Sneaky Pics

Well, I am not sure sneaky pics is an accurate description of what I sometimes take, but I do like to take pictures of people who are unaware of my presence and therefore behave naturally. Like I have mentioned before I am fascinated by people and find them interesting, no not just beautiful women, but all people regardless of age, gender and character.

When I am in a crowd my camera often hangs from its strap on my stomach. I have a firm grip of it with my index finger ready, but I try to look as casual and cool as possible. Speed is often crucial in order to get an image of somebody or something passing by in a second or two, so I have my camera on auto setting and shoot from, not my hip, but my stomach.

I do sometimes ask if it is ok to take a photo, or I at least give them a friendly smile as a thank you, should they spot me in action. One thing which I would like to point out is that I always have the best intentions. I never publish a picture with ridicule in mind. I always treat my objects with respect.

Despite popular belief and custom, smiling at the camera is not the best idea for a good portrait. Experts always advise you to ask your “model” not to smile. That’s why I use stealth as my preferred method, because if people realise that they are being snapped, they sometimes wave and smile at you, unless they show that they object to the idea one way or other.

This summer I had the opportunity to take many photos of people. Like this old man in need of a rest on a bench in a busy market.

Or this shot on an off-chance in a very crowded street. Just look at all the eyes, in particular the eyes of the enamoured young couple on the left. Aren’t they sweet?

Then you have the opposite, a bored couple waiting for the rain to stop in Cologne last weekend.

In a French market place I took some pictures of two Police Municipale, and when he discovered that I was pointing my camera roughly in their direction, he asked me if I wanted to take a picture of him and his colleague. He was more than willing to pose for me, and a passing lady said something about him (or possibly them) being oh so handsome.

Here is one I took earlier, and if I wanted to, I could come up with all sorts of suggestive captions! But I won’t.

All these images and many more will be added to my photo website in the coming days. Please come and visit me there.

Happy Chocolate Easter

There are all sorts of museums all over the world, and in Cologne there is one for chocolate.

This time of year a big brother bunny, in what looks like golden foil, poses majestically above the entrance. Inside you find smaller, more common versions.

 

It is a chocolate heaven on earth for chocoholics. They even have a display of a chocolate waterfall behind bullet-proof glass(?), otherwise people might have been too tempted to sample it I guess.

We didn’t have time to go through the museum itself, but we were happy just to visit the shop and make some modest purchases. Is that cheating?

Love Is But a Dream - Love Padlocks / Liebesschlösser Revisited

In October last year I wrote about the padlocks on the Hohenzollern bridge in Cologne, a post that has been found by quite a few searches from all over the world. I have been back, and now on the southern side where most of them are.

You see people, who walk across the bridge, stopping regularly to look at padlocks and read the inscriptions. And there are tens of thousands to look at, in particular on the southern side of the bridge.

One couple, who secured their love padlock on New Year's Day this year, has already lost two of their four ladybirds for luck. Does that mean luck is running out already for Katharina and Bernhard? Who knows?

Some cynic or sad loser who has not found love yet, has painted a message on the footpath in German:

"Liebe ist nur ein Traum" - "Love Is But a Dream"

Others are displaying some strong feelings, including handcuffs. Or is that possibly a bit kinky?

How about this one then? Did the maker of that padlock design it in complete innocence or was it meant to look slightly rude? Is that a sex god? Well, it is a love padlock after all, I suppose!

 

Ooi! Give Us Your Handbag!

Mugging in the making? Are these two guys trying to rob the young woman on the left? She seems to be desperately holding on to her handbag, isn't she? Did I happen to catch a crime on film? Like in the 60's film Blow-Up?

Just look at them; shaven head, sunglasses, swelling muscles and an aggressively pointing finger! No?

Well, if I un-crop the image slightly, you will see that the two menacing-looking men have a woman in tow, perhaps not out to rob vulnerable women after all. How easy it is to be prejudiced.

If I produce the full picture (pun intended) it is obvious nothing sinister is afoot. Another man is leaning casually against the railing of a bridge in Cologne next to the walking woman and the approaching group of three. It is in fact Weltkindertag (World Children's Day) in Cologne and I am standing by the river Rhein among thousands of people celebrating this day full of innocence and fun.

Shame on you if you thought so badly about two men out to celebrate a children's day in female company. Of course the guy who spends so much time in the gym must take the opportunity to show his hard-earned muscles on a sunny September day. The sunglasses are necessary to protect the eyes, and also making it possible to look at other woman without anybody noticing. Don't tell me you've never done it!

