Heipei

We went for a walk behind the Aachen Westbahnhof (a major freight rail station) where they are currently tearing up the old railway tracks to make room for the new Campus West of RWTH Aachen University. Since this is a construction site, we went on a sunny Sunday morning. To be honest it is not that interesting and you have to walk about a kilometer to get there from the street. Still, in terms of photography there are some interesting subjects to choose from. You can also tell that I’m getting more comfortable with post-processing my photos each day. Although I’m not a big fan, I occasionally use presets which emulate specific kinds of analog film.

Wow, what a year. It’s already over, time flew by really quickly. So it’s time for another recap of my photographic year.

January

I started the year by upgrading my EOS 400D with a shiny new EOS 60D (Blog-Entry). I wrote at length about the vastly superior ISO quality and the video mode, and I have made extensive use of both features.

Wandering about, Lousberg, Aachen

February

I shot a few birthdays in February. Additionally, I took my 60D out in the field on a winter-wonderland hike near Monschau. It was just Katrin and me and we hiked through thick snow for a few hours without seeing anyone else. Definitely something I look forward to again next year.

Winterwonderland in Monschau

March

Not much in March. We went through Eupen, Limbourg and Verviers (all in nearby Belgium) in one day, mainly cause I was a little restless and wanted to shoot stuff. Unfortunately these cities look a little dreary this time of the year. I was in Paris on a conference but didn’t take along my DSLR but instead only photographed using my really crappy mobile phone camera. Last time I was going to be in that position… I also went on a heli-ride near Aachen, but it was relatively unspectacular.

Opera house in Verviers, Belgium

April

Nothing major, some birthdays and the usual amount of parties ;)

May

On our annual may-day hike (think beer + dense forest) I didn’t take along my DSLR and regretted my decision afterwards. All the time I was thinking about something more compact than a 60D + lens, yet with similar image quality. One day later I went by the shop after work and snapped up the Fujifilm Finepix X100, and with it the most fun I ever had with a camera. I also blogged about the little wonder that is the X100, and to this day still stand by every line of praise sung for this photographic gem. Interestingly enough, the X100 also made me appreciate the strengths (and weaknesses) of my 60D even more. It also taught me about the importance of post-processing (or “developing”) my photos.

The Fujifilm Finepix X100

June

I shot about a thousand photos that month, and all of them with my X100. Part of the reason was that I only took this camera along by choice, but I also had it with me on occasions I would have never taken my DSLR (small parties, weddings in a church, a wine-tasting, during a soccer game). I started experimenting with photo editing software this month, first trying to do everything on Linux so I wouldn’t have to switch computers.

Wedding in Aachen

July

Once again, the X100 was the only camera I used this month. I was in a TV studio as a spectator (and for technical assistance) and nobody minded me and the funny looking camera. During our annual cocktail party I was able to grab some amazing shots from the light-filled stage, something that would have been lost with a DSLR and a flash. And then, at the end of the month Katrin and I went to Paris for a few days. This was truly the highlight of my year so far.

Paris

August

Relatively uneventful. We rode through Aachen on our bikes and I took some nice shots of old churches / buildings, but that’s about it.

Aachen

September

Just one event in September: Our Canada vacation! We flew to Vancouver (on the west coast) and drove around in our usual fashion, trying to get a look at everything at the expense of sore feet. I thought long and hard about which camera to take, and in the end I brought along my 60D and my X100 ;) This was the only sane choice, and I didn’t mind the weight at all. When hiking on rough trails and trying to get shots of the landscape, the 60D would be my first choice. Photographing the plate of sushi in front of me at the restaurant: Nice and inconspicuous: The X100.

Canada

October

Birthdays, parties, that’s it!

November

Not that much except a very nice hike through the Hohes Venn near Malmedy (Belgium). This time I was really happy to have brought along my 60D and the versatility of my 18-200mm lens to create effects not possible with the fixed focal length of my X100.

Hohes Venn near Malmedy, Belgium

December

I was on two private parties where I wasn’t sure how much people would mind my camera. So I just took my X100, and people didn’t mind ;). A few days ago I shot my first wedding as the solo photographer. Sure enough, it was a favor for a friend, and the stakes weren’t that high since it was “just” the civil wedding, with the real wedding still to come. I went the safe (and boring) way, taking my 60D, the 18-200mm (my only zoom lens) and my flash plus batteries. The photos turned out great, in no small part thanks to some gentle postprocessing.

When Christmas came I was so wired camera-wise that I brought along my X100, my 60D, my three prime lenses and flash, and I managed to use all of these! Christmas (and the year 2012) was truly saved.

Katrin, Zeche Zollverein, Essen

New year’s resolutions

I’ll try to keep up the steady pace of taking, editing and uploading photos that I began in the latter half of 2012. I will also work to make this blog more interesting and in general my website more clearly structured. I thought about replacing this blog with a landing page, which would then link to all of my different sites, but I’m still not sure about it. I will hone my skills as far as post-processing is concerned.

I think I’ll solely dedicate this blog to photography, as this has clearly become my most passionate hobby.

I find myself going back to these magical days we spent walking through the streets of Paris. Even more than the beautiful photos from Canada this year, my shots from Paris evoke so many wonderful memories of this magnificent city.

I’ve gone back and re-edited a lot of the shots I took in Paris. As you can see, I aimed for a slightly warmer look, with some minor split-toning going on. Also I didn’t try to correct the over- and underexposed areas that much. I will definitely have to go back in summer, when the skies are blue and not as bright as on overcast days.

As much as I’m looking forward to other places (Italy in particular), I can’t stop thinking about going back to Paris. Next time I will take along my 60D as well as a tripod (maybe). I know the beautiful locations now and I’ll probably set aside a whole day just for shooting on the Montmartre. De Vetpan showed me the kind of beauty you can capture there if you arrive at the right time of day (and year) and just look for interesting angles. His Hasselblad medium-format shots were eye-opening for me in terms of (gentle) post-processing, composition and color.

For me, Paris was the most beautiful and interesting city I visited yet. Since I have a mild case of architecture fetish, I was able to marvel at the beautiful bright buildings in every street as if these were that much different from the street we just came from. I know that Paris has it’s ugly sides: The banlieues, some of the Metro stations and probably a few other spots. But everything in the city just fits together perfectly. The streets are not too wide, there are beautiful parks every few hundred meters and there are many shops and restaurants. As much as I loathe living in big cities, I guess that Paris would be one of those places where you could actually be happy (if you can afford it).

In terms of photography I find myself torn between different choices: When to take my X100, when to take my 60D, how to edit a particular shot when other styles would fit nicely as well. Recently I have been thinking about this blog and whether I should go with a small and relatively static landing page instead, only linking to my blog, my flickr-account, my tumblr, etc. I’ve also started using static blog software for the fun of it, but I’m still not convinced that these tools can replicate the user experience of WordPress for me.

Fall in Germany (and especially in Aachen) is something I’ve learned to enjoy a lot. Even though the days are growing shorter and colder, the golden leafs set the mood for the season to come. I recently shot some photos on the Lousberg and liked some of them enough to make them into a wallpaper for my laptop this winter.

Fall-impressions on the Lousberg, Canon EOS 60D, EF 50mm 1.4