Spitzkoppe sunrise, Namibia

After the rocky start from last week, I continue the Namibia series with my preferred landscape photographs. Overall, I am not fully satisfied with my photography during that trip. From several locations I have not created any "keeper" at all. I hope you like the compositions shown here.

 Okaukuejo, Etosha National Park, Namibia

 Erongo mountains, Namibia

 Damaraland, Namibia

 Vingerklip, Namibia

 Quiver tree forest, Naukluft mountains, Namibia

 Twyfelfontein, Namibia

 Spitzkoppe, Namibia

Although today's photographs have been created during our New Zealand holiday, these nature details are really location independent. Such photographs are sometimes labelled "intimate landscapes" or with the adjective "abstract". I really enjoy this type of photography, because it is rather about seeing and discovering than about being at the right location at the right time. We are surrounded by undiscovered and unnoticed details of beauty everywhere. The discovery of a reflection, shadow or any kind of easily overlooked detail makes one such anonymous detail significant to me. Maybe one or the other of these compositions also makes you happy for the few seconds while watching.

In addition to the ten rather diverse New Zealand details shown here, more are found in the New Zealand gallery. I wish you many discoveries of overlooked beauty and a nice weekend!

Loophole

Porarari river waves, Punakaiki, New Zealand

Fern view (in German "Farnblick")

Lake Pukaki rocks, Lake Pukaki, New Zealand

Spiky golden Speargrass

Punakaiki river streaming, New Zealand

Nikau palm tree detail

Bubbling Lake Rotorua, New Zealand

New Zealand flax detail

Sand color patterns at Muriwai beach, New Zealand

I am working my way through the photographs from our recent New Zealand trip, so that I can share more compositions here, prepare a family photo book, and put together a slide show. Today, the topic are trees and forests. For a visitor from Europe, the native trees and forests of New Zealand are otherworldly, astonishing, and foreign. The lush and intense greens, the dense undergrowth, all the epiphytes and mosses, and of course the many types of ferns. There are also the majestic Kauri trees - which might be on the verge of extinction due to a microbial pest - and wonderfully colorful trees such as the Pohutukawa and the Rata tree. During our walks through the New Zealand rain forests the visual impressions were often completed by exotic noises, smells, and the sensation of pouring rain on our jackets - quite fittingly for a rain forest. However, I found it extremely difficult to adequatly capture our impressions in photographs the "work". Below are a six compositions that I like; not only as docuemnts, but also as photographs. However, a photograph can never really do justive to the experience of wandering through such a forest.
All my New Zealand photographs are filed in thematic galleries, but there is now also a New Zealand gallery, within the new "Beautiful places" folder, where all photographs from our recent trip will appear.

Pohutukawa entaglment in Wenderholm Regional Park, Waiwera, New Zealand

Pohutukawa forest in Wenderholm Regional Park, Waiwera, New Zealand

The awe-inspiring Tane Mahuta Kauri tree in Waipoua Forest, Kauri Coast, New Zealand

Lush Kauri rain forest in Trounson Kauri Park, New Zealand

Temperate Northland rain forest, Trounson Kauri Park, New Zealand

Waving Northern Rata tree in Paparoa National Park, Punakaiki, New Zealand

Moon-lit Moeraki boulder shell on the beach, Hampden, New Zealand

A few days ago, we have returned from wonderful New Zealand and I am now sorting, discarding, selecting and developing the thousands of photographs that the children and myself took. It is a slow, time-consuming process, but it offers many opportunities to look back at our adventures, to reminisce, and to be grateful for all that we could experience as a family. Although photography was of course not the main purpose of our vacation, there is a number of compositions that I am satisfied with. The first New Zealand photograph that I would like to share is, at least currently, my preferred composition of our entire trip. For me, this photograph is rendered special not only because of what you see, but also because it involved planning, some hardship, and a bit of luck. 

I was really looking forward to photograph at the Moeraki boulders, but had hoped to discover compositions that are different from the famous sunrise/sunset shots that I had often seen. When we arrived on the beach where these gigantic boulders lie around, it was clear that I could only photograph the rocky spheres early in the morning or late at night - unless if I had cared for photographs of tourists posing on the rocks. Luckily, the tidal patterns were compatible and I had realized that it was full moon. I previsualized Moeraki boulders in moon light and set out for a nightly walk from our campground. 

