Dave's Photo & Travelblogue

Homemade Sushi

I love eating raw food. Usually it just tastes better to me, and has a great texture compared to most things cooked. And in today’s markets, it’s relatively safe for healthy adults to eat several kinds of meat & fish raw. (Disclaimer: I am not a doctor nor a nutritionist, and I take no responsibility if eating raw food makes you sick).

Below is some of my homemade sushi from a few days ago. I always buy the fish in a high-end market, and ask the fishmonger what he recommends for sushi. Often they say “Nothing today, come back on xxxx” – and I definitely respect that. Usually they have tuna and salmon; on the right days sometimes another one or two. You can also find frozen sushi (such as pre-cooked Unagi, or eel) in some Asian shops.

Of course to get this nice blur, I used my 35mm f/2. ISO was cranked up to 800 to avoid using a flash, and I white-balanced on an empty plate before shooting.

Despite that I once ate raw chicken in Kyoto, I don’t recommend that for everyone. Nor would I ever recommend eating raw pork, because the consequences are too dire. But I’ve never been sick from raw beef or fish. Of course I only consume these in countries where I trust the food processing chain.

So, if you live in a well-developed country, check out the best fish market you can find in town – maybe you, too, can make your own sushi for a fraction of the restaurant price!

Oktoberfest Lights

On my way to a friend’s party I saw these spotlights over Oktoberfest 2010. As I didn’t have my camera or half an hour to spare, I made sure to go back another day and try these long exposures.

The church in the foreground is the St. Maximilian Kirche.

All these exposures are 10s at ISO200 with a wide aperture. I didn’t want to go longer, because the lights moved too frequently.

It was a great Oktoberfest 2010; hopefully Oktoberfest 2011 is just as much fun!

Toytown Photo Walk – October

I met up with the Toytown photo club and walked around Munich in the dark for a few hours. Here are a few shots I managed without any tripod.

I was going for a different angle on this red-lit mannequin.

Shooting from the hip in the dark at f/2…

Eisbach surfers! I played with the strobe effect of my Nikon D90’s built-in flash. Next time I’ll bring a tripod and my SB600, turn down the ISO, and pump up the flash. That should blow out the orange highlights from the d*mn sodium vapor lights. I am too lazy for flash gels and a white card, heh.

That’s all for today!

Weilheim Discgolf Sunset

Indisputably, the best place to play frisbee golf near Munich is Weilheim. It’s a town near the south end of Starnberger See, about 30-45 minutes from Munich. I met up with a few locals who were already on the course and we had a great time playing together. Here’s the evening view from hole 13:

The sunlight only got better as evening approached. Just picture yourself in this red-orange, side-lit forest:

The texture on this tree struck me, highlighted by the orange sunlight.

I only had my 35mm f/2 on hand, but it gives a good idea of the forest-feel as the last edge of the sun slipped below the horizon.

Hole 19 at Weilheim: whoever is closest to the hole 1 basket wins. You can barely see it at the bottom of the hill, right side. A tricky throw!

Bonus points to whoever can tell me exactly what this picture is!

A beautiful sunset silhouette…

And a realistic HDR of the same scene.

So, the next time I’m fired up to play disc golf at Weilheim, you’ll know why – friendly locals, and the course is at one of the most beautiful parks in Bavaria!

Shocker at the Oktoberfest

This one is for my Skydive Orange peeps. Some of whom will be here starting tomorrow, for Oktoberfest 2010 (200th anniversary)! This shadowy shocker is compliments of the Nikon 35mm f/2.

A tasty beer at Hacker-Pschorr near the Theresienwiese.

I love this picture of my buddy eating a Steaksemmel. Blurry-background-girl must have been wondering, “Why is that guy aiming such a huge camera at someone eating a sandwich?”

I’ve posted a few other pics from this day on the Guided Munich Blog.

Can’t wait to see Scott, Amy, and Eric here for Oktoberfest – it’s gonna be a blast!

Zugspitze: Wiener-Neustädt route

I met Neil, a fellow Zugspitze enthusiast, via an English-speaking web forum. He was kind enough to write a great post about his love for Germany’s highest mountain, and a recent hike up one via ferrata section. Complete with fantastic Zugspitze photos! On to his story…

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When I was 12 years old, I went, with my family, to the Tyrol for the first time. We’d always been on holiday a lot, but this was only my second trip abroad and my first trip to see “proper” mountains. Sure, Wales and Scotland have mountains, but it’s not quite the same! I found the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest peak at 2,962m, on the border with Austria, particularly awesome, and enjoyed the cable car trip to the summit immensely. The holiday to Ehrwald (Austria) made a huge impression on me and has remained one of my favourite destinations.

