2012 – Looking back, part 9

 

I like to continue my series about the 2012 photography opportunities and highlights. July was very special for us. My youngest sister Claudia visited us on her way back to Germany from Sydney, Australia. She worked at the University of Sydney during the last couple of years in chemistry research. We did a lot of different things together with her, paddling in Wisconsin, local sightseeing in Iowa and Illinois along the Mississippi, and even a visit of the world famous spam museum in Austin, Minnesota was on the agenda (Well, I had to take her with me on a business trip to Austin and while I had my meeting she spent time in the museum, the only attraction in this town :-) ). Finally we spent three days in Chicago before she took the plane home to our mom in Bautzen, Germany. The kid moved on and lives and works now in Basel, Switzerland. What a small world... ;-)

Landscape and architecture photography can be quite a challenge in the heat of July here in the Midwest and it wasn't any different this time. From harsh light, like at the "bean" in Millennium Park, to killer light on the Trump building at the Chicago River, we had a little bit of everything. Photography wasn't the purpose of the trip to Chicago but I can't  go out without my camera over the shoulder...;-)

2012 – Looking back, part 5

 

May 2012 was a month full of joy. We were over in Germany and attended the wedding of my son André and his wonderful wife Seraphine. It was nice to see all my family gathered in one place and we had a great time. Beside that it was just a good feeling being back in my home town Bautzen. I claim that I know every single stone in the old quarter of the city by name (just kidding :-)  ), because I grew up in this part of town. Joan and I enjoyed walking through the streets of this over 1000 years old city again and I will never get enough of it, especially since I live in the US where many cities look very uniform.

The first picture shows the Rathaus (city hall) and the Dome St. Petri in the background. This old church is, as far I know, the largest church in Europe that is shared by two confessions. The western part with the tower is used by the Protestant Church St. Petri and the eastern part is used by the Catholic Church.

This image shows the Nicolai tower, one of the old access gates to the city. It was part of the defense system in the old days. I have taken pictures of this tower many times before but the light did something very special for my image this time. The photo was made in the evening and light of the low sun got reflected by a house on the right hand side next to the tower (you cant see much of this house). The bouncing light illuminated the old wall and the cobble stones in the lane, which would be otherwise just in the shadow. I liked that effect and was happy to be there at the right moment.

Down at the river

 

Unbelievable mild weather made for a very pleasant Sunday today. In addition it was slightly hazy and that put the "big diffuser" in front of our main light source, the sun. I call that great shooting conditions. I loaded our dog Cooper and all my camera gear in the car and we went to different places down at the Mississippi today. One of them was the Massey Marina, just south of Dubuque, Iowa. I wasn't the only one who enjoyed to be near or on the water. This trapper and his dog came back from checking his beaver traps and he made a good subject for exercising my panning technique. He didn't mind and we had a nice chat while our both dogs had their meet and great thing going on. I can tell I'm a little "rusty" with the long lens. I need to practice more in order to be ready for the Bald Eagles, who will hopefully be here in great numbers as soon the river freezes over.

The winter can be here any time and all boats have been taken out of the water in the marina. The empty boat slips created a nice pattern on the water and the low sun let the colors pop. As you already know, I like this kind of hunting for the light. More to come...

Celebrities and busy people

 

The advantage of being in the backstage area at an event like yesterday's campaign rally of President Obama in Dubuque, Iowa is the fact that the chance for a photo of one of the celebrities that supported the campaign increases exponentially.

I made a few clicks of TV actress Kate Walsh, who spoke at the rally. To be honest, I didn't know much about her until yesterday but for someone like me, who doesn't watch much TV, this comes at no surprise. However, she was well received by many people in the audience.

Better known to me is musician John Mellencamp, who played a few songs with his band before the President arrived. Great music, well played!

Probably some of the busiest men on the planet at the moment are Barack Obama's Campaign Manager David Axelrod and Press Secretary Jay Carney. I made a few clicks of Axelrod but didn't like the  results this time. The photo here is from August 2012. It shows both men during Barack Obama's speech at the old Star Brewery in Dubuque. I have no idea who the gentleman on the right hand side is that grinned into my camera. OK, if I don't know a person it doesn't mean it isn't a celebrity, who knows... ;-)

Three days before election

 

When the President of the United States visited Dubuque in August 2012 I thought I got pretty close and had a once in a lifetime chance to make some good photos. Three days before the presidential election both candidates came to Dubuque again, of course to different locations, and held campaign rallies  in order to get the votes of the people from Iowa. Barack Obama had his event in Washington Park, Downtown Dubuque. After passing security I realized that a big crowd had already gathered around the stage and I tried to find a spot on the side where I could snap at least a few pictures with my longer lens while the president would have his speech. Suddenly the gate I was leaning against got moved away and security guided me and other people to an area that was actually reserved for people in wheelchairs. Bingo! It was slightly behind the stage and right at the fence where the President would enter and leave the arena. Would I have a chance for a close up picture again like in August?

To make a long story short, seconds after Barack Obama arrived he turned towards our side of the aisle and had a brief conversation with a gentleman just next to me. I clicked away, the lens wide open at f/4, ISO 400 dialed in, and shutter speeds between 1/60 and 1/90s, just hoping that one image would be sharp.

