Tag: Business-Travel

Travel Day (8)

Clockmanagement
Clockmanagement | Schiphol | 2018

My first business travel of 2018 took me once more from Nuremberg via Amsterdam and Seattle to Portland, Oregon, where I arrived in surprisingly warm and dry weather after 19 hours total travel time at 2pm in the afternoon. For the airport I went straight to the office for an afternoon of meetings, before I collapsed in my hotel bed at 8pm in the evening and logged 8 hours of sleep before waking up at 4am this morning, a surprisingly long night considering the jet lag effects. To sum it up, back to business as usual for the job that pays the bills.

While connecting through Amsterdam Schiphol I saw a lady taking shots of the famous video screen clock in the international terminal area between the D and E gates. As during previous visits to AMS I myself have taken quite a few shots of the man inside the clock drawing, erasing and re-drawing the hands, I took my Ricoh Gr II I brought along as camera on this trip and shot this monochrome photo of a fascinated fellow traveler.

After the jump you find my original color shot of the video clock, a few photos of passengers on the walkway between B and C gates before I finish off with the high contrast monochrome landscape photo of a “broken mountain” that I took with my iPhone from the window of my Alaska Airlines Dash-8 on yesterday’s last leg from Seattle to Portland…. Continue reading “Travel Day (8)” →

83

At the end of the flights

Final Flight

I have closed the shutters on the job that pays the bills, at least for 2017. This years goes in the books as my “Year of the Flights”. I counted seventeen intercontinental business trips, among which a true “Round the World” flight, plus a bunch of flights around Europe and the Middle East. I estimate that I’ve spent close to 400 hours in the air. The countries I’ve visited in 2017 include the USA, Canada, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Namibia, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, England, Sweden and Egypt.

I’ve met many great people on my business travels. Had a few nice dinners. I saw polar lights from the plane while crossing the Atlantic Ocean during the night. Had a free Saturday in Tokyo and an evening in Budapest that I really enjoyed. Got to explore a bit of the Pacific Northwest during a few weekends spent in Portland. But there were also the countless nights in some hotels, countless days in windowless meeting rooms somewhere on the globe. And way too many weeks away from home. The glory of business travel.

Now I’m really looking forward to some down time with the family and away from laptop and mobile phone (the business versions of those, that is 😉 ). Before it will start all over again in 2018, hopefully with a bit less intensity.

I wish everyone a great Friday and a peaceful start into the long Holiday weekend!

Marcus

Related Posts:

My little Portland Christmas miracle

Employee of the Month

StoNur on the Road – Innsbruck Christmas Markets

Music raising to the skies

32

The Magic Cook

Cooking Magic
Cooking Magic | Portland | 2017

Street Photography captures life as it happens. Or as it not really happens. Like me making me a cook for a moment. In front of a Chinese restaurant in Portland.

I wonder what the cook must have thought, seeing the strange guy with a camera in front of his window, crouched down, inching his way sideways, upwards, downwards, in a desperate attempt to put his head on top of another body.  But the opportunity to become a cook for a moment was just to good to pass up.

In case you wonder why the cam is not at the photographer’s eye? Thanks to the rotatable LCD screen of my PEN-F.

Taken with my Olympus PEN-F and the 12mm F/2 prime lens. Image specs 1/60 sec @ f/2 and ISO 1600.

Have a great Wednesday!

Marcus

Related Posts:

Instant Inspiration (4) – Juxtaposition

Instant Inspiration (6) – Storefront Windows

Keep Portland Weird

A Street Photographer’s Dialogue

19

My little Portland Christmas miracle

Hey What's Up
Hey What’s Up | Portland | 2017

Finally got to do some photography in the streets of Portland, heading to the Pearl District on my free Saturday in the Rose City, on a splendid but freezing cold afternoon.

I started shooting people through restaurant windows, where I got some cool reactions from the guest like from this genuinely surprised guy. As always, making eye contact and throwing some genuine smiles did the trick.

But I also experienced my little Portland Christmas miracle, when I approached an interesting looking guy and asked him if I could make is portrait, which he readily accepted. So I snapped off a couple shots why doing some small talk with him. We chatted about why I’m in Portland, and I asked him what he was just up to. Telling me he was just coming off work in one of Portlands large theaters (the Armory  – where we happened to stand just in front), he suddenly asked if I would like to see one the shows that were on last night. When I said yes he just took me inside to the box office and presented me with a complementary ticket.

