Thanksgiving is over, Christmas is coming

Nobody in Germany knows some about Thanksgiving and Black Friday. All News in America a full of informations about the sales rush on this friday and the problems of the workers, that must work since yesterday in Walmart and Co. Because: Black Friday kicked off around 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving. Shoppers are expected to take part of the thanksgiving sales and storm Target, Toys R Us or Sears.

A few years back someone was trampled to death at Florida's Walmart for a $25 DVD player. This year it will probably be a cheap Blu-ray player. Thats a really progress, isnt it?

In Germany we have fortunately no problems when shopping for Christmas. Everything is regulated by the state. There are three Sundays before Christmas where you can shop. It may only be open from noon to 18 clock in the evening. People have celebrated the extension of opening times a few years ago. Now you can shop at most to 22 clock in the evening. Even on Saturdays. Wonderful. Not only for the people in the shops, which then work for another hour and are also an hour earlier at the store. Well anyway, the main thing X-mas comes and you are happy and love each other. Here are some pictures from a local Christmas fair, called in german "Weihnachtsmarkt".

The "German Tofu feed-in law" comes from 1 January 2013

The "tofu-feed-law" states that seedlings of soy tofu each sausage must be added, which is produced in Germany. The meat producers and butchers will guaranteed a price of 12, - € per kilogram produced sausage , although the quality and quantity of varieties and content determination fluctuate. This price is about 40% higher than the current market level. It is financed by the "TEG levy" burdened with any type of sausage, also import products like Hungarian salami. Bulk consumers such as Hotels and restaurants are exempt from the levy. With its European neighbors this technique is not matched. Emerging supply constraints are, if possible, replaced by imported tofu. 95% of these  soybean seedlings are from China and South-East Europe. The German Meat producers vehemently protest against this regulation. They are forced to produce their previous sausages further as tofu mixtures are indeed removed primarily by law, but the produced quantity limited by supply bottlenecks . Therefore, the usual sausage are held in "standby" if once bottlenecks can not be covered with imports of tofu. Since this is unprofitable, call the sausage manufacturer for financial compensation, which will be passed on to consumers. Bulk consumers receive if supplies are damages that will be added to the "TEG levy". However, it is often over-production quantities that can not be sold. For longer storage, lack the capacity. For a temporary production shutdown for German sausage is an additional levy on the "TEG assessment" levied to compensate for the loss of sausage producers. Occasionally buys from abroad over production quantities. Potential buyers are lured by a "negative price". Per ton decrease paid to foreign customers from 100 to 1500 €. The costs will also be the "TEG levy" slammed. Sausage abroad protesting because the production in their factories can not be planned. Governments threaten a ban on imports, for example the popular German "Bratwurst" from overproduction. Because of the climate change objectives of the EU, there is no limit to the production of meat and sausage production with tofu. Cereals and vegetables are displaced. Prices and rents for arable land and grassland rise. Farms are unprofitable. Since grains and vegetables are still needed, the farmers ask the legislature for compensation. In the meantime, farmers migrate to the cultivation of green fodder and other cattle feed types. Individuals without idea and expertise throughout the Republic lease or buy land to grow  of clover and grass. Even in areas that are not suitable. Forests are being cleared to make room, disappears Barrens. In North and Baltic artificial islands are built. Thousands of kilometers of transport routes are planned. The companies that want to have to connect the islands to the mainland under contract invest only if the follow-up costs do not need to be paid by them.

A law is being prepared, according to which these costs are to be an "off-shore assessment" passed on to the consumer.

Fortunately, this is only just a fun, but who knows? Maybe soon reality.

A game with mirror

As promised i show today few photos from a long-ago workshop with Emilia and Anastasia The two girls are very versatile, creative and fantastic models for each portrait photographers. But you convinced yourself:

Portraits, the second

Today I put on a few portraits that hung on my hard drive around.

Whenever I am out with my camera, then I try to take the people around me. Whether there are now befriended photographers or models in a workshop, does not really matter. The expression of human faces, gestures and body is fascinating and infinite in its variety.