Despite the stage was illuminated by big spotlights and a little bit of daylight left, I had to crank up the ISO to 800. Not my preferred shooting mode with the D300s! At the end, after a very good speech that summarized what Barack Obama stands for, he walked along the fence and talked with people. The secret service guys told us to keep the cameras down, and that's what I did. Well, here was my chance to shake hands with the President of the United States, and we did... :-)

A touching moment

 

Yesterday Dubuque had some very special guests in town. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle visited during their bus tour through several cities in Iowa and campaigned for his reelection. The event took place in the amphitheater at the old Star Brewery building right at the Mississippi River. I always admit that I'm not a "people photographer" but of course, for an event like this I couldn't leave the camera at home. Because of security you couldn't bring a bag with a whole bunch of equipment and so I just chose the Nikkor 24-120, f/4 lens attached to the D300s.

I knew ahead of time that it would be difficult to make a shot of the Obamas without any other person in the frame but this was what I hoped to accomplish. Joan and I went relatively early to the location and this gave me enough time to study the light, and even more important to figure out where the action of their arrival would take place. With the president it is a guessing game, because of security reasons nobody would really tell you the details. I put all my eggs in one basket and took position at the fence closest to the driveway on the south side of the brewery. I was hoping they would walk from the bus straight to the center of the arena and would walk right by us. The other option was that the bus would stop at the back side of the building and they would enter the arena through the house. In this case my position would have been ridiculously far away from any action. When a guy from the secret service started to clean off some dust with a broom from the driveway right in front of us, just a couple minutes before the Obamas arrived, I was sure that we were in the right place.

And then they came and were enthusiastically greeted by the crowd in the arena. I'm sorry but I needed my hands to hold the camera steady and couldn't really participate... ;-)

The first image is cropped on the right hand side to keep a secret service guy out of the frame who came to close the bus door. The second picture shows how difficult it was to accomplish my goal  to make a photo without other people and no distracting background. However, I like that the president points his finger at me (or maybe at  the people standing around me ;-)  ).

And a couple heart beats later I had the shot I really wanted yesterday. No bodyguards, no press photographers, just the smiling couple in front of the stone wall of the old Star Brewery.

The last photo was made during his speech, over the heads of the surrounding crowd, and was heavily cropped in post. I tried many different angles and ran around between the people, made a lot of clicks, but this was the photo with the least distracting background.

It was the first time in my life that I took pictures of a celebrity. Beside all my photography interest at this event, it was a touching moment for me to be so close to the current President of the United States and his wife, even if it was just for a brief moment.

Travel impressions – Prague, part 5

 

I still owe you the final part of my "Travel impressions" series about Prague in the Czech Republic. If you like to see the older posts about this wonderful city again, please feel free to click HERE and a new window will open and let you review the older posts and photos.

I can't finish this series without talking about how gorgeous Prague is at night. The castle, towers, most churches, and many buildings are illuminated and let the old architecture stand out. I did not bring my tripod because of the weight limits during air travel but this didn't stop me to try some night shots. In an old city like Prague you can always find a spot to place the camera for a long exposure shot. Any wall, statue, or even a restaurant table is good for supporting the camera.

I hope you enjoyed my little series about Prague. Drop me a note if you did, or even if you not did...

Being a tour guide

We have a lovely visitor here at the moment. My little sister visits us on her way back to Germany. She lived in Australia for the last eighteen months and took the route through the United States on her way back. Needless to say that we proudly show her Dubuque and the landscape along the Mississippi River here. Being a "tour guide" gives me always a chance to scout new photo opportunities and to look for interesting subjects. While waiting for my sister outside an art gallery on Bluff Street in Dubuque, IA today, these two doors caught my attention. I had only the Nikkor 24-120/f4 with me, which is not really first choice for architecture photography of any kind. It is a sharp lens but as with many wide zoom lenses lens distortion can't be neglected. It took only little efforts to correct this in Photoshop.

Expanding the range

Nikon D300s, Sigma 150mm / f2.8 APO EX DG HSM

We decided to go camping to Gov. Dodge State Park over in Wisconsin this weekend. The weather doesn't get any better than what we had the last two days but we also wanted to take our new kayaks out on the water for another tour. After seven years of talking about we finally bought two kayaks a couple weeks ago. We have tested them already twice on the Mississippi River and Joan and I really love it. Beside the fun and good exercise a boat tour can bring, I in particular also hope to expand my range for wildlife photography in the future. The big question this weekend was, how would our little dog Cooper behave in a kayak? He is afraid about almost everything that is new in his life and we had concerns he wouldn't like being on the water. I guess sometimes we worry too much, he seemed to enjoy every minute we spent on the water.

The State Park has two wonderful lakes with very clear water and both are surrounded by trees and rocks. It is a paradise for paddling. We saw several birds, a muskrat, and fish but I didn't take the camera with me into the boat this time. However, I had a great wildlife encounter this morning during an early photo shoot, so please stay tuned for my next "Nature clicks" post...

Travel impressions - Prague, part 4

If you ever visit Prague it is an absolute "must" to visit the Jewish Quarter with its synagogues, the Old Jewish Cemetery, and its streets, many lined with wonderful Art Nouveau buildings.

One of the most interesting places is the Old Jewish Cemetery. It was founded in 1478 and was for over 300 years the only burial ground permitted to jews. Because of the lack of space people had to be buried on top of each other, up to 12 layers deep. Today we can see over 12,000 gravestones crammed into the tiny space, but several times that number are thought to have been buried here. The last burial was in 1787. (source: Travel guide Prague, DK Eyewitness Travel).