Olympus PEN-F with m.Zuiko 17mm f/1,8 | 1/500 sec @ f5,0 ISO 200
This is the door to the historic house in the German spa resort of Bad Steben, in which Alexander von Humboldt (1769 – 1859), famous German geographer, naturalist and explorer, lived from 1792-1795. His work on laid the foundation for the field of biogeography. Between 1799 and 1804, Humboldt travelled extensively in Latin America, exploring and describing it for the first time from a modern scientific point of view. His description of the journey was written up and published in an enormous set of volumes over 21 years. Continue reading “StoNur on the Road – A great man’s door”→
One from the archives – Monument Valley. Taken during our family vacation to the South-West of the USA in 2012.
Monument Valley (Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii in Navajo language, meaning valley of the rocks) on the border between Arizona and Utah is a region of the Colorado Plateau featuring clusters of vast sandstone buttes, the largest reaching 300 m above the valley floor. The whole valley is a tribal park of the great Navajo Nation.
If you like to watch Cowboy movies you have probably seen these rock formations, as Director John Ford has used the location for a number of his best-known films and thus has created in many of us the pictures that we have in from of our eyes when we think about the American West.
The picture shows the buttes “The Mittens” as well as the loop road which you can take to tour the valley from the parking of the visitor center. If you stay in the hotel “The View” this is what you see out of your rooms.
Back then we were touring with a Camper (RV) and stayed at Goulding’s Campground down in the Valley.
If you ever have the opportunity to visit this iconic location – do it. It is truly a magic place.
“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”→
“Exodus” – Olympus PEN-F 1/6 sec @ f3,2 and ISO 200
Saturday I was in town for some deliberate shooting. Rather then my normal strolling around to see what comes in front of my lense (as usual my favorite m.Zuiko 17mm f1,8) I set myself the goal to capture some motion in my shots. Experimenting a bit I found that 1/6 of a second is a pretty good staring point capturing people in motion to get this distinctive blur, while keeping the rest of the pic (static objects) sharp despite handholding the shots, thanks to the great 5 axis image stabilization of the PEN-F (same as in my E-M1).
I often get asked what gear and camera settings I use when venturing out to shoot on the streets. What works for me is less gear and very basic camera settings.
Let’s talk about the gear first. I switched from my Nikon setup to Micro Four Thirds because I was tired carrying around a big backpack with 5 kilos and more of camera equipment but without compromising image quality. Another benefit from using m4/3 gear is that when you carry a big Nikon with a big lense attached (and even Nikon prime lenses are huge pieces of glass) you always get attention, you are automatically regarded as a serious photographer, with all the negativ implications and restrictions many photographers encounter today when roaming the streets. Now with a m4/3 camera that is much smaller and a small prime lense attached you generate much less attention, blend more in, and that is generally what you are looking for as a street photographer. People tend to much less notice you and when they do, they more regard you as a tourist snapping away than a photographer looking for some serious shots.
The PEN E-PL7 with the 17mm f1.8 attached and the even smaller 45mm f1.8 next to it
Having said that, I typically go out with a single camera, either my OM-D E-M1 or my PEN E-PL7. Attached to it I have typically my M.Zuiko 17mm f1.8 prime lens. 17mm in m4/3 translates to ~35mm in full frame format. A fast, perfect and small piece of glass with excellent image quality. Many famous street photographers shoot 35mm only, as it is more or less equal to the normal field of view of our eyes. In the streets I like to shoot wide as my desire is to show people in the context of their environment. Continue reading “Gear & Camera Settings for Street Photography”→
While doing some shopping downtown I had my Ricoh GR II with me and used the opportunity to snap some pics on this rainy Saturday afternoon. All are taken in Nuremberg’s Karolinenstrasse. I used the high contrast filter on the GR II so I saw the B&W pic on the cams monitor while composing and pressing the shutter. But as I shot RAW only I got the pics in full color when importing in Lightroom. So I had to reconvert to B&W via VSCO presets in Lightroom. Easiest thing to avoid that is shooting RAW+jpg, so you retain the jpg with the applied in-camera filter for immediate use, plus you have the RAW for more extensive post production options.
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