Tag: B&W black&white

10 Day Photography Challenge – Day 1

You serious?

I’ve made it safely to Portland, and for this of you who read yesterday’s post, I got into my hotel by 10 pm, which made it a 27 hour travel and work day. But after a sound 6 hours sleep (which is good, considering the jet lag effects) I’m ready to tackle today’s challenges. Talking about challenges, today is Day 1 of Cassia’s 10 Day Photography Challenge.  Today’s topic is “A portrait”.

Well , that’s not overly difficult for a street photographer. Take the camera, walk up to the first interesting looking person and ask if I can make her portrait. This young lady is a visitor from Korea. Sure she was initially puzzled by the question from a total stranger, but then I got the (almost always) usual answer “yes, why not?”, and while starting to talk I snapped away. I don’t exactly remember at what point she gave me that surprised look, but it is the photo I liked the most, as I always try to capture some emotions in the faces, like a thoughtful stare into the distance, a funny face or, like here, an expression of surprise.

Check out the blogs of the other participants: Cassia (our host),  Susan, Ariana, Jenna, Gracie, Arabella

Tomorrow’s topic is “Something Red”. I already have something my mind 😉

Be sure to check out my free Learning Center, if you also look for tips and inspirations around photography.

Have a great Thursday!

Marcus

Related Posts:

Friday Night on the Market

My little Portland Christmas miracle

Flying but not flying

Why you should never be without your camera

28

Travel Day (9)

Tube TV
Tube TV | Somewhere in the Sky | 2018

The taxi picked me up at 4:30 am in the morning. The first leg to Amsterdam took a good 60 minutes, leaving Nuremberg Airport at 6:00am. Connection time in Schiphol for the intercontinental flight to Portland is a good two hours, most of which is taken by the security controls before boarding a flight to the US. When I’m lucky I have time for a quick coffee in the KLM Lounge and doing a first round of business e-mails and a quick call or two. The westbound flight to PDX takes about 10h 30 mins.

Delta changes its meal selection every three months, so doing this trip twice a month there is no surprise about the food I will get. I don’t even bother to take the menu any more. Another nasty disadvantage of a frequent traveler is the movie selection. Having roughly 40 hours of flight time a month there is also not much left to see on the inseat entertainment system. Typically I load a couple Netflix movies on my iPad and use this, normally watching one movie per flight while eating. After the food I usually take a short nap on the westbound flights which are day flights. Then I usually work the rest of the flight, which is quite nice as there is no telephone that disturbs, but a good WiFi connection so I have email access.

The Amsterdam flight arrives in Portland at 11:30 am local time (which is 8.30 pm German time). I pick up my rental car and do the 30 minutes drive to our office, where I usually arrive around 1pm. By then my day is already going on for 18 hours. Normally I work until 7pm on my arrival date, then head to the hotel, normally skipping dinner. By the time I’m settled in it is 8pm, which translates to 5am in the morning German time. On the next day! This is a 25 hours nonstop travel and work day, minus the 90 minute nap on the plane. I normally have no issues falling asleep, but it happens that due to the jet leg and 9 hour time difference I’m wide awake at 3:30 am in the morning. And another full day ahead. The glory of business travel. So for all of you who aspire a traveling job – be careful what you wish for 😉

I took this image with my Olympus PEN-F and the mZuiko 12-40mm F/2.8 Pro Zoom. Image specs are 1/15 sec @ f/3,2 and ISO 1600. Raw and monochrome conversion in Lightroom CC Classic.

I wish all of you a great and stress free Wednesday!

Marcus

Related Posts:

Travel Day (8)

Travel Day (7)

Travel Day (5)

Business Travel Reality

29

Street Photography Quick Tip (14)

Like my hair
Like my hair | Berlin | 2017

Street Photography Quick Tip 14 – Shoot upwards and tilted for more dynamic street portraits

After a race across the nightsky (our flight arrived a whopping 70 minutes ahead of schedule) I’m back in Europe at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and waiting to board the plane for the last leg of this trip back to Nuremberg.

But as we came in early, this gives me time for episode 14 of my popular Street Photography Quick Tips, my short, easy to read and easy to use tips that I think could help you while shooting in the streets.

Most people shoot their portraits from eye-level. And if you get the eyes sharp, have the subjects turn their heads slightly upwards and to the side, you should get great results. But if you want to get your street portraits a more eye catching touch, shoot from a lower angle, and you can even tilt your camera a bit to give your image even more dynamic.

Talk to your subjects, ask them an open question, like what they wanted to become when they were a child, or what would be the destination of their dream, vacation. When the start talking, they relax, which can give you the opportunity to take great candid shots.

Obviously, this tip applies not only to street portraits.

