Photography
Archive
I am consistently one day behind in posting a daily photo. This is from a second tour I made to see the kestrels in the barn across the street, this time with the Sigma TC-1401 1.4x teleconverter on the camera. My original plan was to find Nadine’s old BlackBerry Bold. I wanted to charge it and try it out after watching that BlackBerry movie which surprisingly wasn’t too bad. Liked it more than The Social Network. Taking daily photos that inspire me and feel genuine became a chore, I am forcing myself to keep doing them.
Resting
Kellin is home sick with a fever, spending his days resting on the couch. He is the most cute and grumpy when sick, and it’s sad when you can only do very little to make him feel better.
Sandbox
At 8pm 3.5 tonnes of sand finally arrived for the sandbox, and by 10:45pm 3 tonnes of it had disappeared into the hole. Finally we can see the end of the project. From here it’s fine work: filling the edges, irrigation, a lid for the cistern, lawn edging and plants, lots of plants.
Mushrooms
Nadine grew her first mushrooms, and they were good.
Kestrels
We spent the whole day in the garden on the old pond area, the sand pit is now officially fenced in with robinia logs and all the uneven ground around it is filled up with topsoil, and on Monday I order the next 1.5 tonnes of sand for the sandpit itself.
Soapbox Race
Tilian had his yearly soapbox race, and over the past weeks he and Nadine built a rather good little cart together, light, with wheels that roll well and quick to steer, but they had no chance to field test it, and on the day it turned out the cart did not handle gravel well, which is what the loop around the kindergarten is made of. Bummer. With everything they learned this year it should be enough for a podium spot next year.
Hike
I went on a 15 km hike, I had the day off as it is a public holiday in Bavaria and I follow that schedule rather than the local Saxonian one. Half way through the hike Nadine picked up Aika, she deserved a break and I hadn’t had a single good shot on the Canon anyway - So I had to continue.
Stork
Saw mother stork watching over her chicks on my morning tour with Aika, someone local, can’t remember who, shared the fledglings already leave the nest for a few minutes at a time. That would make a great shot.
Rose
The battery of the Rose Reveal would not charge anymore, the same dead brick on wheels I wrote about earlier, so I finally brought it to a Rose service partner in Leipzig. I had not expected the verdict to be “there is nothing we can do here, here are your pedals and attachments”, the bike gets sent in and then we will see.
Water
I felt dizzy all day, so Nadine kept reminding me, loudly, to drink more water, and Tilian joined in by parroting her, slipping me secret notes that read “Mer Wasser!!!” (more water).
Markfest
We went with Nadine’s parents to the Kulinarisches Marktfest in Groitzsch, where the Kellin made it straight for the bouncy castle, had no interest at all in the clown show, and Tilian set off on his own little tour.
Starling
Tilian had another Nature Detectives day at the NABU, learning about herbs and finishing around the campfire with Stockbrot (bread baked on a stick). I used the time to photograph the local starling family while the everyone were busy. It took a lot of patience (which I am not very good at), but I caught the mother flying in to feed her young every minute or so. She lingered only a moment each time before setting off again.
Blackcap
An early start at work and a late finish. Before work I took a long walk above the meadows, hoping to find the red-backed shrike again. He kept out of sight, but a blackcap sat still long enough for me to photograph it instead.
Fledgling
It is a good day when I manage a sharp picture of a bird, even better when Jasper and I send each other sharp wildlife photos on the same day.
Shrike
The battery of the Rose e-roadbike is dead, it has turned into a heavy brick on wheels. Why did I opt for an e-bike again? We’ll never know.
Poppy
After weeks of searching I finally found the male pheasant. Whenever I am out on a morning tour I can hear him without ever managing to locate him, and today I found out where he likes to roam, though he vanished into the tall grass just as quickly as I caught a glimpse of him. Next time I’ll get you. So a poppy for today instead.
Lazy
We had a lazy day. Nadine went for a photo walk but it did not yield any good photos. It gets more and more difficult to spot birds with the dense foliage. The boys and I visited my parents down the village, and we spent the rest of the day watching movies.
Knights Games Trebsen
Went to see the annual Knights Games in Trebsen. We left Aika at Nadine’s grandmother and drove to Trebsen, west of Leipzig. We had been there four years ago over Pentecost but didn’t make it to the actual joust back then.
