Tag: blogging

Time to relax with a coffee in the sun

Flying Coffee
Flying Coffee | Nuremberg | 2018

Sure there was some “Angst” right before pushing the button to activate the new blog theme (Baskerville 2).  I did some testing and experimenting using the new theme’s live preview in the WordPress customization area. When I was happy I went live, hoping that all my blog contents created during the past three years would still be there. It was. This morning I had a chat with the WordPress support to obtain some custom CSS code for viewing platform specific dynamic sizing of my logo that sits on top of whatever header image I desire to feature. I got the code after ten minutes, and it looks ok to me. Also, with the switch to the new (officially supported) theme, it looks like the broken functions are fixed again. The search works. Continue reading “Time to relax with a coffee in the sun” →

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Not always “on”

Social Media | Berlin | 2018 | 1/40 sec - f/2 - ISO 2000 - 12mm
Messaging | Berlin | 2018 | 1/40 sec – f/2 – ISO 2000 – 12mm

Most of us photographers don’t only shoot solely for our own archives, but share our work on our blogs and social media accounts (Instagram, 500px, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter). To find recognition, collect likes and comments.  And who doesn’t like to receive positive feedback?

But it shouldn’t turn into an obsession. I’m picking up my camera because I want to create art. If I shoot an image that visually pleases me, I’m totally happy. And if some of you like it as well, after I post in on my blog, that’s even better. My blog posts are automatically posted on my facebook pages, but I have to admit I rather infrequently check my facebook, be it my feed or comments/notifications. Flickr I hardly use anymore, on 500px I’m practically a no-show.

On Instagram I have two accounts  – Travimago for my travel images, streetsofnuremberg for the street photography. I have days where I post regularly on Instagram, followed by weeks where I am not active. Probably that shows in my followers there, only about 100 and 200 respectively. It spikes a bit when I post, then drops again to that level. I don’t see Instagram as an outlet that brings much benefits for me, also because I like to share some info with my photography, that I can do only in a limited way on this platform. And that probably no-one reads anyway, as Instagram is a swipe and like only medium. So as I’m not on a hunt for  likes and followers, I feel there is no real need to invest much time on my Instagram accounts. I mainly use it as a picture archive that I have on my phone where I can quickly show particular images to other people I talk to face to face about my photography.

So my main outlet is this blog, that requires already much of my time, preparing posts and photographs, writing, answering comments and browse to my feed from the many blogs I follow myself. Generally, the interaction through blogging beats anything I find on other social media channels.

As I mainly restrict myself to blogging, I’m not constantly “on” to check all social media channels, checking my likes and count my followers. Instead I use the time to pick up my camera and create art which is much more gratifying.

The above image was taken with my Olympus PEN-F with the mZuiko 12mm F/2. Images specs are 1/40 sec @ f/2 and ISO 2000.

If you look for tips and inspirations around photography and want to use the weekend to pick up your camera, check out my Learning Center.

Wish you a great weekend!

Marcus

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I conquered my fears

The Classic Seattle Night Shots

NYC Experience – Night in the Station

Looking forward to the weekend

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Summer Smiles

Summer Smile
Summer Smile | 2018 | 1/400 sec – f/5.6 – ISO 200

As the work week is finally coming to a close, there is a lot to smile about. After the passing of a cold front, the weekend is supposed to be beautiful again, with lots of sunshine and warm temperatures.

We’ll be spending the weekend in our nation’s capital to visit close friends and roam the Streets of Berlin, always one of my favorite places for Street Photography. Good that I spent a good part of last night giving my cameras and lenses a thorough cleaning. I also finally hooked them up to my Mac to do the firmware updates I wanted to do for quite some time now. So all is ready for a weekend of shooting.

Yesterday I also received the printed and framed photograph that I ordered to be included in a year long exhibition of the work of local artists. It opens at the end of September, and I’m really exited as it will be my first ever exhibit. The theme of the exhibition is “on the road” , and I submitted the image of the historic jetty in Swakopmund, Namibia, I took last year and blogged about in this post.