For more Street Photography Quick Tips and inspirations around photography in general check out my free Learning Center.

I wish you all a great weekend!

Marcus

Related Posts:

Street Photography Quick Tip (12)

I conquered my fears

A Street Photographer’s Dialogue

Street Photography Quick Tip (5)

 

21

Fogged In

Zen Castle
Zen Castle | Lichtenegg | 2017

As I find no time to hit the streets these days, another monochromatic landscape shot I took during the holidays when we visited the ruins of Lichtenegg Castle, not far from Nuremberg. The storied castle was built in early medieval times and already destroyed during the 15th century.

Just like today, it was a very foggy day and we didn’t see anything of the normally fabulous 360 degree panoramic view one enjoys from the ruins that sit on a spectacular hilltop.

But what I did enjoy was the sight of the silhouettes of the pine trees on and in front of the crumbled fortifications. Another example that there is no bad weather for photography. You just need to work with what Mother Nature gives you. You just need to be flexible enough. If the spectacular view you intended  to capture isn’t there, look for details, interesting textures or silhouettes, as I did in this case. There is always the opportunity for an interesting photo, trust me. You just need to learn to see.

I took the photo in the high contrast monochrome mode of the Olympus PEN-F and my 12mm prime lens. Image specs new 1/400 sec @ f/5 and ISO 2oo.

The photo is of a certain calmness and serenity, something I already miss again, as the job that pays the bills has taken over my life again. Next Monday is my first travel day of the year, as I head once more across the pond to Portland.

Have a great Wednesday!

Marcus

Related Posts:

Instant Inspiration (13)- Pictures in an Exhibition

Instant Inspiration (15) – Long Exposure Waterscapes

Instant Inspiration (16) – Dusk at the Ocean

Summer over the Imperial Castle

21

Weekly Photo Challenge: Growth

Black Amaryllis

No, you don’t have to worry about my mental well being, with all the high contrast monochrome photographs I’m posting lately. I’m perfectly fine and there is plenty of sunshine in my heart. It’s just that I more drawn to black & white work these days.

So I’m using the first “Weekly Photo Challenge” of 2018 to add some more monochrome images to this blog. The title is “growth“. The only things that are growing these days in our house are the tulips I got from my wife as birthday flowers, and the Amaryllis she planted in December and that are growing splendidly.

As with my limited time I didn’t get into town for some street photography, I did a little setup on our living room table, using a black cardboard as background, positioning flowers in front of it and using a movable desk lamp to shed some direct lights on the flowers. Then I snapped away with my PEN-F and my 14-150 F/4-5.6 zoom, shooting at 1/100 sec, f/5.6 and ISO 200.  Easy setup, great results. Monochrome conversion done in Lightroom Classic CC. For the rest of the photos continue after the jump…. Continue reading “Weekly Photo Challenge: Growth” →

42

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

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Abandoned or Alone

Solitude
Solitude | Cremona | 2016

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” →

16

The Flying Bulls

Hangar 7 Planes 06
Flying Bull | Salzburg | 2017

I’ve been on a crazy schedule these days. After flying from Portland to Munich I headed to the Austrian Alps late Friday afternoon, to meet my significant other, who arrived there by bus, for a weekend in the Gosau valley in Oberösterreich. On my way I passed Salzburg, where the Hangar 7 at the airport is the home of the Flying Bulls, the still operational fleet of vintage aircraft of Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz. As an airplane nut, I couldn’t pass on the opportunity for a quick stop to check out the aircrafts on display, like the North American B-25J Mitchell, a Boeing Stearman, a  Chance Vought F4U Corsair (which I saw flying at the Oregon International Air Show the other week) and a Douglas DC6-B, plus many more. Also in the presentation is a vast collection of Red Bull racing cars. For some more impressions continue after the jump….

Continue reading “The Flying Bulls” →

26

Bubbly Happiness

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
“Bubbly Happiness” – Olympus PEN-F  1/400 sec @ f4,5 and ISO 200

What is more refreshing than seeing kids having fun? All the more when they enjoy themselves with something as traditional as soap bubbles (aka rainbow bubbles or Seifenblasen in German)? Continue reading “Bubbly Happiness” →

0

Street? Airport!

Who says you can show street photography only while roaming the streets? Airports are great locations to take pictures – “on the fly”.

The following pics I took during my business trip to the US last week at Chicago O’Hare and Washington-Dulles airports. Travelers are generally so in a rush or engulfed in activities or thoughts that it is easy to catch them in candid moments. So next time you take to the skies make sure you take your camera along (or use your smartphone camera, because the best camera is the one you have with you).

1600
“The last email”– Ricoh GR II 1/60 sec @ f / 3,5 and ISO 320
Continue reading “Street? Airport!” →

7

Up ↑