Category Archives: photography

Produce in Passau

Nearing the end of my trip to Germany last month, I found myself in the town of Passau on a less than perfect day. It was cold and grey and overcast. The light was nice and soft, however, and you just had to pick your subjects appropriately. This produce stand, for instance. The colors were so saturated and the lack of direct sunlight kept the contrast from being too great.

I also found the light to be nice for some of the tight alleyways where I could shoot and not show any sky. Again, the contrast of direct sun would have made these areas very difficult to capture but the clouds helped keep that contrast down. The town is also famous for its glass museum which was another comfy place to shoot on a chilly day. The lesson is: make the most of your situation. There’s always some way to make the weather work to your advantage.

Weiners and weiner dogs

While in Regensburg, Germany, I had lunch at the historic Sausage Kitchen — the oldest in the world at over 9 centuries. The food was great and, of course, I had to grab a few shots of the women in the kitchen before I left. I can recommend the potato soup and the bratwurst with sauerkraut. Actually… I think that’s the entire menu. But you do get your choice of 6, 8 or 10 sausages — and a great view of the Danube.

Navigating the narrow, cobblestone streets after lunch I ran across more weiners:

Scale

I’d love to see this shot run as a double-page spread one day. At a large size it’s chock-full of detail and nearly entirely monochromatic except for the tiny red-coated figure in the lower left. Not only does he give a little splash of color, but he makes it apparent just how large the cathedral in Regensburg, Germany, really is. Often with something huge like this the impulse is to get it all in frame, but that can actually make it look quite small in the final image. Cropping in and using just a portion of the church so that it bleeds off on all sides emphasizes that it’s so big it won’t even fit in the shot. Even so, without that lone figure in the corner the effect would not be nearly as strong. (And thank you, sir, for wearing your red coat that day!)

Altes Rathaus

As soon as I saw the 14th century old town hall — the Altes Rathaus — built in the middle of the river Regnitz in Bamberg, Germany, I knew I needed to dedicate some time to shooting it. Unfortunately, I was leaving the next morning at 8:00 am. It’s okay, I thought, I‘ll get there before sunrise and shoot some long exposures with the tripod before it gets too light out and be back in time to check out of the hotel and catch my ride to Regensburg. I rose very early the next morning and looked out the window to thick fog drifting past the streetlights. Not such bad news — I love fog — I just hoped I could see the town hall from the footbridge I had scoped out on the map the night before.

I packed up so that I’d be able to leave the hotel quickly after my shoot and headed out into the mist with my tripod over my shoulder. Through the winding streets, I eventually found the river and the footbridge. It was foggy, no doubt, but it was lifting. There was just enough left to give a nice mood. It was still quite dark out but I added a neutral density filter anyway. I wanted to cut out even more light in order to extend the length of my exposure to let the water blur and give some sense of motion. The rivers run fast in this part of the world and I wanted to convey that.

The footbridge had a little bounce to it and I had to time my shots between the locals crossing on bicycles so that the vibrations wouldn’t blur my shots. Once I had a few variations I was comfortable with, I set off to find other vantage points. I had little time but wanted to make the most of it. There are a whole series of bridges crossing the river in this area and I zig-zagged my way back and forth down the river shooting from each of them.

I left myself a little time so that I could continue to shoot a few things on the walk back to the hotel. This is one of my favorite times of the day when traveling. It’s when you get to experience the real town. People sweeping the sidewalks outside their shops, others walking to school or work, everyone just going about their day. The tourists haven’t arrived yet so the place is still real.

I don’t know if these shots will ever sell — sunny skies often have a better chance — but they are among my favorites from my trip to Germany because it was one of my favorite mornings. Off on my own watching a strange city come to life, the weather crisp and cool — it doesn’t get much better than that.

Bamberg, Germany

There are some towns where I immediately feel at home, even if I’ve never been there before. Bamberg, Germany, was one of those places. I spent a total of less than 24 hours there and could have easily spent months. It’s a great, walkable town with a huge variety of photographic subjects. This town is definitely going on my “must return to” list.

Porsche Leipzig

I’ve said it before — many others have said it — and I’ll say it again: always bring your camera.

My main reason for being in Germany last month was to attend the Annual Convention of the Society of American Travel Writers. On the final night of the convention, there was a gala dinner at the Porsche customer center in Leipzig. You’ve probably been to these kinds of events. You put on a tie, there’s a little cocktail party first, then a long dinner with plenty of speeches. What’s to shoot, right? Well, you never know. Especially with this group. The setting for this dinner was spectacular and we arrived at Porsche just as the light was perfect — that time just after sunset when the sky goes cobalt blue. It was a perfect backdrop for the futuristic building.

It’s always a little inconvenient to have a big hunk of camera with you at a nice dinner but, in this case, I’m glad I did.

Saxon Switzerland National Park

The few hours I had to explore the Saxon Switzerland National Park in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains of Germany was not nearly enough. I had only enough time to see this one overlook area and to take a fast hike down through a gorge to the village that you can barely see in the distance on the upper-right-hand side of the shot above. Hopefully I’ll be able to return someday and really spend some quality time. It’s truly a beautiful area.

The gorge hike was amazing but I would strongly suggest to anyone thinking of visiting — do it the way I did and hike DOWN. I believe someone said there were something like 900 or 1000 stairs and my only amazement at that number is that it seems way too small. It was even more amazing to see so many people hiking UP. Insanity! The gorge would sometimes be a fairly wide valley and then occasionally narrow to a crack in the rock that you had to turn sideways to get through. A great hike, but be prepared for those stairs.

Frauenkirche in Dresden, Germany

Here’s an interior of the Frauenkirche that I mentioned in my last post. It’s hard not to be impressed by the effort that went into the reconstruction of this building when you look at the condition it was in from 1945 through the early 1990s. Beautiful inside and out, its dome is once again a prominent element of the already stunning Dresden skyline. I was lucky enough to have a room that overlooked this skyline and made good use of it at sunrise and sunset to capture a range of light both artificial and natural. Much of the skyline is lit in the evenings but the Frauenkirche seems to be lit the longest. I would start shooting while all the lights were on and continue as they winked out one by one until just that dome was lit. In the mornings, the whole thing was dark and silhouetted by the sunrise. Here are just a couple of shots from my window at the Maritim — sunset and sunrise:

Grimma, Germany

A portrait of a man in a traditional military uniform in the beautiful small town of Grimma on the river Mulde (just east of Leipzig) during a quick stop on the way to Dresden. I’m afraid I was much like an annoying fly to this poor man, as I photographed him from all angles while he stood in the square. I was using my Nikkor 80-200mm zoom, so at least I was a distant fly. This angle with the fall color in the background against his blue uniform turned out to be my favorite. To be honest, he was a great sport and seemed more amused by the attention than annoyed.