I'm working on a compilation from a workshop with two models with the title "game with the mirror." Maybe I can, then I'll upload the photos tomorrow. Stay tuned: o)

No time for reality

Wednesday, the 14th November 2012. The citizens in the Spanish capital Madrid to protest against their government. The Police used batons, water cannons and fired rubber bullets at peaceful civilians. People in Spain are not alone in their anger. General strike in Portugal, marches are in France, Italy, Belgium and Greece go. Posters are everywhere held in the cameras of photographers and cameramen. On which is written: "You saved the banks, who will save us?". Governments in the European Union are hit by the current financial crisis and save itself broken. Pensions, wages and social benefits will be reduced radically. The domestic consumption is reduced to a historic low. Unemployment rose in Spain alone in the last year of 8 to 26 percent, over 60 percent of young people under 25 years without employment and income. In Portugal and Greece, it is no different. At the same time, more and more governments flee under the European rescue fund ESM and apply for billions of euros in subsidies to save the ailing banks who gambled in the housing crisis. Ordinary people helps no one. Instead, the politicians rigid after each new savings orgy on the financial markets as a rabbit to the snake. They hope that the shares go up in value and investors more and rake in more money. The concerns of the citizens who elected them disappear completely.

What the bureaucrats of the European Union  do on 14th November 2012? They protest against the police violence in Madrid and Rome? Ask for the observance of human rights, such as in China or somewhere in Africa? No. None of that.

The European Commission has decided on that day that in the future 40 percent of the seats on the board of large corporations must be occupied  by women. It has decided to ban all children's books with drawings, in which girls play with dolls and boys with cars. They have decided that Europe will become a federation of nation states loving each other. They has eight hours to advise on the "cohesion in EU policies". And then celebrated. With a large meal. No sympathy for the demonstrators, not a protest against the abusive police, no time for reality.

The creeping revolution

With the digital cameras it is already history. With film cameras are as good as no longer produced, and certainly not bought. A couple of dudes fumble still or once again their outdated Kodak films in the tricky spool of analog cameras and enjoy the beautiful grain in the pictures. They want to be different than all the other photographers and it is also. After they fired one or two films, where most back ruefully to the usual. One can just see what will be in the picture on it and no need to wait anxious hours before laboratory if it is sharp or blurred again. The buzz around the SLR is now also gone. The marketing promised for the average consumer, that you just must hang a large and heavy piece around the neck to shoot really good photos. Everywhere people were running around, took pictures in the automatic mode and with the inevitable kit lens flowers or their children. After two hours and three hundred pictures later, the images were then not better than before with small digicams or handy. Only the neck was hurting from the camera because it weighs more than a kilogram.

Otherwise, the trend is very clear: more and more, almost all photos are shot with the increasingly mobile. No wonder: it is always there, because you want to be reachable. For the dear colleagues all friends, or the one who holds it. Just the ubiquitous social network, a synonymous for Facebook.

And now it also goes down to the nitty-gritty. That in which it has clung to the last chaotic years fixed.

Books goes to e-books and solve an unprecedented wave of hunger to read. I see people reading who previously only had one cookbook and their phonebook. Unbelievable! And Good!

Linear TV is completely out. You watch DVDs, four episodes a season at a time, one after another. No advertising, no stupid news, the only gaga. Nobody wants to wait for the start time of a tv-show, and recently you can also retrieve items on the net, whenever you want. And why not?

Manufacturers of computers for consumers stuck with all that can not feed itself. Notebook is just like, tablet is better or handy is also (but  the screen must be large and with high resolution,).

And all this not in one fell swoop, from today to tomorrow. No. Very slowly, these networked digital revolution creeps into all areas of our life. You get used to it instantly. And woe if it then does not work. A day or two is not Internet- bare disaster! What you could not miss everything that happens without my help?

Where will it end? No idea. Before, I had a hunch when I looked a series like Star Trek. James T. Kirk and his art! Just cool.

Today this is already old news. "Beam me up!"- it does not go well. But we're working.

Street photography does not necessarily occur on the road, or is it?

