Into the Tunnel | Seattle | 2018 | 1/8 sec – f/4 – ISO 1600 – 12mm
Well, escape route might be a bit exaggerated. I don’t need to escape. But The Significant Other and myself are heading out. We’re using tomorrow’s National Holiday combined with two free days to head down to Italy, into our former hometown Genoa. Taking in some Golden October mediterranean sunshine. And visiting with old friends. We’re so much looking forward to it.
Photo taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 with the mZuiko 12-100mm F/4 Pro Zoom. Image specs 1/8 sec @ f/4 and ISO 1600. I had dialed in the long exposure to capture the motion of the couple climbing up a lit up staircase in Seattle’s MoPop.
Day 2 of our family summer trip through the Pacific Northwest had us venturing through the Emerald City. Seattle is a beautiful city. Contrary to popular belief, it is actually a quite sunny city, as also during my fourth visit I was kissed by the sun that brought out Seattle’s amazing colors. But see for yourself after the jump…. Continue reading “PNW Explored – Colorful Seattle”→
Playing Ball | Seattle | 2018 | 1/500 sec @ f/6.3 and ISO 200
In less than 72 hours the FIFA World Cup will be upon us. Strangely, here in Germany it is still pretty quiet around the Nation’s favorite sports team, and we are far away from the euphoric mood that rocked our country four years ago and that culminated in one huge party when Germany won the final against Argentina for our fourth World Title. Maybe it has to do with the meager results in the test matches leading up to the tournament. Maybe it has to do with the host country Russia, which is not really known as a soccer nation. I myself am rather bearish on our chances for defending the cup.
But at least we have a chance, as opposed to the US team that didn’t even make it through the qualifiers. Maybe players like this highly skilled soccer dad would have helped the Team USA to make the tournament. His dedication for the ball and the fun he had with his kids was contagious. Eleven guys like him would make for a formidable squad, I’m very sure.
Photographically I worked the scene a bit with this guy. In the first image I intentionally used the unsharp faces of the kids enjoying their ice cream to frame the soccer player as they passed directly in front of my lens, shooting at the long end of my 12-100mm F/4 zoom. This creative composition element created depth in the image, served as a frame for the main subject and also provided a juxtaposition between savoring food and doing sports. My other photos from the scene you can find after the jump… Continue reading “World Cup fever and some thoughts on composition”→
What do people do when outlasting the frequent rains of the Pacific Northwest? They chew a gum. What do they do with the gum once they are finished chewing it? They stick it to a wall. Well, this certainly beats spitting the gums on the ground, where innocent tourists step on them. It definitely is somewhat disgusting. But it’s also cult. The Seattle Gum Wall, below the famous Pike Place Market. If you want to see more, continue after the jump. Viewer discretion is advised 😉 …. Continue reading “Sticky Attraction”→
A bit of color would be so much appreciated! Because it is super grey outside. Grey as in fog. My flight from Amsterdam to Zurich just got cancelled due to foul weather. I’m now flying back to Nuremberg, hope that I and my bag arrive in time to catch a flight to ZRH from there. I never had a turnaround at my home airport. Like arriving at 2pm, getting the bag off the belt, booking a ticket and doing the check in for a 3pm departure. There is a 7pm flight as well. I just need to get to Nuremberg. Color appreciated!
Olympus OM-D E-M1 with the mZuiko 12-100 mm F/4. Image specs are 1/125 sec @f/5 and ISO 200. Shot outside of the Museum of Pop Art (MoPOP) in Seattle.
For tips and inspirations around photography in general check out my free Learning Center.
There is the saying that every journey starts with the first step with putting the sunglasses on your nose. That’s what I will do today, as in about three hours I will head to PDX airport for my flight back home. Well, home is not exactly right, as in Amsterdam I will make a connection to Zurich where I will meet The Significant Other and the Big Boy at the house of friends, where we spend the weekend. Weather in Switzerland should be nice as well, so I might keep the sunglasses on all the way 😉
Olympus OM-D E-M1 with the mZuiko 12-100 mm F/4. Image specs are 1/500 sec @f/5.6 and ISO 200.
For tips and inspirations around photography in general check out my free Learning Center.
I know there is the theory saying you should try to find an individual angle in your photography, not going after the shots that million others have taken. Thank heavens it’s just that…a theory.
Of course I went after the two classic night shots of the Seattle skyline. The first from Kerry Park was taken with 1/6 sec @ f/4 and ISO 500. I took it handheld, camera tightly tucked against the body, arms resting on the railing of the viewpoint. As I have written in other posts, getting tack sharp images with 1/6 sec handheld is no big problem with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 combined with the 12-100 F/4, where image stabilization of the camera are added to the lens internal image stabilization. Amazing technology. It was that crowded at the viewpoint that it would have been difficult to set up a tripod anyway.
Night Lines | Seattle | 2018
The second classic night shot of the Seattle skyline is from the 12th Avenue bridge across the I5. You have Century Link Field (home of the Seattle Seahawks) to the left, the Interstate 5 and Seattle downtown. Image specs here are 4 seconds, f/7.1 and ISO 200. As I wanted to capture the light trails of the passing cars I used a slow shutter speed of 4 seconds with the camera on a small tripod. I would have loved to use a longer shutter speed, but the problem was the bridge was vibrating with passing cars. Anything longer than 4 seconds always resulted in shaking from a passing car. Still, I’m quite happy with the result.
The Emerald City is actually pretty grey today. Which is not a big problem for a street photographer. Although I must admit, I went up to Kerry Park viewpoint in Queen Anne to capture a beautiful vista of the Seattle skyline. While the panorama looked quiet dull in all that grayness, I captured beauty of other sorts. Can’t help, somehow this scenery with the two ladies, posing for a friend shooting them with a cellphone camera, reminded me of Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”.
Photo taken with my Olympus OM-D E-M1 and the mZuiko 12-100mm F/4. Image specs 1/250 sec @ f/5 and ISO 200, 100mm focal length. I shot wide open at f/5 to throw fore- and background out of focus and direct the view on the faces of the posing ladies. Still, everybody can see where the photo was taken. Framing with the onlooking family adds interest to the story.
In the morning I toured the Boeing wide body factory in Everett, now I’m roaming the streets of Seattle. Just taking a coffee break in the MoPOP down below the Space Needle. I thought to use their free WiFi to upload this single shot and say “Hi” from the Emerald City.
