Rocks and boulders, Spitzkoppe, Namibia

Last year, I have published only one single post. Hopefully, this year I will manage to show new photographs here and on my website again more regularly. Due to the long pause, I have plenty of compositions from last year that I would like to share. Let's start with a few posts and photographs from our summer holiday from last year - in wintery Namibia.
I will keep the text to a minimum unless you, the anonymous visitors, have questions or comments that would start a "conversation". You are all invited to comment! In either case, I hope you enjoy the photographs.

 Rocks and lonely trees, Erongo mountains, Namibia

 Rocks and wimpy, lonely tree, Spitzkoppe, Namibia

 Organ pipes, Namibia

 Rock fissure patterns, Naukluft mountains, Namibia

 Autumnal maple leaves, Zurich, Switzerland

A melange of red and yellow maple leaves - photographed at the same place as last week's composition. I tried to compose the frame with leaf shapes in the fore and background, while only one leaf is sharp and the "center of attraction" for the eye.

Have a nice Sunday (so far it is grey and cold here in Zurich)!

 The last autumnal maple leaf, Zurich, Switzerland

This time it is not two, but only one leaf. Close to where we live, there is a square with a collection of small maple trees that turn beautifully red and yellow in autumn. Usually on the weekends, I pass by and create a few photographs; often of the same leaf every week. Most of the trees are bare now, but a few leaves are still hanging. Just today I have been searching for new fall color compositions among those trees and leaves, but the lonely leaf above was already captured a few weeks ago.

I wish you a good Sunday and a nice week!

 
Bud and red petioles surrounded by autumnal leaves, Zurich, Switzerland

Now that it is almost winter, cold outside, and most of the leaves have fallen, I finally start showing fall photographs. I have promised autumnal compositions for this weekend, but they are/were not ready for display. So here are two very different examples that I just developed for you speedily. Although the two photographs are both a kind of close-up view (and both are in portrait format), they are as different as can be (also with respect to how they were taken). I hope you like at least one of them and wish you a good week!

Stranded yellow maple leave, Siegsdorf, Germany

 Morning light in the mountains of Pakgil, Iceland

As promised last week, here is another, last post with Iceland photographs. This time it is not landscape compositions in the classical sense, but rather closer views that I label as "nature details" (sometimes such photographs are also designated "intimate landscapes"). For me, these are photographs that are neither true landscapes (with a horizon and at least some sky), nor close up or macro photographs, but something in between. Another composition from this category was shown in the Jökulsarlon glacier lagoon post (the second photograph) and I do have a few more that will appear in the future in the nature details gallery. If you want, you may also have a look at a few birds we managed to photograph during our trip in the animals gallery (the first eight photographs are from Iceland).
Next week, I hope to start showing new fall color compositions from this season. Until then, have a good week!

Red spot, Krysuvik on Reykjanes peninsula, Iceland

Rocky reflections, Snaefellsnes peninsula, Iceland

Smoky mountain, Krysuvik on Reykjanes peninsula, Iceland

Cottongrass (Eriophorum) near Raufarhöfn, Melrakkaslétta peninsula, Iceland

Stellisee, Zermatt, Switzerland.

My most preferred composition of our summer hiking holiday in the Swiss alps was already shown in the last blog post - Fly and morning dew - so this can only be the runner up. Already before pressing the shutter, I liked this composition and still do. The regular pattern and orientation - from the front right to the back left - is one of the elements that I like. While the composition only depicts a small scene, an intimate landscape, the reflection on the water, towards the top of the frame, hints at the surrounding mountain landscape (the ice covered summits of the Monte Rosa massif) and the bright blue sky. However, what satisfies my most is the fact that it is a "different view" of an incredibly much-photographed subject. Stellisee is one of two small lakes (the other being Riffelsee) that offer an unobstructed view of the Matterhorn. If you search for photographs of this iconic mountain top, you will find countless sunset and sunrise shots of the Matterhorn and its reflection in these two lakes. I was hoping to discover an interesting composition at these two lakes, but did not intend to repeat one of those classic evening or morning photos. I am satisfied with the result, even though I can imagine that this photograph is less appealing to you than to myself - but maybe, or hopefully, some of you do like this capture.

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

Here is my print for August 2014 - for once a photograph that I have created very recently and not yet shown on my website (it has been added to the "nature details" gallery). Our summer has been unusually wet and many people have suffered not only psychologically, but also physically. In the composition above, the flowers of a summer meadow next to the Weitsee, instead of houses, have been flooded. Only the topmost parts of the purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) inflorescences poke out of the water, while the yellow loosestrife (Lysimachia vulgaris) and all the grass and herbs are inundated. I really like how the cloud reflections, particularly in the upper third of the frame, add a mystic quality to the scene. In contrast, the foreground shows the weightlessly floating blades of grass in great detail.
It is the goal of my monthly print project to print at least one photograph per month in order to improve my printing skills and also to develop my appreciation for prints. If you have a favorite photograph of mine, you are welcome to suggest it as the print for next month (and to obtain the print free of charge). Also, check out the prints that I have created so far.

  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.

Crab shell lips, Washington, USA. This holiday photograph was taken during our holiday this summer, shown in a recent blog post, and already printed this month. Usually, I let more time pass until I decide to print a photograph, but I quite like this composition and think it is an original view of a crab shell. Therefore, I really wanted to see it as a print. If you want to suggest a photograph for the November print (and obtain it for free), please contact me.

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.