March 21, 2010

How Analog is Digital Photography?

Alsterfleet Hamburg
Photo taken with an iPhone


The alternative title for this post could have been: I now love my iPhone even more!

Actually, I was generally very happy with my 3G iPhone. But when it comes to taking pictures it pretty much stinks.

Maybe I am too demanding, but only 1 in 100 pictures that I took with the iPhone turned out in a quality, that I would actually dare to post it online. And those acceptable shots were generally taken in very good lighting conditions. Microscopically tiny image sensors and cheap plastic lenses can do no miracles. The images often turn out noisy, smeared and seriously lack contrast and sharpness. And they do so in a very ugly digital manner. I have gotten accustomed to not even bother to take out my iPhone when I would like to take a photo and don't have my DSLR with me. And that is really sad because I always have the iPhone with me...

About 20 years back I actually enjoyed shooting with cheap plastic cameras on film. I used to have a Lomo camera and the images came out in an unpredictable "artsy" way with thrown off colors and contrast that I really liked. But like many photographers I jumped on the digital bandwagon and rode the digital wave to perfection and happiness.

Digital photography has come a long way. With 20+ Megapixel on full frame sensors and lightning fast auto focus capability, it has become quite easy to crunch out very high quality images out of modern DSLR's. But as much as I enjoy this high image quality, I sometimes feel the urge for imperfection and a bit more of a manual creative trial and error.

To me photography is art on a never ending learning curve. And art develops when you keep exploring. Part of exploring is to try out new equipment and techniques and these come usually in stages. I have seen different stages of photography. Maybe you find yourself or someone you know who is in one of these stages:

Stage 1
You have a point and shoot digital camera and snap occasional photos of flowers, cats and family

Stage 2
You want to print these images and learn to use the basic photo editing tool that came with your camera or computer

Stage 3
You feel like the little point and shoot camera limits you in what you want to do. If you just had a DSLR camera your images would look as good as ....... (fill in the name of someone you know who's photos you like)

Stage 4
You bought an entry level DSLR with a kit lens and thinking about making a living off of photography. Set the camera to auto mode and Ansel Adams - here I come!

Stage 5
You think that your photos look crappy! So it is not all about the camera after all? You feel the need to learn how to take better photos. You read photoblogs, buy a book on photography and attend a seminar. You start to shoot more in manual camera settings to get more control over the image. You are learning the rules of composition and the images look straight and clean. You buy a 18-200 better grade zoom lens to cover the whole focal range.

Stage 6
Your photos look better now but you want to learn how to use a serious image editor to get them to look more "wow". You read photoshop "how to" blogs, buy a book on image editing and attend a seminar. Now you are (over)editing most of your images to show off all the tricks that you've learned. 

Stage 7
You are comfortable with your images and apply only reasonable post processing because you know that too much editing does not always make an image look better. Your friends start to say that you are a good photographer. You now feel limited by the creative capability of your mega zoom lens and buy a 50mm f/1.8 prime lens.  You start to imitate styles of photographers that you like.

Stage 8
You use the 50mm lens most of the time and never shoot above f/2.8. You pay close attention to separating the main subject from the background by a shallow depth of field and a beautiful blurry bokeh. You start breaking the photographic rules that you have learned and shooting angles and colors start to get wilder. You shoot with manual exposure most of the time. Generally these image would not end up as image on a postcard of a major tourist attraction that many people would buy and send to their grandparents. But maybe the small artistic bookstore around the corner would be interested...?

Stage 9
A more serious DSLR (Full Frame) and more prime lenses (24mm, 35mm, 85mm, or 135mm) are on the shopping list. You have enough experience to know what to do in almost any photographic situation. Your images are pretty much perfect. That feels good but also a bit empty. You need new challenges

Stage 10
You went to a flea market and picked up a 30 years old analog camera and had a hard time to find a store that still sells film for it. You go through your first roll of film and catch yourself constantly looking at the back lid of the camera after each image. You realize each time that analog has no preview LCD screen. You have a similar hard time to find a store that still develops analog film and you are excited like a six year old on Christmas morning when you are handed the first envelope with your developed prints. You are disapointed like that 6 year old after Christmas morning when the content of the stocking was not what you wished for when you look at these unexposed images. You hate yourself for not knowing how to correctly insert a roll of film and got unexposed images. You research the internet to find a manual on how to correctly load a roll of film into the camera and start shooting your second roll of film. (Honestly, this happend to me). Now you are probably back at stage 7 on the photography stage scale but you feel like someone just beamed you back to stage 1.

Stage 11
You shoot more rolls of film and make notes on what worked and what doesn't. You do not look at the missing LCD screen on the back lid of the camera that often any more. You may even start to develop your own rolls and black and white rules. You definitely have a scanner by now and scan your negatives by yourself.

Stage 12
You go through phases of styles. Loving each while it last's but feel like that you need to develop you own very unique style. People start to recognize your images by that style. You shoot digital and analog according to the project that you are working on. Who knows, maybe you turn pro and become rich and famous.

