Keep it to the street

Art is a way to express an idea, a feeling or a vision. Photographie is my art.
I tried and try other forms of expressing myself my whole life. I tried drawing, painting, writing even working with clay. Till now i can say that the photographie is my direct way to express myself.
I like other artforms as well.
Not all of cause, once i went to a exhibition hall with art installments. One guy tried to express a feeling with junk... it was pretty boring. The only thing what kept me awake was performing jokes about it. Sure I know that some people see it the same way with my pictures, but who cares ;-).

Mixing up different art styles can be interesting too. I like to mix up my photography with street art especially graffiti. The following pictures show my try on these mixing ups.

This one i found in North Hollywood by accident. The artists alias is "bumblebee" you can check him out on twitter.

Not a very smart sentence to me but i like it anyway. I took it on a bridge in cologne. 

Chinatown in San Francisco is a place you have to see. I got my shoot in this truck.

Another great picture out of central Los Angeles. I took it at a parking ground in a backyard of a downtown building.

Obama is watching you. Ok he is at least watching the people of LA.

the gateway to the soul

It's told that the eye is the gateway or window to the soul.
This quote set two things as given.
First there is a soul.
I told before that i don't know if i believe in a god. It's the same to the soul. If there is one this would possibly mean that i charge it due to the things i do. But i dont want to get too philosophical.
Second the eye is the only entry.
As a photographer i know that the eye is very special. My focus point as a viewer to a picture is in the most cases the eye. My focus point as a photographer is in any case always the eyes.
I think many people try to read other people through their eyes. The TV show "Lie to me" is all about the reading in the face in particular the eyes.
What the special thing about the eye is, i cant tell. I simply love them. They tell you all and nothing at the same time.

She got so stunning eyes by her own and without helping with photoshop.

Here we tried a ring light. It can set a corona on the outside of the pupil

Another mysterious eye with a enhanced contrast.

in god we trust

This is the sentence written on the one dollar note. Faith is something very important to all people. We all have to believe in something. Sometimes this can be a god, to others it's something complete different. I actually dont know what i should believe in.
I only know that i like the idea of something to believe in. Thats why i love to take pictures of symbols in which people lay their trust.
This is my favorite picture of this kind.

What do you believe in?

The color is the key!

Colorkey is a called a picture mainly in black and white except one spot. This spot is usually the most important element in the picture. In the movie "Schindlers Liste" this technique is used as well, with a little girl dressed in a red cloak. The Colorkey is a great technique with the hang to get quickly worn out.


I took the first picture in vencie on this year at the carnival. This guy is far away from wearing a traditional venetian costume but i liked it. Its a costume you dont see twice there. I choose the colorkey effect for the stonger understatement of his original black/white costume. The important element at his costume is the simple red rose. I took it with my Canon 5d MK II and a 24-70mm 2.8 lens (at 70mm and f2.8). Its a photo out of three shoots.

The second photo was taken in Frankfurt at the Main waterline. Frankfurt is actually a very green city and i wanted to show the balancing act between the green side and the big city life (emblematized in this picture by the "Westhafen Tower" in the background).

carnivale di venezia

Ive been to venice 5 times since i took the 360° panorama photo i blogged about before.
I love that city. Its old, small and unique. You don't find a h&m or a gap there!

Instead you find small bookstores 

and you find old ship warfs.

It's simply not comparable and this makes this city special to me. But the most impressive impression of that city i've got at the carnival.
The famous venetian carnival is a old tradition reinvented in the middle 80's. I can say once in a live you have to see it.

This is one of my best photos i took there.

look around in venice

This is one of the my oldest "best of" photos i got. Besides this is my first 360° panorama photos.
I took it 6 years ago with my first digital SLR (a sony alpha a200 and the 18-55 standart lens). From my view today i can truly say that's mostly not the equipment you need for a good photo, its more the moment, skill and luck to take a good photo.

I produced the panorama out of 18 single shoots with photoshop.

and another one ... bites the dust

I love street photography. The important about it is truly to catch the atmosphere of the place and the moment. 

I think i did it quite good at this moment.

I shoot that photo in Frankfurt on a phototour with a local friend. You see the entry of a tubestation and in the background the Messetower.

Every beginning is hard!

This is my first post. So it has to be something special. I decided to show you a photography. It's a self portrait. Usually i don't step in front of the camera but to see the effect of makeup i had to do it.

I took it with my Canon L 100mm 2.4 lens and a mirror.
I improved in the postproduction my eyes as well as the contrast beside the switch to black and white.

As result i can say the theatre makeup is usable and i will use it again but next time on someone else ;-).