Nuthatch
The nuthatch was as surprised as I was. Neither of us was prepared to be so close to each other. A quick burst shot later with the Canon, and we went our own ways.
Overcast
The weather is beautifully erratic, it just swings between sun, wind and rain all day.
Sparrows
Sparrows are both fidgy (difficult to photograph for me) but also plenty here, so it’s an easy target for a daily photo if you are patient. It was raining most of the day yesterday so sparrows sought shelter in our garden in the large pine tree and under the swing. I wonder if they realize how goofy they look.
Bounce
Took a lucky shot today of a fox jumping 500m away from me through the tall grass. Too far away, too blurry, too dark; yet I am delighted that I caught the moment by accident.
Cliché
Nadine and I were joking today, as we are approaching our 40s, that we start spending money on typical things: cameras, road bikes, coffee machines, birding stuff, sourdough and furniture in millennial grey. So here we go, we got a new coffee machine and I have been fiddling around with it for two hours already to realise the espresso beans we have are actually not espresso beans. I promised Nadine she will have her light-as-water coffee also with this machine. The clock is ticking against me on this one.
Scouting
Trying out different paths in the morning to scout new places to take pictures of the local birds. Aika is getting more careful each tour and starts to sneak alongside me.
Cistern
Nadine and I have been crushing it on the pond excavation site. After yesterday’s placement of the cistern we finished plumbing and started sculpting the space. We moved a ton of sand today.
Big Friday
After a busy week I had Friday off. I went out early to get pictures of the local foxes and a pheasant I have been hearing every now and then. Couldn’t find either. Rest of the day we continued removing our old pond. We got the new 500L cistern in place, which is a big step forward. Plumbing next.
Tradition
Back home after a reliable five hour drive. Picked up as the tradition requires a book for Tilian and toy car for Kellin. Received a self-made father’s day from Tilian in return. Soundtrack of the drive: Vanna - A New Hope.
Offsite
Spent twelve hours in a meeting room. The countryside venue helped.
Hotel
Back in Bavaria close to Munich for a two-day strategy offsite. When I joined trivago in 2016, and ever since at Appsfactory, Delivery Hero and now roadsurfer, I have been routinely traveling inside and outside of Germany.
Nadine's Birthday
It’s Nadine’s birthday. We talked about it last week. We spoke about it on the weekend. This morning the boys and I forgot about it and left the house without saying anything. What a terrible family. We don’t deserve her.
Guided Bird Song Hike & 840mm
Last week left me feeling that even a good camera kit doesn’t guarantee inspiration or good photos. I was looking forward to today’s trip to break the loop of dissatisfying pictures.
The Jury Experience
Nadine and I got to spend the day in Leipzig all by ourselves.
Fox & Wagtail
Contemplating to get an used Sigma TC 1401, could bring details I just don’t have during post-editing cropping.
Puddle
Nadine went out with the boys.
Greenfinch
Nadine got a shot of a greenfinch.
Forest Stroll
Went with the boys and the dog to the forest.
Sparrows
Sparrows. Sparrows Everywhere.
Canon Selphy
Got the Canon SELPHY CP1500 to print our favourite daily photos for the photo wall at home. I printed the first batch of postcard-sized prints from last week’s trips today.
Saros
After a long day in the garden, arguing with the PayPal chatbot about why my claim from when I was scammed has been denied (but I am not giving up yet), I was ready to get back to Saros’s first boss and beat it. It’s a great game and a more accessible version of Returnal, except for the difficulty level.
Stork
One of the two local storks looking for small rodents and amphibians shortly after the meadow had been freshly mowed.
Blackbird
Got today’s daily photo. A blackbird sitting on our garage, 2 meters away from my office window. Easy and convenient.
Long Day
Long day at work in Munich and going back tomorrow at dawn to Leipzig.
Big Day
Twenty-four hours later, I am back on a work trip in Munich for two days. Took the Canon 1D X Mark II for the first tour in our local forest: a fox cub, a group of deer, a Eurasian jay, a starling, a barn swallow and a long-tailed tit.
England, Day 4 1/2
Back home after a great time with Jasper and his family. Will be coming back during the summer holidays with our campervan. With the risk of repeating myself, flying has become a very smooth experience, 20 minutes from touchdown to the train at BER.
England, Day 4
We strolled through the Brighton Car Boot Sale. In many ways things are similar in Germany and the UK. Car boot sales are one of them. Saw an N64 (they guy wanted £50!) and a Sega Mega Drive.
