Uploads from Sprengben [why not get a friend], tagged japan, with geodata

Shanghai Night

nobody@flickr.com (Sprengben [why not get a friend]) — Thu, 24 May 2012 00:21:40 -0700

Sprengben [why not get a friend] posted a photo:

An interesting photo I found in my archieves. Of course I want to share it with you! It is not the most spectacular shot I did compared to some other photos but it somehow has this very special touch I think… It has been taken in a lonely alley in the Megacity Shanghai. I can remember pressing the release button and hearing the rich crashing of my Nikon’s mirror but I could not tell you where this place is and how and why I came along this special street.

Maybe you know this feeling. When I am starting to shoot my cityscape photos I plug in some nice music in my iPhone and lurk around searching for a spectacular scene or angle. This is definitely a special one I overlooked a thousand times. This Photo would have never been taken if I wouldn’t lurk around because this Photo is not a standard Shanghai shot!

| Charlie Winston - In Your Hands (official video) |

Feel free to check the link above. It features a nice song which has been quite inspiring to me throughout the last two years.

Perhaps it gives you motivation to be creative. If not it is still a great Song and Video!

So far I wish a great day and keep on posting your high quality images to Flickr. Altough I cannot comment on every single of them I really adore all your photos!

Ben

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Reaching Down From Heaven

nobody@flickr.com (Sprengben [why not get a friend]) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 01:02:22 -0700

Sprengben [why not get a friend] posted a photo:

How are you my dear Flickr friends? I am happy to have the possibility to post a photo again. The month’s before I was really packed with a lot of work at my university.

Today I show you a black and white edition of the German “Bundestag” in Berlin. What you see here is something pretty amazing. This is the Air Condition system of the Bundestag. I guess a lot of you guys do not know that the roof of the Bundestag is opened to catch fresh Air for the “Plenarsaal”.

At least I didn’t know this before I visited the roof.

I had the Olympic thought to erase all the people who stood at the roof. This was possibly the worst idea I ever had :) but it makes the photo very clean.

If you look close you will possibly find some mistakes.
I am somehow running out of words. That’s why I shut up now!

Thanks for coming by my stream and showing love. I really appreciate!

Ben

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Dove Fighting at the Duomo di Milano

nobody@flickr.com (Sprengben [why not get a friend]) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:01:23 -0800

Sprengben [why not get a friend] posted a photo:

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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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Monumentum

nobody@flickr.com (Sprengben [why not get a friend]) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:30:00 -0800

Sprengben [why not get a friend] posted a photo:

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It is March. For me it is kind of the beginning of spring! Best time to post an autumn photo :). Sometimes I wonder why I always post my photos in the completely different time of the year…

However. This photo was taken in summer. I used Photoshop technique to give the autumn touch. Some might think it is crazy but as I post processed the photo I really felt the autumn mood and the earthly tones. The whole scene reminds me on the Lord of the Rings scene where Merry and Pippin take the tree ride as they are persecuted by the ugly ORK!

You can see the “unprocessed” version of the photo in the comment section.

The photo was taken at a lonely road somewhere in Kyoto, Japan. I really stood in awe of this Monumentum. Let’s just think for a second I am 26 years old, you might be younger or older but how old might this tree be? 50 years? Naahhh more 200-500 years I would guess.

This somehow leads me to an important question which I wan’t to mention but not give any more thoughts on. How can it be that we, the western world, support cutting down these old trees all over the world for nearly no money only to get new furniture every other year. We don’t know how the world will be without these natural air cleaners…

Just a thought!

Anyways I think there are some really smart people who discuss on these topics.

By the way: If you think you need the new Nikon D800/ D800E/ D4 look at the photo and know it has been taken with and old Canon 350D with the 18-55 kit lens... :D

Ben

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My Lonely Island - Niijima Coast at Sundown

nobody@flickr.com (Sprengben [why not get a friend]) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 17:05:00 -0800

Sprengben [why not get a friend] posted a photo:

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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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Blade Runner Berlin

nobody@flickr.com (Sprengben [why not get a friend]) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:25:00 -0800

Sprengben [why not get a friend] posted a photo:

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This is Berlin on New Years Eve. The Sony Center is a great place to be at.
At night time the whole place is lightened with different colors. The Photo is slightly surreal at least more than my previous uploads but I really like how the processing turned out. Especially the glowing lights you can see on the right and the lower parts give a special touch to this shot!

