German Travel Stories

This originally appeared as part of my weekly Prime Lenses Newsletter. You can sign up for a weekly update here.

I was away last week in Germany for work. I don’t live in a city anymore so the sights and sounds are a fun change from the norm and as one of the biggest conventions in gaming it’s filled with cosplayers and brightly coloured marketing booths. It’s an astonishing achievement really when you think about it. Something the size of a village is built every year in service of the largest entertainment industry in the world. Assembled and disassembled in less than a week! It’s hot, sweaty, and has a particular aroma which is unlikely to be bottled any time soon but it’s one of the last of its kind and if you can, you should go to Gamescom.

Getting to go two years in a row also meant i noticed things that have changed in the city from year to year. New street art, different street sellers and new places to eat and drink. This year I got some tips for places to eat from a friend who lives in Germany so we ate a meal on the last night that was a lot less touristy than usual. It was refreshing to see fewer attendee passes and video game T-shirts for one night at least. I got to use some high school German too.

My camera gear for the trip was fairly light, my Leica M with a 28, 35 (bet you can’t guess which) and my 50. The 35 never left the front of my camera so the lesson here is that even when everything fits in such a small bag, you probably still don’t need all of it. It’s a trap I think we all fall into. Treating every trip like we’re professional photographers who need to get coverage for an upcoming piece in Nat Geo.

Accessorising my M this time was an AirTag and because I’m traveling more and more I also took out insurance for the body and lenses before this trip which I’ve not had in place before but probably should have. I also always make sure to have disposable cleaning wipes in my bag as being in the city can be dirty work. When you’re wandering around a show, eating on the go and dining outdoors your camera can get gunky.

I’ve also tried to develop the good habit of downloading my images from the SD card at the end of each day followed by a quick format so I’m ready for the next day. That’s physical and digital hygiene that means you’re ready for whatever you see.

Oh and if you’re using Lightroom and Lenstagger, make sure you adjust the lens information before you start to edit or adjust images. If you don’t, you lose all those edits when Lenstagger does its thing. Easy to forget this too when you’re working out of a suitcase for a week. This last one might be more specifically for me than anyone reading this but then isn’t that about 50% of blogging, honestly? :)

Rye Lane + Doug Menuez

Some mid week eye food