I do not think so. When photographing people, the limitation on the street is very boring. We humans make it a lot more than bored or totally occupied the sidewalks to walk along or to rush. There are many other events where it's worth it take the camera. And sometimes comes out more than if you just spend hours in the studio with a model torture. Here are a few of these images are incurred at every possible opportunity in Germany, but even on vacation.

Portraits

Portraits and scenes with people, it does not always have the described scenario be-Street are a definite passion of mine, which I share with many amateur photographers. Unfortunately the is usually the current German law (one's own image), but also the lack of suitable models in the way. We have, for example, for some time a separate small studio, but find few interested people who stand on the basis of TfP (Time for Prints) available for shoots. Models want to make money and the media can reinforce with quirky formats, such GNTM or various soap operas in their madness. So one makes do with familiar faces if necessary or save a little money together to finance with other amateur artists a suitable model.

Moreover, it is a common misconception that shapely doll with regular faces are the best models. If you look in the relevant photo collections, such as Flickr or fotocommunity one finds more and furrowed in large numbers of folding profiles in the spotlight. A face should be interesting, and the man has a certain charisma to cause an inclined viewer more than just to have a glimpse of the image.

Here are a few examples of photos from photo shoots in recent years. I'm going to scour my hard drives to still put together a second part in a couple of days.

Note: I'll be here in the future Lichtsucher blog post in English because most prospects come from the English-speaking world (Sweden, Ukraine Corporation, United States).

Hinweis: Ich werde hier im Lichtsucher Blog zukünftig in englisch posten, da die meisten Interessenten aus dem englisch sprachigen Raum kommen oder eben des Englischen mächtig sind.

Strukturen

Mein Senf dazu: Strukturen sind einfach gesagt Ordnungen. Das können zusammengefügte Teile sein, die von Weitem betrachtet nicht nur zusammen gehören, sondern auch eine innere Gliederung haben und voneinander abhängen. Obendrein kann man Strukturen in der Philosophie, in der Mathematik und in jeder beliebigen anderen Wissenschaft und was sich im Notfall dafür hält anders definieren.

In der Fotografie sind Oberflächen  je nach Beschaffenheit strukturiert, also in Form, Farbe oder Material. Selbst die Lichtsituation kann eine Oberfläche und deren Liniengebung beliebig visuell verändern. Das menschliche Auge kann leicht getäuscht werden oder durch eine beabsichtigte Täuschung einem eigentlich  bekannten Gegenstand neue Aspekte abgewinnen.

Bewusste Struktur- Fotografie findet man eher selten und wenn, dann bedarf es meist eines hohen technischen Aufwandes bei der Aufnahme und der nachträglichen Bearbeitung. Architektonische Studien beispielsweise werden zur Vermeidung von Verzerrungen mit Tilt- und Shift- Objektiven aufgenommen, die derartige Verzeichnungen mechanisch durch Verschiebungen des Lichtweges im Objektiv herausnehmen. Hier ein typisches, eben negatives Beispiel, das ich von einem erhöhten Standpunkt aufgenommen habe. Man erkennt ganz deutlich die Verzeichnungen aus der Senkrechten im unteren Bereich des Bildes.

Mit einfacher Freeware wie ShiftN kann man solche Fehler leicht und schnell beseitigen. Hier die entzerrte, wenn auch noch lange nicht perfekte Variante des gleichen Bildes:

Der Verlust an den Seiten des Bildes ist in der Regel verschmerzbar, wenn man sie durch die passende Brennweite von vornherein einplant. Zum Anderen sind derart elektronische Nachbesserungen für den Amateur weitaus preisgünstiger als die Anschaffung von Spezialobjektiven deren Preise ab 1 Kilo-Euro aufwärts ganz schön heftig ins Budget schlagen.

Hier noch ein paar andere Beispiele für Strukturen, die nicht notwendigerweise immer monoton gehalten sein müssen. Viel mehr und auch ganz andere Betrachtungsweisen zum Thema Strunkturen in Natur und Architektur findet man auf den einschlägigen Fotosammlungen, wie hier in flickr.