I have set up a studio of black surfaces where the light falls on my objects from above. All distractions that could interfere with the view disappear as if by magic. There is only the object.
Every ray of light that does not fall directly into the eye remains invisible. Concentrated light such as laser beams is made visible by introducing vapour from CO2 into the beam path, for example, which provides the necessary deflection into the eye or a photographic lens.
For the same reason, light from above escapes the eye of the observer or the photographic lens when viewed horizontally. Only an object deflects the light from above in the direction of the eye or the photographic lens. This is essentially a reflection. Transmission of reflected light can also occur with objects that are transparent. This is the case, for example, with fine petals or glass. Both phenomena, reflection and transmission, are of great aesthetic appeal and therefore of photographic interest.
In the end, there is only the object – or composition. Photographing colored flowers in a dark room has the effect of an apparition emerging from the darkness. And the picture immediately makes you think. These pictures made me think of a quote by Henri Poincaré, whose exact source („The value of science“?) I have unfortunately not found: „A thought is like a flash of lightning in the middle of a long night, but it is everything“.
Does the photographer manage to create a feeling with his pictures? To arouse interest ? What feeling do his pictures create ? What does the picture do to the viewer ? More than just: „Oh, someone has pressed the shutter of his camera in a beautiful place !“ ?
The impressions of the country are as changeable as the Irish weather. Time and time again, you see motifs that you would not have expected. They lead to images that you would have placed somewhere else entirely. In the following picture you can of course recognise an Impressionist motif.
I noticed shipwrecks in Galway harbour, which I took as an HDR series and processed in different ways, sometimes in colour and sometimes in black and white. I like the black and white version best, which looks like a photograph from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The following cloud image loses all reference to Ireland. It could have been taken anywhere. You can recognise a disruption, hard and soft contrasts, an alternation of light and dark clouds, areas with structure and those that look as if they have been painted. Of course, this fits in with Ireland’s changeable weather. The cloud structure in this picture reminds me of interstellar reflection clouds.
Ireland is the marvellous land of hiking opportunities, which we only used in part. We came across many visitors at special attractions such as O’Brien’s Tower above the Cliffs of Moher, most of whom, like us, were certainly not hiking. Integrated in the picture, they look like busy people with a clear goal, which is probably a false impression.
The flight to Ireland from Germany is relatively short. On arrival, you feel as if you’ve crossed a bridge: you’re not far from the start of your journey and yet you’ve arrived somewhere else.
People have passed through garden gates in the course of their lives, but on the Irish island they can give the impression of entering an enchanted world. Not many people visit the gardens that are offered to visitors. This may also be due to the tight schedule of guided tours.
We were travelling on a relaxed schedule, with a reasonable vehicle that was suitable for the terrain and our equipment. Exploratory drives and hikes alternated over the course of the day.
The trees often showed a tendency to be overgrown, which is probably reinforced in the German observer by the fact that we have more industrial forests in our country, with straight trees, rarely with branches. In Ireland, there are families who have dedicated themselves to maintaining their park, which virtually excludes straight-grown trees.
Several times we came across walled gardens that had been developed into attractions. In addition to greenhouses, there were continental elements laid out with almost baroque geometry next to sections of park that appeared almost random.
The coast in the south-west has the surprise of looking like a lakeshore for newcomers, even though the Atlantic and its tides wash around the hotel every day. There are plenty of rocks to see, lobster traps at low tide when you go for a walk. And rapidly rising water at high tide.
The island’s coasts are varied, often rocky. At Kinard Beach, the sea is coloured red by the rocks that have been eroded there over millions of years. When my friend Harold and I arrived at this place, we didn’t know what to expect. There was a mixture of serenity from the sea and the erratic dynamics of the crashing waves, which turned red near the rocks due to the force of erosion.
High cliffs play a role, but they have been converted into tourist attractions, with opening hours, entrance fees and security fences. These can make it difficult for photographers to find a good time and a good location to take pictures.