You might say this photo has too much saturation but in this case you have to believe me. It is crazy colored in the Sony Center.

Still having a lot of work to do. I work part time as a teacher for school kids in Robotics which is actually my occupation when I am finished with my Master. The three days to come the Kids are fighting to qualify themselves for the German Robocup. This is a competition where the best schools compete on each other. The winners are supposed to compete with the best schools from all over the world.

This year the World Championship in the Robocup will be held in Mexico. You can bet that I as a traveler have large interests for them to qualify for the Championship. If they do I promise you to bring you some cool photos from Central America and hopefully South America. I will keep you updated on this every now and then. So if you have a prayer… Send if for me and my pupils!

So far thanks for the overwhelming response to my images. I am happy to read from all of you even though it is tough to comment back on all your streams. Please don’t be angry if it takes some time for me to come back to your stream.

Until then have a blessed week everyone out there in the Wide Flickr World.

Ben

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Majestic Sunrise from the Summit of Mount Fuji

nobody@flickr.com (Sprengben [why not get a friend]) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:30:00 -0800

Sprengben [why not get a friend] posted a photo:

hit “L” for a more spectacular view!
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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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Lights on, Tokyo!

nobody@flickr.com (Sprengben [why not get a friend]) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:26:06 -0800

Sprengben [why not get a friend] posted a photo:

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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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Warm Evening Sun in Berlin

nobody@flickr.com (Sprengben [why not get a friend]) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 11:43:17 -0800

Sprengben [why not get a friend] posted a photo:

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Hey guys! Over here in Germany we have winter. But the streets aren’t paved with white snow and the smell of Gluehwein everywhere. We have constant rain and bad wheather over here.
I really dislike bad wheather. That’s why I upload a shot of the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin from the better times. I tool this on a warm summer day some month ago.
I wish a fun weekend to all of you!
Ben

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Monumentum Green

nobody@flickr.com (Sprengben [why not get a friend]) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 02:31:47 -0800

Sprengben [why not get a friend] posted a photo:

Potsdamer Platz at Night

nobody@flickr.com (Sprengben [why not get a friend]) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 02:00:35 -0800

Sprengben [why not get a friend] posted a photo:

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I know I already said it but... HAPPY 2012!

I wish a blessed new year to all of you. May your year be successful, creative, exciting and fascinating. I am curious to see all your beautiful pictures and have some nice conversations about them.

I have been in Berlin the last days and it was a great time. I wasn’t there as a photographer but one night I was able to take my camera to a spot I always have wished to work at. This is a quick shot I did there and I like how it came out!
See you around!

Ben

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Times Square Is Crazy!!!

nobody@flickr.com (Sprengben [why not get a friend]) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 01:39:36 -0800

Sprengben [why not get a friend] posted a photo:

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Nothing more to be said… Right?

I took this whilst it was raining and raining and raining and…
Really it wasn’t stopping. I was kind of angry as I only had 2 ½ days to be in NY.

But even though the picture is really really colorful I still like the outcome of the wet street and the reflections.

Does anyone remember my last post?
I wrote that no one is supposed to live in fear. Today is the day of Kim Jong Ils dead.
I am not saying that I am happy that he has died, that would be wrong, but I think there is a chance for the world to become a better place.
At least these are my prayers.

At the end of this week is Christmas and I digged out some crazy Christmas pictures… Check it out. I really had to laugh out loud.

Slow down and laugh about awkward Christmas Photos

Look at the link and tell me your favorite’s. Mine are ‎5 9 18 22 40 45.

Also today I had my Bachelorpresentation. I now have my first university degree. This somehow feels awesome!

