I wish all my friends a blessed, happy, marvelous, successful, beautiful, inspirational, creative, wonderful and healthy 2018! May all your wishes and dreams come true!
Have a great year!
Marcus
Happy New Year from the Streets of Nuremberg
High Contrast Landscape Photography
Thinking in monochrome is nothing unusual for us street photographers. But when shooting landscapes it is nothing that I normally consciously look for. Today it was different. While the significant other and the big girl took to the slopes today on this marvelous winter day in the Austrian Alps, I grabbed the PEN-F with the 14-150mm travel zoom and my walking poles and hiked up the Weißpriachtal along the Longa River. I had this stunning valley all to myself, during my 3 hour hike I passed only 2 other walkers on this freezing cold winter day.
The sun was shining on 2 feet of freshly fallen snow, and there was a lot of contrast in this high altitude mountain valley. When I passed a small bend of the Longa River that lowed with the reflection of the snowy peak behind, I couldn’t help thinking of Ansel Adams and is beautiful high contrast landscape photographs. And this was enough inspiration to get going myself. I set the PEN-F to its high contrast monochrome program which helped me look for and compose my own high contrast landscapes. I dialed in ISO 200 and an aperture of f/10, which gave me shutter speeds between 1/320 and 1/500 sec.
Remember how to capture the rays of the sun? You need to shoot with a narrow (small) aperture, like F16 or F22. If you also line up the sun just peaking around the corner of solid object, you are bound to get yourself some nice bursting rays in your image. This one was taken with F/18 and 1/60 sec at ISO 500.
I hope you liked my little excursion into landscape photography. This is what holidays are for, to wander off the beaten paths of what we normally do. What have you shot these past days that are outside your normal realm of photography? Feel free to share your results via the comment section.
All photographs were taken with my Olympus PEN-F with the mZuiko 14-150mm F/4-5.6 Travel Zoom. RAW conversion and high contrast monochrome treatment in Lightroom Classic CC.
I wish you all a great last weekend of 2017!
Marcus
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Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Abandoned or Alone
Wait and shoot
As I wrote in a previous post, there are two ways to approach Street Photography. You can actively “hunt” for an interesting image to happen, for example following an appealing subject until it enters the right background scene. Or you come across a background that catches your eyes first. Then it is a matter of you waiting for the right subject to enter the scene to get the photo you are after. I call this the “gathering” approach.
This was the case when I saw this colorful mural in Portland. I loved its shape and dynamic, and its colors that really came to life during the blue hour of this late Saturday afternoon. I really wanted to capture it in a street photo, but taking a photo of a mural by itself is a bit lifeless without a foreground that adds interest.
I was with my PEN-F and the 12mm F/2 prime lens, which limited myself to this composition, as I had to stand between to parked cars half on the street to have mural and sidewalk filling my viewfinder. A frontal position would not have been possible as due to the lens being very wide angled, I couldn’t stand behind the car parked in front as the roof would have blocked the lower part of the mural.
Then it was a matter of waiting in the freezing cold wind for passing people, and there weren’t to many around. The first that passed came in groups, blocking the mural, then people passed on my side of the sidewalk, with only their top half visible in the frame, also blocking the mural. I needed someone to pass close to the wall, so I could capture the whole person in front of the big face behind him.
With this guy I finally got lucky (after about 15 minutes and a few unsuccessful shots), as he passed close to the wall, and I managed to capture him in full stride, always something I look for when pressing the shutter. Perseverance paid off once more.
Have a great Tuesday!
Marcus
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My little Portland Christmas miracle
Around the World in 12 Days – Rose City Waterfront
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Abandoned or Alone
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge for this week has the theme “abandoned or alone“. Frequent readers probably have already seen my entries for the challenge, but what I find kind of fascinating is that these themed challenges allow me to revisit older photographs and group them together in a new and different way, a creative process that I thoroughly enjoy.
To see all my other monochrome photographs for Cee’s challenge continue after the jump…. Continue reading “Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Abandoned or Alone”
Weekly Photo Challenge: Ascend
This week the weekly photo challenge (WPC) from Word Press’ “The Daily Post” has the theme “Ascend“. This street photo I took in Brussels Airport with my Ricoh GRII, image specs are 1/80 sec @ f/4 and ISO 1600, shot in P-Mode. Fore are a few images that symbolize upwards movement, continue after the jump…. Continue reading “Weekly Photo Challenge: Ascend”
Instant Inspiration (21) – Shoot what attracts your eye
In time for the weekend here is episode 21 of my “Instant Inspirations”, my series for you if you look for something to overcome “Photographer’s Block” or simply want to shoot something that you have never tried, or at least not recently.
Not every photo you take needs to make perfect sense. That is, making perfect sense to the outside world. It only needs to please you, make you happy. If someone else likes it, that’s a bonus.
That said, you are not limited to taking “conventional” photos of people, landscape, architecture etc…shoot it all! Whatever visually stimulates you, take a photo of it. Don’t be shy, the limit is only defined by your own taste. Try things out! Let interesting colors, shapes, textures and juxtapositions that catch your eye get your creative juices flowing. Be a visual artist. Go out and experiment and have fun! You only need to please yourself!
The “Hands” shot above I took last night with my iPhone while at dinner with two of my awesome colleagues here in Portland. We were enjoying a fab dinner in a Peruvian restaurant (Andina) in the Pearl District. We were sitting at a copper plated table, and while enjoying wine and great talks I observed my friend Anton lay out the shape of his hand with the chips of the cork from our wine bottle. The mixture of colors, shapes and textures really triggered the desire to take out my iPhone and capture that for my eyes visually appealing scene. Just for myself. And this is what I did. It was my creative moment on an otherwise quite unnerving day of project work, and it made me happy. And this is exactly what photography does for me.