I didn’t even realize it when it happened, but sometimes last week the “Streets of Nuremberg” has exceeded the threshold of 5000 followers. When I started this little blog two and a half years ago, I would have never even dreamed about one day reaching this number. Then again, blogging for me is not about statistics. By sharing my photographic experiences and tips via my posts and my free Learning Center, I want to inspire and empower others to get more involved in photography and the visual arts. And I want to give back to the community that gave me so much over the years. And the best part of blogging is making all those wonderful connections with likeminded people all over this planet. So to all of you a heartfelt “Thanks” for being part of my journey.

The photo was taken with my Olympus OM-D E-M1 and the 12-100mm F/4. Image specs are 1/400 sec @ f/5.6 and ISO 200. RAW conversion in Lightroom Classic CC

I wish all of you a wonderful weekend!

Marcus

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Learning Center is online

Road to Berlin

On the Streets of Berlin

Instant Inspiration (20) – Backlit Fountain

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A Blogger’s Nightmare

Get out of my way

I am sure that, if you are a blogger yourself,  you have a big red mark on your calendar for May 25th. Because this is the date were the new EU data protection regulation (GDPR- General Data Protection Regulation/DSGVO-Datenschutz-Grundverordnung ) will come into force. Although, while primarily governing the handling of data privacy in the EU, it will practically affect everyone in the blogging world, because you are affected when your blog handles data (like logging of IP-addresses or e-mail addresses) of EU citizens.

When you search for GDPR in blogging forums (like the WordPress support forums), there is a lot of confusion about how to handle that situation. Some fellow bloggers already have deactivated their blog or are planning to do so.

While I always had the nagging feeling I need to revise the data privacy statements of my blog to comply with the new laws, I was not worried too much as the “Streets of Nuremberg” are a purely non-commercial, private blog in which I share my photographic endeavors. But recent posts from fellow bloggers and a face-to-face meeting with fellow local Street Photographer Kai (Kosmophil.de) just yesterday really got me worried and into action mode, as looming penalties (especially for blogs with commercial orientation of any sorts) are really severe.

I’m not a lawyer, and I can’t write the umpteenth article on how to bring your blog in compliance with the new law. And after half a night of research, there are many useful tips and guides to be found in the net, just search for “GDPR” (english) or “DSGVO” (German) and “blogging”.

I’m still in the process to determine what adjustments I need to do on my blog, just to be on the safe side and not run blindfolded into a possible legal trap.  Just by researching the web, all those things like a button “Follow via E-Mail…”, all social media sharing buttons,  allowing comments with avatars could potentially pose a data privacy problem, and bloggers need turn those things off or at least make their readers aware of it, which requires an updated data privacy statement on the blog. So I will dig deeper into the requirements and derive my personal measures I need to put in place.

My blog is hosted by WordPress.com (not to be confused with WordPress.org) and the company running it (Automattic). I would assume, that a service provider taking my money will take care of all the data privacy topics that run in their backend.  And WordPress itself has announced new features in May (oh by the way, this topic can only be found in their English support forum).  But ten days before the new law is put into force, no real help/tools is available so far.

I had a one hour chat session with their support today, asking for the availability of automated tools and a data privacy contract between them and myself as contract partners, confirming they protect the private data of my users that is logged in the background by their servers.  In the end, they referred me to their updated DP statement: Automattic and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The support said more will become available as we approach the May 25th deadline. I was totally disappointed they let (even their paying) customers walk that thin line. Not that we didn’t have several years to prepare for the new laws.

I see a lot of  panic and fear in the community, but I am quite confident that myself and all others who have behaved legally so far, with some changes and adjustments, can continue to blog without running into problems. But we first need to navigate through this period of uncertainty.

I hope I did not spoil your day with this post, but I would like to raise your awareness to this looming topic, and encourage you to do some research of your own into whether you might be affected and how you can adjust to avoid any legal trouble after May 25th.

I will continue to write about my experiences and activities regarding GDPR compliance, so stay tuned.

