Tag: Reisefotografie

High Contrast Landscape Photography

Weisspriachtal
Longa River| Austria | 2017

Thinking in monochrome is nothing unusual for us street photographers. But when shooting landscapes it is nothing that I normally consciously look for. Today it was different. While the significant other and the big girl took to the slopes today on this marvelous winter day in the Austrian Alps, I grabbed the PEN-F with the 14-150mm travel zoom and my walking poles and hiked up the Weißpriachtal along the Longa River. I had this stunning valley all to myself, during my 3 hour hike I passed only 2 other walkers on this freezing cold winter day.

The sun was shining on 2 feet of freshly fallen snow, and there was a lot of contrast in this high altitude mountain valley. When I passed a small bend of the Longa River that lowed with the reflection of the snowy peak behind, I couldn’t help thinking of Ansel Adams and is beautiful high contrast landscape photographs. And this was enough inspiration to get going myself. I set the PEN-F to its high contrast monochrome program which helped me look for and compose my own high contrast landscapes. I dialed in ISO 200 and an aperture of f/10, which gave me shutter speeds between 1/320 and 1/500 sec.

Weisspriach Ansel002
Hundstein (2614m)| Austria | 2017
Weisspriach Ansel003
Rosskogel (2254m) | Lungau | 2017
Weisspriach Ansel004
Rosskogel (2254m) | Austria | 2017
Weisspriach Ansel005
Winter Sun | Austria | 2017

Remember how to capture the rays of the sun? You need to shoot with a narrow (small) aperture, like F16 or F22. If you also line up the sun just peaking around the corner of solid object, you are bound to get yourself some nice bursting rays in your image. This one was taken with F/18 and 1/60 sec at ISO 500.

I hope you liked my little excursion into landscape photography. This is what holidays are for, to wander off the beaten paths of what we normally do. What have you shot these past days that are outside your normal realm of photography? Feel free to share your results via the comment section.

All photographs were taken with my Olympus PEN-F with the mZuiko 14-150mm F/4-5.6 Travel Zoom. RAW conversion and high contrast monochrome treatment in Lightroom Classic CC.

I wish you all a great last weekend of 2017!

Marcus

Related Posts:

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

High Key Wilderness

Some thoughts on monochrome shooting

Portland Monochrome Nocturnal Streets

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Getting ready for Christmas

Am Ölberg | Nuremberg | 2017       1/60  @f/1.8 and ISO 1600
Am Ölberg | Nuremberg | 2017       1/60  @f/1.8 and ISO 1600

Last night, after shutting down my business laptop for good for 2017, the significant other and myself headed into Nuremberg’s Old Town for some Bratwurst and Mulled Wine. To unwind and get into the right Christmas spirit. We took a walk in the alleys below the Imperial Castle to look at a few Christmas trees the city has put up. I took along the Olympus PEN-F and the 12mm F/2 and 25mm F/1.8 primes. For a few more images continue after the jump…. Continue reading “Getting ready for Christmas” →

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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

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Friday Night on the Market

1/100 sec @ F/2.5 and ISO 200
1/100 sec @ F/2.5 and ISO 200

After a long and tiring week that saw the return from my last business trip of the year, we headed into Nuremberg’s historic center for an evening visit of our famous Christmas market, or Christkindlesmarkt, as it is called by the locals. It takes place in the weeks leading up to Christmas (Adventszeit) on the main market square. The roots of the christmas market can be traced back to the 17th century, and its one of the biggest in the country, with about 2 million visitors annually.

Typically we would avoid the market on a Friday evening, as it is totally packed with visitors, but as we combined it with other commitments we bit the bullet in order to treat ourselves to some mulled wine (Glühwein) and Bratwurst and a stroll along the wooden stalls with all kinds of seasonal merchandize. I brought along my Olympus PEN-F with the 12mm F/2 and 25mm F/1.8 prime lenses, great choices for some low light street shooting. For some more images of the market in front  of the Church of Our Lady (built in the 14th century) continue after the jump… Continue reading “Friday Night on the Market” →

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Transformation

Ghost Town
Ghost Town | Namibia | 2017

Transformation is something affecting all of us constantly. It is also the title of the Weekly Photo Challenge  Jen H. from Word Press’ “The Daily Post” has given us for this week. Transformation is very visible outside our windows here in Germany, as the strong autumn storms are blowing the last leaves from the trees and nature readies itself for another winter.  Managing transformation processes is also an integral part of my professional life and the job that pays the bills.