Why is the island green? Because it rains a lot. Golden rule for visitors: if you don’t like the weather: wait 5 minutes. That’s almost sufficient.
I hadn’t realised that I had taken photographs that had minimalist qualities until I came across a challenge at Landscape Photography Magazine. While searching for motifs, I came across a surprising number of shots, three of which I submitted.
Geographically, we are for the first photography on the so-called elbow of the North Frisian island of Sylt. The beach section in this photo shows the northernmost part of Germany. You can see the sandy south coast of the Danish island of Romo above the centre of the picture. The border between the Kingdom of Denmark and the Federal Republic of Germany runs somewhere in the middle of the sea between Sylt and Rømø.
The North Sea can be very choppy. In the photo, you can see a few waves in this section of the sea, which connects the open sea with the tidal flat side that lies between the islands and the mainland. The cloudy sky also has little structure. Slightly sloping is the sandy beach, with a few footprints on it.
In earlier times, groynes made of stone, wood or iron were built on Sylt to fortify the beaches or to reclaim the land. Nowadays, a sandy beach on Sylt is fortified by means of sand washes. The wooden groynes sometimes stick out of the water like rotten teeth. The iron groynes are rusting and have gaps and holes.
In this photo, a rusty groyne is a welcome break in the vast expanse of sea, clouds and beach. I took the picture with my Nikon D810 A at ISO 200, f8 and 1/350s with a focal length of 52mm.
Iceland is a paradise for minimalist photography. In many places, you hardly have the opportunity to let the landscape have a contemplative effect on you. Because you are rarely alone, however, the lighthouse of Raudinupur in the northeast of the island can only be reached on foot, over dirt roads and sheep pastures, always accompanied by wind.
The change of pace provided by a hike after long stretches by car did us good. An approaching fog bank completely covered the sea, and the way back would be less sunny. It was very bright on our rock; the exposure took only 1/2000s at ISO 800 with an aperture f/11. Without a tripod, I took the shot so that I could always change my perspective quickly.
In no time, the lighthouse disappeared in the fog after I had taken the photo. Minimalism can be that simple: a sheep, a lighthouse and a looming fog bank.
I took the last picture of this blog entry in 2012 on Mauna Kea at an altitude of 4000 metres. Two weeks earlier, the moon had given us a beautiful solar eclipse in Arizona. The next morning, a transit of Venus was due to begin, for which we had travelled to Hawai’i. A transit of the planet Venus that can be observed from Earth occurs about 4 times in 243 years due to the inclination of the planets‘ orbits to each other. The last two transits were in 2004 and 2012, and the next one will take place in 105 years. We can enjoy a full moon every month – weather permitting. Below the moon you can see the growing shadow of Mauna Kea in the evening sky.
At the beginning of the 19th century, William Turner spent a long time in Venice. I always imagine how he had a gondolier take him out into the lagoon to paint his watercolours in the setting sun’s light.
Nowadays, the lagoon’s islands can be reached by vaporettos, an essential part of local public transport. But you don’t necessarily want to see them in a photo in the blue hour.
This is not the only reason why I decided to take a long exposure shot after sunset on the quay wall of the Santa Maria della Salute church. But also to transform the surface of the water into a colourful surface because the movement of the waves always makes the viewer’s gaze wander back and forth restlessly.
Doge Nicolo Contarini vowed to build the church of Santa Maria della Salute after a plague epidemic in 1630 killed a third of the city’s population. It was inaugurated in 1687, 6 years after his death, and is an attraction of the cityscape.
The lighter blue of the lagoon literally illuminates the deep blue of the cloudy evening sky. The white walls of the church complex still retain some warmth
I took the picture with 15s, f/16 and ISO 31 as well as an ND filter. This text was created by me as part of the Blue Hour Assignment and edited by Landscape Photography Magazine, where you can find some of my pictures.
Punta della Dogana is at the end of the quay, if you walk to the left of the columns to the end of the Dorsoduro. It is easier to recognise the character of a point or a pinnacle from San Marco. It is where many people gather.