I was totally taken aback by is genuine friendliness and generosity. Just because I asked him for his portrait and was interested in what he does. So I got to see a Truman Capote Christmas play with integrated musical performances by two stunning singers, a show I enjoyed tremendously.

This is why I love Street Photography – you meet so many great and interesting people.

The photo was taken with my Olympus PEN-F and the mZuiko 25mm F/1.8 prime lens. Image specs 1/125 sec @ F/2.5 and ISO 200.

Have a great Sunday!

Marcus

Related Posts:

Back in Portland

On the Streets of Portland again

My Eric Kim Workshop Experience

I conquered my fears

64

StoNur on the Road: Chicago

Chicago Impressions 17

I was in Chicago last week, but really I wasn’t. In fact, the only piece of it I saw aside from O’Hare airport, a hotel and a meeting room in the northwestern suburbs was a great view of the skyline from the plane as it crossed the Lake Michigan shoreline south of the city while on direct approach to the airport (the photo I took from the plane is the first you see after the jump). This is really a pity, as the “Windy City” is a great place to visit and photograph. So while sitting in my hotel in super rainy Portland I searched for some images I took during an earlier visit pretty much 9 years ago to the day. The camera I used back then was a Panasonic DMC TZ5. So if you like to see some Chicago impressions, continue after the jump… Continue reading “StoNur on the Road: Chicago” →

35

Travel Day (7)

Airport Rush
Catch the Plane | Amsterdam | 2017 

After all,  I slept three full nights in my own bed before heading westward across the big ocean once more,  for about the gazillionth time this year. Sometimes I wonder what the constant exposure to high altitude radiation will do to my body. Today’s trip is Nuremberg – Amsterdam (where I am now)  – Chicago. Instead of my usual Delta flight I’m on a KLM flight with the hope to find some new inflight movies that I haven’t seen yet (which is almost impossible) and a new menu (Delta changes it’s food offerings only once every three months, so honestly I can’t see that stuff any more).

I absolutely love Chicago, the perfect city to combine street- and architectural photography, but this trip is business only and I won’t even make it downtown during my roughly 30 hours on the ground. In an office park near O’Hare airport  I will meet my peers from other international corporations for our annual round table get together, and I’m really looking forward to this meeting. Tomorrow night I will continue on to Portland for a full week of regular project work, before flying back home in time for the last October weekend (and hopefully a week off).  After the jump you can see a few shots I took while being bored during my air travel, there is always an opportunity for some photography 😉 … Continue reading “Travel Day (7)” →

58

Travel Day (6)

Alone in the Air
Planespotting | 2017

Another ten day stretch in the Pacific Northwest comes to an end, in a few minutes a Delta Airlines Airbus A330 will take me into the afternoon Portland sky for its 10 hour journey across Canada and the North Atlantic Ocean to Amsterdam, from where I take the connecting flight back to Nuremberg.

On the flight I will open the digital darkroom to go through my photos from last weekend’s trip to the Oregon coast, where I had plenty opportunity for some nice travel photography (you might have seen the two appetizers here and here). But there are even better times ahead (not only photographically 😉 )….three more days in the office and then I made it to summer vacation. And my destination will be Namibia.

The photo above was taken with the Olympus PEN F and the mZuiko 14-150mm travel zoom. Image specs are 1/500 sec @ f/8 and ISO 200, focal length was 150mm (equals 300mm in full frame due to the m4/3 crop factor of 2).

Have a great day!

Marcus

Related Posts:

Around the World in 12 Days – Shanghai

Street ? Airport ! (7)

Travel Day (4)

13

StoNur on the Road – Shibuya Crossing

Shibuya Crossing Tokyo
Shibuya Crossing Tokyo |  1/60 sec @ f/2, ISO 400 and 12mm focal length

When the “Streets of Nuremberg” visited the Streets of Tokyo a week ago, I finished a long day of sightseeing in Shibuya,  one of the prime shopping zones of Tokyo, enjoying high popularity especially among young people.  There are several famous fashion department stores in the zone around Shibuya Station, like well known Shibuya 109. Brightly lit up after dark, Shibuya is the “Times Square” of Tokyo. For more photos of this exiting place as well as a short time lapse video (must see) continue after the jump…. Continue reading “StoNur on the Road – Shibuya Crossing” →

23

Around the World in 12 Days – Home again

Rainbow Flight
Rainbow Flight | Munich | 2017

10 Flights. 19300 miles (31000 km) distance flown. 44 hours of flight time. Nuremberg-Frankfurt-Vancouver-Portland-Vancouver-Taipei-Shanghai-Seoul-Tokyo-Munich-Nuremberg. Amazingly, non of the flights where in any way delayed. After 12 days of traveling westbound around the world I’m safe and sound back home on the Streets of Nuremberg.

