Another shot of New Zealand! And what a shot?!?
Even though it might not look like it, this is one of the shots that took me hours to process. Normally I don’t need more then let’s say 10-20 minutes. But this one was heavy.
But I should first let you know how this photo came to life:
I was driving down from Abel Tasman National Park to Queenstown in my little Daihatsu which I borrowed at the south Island of New Zealand. I haven’t seen people for about three days. Remember, when you drive a car in New Zealand in winter and you are at the western side of New Zealand’s South Island you are really lonely.
As I drove down the road and listened to some nice Audiobooks which possibly kept me alive from dying of not being around people, I came across this long street. At the end of the street there were mountains. It had rained for days so that there where black clouds just in front of the massive mountains. At the top of the mountain I could see just a bit of light.
I was so impressed of the whole scene that I just stopped at the middle of the raod, turning on my full beam to take a picture of that scene. The problem with the photo was the large contrast in here.
I couldn’t take HDR because I wasn’t so sure about the setup of shutter, aperture and ISO settings.
And as I used the full beam I was honestly blind. My Iris was completely opened. My eyes were just not able to tell what to do.
So I set up my tripod there haven’t even seen a passing car and took approximately 5 shots of the scene. This is the outcome. A dramatic photo which is more luck then skill.
I hope you like it!
There is another funny side story which I want to tell you:
As I stood there having the cars engine and lights running I was wondering if I hear someone snorting. But there was no one. After my second shot I heard water rippling in my left ear.
I was a bit shocked as the whole scene was a bit daunting and as I was on my own and no one knew where I was exactly.
So I turned to my left and stared into 50 eyes.
On my left side stood a whole herd of cows watching the play.
I don’t know why but they all started to pee.
I was laughing out loud because all of this was just bizarre.
That’s it from me and my strange adventures!
See you around, take care and have a blessed weekend!
Love,
Ben
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Tags: New Zealand Pacific lake Wanaka Lake Hawea sun fog island Queenstown picton farewell spit mount cook Abel Tasman National Park Tasman Sea lake wakatipu rocks mountains forest the Hobbit Peter Jackson clouds sky flock night route 6 coast Lord of the Rings south Island mordor travel D700 Skyscraper summer Linear symmetry time urban metropolis travelphotography city international foreign divine artistic art D90 HDR Photomatix observation watch
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If you could take three things to a lonely Island, what would it be?
For me it would definitely not be my computer :) The cool thing about traveling is that you somehow get rid of all the media (Even though I like to be inspired by good music when I shot my photos).
It is like a blessing to not have all these media inputs. Therefor you are able to feel this world with different senses. If you aren’t connected to Facebook, Twitter and Flickr all the time you don’t need to care about these pages anymore.
So yes I think I would take a book, my guitar and a bunch of nice people with whom I would like to talk about all these deep things you can’t talk about when you are in your daily crazy rush.
If you look at this photo I recommend to get lost in this really nice song called “Lift Me Up” by MOBY.
::...
Moby – Lift Me Up
::...
Somehow the song and especially the whole Hotel Album has always been a welcome follower of me taking pictures. Why? Because the music is somehow empty like this image but still so beautiful and thoughtful at the same time!
The Spot you see here is the lovely Island called Niijima. You can find it six hours away from Tokyo somewhere in midst of the Pacific.
Have a perfect weekend everybody!
Ben
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Tags: Niijima coast rock island sun water pacific tsunami Camping 新島 Izu archipelago Yunohama Onsen Maehama Habushi Campground Habushi Beach Jinai-tō Hanshima Shiki-jima Jūsansha Shrine Linear symmetry time Sprengben urban amazing awesome stunning charming fabulous Nikon metropolis travelphotography city international foreign travel light divine artistic art gorgeous engaging d3s Summer style music D90 HDR Photomatix Japan observation clouds sky World China
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Are 11 hours of hiking through the night worth this photo?
I really asked myself this question as I stood at the summit of Fuji-San in Tokyo, Japan. Me and three friends started around 8 pm at the bottom of the volcano. We hiked up the whole night until we arrived at the summit around 5 pm. Gasping for air I stood there and watched the spectacular sunrise above the pacific.
I can tell you the sunrise was majestic and definitely worth the hike! The bad thing was the descent. We arrived in a really aggressive mood around 14 pm at the bottom. You can or cannot imagine the scene.
The whole night there was the stress of hiking and after you got the present of seeing the sunrise you still have to hike down at temperatures close to zero degree with the fine stones that lash into your face and through your Jeans.
I am not sure if I would do the trip again but in the end it was worth it. So I possibly would :)
Besides this is one of the advanced shots. As the clouds are moving really really fast you are not able to do HDR techniques here.
The clouds they destroy the whole HDR calculation. As I browsed my shot I found 2 that are possible to be processed. One of them you see here.
The boundaries of a Raw file can be seen in the clouds at the foreground.
You see that in the parts of the image where the sun does not shine it is really dark. You cannot restore the parts from the file.
A gradient ND Filter might help here.
These days Flickr is like therapy for me. I am writing my Master exams and there is a lot of work. I don’t have that much time for photography. But after every test, like today, I upload a shot.
Also thanks for commenting, faving or showing love on my recent images. I read everything you guys write and try to come back to your streams as far as time allows.
