Last week I was finally able to catch a sunrise over the Ore Mountain ridges with a little fog settling in the valleys below, becoming illuminated by the wonderful warm sunlight hitting just the top layers and creating a somewhat mysterious atmosphere.

Then, I am on to share another shot from Germany taken some months ago at one of my favorite spots for lupines in the whole region. This year, the flowers were not as abundant as in the previous years but the sky was certainly one of the best I have ever seen here. Enjoy.

Now for the bad and ugly and back to the good. An odyssey in the customer service industry in Germany.

Many of you know, as a landscape photographer, your shooting and well-feeling in the field, stands and falls with your gear and we’re not talking about cameras and lenses here, but rather hard- and soft-shell jackets and pants, water-proof boots, etc. Either way, I was pretty disappointed in recently acquired gear, two hardshell jackets to name it, that literally failed on the first time wearing them.

I contacted the manufacturer, who, in the US, is known for the best of the best in customer service, but apparently, things move at a different speed here in Germany and my experience was far off of pleasant. I honestly did not expect them to send two new jackets out my way but at least some sort of apology with the request to send the jackets in for inspection of the matter or anything in this direction, but not so, instead they send me the following lines back. “Of course it is always a pity if a beloved product doesn’t function the way it used to.” What? Excuse me? Did you just say beloved product? I am really sorry, but I didn’t have time to enjoy said product(s) at all because they failed miserably the first time out in the field.

Long story short, I contacted the online retailer where I got both jackets and this time, I was more than pleased and received more than I ever expected after the first experience with the manufacturer. Not only they offered me to send me in the gear at no cost, picked up from my doorstep, the communication was super friendly and I knew at any point what was going on, where my gear has headed, etc. They handled the matter to my fullest satisfaction, but now you need to know who I was so pleased to deal with, huh?

bergfreunde.de is where it’s at, folks. At least if you want to shop for outdoor gear in Germany.

For recommendations on where to buy your gear, please refer to the links section of my website. Thanks for letting me rant. Oh wait, this is MY blog. Haha!

I know I said this in the past and failed, but it won’t be too long till the next update.

Without further blah blah, here are my favorite 5 images of the last year.

1. “Granite Reflections” – Yosemite National Park, California

Cathedral Peak majestically towers over Upper Cathedral Lake high in the Sierra and a lesser visited area in the Yosemite National Park, California. Read the story behind the ascent here or by clicking the image above.

2. “Defiance Falls” – Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

The official name of this little known jewel in the Columbia River Gorge is Lancaster Falls, named after Samuel C. Lancaster, an engineer responsible for the construction of much of the original Columbia River Gorge Highway. (Which is an awesome drive by the way!)

3. “Captain’s Point” – Cape Kiwanda, Oregon

A beautiful soft and warm evening light kisses the sandstone formations of Cape Kiwanda on the Oregon coast near Pacific City while the raging surf shapes the ever-changing cliffs.

4. “Rising Dawn” – Convict Lake, California

Stormy rain clouds are pushing over the ridge of Mt. Laurel at Convict Lake, California; lit by the rising sun over the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

5. “Firestorm” – Natural Bridges State Park, California

A rare colorful sunset during the late summer season in California. Usually the beaches in Northern California are covered in a thick marine layer which blankets the coast like an impenetrable coat, suffocating all chances of possible color. With a little luck and a lot of patience, the spectacular sunset eventually happened, accompanied by lit up rain showers.


Last but not least, I want to thank you all for the support throughout the year. I resolve to post more in 2011, spend even more time in the field, explore new places, offer a better experience when browsing and shopping for images on my website (reads: a major upgrade is in the works) and buy more of the Cialis and Rolex watches I am offered every day. Thanks Spammers. I love you too.

That said, enjoy “Laced in Frost”. My last image of the past year taken on December 30th; complete with hoarfrost covered branches, steam rising from the river and a little pink magic; brings 2010 to a worthy end. Here’s to a great Twenty-Eleven y’all!

David

Since I was bitten by the photography bug, I’ve been attracted to wildflower images. Living in the mountains, one would think there are plenty of them to find. Well, between the fireweed which basically grows everywhere and sparse buttercups there aren’t many and I’ve always been drawn to images of the Rowena Crest near Portland, Oregon, where every spring fields of balsamroots and lupines burst into bloom.