England, Day 3
Jasper and I wanted to see the windfarm close to Brighton since a while. We went there today.
England, Day 2
The day nicely separated into three activities and peak busyness: we went to the RSPB Pulborough Brooks to take pictures, visited Dan (Hi Dan!), Jasper’s business partner, and went to the movies to see Project Hail Mary (second time).
England, Day 1
Arrived safely in Brighton, Jasper and I went out straight for a photo tour through the hills above Rottingdean.
Rolling
Went with Tilian and Aika on a stroll through the fields and the local forest. Encountered a Heron, a Magpie and a pair of Starlings. I would love to get a good shot of a Magpie, one day!
Split
Three days to my trip to the UK. The week is nicely split between wrapping up work and packing for it. Surprisingly it is also the busiest work week. I guess you can’t plan for that.
Rooster
Rainy day in the garden and our mechanical rooster doesn’t mind. It spins like a windmill in any breeze, so I shot at 1/2000s to freeze it (1/250 would have worked too). It’s been raining all Sunday and it’s my first daily photo in the rain. Next Sunday I hit 100 daily photos.
Nature Detectives
Once a month Tilian is joining a program called Nature Detectives. It is organized by the local NABU chapter.
Alpha
Switched from the Sony RX100 VII to a Sony Alpha 6400.
Station Visit
On the feet from 4am to 10pm. The founders of roadsurfer and us non-founding executives spent the day at the Nürnberg station.
Redstart
Saw a young black redstart this morning on our roof.
Blossom
Spring is in full swing and I am ready for it. I got my new travel passport and ETA for the UK. 1 1/2 weeks to go.
Back to Back
All day back to back in meetings - high season is coming and we are setting goals for the last push before summer peak. Rushed out between breakfast and first calls on the go with Aika and capture a heard of sheeps chilling in the rain.
Jump
Tilian testing gravity. Almost forgot about today’s daily photo, that’s a first.
Mufflon
A Mufflon. Nadine’s nick name for me was mufflon when we got together. This year it will be 15 years since then.
Artemis
Jasper send me earlier a nice video about the Artemis II photos: ‘Explaining the Most Important Artemis II Photos’, conincidentially I got for Tilian, ok for myself, one of the LEGO Artemis sets. Nadine and I went out on a short photo walk, today’s photo is sponsored by her with post editing by myself.
Scammed
Last week I did not pay attention and entered my personal data with pictures of my travel passport into a fake UK government website to request my ETA for my forthcoming trip. Call me an official idiot.
Milestone
I have been using the Sony more over the last days. The Canon’s softness and zoom distort my perception of how good the Sony actually is, especially the finer and sensitive grain adds a nice character to the Sony. Switching between both is fun.
Star
Back to running a birder website. I got lucky this morning with a Stork and a Starling
Flyby
A red kite passed a few meters above us on our Easter walk today. It was stormy, so the large birds stayed low.
Loop
Working on Hypo and immediately using new features in my photo workflow is instant gratification, and it becomes a self-reinforcing loop.
Two Cameras
I went out this morning with both cameras, the two bird shots from the Canon and the frost on the bridge from the Sony.
Dissolve
One of the new windmills north of the village, dissolving in the mist. If you’re looking for something to read, Jasper published a good reflection about AI and his craft, and sent his March recap newsletter. And I successfully avoided any April fools jokes today.
Low
The last few evenings went into building Hypo and the Dragon Touch setup. Agentic coding is a different kind of effort: the cycles from idea to working product are so fast that you barely notice how much you are putting in.
So I Built a Mac App
Nadine and I shoot a lot of photos. A lot in the sense that we are still beginners and have quite an amount to sort through every time. But the amount of pictures is not what this is about.
Village Walk
A walk through the village with friends. Spring was showing up everywhere, the light has been so good again.
Green
I picked this one at random from today’s shots and liked it for the framing and the minimal colors, and for the fact that there are no birds in it for once.
Blue Sky
A starling on the roof, a sparrow on a cable, and a red kite overhead, all three on the same blue day. Nadine caught a great shot of the red kite. I think we are both pushing what we can get out of the 90D and the 250mm lens.
Dodge
My father restores vintage cars as a hobby, and today we did a photo shoot together. The car is a 1932 Dodge Eight Series DK, fully restored by him.
