Tacki (8/100)

So I was at the coffee shop draining my brain of life doing some work (and subsequently reading a photo mag to counterbalance said drainage), when these two lovely ladies bust out STITCHING KITS! “WHOA, COOL!”….that’s freak’n awesome, man. They were making sweater tops. Not often you see that every day. Very individualistic and very colorful. You all know I love color. These colorful ladies also had equally colorful names, Tacki and Astrid.

They thought I was a tourist (I don’t blame them, I carry a camera EVERYWHERE I go). I was attracted to the stitching and colors. So naturally, with curiosity as a driving force, conversation ensues. We talked about “stitchin’ bitches,” selling socks on eBay for $300, some hairdresser from Innsbruck (Austria), affluent Arabians buying up the whole of Munich, and the list goes on. It was very entertaining. Tacki was ever so willingly to share some cool links. Google “knit graffiti.” Pretty awesome stuff. Thanks again ladies!

*Technique:

Not great, but a good lesson learned. The picture is pretty soft, but the interaction more than made up for my technical shortcomings. Emphasis is put on the social part of the project right? Or at least that’s my excuse. Or maybe the hands are blurry to depict the intensity at which she knitted....

I know better than this though. I should have shot wide-open with max ISO, BUT I didn’t. My reasoning was that I didn’t want it to be soft because of wide-open, and I didn’t want it to be noisy because of max ISO. Low light is tricky, but I will conquer it one day! With enough lessons by #100, I should be on the right track :D

Suheyla (7/100)

Today I went to a tailor's to get some work down on some trousers I bought. I find Suheyla running the one-lady show.

I walked into her tailoring shop and said, "Hallo, sprechen sie Englisch?" She gave me an "ok" sign with her hand and her German/Turkish accent she said, "Perfect!"...What a joker :D

Turns out she spoke very little English. All I heard her say was "tomorrow. "With a bunch of smiles and hand gestures we were able to get me measured to tailor my pants.

After the transaction and in my amateur German, I asked if I may take her photograph. She gave me a nod and stared going through her purse. I think, "man, does she want me to pay?!" ...No, no, she actually whips out a second pair of glasses! She swaps out her workhorse glasses for a more stylish BLUE! Yes! Color! A little of individuality!

Check this! Then, before I could ask her to, she goes down to her monstrous sewing machine and poses. "Cool, this lady knows what's up," I think to myself. Then, she starts going to town on some jeans giving me the body language to snap a couple more shots. "Yea, cool. What a delightful lady. She's definitely going to be part of the project :D"

Freddy (6/100)

Ok, this project is going to take longer than I thought. I’m only six pictures in, and I’m already extremely selective in who I want to photograph.

In fact, I only take pictures of people who when I spot them on the street I say to myself “whoa, cool!” If they don’t get a “whoa, cool!” then I don’t even bother. I bet I can finish this project in one weekend if I actually went for quantity. But, I’m here for quality! They have to have the “whoa, cool!” factor.

Today, there were thousands of people on the streets. Tourists. Kids. Families. High-class couples. Old people. Hot Chicks. Skater dudes. Plenty of people to shoot, right? Ennnhhh, wrong! Most of them never really caught my interest (except the hot chicks, but I can't go around photographing exclusively hot chicks. That's weird and creepy......or could I???? :D ). Not enough "whoa, cool!" factor. That’s until I saw some dude with a dope afro and red pants with boots to match. That's when I meet Freddy.

Turns out, Freddy is from San Francisco and in Munich for work. When I asked for his photograph, he asked if he can get a print. Of course, I said yes. Then jokingly he said, “well, then get to work.” So, Freddy, if you read this, message me here (or through any one of my links) so I can get that photo out to ya.

*Technique:

Like I said, now I’m comfortable taking photographs of strangers. I’m beginning to be more aware of my surroundings, the subject, the pose, and the lights. This is good. It means I’m progressing. I’m getting more attuned to ALL the aspects of the photograph and approach.

As I self-critique the interaction with Freddy, I wish I would have posed him a certain way. He had a cool bracelet with earrings to compliment. If I had to redo the shot, I would have shot straight-on and cropped from the chest up. I would have asked him to cross his arms across his chest so it would show off his bracelet. Just a thought. I did, however, asked Freddy to move away from the busy crowd and onto the sidewalk to get a better backdrop.

It’s all a learning experience :D

Lydia and Ricardo (5/100)

Opportunity knocks everywhere.

I was with my friends walking down the street to go get some dinner because it was my buddy’s Bday. It was a terrible day for pictures. It was dark. It was cold. It was rainy. There wasn’t that many people out. Nonetheless, I brought my camera out with me because I haven’t taken any portraits lately. I was determined to get at least one. Then, that’s when I spotted some color!

Yellows. Reds. Purples. Greens. Blues. Oranges. Und natürlich, Pink. Amidst the ugly, gloomy rain I found a COLOR SPLASH! The boots. The jackets. The umbrella. The backgrounds. Even the popsicles! :D

I couldn’t resist. And so, I asked these friendly Munich locals, Ricardo and Lydia, if I may take their portrait.

*Technique:

Yea, it’s technically not the best picture. I did, however, manage to capture the colors I saw, which was my intent. This was shot with ISO 1600 and I’m pretty sure @ wide-open (f/1.8). Even then, I think the shutter went to 1/30th or something. Hence the picture is a little soft. Also, I could have moved my stupid umbrella out of the way. But, I didn’t care enough for it though.

