Of course, my photographic year 2022 was also characterized by photographing my home country, but I was also able to visit some great more distant places and take beautiful pictures.
In this blog post, I’ve compiled my personal highlights and go back through the past 12 months.
Winter is generally a time of year when I don’t manage to go out photographing quite as often. Although the nights are long and the good light can be found at favorable times of day. Also, the lower winter sun often allows for beautiful photos during the day as well. However, the landscapes in my home region often look very bleak. So for great winter shots, the only option is often a trip to the mountains or the Black Forest. In some years, however, there is simply not enough time.
However, a strong inversion weather brought us fog and frost in the Rhine-Neckar district at the beginning of the year. I used the bare trees to look for unusual compositions. By positioning the camera correctly, the character of individual trees can be brought out. Sometimes it also succeeds to tell whole stories. As here in the shot titled “The Admonition”. The large tree in the foreground acts on me, like a father who admonishes his two children, the two trees in the background.
In the further spring I had several times the fog in the Malscher meadow to the morning hours. I had a scene in mind that I really wanted to photograph. In April the amount of fog was perfect for it. So I was able to take the picture “In the misty haze”, in which at first glance the silhouette of the tree and at second glance the parish church of Malsch is recognizable.
Of course I did not want to miss the supermoon over Malsch, my hometown. Ideal conditions which are not everyday met together. So the moonrise was at the same time as the sunset, the low earth proximity of the full moon and the clear weather something that does not coincide every year. A luck that I stood ready and had time to make this admission.
In May, the wild garlic bloom in my home was again at full speed. As soon as the conditions were right, I was on the spot and made the shots I had planned.
One shot I am particularly proud of is the following image of the Letzenberg Chapel. Not only that it was one of the last shots of my first drone, no also technically and from the image composition, it is successful in every respect. At home, the temptation was great to sit on the sofa, but I grabbed the photo equipment and went again with the bike. For a few weeks now, this photograph has been hanging framed on my wall as a fine art print, measuring 60×40 cm. It looks fantastic.
“Evening glow over the Letzenberg Chapel” reached the top 100 in the Nature Photos of Summer 2022 competition by Nature Photography Germany.
This and all other shots of this post you can request under “Prints” as an art print for your wall at home directly from me.
I had so many ideas where we could have gone on our summer vacation, but my wife said, “How about Sardinia?”. Of course it turned into a vacation in Sardinia, because who can contradict his wife? I hope of course you never have! 😉
I had never read or seen much on the subject of landscape photography in Sardinia before, so I was skeptical at first. After a little research on Google Earth and also on the Internet, I thought it could have potential. What can I say. I have never returned from a vacation with such an abundance of beautiful shots. I can’t even present all of them here on my website, that would go beyond the scope. Gladly you could but in my four-part blog post Landschaftsfotografie in Flip-Flops lesen.
In particular, I wanted to shoot more small details, more intimate landscape shots or even so-called small backdrops in Sardinia and also in the future. I noticed that sometimes it’s not so easy to switch. From “Grand Vista” to “Small Scene”, so to speak. It’s mainly a matter of the head, but the eye also needs to switch a little from the big expanse to the small, interesting one.
Of course, a little sight-seeing was also on the program. Which is why also the one or other landscape shot of cityscapes emerged. The best shot I managed at the city wall of Alghero.
For the stay in Sardinia I had searched in advance less for compositions and shots to emulate them, but I tried to find more places with potential, which I then tried to visit in time depending on the weather. So I could give free rein to my creativity. Two of these places were, for example, the Sinis Peninsula or Punta Molara.
Not all shots are always planned. Here at the Hermitage in Waghäusel we waited for a sunset red that did not appear. The shot we had in mind and planned, so we did not succeed. But we noticed the beautiful lighting around the historic building after sunset. We decided to wait a few minutes and then let our drones rise. The result is this powerful top-down image: “The Ring”.
It was the first time I connected with a local professional photographer via Youtube/Instagram to find out the best photo spots in his home region: Christian Irmler
He was kind enough to tell me, in addition to the classics of the Salzkammergut, some not so well-known places that are always worth visiting. Thus, some breathtaking shots were taken during our 7‑day stay in Austria.
“Mysterious Gollinger Fall” reached the top 100 in the Nature Photos of Summer 2022 contest by Nature Photography Germany.
Despite the beginning of September and the thus early times of sunrise, I once even made it to a “mountain top”. On the Krippenstein, above Lake Hallstatt I stood in beautiful conditions at sunrise and a number of beautiful shots with interesting compositions were taken.
“First light at Krippenstein” reached the top 100 in the Nature Photos of Summer 2022 competition of Nature Photography Germany.
Why border crossers? As a landscape photographer, you are always a border crosser, but never beyond. You prefer to go into untouched nature, but never to the extent that you would harm it by your presence. One photographs mostly at the border, or the transition between day and night. One photographs at the border between land and water, mountain and valley, … Borders create tension and emotional contrasts in photographs, that’s why we look for the borders to go there. To photograph.
This and all other shots of this post you can request under “Prints” as an art print for your wall at home directly from me.
Autumn this year came late. First the relentless drought in the summer. For weeks without precipitation. First trees threw off leaves already in the summer months due to the drought stress. Then, however, when it cooled down a bit and rained significantly more for some time, nature recovered a bit and it seemed as if it wanted to take the chance. So the autumn color in the forests came a little later than usual and it also lasted surprisingly long, as autumn storms were absent for a surprisingly long time. The transition to frost came almost abruptly.
It is in my nature to always try out new fields new creative techniques. So I discovered many interesting shots on the Internet, which were taken with the so-called ICM technique. ICM means Intentional Camera Movement. So intentional camera movement during the recording. This allows to achieve an even stronger abstraction, or even a painterly effect. As if a painter had deliberately drawn an oil drawing more abstractly. Of course, I also made a few attempts. This picture from many others was in my opinion, however, the absolute best. I for myself feel that the abstraction should not go into the unrecognizable, but the viewer should recognize quite after some viewing time, what it is about.
Unfortunately, the last month of the year was marked for us personally with the illness of our daughter. Photography as a hobby I therefore had to cut back significantly, because the most important thing for us was the recovery of our child.
In the first cold snap of winter, prevailing fog at night created a beautiful winter landscape of hoarfrost. Forests, meadows and trees were covered with hoarfrost and shrouded in beautiful white. A true paradise for photographers. At every corner beautiful motives. In fact, I managed to get out the door one morning and take some great shots, rounding off my photographic year that I had not dreamed myself so.
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