Black & White Challenge

I was challenged to post 5 black & white photos on 5 days by my good friend Dirk. So here goes... First are some of my favourite flowers: orchids - phalenopsis to be exact. These orchids are from Orchideen-Zentrum Wichmann in Celle, one of the largest orchid growers in Germany. - I will try to vary the subjects over the week. However, I will not challenge anyone because most of my photographer friends excell at this subject day in and out - challenge or not! #BnW #BlackandWhite #5Days #5Photos #Challenge #Flowers #Orchid #Phalenopsis #Wichmann #Celle #Orchideen #Züchter #Blumen #CNICELY #Photography #Contrast #Gradation #Nature #Exotic

Second post of 5 black & white photos on 5 days: Celle, Germany - My home town on a sunny but cloudy day. This photo has great significance for me because my late father had painted it from nearly the same spot when he was a young man and almost nothing had changed at first glance. #BW #BlackandWhite #5Days #5Photos #Challenge #Home #Town #Heimat #Celle #Landschaft #Landscape #River #Fluss #Aller #CNICELY #Photography #Contrast #Gradation #Nature #Boote #Bootsverleih #Boats #Clouds #Wolken

No, this is not how I feel. It's merely the 3rd of my 5 black & white photos on 5 days! When I saw it here in my area on a barn door it was basically already a b&w picture made up of various warm brown tones. #BW #BlackandWhite #5Days #5Photos #Challenge #Home #Village #Heimat #Bremen #Countryside #Farmland #River #Fluss #Wümme #CNICELY #Photography #Contrast #Gradation #Nature #Barn #Scheune #Herz #Heart #Kranz #Wreath

 
The fourth of my 5 black & white photos on 5 days! I was photographing the architecture in the Bremen Space Center - which is now called Waterfront - when I saw this encounter. #BW #BlackandWhite #5Days #5Photos #Challenge #Bremen #CNICELY #Photography #Contrast #Gradation #Space #Center #Encounter #Begegnung #Waterfront #River #Weser #Architecture #Architektur #StreetPhotography

The fifth of my 5 black & white photos on 5 days! It's one of the last good portraits I took of my late father in his element paintbrush in hand. #BW #BlackandWhite #5Days #5Photos #Challenge #CNICELY #Photography #Contrast #Gradation #Celle #Portrait #Photography #Father #RIP #Painting #Passion #Oil #Canvas #Home #MissingYou

One more black & white photo: Peony. Seeing it makes me miss the warm sunny spring days... It also reminds me of my dear friend Lizzy @eye_an_i #BlackandWhite #CNICELY #Photography #Macro #Contrast #Gradation #Portrait #Peony #Pfingstrose #Water #Droplets #Moody #Sunny #Sunshine #Delicate

I posted these originally on my Instagram and on my Facebook Photography Page. You could "Like" the page there to follow my other photography postings. Thanks!

Merry Christmas! ♥ ♥ ♥

World Beat Bremen ~ Caribbean Riddim

Thanks to Ralph "von" Richthoven I was able to take pictures at one of the World Beat Bremen e. V.-Parties on November 8, 2014. The motto was very close to my heart "Caribbean Riddim" including reggae, ska, calypso, reggaeton, soca, zouk and more.

The party took place at Bürgerhaus Weserterassen, a beautiful location by the River Weser and is organised by World Beat Bremen e. V., a non-profit organisation, who have been organising these parties - with different cultural themes - since 2003!

The music was played on three different dancefloors by varying DJs (details on the flyer) and accompanied by very moody light shows. If you are not familiar with this event-series, you should definitely check it out!

   

For all of you reading/viewing with iPhones or Androids please click the link below to see the photos!
https://picasaweb.google.com/102895067673602587741/WorldBeatCaribbeanRiddim?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Feel free to tag yourself in the photos on my Facebook Photography Page and "Like" the page there to follow my other photography postings. Should you want to have your photo removed or have a query, you can also contact me there or at "chrissie @ cnicely dot com". Thanks and see you soon!

D-Major in Hamburg

D-Major in Germany!! I had waited a long time for this to happen! Thanks to Silly Walks we finally got to enjoy a great evening with this wonderful singer and person on his European Tour following the release of his new album "It's Major" on VP Records produced by Penthouse Records. Thank you for the vibes D-Major! Real know Real!

For all of you reading/viewing with iPhones or Androids please click the link below to see the photos!
https://picasaweb.google.com/102895067673602587741/ReggaeByTheRiverPart4?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Feel free to tag yourself in the photos on my Facebook Photography Page and "Like" the page there to follow my other photography postings. Thanks!