I want to note that I don’t ask people to smile in the pictures. It is their natural instinct. I like it. It makes me believe that people, by and large, are happy, friendly individuals.
Oppositely, I think I’m going to start direct people to not smile in all the pictures. I’m comfortable enough approaching people for photographs, but that only gives me the obligatory smile. Then that lends itself to look/feel more like snapshots. It’s not bad at the least, but it doesn’t progress me as a photographer. Now I want to respectfully direct my subjects to give the picture more pizzazz, more “oomph!”

Ditmar (4/100)

Jaws. Teahupo'o. Cortez Bank. These are famous names in the surfing community. Not as popular but equally as niche is Munich river surfing. More specifically, I'm talking about the wave on the Eisbach. It is a standing wave that retains its shape but continues to flow. It is akin to those man-made Wavehouse waves. In the summer months, thousands of people are drawn to a crowd that crowds a little piece of a river.

Meet Ditmar. He is a river surfer. Has been for many years. He definitely looks the part of typical surfer that can be found in Southern California. He has the skills to back it up. Unlike many of his fellow surfers who would surf until they fall, he would surf long enough to were he'd just move to the edge of the wave and have a seat on the ledge. He tells me that the wave is usually clean, as opposed to the white water at the top of the wave. It is in due part of the extra rain we've been getting lately. As you can see from the scars on his board, things lurk in the water. Actually they are some kind of concrete columns that disrupt the river flow. The locals know how to avoid them. However, there have been many accidents on them.

I'd love to surf this spot one day. I used to surf back in SoCal. It's been too though. And, the river is too dangerous. Besides, I don't think it'll be the same experience. Half of surfing for me was the paddling and sitting waiting for a wave. Sitting on the ocean was oooh sooo serene.

François (3/100)

I spotted this gentleman in the city center. His dreadlocks caught my interest. Dreads+Blazer+Cool Hat=Interesting. Too bad I didn't get an actual shot of his dreads. They ran the length of his back!

I walked up to him and said "Hallo, haben Sie eine Minute zeit?" ("Do you have a minute?"). His reaction, or lack there of, immediately told me that "hey, maybe this gentleman doesn't sprechen the Deutsch." Then I spoke English, and he understood me fine. Turns out he lives in Paris, and naturally he also speaks French (not German). I wanted to reply something in French because of my years taking French in high school. But,I didn't. It's been too long. I'd rather not embarrass myself haha.

ABAKUYA is François' band. This gentleman has roots in Cameroon, and so his music reflects as such. He is in the Munich for a music show in Tollwood. They were kind enough to invited me to come to their show on Sunday. The informal invite sounded as if it was an opportunity for some actual press photography (akin to photojournalism, of which j'adore). Somehow they would use their magical celebrity powers to get me a free pass or something. How awesome! This project is already looking promising as a great life experience.

I would love to oblige to their invitation. It sounds pretty cool. Sadly, I've now been obligated to a different place at the same time. So, François, if you read this, I will have to decline your generous offer. Mais, merci beaucoup!

Oley (2/100)

Again, I saw something cool and then wanted to photograph. In this case it was his poncho. He was just chilling on his bike, as if waiting for the rain. I actually walked past him a little bit but then got that twitch again.

Oley is Russian. I mistook his name for Spanish xP He operates one of those tour bikes where you ride around town in the cab of his bike (the yellow thing behind him). He had a very eccentric honk/horn on his handlebars that also merited a photo.

Katharina (1/100)

My first!

And because it is my first for the project, it needs a proper entry:

What a perfect person to start my project with. Katharina epitomizes the reason why I started street photography in the first place. I'd walk down the street and spot a sight of AWESOMENESS. Then I get an undeniable urge to photograph it! This is exactly what happened with Katharina.

So, I was walking down the street (go figure, huh?) to get to the Geldautomat (aka ATM) because I had no cash to buy myself a delicious Döner Kebap. I get about 100 meters to the spot, then BOOM! PINK EXPLOSION! PINK PANTS AND PINK PURSE! What a BOLD WOMAN! The color just screams "Hey, hey, take a picture!" I freak'n LOVE people who wear bold colors. Immediately, I get a twitch. My trigger finger keeps getting signals from my brain to click the shutter. But I can't, not yet. She's too far away. As she is walking in the same direction as I, I continue my path to intersect hers. Unfortunately, at the time of crossing, she was on the phone. I thought it'd be rude to bother her. And so, I walk past, missing that oppurtunity. I continue to the ATM.

Take two! Right when I finished grabbing my cash she comes walking down the stairs. I see the pink again. I get that twitch again. I wait till she comes off the stairs and then take the plunge. I was not going to let the opportunity slip me again. "CARPE DIEM!" is my life motto! I didn't even bother with a German opening; she looks like a student, and they're all fluent in English (Good, because mein Deutsch ist noch schlecht). She asked why I wanted to take her photo, and so I tell her about the project. She thought it was a pretty cool idea and asked if I had anything on the internet to check it out. So I gave her my card (that's right, a card. To become a Professional, you have to BE professional, right? :D ). I asked her what made her want to wear that color. Simply she quipped, "It's the best color!" I can concur. Shoot, even I love wearing pink!

I wish I would have talk to her more to hear her story. Maybe if she checks this blog out I can (and maybe yell at me if I got her name misspelled).

100 Strangers

I’m excited. I’m taking up a photography project. As simple as it can be put, you ask 100 strangers if you can take their portrait. This will challenge my social skills as much as my on-the-fly photographic technique. It’ll be a rush.

And so, I’ve started this blog. I needed a proper platform to document my progress in the project. However, as with any blog, I’ll probably put up other entertaining junk as well.

I haven’t had a chance to shoot yet, but I’ve attached a photo for some eye candy in the meantime.

…or you can check out my Flickr.