See you around!

Ben

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The Bullet – Lost in Beijing (国家大剧院)

nobody@flickr.com (Sprengben [why not get a friend]) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 01:45:00 -0800

Sprengben [why not get a friend] posted a photo:

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Hey Flickrinos!
Today I post a shot of the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, China.

Actually I don’t need to say much, right? The building stands for itself. It’s form is incredible and immediately recognizable.

Still I want you guys to know that the roof is a mixture from glas and titanium! In my opinion it is a great mixture. I really love the lights they placed in the titanium elements. If you use a high aperture number you get these light stars! Amazing!

Sadly I wasn’t able to go in. If anyone has been in there tell me how it looks like.

I hope you have a good start in the new week!
See you around!

Ben

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Times Square from Above

nobody@flickr.com (Sprengben [why not get a friend]) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 03:19:03 -0800

Sprengben [why not get a friend] posted a photo:

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Hi Friends. Christmas is coming with huge steps. I can’t believe that it is already next week. There are so many things to do until then. Are you in a rush, too?

The story to this shot is a bit different:

This shot I have taken from my Hotel. It is the street heading directly to the Times Square. The reason why there are so many cars is that there was a bomb warning. I still remember the feeling.

I used to live in Tokyo and I travelled a lot of this planet’s capital cities but I never felt this strange as in this moment. You hear there is a bomb somewhere and you suspect everyone. The police is shutting down the district and you wait for the Big Bang.

I am really relieved that nothing happened. Sometimes I think how this feeling might affect the people living in this city after the terrible attacks from 9/11.

In my opinion it is dingy and fig to scar people like this. No human being deserves the feeling to be in danger. Not Americans, nor Palestinians, Yews or any other citizen of this planet.

So far

Ben

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Airforce One Flying Over Iceland

nobody@flickr.com (Sprengben [why not get a friend]) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:07:45 -0800

Sprengben [why not get a friend] posted a photo:

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Hey sweet guys and girls! A lot of good photos around Flickr lately! I dropped by a lot of your streams and I have to say it again. I am happy to be a part of the Flickr family and share so many different photos and impressions with all of you.

This photo is a premiere!

I always wanted to do a photo from above the clouds. But all the material I collected on my several flights always has been really uninteresting.

Somehow this time I found a show of which I would say it is worth to be posted. I really love the details. You should look at it in full size. There is so much to discover… Even the texture of the window. In this case I think it gives the whole sky effect a dramatic touch!

Actually I don’t know where this is. That’s why I choose this strange Title. For me the blue tones look a bit as if the shot was captured over Iceland.

However, I hope you like the shot and it inspires you for your next flight!

Have a great week and remember. There are on two more days to go then we have Weekend!

Yeah!

Ben

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The Great Wall of China – Tilt Shift

nobody@flickr.com (Sprengben [why not get a friend]) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 08:53:20 -0800

Sprengben [why not get a friend] posted a photo:

A good day all Flickr friends!

hit “L” for a better view!

I am really occupied with university and my Band but I wanted to give you a black and white edition of the Chinese Wall.

I decided to use the Tilt Shift effect because the Wall is such a monstrous building. As this building is so incredibly huge and impossible to be built a second time it is a sarcastic way to use the Tilt Shift effect I know but this Wall is sooo huge that sometimes the opposite helps to understand it’s real size.

I really recommend visiting the Wall once in a lifetime. It is an impression I am sure you will never forget.

If you go there be sure to pick one of the places where tourism is not so present. Pack some really good shoes because the Wall is unbelievable steep.

I hope all of you are fine!

No more words today!

Ben

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The Helix, Singapore

nobody@flickr.com (Sprengben [why not get a friend]) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 08:02:46 -0800

Sprengben [why not get a friend] posted a photo:

Hi everybody, hit “L” for a better view!

Thanks a lot for all your nice and encouraging words as I began to post on Flickr last week.
I am really honored and proud to be one of your Flickr friends!
Besides I browsed a bit through my friendlist. I am really thankfull for all you people who support me and just being nice. This is such a cool thing.