Fast forward 22 years and this (admittedly slightly weedy) 12-year-old is now 6 foot 2 and a keen hiker. This year, we repeated the holiday – parents, me (and my wife), as a 60th birthday present for my Mum. As our holiday commenced, my sister was drinking fermented mares’ milk in Mongolia on her honeymoon having not washed for 6 days, I was drinking European lagers in the mountains and swimming in crystal clear warm mountain lakes. Sometimes, the world has a wonderful unfairness about it!

If you’ve never been to the Tyrol, imagine for a moment a paradise of good rustic food, refreshing lagers and unusual Austrian wines, snow-capped mountains, beautiful sunshine, meadows of wild flowers, friendly people, mountain lakes, glacial fountains in town centres from which the water is clean enough to drink, pretty houses with flowers bursting from their window boxes. Oh, and Obstler: the local schnapps which is like drinking burning sandpaper, and which is used to toast almost everything.

When my wife and I go on holiday, we usually spend at least a couple of days apart. It’s not that we’ve been married so long that we can’t bear to be together, it’s just that we have different ideas of fun. I like walking, she doesn’t. Ten years ago, our “solo days” would involve my wife painting or relaxing and me going for a country walk. Over the years, “walk” has gradually yet steadily evolved into “fairly dangerous hike/climb”. So this year, against the advice of the man in the hiking shop, I decided to tackle the front of the Zugspitze, via the Wiener-Neustädte-hütte route. There are a number of routes up this mountain, ranging from relatively mild (but long) beautifully scenic routes round the back of the mountain, to this in-your-face, straight up, and slightly shorter trek. And it was fun!

Setting off just after 8am from the village centre, I began the lovely varied walk by making my way through the village, through the meadow, and into one of the larch woods which are so common in the area. Car-wide tracks lull you into a slightly false sense of security, and it took only 40 minutes to reach my breakfast stop, the Gamsalmhütte. Unfortunately, I hadn’t checked their opening times, and Tuesday is their closed day. Hungry walk for me then!

I’d like to interrupt my hike story for a second to tell you a little more about hüttes. Basically, these mountain huts, located anywhere from the busy top of a cable car, to the middle of nowhere on a desolate ridge behind a huge mountain. They provide mattresses on which weary travellers can spend the night, as well as a varying range of food and drink items, ranging from a large and diverse menu at the busier huts, to a more limited range of home-made produce at some of the more remote ones. Beer is a staple, although I wonder how they manage to deliver to some of the higher ones!

Back to the Zugspitze, and I proceeded from the Gamsalmhütte up what would be, in winter, a busy ski slope. It was steep yet enjoyable, and looking back there were fabulous views across the valley. From here, already fairly high, the vegetation began to thin out and the hike continued across, at various times, grassland, scree slopes, rocks, unsafe-looking wooden platforms, and snow. The route passed under the cable car, from which the lazy people waved to me, and past some derelict buildings until eventually, after what felt like about 3 days to my stomach, but was nearer 2 hours, I reached the Wiener-Neustädte-hütte, probably the most remote hut in the region.

Deliveries to the hut are obviously difficult, and the chap inside informed me that I could choose between sausage and bread or soup, nothing else. I had a kasknödelsuppe – a clear soup of beef stock with a cheese dumpling in the middle, which was delicious (although to be fair, fermented mare’s milk would probably have tasted good by this point!). The hut itself was built in the late 1800s and was a beautiful cross between refuge, café and museum. For people staying overnight, there was no television, but an “entertainment corner” consisting of board games, a few books, and a guitar. The interior was of dark mellow wood with little natural light, and a number of antique hiking and objects hanging from the walls. There was also a guest book to sign, the first entry having been made in the 1960s. There are various hikes from this hut, but the most popular is obviously upwards. As I left, I looked at the photograph in the porch showing the route up from the hut – basically a wiggly red line up from the rock face!

The last bit is by far the most fun. This is the start of the via ferrata: metal rungs in the rock with a cable to attach safety ropes (which I didn’t have – oops!). The first part after the hut is across scree to the bottom of the rock, and at this point the via ferrata begins, firstly up the side of the mountain, and then for a while through a cave. The views behind and down are truly breathtaking and as the path, marked by red paint (blood?), winds its way up, the ascent is quite rapid.

About half way between the scree and the summit, the via ferrata comes to an end, and what remains is of equal steepness but without the mechanical aids. At times the path is indistinct and you just have to follow the person in front, at other times it’s quite clear. Eventually you reach the ridge, where you join with the Gatterl and Reintal routes for the final ascent, which is a little easier.