Fog
A quick morning tour with Aika trough dense fog before a full day of building furniture. Writing this just before 9pm, still not done, lights next and then putting everything back in.
Dusk
A great tit on the evening walk with Aika. Low light, but it still worked out.
Blackthorn
A photo of a blackthorn, just coming into bloom. I am finding more and more enjoyment in dialing in settings manually, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and seeing what comes out.
Tilian's Favourite Spot
Tilian got the task from school to choose his favourite place where he lives. Nadine went to take a picture of it with him. To my surprise, it’s the same spot I spent a lot of days as a kid.
Aika
We had parents’ evening at school. I asked to go on the school’s roof to take a picture of the historic water tower. It was dark, all images were blurry. So here is picture of Aika isntead. Nadine said there will be the time for a good shot of the water tower. It was not today.
Stork
I am trying really hard not to let this website become a bird-blog. But the storks are back!
Night Shot
Inspired by Jasper’s night shots and a video I saw on youtube last week that had a nice segment on post-processing night shots I tried to see what I can get out of the Sony RX100 VII.
Honeybee
Heard a swarm of insects humming and was surprised to find a bunch of honey bees on a willow catkin that early this year.
Buntspecht
Got a shot of a great spotted woodpecker. Almost gave up getting a good shot of anything today.
Rime
I walked the dog this morning, same as every day. The world feels caught between winter and spring right now. There’s still frost overnight, double digits by afternoon. How am I supposed to decide what jacket to wear?
Perpetual
Went for a walk in the woods with the neighbors and their dachshund, and Aika. Spotted a pheasant, a fox, a red kite, and a few deer.
Moon
Nadine and I shot the half moon tonight. Otherwise an ordinary day, looking forward to a packed Friday and weekend. I asked her for a text for the post, she said: This is the moon. Sometimes you see it when it’s dark, sometimes even when it’s bright. Sometimes you see it never at all. (very SMRT)
Deer
Managed to capture a young deer in the nature reserve yesterday.
Woods
I went back to the woods looking for the white albino deer, and found a white albino doe instead.
Weir
Nadine and I went out on a photo walk today. We spotted a few animals but couldn’t get any good shots. We ended up at Weiße Elster weir (51.124943, 12.236676).
Dawn
I took Aika for a long walk at dawn this morning, carrying Nadine’s Canon with our new Canon EF-S 55-250mm F4-5.6 IS STM tele lens.
Winter Vacation (Pt. 7)
Last full day in Mayrhofen. A round of Hus, a Mario Kart World cup, three groups heading in different directions and Tilian finally spending his pocket money.
Winter Vacation (Pt. 6)
Mountain day for everyone. We rode up the Penken together, Tilian took second place in his ski school race, Aika had her five minutes of fame and we closed out the evening at Goldkind.
Mayrhofen at Night
Nadine and I had an evening out in Mayrhofen. On the walk home, we stopped for a few neon sign photos.
Winter Vacation (Pt. 5)
Kellin was back on his feet. We spent the morning walking along the Ziller, rode the Zillertalbahn home and ended the evening at an escape room.
Winter Vacation (Pt. 4)
Kellin woke up with a fever, so my father-in-law and I stayed back with him while the others hit the slopes.
Winter Vacation (Pt. 3)
Up at 5. Getting better.
Winter Vacation (Pt. 2)
Day two started at 4:30 in the morning. The older one couldn’t sleep anymore. Great start to a vacation day.
Winter Vacation (Pt. 1)
We made it to Mayrhofen. Around 600 km, about 7 hours on the road with two short breaks. The drive was smooth, nothing to complain about.
Wolf Tracking
Nadine went wolf tracking last weekend and took great shots. It took place across the Czech border and was organized by two wildlife academies: Funkenflug and Heidefeuer.
Pheasant
Went for a long walk and did some meetings from the phone while the light was great outside. Saw a pheasant, a young buck and heron.
Two Dorks
Two dorks outside in our garden. Photo courtesy of Nadine.
Blue
I have been trying to be more active in the last days, averaging around 16.000 steps each day, both treadmill supported but also more walks with Aika. Today I came across this blue net hanging ourside of a barn and I just could not figure out what it’s supposed to do.
Frost
Last night’s frost laid a soft film over all surfaces.
New Camera Day
The Sony RX100 VII is here! I took it out for a spin with the kids to the forest and the garage of my father. There is so much to learn about it.