Why do I write this? Because sometimes I have a quick Internet chat with some of you.

The cool thing about it is that I chat with people from:

Indonesia
Philippines
India
Brasil
Vietnam
Argentinia
Lebanon
Bangladesh
Costa Rica
Pakistan
Kuwait
Sri Lanka
Paraguay
Venezuela
Chile
Rep of Maldives

And this is just to name some exotic countries where I never have been.

I am really happy to get to know you a bit and be a part of your life and culture. You cannot imagine how much this inspires me.

Today is a shot from Singapore. This is Marina Bay and the Helix Bridge. The shot has been taken in 2010. I am sure it looks totally different today!

Have a great week all you people.

Ben

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The Bund, Shanghai

nobody@flickr.com (Sprengben [why not get a friend]) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 01:39:39 -0700

Sprengben [why not get a friend] posted a photo:

Hit "L" for a better view!

Hi everybody!
It has been a while since I posted my last photo. Today I decided to post a new one. I worked a lot for my university stuff and had a lack of creativity.

Today as I decided to upload a shot I wasn’t sure which I should take until I came across my Shanghai photos. I tried to edit this shot three times before but I never really liked the outcome. Even today I am still not sure if the perspective from where I have taken the shot is the optimum.

The bad thing about my POV was that the bund was closed due to city works for the EXPO. You see, the shot is old as the Expo in Shanghai is over for quite a while.

As I sometimes do, I have a song recommendation for you. It is the hard critizised song from Coldplay - Princess of China but it fits!

Coldplay - Princess of China

In my inactive time at Flickr I browsed your streams every now and then to keep updated about your work and I have to say I am impressed to be a part of this great community and moreover a contact of yours. Your streams are awesome an I like every little detail you work into your photos!

I really hope you enjoy this piece of modern Chinese architecture!

Ben

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Nice Sundown in New York

nobody@flickr.com (Sprengben [why not get a friend]) — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 07:56:56 -0700

Sprengben [why not get a friend] posted a photo:

Today I digged out one of my old New York photos. New York is a great city. Much too great to be discovered in only 3 days.

There are some really pretty motives over there. If you want to see some really mind boggling New York shots go over to Philip Klinger. He did a great Job over there.

Besides I used a wicked processing on this image. I actually didn’t really know why I did it. But you might be wondering why the image looks a bit blurry even though you have the impression of sharp lines and clear parts. That is because I used the Orton Glow style in the beginning. All the things I did after the glow effect where based on it. I was too lazy to do it all over again. Somehow I like the effect because it makes the water in the upper right image golden shivering and it also amplifies the sunrays you can see in the clouds.

If you turn over to full size you can see the boundaries of my equipment. There are colourlines around the houses. This is because of the Tokina 12-24mm I used here. I am really waiting to have enough money to buy a nice D700 and a really good lens to get rid of these things I can’t really stop.

Also I am happy to see all the great photos on your streams. I am really comfortable with all the different styles I see there. As I am most of the time do City, B&W and symmetry photos I am really impressed by your landscape, flower, family, sports and lightpainting shots!

Have a great Sunday!

Ben

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Growing Crystals of Hong Kong

nobody@flickr.com (Sprengben [why not get a friend]) — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 07:21:28 -0700

Sprengben [why not get a friend] posted a photo:

Hong Kong again… This city is crazy! Everytime I browse my Hong Kong images I am astonished. As I sharpened these houses with a special technique the outcome looks a lot like stalagmites. The interesting thing is that they grow upsidedown!

However. This photo was taken through a window. You can see it in the upper right Corner. I tried to clean as much artifacts as possible but there was no chance. As this shot is not a HDR it was really hard to deal with the tones and the sky. It took me quite a while to get colors in the hills. The smoke is unbelievable thick over there. Everything looks grey and pale when you see the first outcomes on the camera!

So far I am busy doing all the important University stuff. I wish you a great weekend as I have to leave my Computer to work on now!

Ben

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