Nuff love to all ♥ ♥ ♥

Funky Cave Weekend

If you are ever invited by Exquisite Visite, you had better go! Their events are usually a little different and always carried by the best of vibes. This time was their 2nd anniversary! Congratulations to you guys on this! On the occasion a long weekend - Whitsun holiday - was chosen for this two-day-event called Funky Cave.

I went on both days to take in the music and entertainment even though no reggae was to be played! The venue Mensa Academia - the canteen of the Bremen University of the Arts and Music - is a unique location with several arched rooms in the cellar which were illuminated nicely and filled with heavy fog! lol Exiting through the backdoor you can walk up some steps to reach a courtyard where Bremer Seifenblasen were displaying their dreamy soap bubbles.

On the second evening there were additional activities like neon colour-face painting, a photo booth and shots in the courtyard all sponsored by a famous alcohol manufacturer with an orange deer logo. ;) The main act was SYMBIZ whom I had not heard or seen before and I must say, I was impressed! I will post one of their videos below the slide show for your listening ears and to show that they are putting on a great show with minimum means.

Also on this night I met Bremen's best party photographer hailing from Chicago, USA but unfortunately, I didn't get to shoot him in focus and in frame. All the same, big up Who Is Juju! :)

Thanks to Miles and Christopher this was an awesome event and if you feel the same, let us know on the event page and feel free to tag yourself in the photos on my Facebook Photography Page and "Like" the page there to follow my other photography postings.

Nuff love to all and see you soon! ♥ ♥ ♥

Reggae By The River • Part 4

The sun was shining on May 17, 2014 and I had made it to Reggae By The River • Part 4 (here is the event on facebook) just in time through road works and a huge traffic jam and just about got to take some pics of and sample the delicious food prepared by Michi and Pelican. Then it was off to the boat "Ursula" which started at around 18.00 hours to carry us around the river Elbe - The Port of Hamburg to be exact - past all the big ships and container berths where people were working and we had a very good time dancing and swinging to ska and reggae selections by Rootsfyah Sound with a short interlude by Smille and a very good set by DJ Mr Moe.

As we sailed into the beautiful sunset Don Minott grabbed the mic and sang one, two tunes for us. It really was the most chilled out and lovely vibe you can imagine. I was happy to see friends I had not seen in years from all over the globe and my sister who came with her boyfriend - not to mention the beautiful harbour views of Hamburg, one of my favourite cities in the world.

The second part of the event took place in "Goldener Salon" of Hafenklang where Pelican (Jamaica) acted as show host and introduced all the other artists who performed their latest songs for us. These were Sista Caro (France), Mighty Howard (USA) and Don Minott (USA).

Then the sounds from all over Europe took the stage and gave us their best tunes which made the night complete! I was so happy to hear their great selections including a Reggae By The River Dubplate by Fitta Warri pulled by RB Soundsystem which you can listen to here. Sidenote: Energy da Colonel deserves his name for real! The other sounds in the order of appearance were El Presidente Sound (Hamburg, Germany), Mr. Moe (Lübeck, Germany), Ruffneck Smille (Bodensee, Germany), DJ 745 (Leicester, UK), DJ Wanted (Leicester, UK), R. B. Sound (Eisenstadt, Austria) and again Rootzfayah Sound (Vienna, Austria & Duisburg, Germany)

Since we all met via the internet radio the ReggaeSpace management was present, namely Yendis (UK) and Queen Easy (Hamburg, Germany) and Dag of Promotance  (Germany), whom I would like to thank for making this possible. Queen Easy and Gardy (Hamburg, Germany) organised it all - including the ReggaeSpace icons on paper drawn by Gardy's child (Big hugs for the little one!) - and made it a wonderful event. We had so much fun!

For all of you reading with iPhones or Androids please click the link below to see the photos!

https://picasaweb.google.com/102895067673602587741/ReggaeByTheRiverPart4?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Feel free to tag yourself in the photos on my Facebook Photography Page and "Like" the page there to follow my other photography postings. Thanks!

Nuff love to all ♥ ♥ ♥

Exco Levi in Bremen

Maybe you can imagine, I was quite happy when Irie EFX invited me to see and meet Exco Levi on May 2, 2014. Not only was I asked to shoot the show but also had the chance to meet the man briefly at the studio previously where Exco was kind enough to pose for Help Jamaica for me. The meeting went quietly and smoothly.

The show that evening was very lively and vibrant although the venue is not very large but at least it gave Exco the chance to be in close contact with the massive who knew the lyrics word for word and even took the chance to sing with Exco who seemed to be in the best of moods and really chilled out. It was lovely seeing this because Exco has been in the news for quite a while and just recently took home his 3rd JUNO award, this time for "Reggae Recording of the Year" with "Strive" which was produced by Silly Walks on their Honey Pot Riddim.

Silly Walks were also responsible for bringing Exco to Bremen and I'd like to thank them for that and particularly Josha who was here playing the backing tracks for Exco. Big up Silly Walks!

