Childhood" is featured at emptyeasel.com. I am very pleased with perfect time sync with date of opening this exposition in Slovakia. I also like very much what is written about my work.
Later today I will publish some shots from opening evening.

Here is few images from Tuesday evening.

My old classroom, more than thirty years ago I learned beautiful things about world here. Still today it smells the same.

Last few days are rather hectic for me and for my family as well. Only few days I was in Slovakia than spend two days in Amsterdam. For one whole day I was home and today I am traveling to London for a week. I like travel but I feel that after this week I will need some quiet time. A lot of changes has been done and a lot of new things happened. I need to put it all together and start new as well.
I like to finished the book than put some new prints for sale on eBay and to my web store. New way of printing requires calibrating. New inks and new papers. So I am looking forward to November when whole month I will be home.

This is a second afternoon I am in UK and close to London. It is rather strange for me to sit on wrong side in car and even stranger is to drive on other side of the road ;-). I am always shocked when looking at car next to me and realizing there is no driver. And if you look at license plate of a car I am renting and you are from Slovakia, than you understand it all. So here it is picture of it and focus on last three letters ;-)



Yesterday evening after I arrived I did some training drive so I am able to drive today in full traffic. It went quite ok. Just need to get used to different distance from driver and left side of the car. This is for me the biggest problem, always driving too much on left side of the road. Otherwise I like it here very much. Especially part outside of the London. I had great lunch today at this great restaurant just in country side. Sun was great, nice 17C so I enjoyed it on their open garden, looking to the blue sky.



The hotel is disaster. They moved me two times already. First I have got room with window facing wall just 10cm from it!!! Second room has broken Internet connection. This third one is terribly noisy as it is above some cooling fans, or whatever. Just terrible. If you ever go to London Gatwick, do not choose Holiday Inn hotel just next to the airport! I will inform our booking department that they should just drop this hotel from choice. Is really terrible. I hope I can survive until Friday.