Movie Premiere - Die Wilden Kerle 4

German actor Uwe Ochsenknecht interacts with fans at the premiere of "Die wilden Kerle 4" in Munich, Germany.

Jimi Blue Ochsenknecht gives autographs to the fans, shortly after having arrived at the Maxx movie theater.

Jimi Blue Ochsenknecht seen through the camera of a fan.

Finally, a movie premiere - "Die wilden Kerle 4". It's a German movie about a group of kids fighting for a freestyle soccer cup. The movie is starring popular German actor Uwe Ochsenknecht and his sons Jimi Blue and Wilson Gonzales, among others.

As always - I was not accredited, and at first I was quite disappointed to not get those "standard" shots that the colleagues got. You know the stuff - stars posing on the red carpet for the cameras, with a lot of shouting and acting. Then I decided to take the word "photo reporter" by its original meaning, i.e. trying to grasp the essence of an event or a scene, trying to report back how it really was there.

So I found my way to shoot my photos - I mingled with the fans and got some excellent shots of the stars as they arrived and while they were interacting with the fans, signing autographs or making jokes. Looking at the results I can say that I like them, possibly far better than the "standard" shots from the red carpet. :-) Okay, next time I will still get the accredition beforehand, as I do need the "standard" shots as well (these shots tend to earn more money).

But what's your key take-away from all this? Well, if YOU have an event in your area and want to make photos, I can only encourage you to do this. Just go there and make the best from the situation! And you will probably be quite surprised about the excellent photos you will bring home.

19 Photos at Zettpress
Offical Homepage of "Die wilden Kerle 4" (in German)

Roughly two hours later the spook is over,
and the red carpet is - very dirty.

Siemens profit beats expectations

Today I joined the annual meeting of Siemens shareholders. Siemens AG beat analysts' expectations with higher sales and operating profit, sending its shares up 4 percent. The photo shows a group of happy shareholders coming to the meeting which took place at the Olymic Hall in Munich.

Technical data - Canon EOS 1d mark II N with Canon EF 70-200 mm/1:2.8 L, at 200 mm, Av 1/500 sec, F 5.6, ISO 200

Winter has come to Munich - finally!

Here is the long-awaited update on my proceedings to become a press photographer. Apparently, the biggest problem for me is still to "get in" to high ranking photo opportunities, e.g. film premieres and press conferences. I had some, but it needs to be more. Much more. But I am still confident that this will be just an initial problem that I will solve pretty soon.

In the meantime, I will keep doing outdoor shots, like the photo above showing Munich in the early morning after the very first snowfall (5 inches over night!) this season.

Since the last post Petra and me have been to Namibia. A fraction of the photos have already been published at Zanzig.com, so please feel free to visit that site to see how we spent our time in Namibia.

But there's more positive news - the Zettpress photo service is shaping in the background. While you still see the "coming soon" front page, we have been busy behind the curtains to build a system that will let you licence photos right away, minutes after they have been shot. I expect a "public beta" to be up and running by the end of this month.

Zanzig in Namibia
Zettpress

P.S.: Technical data - Canon EOS 1ds mark II with Canon EF 24-70 mm/1:2.8 L, at 70 mm, Tv 1/60 sec, F 4.5, ISO 800