Month: January 2019

Stay Underground

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
1/6 sec @ F3.2 and ISO 200

Taking the camera and shooting underground is always a good option when the weather is bad on the surface. Commuters are usually too much in a hurry to notice the inconspicuous standing street photographer, especially when he shoots with a small camera like the Olympus PEN-F with the attached 17mm F/1.8 prime lens. This photo I took crouched down, two catch the pigeon trying to beat the people exiting the train to the escalator (…just joking).

While the streets of Nuremberg are graced only by a touch of snow, Southern Bavaria and the Alps are hit by the worst winter weather in a decade. Downtown Munich (just 90 miles south) sports a whopping 2-3 feet of snow, and in the mountains many villages are cut-off from the rest of the world buried under up to 9 feet of snow. It will continue the snow and there is significant danger for people and buildings. Almost all small roads and train lines are interrupted. The winter weather is forecasted to continue well into next week. I cancelled the business day trip to Munich scheduled for today to avoid having to drive into the chaos.

I really hope everybody down south stays safe.

Have a great Thursday

Marcus

Related Posts:

Apocalyptic Fountain

Let it Snow !

Instant Inspiration (2) – Motion Blur

Street Photography Quick Tip 6 – Shoot in a station

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Play with perspective

Subway Snooze | New York City | 2018

Another fun thing to do when composing photographs is to play with perspective, something that works just as well when doing street photography.

Look at the guy I caught deep in thoughts (or snoozing) on a subway ride. He is holding his cellphone in his right hand. Only that it seems like the hand holding the phone is coming out of the arm of the person sitting in the background, rather than is own arm.

The human eye tends to follow lines. And the hand and the arm behind form an almost natural looking line, and, together with the hunched over subway rider, forms a full circle, adding a certain harmony to the composition.

The eye of a casual observer, even if subconsciously, catches the anomaly and will try to solve the riddle. This little play with perspective adds an additional interest to the photograph. And lets the observer’s eye remain a second or two longer on our image. Which is what we want as photographers.

Image taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and the mZuiko 12-100mm F/4, specs are 1/25 sec @ F/4 and ISO 400, 48mm focal length.

If you look for more tips and inspirations around photography, check out my free Learning Center.

Wish you a great start into the week.

Marcus

Related Posts:

Street Photography Quick Tip 5 – Composition – the hidden subject

Street Photography Quick Tip 6 – Shoot in a station

Life in the Big Apple

NYC Experience – DUMBO

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Back to business

Back to Business | Berlin | 2018

What I love about street photography is that is capturing everyday life as it happens. When roaming the streets, I’m always on the lookout for situations that reflect the stories of life.

This is a photograph of a business man walking seemingly away from the fun stuff happening in holidays. Like diving. Or, when you look to the far right, a bike tour.

The image works for multiple reasons. First, there are the juxtapositions of the man in a business attire and the lady diver. Another one is the man and the diver going in opposite directions. Then there are the similarities in their leg positions (it was the hard part capturing the exact moment). Then there are multiple layers to the image: the man in the foreground, the ad in the middleground and then the bikers and the subway in the background. And as extra element there is the partially hidden text message on the ad, something the mind automatically tries to decipher. Another compositional element is the triangle between the man, the diver and the bikers.

The photo is also symbolic for my day, as it’s back to work day after the Christmas break.

Image taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and the mZuiko 12-100mm F/4, specs are 1/25 sec @ F/4 and ISO 200, 38mm focal length.

If you look for more tips and inspirations around photography, check out my free Learning Center.

Wish you a great start into the week.

Marcus

Related Posts:

World Cup fever and some thoughts on composition

Oregon International Air Show (and how I photographed it)

Street Photography Quick Tip (10)

Instant Inspiration (4) – Juxtaposition

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Need for sleep

Midterm | New York City | 2018
Midterm | New York City | 2018

After a two-week holiday break, tomorrow I will return to the job that pays the bills. The thing is, it feels as if I’ve left the office just yesterday and that I’m in need for a break. Isn’t this crazy?

This morning, The Significant Other received a text message from a friend reading “Wenn die stille Zeit vorbei ist, dann wird es auch endlich wieder ruhiger”. Probably the translation into English doesn’t really carry over the meaning in German  – “When the quiet time is over, it will finally be calmer again” – as over here we refer to Christmas also as the “Stille Zeit”, the “Quiet time”.

With all the celebrations (Christmas, New Year, birthday) and a little skiing trip, plus all the shopping, visits with friends, shows, movies we saw…spirit soaring, body wrecked 😉

The above image is another from last years NYC trip that I have never posted. Right now I would love to take a two-hour subway ride snoozing happily away. Taken with the OM-D E-M1 with the mZuiko 12-100mm F/4. Image specs 1/25 sec @ F/4 and ISO 1600, 70mm focal length.

Wish you a great Sunday!

Marcus

Related Posts:

NYC Experience – Times Square

NYC Experience – Night in the Station

Mysterious New York City

My New York City Eye Opener

21

Say Cheese

Big Wave | New York City | 2018

No, “say cheese” is not what I say when taking a candid street portrait of a complete stranger. Actually it is much simpler. Walking up, smiling, raising the camera, taking the shot, smiling again, maybe waving “thanks”, walking away. That’s standard street photography. About half of the people put up a smile and actually like having their picture taken, the other half doesn’t react much, and then there is maybe one in fifteen tries where the person signals they are not in agreement to have a stranger take their picture. In those cases I smile “thanks anyway” and walk away. No big deal. No reason to be anxious taking portraits of strangers.

Photograph taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and the mZuiko 12-100mm F/4. Image specs 1/60 sec @ F/4 and ISO 250, 29mm focal length. I was standing directly in front of this guy, you can see my reflection in the window of the ice cream parlor.

Wish you a great Saturday

Marcus

Related Posts:

Street Photography Quick Tip 7 – Work the Scene

Street Photography Quick Tip 8 – Capturing Gesture

Instant Inspiration (12) – Playfulness

Instant Inspiration (5) – Puddle Shooting

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My photographic journey through 2018

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I’m enjoying the last day of my two-week Christmas break. Although we are already into 2019, I still want to look back and reflect on my photographic journey through the past year. As I did already last year, I went through my WordPress media gallery in chronological order and selected some photographs that triggered remembrances about places, moments and emotions. 2018 was another good year for my photography! For the whole  gallery continue after the jump…. Continue reading “My photographic journey through 2018” →

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Buy books not gear (1)

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With the start into the New Year and the fourth year of this blog, I’m launching a new series called “Buy books not gear”. As stated in my last post of 2018, I firmly believe that by reading good photography books we can improve our own photography much more than by buying yet another new camera or lens.

I’m starting the series giving you a glimpse into a marvelous coffee table book about the work of street photographer Vivian Maier, that I couldn’t resist picking up after seeing it in the window of a book store.

For the book introduction and a few of Vivians photographs continue after the jump… Continue reading “Buy books not gear (1)” →

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