Please take a look at my Facebook Photography Page and "Like" it. Feel free to tag yourself and also follow my other photography postings.

Nuff love to all ♥ ♥ ♥

Gentleman, Tamika, Treesha, Pow Pow and Msoke in Bremen

Gentleman and Pow Pow were in Bremen on April 26 and I had the pleasure of documenting the event which was held at Speicher 2 - Eventloft, a fairly new venue by the river Weser decorated with palm trees and illuminated by video-animations generated by two Bremen entrepreneurs Jorge Armando & Michael Suding (Miquele). The show was opened by the locals King Ralph, who was one of the organisers, with the help of Deejay Laye and then Roots Ashanti.

Pow Pow's Ingo and Junior Carl really brought the massive to the boil in preparation for the very talented Kenian singer Treesha and of course the wonderful Tamika who received a lot of love from the massive - and rightly so. Tamika had brought the young Tanzanian artist Msoke Minha with her whom she had had a show with in Hamburg prior to the evening in Bremen. He was full of energy and very good at rhyming freestyle.

When Gentleman finally came on he was in top form and frequently jumped off the stage to interact with the audience. He was joking around and hugging Tamika - what a lovely moment! - and even shared out a crate of Beck's beers which are made in Bremen to cool down the massive who were jumping and reaching out to Gentleman at any opportunity they had!

Alltogether, it was a real nice and chilled vibe down to the moments the artists took to pose for Help Jamaica and also a charity festival called "Feeling Fine" in aid of a charity for children in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia which Gentleman, Tamika alongside Silly Walks happened to have visited earlier this year. Last but not least big thanks to Kalin of Back To The Roots for everything!

Please take a look at my Facebook Photography Page and "Like" it there to tag yourself and to follow my photography postings.

Nuff love to all ♥ ♥ ♥

Chronixx and Gentleman in Hamburg

Chronixx was ending his European tour in Hamburg at the ReggaeVille Easter Special and graced the stage after Kelissa and Dre Island opened for him.

Kelissa

Dre Island

Chronixx

Then Gentleman took the stage and rocked the concert hall for an extended show
backed by the wonderful Tamika and Treesha.

Please read the review written by Gardy for ReggaeVille which will give you more facts and insights here. Last but not least, I met Torch who was kind enough to pose for Help Jamaica for me. Here is an article from IrieItes about Torch in Hamburg.

Spring @ Lehester Deich • Bremen

Dancehall CoNNect Shellingz 2014 'Spring Edition'

The Dancehall CoNNect Spring Edition went down on April 5, 2014 @ Club Moments. For certain reasons I arrived late and couldn't stay too long but I enjoyed the brief time there and met some lovely people. The vibe was very good as King Ralph was playing the latest in Reggae and Dancehall and I got to dance with my camera a little bit too! :-)

King Ralph

Deejay Laye

Rugby at Bremen 1860

I had my first experience of rugby on March 29 at Bremen 1860 when the DRV Cup game Bremen 1860 versus RU Hohen Neuendorf took place. You can view the event here on facebook. I was invited to come by my friend an colleague Samy and some other colleagues were also present to whitness 1860's 16 : 20 defeat against the visitors. As far as I know 1860 is now in 6th place and it will depend on how the other teams play where 1860 will be placed at the end of the season.

I must admit that I had no idea about the rules so I looked them up prior to the game, in order to be able to anticipate a little bit of what the object was here. I did my best with my equipment to capture some moves but in the end I thought it best to stick to capturing the goings-on on the sidelines. The game is as fierce as I thought it was and there were quite a few injuries and even Samy had to go to hospital on the night because of some injury that was not visible to me after the game.

I really liked the "round-up" after the game where the teams spent a while to discuss their moves and other details not related to the game - as far as I could make out. Altogether, it was a real nice spring day! The sun was shining so strongly, it felt like summer!

Update: Here are some great photos from my friend shot with a longer lens. :-)

Unrated

On March 14, 2014 I was invited to UNRATED by Exquisite Visite. I had not been to the venue for a while and I must say, I really liked the lights and vibes in the place called Level II. My friend, Queen Easy from Hamburg could not be there as announced in the flyer but it was a nice night same way. Hopefully, Queen Easy will be there another time.

Reggae Nights #124

This Reggae Night was going down at Magazingkeller with Roots Ashanti as host to the "Sound Conference 2014" on March 1, 2014. As in the previous year the Conference Members were SWS (Sound with Soul) from Berlin and Hakuna Matataa from Saxony. We all enjoyed it, same as last year and here are the photos to prove it - also starring the fog from Ben's fog machine! lol :-)

Hakuna Matataa

SWS (Sound with Soul)