from the series 'Seychelle Plants', Mahé, Seychelles Islands, September 2009
The temperatres in central Europa are currently in the 30th (°C) and almost in tropical heights. My gallery of the Seychelle Plants therefor comes at the right time. It will probably take some time until we have a similar vegetation.....
The new title picture comes from the same gallery.
It's been some time since my last update but today I have some additional reports on the Canon 5DMK2 field useability, specially about its capability in extreme temperture coinditions, the hot and the cold end of it. And finally I also have to report a strange error message...
The 'Schöckl' is the housemountain of the second biggest city of Austria, Graz. With its 1400m above sea level it's not a really high montain but nevertheless it's enogh to be above the winter cloud layer which often covers the city. The gallery Schöckl shows winter landscape photographs while the portfolio Schöckl Snowsacpes leans itself to its sister portfolios 'Snowscapes' which were created in finnish Lappland.
The new collection 'baumnah' (translated: close to trees) focuses on closeups in the forest. This collection is a mixed balck and white and colour collection. The new title image is also from 'baumnah'.
This years, our visit to northern Lapland to Äkäslompolo took place relatively late in the year and we experienced a totally diffirent winter than the other years, with long days and already some melting during the sunflooded weeks. Aurora activity was very low but we were happy observing birds and other animals. And there is another Snowscapes portfolio: Snowscapes 3.
There are two more collections in the project area about trees. Collection 2 is about trees at the end of winter time here in southern Austria, in Graz. Colection 3 is about trees seen from the ground; you could call the collection ground work. Most of the pictures wre shot using a very wide angle lens (17mm) from the very ground.
Europs northern capital are all worth visiting but among them, Copenhagen stands out. The city is so close to the water that the sea is not only bordering the city but also flowing through it. An this proximity is fascinating for every visitor. The seaside is even more spectacular in wintertime when iceplates cover the channels; photographed at night time and the scenario has its own atmosphere: Københavns Havn
The site's layout and design was modernised; I hope will enjoy it as much as I do; I would appreciate and feed-back. The new layout should make it easier to read articles onscreen. As I worked on the new layout and had to adopt the new design to all the pages I realised how big the whole site has grown over the last years. There are now more than 70 galleries with more than 2000 photos as well as 14 technical articles online; a good reason to explore the site a little bit. Enjoy!
To go out into the suboptimal photography weather is a special task which was always thrilling to me. Is it possible to take photographs which describe the situation and give the beholder an idea of what was going on? The Finnish Photograher Hannu Hautala has made exemplary work around winter landscape and is an antetype concerning winter photography for me. But have a look at my pictures and decide weather I succeeded: Snowfall.
Clouds are fascinating to observe, with their enormous variety and their ever changing forms and types. The benefit for every interested cloud spotter is that even dull days can become very interesting for finding new cloud types. In the Seychelles we had a beautiful view over the large Beau Vallon Bay and the wide sea; an excellent spot for cloud observations: Seychelles Cloudscapes.
In Autumn 2009 I had the possibility, to go on a photo shooting inside the impressive and giant refinery located east of Vienna close to the airport in Schwechat. The shooting took several hours, starting in the late afternoon and ending short before midnight. Due to security reasons, I was accompanied by a firebrigade truck all along the trip. Due to the big contrast range I used the HDR technik as soon as it got dark. Two series out of the hundrets of shoots I took that night are now online in the portfolio section:
- OMV Inside
- OMV Details
Projects will give you the opportunity to follow certain subjects, views or compositions over the years and from country to country. You will have the possibility to observe things other people would'nt even notice. One of my favourite projects is Bus Stops; this is my latest update. Any body else out there who cares about them?
In the wintertime its relatively easy to take close up pictures of birds around the house, as they approach in search for food. Don't be tempted to take pictures through the window (even I can't resist sometimes) as the results are mostly poor due to reflections in the glass and its poor optical quality. The better way is to use a hide, which will give you the possibility to observe and take pictures from very low distances. Songbirds are mostly small and even when using a 400mm tele lens for example, distances from 2-3 yards are required, which will require extension rings on most standard tele lenses. I was able to capture many different tits (blue, great, willow, crested and long-tailed tit), nuthatch, siskin and great spotted woodpecker. We are also very lucky to have a tawny owl in our neighbourhood.
The new title picture was captured in Luosto, northern finland last winter.
Multiple time lapse movies were recorded during our stay on the Seychelles and many more were planned. But already during the first week, the camera dedicated to time lapse movies broke because of too many exposures; I was very lucky having another camera with me for regular photography! 3 movies are shown here.
The Beau Vallon Bay is situated in the north of the main Island of the Seychelles, Mahé. Even though the bay is one of the tourist centres and one of the main atractions on the 30km long island, it is a quite beach where you can still find many places of tranquility. The waterfront is sourrounded by palm trees and granitic rocks which make the tropical picture perfect.
The 7th biggest town of Spain is Murcia with more than 400'000 inhabitants. The city lies in the south-east of Spain and the universitiy city is also the capital of the region with the same name. Here you'll find some impressions of this beautiful Spanish town.