I immediately thought this ripe strawberry with its intense colour, which looks like a hand or a baby’s foot, was suitable for being photographed against a dark background. All other tasks were quickly cancelled.
With my IQ4 back on the Phase One, the size of the image exceeds the size of the fruit, so the image fits the definition of a macro. It quickly became clear that by adding small details, the message of the image could be influenced.
At first I thought of a first date for which someone would like to present a bouquet of flowers and scoured our garden for small blossoms. I found the smallest specimens with the light blue forget-me-nots right outside the front door.
Flowers in the studio remain living creatures that constantly reorient themselves in the changing light. The following picture is taken at ISO 800 in 30 seconds. The attempt to photograph at ISO 50 with 8 minutes failed due to the movement of a part of the forget-me-not.
To express creativity through a hand, the idea of a painter with brushes in his hand seemed suitable to me. The brushes had to be small, of course. Very small. Fortunately, I found two suitable ones in my wife’s make-up utensils. The metallic finish of the brush hairs created a reflection of the red strawberry in the handle of the brushes.
It takes a lot of luck to find a four-leaf clover. They are very popular as a sign of good luck. My wife is a master at finding them. So much luck makes the hand invisible.
In any case, anyone who encounters a real dinosaur needs luck. But the dinosaur is much bigger than the sensor, so it’s no longer a macro shot.
For me, pareidolia is a source of inspiration or creativity when an image won’t let go of me and I keep searching for an answer or an understanding. With these sweet strawberries, there was a physical pleasure at the end.
The Rialto Bridge, as we know it today, is made of white stone and was built between 1588 and 1591 and opened to traffic on 20 March 1591. It connects the Sestiere San Marco with the Sestiere San Polo, which are separated by the Grand Canal.
The term „Rialto“ is probably the short form of Rivo Alto („high bank“) in Venetian dialect. There have been wooden bridges at this location since 960, with an uncertainty of 59 years. The earliest was called Ponte della Moneta, certainly a reference to the local market that has always existed and has survived to this day („moneta“ is Italian for „coin“).
The early wooden bridges were repeatedly burnt down or collapsed due to overloading and therefore required constant renovation. Beside, the Rialto Bridge was the only footpath connecting San Marco and San Polo until the Ponte dell’Accademia was built in 1854.
In the early morning, when photographers are finishing their shots, a stream of pedestrians swells up, consisting of locals and first tourists. Somewhere, work is waiting for these Venetians you wouldn’t have expected.
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen so much snow as in this small Alpine valley on the border with Austria: Elmau. A wonderful area in all seasons, in winter with plenty of peace and quiet and no tourist overload. Certainly not a destination for hardcore winter sports enthusiasts.
For us, it was perfect for a quiet time with walks in the countryside, swimming in wonderful outdoor pools, reading or taking photos. Few motifs are immediately apparent to the photographer. Repeated viewing or, better still, „sticking with“ a composition brings about the happiness of a better picture as if by itself.
The event of the week for me was a 4-day daily photography course for hotel guests, which focused on photographic composition. A topic in which I had been aware of my weaknesses for some time without having improved through reading. The central question of the course instructor Micha Pawlitzki was always: what does the picture do to you? This question is aimed at the emotions, which are a always good guide.
The images of a journey through different parts of Egypt that somehow correspond to our sense of the passage of a year. Chance has helped to capture the impressions that correspond to the passage of a year. Because we were only 14 days in this wonderful country.
HDR photography of flowers with a light box creates the illusion of translucency, which is very attractive in itself. By fusing X-ray light and visible light in flower photography, one expands the photographic possibilities by reproducing the inner structures of the photographed plants or objects. The illusion of translucence is enhanced by the physical transparency of X-ray light. Even photographically non-transparent objects can be given the illusion of transparency by fusing X-ray light and visible light.
A publication by the dPunkt publishing house in „foto espresso“ gave me the opportunity to present this idea in the May 2023 issue.