2012 - Looking back, part 4

 

I had a very busy travel schedule this year and one of my business trips required my presence in Arizona. I stayed through the weekend and spent some time in the Red Rocks around Sedona. Not far from Sedona is Jerome, an old mining town, charming, and with lots of places for photography. One of them is the Gold King Mine and Ghost Town. I wrote about it in April here in the blog. Feel free to click in the archive to see more pictures about this place if you like. I couldn't be choosy about the time to be there and just had to deal with the harsh light of the Arizona sun. I did a lot of bracketing, usually between five and nine exposure steps. This one is the front porch of one of the old buildings in the ghost town. The final picture was made out of five images, each one f-stop apart, in NIK's HDR Efex Pro software. Black & white works very well for the structure of the old wood and it gives the image that nostalgic look that I like.

Door County lighthouses, part 2

 

It was our third day in Door County, Wisconsin today. An almost uniform overcast made me pushing the shutter release button on the D300s much less than during the last two days before. However, here is part two of my little series of the Door County lighthouses. None of the pictures is from today's trip.

This is my favorite shot of the Cana Island Lighthouse. I really love how the light "kissed" the tower and the building.

Eagle Bluff Lighthouse was built in 1868 and became automated in 1926. The Door County Historical Society has restored this structure in Peninsula State Park and turned it into a living museum. (source: www.doorcounty.com)

On Thanksgiving Day we arrived just one hour before sunset at this lighthouse and the sun had already disappeared behind a thin layer of clouds. The clouds worked like a big diffuser in front of the sun and made for an even exposure of this wonderful landmark.

Making a photograph of Baileys Harbor Range Lights, two hours earlier than the one before, was a little more of a challenge. The white paint and strong sunlight bear the risk of blowing out the highlights on the white boards. Dialing in too much exposure compensation can make the shadows too dark in this high contrast image. I don't like either one of these effects and tried to find the balance here. It was important to me to include the building in the background, since it is an essential part of this navigation aid and contains the rear light of this system.

The Baileys Harbor Range Lights were built in 1869 and automated in 1972. For one hundred years, these lights were used to gain safe entry into Bailey's Harbor. When the upper and lower lights were lined up, sailors knew they were in safe waters. (source: www.doorcounty.com)

Door County lighthouses, part 1

 

It was a very windy day and much colder today in Door County. We continued exploring the state parks and tried to find more lighthouses. With fast moving clouds the light changed constantly all day long. Most of the time it was all gray but then suddenly a gap opened in the sky and "killer light" would strike the scenery. These moments are often very briefly and it was important to be ready and prepared for the shot. As you can see being patient paid back at almost every lighthouse we visited during the last two days. I hope you enjoy this little series of Door County's lighthouses. A second part may follow soon.

Travel impressions – Prague, part 5

 

I still owe you the final part of my "Travel impressions" series about Prague in the Czech Republic. If you like to see the older posts about this wonderful city again, please feel free to click HERE and a new window will open and let you review the older posts and photos.

I can't finish this series without talking about how gorgeous Prague is at night. The castle, towers, most churches, and many buildings are illuminated and let the old architecture stand out. I did not bring my tripod because of the weight limits during air travel but this didn't stop me to try some night shots. In an old city like Prague you can always find a spot to place the camera for a long exposure shot. Any wall, statue, or even a restaurant table is good for supporting the camera.

I hope you enjoyed my little series about Prague. Drop me a note if you did, or even if you not did...

Being a tour guide

We have a lovely visitor here at the moment. My little sister visits us on her way back to Germany. She lived in Australia for the last eighteen months and took the route through the United States on her way back. Needless to say that we proudly show her Dubuque and the landscape along the Mississippi River here. Being a "tour guide" gives me always a chance to scout new photo opportunities and to look for interesting subjects. While waiting for my sister outside an art gallery on Bluff Street in Dubuque, IA today, these two doors caught my attention. I had only the Nikkor 24-120/f4 with me, which is not really first choice for architecture photography of any kind. It is a sharp lens but as with many wide zoom lenses lens distortion can't be neglected. It took only little efforts to correct this in Photoshop.