For some more examples of random creativity and links to previous episodes of “Instant Inspirations” continue after the jump….. Continue reading “Instant Inspiration (21) – Shoot what attracts your eye”
Weekly Photo Challenge: Experimental
For all my free tips and inspiration around photography visit my Learning Center
“Experimental” is the theme of the Weekly Photo Challenge from Word Press’ The Daily Post for this week. When I experiment with my Street Photography, I often use slow shutter speeds of 1/8 sec or less for creative motion blur effects. There is a lot of hit and miss with this technique. Crucial for an image that works is an interesting background in which to place the blurred objects, like this entry to a Berlin subway station.
This shot I took with my Olympus PEN-F and the mZuiko 12mm F/2 prime lens with a shutter speed of 1/3 second for intensive blur, an aperture of f/9 to have ample depth of field and ISO 1000. I took the shot handheld, another example how effective the image stabilization system of the PEN-F is.
Experimenting with slow shutter speeds is fun, it can be applied to moving persons, moving traffic or a combination of both. For some more of my experimental street photos continue after the jump… Continue reading “Weekly Photo Challenge: Experimental”
Street Photography Quick Tip (13)
Street Photography Quick Tip 13 – Shoot in a Coffee Shop
My Street Photography Quick Tips are short, easy to read and easy to use tips that I think could help you while shooting in the streets. Today’s post is for those of you who dread hitting the streets in this awful wet and dull November weather. Take your camera into a coffee shop near your, sit down, enjoy a strong Espresso, observe the other guests and take some candid portraits of scenes that will catch your eye. People in coffee shops tend to be really relaxed, engaged in talks with others, reading papers or books, staring obsessed into their mobile devices or simply use the free wi-fi to blog or do their studies. And believe me, they will not notice you.
The photography above I took last weekend (during my Street Photography workshop with Eric Kim) at the Bonanza Café (Oderberger Str 35) in Berlin with my Olympus PEN-F and the mZuiko 25mm F/1.8 prime lens, image specs are 1/60 sec @ f/1.8 and ISO 640. Raw processing and monochrome conversion in Lightroom Classic CC.
For a few more coffee shop shots continue after the jump… Continue reading “Street Photography Quick Tip (13)”
I conquered my fears
This past weekend I have spent in Berlin together with Street Photo Legend Eric Kim, his wife Cindy, his sister Annette and a great crew of 12 other like minded Street Photographers who joined Eric’s “Conquer Your Fears In Street Photography” workshop in our Nation’s capital. It was a truly unforgettable experience. Mainly for meeting a bunch of fantastic and fun people. Thanks so much, Eric, Cindy, Annette and all of my co-students!! And it did the trick. Normally being rather “unobtrusive” in my street photography, I was blown away by how much fun it actually is to simply walk up to interesting looking people, asking them if I can “make” their portrait and share a few life stories with them. So the workshop really delivered on its promise, thanks to Eric.
Already back in the treadmill of the job that pays the bills, I just wanted to quickly share the success message and a couple of my street portraits taken during the workshop, all with my Olympus PEN-F and the mZuiko 25mm/F1.8 prime lens.
Here is the link to the post on Eric’s blog on the workshop results, check it out! There were so many great photos that came out of that two-day session in Berlin, they deserve some appreciation.
Once I find time to sort through all my photos I will do a proper workshop review with some more of my workshop results and a few “making of” images. Stay tuned !
Have a great week!
Marcus
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Street Photography Quick Tip (1)
Street Photography Quick Tip (2)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Temporary
After a totally crazy week at work, where the job that pays the bills has pretty much sucked up all my time and energy, I’m at the doorsteps of a hopefully nice (only contents-wise, the weather forecast is gruesome) weekend in our Nation’s capital Berlin, where I will attend a workshop with Street Photography Guru Eric Kim, a gift from my family and friends on the occasion of my half century birthday I had earlier this year.
Curious about what will await me I’m posting a street photograph I took during a visit to Berlin back in May, which is my entry into this week’s Word Press’ Weekly Photo Challenge, that has the theme “temporary“.
What is more temporary than a fleeting moment of life captured in a street photo. In the end, all street images are snapshots of life as it happens in that exact instant, and that never will be repeated. And it is especially true for this photograph of a father sharing an intimate moment with his little son.
Taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and the mZuiko 14-150mm F/4-5.6 travel zoom. Image specs 1/13 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 1600 and 120mm focal length. Monochrome conversion in Lightroom Classic CC.
I wish everyone a great and creative weekend!
Marcus
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Peek
This is my Street Photography entry for this week’s Weekly Photo Challenge “Peek” . Sometimes a change of perspective can add interest to an image.
I took the photo with my Olympus PEN-F with the mZuiko 25mm/F1.8 prime lens, image specs 1/400 @ f/4.5 and ISO 200.
If you look for more inspirations and tips around photography, I invite you to visit my free Learning Center.
Have a great weekend!
Marcus
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Be creative today
It’s the start of of a new week, albeit a short one here in Germany, as we’re looking forward to two bank holidays on Tuesday and Wednesday, to which I’ll be adding two days of much needed vacation. Throw in Halloween tomorrow, and there will be plenty of opportunity for photography the next days.
November is coming up, in Central Europe commonly dubbed as the most dreary, grey and dullest month of the year. To bridge the time until the start of the festive season, why don’t you take on some creative projects during November, whether it is taking your camera and go shooting some things you haven’t before (find ideas in my Instant Inspiration series in my Learning Center), improve your post processing skills, compile a photo book of your work, or try something completely different like sketching or sculpturing. Brighten up your November by doing something creative.
For some more “creative” Street Photo impressions from Portland’s Saturday Market continue after the jump… Continue reading “Be creative today”
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