General
General
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Not in this country
Segla at Fjordgård (629m), Senja © Julian Köpke After almost a week in the Lofoten Islands – or, to be more precise, on the beautiful island of Senja, located about 350 km north of the Arctic Circle – I was feeling a bit under the weather after many late-night outings under the midnight sun, so I decided to go to the hotel sauna. I wanted the warmth to help me feel more settled again.
I asked at reception how one should dress in the sauna. Do you go into the sauna naked? The lady at reception replied: „Not in this country !“
Never before have I felt so out of place, coming from the Federal Republic of Germany, as I did after hearing that sentence.
Boat at Botnhamn © Julian Köpke -
Paragliders
Some compositions simply cannot be planned. A friend and I were sitting near the launch site for paragliders, who were spiralling higher and higher, as if they were circling a central point. Cropping the image helped a little to bring out that impression.
Paraglider © Julian Köpke A photograph taken just outside the entrance to the House of Astronomy on the Königstuhl in Heidelberg creates reflections in the midday sun, which appear much more dynamic thanks to cropping.
Haus der Astronomie Heidelberg © Julian Köpke -
Varieties of fusion images using X-ray
Images produced using visible light and X-rays could not be more different. And not just because of varying the subject. The fusion of these two techniques already makes it possible to present the same source material in vastly different ways.
When I began developing this technique, I drew inspiration from a method of photographing flowers transparently, as practised and published by Harold Davis. My focus was on transparent flower photography and the ability of X-rays to penetrate objects seemingly without resistance.
In the case of the flowers, the fusion of the X-ray image and the photograph reveals the translucency inherent in the photographic process and, moreover, conveys a delicacy—one might almost say a fragility—of the subject.
Pink lily X-ray fusion photography © Julian Köpke 
White Campanula X-ray fusion photography © Julian Köpke Using only the approach to depicting flowers derived from photography and the work of Harold Davis, fusion imaging can create a small universe. The fusion of the two types of radiation in the image is by no means straightforward and also depends on the object being imaged.
Amaryllis X-ray mammography fusion photography texturized © Julian Köpke 
Fusion X-ray photo Calla lilies IV. Black background using Lab inversion. © Julian Köpke As well as flowers, there are interesting structures that never appear transparent or delicate in ordinary light. Nevertheless, they are well worth a closer look. Take, for example, the shells of snails or mussels. Under X-ray light, these become particularly striking. From the very beginning, I have also experimented with fusion imaging on these objects.
In this context, it is also true that image fusion does not follow a single, clear path, but is guided by artistic criteria. X-rays and photographs can produce vastly different effects, even when depicting the same object, depending on how they are processed.
X-ray fusion photo snail shells composition III © Julian Köpke 
X-ray fusion photo snail shells composition III © Julian Köpke Only a transparent object can be transformed into an image that appears transparent using a lightbox. This is inherent in the nature of how these images are created using an HDR process. This limitation can be overcome to a certain extent with the aid of X-rays.
Transcending the limits of visible light is not a straightforward process. With objects that become radiographically transparent, transforming them into an interesting composition is a demanding artistic task yielding variable results with no set formula.
I bought these two smoked fish from a supermarket. On the left is a sea bream and on the right a trout. In this artistic fusion of photography and X-ray imagery, I added a background and some texturing. On closer inspection, you can see small tears in the muscle tissue of both fish caused by the drying out that occurs during the smoking process.
Sea bream (Dorade) - X-ray fusion photography © Julian Köpke 
Trout (Forelle) - X-ray fusion photography © Julian Köpke Fusion images can be created using objects that are not themselves transparent. They are visually appealing as a result of the artistic process and can sometimes even be surprising. There is no set method for creating a fusion image; instead, the approach is guided by the subject matter, the characteristics of the object being depicted, and the overall visual effect.
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Calendar 2026
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Infinite avenue of trees
On Sunday we met with friends to walk in the castle gardens of Schwetzingen, especially to the cherry garden of the mosque, because the cherry trees are starting to blossom. Weak intermittent clouds created a diffuse light in the park with warm intermediate tones. The well-designed baroque grounds everywhere show the joy of technical possibilities to expand – or even deceive – the human horizon of experience.
There is a small section in the park with a trompe l’oueil designed to make infinity tangible. In summer, ivy grows along the tunnel-shaped lattice to create a tube view.
Trompe l'oeuil at Schwetzingen Palace Garden © Julian Köpke When photographing the following avenue of trees at the edge of the mosque, it was of course clear that the perspective should give the impression of a long path. I tried 2 days later to increase this effect by repeating the image in the picture, which can easily be done with digital photography and post-processing. After the second repetition, I think the eye is very well deceived and no longer perceives a real end.
Compare to the original here.
Infinite avenue of trees in the Schwetzingen Palace Garden (virtual reality) © Julian Köpke -
Cold composition
On the drive from Raufarhöfn via Husavik to Akureyri, we moved along the coast for a long time. The sky was completely overcast and small showers were falling.
Iceland’s public sculptures are always clearly visible along the roads . The colours blue and green created cool compositions. The image of the coastline with waves warmed up a little or harmonized by the cliffs.
Public sculpture at Kopasker (85) (Presthólalón) © Julian Köpke 
Coastline near Husavik (Cold composition) © Julian Köpke -
Iceland
The prospects are good: with high probability northern lights are announced for tomorrow and the following days in Iceland. We had wished for northern lights, but in no way expected to see any, nor to be able to photograph them.
Our first day of travel starts with a seven and a half hour delay of the plane. A short wait turned into a long day with lots of sun outside and little movement in the lounge.
„Have camera, will travel.“ I can’t get this sentence out of my head. The prospects are good: beautiful Icelandic landscape and auroras with high probability.
Have camera, will travel. © Julian Köpke 
Probability for Northern Lights -
Fragile in Amsterdam
A lot of things are falling apart these days. We feel how fragile we are. How do you show fragility in a picture ?
Entering the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, a new, modern entrance area has been created. Light and shadow in rapid succession through concrete door arches.
Entrance Rijksmuseum Amsterdam © Julian Köpke The arches are unadorned, yet the eye clings to them. Despite – or due to ? – the simple concept, every perspective offers a new impression.
Entrance Rijksmuseum Amsterdam © Julian Köpke A still life painting (not „life style“) may be irritating by its compositional elements, like objects at the edge of a table top. Just these elements evokes a feeling of fragility. The next image is a photograph I made in the museum without tripod as indicated. The painting by Willem Claeszoon Heda was about 1635. It is a Vanitas theme, 13 years before the end of a 80 years long war in Netherlands, the end coinciding with the 30 years long war in Germany 1648.
Nature morte Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Netherlands By Willem Claeszoon Heda 1635. Photograph. © Julian Köpke -
Turn of the year
The most surprising thing this year was the selection of many of my pictures in the Flickr Explore stream. My best picture in 2021 is again a black and white, this time of the Bernese Alps with a view of the mountain chain Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. The picture was taken on the Schilthorn when I fled the permanent James Bond exhibition.
Mountain chain Eiger Mönch Jungfrau. There will be a weather change. © Julian Köpke The end of the year had some surprises in store for both of us. We drove to the Black Forest and hoped for snow to cool off. The snow did not come immediately and a red dawn on January 2nd seemed dangerous and not calming.
Celestial fire: impression of a wildfire at sunrise in Alpersbach © Julian Köpke With plenty of snow, alternating sunshine and snow drift, there were beautiful moments in the countryside in Breitnau near Hinterzarten.
Walk along the winter forest © Julian Köpke 
Snowfall at abandoned mill © Julian Köpke With the help of some tips from a photographer friend I was in school with a long time ago, I tried to improve my photographic technique and post-processing. This includes the trick of placing a piece of newspaper in the sharpness plane of the lens in order to speed up the focus. Very effective.
Orchid on black © Julian Köpke 
Mysterious Amaryllis © 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
