Tag: Street Portrait

Go out and shoot

1/60 sec - f/2 - ISO 1000 - 12mm
1/60 sec – f/2 – ISO 1000 – 12mm

Christmas is behind us, and with it the seemingly endless flow of festivities and opulent meals. My calorie balance is deeply negative in the past four weeks, but as the saying goes, you don’t gain wait between Christmas and New Year but rather between New Year and Christmas.

So now is the time to grab the camera (maybe the new one you got for Christmas) and head out into the streets. Roaming through the cities provides not only for plenty of street photography opportunities, it also gives you the opportunity for some brisk walking in fresh air to shake off those holiday cobwebs and re-energize yourself, creatively and physically.

This is why street photography is such a great genre, it keeps you out and about, and you can combine exercise and creativity!

If you look for tips and inspirations around photography check out my free Learning Center.

The photograph was taken with the Olympus PEN-F and the mZuiko 12mm F/2. Image specs 1/60 sec @ f/2 and ISO 1000. Post-processing in Adobe Lightroom Classic CC.

Wish you a great Saturday!

Marcus

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Are you in the mood?

Christmas Kiss | Nuremberg | 2018
Christmas Kiss | Nuremberg | 2018

We all know Christmas is not the most relaxing of holidays. Shopping frenzy, decorating competitions, preparing festive meals, Christmas parties everywhere, last minute travels. And all of this with a looming deadline…well, sort of. But you get my point.

Let us all remember that this is not about who gives the biggest gift, has the fanciest decoration or cooks a 5 course dinner.

Image taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and the mZuiko 12-100 F/4, image specs 1/30 sec @ f/4 and ISO 1600, 17mm focal length

Have a great Saturday!

Marcus

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Warming Up

Warming Up | Nuremberg | 2018 | 1/6 sec - f/4 - ISO 1600 - 92 mm
Warming Up | Nuremberg | 2018 | 1/6 sec – f/4 – ISO 1600 – 92 mm

The Significant Other and I went for an afterwork drink to the Christmas Market in the Old Town. While enjoying a Glühwein (Mulled Wine) I happily snapped away at our bystanders with my EM-1 and the 12-100mm F/4.

Once more I was amazed at the image stabilization capabilities of the Oly cam. This photo I shot hand-held at 1/6 sec. The very slow shutter speed had the advantage that I captured the motion of the guy raising the Glühwein cup to his mouth.

Capturing gesture always adds interest to Street Photographs. In this case I was waiting for him to start drinking with the intention to capture the motion of the moving cup. And as people typically keep their head still when drinking, I was able to capture the face of the subject sharp, despite the slow shutter speed. Obviously, when shooting at 1/6 sec, it is always a bit hit or miss when going after these kind of images.

Wish you a great Tuesday!

Marcus

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Danger Zone

Give & Take | Memphis | 2018
Give | Memphis | 2018

No, “Danger Zone” was not a song from the King of Rock n’Roll.  But this is a photo straight from the danger zone. In multiple aspects.

I stopped by Graceland on my way to Memphis Airport. I intended it as a bit of time filler before my return flight, as the mansion is just a ten minute drive from the rental car return. After all, the Significant Other and I have visited before, although we’re not on the same page what year exactly, but both suspecting it was in the very early 90’s. So I figured a quick tour would bring back the memories into the digital age.

Getting in was not all that difficult, no line, a quick tour of the house where Elvis and his family lived from 1958 until his much too early passing in 1977. It was so wonderful retro (I have a post about it coming up). The thing is, they have built a huge Elvis Experience Park across the street. Plenty of dedicated expositions showing his car and motorcycle collection, memorabilia from his stint with the US military in Germany, an area about his acting career and another about his music, with plenty of multimedia content and artifacts. I totally lost my time, so much I enjoyed this new part of the Graceland experience that wasn’t there when we first visited. Which is not a good thing if you have to catch a plane – and gas up the car before returning it – and buy a Powerball ticket (no, we didn’t win the jackpot).

Something else probably sensing some looming danger was the big Olympus in my backpack. It got to tour Graceland. But it didn’t make it out of the bag, as the iPhone was handling all shooting duties. And it did just fine. Wait for the post.

And by the way – “Danger Zone” was a song performed by Kenny Loggins in the movie “Top Gun”.

Wish you a great start into the week!

Marcus

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6

Keep calm and drink coffee

Coffee Break | Genoa | 2018 | 1/60 sec - f/4 - ISO 1600 - 100mm
Coffee Break | Genoa | 2018 | 1/60 sec – f/4 – ISO 1600 – 100mm

I’m a coffee addict. I could drink coffee the whole day. I can drink a coffee before going to bed and still sleep like a baby. When I’m all stressed out (from the job that pays the bills), I drink a coffee, take a deep breath and carry on. Coffee also gets my creative juices flowing. That said, I’ve spent the last (slightly extended) weekend in Italy. And there is no other country (I’m aware of) that provides for great tasting espresso.

The above photo I took in Genoas old town from outside a coffee bar with my Olympus OM-D E-M1 and the mZuiko 12-100mm F/4 – image specs 1/60 sec @ f/4 and ISO 1600,  100mm focal length.

There are a couple of things I like about the photo, the overall story, the nice bokeh of the 12-100, the juxtaposition of the big, slightly tilted head of the coffee drinker in the foreground and the small slightly tilted head of the barista in the blurred background. What I don’t like is the clutter in front of the head of the main subject. Although blurred, it still distracts. But in that situation there was no chance for a composition with a clean background. Street photography is full of trade offs.

Wish you a great Tuesday!

Marcus

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32

Escape Route

Into the Tunnel | Seattle | 2018 | 1/8 sec - f/4 - ISO 1600 - 12mm
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.

Wish you a great Wednesday!

Marcus

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24

Wordless Wednesday

1/200 sec | f/13 | ISO 500

Taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 with the 12-100 F/4. Image specs 1/200 sec @ f13 and ISO 500.

Wish you a great Wednesday!

Marcus

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16

Evening Colors

Blue Hour
Blue Hour | Berlin | 2018

We’re back in Nuremberg after a great weekend in Berlin where we visited close friends. Besides spending real quality time together I also got some street shooting done when we headed into city center after we did a fun tour riding a rail trolley (Draisine) in the afternoon.

This street photo I took during the blue hour near the Alexanderplatz. I loved the color contrast between the blue light outside in the street and the yellow light in the shop window. Then I merely waited a few seconds until a subject arrived on the scene (didn’t have more, as the others in the party, already starved, where rushing towards a nearby Vietnamese restaurant that we always visit when in Berlin).

The photo was taken with the PEN-F and the 12mm F/2. Image specs are 1/250 sec @ f/4 and ISO 1600. When shooting people in the blue hour, don’t even try to get the white balance right in order to get correct skin tones. That’s why it is called blue hour 😉

Monsieur Vuong | Berlin | 2018
Monsieur Vuong | Berlin | 2018

That’s “Monsieur Vuong”. Same camera/lens combo, specs 1/20 sec @ f/4.5 and ISO 1600. As I’ve written many times on this blog, instead of complaining about cars parked in the wrong place in front of your subject, use them to your advantage. Have I mentioned I love reflections?

There is more to come from our Berlin weekend, stay tuned!

Wish you a great Sunday!

Marcus

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11

Silent Saturday

The Race | Portland | 2018
The Race | Portland | 2018

Taken with the OM-D E-M1 and the 12-100 F/4. Image specs are 1/800 sec @ f/7.1 and ISO 200.

Have a fun Saturday

Marcus

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4

Totally in sync with multiple clients

Prom Fun
Prom Fun | Seattle | 2018

With the latest update to the Lightroom app (Adobe Lightroom CC 2018) as well as to the desktop version (Lightroom CC Classic), Adobe has finally given us users of the photography suite what we have long been waiting for: the possibility to import our self created presets into the mobile Lightroom CC environment.

Sure enough I had to put it to as test immediately. Once I had imported them from the vaults of the desktop version (they typically reside in the folder /Users/<yourname>/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CameraRaw/Settings), they synced perfectly fine across all my mobile clients (iPhone/iPad) via the Adobe cloud (which you get automatically as part of the photography suite subscription).

Now I get even more mobility in my creative post processing work. Basically, I can now work on a RAW file (or jpg) residing in the Adobe cloud on my iPad, using my proven presets, while I’m on the road. Then it syncs perfectly back also into my desktop version, where my main Lightroom catalogue resides.

Me and many other users have waited for this for a long time. Thanks Adobe!

For plenty of other tips and inspirations around photography head over to my free Learning Center.

Wish you a great Friday!

Marcus

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7

Color appreciated

Purple Lips
Purple Lips | Seattle | 2018

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.

Wish you a great start into the weekend!

Marcus

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15

Weekly Photo Challenge: Twisted

Legs
Ricoh GR II | 1/40 sec @ f/2.8 and ISO 200, 18 mm focal length

“Twisted” is the prompt of this week’s WPC. And I have just the right street photographs for this challenge, with pedestrians having a twist and doing the twist. Both images were taken in Portland, which is also a good fit for this week, as this is where I currently am, doing another two-week work stint in the Pacific Northwest.

The Move
Olympus PEN-F | 1/250 sec @ f/5.6 and ISO 1600 |120 mm focal length

The good news is I’ll be enjoying the long Memorial Day weekend over here. I haven’t decided on any plans yet, but there will be plenty of opportunity for some extended photography. And the weather should also be quite ok. Now I just need to make it into the weekend….

Wish you all a great Wednesday!

Marcus

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