“Glowing Lupines”

So it was about time to find me some lupines. My own batch of glorious, flowering lupines.

Being tied up with mostly university related work, finding the right moment with all elements cooperating wasn’t easy but after missing out on some great sunsets earlier in the week which I admired from the safety of my desk, I was ready to fight endless hordes of mosquitoes and other biting critters which were all over me like nazguls over the fellowship of the ring.

Despite the ongoing battle I was able to pull off a few frames which I really liked. Fortunately, the lupines were at their peak of blooming before being squashed by heavy rains and hail later in the week. To put the shooting over the top, the sky cooperated also and provided a stunning warm atmosphere.

“Meadow of Dreams”

For print and licensing requests, please contact me through my website form.
Thanks and catch y’all on the flip side.

David

Some of you might wonder what’s the deal with me shooting food now. To cut the long story short, when the landscape and sky are rather dull, and quite frankly, they were pretty much all time this year, it’s great to have something to shoot in or around the house. While spring flowers like tulips and ranunculus have there fixed position in my yearly things to do in spring list, it’s always nice to venture out into a new field of photography. May it be the challenge of some sort, with its own limitations and a way to broaden one’s horizon or simply the fact to learn a new technique for a certain style of shooting which you can adapt to other fields of photography.

Fennel Orange Salad with cucumber, red onion and pear.

For me, it was kind of both. While cooking is nothing new to me, cooking for photos certainly is. I am not a professional food stylist my any means nor do I spill a gallon of motor oil over the salad to make it look, well, tasty. It’s rather the fact how you put the food on the plate. When cooking for friends, I take great care about how the food looks on the table. While you might think that is nothing different for photos, you err. Making food look good on the plate alone is one thing, making it look good in the photos you take is a different kettle of fish.

Beef, lettuce hearts, ripe mango, red onion rings, Parmesan cheese and mango garlic mayo between sesame and black cumin seed bun.

I am sure some professional food stylists and photographers will laugh at my approach but what do I care? Being a landscape photographer at heart, I tried to bring the basic principles of composition onto the plate, all spiced up by some high key treatment. These concepts, of course, are leading lines, some kind of foreground element that pulls the viewer into the scene and the rule of thirds. You can find these concepts perfectly illustrated and adapted to landscape photography in the article “Understanding Composition” at the Aperture Academy website which I highly recommend.

That being said, I hope you feel somewhat satiated and remember to try something new and challenging when the light isn’t just right and if you like, share your experiments here on the blog.

I’ll be back with flowers and waterfall pictures next week. Please excuse me while I plan my 3 month US trip this summer. California watch out! LOL

David

P.S. I also played around with the new possibilities of CSS3 and jQuery to add to my website later. Head over to the new and improved contact form and let me know what you think. It features my take at the iPhone unlock slider, which ironically doesn’t work on the iPhone itself yet but I am working on it.

This is what the spring here in the mountains looks like these days. I am not a whiner but it is quite depressing to see great spring photography from other parts of the world and you are only surrounded by uniform brown tone. Very soon I hope the spring flowers will pop here too and bring the color back to our daily lives.

Spring is also the time when the ferns are at their best. So every minute I have to spare I will be on the hunt of flowers and ferns at streams with good flow and maybe one or the other waterfall. To stay in the loop, you should follow me on twitter where all updates and photos are announced first.

“Sensual Curves”

Canon Rebel XSi with EF Canon 70-200mm f/4L @ 188mm, 1/160s, f/16, iso 400

But what’s with the title and all the jabber about spring? Alright, to stay mostly on topic, here are some pictures I wanted to share with you. Since the weather in my part of the world was not quite as spectacular awesome nice okay-ish for great photography, I opted for some more complex and abstract compositions of well known subjects; to show them in a new and somewhat unique perspective.

“Crystals”

Canon Rebel XSi with Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L @ 200mm, 1/800s, f/5.6, iso 400

The intention was to get in close, to bring out fine detail that often remains undiscovered in the grand landscapes but offers quite some interest. Whether it’s the striking snow drift that only reveals its fine structure under a certain lighting, ice crystals that form on a row of conifers or a strong pine tree that is struggling in a snow storm which brought a deep layer of fine snow.

