The Portland Headlight - one more photographic approach.

This shot stayed untouched, yet very often looked at and thought about in my photo library for about six months. And after this time it took me several months worth of editing and re-editing to come up with this final photograph. Why? Here is the story...

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Tags: Photography, Photo Shoots, Maine

As seen 1976 in the Muppets Show.

MahnaMahna, a song I remember as if I listened to it yesterday kept on popping into my mind these days. I have absolutely no idea, why. Maybe it was triggered by a highly intellectual (late night) conversation with my better half. I really don't know. Whatever the trigger was does not really matter: it initiated me venturing off to youtube and digging out the video of that song. And suddenly something dawned on me... Read More...

Tags: Short Movie

A photograph of a unique and artfully painted abstract protrait.

It happened to be in London, on a sunny Saturday afternoon: We were picked up by a friend at the Brixton Underground Station - with her car. Yes, those suburban Londonians (or, Londoners) own and drive their cars. Much to my surprise though, but then again: someone has to drive all those cars around creating the constant traffic in London.

We were on our way to a Trini (West-Indian) takeaway place - and my mind was already heavily involved with my Curry-Goat Roti to be. Did you ever have one of those? If not, you really (I mean REALLY) should try one…. But, back to the story. Read More...

Tags: Photography, Urban Decay, Photo Shoots

A stop motion short film.

And the more cinematographic way of photography.

And what a photographer can learn from it.

Stop Motion and time laps movies or, animations based on single shot photography are nothing new. They date back to 1892, when Katrina White and Emily Wilkinson brought a toy circus to live.
There is a wealth of movies out there on the internet, and a vast majority is certainly found on youtube. It is very interesting to say the least browsing these type of movies. Some creators are coming up with amazingly creative ideas.
But what else can we learn from assembling photographs into a film format? Read More...

Tags: Photography, Camera, Short Movie

Summer sunshine tourist photography - or the spirit of Life just happens.

Sometimes life just happens. And one has to hop on. That would be the gist of this story.

On the day of arrival I took our weekend guest, my good friend from Norway to one of my favourite spots in the neighbourhood: to the Iron Trunk Aqueduct. This Aqueduct lets the Grand Union Canal cross the River Ouse in Stony Stratford - so it is an open water bridge (Maybe this is part of Wolverton. It does not matter.). Along the Aqueduct is a mooring place for the canal boats. A peaceful place, what many boat dwellers call their home… Read More...

Tags: Photography, Photo Filter, Photo Shoots, Light Conditions, Seasonal Impressions, Grand Union Canal, Short Movie

An approach on photographing grass.

Last week I was talking about photographs which mainly consist of texture or where texture plays a significant role in the photograph. I found that texture is captured very well with side lighting, where the natural light enhances shadows and highlights without drowning the shadows in black or blowing out the highlights. I experimented some more on this subject this past week. Read More...

Tags: Photo Shoots, Photography, Light Conditions

How the texture of materials impacts a photograph.

Over the last few months I payed more attention on how to emphasise the texture of an object that I photograph and how the texture of such objects can impacts a photograph. Actually, I was looking for images whose main compositional element is the texture itself.
Texture relates us to the feeling of a surface. Usually we explore a texture by vision and by touch. However, in a photograph, we don't have the luxury of experiencing the texture by touching it. The viewer of a photograph needs to be convinced by vision on how that photographed surface actually feels like. Read More...

Tags: Photo Shoots, Photography, Light Conditions

A train ride and an abandoned station.

Many years ago, I was riding this route on the train on a weekly basis. To be precise, it has been twenty years ago. But that time is long gone. Last weekend however I was on my way to a reunion back in Germany. I took that train again. Things have changed. I had to change trains at this fairly abandoned train station. Before the connection made it I had time to capture this truly quite moment. The new route took me through the wonderful wine region of Rheinhessen. It was peaceful - the sun was shining, it was warm and the cherry blossom was in full swing. Worry free. Just like back then.

Worth sharing.

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Tags: Photography

The histogram in photography explained in an easy way.

