Month: April 2016

My Photography Equipment Checklist

I’m sure you’ve experienced that before: You are out shooting and them discover that something critical piece of equipment is missing. You run out of battery and have no spare with you, all of a sudden the memory card is full and you have the choice to either start deleting individual shots from this on the card to create space for some extra photos or you stop shooting for the day. You are missing a particular lense that you intended to bring and need right now to take that dream shot or complete the job for the customer. Or you pack out your ND grad filter to balance sky and ground and discover the filter-holder is back home. This is even worse when you are traveling and find out at your destination that you left a needed piece of equipment at home.

All of this happened to me a couple of times and this is when I created my photography equipment checklist that I quickly run through before I leave the house.  Continue reading “My Photography Equipment Checklist” →

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StoNur on the Road – African Primary School

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Siblings | Maremi | Tanzania | 2016

One of the things I observed during my stay in Tanzania were the many primary schools and young students roaming the streets. The Government seriously pushes for all kids to get education, and even in remote areas outside the cities the children have their primary schools.  Continue reading “StoNur on the Road – African Primary School” →

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StoNur on the Road – End of the World

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Cabo da Roca | Portugal | 2013

As I’m currently away from home (and will be for the next three weeks) I’m using the opportunity of my absence from the Streets of Nuremberg to dig into my archives and revisit some of the places I’ve visited the last couple of years. As I have all my photos on a portable Hard Drive with me (one copy that is, I have various back-ups) I even enjoy going through my old files, something don’t get to do as much when home and in my daily treadmill.

This is from a trip to Lisbon in 2013. We did a day trip by public bus to Sintra and then on to Cabo da Roca, the western most point of continental Europe. It is located 42 kilometers west of Lisbon in the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park and lays on a rock 140 meters above the Atlantic Ocean. Although not as famous as Europe’s northern most tip at the North Cape, Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope it is definitely on of the prettiest of all continental capes. You really feel your are right on the edge of the earth, were it all ends.  When you stand there and take in the sights and sounds of this cape and the infinite see beyond you get kind of an understanding for our forefathers who thought Earth was a disc that ends behind the great Oceans.

If you ever travel to Lisbon (more of this city in a future post) make sure you drive out to this magic place.

Have a great day!

Marcus

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StoNur on the Road – Ain’t I cool ?

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Olympus OM-D E-M1   Tanzania, 2016

One from the archives, albeit a recent one. In February of this year I spent one week in Tanzania in the town of Moshi on the foothills of majestic Mt. Kilimanjaro. A puzzling African town, Moshi is a fantastic place for Street Photography, as you constantly encounter characters you don’t get to see in our European environment.

This cool dude, even though looking like every bit of an African Warrior, was “just” a security card in front of a small banking outfit. We sat in a cafe next to his workplace, and he kept constantly looking at us. And we were obviously looking at him. Eventually I asked him if I could take a portrait of him, which he initially refused, but than suggested he would pose for a little donation of 2 USD.

As typically you don’t get these kind of shots every day I decided that this opportunity was just too good to pass up. I know that there are purists who say real Street Photos need to be candid and can’t be staged. On the other hand, this guy proudly presenting himself is a just as typical an African street scene.

I have quite a few other interesting shots from my Tanzania trip, so keep looking for those.

Have a very peaceful day

Marcus

Related Posts:

StoNur on the Road – African Primary School

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StoNur on the Road – A great man’s door

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Olympus PEN-F with m.Zuiko 17mm f/1,8  |  1/500 sec @ f5,0 ISO 200

This is the door to the historic house in the German spa resort of Bad Steben, in which Alexander von Humboldt (1769 – 1859), famous German geographer, naturalist and explorer, lived from 1792-1795.  His work on laid the foundation for the field of biogeography. Between 1799 and 1804, Humboldt travelled extensively in Latin America, exploring and describing it for the first time from a modern scientific point of view. His description of the journey was written up and published in an enormous set of volumes over 21 years.  Continue reading “StoNur on the Road – A great man’s door” →

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StoNur on the Road – Monument Valley

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Monument Valley, 2012

One from the archives – Monument Valley. Taken during our family vacation to the South-West of the USA in 2012.

Monument Valley (Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii in Navajo language, meaning valley of the rocks) on the border between Arizona and Utah is a region of the Colorado Plateau featuring clusters of vast sandstone buttes, the largest reaching 300 m above the valley floor. The whole valley is a tribal park of the great Navajo Nation.

If you like to watch Cowboy movies you have probably seen these rock formations, as Director John Ford has used the location for a number of his best-known films  and thus has created in many of us the pictures that we have in from of our eyes when we think about the American West.

The picture shows the buttes “The Mittens” as well as the loop road which you can take to tour the valley from the parking of the visitor center. If you stay in the hotel “The View” this is what you see out of your rooms.

Back then we were touring with a Camper (RV) and stayed at Goulding’s Campground down in the Valley.

If you ever have the opportunity to visit this iconic  location – do it. It is truly a magic place.

Have a great day

Marcus

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With a PEN in a concert

The other week I went to a concert taking along my inconspicuous PEN-F with the m.Zuiko 17mm f/1,8 attached and the m.Zuiko 75mm f/1,8 in my pocket. I was curious to see how my small Olympus streetshooter would perform from a technical perspective in an indoor concert environment when combined with the two f/1,8 prime lenses. Continue reading “With a PEN in a concert” →

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Saturday Rush (or running after the subway bird)

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“Exodus” – Olympus PEN-F    1/6 sec @ f3,2 and ISO 200

Saturday I was in town for some deliberate shooting. Rather then my normal strolling around to see what comes in front of my lense (as usual my favorite m.Zuiko 17mm f1,8) I set myself the goal to capture some motion in my shots. Experimenting a bit I found that 1/6 of a second is a pretty good staring point capturing people in motion to get this distinctive blur, while keeping the rest of the pic (static objects) sharp despite handholding the shots, thanks to the great 5 axis image stabilization of the PEN-F  (same as in my E-M1).

I started in the subway, because here you find always people in a rush. What amazed me was that bird (pigeon / dove / Taube) that was running around this underground platform. Continue reading “Saturday Rush (or running after the subway bird)” →

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Music and Street Photography

Some street photographers do listen to music while they are roaming the streets with their cameras. Some say it is beneficial for their creativity, some see the advantage that having their headphones on sort of protects them from potential comments from people they are taking pictures of. Though I can see the rational I personally don’t agree with both those arguments. Continue reading “Music and Street Photography” →

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Nuremberg Explored (1)

Café Confiserie Neef

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Café Neef – Nürnberg | iPhone 6s plus | Photo by Birgit Puschmann

A couple of firsts in todays blogpost…the start of a new series (Nuremberg Explored) as well as the first guest photo featured on Streets of Nuremberg.

I’m the only one seriously into photography in the family, despite my efforts to get my kids more involved. My wife Birgit used to shoot a lot as well, but lately she’s dropped the cams and is snapping away at what she likes with her iPhone 6splus. And when we’re out all together I’m frequently picked on because I take so much time for my picture taking  that the rest of the gang complains they need to wait too long before I’ve captured what I want to capture. Continue reading “Nuremberg Explored (1)” →

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