Have a nice Tuesday

Marcus

Links to relevant WordPress.com support sites:

https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/gdpr/

https://privacy.blog/

https://automattic.com/automattic-and-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/

 

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10 Day Photography Challenge – Day 10

The Kids
The Kids | Nuremberg | 2018

“Another Portrait” is the last task to accomplish in Cassia Denner’s 10 Day Photography Challenge. It was a fun challenge, and made me shoot a lot outside my usual street photography arena. So this somewhat different portrait of my two kids is a nice ending to the 10 day photographic fun. Image taken with my Olympus OM-D E-M1 and the mZuiko 12-40 F/2.8 Pro Zoom, Image specs 1/25 sec @ f/2,8 and ISO 1600, focal length was 40mm.

Thanks, Cassia, for organizing the challenge, other participants are  Susan,  Gracie, Ariana, Jenna,  Arabella.

If you look for tips and inspirations around photography, be sure to also visit my free Learning Center.

Wish you all a great weekend!

Marcus

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Finding your photographic style

20

Lensbaby Streetshot

Determination
Determination | Nuremberg | 2018

I’m still experimenting with the Lensbaby I got for my birthday. Street Photography might not be the perfect playground for this lens, but on Saturday I have attached it onto my Olympus PEN-F and took it to the Streets of Nuremberg.

This photograph was taken at 1/30 sec and ISO 80. The fixed aperture of the manual focus lens is f/3,5, focal length 28mm. The color combination certainly works here. I like the soft touches the Lensbaby gave to this image. It is a lens that needs to be “worked”, but this is also the fun of it. I just wish I had more time to explore it.

Wish you all a good week!

Marcus

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Be creative today

Learning Center is online

14

Looking forward to the weekend

Thinking Out Loud
Thinking Out Loud | Berlin | 2017

It was a very intense week in the Pacific Northwest, that I amazingly managed to get through without any significant jet lag from Monday’s flight across the big ocean to Portland. Unfortunately, there was also no opportunity for any street shooting, as apart from a very nice dinner with a new colleague and his wife last night (if you ever read this, thanks for a very nice evening, Pauline & Tom) , I didn’t manage to sneak away into downtown of the Rose City with my camera. The glory of business travel ;-).

Right now I’m sitting at PDX airport ready to board my return flight via Amsterdam to Nuremberg, where I hope to arrive in time for a late breakfast Saturday morning. Then it’s a week and a half at home, before I head back to Portland for a short 3 day trip.

This street portrait was taken with my Olympus PEN-F with the mZuiko 25mm F/1.8. Image specs are 1/80 sec @ f/2 and ISO 200.

I wish you all a great weekend, where I hope to catch up with all your comments and own blogposts!

Marcus

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Silence

Pensieve
Pensieve | Cremona | 2016

When I read the title of this week’s Word Press Weekly Photo Challenge – “Silence” – it was this street photo that was immediately in front of my eyes. I know I have posted it before, but this photo is all about silence, as silent as street photography can be.

The sounds of a bustling Italian market were barely audible inside the cathedral of Cremona, where only a handful of visitors were present in this huge church that was  totally silent.

And then there is the silence in and around this old man that was totally lost in thoughts.

Just to answer the questions that came with my earlier post of this, I shot this photograph at the long end of my small mZuiko 14-150mm F/4-5.6 telezoom (300mm full frame equivalent) and my Olympus was set to silent mode. I was standing behind a column shooting around it, so I was sure not to disturb in any way through my photography.

I wish everyone a great Thursday!

Marcus

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The End of a Friend

End of a Friend
End of a Friend | Nuremberg | 2018

They grow to serve us for just two weeks. We select them with a lot of attention. We decorate them with a lot of love. They brighten up our lives for two weeks. Families gather around them on Christmas. And then we throw them away. Isn’t it a bit crazy?

While walking to a doctors appointment I saw a bunch of disposed Christmas trees laying at the side of the road, waiting for the city to collect them. I had the PEN-F with the Lensbaby with me, and took this shot with 1/100 sec, f/3.5 and ISO 320, focal length of the lens is 28mm.