I had the honor of guest-blogging at www.ThePhotoArgus.com. I was writing a brief article about the histogram from shooting to image editing in the digital darkroom and explained the advantages of using 12 bit files. I am explaining there the "tonal distribution" and the correct interpretation of a histogram, details about the data depth of a photograph (12bit RAW vs. 8 bit JPG) and how it pays for a photographer to pay attention to little details happening in that graph. If you are interested in this type of techinical level, read the article "Histogram and the Advantage of High Bit Files" here.

Tags: Photography Techniques, Photo Editing

Photographing the Portland Headlight in Maine.

One of my last photo shoots before the big move across the ocean brought me to Portland, Maine. The destination was the Portland Headlight, a lighthouse built in the late 1700's in a dramatic setting. The shoreline surrounding the lighthouse is cliffy with steep rocky beaches. Absolutely beautiful.

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Tags: Photography, Photo Shoots, Maine

Photographing African Wildlife from an unusual perspective.

Will and Matt Burrad-Lucas are two wildlife photographers, that tried to push their photography to a new frontier. As they say in their blog: "The modern world of wildlife photography is saturated with thousands of talented photographers producing a huge number of incredible photographs. As a result it is difficult to produce original shots without really pushing the boundaries and striving for new perspectives. Often, this means putting the camera into places that may at first seem impossible." Read More...

Tags: Art, Camera, Photography, Wildlife Photography

My first attempt of photographing blossoms.

I must admit - I don't feel really confident with that subject. Nor did I have a high interest in it. Maybe that has to do with the fact that in Massachusetts where I was living before really was not any spring? And where I am living now, it is spring all the time? I don't know. All I know is that this morning at a quick break, I saw these blossoms and they made me take out my camera and give it a try. And now, I see the image, I see many things that need to be improved and I want that really nice blossom photo... This is attempt #1:

Tags: Photography, Stony Stratford, Seasonal Impressions

There is some style on the streets of London.

Another impression from London. Black Taxis. And stylish bikers - and she knew...

Worth sharing.

Tags: Photography, Photo Shoots, Street Photography, London

New York City Street Photography a la 1940.

Just a few days ago I stumbled across this phenomenal slideshow about Street Photography in New York City by Guideo Steenkamp, a Berlin based photographer. The video takes you to NYC in 2008 and somehow Guido manages to make it in a very strange way look and feel like in the first half of the last century - if it wasn't for the cars, the cellphones and the overall more modern look of the city. The soundtrack of the video certainly helps this impression, but even without it, that old feeling is still left with the viewer.




His website www.guido-steenkamp.com is worth checking our for everybody interested in street photography.

Tags: Art, Photography, Street Photography, Short Movie

Being at the right place at the right time.

On one of my last trips along the norther East Coast in the U.S. I made it up to Cape Neddick in York, Maine. My destination was the Nubble light house. Since this was a rather spontaneous decision I made it there in the mid afternoon on a sunny Sunday - amongst busloads of other tourists. But being patient enough, I managed to capture the image of the Nubble Light house below.Although it looks rather unreal, this is done at the right time with the right equipment.

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Tags: Photography, Photo Shoots, Photo Filter, Photography Techniques, Light Conditions, Maine

The art of photogarphing building blocks.

In one of my previous posts I was talking about the power of indirect light in photography and where and how to find it in your house. No studio setup, no fancy lights. Just simple photography. This time I approached photographing building bloks in my pro kitchen studio.

Tags: Photography, Photography Techniques, Photo Shoots, Light Conditions

Life on the streets of London.

The streets of London. New opportunities. New Impressions. Worth sharing.

Business lunch. Trafalgar Square.

Tags: Photography, Street Photography, Photo Shoots, London

A different view of the British Flag.

One way of dealing with being and living in the UK now is photographing the British flag. And instead of going to Buckingham Palace, I found this Nissan Micra parked at a car dealership around the corner. Of course it was not only just a Micra, but it is painted in the "Brit look" - therefore it is being sold with an exorbitantly high price tag. Although the painting of this vehicle is rather cool, it still is a Micra. I don't have to buy it I guess. But it was inspiring enough to approach it with my camera and take a few close up images (for a larger view of the photograph above see inside the article). Read More...

Tags: Photography, Photo Shoots, image noise

Sometimes a photographer is just SOL ...