Love padlocks - Liebesschlösser

	Some time ago we came walking across the Hohenzollern Bridge in Cologne, a railway bridge leading straight into the main station. I had my eyes on the river and had the opportunity to get closer to this iron man who seems to be scared of small birds.
It was not until I looked the other way to try and get some shots through the fence that I noticed something odd, which I actually had seen on the other side before.
	Many people walked past without noticing or paying any attention, but children often spot funny and surprising things, as did this young girl.
There were padlocks everywhere, and they were often interlocked. A few had nothing on them, but most of them had either something written with a permanent marker pen or as the ones on the right here, had names engraved professionally.
	They could be colourful and of different designs. When I moved nearer to take a close-up I discovered something even more unusual, and perhaps clever.
There was advertising! The company that I guess has engraved a great number of all the thousands of love padlocks on this bridge, and possibly in other public places, had their own little padlock with the company name and URL. Will anybody spot it? Well, I did!

I googled and found that this is not an unusual phenomenon. You can find these love padlocks all over the world, as I discovered when I read this Wikipedia page. The fences on this bridge in Cologne will probably with time be full of padlocks. The western side seems to be where it started, and this love-locking has now moved over to the other side where we were. According to Wiki, the railway company threatened to remove all locks, but had to give in to public opinion and leave them as a symbol of people's commitment to each other.

I can just picture the scene when a love couple comes out on the bridge, how they jointly attach the lock to the fence, throw the key into the river and then seal it with a looong kiss. What do you think?

Weltkindertag - World Children's Day

We went to Cologne for the weekend and found to our surprise that the World Children's Day is celebrated on 20th September in Germany, not on 20th November as in the rest of the world. So when we went for a Sunday stroll along the river Rhine we were part of a lively crowd trying to negotiate our way between various activities and stalls where charities, associations and companies did their best to promote their merchandise or services. Anything to do with children was present. Although the fire brigade posing for a calendar shoot in front of the mighty cathedral was a coincidence, I guess.

I had my camera at the ready not to miss any interesting in this huge crowd. But I found it increasingly difficult to take photographs for obvious reasons. There is something called privacy and integrity, which are fundamental rights. Yes, we have all taken pictures of people who were unaware of it, or we were unaware of it ourselves and discovered that we had captured the image of a stranger who just happened to be there. That is quite understandable in most people's eyes, I believe.

I certainly find other people fascinating when I am out and about, for instance at a tourist attraction, and I enjoy observing  them as they are being absorbed by the the beauty of something, or they are reading a sign with interesting facts and their faces sometimes reveal their reactions and feelings. In such situations, I have to confess, I find it very difficult to resist taking a photograph secretly. But I am very reluctant to use it on my blog, because I am not absolutely certain where to draw the line.

When it comes to children the issue gets even more important and emotionally charged. I understand that most countries have laws that are extra restrictive to protect children, and we have all seen blurred faces or "headless" children on TV for instance. So you can imagine how hard I found it to take some interesting pictures at the Weltkindertag yesterday! I ended up with lots of abstract pictures and other unobtrusive pictures.

I have however managed to collect some harmless pictures to illustrate the event in Cologne yesterday. You will have to imagine the rest! (Do you find this issue tricky, how intrusive you can be with your camera?)

Christmas Market in Cologne

We have just come back from a Mediaeval Christmas Market in Cologne. Yes, it's not even December yet, but the Germans don't care. If there's an opportunity to eat and drink something outdoors in the cold, they go for it. And why not? We went with some friends who live there.

There were various kinds of entertainment ...

... and little Noah seemed happy ...

... possibly because we all had some mead, which was served hot.

No, no, no, Noah did not have any although the picture might indicate he did! On the way back in the dark along the river we came upon this boat with an inflatable Father Christmas on the lookout for ...

... customers, since this turned out to be a well-lit, floating Christmas Market as well. There's no stopping them, is there? Mark my words; Christmas is upon us! You have been warned.

 

River Music in Cologne

We have just come back from Cologne where we strolled along the river bank just like a thousand other people on this sunny afternoon taking in the atmosphere. Oh no, don't start thinking about the old Kinks hit from the sixties, if you are old enough to remember or know, but it was one music scene after the other. Within a few hundred meters we came across these four, it has to be said, rather good groups/artist, all playing different kinds of music. We stopped and listened to a few numbers from everyone, tapping our feet with a smile on our faces most of the time.

Why do these guys make me think of ZZ Top?

This gentleman played some lovely light classics.

After that we were treated to both Bamboleiro and Guantanamera.

The fourth outfit was a group of young jazz/blues musicians with the lead guitarist earning special praise.

Then I spotted this example of the dangers of long-term parking. Not much for the poor owner to collect! Maybe she (I think) could find some consolation in the nearby chocolate museum as advertised.