Urban Photography | Fotoeins Fotografie

Posts from the ‘Urban Photography’ category

On the camera full-frame, another ten-thousand framed

24 October 2014.

With nine months (Jan-Oct 2014) under the belt, I’ve set a new mark with my tech-friend. I’ve made good progress to “flip” (or reset) the four-digit image-number counter for the first time: I’ve clicked away on the 10000th frame on the Canon 6D.

10-K on the 6-D

It’s a bright fall afternoon in the greater Vancouver area. Conditions are breezy and overcast; the cloud ceiling is high but not very thick. With excellent transparency in the air, the light is diffuse, providing softer contrasts between highlights and shadows.

I’m in New Westminster for the opening night of my neighbour’s art exhibition. Before the doors open to the exhibition, I have some time to hang out along the Fraser River at Westminster Pier Park.

Windsocks appear like fingers against the cable-stays of the Translink SkyBridge over the Fraser River, as a scheduled automated train crosses over from New Westminster (left) to Surrey (right). The train is at right angles with the tall north tower of the Skybridge, and the Skybridge deck is just tangent with the yellow curved arch of the Pattullo Bridge behind.

Looking through the camera viewfinder, I shuffle back and forth, getting ready for the shot I want. I wait for the right moment. When I see all of the details come together, I press the shutter button.

Over time, I’ve developed a sense for simply more than documenting the moment. I’m folding in a sense of place, a sense of the situation, that the stream of time can be held (frozen) for a tiny moment in a remarkable confluence of disparate elements.

Skybridge, Pattullo Bridge, Westminster Pier Park, New Westminster, BC, Canada, fotoeins.com

“Breezy autumn pluck at the right angle”

I made the photo above on 24 October 2014 with the Canon 6D camera and EF 24-105 L-lens with the following settings: 1/160s, f/10, ISO500, 105mm focal length. I clicked away over 75000 exposures with my previous Canon 450D camera over a period of five years. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-613.

Yaletown, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 26 Oct 2014, fotoeins.com

What about now? How about now?

I think I’ve struck a nugget of gold.

I also believe the chances of finding it again might well be slim to none …

Jean François Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz, wrote in the 17th-century:

Il n’y a rien dans ce monde qui n’ait un moment decisif. (There is nothing in this world that does not have a decisive moment.)

Photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson used this quote for the preface of his 1952 book “Images à la sauvette” (The Decisive Moment). That phrase has been described in great detail and (mis)interpreted over the years, undoubtedly adding only to the legend and his place in the history of photography. With his landmark photograph “Derrière la gare Saint-Lazare” (Paris 1932), Cartier-Bresson described moments like these as:

To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms which give that event its proper expression. (Photographier: c’est dans un même instant et en une fraction de seconde reconnaître un fait et l’organisation rigoureuse de formes perçues visuellement qui expriment et signifient ce fait.)

What does any of this have to do with the photo above? Everything.

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"Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope" : Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, National Mall, Washington, DC, USA, fotoeins.com

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial: symbol of hope & inspiration

Martin Luther King Jr. is honoured in the United States annually on the third Monday in January. Since 2011, a memorial to the civil-rights leader resides as one of many parks and memorials in the US national capital (District of Columbia). A walk through the trees and lawns of the Mall slowly reveals a magnificent sight on approach, and leaves you breathless in front of the statue, standing tall in solid white granite.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

We must rapidly begin the shift from a `thing-oriented’ society to a `person-oriented’ society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.

Standing proudly and steadfast, the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial is seen above with the Washington Monument to the right in the background.

I made this photo on 19 April 2012 during my year-long RTW. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-6qa.

Weihnachten, Backwaren, Cafe Gundel, Karlsplatz, Hauptstrasse 212, Heidelberg, Germany, fotoeins.com

My Heidelberg: Café Gundel’s Christmas cakes & cookies (Weihnachtsgebäck)

Short sensory list

• Sights of the Weihnachtsmarkt: bright lights; Christmas pyramid; red and yellow stars; unveiling of the Backwaren (backed goods) made especially for the holiday season.

• Sounds of the Christmas market: the klang of full mugs distributed and empty ones collected, shouts of laughter from conversations scattered throughout the area.

• Smells and tastes of the Christmas market: candied almonds, cashews, and peanuts; roasted chestnuts; balls of fried dough with powdered sugar; mugs of hot mulled wine, available in several fruit flavours; grilled bratwurst; fried potato pancakes with apple sauce.

When the Christmas season brings out special baked goods, it’s time to pay attention. In Heidelberg, my favourite café in the university town doesn’t hold back as photos of the “Backwaren” (baked goods) show. There’s something for everybody at Café Gundel.

And on it goes: small lifetimes can be spent, seeing, smelling, and sampling the entire collection.

A short exchange

“Noch einen Wunsch?”

“Something more?“, asks the lady behind the counter when I’ve ordered a few of this and a few more of that.

“Das war’s. Komm ich wieder morgen …”

“That’s all. I’ll come back tomorrow …” I reply, with the sound of hope and promise in my voice. I’m sure she’s heard it all before. And yet, she humours me with a smile and a chuckle.

“Wir sind noch für Sie da …”

“We’ll still be here …”

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U6 train, Oranienburger Tor, Berlin, Germany, fotoeins.com

My Berlin: Hauptstadt Memories, 2009-2010

Berlin is one of my favourite cities in the world. Since visiting the German capital city the first time in 2002, it’s been an ongoing love story, which now is entering a second decade.

There are a massive number of sights throughout Berlin, but to get a sense of the city and her people, I’ve always believed in combining public transport (trains!) with lots of “pounding the pavement” on foot. The photographs above are personal measurements of motion, geometry, a sense of place, and of locations around the “Hauptstadt.” Upon reflection, I’ve consciously chosen images which are (mostly) out of the direct spotlight of visitors, and even at well-visited locations, I’ve chosen a a longer focal length and/or a tighter crop to show a different point of view.

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