Peter Iredale
Peter Iredale | Oregon | 2017

My take on the challenge this week is the decay of man made structures as they are slowly recaptured by nature and transformed to rubble and dust.

Like the wooden buildings of the diamond ghost town Kolmanskoop. slowly but steadily blown to pieces by the high winds of the Namib Desert or swallowed up by the passing dunes. Or like the iron remnants of the more than one hundred years old sailing vessel “Peter Iredale” on the Oregon coast, that are gradually being dissolved by microorganisms and through the forces of the great Pacific Ocean.

To all my American friends I wish a very happy and peaceful Thanksgiving!

Everybody else have a great Thursday 🙂 !

Marcus

Related Posts:

Weekly Photo Challenge: Elemental

Weekly Photo Challenge: Wanderlust

Namibia Explored – Diamond Ghost Town

Where the river meets the ocean

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Why you should never be without your camera

Allerheiligen Schenna 03
Remembrance | Schenna | 2017

What is the cardinal sin of a photographer? Not having his camera on him/her at all times.

Using the double public holiday week for a short getaway my significant other and me took to the roads and headed down south to the Italian Alps to spend a few days in Schenna near Meran, in Alto Adige province.

Dinner at our hotel was as excellent, the 5 course menu taking us to the limits. This obviously caused the inevitable, with the significant other asking for an after dinner walk. So we headed down into the historic village below the magnificent castle, to the impressive church sitting on top of a small hill surrounded by a grave yard.

Today, November 1st, is All Saints Day, a religious fest where the faithful remember their death (see yesterdays Halloween post). Custom is to light candles on the graves. So when we entered the grave yard, we were greeted by a sea of mostly red candles, casting a magnificent atmosphere across the deserted cemetery.

And what did I not bring along? You guessed it right. Consoling myself that I could return tomorrow and hoping the big candles would still be alight tomorrow, I pulled out my iPhone 6 and did the best I could to capture the magic of the moment.  For a couple more photos from that beautiful scenery, continue after the jump… Continue reading “Why you should never be without your camera” →

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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” →

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Glow

Red Brick
Red Brick | Bayreuth | 2016

“Glow” is the theme of the WPC Weekly Photo Challenge this week. So let it glow! My title photo is from an old brewery in Bayreuth, Germany. There are not many surfaces that glow like red brick. The image was taken with my Olympus PEN-F with the mZuiko 17mm F/1.8. Image specs 1/640 sec @ f/f5,6 and ISO 200.

For a small collection of glowing street-, landscape- and travel-photos I invite you to look after the jump…. Continue reading “Weekly Photo Challenge: Glow” →

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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)” →

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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” →

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Inflight Polar Lights

Inflight Polar Lights
Polar Lights | Northern Atlantic | 2017

Last night it happened again. During my crossing of the Northern Atlantic on a Delta flight from Portland to Amsterdam I was blessed with another of nature’s most magic light shows, the Aurora Borealis.

Please excuse that the photographs I took with my little Ricoh GR II are not the sharpest. I took the photos out of a slightly shaking airplane with 6 seconds shutter speed and ISO 3200, the camera resting on a book I put onto the pillow I stuffed between seat and window. All I could do. But I wanted to share the magic of that moment.

I was consciously looking for the Northern Lights, as a fellow blogger currently on the ground in Norway captured them the night before. So I made sure I had a window seat on the left side, facing north. And then it was just a matter of waiting (and not falling asleep). And I got indeed lucky! More than enough compensation for the stress of a 4 day US trip.

Inflight Polar Lights
Polar Lights | Northern Atlantic | 2017

Inflight Polar Lights
Polar Lights | Northern Atlantic | 2017

Have a splendid weekend!

Marcus

Related Posts:

A Travel Night full of Magic

Travel Day (5)

Business Travel Reality – A Day in a Picture

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On the Streets of Berlin

Blurred Shopping Girls
1/8 sec @ f/6,3, ISO 200, 49mm focal length

As already mentioned in my previous post, I’ve spent last weekend in our Nation’s Capital, which is always a treat. As the main purpose of the trip was visiting a very close friend and going on a specialty Whiskey tasting (which was totally awesome by the way), an actual visit to the Streets of Berlin was limited to a few hours on Saturday when we went to the Potsdamer Platz district,  visited the Mall of Berlin and the Otto Bock Science Center. I brought along the Olympus PEN-F with the mZuiko 14-10mm F/4-5.6 travel zoom, and after the jump you can see some of the results…. Continue reading “On the Streets of Berlin” →

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