Columbia River | Oregon | 2017 | 8sec @ f/16 and ISO 200, ND3
Inspired by some photos I took during last weekend’s trips around beautiful Oregon I found it is time for another “Instant Inspirations” post. This is my series for you if you feel you suffer from “Photographer’s Block” or simply want to shoot something that you have never tried. Or at least not recently. With Episode 15 I want to inspire you to go out and shoot long exposure waterscapes. For the how-to, more images and links to all previous editions of “Instant Inspirations” continue reading after the jump…. Continue reading “Instant Inspiration (15) – Long Exposure Waterscapes”→
Yesterday I did a nice tour from Portland, driving up along the Columbia River to Astoria where the mighty river flows into the Pacific, then down the coast to Cannon Beach and finally back to PDX. All in all I was 14 hours on the road. The weather was very oregonic, starting with pouring rain along the river, turning to a sun / show mix on the coast and eventually finishing in a nice sunset. I will need to hit the digital darkroom over the next days to look through my images, but I’ll show you a first photo from the mouth of the Columbia River, where a mighty, 4.1 mile long bridge takes Route 101 across and connects Astoria in Oregon with Megler in Washington State. It opened in 1966. The south part has a 200 ft clearance so oceangoing ships can pass on their way to the upstream harbors of Portland and Vancouver.
I took this long exposure image from the Cannery Pier just west of it. To smooth out the water and clouds I dialed in a 13 second shutter speed, closed aperture down to f/20 and used the lowest ISO of my PEN-F. To avoid overexposure I had attached my Haida ND3.0 neutral density filter, essentially a piece of darkened glass that reduces the amount of light hitting the sensor by 10 stops, the only way to achieve these long shutter speeds in bright daylight. The camera was mounted on a tripod and I used the Haida ND3.0 filter.
I converted the RAW file to monochrome in Lightroom CC, using a monochrome preset as a starting point and then mainly adjusting the gradation curves.
You will get to see more of this trip in the next days. Today will be all rain and I haven’t decided if I drive up to the Columbia Gorge to see the waterfalls.
Street Photography Quick Tip 8 – Capturing Gesture
Time for another of my Street Photography Quick Tips. One of those short, easy to read and easy to use tips that I think could help you while shooting in the streets. Today’s post is about capturing gesture. Don’t just capture people walking with arms hanging at their sides or with expressionless faces. Gestures can convey strong emotions in your photographs. If you want to find out more, continue reading after the jump…
Spring has blessed the Streets of Nuremberg, people all are out and about, seeking those warming rays and a relaxed Saturday in Nuremberg’s pedestrian zone. Also for me an opportunity to look for some fresh street photos with my Olympus PEN-F. In this shot it was the striking symmetry of sun bathers on the bench, pedestrians moving into the scene from both sides in the background and the window dressing dummies right and left of the tree that caught my eye. Me and my significant other were sitting in a cafe enjoying a great double espresso and I was merely waiting for the elements to fall into place. Image specs are 1/320 sec @ f/5,6 and ISO 200. I shot in P-Mode. Fore some more photos and the stories to the images continue after the jump….
“Instant Inspirations” is my series for you if you feel you suffer from “Photographer’s Block” or simply want to shoot something that you have never tried. Or at least not recently. With Episode 14 I want to inspire you to go out and use the glossy paint and the glass of car windows to capture interesting reflections of buildings, pedestrians and lights. For more images and info and links to all previous editions continue reading after the jump….
“Instant Inspirations” is my series for you if you feel you suffer from “Photographer’s Block” or simply want to shoot something that you have never tried. Or at least not recently. In time for the weekend here is Episode 13. I want to inspire you to go out, visit an exhibition or a gallery and capture pictures IN an exhibition. With a bit of patience and a good eye these places offer plenty opportunities to play with light and composition. On top of working your photographic skills you can cross-pollinate by studying the masterpieces of other artists and art forms. For more images and info continue reading after the jump….
Here it is, my first real photo of the Streets of Portland, literally. Last night after work I drove up the South Portland’s Marquam Hill (aka Pill Hill), where the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) and the Portland VA Medical Center operate large hospitals, whose modern architecture is quite fascinating of its own. But my real target was the upper station of the Portland Aerial Tram, from which you have a stunning view across downtown, the Willamette River with its many bridges and on clear days onwards to Mount Hood and Mount St. Helens. I found free parking behind the Doernbechers Children’s Hospital and walked over to the Tram Station.