The last few yards to the tourist platform are, disappointingly, via a metal staircase, after which you have to get through the crowds of day-trippers (who’d ascended via the cable car) and queue for the final few yards to the summit. When I was there, those queuing for the summit were a mixture of elderly tourists and children wearing plimsolls, and over-cautious 30-somethings with full climbing gear, who looked a little out of place! From the summit, you can see the various routs up in each direction, after which it’s a queue back down to the platform and a celebratory schnapps and germknödel (sweet dumpling) in the café! Remember to take lots of cash with you, as they don’t take cards for the cable car down and it’s a long walk back!

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Thanks again, Neil! If readers enjoyed this article, please check out Neil’s Hiking Site for more.

iPhone HDR

For those who have an iPhone, you can check out the pro-HDR app my friend Joe recommends. I was so impressed by his photo (considering it’s from a mobile phone) that I’ll share it here:

The Idaho State Capitol looks pretty nice in HDR! Notice the great color in the bright puffy-clouds sky, while maintaining good brightness and color on the partly-shaded building and foreground.

I’m just waiting to see what the big camera makers some up with. In my last post I predicted we’d see built in High Dynamic Range on a pro-sumer or pro camera within a few years. Maybe when mobile phones are already producing results like this, Nikon will step up to the plate on the D90 replacement or D700 replacement. Please!

Munich’s Olympiapark in HDR

I’ve prepared some more HDR photos to show you the view from Olympiaberg (made of WWII rubble) around sunset. It’s a bit too far away for a view of Munich’s downtown, but the Olympic buildings themselves are stunning! Here’s the Olympiastadion (where I saw Genesis a few years back):

The last few moments of sun before the disc slipped below the horizon:

And a perspective-corrected view of the Olympiaturm, with BMW Vierzylinder (the HQ of BMW, called “four cylinders”) in the background. BMW Welt and BMW Museum are tiny.

High Dynamic Range photography is an interesting way to show detail in areas of shadow, without blowing out the highlights in a photo. It currently requires taking several shots of the scene, then doing lots of PC processing after taking the pictures. Due to this post-processing, I’m anxious to hear if any of you have problems viewing the photos on your monitors (do they look too dark)? If so I might need to calibrate my monitor.

Now I’m just waiting for the first camera to come out with built-in HDR processing. I predict this will be on a pro- or pro-sumer camera in less than five years, more likely 2-3. What do you think?

HDR Photography in Cambodia

So, I’ve finally processed a few of the High Dynamic Range photo sequences that I took on the RTW trip. Here are a few from Cambodia, which you can also see (in higher resolution) on my Flickr page.

This is probably my favorite of the final prints, taken from the third floor of the Angkor Spirit Palace hotel in Siem Reap where I was staying. The benefit of HDR is that you can see detail in both the bright and dark areas of the final “composite” picture.

Here’s an interesting shot of an approaching storm, which killed the sunset I was waiting for at this temple. Unfortunately the software I have isn’t good at aligning images, and has no manual feature. So they didn’t line up perfectly, something you can see in some of the edges where light meets dark (but only in the higher res versions on Flickr). Either way, the scene is great – everything from rain, to black clouds, to blue sky!

Finally I’ll close up with another photo from the rice paddies sunset over Siem Reap. There was actually someone burning brush over behind the trees, that’s why there’s an area with smoke rising.

There will be a lot more HDR photos coming, as I go through the Camera RAW images that I took all throughout the RTW adventure. Stay tuned!

Guided Munich

I’ve been home for two weeks, and am finally writing the first post in months that isn’t categorized “around the world.” While on the RTW trip, though, I had the idea to start a guided photography tour of Munich!

What is a guided photo tour, you ask? I will be giving a three hour private photo course, explaining to my customers how to use their cameras (either D-SLR or pocket cameras) to take better pictures. The photo subjects during this walking tour will be all the best sights and monuments in Munich. I know a few secret vantage points, as well. Private tour means just one small group: no strangers arguing about what to see next.

I’ve seen a lot of people taking tourist photos around town. So I tried to duplicate their work! It wasn’t hard. I put my big D-SLR in “Auto” mode, stood directly in front of each monument or building, aimed the camera nearly straight up, and clicked the shutter release as fast as possible. Then I closed the flash unit, set the camera to “Program” mode, and tried again – while using the big computer behind the camera. Here are some examples of the difference:

If you’re interested to improve your photography skills while in Munich, please check out Guided Munich Photo Tours! And if you know anyone traveling here, I’d certainly appreciate the referral as I get started. Hope you enjoy the summer, and take lots of great photographs!