Tag: Africa

Monday Mountains

Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro | Africa | 2016

I’m not sure if that category ever existed on WordPress, but if not I’ve just created it: Monday Mountains. In front of the magic light of an African sunrise this is the silhouette of the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, a dormant volcano and with 5,895 metres (19,341 ft) the highest mountain in Africa. I took this image out of a regional airliner enroute from Kilimanjaro Airport near Arusha in Tanzania to Nairobi International Airport in Kenya on our way back from our Tanzania trip in February 2016. The airplane flew about the same hight as the summit of Kilimanjaro.

The photo was taken with my Olympus E-PL7 with 1/80 sec @ f/5.6 and ISO 800 at 42mm focal length. I sacrificed a slightly higher ISO for a higher shutter speed to avoid camera shake due to vibrations in the cabin of the Turboprop aircraft. Focussing was easy as I used the sharp contrast of the mountain slope as target for my single focus field. The relatively large aperture is needed to avoid getting dirt or scratches inevitable for airplane windows in the image. Focusing on infinity and a large aperture (low aperture number) is always a good trick to get clean images when photographing through unclean windows.

With no time for Street Photography I’m scavenging last years archive for some more impressions from Tanzania.

Related Posts:

StoNur on the Road – Banana Streets

StoNur on the Road – African Primary School

Street Photography Quick Tip (5)

 

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Street Photography Quick Tip (5)

Lost Feet
Lost Feet | Tanzania | 2016
Street Photography Quick Tip 5 – Composition – the hidden subject

In time for some Sunday shooting here is the fifth edition of 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. Today’s post is a first tip on composition – placing a hidden subject in your photo that catches the eye only on the second pass of the image, thus adding additional interest to the image.

Here, the smiling African boy holding the saw and waving his hand at me is the clear primary subject. But as you take in this friendly African Street Scene you notice the two naked feet sticking out from under the van. Now what happened here? Was another person just run over by the vehicle? Is some guy taking a nap in the shade of the van? Are these just the feet of a mechanic who is working on the van parked in front of a repair shop?

Adding an additional layer with an additional, hidden subject adds interest to your composition.

This photo was taken with my OM-D E-M1 with the mZuiko 14-150mm F4.0-5.6 Travel Zoom with 1/160 sec @ f/5.6 and ISO 250. Focal length was 90mm (equivalent to 180mm full frame with the m4/3 crop factor of 2).

Take your cam, hit the streets and find your own composition with a hidden subject. And have fun!

Marcus

Related Posts:

Street Photography Quick Tip (1)

Street Photography Quick Tip (2)

Street Photography Quick Tip (3)

Street Photography Quick Tip (4)

Instant Inspiration (8) -Make a portrait of a stranger

How many stories can an image tell?

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Street Photography Quick Tip (4)

Sleeping Mr. Price
Sleeping Mr. Price | Tanzania | 2016

Street Photography Quick Tip 4 – Shoot out of a moving car or bus

On the heels of my latest Instant Inspiration  here is a new Street Photography Quick Tip. Street Photography isn’t limited to shooting while walking on the streets. You can do it as well shooting out of a moving car or bus, as you can see from my photograph “Sleeping Mr. Price” above, that I took in Tanzania through the window of a fast driving Land Cruiser.

Interesting street scenes are everywhere. Just make sure you set the camera to a fast exposure time (I suggest at least 1/1000 sec) to make sure the photo you take is still sharp, despite the moving car you are sitting in. This technique comes in handy when traveling in groups, where you can’t avoid being caught in buses and cars for hours and where the driver won’t stop just because you saw a nice street scene you wanted to capture. It  helps if you use a fast prime or zoom lens so you can use very short exposure times without having to increase the ISO too much. Switch your camera to manual focussing and pre-focus your camera to infinity so you don’t waste any time focusing while doing “drive-by-shooting”, set an aperture that ensures everything is sharp from 10 feet out and then just press the shutter.

This photo was taken with my OM-D E-M1 with the mZuiko 12-40mm F2.8 Pro Lens with 1/2000 sec @ f/3.2 and ISO 200. Focal length was 36mm (equivalent to 72mm full frame with the m4/3 crop factor of 2). I did some cropping and straightening in Lightroom.

Take your cam and practice. And have fun!

Marcus

Related Posts:

Street Photography Quick Tip (1)

Street Photography Quick Tip (2)

Street Photography Quick Tip (3)

StoNur on the Road – Banana Streets

My photo of the year 2016

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My photo of the year 2016

Let them Learn
Let them Learn | Tanzania | 2016

In my last post of 2016 I want to leave you with my favorite photograph of the year. It shows a group of small children in a very simple and small one room building deep in the Massai bushveld in Tanzania, that triples as kindergarden, elementary school and Lutheran Church. A few sunspots fall on the floor and on the children.

Of all the photos I took in 2016 this is not only the one that means the most to me. Photographically, but also the visit to this small Massai congregation out in the bush, where the clans still live in their traditional semi-nomadic way in their simple “bomba” (fenced in circular houses) without running water and electricity, was one of the most memorable impressions of this year and surely one I will never forget.

This photo also stands for my greatest wish for 2017. Let the children learn ! I truly believe this is the only way we can overcome the chaotic times we live in. If we would succeed  in providing education for all children on this planet,teach them the core values of humanity that are universal to all cultures, this world would be a better place. And my visit to the Tanzanian bush has proved to me once again that children are eager to learn. They are interested in the world. They want to broaden their horizons. This is natural to children. We just have to let them learn!

I wish all of you and your loved ones a great start into the new year. Have a peaceful, blessed, successful, healthy and happy 2017. Chase your dreams and make them come true!

Marcus

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StoNur on the Road – Banana Streets

Banana Market Mika Tanzania
Thumbs Up | Tanzania | 2016

I have promised to some readers that I show some more photographs from our Tanzania trip in February 2016. I visited this marvelous East African Country together with our local Lutheran Church’s Trombone Choir on the occasion of the inauguration ceremony of the new Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) Frederick Shoo, to which our Choir was invited to participate. We spent a whole week in Moshi on the southern slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Besides participating in the program during and around the inauguration ceremony we had the opportunity to tour Moshi and visit some church projects in the vicinity, before finishing off with a Safari in Arusha National Park (remember the movie “Hatari” with John Wayne, which was shot there?).

In this first blog post of a little Tanzania series I take you to the Banana market in the little town of Mwika in the Moshi Rural District. It is situated on the South Eastern slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, a dormant volcano and the highest mountain in Africa,  rising approximately 4,900 m (16,000 ft) from its base to the highest summit at 5,895 metres (19,341 ft) above sea level. To find out more and see more images continue reading after the jump…

Continue reading “StoNur on the Road – Banana Streets” →

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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 – 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

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StoNur on the Road – African Primary School

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