“Tree of Life”

Canon Rebel XSi with Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L @ 200mm, 1/8s, f/22, iso 100

I decided to leave these pictures quite large to maximize viewing pleasure. Please allow the site to load completely to really discover the fine detail in these shots. I hope to have the website updated with all new shots over the Easter weekend; as well as fixed a few minor glitches. Thanks for reading and viewing and Happy Easter to you all!

See you around.

David

Dear Mr. Blog,
I’d like to apologize for having neglected you so long. You have been a wonderful friend in these hard times and I hope our friendship will continue despite my poor interest in you. lol Okay folks, just trying to be funny but here is a short wrap up of how the past year ended for me. I did not realize until now that I have not written anything about my tour through the city of Dresden with David Bank from London and Matthias from Berlin.

“Dresden at Dusk”

Canon Rebel XSi with Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 11mm, 8s, f/11, iso 100

David (the other one – not me!) was nice enough to drop by for a day worth of shooting in my current living room, so to speak. Being an architect by day and a photographer by night (or rather the hour before and after sunset, which is often referred to as Blue Hour, but more on that later.); his portfolio is filled with stunning cityscapes from all over the world. Names of cities that make every avid traveler’s heart beat twice as fast: Beijing, London, Madrid, San Francisco, Paris, Chicago, Shanghai, New York and Hong Kong to name just a few. You can check out his fantastic work on his flickr stream as his website is currently in a redesign state.

Alright, now let’s get serious about the photos and the blue hour. Our little group met at what is easily defined as Dresden’s icon: the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady). The light was just shifting to an overcast gray but fortunately David and Matthias were able to grab some of the finest light of the day before I arrived to meet up with them. After a brief overview of what I had in mind regarding places to shoot, we made our way to the IT faculty of the TU Dresden which I thought would be an interesting subject for us to shoot. Luckily, we were able to get in and the architect in our group appreciated the contemporary design quite a bit. Yes, even the bathrooms are lime green. No, I didn’t get a shot from this very place but others sure did.

“The Green Chamber”

Canon Rebel XSi with Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 11mm, 0.8s, f/10, iso 100

After exploring the building it was about time to get back into the historic city center, rushing past my beloved Starbucks and through masses of tourists which always seem to be there. In the coldest days, in the rainiest and even at 3 in the morning but that’s another story. We made it to Bruehl’s Terrace which should be the main spot for the evening, just in time for the beginning of the blue hour. (See the first picture of this post.) The blue hour is the magical transition from day to night and vice versa, after the sun has set or before the sun is about to rise and the sky is dyed in a steel blue curtain. For us photographers, this is the perfect time of the day to shoot cityscapes but don’t get me wrong, we also appreciate a nice sunset (which is just about to happen as I type this) or sunrise.

“Gold and Black” (… and a blue hour sky.)

Canon Rebel XSi with Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 12mm, 8s, f/13, iso 100

The blue hour, also known as twilight or l’heure bleue, makes up for stunning city photography experiences. You can get elements in one shot that seem to be impossible at other times of the day. One of the major aspects of a great composition can be light trails from cars or trams passing by. You can create a sense of motion and these light trails can also be used as lines to lead the eye of the viewer through the scene.

“Passing By”

Canon Rebel XSi with Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 12mm, 10s, f/10, iso 100

Such as in the shot above. I studied scene for quite a while before setting up for the shot and therefore knowing exactly where the street car would pass and where the lights of it would be. I composed it to have the majestic church sitting two-thirds horizontally, the golden glowing tower of the Dresden castle on the one-third axis vertically and the right face of the church on the two-thirds axis while the cars and tram passing are in some sort of “C”-shape to create impact. I have chosen a longer exposure than it would be necessary by adding a circular polarizer to the front of my lens to get longer light trails and to blur the detail of the cars completely to create this see-through appearance and therefore not to lose any detail in the historic architecture.

