Photo Publication

The Magazine:
Even I'm living in the states, I don't wanna miss this German high quality photography magazine called DigitalPhoto. I really appreciate this mix of hardware reviews, interviews and little tutorials, so I got a subscription of it. One section of this mag is called "Augenblicke" which basically means "moments". At those pages, readers can see a handful of pictures taken by other readers, selected by the DigitalPhoto team. A couple of days ago when flipping through the "Augenblicke" section I had the idea of submitting a picture myself. I thought it would be very nice to contribute something to this magazine and to see an own photograph printed there. Not speaking of the curiosity whether it would be accepted or not.

The Picture:
The tough part was to decide which one to send.
I decided for the one I took from atop the Rockefeller Center. The observation platform was reopened for the public recently, after it was closed for about 20 years. I haven't been there till this point, but was waiting for the right moment to do so. I guess photographers think a bit differently from the way the tourists' minds work. The right moment for me was the moment I noticed these incredibly deep hanging clouds. So it happened that I was the only person on the roof of the Rockefeller Center on this cold Wednesday evening. Anyway, you might know this photograph from the wall in my living room or maybe Gallery II. I'm happy to announce that you can also see it printed in a full page format soon. Either in issue 9/2006 or 10/2006 of DigitalPhoto. I'll keep you updated about which issue it will be :-)

Loretta Lux & Andrzej Dragan

Have you heard about Loretta Lux? She does extraordinary digital photography with children. I noticed her about a year ago at the fotocommunity website. I was astonished by those weird looking images, but didn't keep her name in mind for some reason. When I visited the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco last winter, I surprisingly found myself in front of some of her pictures again. Since then I'm aware of that name and took the chance to see more of her pictures last Saturday at the Yossi Milo Gallery.
Speaking of fascinating digital portraiture, I don't wanna miss referring you to Andrej Dragan's website. These pictures simply freak me out every time I visit his page. He invented the technique called "retouch of light" he processes his pictures with. As a Photoshop newbie, I simply emailed him and asked for a hint about how this works. He offered me a tutorial for (I think it was) 300 Euros. I don't doubt that it's worth the money, but I know that those images are not only processed in a great way. The actual photographs are of high quality, too. Not speaking of the challenge of directing a person to look a certain way. My conclusion: There are so many things one can experiment with and it's all for free, let's first dedicate our little spare time to that.

Here are the links. Enjoy!
Loretta Lux
Andrzej Dragan

Halloween Press Passes

New York is a crazy place and so are the New Yorkers. What happens when these people walk in a Halloween parade, you can see every year in October. The NYC Halloween Parade is a lot of fun with two million spectators and thousands of participants. Last year I squeezed myself into the crowd to take pictures from the side line. I gave the results to the organizers as a contribution to their official website and taataaa! yesterday they assured me a press pass for this year. This will allow me to be inside the parade and move freely, which should improve the quality of my work significantly. Here are two of my last year's pictures. The NYC Halloween Parade is listed in the book "100 Things to Do Before You Die". Don't miss it!


I Wish I had a Time Machine

I met my old fellow Stefan and we figured out that we both started to have the same hobby, even our equipment is pretty similar. So Stefan came up with the idea to go on a little afternoon photo safari and shoot whatever is available in our area. We decided to go for a medieval ruin which is a five minute drive away from the place I grew up. Now I have this nice little castle in my blog and you can be sure not to see something like that here again in the near future - I'm back to the new world.

Not the Way I Left It

The long awaited arrival of the summer and this great soccer world cup turned Germany into a huge party place. Due to historical reasons, waving a German flag was considered something weird to do since a long time (I personally never had a flag in my hands). Now it seems like the time has come and especially the younger generations got back some self confidence. Black, Red and Gold are the colors of the season and a hearty celebration goes through the country. It's nice to be at home.