So where do you see yourself right now? ;-)

I feel like I am currently caught somewhere in an analog stage. I just love the look and feel of analog. The grain (noise is digital, grain is analog) and the color shifts in analog images just have that look to it. I can't really describe it but I find it very pleasing - maybe even soothing.

Will I get rid of my digital SLR camera? No way! But I want to get better at shooting analog.

And this is where I come back to the iPhone and its image quality handicap. As for most things today, there is an "App" for that. Many creative developers and photo enthusiasts have created downloadable programs to give the iPhone images a more creative and sometimes even analog look. The image quality from some of those programs technically degrade contrast and dynamic range of the iPhone photos even more. But some can produce whacky images that could have come out of a 35 year old plastic camera with a long expired and color shifted film. I love these programs and have been using my iPhone camera more in one week than in the past 2.5 years. If you have an iPhone and want to try out some creative stuff, just go to the photo section of the App store. There are plenty of photography Apps for many different styles and start playing and exploring untill you find something that fits your style - or the style that you like right now.

So how Analog is Digital? Judge for yourself. I took today's images during a 30 minute lunch break close to Hamburg's town hall. And yes, I do think these whacky colors are actually cool :)


Allianz office building Hamburg
Photo taken with an iPhone








Alsterarkaden Hamburg
Photo taken with an iPhone



Che statue as part of an art exhibition on Rathausmarkt
Photo taken with an iPhone


New office building in a 60's style image quality
Photo taken with an iPhone


Office entrance with reflections Neuer Wall Hamburg
Photo taken with an iPhone


Roman soldier statue on Rathausmarkt (he's with Che)
Photo taken with an iPhone


Rathausschleuse controls the water level of lake Alster
Photo taken with an iPhone



Staked chairs - no outdoor service today
Photo taken with an iPhone


Two towers that were build more than a century apart
Photo taken with an iPhone

March 12, 2010

Not again...

I think that I was asking for it!

In my last post I was saying farewell to the winter and announced the first sightings of spring. Less than 24 hours later the winter showed me what he thought of my post.

He answered me with a thick New Jersey accent (picture Danny DeVito saying it): "I'll go w'enever I say I go!"

O.K. he did not actually say that, but he must have meant it this way when he dropped 20cm (8in) of fresh, thick, juicy snow on Hamburg that night. I think I'll better keep my amateur meteorology forecasts to myself from now on an leave it to the groundhog to make the call for the beginning of spring. Groundhog Day was February 2nd and the little rat forecasted 6 more weeks of winter. In my calendar those 6 weeks will be over in a few days. We'll see...

So what does that mean for my loyal photo blog followers? More winter imagery from Hamburg ;-)




At least this part of the Alster is not completely frozen anymore
Photo taken with a Canon 5D MK II





This icicle on the street light was 1m (3feet) long. I call these "Lightcicles"
Photo taken with a Canon 5D MK II






Somehow I was wondering if this bike belongs to Santa Claus
Photo taken with a Canon 5D MK II





Public glass recycling container covered with snow
Photo taken with a Canon 5D MK II





Icicle bokeh - seen on a public playground (click image to enlarge)
Photo taken with a Canon 5D MK II




Today I'd rather take the bus...
Photo taken with a Canon 5D MK II

March 03, 2010

What a winter!

If you have been following the last few posts you are aware that we had quite a winter in Hamburg. It was the toughest winter in 3 decades! 11 weeks of snow and ice - so far. That was about your average winter in Hamburg in the 60's and 70's but nowadays we usually have much milder winters.

It was fun to enjoy the amenities of snow and a real winter for a while. By now people are pretty much tired of it. We are ready for spring!

Longer daylight hours and the first migrating birds returning to northern Germany are a pretty good indication that this winter will actually come to an end some time.

As a farewell wish to this winter I have a few photographic impressions of the Alster lake and Elbe river on a beautiful winter day.




Two ice skaters enjoying the winter. Ther Alster was never officially found safe to walk on this winter
Photo taken with a Canon 5D MK II






Frozen paddle steamer sightseeing ship in the harbour
Photo taken with a Canon 5D MK II
- 3 images merged into a HDR file and tone mapped





Tugboat "on the rocks" - Cheers!
Photo taken with a Canon 5D MK II





Rickmer Rickmers museum ship tickled by ice
Photo taken with a Canon 5D MK II





Elbe river - the harbour in winter mood
Photo taken with a Canon 5D MK II

January 31, 2010

Alstereisvergnügen 2010 (sort of) and means of Transportation across the ice

The Alster is open to walk on - sort of!


This lone buoy is frozen in the ice
Photo taken with a Canon 5D MK II


While officials decided that it is not safe enough to officially open the ice for an Alstervergnuegen on Friday, tens of thousands were not able to wait any more and started to "flood" the ice. On Thursday it snowed again heavily and the ice is covered 15cm of snow (6 in). While this is not a perfect condition for ice skaters it enabled many to "safely" walk on the ice.

When the Alster is frozen the regular means of transportation across the Alster such as the Alster Ships, Sail- and Rowing boats are obsolete.
Besides walking there are many other ways of getting across the ice and here are a few that I captured:




Many are playing ice hockey on the Alster
Photo taken with a Canon 5D MK II


Ice skates are the most obvious things to bring to a frozen lake. And to play ice hockey with a few friends on the weekend instead of soccer is a nice change. You have to clear your own field with a snow shovel - a perfect warmup and maybe more of an exercise than the game itself.