The new Folio Luosto Winterscapes includes photographs taken around the small village Luosto (see below). This folio is about the cold, snow covere,d lapish winter landscape. A pdf slide show is available for download here.
In the beginning of 2009 we had the opportunity to visit Luosto, a small town in central Lapland about 100km north of the lappish capita Rvaniemi. Luostos is situated close to a national park which covers some of the sorrounding fiell landscapes. A great place to take pictures of the lappish wilderness: Luosto Winterscapes.
The Seychelles offer many different species which are mostly easily to discover. The pure amount of species may not be plentiful, but there are big numbers of rare and endemic animals to be seen. The birds are always around: Madagaskar Foody, Indian Myha and Seychelle Bulbub are found in your garden. The beach will offer birds like the Fairy Tern, the Green-backed heron and the Curlew. But there are not only birds. Beside the crabs, the skinks and the spiders the fruit bats are most impressive. Have a look!
The new title photo of the Green or Day Gecko (Phelsuma linginsulae) is also from this gallery.
The Seychelles are know primarily for their white beaches. But only the combination of the bright sand and the granit rocks makes the beaches something very special. This portfolio concentrates on the rocks: Seychelles Rock Sculptures.
This years winter holiday brought us to Luosto, north of Rovaniemi. The wide panoramas are best seen on a larger screen.
These few images show what's live is all about in the Seychelles; at least that's what the tourist sees... : Living in the Seychelles
After 5 years of very successful photography with the Canon 20D I changed last summer to the 5DMarkII. After 7000 exposuresd I have experienced the camera quite a bit and would like to share some impressions in this report.
At the western end of Beau Vallon Bay in the northwest of Mahé, the main island of the Seychelles Islands , lays the beautiful bay Anse Major, which is only reachable by foot (or boat). The trail through the nature reserve guarantees beautiful vistas of bays and the rain forest on the steep slopes of the close by mountains.
It's been some time since I last updated this page. Extensive travelling and moving to a new location required some time, but now its time to work on all the pictures that I shot in the last three months. The portfolio "Seychelle BeachLeaves" is from our 4weeks stay on the main island of the Seychelles, Mahé. Most of the pictures were taken on the beach of Beau Vallon. The new title picture is from this portfolio.
The new title picture shows a juvenil red-backed shrike photographed at the nationalpark close to the Neusiedlersee in Austria.
The Seewinkel at the nationalpark is quite close to Vienna, i.e. its easy for me to visit this fantastic reagion oftentimes during the year. The juvenil birds are now seen everywhere and the flora is in full blossom.
Istanbul is an absolutely fascinating city with many different faces. That's the reason why my gallery ended quite extended and I hope the many pictures of the metropol at the bospous are not too much for you.
The Nationalpark Neusiedlersee-Seewinkel can easily be reached from Vienna and at this time of the year its even worth travelling there later in the day as the evening light lasts very long: Many oppurtunities to photograph birds and the light scenery of that flat landscape.
The city of Montpellier is a wonderful place. The old town with its narrow alleys is inviting even in summer time when the ancient builduings make sure its not getting too hot.
You might probably think I'm cracy, taking photographs of drainpipes. Walking through the narrow, old alleys of the old town of Montpellier all the drain pipes in their different colours, surface structure catched my eye. They seem to be all the same, but they have so many faces.
To create time lapse movies is a fascinating experience. This article describes the technical approach and gives you a good start into creating some fascinating movies with your equipment at little extra cost. Have a look at my time lapse movie page to get an impression on what's possible.
June is the mating season at the Neusiedlersee Nationalpark called Seewinkel. Some birds are already in company of the next generation while others are still breeding or are just getting the newborns.
Its been quite some time since I put my last time lapse movie online. However, I have been actively producing new time laps movies over the past year. Some of my newest ones are no online.
Travelling to the Slovenian side of Istria I was impressed by the beauty of the villages and the landscape. Until then, Slovenia was alsmost unknown to me. The new title Image is also from this travel.
There is a new portfolio photographed during our last stay in Finnish Lapland: Snowscapes 2
Travelling to the north in the winter time quite frequently I thought I will write down my experience with photography in the cold, the problems that can occure and what you can do to successfully take pictures in more severe environments.
After more than a year struggeling with producing a folio folder I finally succeeded. I hope this report will give you some insights and will pave you the way to more easily the goal of your own folio.
I added some pictures and some text to my report on the external power supply: The system was redesigned and I'm now able to parallel power a star tracker and the camera alternatively from a PSU or a battery pack.
Finally, the Technical page was redesigned for easier navigation.
My article about Panoramaphotography now includes exactly measured data for the nodal points for my system which you are welcome to use for your set up.
The new title picture is from my folio Snowscapes.
Based on my recent activities regarding my now folio presentation folder, I updated and enlarged some of my folios. The Refinery folio now consists of 27 images, the Kolviken folio consists of 16 images. All folios can now also be downloaded as pdf files.
The following folios are now available:
