Street | Urban | Travel | Photography by Marcus Puschmann
“Weathered” is the theme of Word Press’ Weekly Photo Challenge. Maybe you’ve read my post about our visit to the diamond ghost town Kolmanskop in Namibia that we visited last summer. There was nothing more “weathered” as these hundred year old buidings that are being slowly consumed by the Namib desert. So an easy choice for the challenge. For my collection of “weathered” detailed photos of the ghost town continue after the jump… Continue reading “Weekly Photo Challenge: Weathered”
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”
For all my free tips and inspirations around Street Photography visit my Learning Center
The last WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge (WPC) of 2017 was probably also the hardest one for this year . At least for me it was. With the title “2017 Favorites” it calls to post your most meaningful photo of 2017.
Now we all are passionate about our photography, and I’m quite sure, that when you look at your archives of this year, there are at least a dozen great images looking at you, screaming “I deserve to be in the 2017 Favorites!!!” And aren’t all those beautiful photographs, that each mean so much to you, your creative children? And don’t you want to treat all your children equal? So you are tempted to post not only your most favorite landscape photo, but also your best macro shot, portrait, street photo, monochrome image, and the one image you are most emotionally attached to and you just can’t leave out. After all, this is a great opportunity to show off a small selection of your best work. And Ben Huberman even left the door open for us to post several photos, if we can’t decide which is the absolute best (or meaningful) image of 2017.
When I joined a street photography workshop with Eric Kim back in November, one of the lessons I took away is that as photographer you need to be able to “kill your babies”. In order to distill out your best work. And to make you hungry again to take more photos, and make you better.
So even if it hurt, as I think I had great year where I really advanced my photography and got many pictures that I think are really good, I took the challenge by the word and post only my most meaningful photo of 2017.
This is my best image from the mentioned workshop. And it was the image that broke the spell around “interactive” street photography for me, where I discovered how much fun it actually is to walk up to interesting looking people in the streets and ask if I could make their portrait. So this is my photography of the year 2017!
Have a great Thursday!
Marcus
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This week the weekly photo challenge (WPC) from Word Press’ “The Daily Post” has the theme “Ascend“. This street photo I took in Brussels Airport with my Ricoh GRII, image specs are 1/80 sec @ f/4 and ISO 1600, shot in P-Mode. Fore are a few images that symbolize upwards movement, continue after the jump…. Continue reading “Weekly Photo Challenge: Ascend”
Sitting in Portland, fighting a really bad case of jet lag and fully tied up in project work for the job that pays the bills, I needed to dig deep into my archives to find a “cheeky” street photo that I can enter into this week’s Weekly Photo Challenge from WordPress. But I guess trying to splash the photographer could pass as a cheeky act ;-).
Taken with my Ricoh GR II, image specs 1/500 sec @ f/6.3 and ISO 400.
Have a great Thursday!
Marcus
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Rarely has the theme of the Weekly Photo Challenge from Word Press’ The Daily Post hit a nerve with me more as this week with “Serene“.
I’m totally in need of some serenity. The job that pays the bills has completely taken over my life, add in some special topics as the upcoming move of my big girl and the typical pre-festive season stress, another upcoming ten day business trip across the big ocean, and you can imagine why I would absolutely love to jettison myself out of reality and to a serene place like the lagoon of Walvis Bay in Namibia with its Flamingo swarms. Obviously bringing my camera.
Getting to some photography and even blogging has been a bit of challenge the past days, as well as answering comments and checking out posts from the blogs I follow, so apologies for not being present as much as I want to be.
The serene scene above was taken with my Olympus OM-D E-M1 with the mZuiko 40-150mm F/2.8 Pro Zoom. Image specs 1/1600 secs @ f/5.6 and ISO 200, focal length was 150mm (300mm full frame equivalent). The photo is pretty much out of cam, aside from slight cropping.
I wish everyone a great Thursday!
Marcus
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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.
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
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For all my free tips and inspiration around photography visit my Learning Center
“Experimental” is the theme of the Weekly Photo Challenge from Word Press’ The Daily Post for this week. When I experiment with my Street Photography, I often use slow shutter speeds of 1/8 sec or less for creative motion blur effects. There is a lot of hit and miss with this technique. Crucial for an image that works is an interesting background in which to place the blurred objects, like this entry to a Berlin subway station.
This shot I took with my Olympus PEN-F and the mZuiko 12mm F/2 prime lens with a shutter speed of 1/3 second for intensive blur, an aperture of f/9 to have ample depth of field and ISO 1000. I took the shot handheld, another example how effective the image stabilization system of the PEN-F is.
Experimenting with slow shutter speeds is fun, it can be applied to moving persons, moving traffic or a combination of both. For some more of my experimental street photos continue after the jump… Continue reading “Weekly Photo Challenge: Experimental”
After a totally crazy week at work, where the job that pays the bills has pretty much sucked up all my time and energy, I’m at the doorsteps of a hopefully nice (only contents-wise, the weather forecast is gruesome) weekend in our Nation’s capital Berlin, where I will attend a workshop with Street Photography Guru Eric Kim, a gift from my family and friends on the occasion of my half century birthday I had earlier this year.
Curious about what will await me I’m posting a street photograph I took during a visit to Berlin back in May, which is my entry into this week’s Word Press’ Weekly Photo Challenge, that has the theme “temporary“.
What is more temporary than a fleeting moment of life captured in a street photo. In the end, all street images are snapshots of life as it happens in that exact instant, and that never will be repeated. And it is especially true for this photograph of a father sharing an intimate moment with his little son.
Taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and the mZuiko 14-150mm F/4-5.6 travel zoom. Image specs 1/13 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 1600 and 120mm focal length. Monochrome conversion in Lightroom Classic CC.
I wish everyone a great and creative weekend!
Marcus
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This is my Street Photography entry for this week’s Weekly Photo Challenge “Peek” . Sometimes a change of perspective can add interest to an image.
I took the photo with my Olympus PEN-F with the mZuiko 25mm/F1.8 prime lens, image specs 1/400 @ f/4.5 and ISO 200.
If you look for more inspirations and tips around photography, I invite you to visit my free Learning Center.
Have a great weekend!
Marcus
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Also for this week’s Weekly Photo Challenge “Rounded” I have just the right two street photography images, both from the streets of Portland and already featured in my post “Keep Portland Weird“.
Both photos were taken with my Ricoh GR II , image details are 1/40 sec @ f/2.8 and ISO 200 on the above shot and 1/45 sec @ f/2.8 and ISO 100 on the second image. As usual I kept the Ricoh in P-mode, so I could focus on getting the photo and less about worrying to get the settings right. These street moments happen only for an instance, you need to be ready for it, you don’t have the time to set up like for stationary landscapes or architecture. So “P” prepared 😉 and shoot in P-mode.
For me it is Travel Day again, I’m leaving the Rose City to head home to the Streets of Nuremberg via Amsterdam, hoping for another Polar Light Show while crossing the Northern Atlantic tonight.
Have a great Thursday!
Marcus
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Graceful
“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”