After we covered all the major sights of the city center, it was time for the last spot for the day. The view towards the city made famous by Bernardo Bellotto, better know as Canaletto, a Venetian painter from the 18th century. Night set and we were in desperate need of food and a cool one to call it a day.

See you next time with some more winterly shots to complete the winter wrap up. I promise that it won’t be too long.

Until then, happy shooting and never stop exploring.

David

Anyhow, since I mostly wanted to talk about photography, here we go. After a rather brown and gray November and December, which given a normal year, are rather white then brown and muddy, it was the January that finally brought me the snow I was hoping for for quite some time.

But with the approaching snow, the good light faded more and more and instead of watching amazing sunrises and sunsets I’ve been constantly greeted with uniform, dull skies but these did not stop my from trying, to some extent.

The first image I want to share was taken on a hike I took earlier in the year. The fresh snow and below zero temperatures created an interesting backdrop for the single tree standing on the wide open range. The hoarfrost on the twigs resulted in a great contrast to the dark, ominous sky.

Canon Rebel XSi with Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 11mm, 1/5sec, f/14.

Next in line is a study of the complex birch tree covered in heavy rime ice. A scene that is easily overseen by many but in situations of longer periods of bad light you learn to appreciate details and abstract views.

Canon Rebel XSi with EF Canon 70-200mm f/4L @ 200mm, 1/400sec, f/4, ISO400.

I have never been a wildlife photographer but as of late, blame it on the light and Canon for making incredible sharp lenses, I have learned to love avian photography. Photographing birds requires a completely different set of skills than landscape photography. Who would have thunk? I can see though how these two fields of photography complement each other and how learning and experimenting in one field can lead to an improvement in other fields of photography. Both, landscape and avian photography, require patience but then are completely different. When hiking and shooting in the mountains, shooting lakes and the like, it’s all about light, you “simply” have to wait out the bad light and hope the magical two minutes will happen. Shooting birds is different, your mind has to be in a constant hunting mode. Every second the bird can pop out through the branches and be gone a second or two later. There’s no reading books, no walking around, jumping up and down to keep you warm. It’s a tiring battle with critters weighing as much as an USB stick.

Canon Rebel XSi with EF Canon 70-200mm f/4L @ 200mm, 1/500sec, f/4, ISO400.

The shot above is of an Eurasian Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) in a thick forest of pines and easily the most colorful thing I have photographed all winter long. Getting this shot required even more than a little luck and patience. It almost cost me an eye to get close to the bird, crawling through the lower branches of pine trees to catch this beautiful male bird. Pine needles are weapons and should be put under restrictions. All kidding aside, Eurasian Bullfinchs are truly a challenge. They easily rank in the first spot when it comes to shy birds (which I tried to shoot) and are usually gone with the slightest unexpected movement or sound. Or maybe I should get some fancy pine and spruce branches to build my very own camouflage hat?

Canon Rebel XSi with EF Canon 70-200mm f/4L @ 200mm, 1/800sec, f/5.6, ISO400.

Another bird image and the last for today features a small younger Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) resting on a twig of a whitethorn bush.

Next challenge: Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) if they will ever come that far south.

Since I promised to include a short trip report from yesterday on my flickr page, please prepare yourself for another episode of: “Photo-G goes Wild. Raw and unfiltered.”

Being greeted with clear blue skies I decided it was finally time for an extended skiing trip through the forests and fields around home. I had planned to go for two hours, shoot along the way and maybe extend it to three hours. What I did not plan happened. I left after a delicious lunch with green Thai curry and to blow it off (pun intended), no, this was not part of the problem. After passing the first mountain ridge and skiing downhill into the forest where I expected to see some wildlife, the blue sky was completely gone and a snow storm started to kick in. Thinking of nothing bad I proceeded through the forest up and down the slopes, finally arriving at the river where I hoped to see, if not photograph, Common Kingfishers and White-throated Dippers which usually are easier to spot now than in the summer due to the few remaining open spots in the river. While I did not see any Kingfishers I was able to spot one Dipper along the way and let me say this, it is truly an amazing animal. Diving into the ice cold water of the fast flowing river in search of little fly larva and other critters. I applaud you White-throated Dipper! If it was me, I’d have backed out. To cut it short, I was caught in a major snowstorm on my way back home, I missed my dear deer Janet and Janice standing only 30 or so feet away due to the high winds that were blowing snow in my face like mad and if that wasn’t enough punishment, I had to find my way home in the pitch-black dark without a headlamp – on skis two inch wide. Fun! I am sure there are more episodes to be shared.

