I was born in 1960 in Augsburg, Germany, just 15 years after World War II destroyed significant parts of this historic city. Augsburg’s origins go all the way back to two decades BC. It has survived the Roman Empire, the Dark Ages, Medieval Times, the Crusades, the Renaissance, the Industrial revolution, two devastating World Wars, and now the Technological Revolution. The city’s population is just a bit over a quarter million today, about 60,000 people more than when I lived …
Capturing a special moment at the Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal was built in 1631 by Shah Jahan, as a testament to the love he felt for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal who died giving birth to their 14th child, Gauhara Begum. The ivory-white marble mausoleum is built in a combination of Persian and Mughal architecture. The tomb contains both the false sarcophagi in the main chamber, as well as the actual tombs of Mumtaz Hahal and Shah Jahan, which are in a lower level of the building. The …
5 Reasons to Reject an Image
With the age of digital photography now becoming a mainstream part of society, how do you decide what photos are good to keep and what ones should be thrown in the trash? While we need reasons to reject an image, we don’t necessarily want to form a hypothesis of rules. If you ever take a workshop with me you will quickly realize that I choose to disregard rules in almost every aspect of my life and my photography. And I believe …
Disguised as a wandering landscape photographer to capture New York City
Los Angeles, It was a big sprawling city even in those days. One block looked like the next. I don’t have any photography to speak of from those days because I always felt that nature was elsewhere. I’ve never looked back and, through my photographic travels and workshops, I’ve been treated to some of the most beautiful and scenic locations imaginable. The National and State parks throughout the American West are my home and photographic focus. Nevertheless, I recently had …
Series of dramatic architectural studies reflects constant search for fresh ideas
For the past two years, I’ve been working on a project that combines my love for architecture and photography. Called The Fountainhead, after the Ayn Rand novel, this series features images of skyscrapers that have been dramatically distorted to give them a very modern and futuristic look. Rather than transforming these images by using Photoshop, however, I resorted to a much more ‘old-school’ technique that enabled me to visualize and capture the final images in my digital camera. I photographed …