London. The scenario: a tourist one place has it all stop-shop. A bobby hat for tourists on a mannequin head. Perfect. All it had to be was a quick shot. With my 55-200 mm, from the corner. The camera set to program mode since there was not time to fiddle around with settings. Store owners don't like photographers taking images of stuff so much. Experience - no need to ask. So, camera out. Zoom. Shot. And failed.

There are a few factors that work against making this a nice shot worthy the "other side" section of my gallery. Let me explain why.... Read More...

Tags: Photo Shoots, Photography, Photography Techniques, image noise, London

adjusting my fixed height site to my visitors needs.

I have been listening to my critics and to Google: A significant amount of my visitors is browsing the web with a screen resolution of 1280 x 800 pixel or less. And, with the rise of netbooks with even less screen real estate is available to the average internet user. Considering that a large amount of the screen real estate is lost to (very often unecessary) browser toolbars and the likes, my old site layout fit less visitors screens properly than I hoped. And that number was shrinking. With a fixed site layout as you experience here, that is a real disadvantage and no fun for the visitor.
So I went through an entire site overhaul and limited the page height to 520 pixel. This did require to downsize the thumbnai images - which is not only a bad thing: that will make browsing the photographs on this site quite a bit faster.
I hope you enjoy the new gallery and site layout and spend some time browsing my photographs.

Tags: Site organization

the good, the bad and the ugly - a photographer's experience report.

So, as pomised here are my thoughts on the (now almost outdated) Nikon D60. I have been using this camera now for just over a year and a pretty good feeling for what it is capable of and what not.
I wanted to share those thoughts with you without writing an extensive review about this camera. Technical reviews can be found here at dpreview.com and at plenty of other places around the internet. What I wanted to share with you is more in the realms of an experience report with the Nikon D60. And this post has no claim of being complete: I simply want to mention a few facts about this camera which stuck out to me while using it over the past twelve months....
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Tags: User review - Hardware, Nikon D60, Camera, Lens, dynamic range

or dealing with selective seeing.

A recent trip brought me back to my old home town: Boston, Massachusetts. Well, Boston was not really my home town, but it is close enough. Anyhow, the point is that after two months not being there, I was glad to be back. And, as it is very often, once one has not been at one place for a while, I tend to look at it the next time we are there with different eyes. Read More...

Tags: Photography, Photography Techniques, Boston, Massachusetts

The art of photographing kitchen utensils.

On my current mission to photograph things around the house (and make them look interesting) I decided to finally utilize the wonderful indirect light coming trough the back kitchen window in the early morning hours.
If you are a photographer like me and you don't own a closet full of lighting equipment (and does not want even wan to own a closet full of lighting equipment), utilizing indirect light coming through any window in your house is absolutely fantastic for photographing... well,things. Have you ever seen those dreamy type flower portraits? The rose for example with the water drops on it, with the blossom being kind of underexposed and only partially visible? This mystic looking pile of coffee beans? If this is something you like, than indirect light is something for you. Read More...

Tags: Photography, Photo Shoots, Light Conditions, Photography Techniques

African fine art wildlife photography by Nick Brandt.

Reading a photography magazine, I stumbled across a report about photographer Nick Brandt. Nick found a passion for east African wildlife photography in the mid 1990's, during his time as a director in the music video world. He was shooting the "Earth Song" video for Michael Jackson when he discovered the east African animal paradise. Nick Brandt realized that this paradise is short of its extinction. Taking trips from Nairobi through southern Kenya to Arusha in northern Tanzaniaa few years apart, he saw that the free roaming animals became significantly less in between his journeys. So he decided to capture this paradise to be soon lost on black and white film. Read More...

Tags: Art, Photography, Fine Art Photography

A brilliant resource for legal issues with photography.

Browsing through the internet today, I found this absolutely great blog page which I wanted to share with you. It is run by Carlos Miller, a photojournalist in Miami, Florida. He was arrested in February of 2007 for photographing them against their wishes. Read More...

Tags: Legality with photography, Photography

The art of photography in a brilliant short movie.

A long time ago I discovered this great video on youtube. It is the short movie Spin from Double Edge Films.



The storyline is told by a great short film underlayed by fantastic beats. And the photography in this film stroke me. There is great photography in every great movie, however, this was aboslutely down my alley. Read More...

Tags: Art, Photography, Short Movie