It was a very intense but productive business trip, and it included some opportunities to see something outside airports, taxis, hotels, and meeting rooms, and I’m very grateful for that. The best thing was meeting all those great people in Taiwan, China, Korea and Japan. But also revisiting Shanghai‘s amazing citycenter and being able to explore Tokyo for the first time was a treat.

A somehow perfect ending to this special voyage was the last short flight from Munich to Nuremberg, when a rainbow graced the sky above the plane when we boarded and that pointed exactly into the northerly direction towards home.

Dramatic Landscape
Home | Franken | 2017

And the special light that flooded the ground near the village we live in during final approach to Nuremberg airport. I love to travel and explore the world. But it’s always good to return home.

Have a great week!

Marcus

Related Posts:

Around the World in Twelve Days

Around the World in 12 Days – Greenland

Around the World in 12 Days – Rose City Waterfront

Around the World in 12 Days – Hiking on Mount Hood

Around the World in 12 Days – Taiwan

Around the World in 12 Days – Shanghai

Around the World in 12 Days – On the Streets of Tokyo

Around the World in 12 Days – Tokyo Impressions

 

26

Around the World in 12 Days – Tokyo Impressions

HamaRikyu Garden
HamaRikyu Garden | Tokyo | 2017

Having a free Saturday at the end of my trip around the world in twelve days is nothing spectacular. Having it in Tokyo is. A bit of web research helped to come up with an itinerary that would take me to some of the highlights of this fascinating city. To join me for the sightseeing trip continue after the jump…. Continue reading “Around the World in 12 Days – Tokyo Impressions” →

40

Around the World in 12 Days – On the Streets of Tokyo

Tokyo Asakusa Street LifeMy last update on my business trip around the word came from Shanghai. After spending one night and an intense business day in the Chinese megacity I took a China Southern A320 to Seoul, where I got into my hotel in Pangyo at 9pm in the evening. Dead tired I went to bed immediately, got up at 4am, did emails and calls and went to the office. There was just no opportunity for any photography at all. But I was absolutely blown away by the friendliness of our Korean colleagues, they went out of their way to make me feel welcome. So my memories of Korea will be that of super friendly people and great food I got when they took me to lunch. Then it was off to the airport again, this time a Korean Air Boeing 777-300 took me in 1h 50min to Tokyo’s Haneda airport, then I took a taxi to my hotel near Shinagawa Station. After a productive day in the office and finishing all the meetings on Friday afternoon I took the subway to Asakusa , the center of Tokyo’s shitamachi district, an old town part where the atmosphere of the Tokyo of past decades has survived. Besides the narrow alleys the main attraction is Sensoji, a very popular Buddhist temple, built in the 7th century.  To see some random photos of the Asakusa area and the local street life continue after the jump…. Continue reading “Around the World in 12 Days – On the Streets of Tokyo” →

61

Around the World in 12 Days – Shanghai

Shanghai Skyline
Skyline | Shanghai | 2017

This day of my business trip around the world ended with one of the most spectacular view on this planet. As described in my last post, we flew into Taiwan the day before. Suffering from jet lag due to 9h physical time difference to the US west coast, I had a short night, hitting the sheets around 10pm, then being wide awake at 3am in the middle of the night. I don’t fight jet lag, so I got up and started working on emails and doing calls. At 9am I was in our Hsinchu Office for management meetings and an employee town hall. A quick but great lunch with our Taiwanese hosts, then a driver took us back to Taipei airport were we took a brand new China Southern A350 for the 1h 15min flight to Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport. I was on the ground in Taiwan for less than 24 hours. I didn’t even get as much as a glimpse of Taipei city or the Taipei 101 tower.  Landing around 6pm we cleared immigration and found our driver who took us to the hotel in Pudong where we arrived around 8pm. Despite being dead tired after a super long day, I couldn’t let this opportunity slip away. Getting around Shanghai by taxi is cheap and easy. So I through my stuff in the room, changed into shorts and T-Shirt, grabbed the cam, and ten minutes later took a cab to drop me at the Pearl Tower for some quick nightly sightseeing around one of the world’s most spectacular skylines. See yourself after the jump…. Continue reading “Around the World in 12 Days – Shanghai” →

58

Up ↑