The scene was as I hoped: the beach, rocks and sea lightened by the moon and no tourist far and wide. But then, while kneeling next to my tripod in the wet sand, while taking photographs, my knee cracked. It first seemed like a negligible inconvenience, but soon became a painful disability. The prospect of the hike back to the campground became more and more discomforting. However, just when I had packed up my equipment and started limping back, I came across this boulder: a cracked Moeraki boulder with a puddle in the middle, and if looked at from the right angle moon light in the puddle and on the sea. Almost too good to be true! Despite the pain and advanced hour, I unpacked and quickly took two exposures (only one of which turned out reasonably sharp). It is one of the rare cases where I think virtually everything is right - the frame has not even been cropped the tiniest bit.

  Flowering poppy field, Provence, France

These three photographs of a blooming poppy field illustrate some of the tips that I shared in the Family holiday photography post from last week. Although I had hoped for the best (I pre-visualized a blooming poppy field in perfect light with a picturesque mountain in the background) I expected the worst (no poppies at all). When we unexpectedly came across these poppies I was prepared enough to realize that this was THE chance and spontaneous enough to adjust (or even use, for example the strong Mistral) the peculiarities of this specific field and moment. Although I could not engage my family in the composition of these photographs (I had to carry the bag and tripod myself) and none of the children wanted to take photographs as well (luckily, otherwise I would have had to wait for the camera), they did not mind waiting and I was satisfied with this short and successful holiday family photography session.

  Mistral poppies, Provence, France 

I had seen photographs of poppy fields in the Provence before and tried to find out where such a display of bright poppy-red could be discovered. The village of Rustrel was identified as the poppy field capital and was luckily on our route. However, the only red that we observed were occasional poppy flowers on the roadside. When we had already given up on the poppies, further along the road, after Apt, we suddenly glimpsed a red carpet tucked away in between small patches of forest. It was the only flowering poppy field that we saw during the entire trip (or ever) and I am therefore really happy that we did indeed stop.

  Flowering poppy field, Provence, France

This short holiday photography session was met with adverse conditions. It was already late, everybody was tired and thirsty, and the children were not in the mood for an extended (and tranquil) interaction with the poppies. Luckily, they could be pacified with an audio book and thus generously agreed to the wait. In addition to the waiting family and my thirst and hunger, a throbbing headache tried to rob my concentration and patience. Therefore I may have composed the photographs more hastily and less carefully than I probably should have. Nevertheless, the short stop was worthwhile and lasting memories are attached to these photographs - exactly because of the sub-optimal conditions that accompanied the moment of their creation. I hope that you can enjoy one or the other of these photographs, even without the personal memories.

  Greater flamingos, Camargue, France

To seriously photograph while on holiday with my family is often difficult. We get up too late, take too much time getting somewhere, and then I feel uneasy to make my family wait while I photograph. Therefore, my holiday photography is mostly a private documentation of our family adventures, not to be shared here. However, I do manage to steal away some photography sessions here and there to really immerse myself in a subject. This was also how our recent trip to the south of France ended up as a perfect combination of family photography and "my own" photography; I managed to create a few photographs that I am really happy with. 

The photograph above is one of these compositions. I had envisioned, or rather hoped for, a photograph of moving Greater Flamingos (although in my mental image the water was blue). Since I had a rather clear idea of this photograph beforehand (without really knowing if we were ever getting close enough to any flamingo), I recognized the opportunity when we saw this small flock of wading birds close by. I really like this photograph of moving, foraging and flapping pink birds and the grayish and brownish colors of the water and foreground are even more harmonious than the bright blue in my preconceived mental "photograph". 