Ben
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Tags: Mount Fuji Tokyo Japan 富士山 Fuji-san 3 776.24 m 12 389 ft sunrise hiking summit volcano Berg See Sonne Wolken Sunray Earth Linear symmetry time Sprengben urban amazing awesome stunning charming fabulous Nikon lights traffic illumination winter travelphotography city international foreign travel light divine artistic art gorgeous engaging d3s Summer style music D90 HDR Photomatix observation clouds sky World China
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Today there is a shot of myself. Normally I am quite comfortable not being in front of the lens but I thought I have to show you this amazing photo. When I travel I use to do this ridiculous thing. I jump in front of every cool sight I visit. This looks quite stupid but it is a nice remembrance for the location. I will show it to my grand kids when I am old…
So this is me at the Duomo die Milano in Europe's fashion capital. You can see I tried to dress adequate :).
The cool thing is that there are pigeons all over the place. Just like in Venice… You can see them pretty clear on the photo. If you move quickly they all try to fly away and make a lot of noise.
So here I jump in front of the dome and a good friend of mine was so nice to shoot.
…
Recently I get a lot of emails on the topic “how do you get all your views, your favourites and comments.” Well I want to share it here because time allows me not to answer every email instantly.
My personal 10 Rules to get attention on Flickr:
1.
If you want people to interact on your stream, interact on theirs. Tell them your honest opinion, be a reliable contact.
2.
Don’t advertise on other peoples streams. Too bad I did this in the beginning of my Flickr time. I am really
sorry for every advertisement I did on somebody's stream. People will hate you, block you and sent you some harsh messages.
3.
Try to post good, interesting and unique material. Don’t try to copy this person or that person. Find your own style and present it in a nice way. Also write something to your images like feelings you had when you took it or a song that comes to your mind when you look at the photo. Be creative! Because that’s what Flickr is about!
4.
Don’t try hard to be successful or something like this. Believe me you are not! Not even if you have 10 million views. For the big guys like for example Trey Redcliff or The White house this is just peanuts. Better try to have fun with photography because if you have fun the rest will come on its own.
5.
Try out some groups in the beginning. Even though all these blinking group badges are annoying it helps you to get some nice contacts. But find the point where to stop with this and get serious contacts with whom you interact ---> See point #1
6.
Try to get your shots on Explore :) (Somehow this only happens by accident every now and then)
7.
Don’t be rude because you think you are cool! In germany we have a saying:” Grüße die Menschen auf deinem Weg nach oben, denn wenn es für dich mal nach unten geht, wirst du ihnen wieder begegnen!“ which means: Be nice to the people on your way to the top because when you fall down you will see them again“
8.
Use Creative Commons to advertise your photos. In two or three years there will be tools to automatically detect who first released a photo. So why have fear that someone could steal your image. Professional companies don’t use your photos for commercials they fear lawsuits. Creative Commons works for your advertisement all over the world 24 hours without you being active.
9.
Use other Media to get your photos around. For example Twitter, Tumblr, a blog… you know all of these platforms. Mostly you are able to automatically post your photos to all these Websites without doing any hand clap
10.
Don’t take it too serious and eat chocolate! :)
I hope this helps! See you around
Ben
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Tags: Dome Dom Mailaind Milano Duomo di Milano Duomo di Santa Maria Nascente Dom de Milan Saint Mary Nascent Cardinal Angelo Scola 45°27′51″N 9°11′29″E Milan Italy Palazzo Marino Piazza del Duomo Castello Sforzesco fashion Skyscraper lights traffic illumination police winter Linear symmetry time Sprengben urban amazing awesome stunning charming fabulous Nikon metropolis travelphotography city international foreign travel light divine artistic art gorgeous engaging d3s Summer style music D90 HDR Photomatix Japan observation clouds sky World China England London Hamburg Paris New York
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It has been a while since I have been in Tokyo but I definitely plan to come back, soon! Some days ago my Japanese exchange student friends left and I am really sad about it.
I actually watched the movie: LOST IN TRANSLATION two times just because of the good old times… If you don’t know it yet, watch it. It is a strange but really awesome movie.
This shot is from the top of the government building. I did some other photos from the same location. You can see them in the comment section.
As I am browsing through your Flickr streams I see that the Tokyo Sky Tree is close to be finished. I think it is going to be the highest building in Tokyo so I really have to come back soon, to bring you some new and fresh Tokyo shots from above.
The shot you see here has been taken shortly after the blue hour. One can still see enough light to recognize the buildings. It is just enough light to get a nice gradient between the light coming from the buildings and the buildings themselves.
I think the mood of the photo is pretty awesome!
Love
Ben
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Tags: Tokyo national government building Shinjuku shibuya 東京都庁 Tokyo Tochou Tokyo-to Shinjuku-ku Nishishinjuku 2-8-1 03-5320-7890 03-5321-1111 Akasaka Asakusa Akihabara Azabu Chiyoda Ebisu Ginza Harajuku Ikebukuro Juban Kanda Odaiba Roppongi Tsukiji Ueno 東京都庁舎 Nishi-Shinjuku Tokyo Tower Mount Fuji Skyscraper lights traffic illumination police Sheraton Batman Gotham City winter Linear symmetry time Sprengben urban amazing awesome stunning charming fabulous Nikon metropolis travelphotography city international foreign travel light divine artistic art gorgeous engaging d3s Summer style music D90 HDR Photomatix Japan observation clouds sky World China
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