Happy shooting my friends, fellow photographers and nature lovers!

David

For years I believed to live in a snow-safe area but since the dry and cold air masses from Russia stopped colliding with the wet ones moving in from the UK, we seem to have a hard time around Christmas each year, snow-wise speaking. We had a good cover already, something to build up on, but right in the middle of Christmas Eve the thermometer revealed 41F/5C which is a major disappointment.

Anyhow, after the break, I’ll be back to Dresden to shoot the city with Mr. Blue Hour himself, Mr. David Bank, flying straight in from London. Really looking forward to that and I am in high hopes the weather will cooperate.

I’ll leave you with an old favorite of mine. A square crop from one of the majestic winter sunsets I have witnessed. Standing atop the highest mountain in the region let’s you reflect on the past but also makes you look forward to the great things to conquer in the days, weeks and months to come, so now I said it, I am looking forward to 2010 but I will cover my excitement with the New Year’s post.

Until then, happy shooting! Never stop exploring!

David

Sunday morning I made my way out to a spot I haven’t been before but knew it was going to be a great experience when I saw the trail head to an 8 mile loop up the valley through a vast forest in Germany’s Ore Mountains. Let’s say this, the first two miles are great, the rest was rather strenuous and required a little dedication.

Here’s the creek running down along the trail for the first mile or so after uniting from several really small water sources. Click on the picture for a larger view!

Canon Rebel XSi with Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 12mm, 0.8sec, f/18.

While the snow was nice to look at in person, having the appearance of powdered sugar, it was difficult to photograph since the trees do not provide any kind of natural filter this time of the year due to the lack of foliage and the low amount of snow made the scenes look cluttered but this didn’t stop me from shooting. It is December and only the second time I had snow under my feet! Nothing was going to stop me!

Another composition with countless broken tree trunks from the past winters lining up with the diagonal layers of rocks and the rushing water.

Canon Rebel XSi with Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 11mm, 0.8sec, f/20.

While I probably will not do the complete hike again, I am pretty confident to return when the creek has seen a good amount of snow and then definitely in the spring when the greens of the beeches and ferns will be glowing.

“The Remnants of the Past” were omnipresent during the whole time. Old or cut-down tree trunks adorn the trail up the mountain and the one depicted made the best foreground against a small meadow where snow and ice covered the spruces in the background, all lit up by early morning light.

Canon Rebel XSi with Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 11mm, 0.8sec, f/20.

It’s that time of the year again where the big hunt for Christmas presents falls into place and to the surprise of many I still have to hunt some good things down. So, see you later folks with part two of the past weekend.

Happy Holiday Season and cheers on a successful hunt!
David

The shot that accompanies today’s post was taken way back in the middle of October when I experienced the first snowfall of the season and there was hope we could be looking forward to a great winter. A week later, all snow was gone and the warmest November I remember made its way into the history books. Now, in December, I am still waiting for a decent snow cover to veil the landscape. I am really not sure what to think about the weather situation. Could it be the global warming kicking in? Anyhow, I am really hoping for a white Christmas and looking forward to some photographic tours which have yet to be planned in detail but rest assured, you’ll be the first to know.

While snow-shoeing through the freshly fallen snow, the sky seemed to clear a little from the layer of fog that was surrounding the 4000ft. peak of the Fichtelberg in Germany’s Ore Mountains and I set up for a shot into the deep forest covering all flanks of the mountain when a beautiful deer rambled into the scene. This is certainly not the composition I usually would have chosen but it was impossible not to shoot the deer. I got lucky with this one for sure. The deer posed for a few seconds, I snapped a frame and with the sound of the shutter it went off, deeper into the forest.

Canon Rebel XSi with Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 11mm, 1/20sec, f/14.

There’s still hope for a little snow before the year will come to an end though. How did you fare so far? Happy with the weather – or not? Feel free to leave a comment with your experiences.

Best wishes,
David