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Anchor at Camaret-sur-Mer
Camaret-sur-Mer is a place with a long history, which tells the former economic and military importance. Cabaret has been also the most important lobster port in France. The place is located on a peninsula of strategic importance for the security of Brest. The peninsula was therefore coveted by Great Britain and Spain in their fight against France.
The Vauban tower bears witness to France’s fight against the conquerors. I took the following image with my tripod in front an old warehouse of the former shipyard.
La tour Vauban Camaret-sur-Mer © Julian Köpke The civil shipwrecks show the decline of fishing in the region. You can’t find warships here.
Shipwrecks in Camaret-sur-Mer © Julian Köpke 
Èpaves à la port de Camaret-sur-Mer © Julian Köpke 
Épaves à Camaret-sur-Mer © Julian Köpke All ships are damaged, by time, by economic ruin. This is where they found their last port.
Épaves à Camaret-sur-Mer © Julian Köpke Where is our final anchor point ? Will it be interesting to look at us ?
Anchor and Moon à Camaret-sur-Mer © Julian Köpke See also my album „Camaret-sur-Mer„.
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Impressions of Brittany
Every morning I photograph the rocks on the beach from our window. The atmospheric conditions change greatly whenever I look outside. The impression made by the rocks changes with the change of the atmosphere.
Coastline at sunrise in Camaret-sur-Mer © Julian Köpke Only next morning the rocks look completely different. There is alway a painterly impression the light induces.
Morning light © Julian Köpke Higher tide the next morning.
L' aube à Camaret-sur-Mer © Julian Köpke See also my album „Camaret-sur-Mer„.
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Bonjour Bretagne
Since a car ride from Nantes to Caen more than 40 years ago I associate Brittany with clouds and fog. This time everything is different. The coolness of the country surrounded by the Atlantic refreshes us wonderfully after the heat wave in Heidelberg and Paris.
Traveling and painting was a great pleasure for me back then. How fantastic it is when every morning a painted landscape appears.
Bonjour breton © Julian Köpke See also my album „Camaret-sur-Mer„.
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Flying into Paris by train
I love to look out of a train window. So many photo opportunities passing by – and no chance to capture one of them.
With my iPhone App „Slow Shutter“ on our way to Bretagne via Paris sitting in a TGV (train a grande vitesse) going at 300 km/h I shot this series of images. The GPS tags are approaching Paris clearly. The result is a motion blur image dominated by horizontal lines.
Oh: above 300 km/h the internet connectivity decreases its speed. What irony !
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Leipzig 2.0
Second journey to Leipzig. Half way stop at Schloss Seehof in Memmelsdorf. Finest square architecture. Splendid water cascade.
Cascade Schloss Seehof Bamberg Castle Gardens © Julian Köpke Leipzig has been a town since round about 1200. Many places were reconstructed after destruction during socialist dictatorship. The horrible blast of the Pauliner Church in 1967 lead to a beautiful and appealing reconstruction after 1989.
Leipzig Paulinum © Julian Köpke -
Heucheria leaf on a light box
So often I tried to image a Heucheria leaf. It doesn’t seem complicated. With less saturation the impression of a water color image emerges of a single leaf.
Heucheria leaf © Julian Köpke Going on with my Blossfeldt studies I need a background for this image. An image with background exerts a special charm. A paper structure fits well.
Heucheria leaf © Julian Köpke Only the conversion to black and white comes closer to the impression of a Blossfeldt macro.
Heucheria leaf © Julian Köpke -
Do you like Karl Blossfeldt ?
Karl Blossfeldt was a German photographer who lived from 1865 to 1932. He didn’t think himself a photographer. With his studies of plant forms he made an enormous contribution to plant photography. Here is a nice wikipedia article about him.
He started to do photograms. Plants or parts of plants were placed directly on film or paper suitable for exposure. Exposure then takes place without any optics. Later he built himself a wooden camera, which reminds me of Andreas Feininger.
Black and white backlit macro images with a background can be similar to Blossfeldt’s images.
Silver leaf © Julian Köpke 
Heucheria in bloom © Julian Köpke 
Vetch © Julian Köpke 
Day lily © Julian Köpke -
Stuttgart Television Tower
You never know in advance what it means to return to the place of childhood. On top of a 217m high television tower physically overlooking the years I spent near a forest in Stuttgart Gablenberg there was a feeling of returning or being at home.
A few memories to the first visit to this tower mixed with the fantastic view. My daughters had invited me to this evening as their birthday present to me. The waiter is friendly and brings us as a special exception a white tablecloth to celebrate the day. So it’s fun to get to know the carefreeness.
We enjoy delicious local food while the sun is getting lower and lower. Occasionally I feel a touch of fear of heights. Our table stands directly at the window with a view of the city.
Nevertheless, we go up to the higher viewing platforms to look and take pictures. Suddenly many other photographers appear out of nowhere and we take many pictures of the view and a spectacular sunset.
Green Stuttgart seen from Television Tower © Julian Köpke It’s still light when we left. The landmark of the city can be photographed in a variety of compositions. Here is just one of my many:
Stuttgart Television Tower (Fernsehturm) © Julian Köpke -
Orchid X-ray fusion photo
It feels like very long ago. Harold and I were taking the shots and X-rays of new compositions last week of April this year. Our first try was an orchid with two stems. The transparency effect is very much augmented using an X-ray. A stem behind petals doesn’t show easily in HDR light box photography.
With a Phase One camera at my disposal a strong crop of the composition shows the tenderness of our orchid much better. With a resolution still sufficient.
Orchid fusion X-ray photo © Julian Köpke -
Leipzig X-ray Convention
Since 1905 there is an X-ray meeting in Germany. It was the 100th time this year. Nowadays the convention takes place every year.
Besides the scientific news the convention offers the opportunity of caring for personal contacts. It is part of the beautiful things of the convention to meet old acquaintances and to exchange with them.
Leipzig fair is a great environment for this event. An agreeable tiredness affects me at the end of the day after many positive conversations. I left the celebration with relief.
Leipzig fair at sunset © Julian Köpke