I knew that from the station there is this great view of Interstates 405 and 5 merging and crossing the Willamette River on the Marquam Bridge. And this is the photo I really wanted to take. So I brought the Olympus OM-D E-M1, the mZuiko 40-150mm F/2.8 Pro Zoom and my Rollei travel tripod. Temperatures last night where just above freezing and there was a nasty rainfall. Camera and lens are waterproof, so that was more of a problem for me with my thin and not waterproof jacket. The good thing was that inside the Tram Station I was protected by the roof. I put the tripod on the railing at the far end that is open towards city and river, and snapped away. The photo came out just as I had hoped for. Image specs were 8 seconds (to capture the light trails of the traffic crossing the bridge), f/10 and ISO 200. Focal length was the far end of my zoom at 150mm (equals 300mm in full frame) and I used the 2sec self timer of the camera to avoid any shake after pressing the shutter.
This is a good example of a planned shot, where you have in mind what you want to do and then just execute.
I took a few more photos on Marquam Hill, but need time to process and edit, A post will follow. And then of course I need to really hit the Streets of Portland. But due to a full business agenda this might have to wait until my next trip.
This blog is about my journey deeper into photography. As I’ve written in many posts, photography is my passion, the creative outlet I need to balance the demanding job that pays the bills. I have no idea where this journey will eventually take me, but for sure I want to have fun on the way. The title of my blog was clear when I started it, I called it the “Streets of Nuremberg” derived from my passion for Street Photography and my hometown. The logo for my blog, the camera and the silhouette of Nuremberg’s Imperial Castle with the blog title that is also the name to my website, I actually designed much later. This came even after I created my own Street Photographer’s Business Card.
Last week I was musing about what else I can do with my logo. I am a coffee junkie, and both at home as well as in the office you hardly see me without a mug in my hand. So I had the idea to have mugs imprinted with my Streets of Nuremberg Logo. After some research about vendors I ended ordering them at vistaprint.de (the same site in the US is vistaprint.com). Cost was super affordable (about 7 € per mug plus shipping). I exported my logo from Photoshop into a jpg, uploaded the file to the Vistaprint site, placed in on the mug, hit the order button and was done. The mugs arrived a few days later. They came out great, as you can see from the photo above. Why shouldn’t I to something to promote my brand when running around my office or entertaining at home? And it’s really fun drinking coffee from my very own mugs.
Also using Vistaprint I already have designed and ordered my own T-Shirt. A white one with the logo in black on the front and the William Shakespeare quote from the “About this Blog” page on the back. And a black shirt with logo and Shakespeare quote in white. They are ordered and I’m quite exited how they will come out. So I’ll be my own billboard when roaming the Streets of Nuremberg with my camera.
Am I crazy? Maybe, but why shouldn’t I have a bit of fun. While building my brand. There is no rush.
“Instant Inspirations” is my series for you if you feel you suffer from “Photographer’s Block” or simply want to shoot something that you have never tried. Or at least not recently. Episode 12 should inspire you to go out and capture “playfulness”. For more exemplary photos, some advice and the links to all previous episodes continue reading after the jump…
Street Photography Quick Tip 6 – Shoot in a station
Have I mentioned that train- or metro stations are a great place to shoot Street Photography? Same as in airports, travelers in stations rushing too and from the trains are often much too busy to notice the photographer on the hunt, especially when you shoot with a small, inconspicuous camera or your phone. Set your camera to “P” mode and look for interesting scenes. Find yourself an interesting background and wait until the right subject arrives, as I did with this business traveler who rushed by my lens in front of the board with the train announcements.
If you want to play with motion blur to capture the dynamic of the rushing people, reduce your shutter speed to 1/10 sec which is a good starting point, as if you have a cam with good image stabilization or a calm hand you still can get the static scene acceptably sharp.
Red Rush | Nuremberg | 2016Underground | Nuremberg | 2016
My Street Photography Quick Tips. Some short, easy to read and easy to use tips that I think could help you while shooting in the streets. Check out some more posts.
And for all my free photography tips and inspirations visit my Learning Center, accessible from this link or from the main menu of the blog.
One of Barcelona’s biggest attractions is the Magic Fountain (Font Màgica) below the Palau Nacional at the start of Vinguda Reina Maria Cristina. Built in 1929 for the International Exhibition, the fountain offers a spectacular display of water acrobatics that is synchronized with music and lights which generate over 50 kinds of shades and hues. The water beams create a magic dance which unfolds before the eyes of a usually quite big crowd. For more photos and explanations how I approached this colorful night time shooting continue reading after the jump….
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