Travel impressions - Prague, part 4

If you ever visit Prague it is an absolute "must" to visit the Jewish Quarter with its synagogues, the Old Jewish Cemetery, and its streets, many lined with wonderful Art Nouveau buildings.

One of the most interesting places is the Old Jewish Cemetery. It was founded in 1478 and was for over 300 years the only burial ground permitted to jews. Because of the lack of space people had to be buried on top of each other, up to 12 layers deep. Today we can see over 12,000 gravestones crammed into the tiny space, but several times that number are thought to have been buried here. The last burial was in 1787. (source: Travel guide Prague, DK Eyewitness Travel).

More travel photography - St. Louis, Missouri

Nikon D300s, Nikkor 24-120mm / f4

I was at a conference in St. Louis, Missouri this week. Our hotel was right across the famous Gateway Arch, the Gateway to the West. Despite I didn't bring my tripod I could not resist to try some night shots of the arch and the area around.

Nikon D300s, Nikkor 24-120mm / f4

Travel impressions – Prague, part 3

 

I like to continue my little series about Prague with views from Europe's busiest pedestrian bridge, Karluv Most (Charles Bridge). It connects the Old Town quarter with Mala Strana (Lesser Town) and the Prague castle, the biggest castle in the world. That it is also the most visited castle in the world can easily be found out by just walking across Charles Bridge. It is impossible to make a picture without having lots of people in the frame. The only way is to shoot just above peoples heads like in the photo above. A dark sky with nice clouds and the buildings illuminated by the low evening sun made for a great color contrast. I used the tele end of the 24-120 for this image. It compresses the view over the bridge nicely and the churches in the background appear much closer than they really are. An image I always wanted to make.

The bridge is lined by 30, mostly Baroque, statues mounted to the balustrade on both sides of the bridge. It is supposed to bring good fortune if you touch the plagues below some of the statues. I have seen people waiting in line for doing this, it must be true... This young man thought so too and gave me the chance for this shot in best light. I'm usually very hesitant to make pictures of people I don't know (you probably can tell by browsing through my picture galleries). In Prague everybody runs around with a camera around their necks and shoots whatever comes across. It is easy to blend in, even for me... ;-)

Charles Bridge is not just an architectural highlight in Prague it is also a place where art is performed, displayed, and sold. Dozens of artists try to make a living and offer their paintings, drawings, jewelry, and other handcrafted things to the millions of tourists that walk across the bridge every year. Musicians and other performing artists gather good crowds all the time. By just listening to or looking at the people you can tell that the visitors come from all over the world. Bus loads of tourists with their guides make navigation sometimes not easy. The trick is to wait patiently for your chance to make a particular image. If you wait too long someone may have walked into the frame already...  More to come.

Travel impressions - Prague, part 1

The avid readers of my blog knew already I wouldn't start this little "travel impressions series" about our trip to the capitol of the Czech Republic Prague with a "postcard view", if there were not some special ingredients involved. One of them is great light and the other one are the wonderful clouds over the scene. I usually don't care much for this kind of image unless the light sets it apart from the usual tourist snapshot. For those who have never been in this beautiful city, this is a view from Prague's most famous bridge, the Charles Bridge, over the Moldau River to Stare Mesto, the Old Town of Prague. I can tell you, this city is photographers heaven. You can shoot all day and never run out of interesting views and details. I will show you during the next few days just a few of the things that drew my attention. I hope all friends that watch out for nature photography only get something out of this too..., so please stay tuned!

Travel impressions – Bautzen, Saxony, part 5

A few more pictures from my home town Bautzen. Again, I focussed on views that you may not find in the brochures of a travel agency. The photos were made on three different days. We were walking through the old narrow lanes in the old part of town in search for light and perspectives.

Wasserturm / water tower

This water tower is actually one of the newer towers in town. It was built in 1877 within the ruin of an old church. Many other buildings and towers are more than 500 years old.