Over the years I have learned from my experiences and now better manage to make our trips photographically satisfactory and to have less regrets about missed opportunities. Here are a few tips that work for me and that may help if you are in a similar situation:

• Most importantly, enjoy the time with your family. You only have a few years to enjoy holidays together. 
• Prepare for the best (photography-wise), but expect the worst (in my humble experience an incredibly useful motto in any kind of life situation).
• Minimize your equipment and carry rain coats, picnic and water for your family instead. Thereby you can go on longer hikes and experience much more memorable adventures with your family.
• Try to pre-visualize a few possible compositions. This will help you recognize those subjects that you want to spend time photographing with. On the other hand, do not only fixate on pre-visualized ideas and try to react spontaneously to what presents itself (even if you are not out "in the field" at the golden hour).
• Pursue a theme that is independent of time, weather and location, but that can, for example, be pursued during a rest or picnic (you will likely end up with much more unique holiday photographs).
• Try to engage your family in your photography. They may help discover interesting subjects or, for example, control the light or shadows for macro photographs. You can also try to entice your children and/or spouse to photograph as well (depending on the size of your family you may end up with no camera for yourself, but with a lot more photographs to sort through on your computer).

Crab shell lips, Olympic National Park.

I have mentioned the photographer Scott Cahill Rude, whom we have discovered on our recent vacation. Of course, we have also seen plenty of natural and man-made beauty that I sometimes tried to capture in photographs. I would like to show you some of these compositions in this and in upcoming blog posts.

Pursuing photography while traveling with your family is on one hand very easy, but on the other hand also much more challenging than you may first realize. The large majority of the photographs are of course rather documentary and private. We look at these pictures together, include them in our family year or holiday books and use them as time machines to bring us back to our five weeks of camping, hiking and enjoying the outdoors (unfortunately the photographs have so far only brought back memories - I am still waiting to be physically beamed back in time). In summary: these captures are not meant to be shared with “everybody” and I rather refer to them as pictures than as photographs (even though some of the portraits are very nice). Photographs, on the other hand, are deliberate and conscious compositions that I create according to my vision and which I consider worth sharing here.

Crab shells and sand pattern.

One of the difficulties with family holiday photography is of course that you spend only a limited amount of time at a particular location. Often you will not be at the right place at the right time (which is the reason why nearby photography is fulfilling and very satisfactory). A possible solution is not to photograph famous landmarks, sunsets, or sunrises, but rather to pursue themes that depend less on the time of day, or a particular weather condition, but may be discovered everywhere. For example, during our holiday I did not even think about a “real” photograph of any of the huge Sequoias, the Yosemite valley or the Golden Gate bridge (to name just three) - a picture is clearly enough at these places. Instead, I had planned to delve into flower photography (but hardly ever felt inspired to do so during our trip), looked out for new carcolor compositions, discovered exciting facades and buildings, took many new photographs of water (an ongoing project that I will show sometimes later), and created a collection of beach photographs - a type of photography subject completely lacking in Switzerland (unfortunately). The beach photographs shown here show the remains  (exuviae) of crabs, which we found in huge masses on Kalaloch beach in Olympic National Park. Piles of crab remains are nothing to be worried about: Similar to animals such as snakes or lizards, crabs have to molt as they grow. Since this can happen quite synchronously, some beaches may become littered with crab shells and parts at certain times of the year. It seems that we have been lucky (as the last photograph indicates - it is only added for illustrative purposes and not part of the natural beauty collection). The species of crab is most likely a Dungeness crab (Metacarcinus magister), but I am not a specialist and therefore not entirely sure.

1 Right-side up, 4 upside down.

I have been enticed to take these crab carapace compositions because of an abstract theme that I have been working on for a long time already (I refer to it as "outlier" - the photograph above is an example). While looking for ever new crab carapace arrangements, I have found new angles and compositions that did not fit the original idea any more and I ended up with a small collection of, as I think (but less so my wife), beautiful crab shell photographs. I particularly like the first example because it is a rather unexpected view of a crab carapace, because the light shines so beautifully through the shell, because of the interplay between focus and out of focus, and because the shape of the shell looks like a mouth with lips (to me). I would also like to emphasize that the carapaces were not touched let alone arranged in any way. The photographs show the crab remains as I found them washed upon the beach and after the next wave or high tide everything was different again. The photographs are stored under in my natural beauty section within the nature detail gallery.

Crab remains on Kalaloch beach, Olympic National Park.