-
White and purple orchid
My LED ceiling light, which I use as a light box for flower photography, can be dimmed and the color temperature is adjustable. The cold and extremely bright light can be tamed and turned into faint, warm light. Together with my tent of linen, I manage to control the light.
With LiveView, the composition is created and the focus is worked out. The camera is controlled by cable connection via laptop (tethered shooting) and the recordings are made with mirror triggering. The colors become better and the impression of the picture more natural and vivid.
White and purple orchid © Julian Köpke -
Floral experiments
Changing colors in flowers are attractive, especially if you approach them closely. A group of 3 flowers looks like a communicative group. With targeted overexposure and instant images on the laptop, the compositional decision is easier and the colors become more picturesque, without too much processing with the computer.
Yellow and red gerbera © Julian Köpke A curtain over the illuminated background behind the focal plane creates an effect reminiscent of nebulae in the night sky.
Red and yellow gerbera © Julian Köpke Photography of flowers in a vase in an exposure series (HDR) is complicated by their light sensitivity, which causes a change of position in short time scales. Plants constantly rearrange their leaves and blossoms. This results in blurring, which can be compensated for e. g. by repeating the shot series, shorter exposure time series or tools for aligning the images. Or you can do your image without HDR, because the dynamic range of the camera data is sufficient.
Bouquet of red and yellow gerberas © Julian Köpke The center of a Gerbera blossom is richly structured. Due to the high resolution of the camera back (150 MP), it is possible to crop out the center still in good resolution.
Inner circle of a red and yellow gerbera © Julian Köpke The transparent representation of the petals is achieved by using a light box. The light should be relatively bright, but does not have to be fully homogeneous. The heat of the light does not matter, it is adjusted using RAW format in post-processing. More informations about this method see web-pages of Harold Davis, who invented this method.
Yellow gerbera © Julian Köpke 
Yellow gerbera on a lightbox © Julian Köpke -
Meeting friends
After 2 years of FaceTime and telephone conversations we see each other again, friends from Lucerne and us. Meeting point halfway between our two residences, near Hinterzarten near the Feldberg and Titisee. After more than 30 years of friendship, the time of hard separation due to borders and infection management had also been painful now and then.
With photography, we have approached in a new way, each with its own approach. With Monald the wildlife and landscape photography, with me the stars, the landscape, the portrait or macro photography. This weekend we used the few hours in the morning and evening for the countryside around the Feldberg, never letting ourselves be stopped by rain or marshland.
The picture at the beaver dam got an explore on Flickr.
Autumn rain and fog at Titisee © Julian Köpke 
Reflections at beaver reservoir Reimartihof © Julian Köpke At sunrise we placed ourselves with a view of the Titisee just below the Feldberg. Sunrise and fog alternated in rapid succession. Only for breakfast at 9 o’clock we were back in time at the hotel.
View on Titisee at Feldberg with clouds © Julian Köpke 
Morning fog near Feldberg © Julian Köpke The trip to Todtnauer Hütte was longer than expected. Unfortunately, we did not find the hoped-for fog in the valley. There were plenty of autumn trees for this, the sun early behind the clouds.
Autumn at Todtnauer Hütte © Julian Köpke The Hexenlochmühle had been located by a lake in my memory. Totally wrong. Two large mill wheels are driven by water and the water of the mill stream flows into the Wutach.
Dark side of Hexenlochmühle © Julian Köpke My friend’s strong wish was an evening image of the Rhine valley at sunset. Above St. Mägen near Turner we found a parking lot and some meadows with a splendid view down.
Valley view at St. Märgen (Rhine) © Julian Köpke The sunset plunged our spot into a red light that became more and more intense. The sun was slightly dazzled and diffused by clouds. Many people came to our parking lot, which is obviously well known to the locals.
Tree St. Märgen at sunset © Julian Köpke 
Sunset near St. Märgen © Julian Köpke -
Mürren
The peace in Mürren is almost intrusive. It is not disturbed by traffic noise. Only the occasional buzzing of the cable cars is reminiscent of normal life. The starry sky is great because at night very few lamps illuminate the village.
Jupiter Moon Saturn over Alps (Mürren) © Julian Köpke Autumn is already more advanced in Central Switzerland thanin Ticino. Temperatures in the shade are well below 10 degrees Celsius. The sun has a lot of power at 1600m, you can easily sweat when walking.
While searching for a location for my tripod slowly upwards, I meet individual hikers or groups of two. The large groups take the cable car to the summit and do not appear on the hiking trails. Surprisingly many fly into the valley by paragliding.
Early autumn in the Alps © Julian Köpke -
Valle Verzasca II
In the morning it is very cold in the Verzasca valley. Two hours earlier on site than the day before saved me the search for a parking lot. Two photographers were just at their last pictures. Again, I was relatively late.
First the rocks of Lavertezzo with the church, then the many puddles in the rocks with their reflections.
Church Lavertezzo and reflection © Julian Köpke 
Early autumn in Lavertezzo © Julian Köpke 
Rocks and water colors © Julian Köpke 
Rocks and water colors © Julian Köpke After many photographic attempts to gain momentum from the waterfall, I took one last picture in which I look at it flowing down into the valley. Note the sun’s rays in the tree on the left, as the clouds slowly move away.
Verzasca downstream behind Lavertezzo © Julian Köpke The bright house near Motta had already noticed me the day before. As good as it is preserved and as beautiful as it stands, it might be a holiday home.
Bright house in Verzasca valley above Lavertezzo © Julian Köpke Waterfalls can be seen everywhere, in some places several waterfalls from different directions converge into a large one.
Waterfall near Motta, Verzasca valley. This image is slightly irritating. © Julian Köpke -
Valle Verzasca
The valley of the Verzasca is famous for its clear water, which makes its way through rocks and takes on a characteristic green colour. Correspondingly, many people are attracted to it. Actually, you’re here for hiking. The Postbus stops at manyplaces and spits out large groups of hikers.
The first day I wanted to try out different locations to see what to expect.
The bridge, named Ponte dei salti, with the two arches is from Roman times and is good for many selfies. With a long-term exposure one can see the arcuate construction with its reflection in the water. And the many visitors who flock on the bridge are miraculously invisible.
Arcuate reflection of Ponte dei salti, Lavertezzo © Julian Köpke Swirling water can be found everywhere, in a natural way picturesque photographs are created.
Verzasca water play © Julian Köpke To my surprise, the sun was seen and felt in the valley for along time. It got really hot. Only in the evening, when the rocks gave off their heat, did it become less agitated.
Light and shadow in Verzasca Valley © Julian Köpke -
Valley view of Upper Rhine
Two weeks ago I went to Lake Constance for business reasons. At 7 o’clock in the morning I could see a red sun rising in the fog between trees. That’s why I made a stopover at Lake Constance to take pictures there in the evening and in the morning.
The morning drive two weeks ago might have made you think of ghosts and of course there is literature on this subject from the area. The evening when I arrived was wonderfully sunny and fogless. By car I made an “ascent” to Hohenklinge Castle in Stein am Rhein, to see the valley from above. The view reminded me of a Renaissance painting.
Sunset over rhine valley near Stein am Rhein © Julian Köpke There is no repetition for the landscape photographer. The natural light will never be like that again when you go back to a place. Where the sun was supposed to rise it was not foggy. It was cloudy. From here the Upper Rhine begins.
Early in the morning, all of a sudden, two women drifted in the river. The two of them wished me from below a “good morning. ”
Morning at Stein am Rhein © Julian Köpke Here in Stein am Rhein ends Lake Constance, which lies between the High Rhine and the Upper Rhine. Before sunrise you could see some discoloration of the sky, along with very little ground fog.
End of Lake Constance at Stein am Rhein © Julian Köpke -
Travel and break
-
Travel and break
The changeable weather is a great blessing for the photographer, who is constantly surprised with new lights. In fact, there are wet days with lots of gray and humidity from all directions. Atmospheric images are best created in the transition phases to sunshine.
The appearance of a parhelion on the beach of Reynisfjara indicates finely distributed ice in the upper layers of the air. The high humidity after a rainy day makes the light warm and soft in low sun. The photographic image approaches a painting.
Colors of parhelion (Reynisfjara beach) © Julian Köpke 
Evening at Dyrhólaey © Julian Köpke Through fog one even reaches a conclusion of the composition in the distance.
Vík í Mýrdal © Julian Köpke Most of the rainy Wednesday we spent indoors. Around 3 pm we got up the courage to drive to Dyrhólaey again, before it was closed again at 7pm because of the birds that were brooding on the ground. A finely distributed wetness at pleasant, but cool temperatures set us down without getting into us. With winds from the south, the sky suddenly turned bright and blue again.
Lighthouse Dyrhólaey © Julian Köpke Our mood brightened up and we were hardly willing to go indoors again. In Vík í Mýrdal, the church stood on a gentle hill sheltered from the forces of the sea in the sun.
Church of Vík í Mýrdal © Julian Köpke -
Light and shades of grey
Shades of grey in interaction with light: this is a theme for monochromatic images. For a long time I wanted to photograph an egg against a white background. The idea was stimulated by photos, mostly of people I know personally. Geometric, white-colored bodies from the mathematical collection would also be fun for me. Unfortunately, access is not as easy for me as with an egg.
Light and shades of grey © Julian Köpke On the left side the egg is brighter than the background, on the right side it is the other way round. The background itself loses a little brightness from the left to the right, but is brighter than the the egg on the right. The contrast changes. There is no clearly defined shadow for this setup. The same is true in the next photograph.
White egg on a white background © Julian Köpke With the help of a simple light source whose color temperature does not matter after conversion into a black and white image, a soft shadow can be achieved if the source is not point-shaped.
Shadow cast of an egg © Julian Köpke 
Shadow cast of three eggs on white © Julian Köpke
