Standing firm

I have been dormant on my website for a while but not in real life. The Corona situation takes over everything and sometimes it's easy to feel like giving up and hiding in a shell until it all blows over. But life has a way of providing opportunities if you look for them.

Just when I was wondering if it was time to hang up my camera gear for good, I was planning a holiday to North Germany and by coincidence saw a Facebook post by Simon looking for a photographer. And so we managed to make a photoshoot that was a lot of work, fun and photos! Here is one of the ones I like so far…

Very superstitious

I took photos of a wedding on Friday the 13th September and my cut down photo list ended up at 666 photos… Fortunately, the day opened up a new chapter for a lovely couple (and not a portal to the underworld)!

LED astray

I paid a visit to the Frankfurt Dippemesse on the 5th of May to get some photos of the fireworks and the fair at night. Generally I got some decent long exposures using a tripod and settings with low ISO and 2 to 4 second shutter. There are a lot of bright lights so f stop can be f8 to f11 and even f16 for more starry effects in the bright spots.

glittery white lights

One thing that I noticed when looking at the photos is that most of the lights on them did not produce constant blur lines in the photo. Most of the lines of light are composed of dots when you look at them closely. I have noticed this phenomenon more over the years and finally realised the cause after blaming my technique, camera and other superstitious reasons.

dots are visible at fast speeds

In the olden days, lights were almost all incandescent bulbs or halogen. Nowadays, everything is LED. LEDs are cheap, efficient, don't produce heat like halogens and last longer, so they are now find everywhere in torches, home and automobile lighting and even fun fairs. The downside to LED lights is that they pulse (for cheap ones) at a much slower rate than incandescent lights or florescent tubes. As far as I can tell from reading on the internets an old style light bulb pulses at twice the frequency of the power supply current, while a cheap LED pulses at half of the frequency. This is measured in Hertz. Let's pretend the power supply is 50 Hertz, a florescent light would pulse at 100 Hertz, an LED at 25. Apparently, all lights on AC flicker but the effect is made more prominent with LEDs as photon are not emitted when they are flickering on and off. While a regular light bulb is in an off state it still produces heat and some light. If the LEDs are dimmable, this is achieved not by lowering the amount of voltage as in the case of a light bulb, but by increasing the time the LED is off per flicker cycle.

Digital dots of the break dancer ride

Does any of this matter?

Health-wise, lights that flicker at a slower cycle can cause seizures in some people.  For long exposures, lights with slower flickers on fast moving objects are easy to spot as a series of dots rather than a single line as in the examples here. Photographers have long been aware of the effect of florescent lighting and shutter speed causing issues at certain rates. The LED issue is a newer version of this but I also found recently that if a room is predominantly lit by LED, my Sekonic flash meter doesn't function properly as it thinks a flash has been fired when it is actually the room lighting flickering. It was unable to get a reading at all while the LEDs were on. This even occurred when a regular light was the dominant light source. The only solution was to turn off the offending lights while reading for flash exposures. Seeing as LEDs are not going away any time soon, I guess we will just have to get used to seeing lines of Morse code instead of smooth clean light trails during long exposures in future.

To all the cat people

cute cats

My friends often cat sit and have liked after a number of cute cats. This one was a cutey. Just like all shy models, cats need a while to get used to a camera and I didn't have much time to introduce myself. Even though this isn't the most relaxed cat picture, I do like the cute cat and the look of my 50mm.

Good food

Japanese Kaiseki cuisine at its finest

Last week I got to take photos at Nihon Ryori Ken in Sachsenhausen, Frankfurt. It's an intimate new restaurant hidden away in a quiet street and it's simple exterior bellies the fact that inside the restaurant, there's a Japanese essence to the place, people and food that is hard to find anywhere outside of Japan. If you know what shiso, yuzu and good raw tuna tastes like after being to Japan and feel like you have been disappointed by Japanese restaurants by owners who don't even speak the language, then you must try here. If you do go, a counter seat offers the possibility to view the chef close up and really appreciate the amount of care and attention that goes into each dish. The menu changes monthly too, so there's no fear of running out of flavour sensations.

Everything including the desserts are handmade

100 Strangers

Making a Mario statement

This suit is made by Oppo Suits and is certainly an attention grabber!

My son is a tiger

I need a bit more practice with face paints but he seemed convinced.

100 Strangers

Vivaldi

where did all the time go? I've been a bulb waiting for spring. Also, I sold my Canon 1DS ii only to realise I missed it and ended up buying a mark iii. There really isn't anything like the feel of a big heavy camera! Here's to new birth of creativity for 2019!

100 strangers

a perfect couple!

Congratulations

 something old, something new, something borrowed, something full frame

I might have to work on my rhyming skills. I did some photography at a wedding last week and while it was a long day, it was sunny and enjoyable every minute. Weddings are a special time and this wedding was certainly that involving a ceremony, party at a cafe and a trip on the local Frankfurt apple wine tram!

On my part, before the wedding I researched the locations, hunted for good photo places online and in person, did lots of research, found an able assistant and made tons of prep notes which all went out the window as time and circumstance didn't work in my favour at all...

Even so, it was a great event that I was proud to be a part of, and hopefully have recorded some decent memories of! If anybody needs any advice for wedding shoots - definitely have a back up camera even if you just borrow; take more batteries than you think you will need and make sure they are all fully charged; take time to relax amongst the chaos and have fun! 

100 Strangers

Slack Lining (despite how this picture looks, he was not falling but actually bouncing on the line)

Slack lining is one of those modern sporty pastimes I have seen being performed in parks a lot recently. It's curious and obviously must be good for exercise, balance and body conditioning but I have never understood how you actually do it. Let alone, what happens if you fall off when the elastic rope is just tight enough to rob your of any offspring should you land the wrong way. Chatting to Nico was enlightening and watching him bouncing up and down, turning around and maintaining his balance was really impressive for somebody who has only been doing it as a hobby. I can't say I would feel comfortable giving it a go yet but at least I have a greater appreciation of the skill. Maybe I can get my son to try it out...

100 Strangers

work, rest and play

It's been so long since I posted any pictures. So I thought it was well overdue. I bought a back up camera and wanted to test it out and luckily meet Katy doing some yoga.

100 Strangers (repeat)

I can't say how glad I am to meet the same person again, especially when they dress this well every day! In a sea of jeans and off the shelf high street clothing, a well-made suit and coordinated look stands out like a lighthouse!

Sharp!

Luckily, I didn't feel quite as bad about myself today, at least I am wearing shoes.

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Drum and plates

shy for a street performer

Seeing Iliya beating out some captivating rhythms on the street took me back to the first time I saw a street summer performing on pots and pans in New Orleans. It's amazing the amount of sounds that can be gotten out of a plastic tub and some old saucepan lids. Iliya told me he picked them up from hostels while he has been touring Europe. I always take street performer signs with a pinch of salt but I believed him when he said he's saving for a real drum kit so he can go to university to study music. With his talent it shouldn't take him long.

In the hot seat

One of the oddest things I've seen next to a children's playground in Japan is this grounded fighter jet that was used for training the Japanese air force. The canopy was a bit hazy and has some anti glare coating on which caused some strange reflections and I had to reach over with my camera, so I didn't know what was actually in the cockpit until after I got to my computer.

Kimono in the cold

I don't know how anyone can survive outside in a kimono with no proper shoes on when it is staying to snow.

Fly like an eagle

Monk

Bare foot in January but unflinching. 

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Nina

A perfect sunset! This photo is straight out of the camera with no effects. I was grateful Nina agreed to let me take her photo just at the right moment!