The photo is out of camera, no postprocessing. Sure, you can create this effects artificially with Photoshop, but isn’t it more fun to get it right when pressing the shutter? Walking around with a Lensbaby forces you to see differently.

Have a great Saturday!

Marcus

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Weekly Photo Challenge: 2017 Favorites

Fetish Designer

For all my free tips and inspirations around Street Photography visit my Learning Center

The last WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge (WPC) of 2017 was probably also the hardest one for this year . At least for me it was. With the title “2017 Favorites” it calls to post your most meaningful photo of 2017.

Now we all are passionate about our photography, and I’m quite sure, that when you look at your archives of this year, there are at least a dozen great images looking at you, screaming “I deserve to be in the 2017 Favorites!!!” And aren’t all those beautiful photographs, that each mean so much to you, your creative children? And don’t you want to treat all your children equal? So you are tempted to post not only your most favorite landscape photo, but also your best macro shot, portrait, street photo, monochrome image, and the one image you are most emotionally attached to and you just can’t leave out. After all, this is a great opportunity to show off a small selection of your best work. And Ben Huberman even left the door open for us to post several photos, if we can’t decide which is the absolute best (or meaningful) image of 2017.

When I joined a street photography workshop with Eric Kim back in November, one of the lessons I took away is that as photographer you need to be able to “kill your babies”. In order to distill out your best work. And to make you hungry again to take more photos, and make you better.

So even if it hurt, as I think I had great year where I really advanced my photography and got many pictures that I think are really good, I took the challenge by the word and post only my most meaningful photo of 2017.

This is my best image from the mentioned workshop. And it was the image that broke the spell around “interactive” street photography for me, where I discovered how much fun it actually is to walk up to interesting looking people in the streets and ask if I could make their portrait. So this is my photography of the year 2017!

Have a great Thursday!

Marcus

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33

Perfect Imperfection

Background Fight
Bush Fight | Etosha | 2017

As I already have written before, the master of Street Photography Henri Cartier-Bresson once stated that “sharpness is a bourgeois concept”. If you study his work (and that of other masters), he created many famous photographs that, while technically imperfect, strike the viewer with the heart and soul they carry.

When my Significant Other showed me this photo she took at a waterhole in Etosha National Park, I was immediately hooked on it. Yes, it is not pin sharp, and some critics might complain it lacks depth of field, but for me there is so much action and intensity in it that it supersedes any technical imperfection. This photo is so much Africa to me. So it deserves a prime spot on the blog. Kudos to the wife 😉

Yesterday the Streets of Nuremberg passed the mark of 3000 followers. For me it is still hard to believe how fast my little blog has grown since the first post I published just about 20 months ago to the day.

First of all I want to express my unlimited gratefulness to all of you who visit and read this blog. It is the joy of building the connections to so many great people across the globe through my blogging, the feedback I receive for writing about my passion for photography and my photographic endeavors – that is all the motivation I need to continue with the “Streets of Nuremberg”

Sure I ask myself what attracts people to this blog. Maybe it is a bit like this photo. Not technically perfect, but it carries heart and soul.

Have a great Wednesday!

Marcus

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Drinking from my own mugs

S(treets)hirts of Nuremberg

10

Happy Birthday, Streets of Nuremberg

Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday | Nuremberg | 2017

A year ago today I started my photography blog “Streets of Nuremberg” with the post Shooting on a rainy Saturday. Completely new to blogging I had no idea what I got myself into and where this would lead me. My idea was to use it as sort of my own photographic diary as well as my space on the web where I could share with others my experiences on my way deeper into photography and some tips and inspirations for others to try.

The Journey was amazing! I would have never expected what this blog has developed into. First of all, and most important of all, I would like to extend a big, huge, gigantic and heartfelt “THANK YOU” to all my readers, followers and supporters!

For a few insights into this amazing ride, some reflections and outlook to what’s to come continue reading after the jump….

Continue reading “Happy Birthday, Streets of Nuremberg” →

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