Boring Times

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DSCF6530FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec, ISO640)

Traveling is exciting. If you travel to and in foreign countries you encounter new situations. You are away from things that are familiar for you, everything seems to be exotic and you are out of your comfort zone most of the time. This also applies to business trips if they lead you to places you haven’t been before.

Like my first time in South East Asia: Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia. Or to be more precise: Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Hanoi, HCMC, Manila and Jakarta as I have only seen the capital cities. It was in March 2013. From late Austrian winter to a hot and humid summer. But traveling is not always exciting. Especially business trips mean to spend a lot of time in airports or hotels or even worse hotel lobbies or sometimes in places you would not visit at all. The best thing you can do in those situations is to check your emails and read the news on the internet provided that there is Wifi.

DSCF6532FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec, ISO500)

But sometimes you are lucky. I was in the beautiful Mulia Hotel in Jakarta / Indonesia while waiting for the driver to get me to my local partner. When I recognized the three bored gentlemen on the sofa I knew it’s time for some “streetshooting”. I took two shots without getting their attention. Great smart and quiet Fuji! Plus the 14mm lens is so wide that people underestimate the field of you. They just think they will not be part of the picture. Another strange person that takes pictures of a hotel lobby. When I pushed the trigger I knew that I had taken some special shots.

DSCF6535FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec, ISO400)
 DSCF6536FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/4, 1/30 sec, ISO400)

I took some more around the lobby before a member of the staff approached me. “Sorry Sir, No photography”. I packed my camera away. Back to the waiting game.

Some day I might roughly calculate the time I have waited on airports, borders and in hotel lobbies but I’m afraid I might not like the result. Sometimes lifetime gets wasted in spades. That’s especially true when traveling. It is still one of the most exciting things to do though and I’m loving it.

DSCF6539FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/4, 1/30 sec, ISO1250)
 DSCF6541FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/4, 1/30 sec, ISO800)