Kid is being pulled on a sled across the ice
Photo taken with a Canon 5D MK II


Many kids brought their sleds and their parents pulled them across the ice.




Kid is being slung around on a plastic pad.
Photo taken with a Canon 5D MK II


A modern alteration of the classic wooden sled are these plastic pads that are light and a lot of fun if you are being slung around in circles.




Fire fighters sitting on their rescue dinghy.
Photo taken with a Canon 5D MK II

The fire department is present around the lake to help out if someone breaks through the ice (remember, the Alster is not officially opened and close to bridges the ice is very thin). They have a special construction of a rubber boat with skids. This way they can safely approach the spot where the ice broke and the boat will keep them floating if they break in themselves. Fortunately, I did not see them having to rescue someone, yet. And they seemed pretty relaxed.




Small kid rides in a hi-tech stroller across the Alster
Photo taken with an iPhone

Small kids are being pushed over the ice in their strollers.




Man pushes his bicycle across the ice
Photo taken with a Canon 5D MK II

Others pushed their bikes. It was too slippery and too crowded to ride them across.




Man cross-country skiies across the Alster
Photo taken with a Canon 5D MK II

I have seen Cross-Coutry Skiing around the lake before. But skiing across it opens an incredible obstacle-less area. Probably the best you can get in the middle of a metropolitan.




Picnic utensils are pulled in a plastic sled
Photo taken with a Canon 5D MK II

And this is the best way to transport your picnic utensils (Glühwein, Coffee, Tea and Cake).




Man rides on a Segway across the Alster ice
Photo taken with a Canon 5D MK II

And as always, there is someone that takes it over the top: A Segway on the Alster - come on! ;-)

January 22, 2010

Alster Ice 2010 - What a tease!

This week we've had it all: Snow, rain and freezing sunny days.



Drained canal connecting the lake Alster with the Elbe river.
While the water is gone, the ice plates now cover the ground.
Phote taken with iPhone



Rain is a clear indication of temperatures above freezing and we've had two of those days last week.
You can imagine what this does to the much anticipated ice thickness growth of the lake Alster...



Rain on the Alster
Photo taken with iPhone



This weekend the thermometer should not go above -7°C (19°F) so we are back in the "ice growth" stage. But it seems like just when we are close to hitting the magic 20cm to officially open the ice for the "Altervergnügen" (they put stands selling Bratwürste, Waffels and Glühwein - that is hot red whine with spices) the weather decides to push the temperature just a notch above freezing and that sets us back a few centimeters. What a tease!

On my lunch break today I came across one of the oddities caused by this kind of cold weather. A fire truck was in action in front of the Sofitel luxury hotel and a fireman was carefully kocking off icicles from windowsill. There must have been a water pipe ruptured on the top floor of the hotel and the pouring water instantly froze. Falling icicles of this size can cause quite a threat to ones health if you are hit by it.



Fireman knocking off icicles (the white areas) outside of
the SOFITEL Hotel in Hamburg
Photo taken with iPhone

January 14, 2010

Frozen Alster Update and Soccer Season 2010

Many of us are very anxious about the beginning of the second half of the Fussball Bundesliga (Premiere Soccer League) season starting on Friday. Hamburgs Premiere league team "HSV" is ranked 4th after the first half of the season. And Hamburgs team in the second Bundesliga "FC St. Pauli" is currently ranked 2nd.


Photo taken with a Hasselblad 500 c/m medium format
film camera and scanned


I feel equal excitement amongst Hamburgians about the chance to go skating on the ice of the frozen lake Alster. Forecasts at the time of my last post were predicting a possible official approval by this weekend. A little bit warmer than expected temperatures during last weekend crossed those plans though. The thickness of the ice had actually decreased a few cm. We need a constant thickness of 20 cm or 8 inches for the ice to be cleared by officials. Today we are at about 11cm or 4.3 inches.


HSV Stadium - HSH Nordbank Arena
Photo taken with an iPhone

The weather forecast predicts continuous temperatures below freezing for the next 5 days. There is still a good chance for ice skating soon but a 100% chance of the Bundesliga to start this weekend :-)

January 06, 2010

Winter has a pretty tight grip on Hamburg these days. Tonight we are expecting -10°C / 15°F. If it stays this cold we might be ice skating on lake Alster within 10 days.

I remember that we walked on lake Alster almost every year in the late 70's *note to myself - I'm getting old*. The last time we were able to go onto the lake was in 1997, so everyone keep your fingers crossed.

But for now, let's take a photo winter stroll around the lake...

Click on the image to view it larger




Some take the stroll around the lake on cross-countrie skis.
Although, this is not a common sight ;-)





Race rowingboats tightly stowed fot the winter at
Rudergesellschaft Hansa.





Abandoned pontoon





The Alsterdampfer stopped their regular scheduled service.
They will go out on special tours as long as the ice thickness
is below 10cm or approx. 4 inches.