this is it

See my elaborate Flickr description for more info. Happy New Year 2012 everybody!

this is it

the anatomy of a shot - 39/52 - head over heels

Just a quick round-up of the different components I used for my latest 52 weeks image.

final image

37/52 - floatographer - setup

Hi folks! Just a quick setup shot for my latest 52 weeks entry on Flickr. The background is made from scratch in Photoshop. I added a shark stock image from stock.xchng.

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where am I running?

(tune in that funky Lenny Kravitz song here)

As some of you might know (and some of you don't but never dared to ask) I started to run in March 2011. Okay, there were some poor attempts a few years before, but never anything serious or long lasting. After a short amount of training I felt like I needed some kind of motivational factor throughout the year. That's why I registered for my very first half marathon. It's going to take place coming Sunday in a beautiful Austrian region called "Wachau" alongside the Danube, lined with vineyards and old castles. I'm filled with anticipation and excitement to say the least and I'm VERY looking forward to that race. I've been training for over six months and I most definetely feel like I'm up to the challenge. Wheater forecast says it's going to be cloudy with a good chance of some light rain, or in other words: perfect running conditions!

Last Saturday I participated in another fun run, also taking place in our beautiful neighboring country. 13.44 km on a route I've been running quite often the past 6 months. It runs along both sides of the river Inn which marks the border between Germany and Austria. The river is being crossed twice, via a hydroelectric facility and a skywalk. It's a very appealing running course with minor elevations.

I set my personal goal to one hour and seven minutes, assuming a pace of 5:00 min/km. I knew it was going to be tough, but boy did I have no idea what I had to expect. You know, we did say good bye to summer here already, but it returned with blazing 29° C (84,2 F) the past weekend.

Long story short, I finished with great difficulty at a time of 01:07:33. The heat almost got the best of me and I virtually collapsed by the time I crossed the finishing line. But after a few minutes of regeneration, almost 1,5 liters of liquid intake and a cold shower I felt happy as a clam. :-)

I made it. 8th in my class of age. And nothing on earth can take that away from me. Here's a (slightly blurry) picture of me about 300 meters before the finishing line. You can see a part of the skywalk in the background. Do you know what a "runner's high" is? I felt the exact opposite at the time that picture was taken... *g*

35/52 - devolution - setup

Hi folks! I just wanted to blog a short followup to last week's entry for my 52 weeks project. 

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why so serious?!

I've been browsing through yesterday's "Interestingness" section on Flickr. Many of those pictures show great talent and dedication. Some of them made me ponder, some of them made me smile. Some of them are disturbingly beautiful, others beautifully disturbing. But not even one of them made me laugh.

Just a thought.

the anatomy of a shot - 34/52 - upsy-daisy

Don’t you like it when a plan totally works out? I’m so happy inspiration came early this week. I wish I could say images like these hit me when watching a splatter movie or maybe when standing in line at the butcher’s. But I really can’t tell where this one came from. It was just there. Maybe I'm a troubled soul and I need to get in touch with my inner self to figure out what I'm trying to compensate with a picture like this...

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lights! camera! action!

As some of you might know I was attending a portrait photography class at our local adult education center about a year ago. While the tutor was very sympathetic and anxious to teach us the basics of modern portrait photography he had no concept whatsoever and the class was disjointed and confusing. Having been a software consultant for over 7 years, teaching countless of classes how to use my employers software, I kept wondering what I would do differently. That's when the idea of teaching an own photography class some day was born.

the anatomy of a shot - 33/52 - rest

Yeah, I know. This is probably not my best work. It didn't quite turn out the way I intended. And I almost ditched it to shoot something completely different. But after investing a certain amount of time, there's no turning back...

The thing I like the most about creating images like these is the way you get to learn about balancing color and light of the different components. Although I couldn't achive a perfect result I'm satisfied with the outcome nonetheless. 

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blog 2.0

You know what? I've been thinking. Yeah, I know that alone is a masterly performance, but as it turned out I even came to a result. I've been thinking a lot about how I could breathe new life into my blog and to create something more interesting. Then I started following Tracey Barrow's newly launched blog and I immediately recognized what she was doing right (and I was doing terribly wrong). Not only did she put some thought into a slick design, she also mixes up photography with personal stuff, which makes her blog so enjoyable to read.

the anatomy of a shot - 25/52 - hollow me

Due to popular request (2 people asked *g*) I'm giving you a little insight on the images I used for my "hollow me" photo manipulation. It's no tutorial by any means, I just wanted to show you how I work photographing the components for a composition. And yeah, I'm well aware that I'm half naked...

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lazy ass blogger

Yeah, I know. I know that I promised to blog more regularely. But as it turns out I don't have much to say. Twitter account, Facebook account, Facebook fan-page. Everything has already been communicated somewhere. Kind of a dilemma, don't you think?

If you want to gain readers, you have to produce content. Interesting content if possible. Which leads me to the big question: what should I blog about? Should I blog more about my personal life? Hmm, I don't know. It's a blog about me and photography. So I wanted to keep it photography related. And there's not much happening on that regard right now. My 52 weeks project is ongoing and it's going very well. I'm overwhelmed by the mostly positive response and I'm thrilled to see through it until the end. I put my model photography on hold for the period of my project, but I'm starting to feel an urge to do something different again . Maybe no classic beauty/fashion stuff, but it would be nice to present someone other than me in the proper light again. I have some projects up my sleeve I could put into effect as soon as I'm ready to. But I don't feel ready yet...

Well, of course I could do one or another tutorial about the making of one of my weekly pictures. But since I'm working on those for at least 2 or 3 evenings a week there would be almost no time left for anything else. Don't get me wrong. I love to share my knowledge with others as much as I enjoy others sharing their knowledge with me. But it's simply a matter of time. I planned to do a tutorial for a very long time now. No matter if written or on video. And I will. I promise. Probably during my next vacation in August, when I can spend some extra time on my hobby. And it will be published right here on this blog.

In the meantime, don't defect. Stay tuned. There will be more to read. Eventually... :-)

where was I?

I know I have been quite lazy when it comes to writing new entries for my blog lately. But I do solemnly promise amendment!

Well, what happened in the last 2 months? The most important thing would be the beginning of my 52 weeks project on Flickr. After careful consideration I have decided to pause with model photography for now and to focus on creative image editing instead. I had a small crisis when realizing that normal studio photography was no longer fun for me and I had already agreed to do a lot of shootings of this type. Meanwhile, all remaining photo shoots have been completed or canceled. The results of 3 are still up to postprocessing, but after that I will have free reign for my new project. Sure, I'll realize some selected projects in which I will only be behind the camera, but those will be limited.

What else? My Yongnuo flash broke in early January. After just 2 months of use. Unfortunately, warranty claims in China are not quite as accurate as ours, so I couldn't get a free replacement from neither the dealer nor the manufacturer. Against all common sense I've ordered another YN560. What can I say? The price performance ratio is unbeatable and I really love the acoustic ready signal. However, I've been looking for a Chinese trader with a German representative this time. So far I am very satisfied with the service at www.ht-photo.de. Check it out if you're interested in cheap Yongnuo flash units.

Right then. I'll keep you posted.