Visiting a photogenic city and having plenty of time – what else would make a perfect photo night? Perfect weather. Well the first two things I had last weekend. But the weather was rather a challenge than being suitable for citynight photography: drizzling, foggy, low clouds and gusty winds.

My good old friend and photographer Volker lives in Dresden and was the perfect guide for our nightly photowalk. Ofcourse we started with one of the most famous vantage points: Canaletto’s View. (Canaletto was a painter who portrayed Dresden at around 1750.)

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The same procedure as every year. For two weeks in October Germany’s capital Berlin is a magnet for nightphotographers. During the Festival Of Lights many buildings and some landmarks are colorfully illuminated with different techniques from static troopers to impressive light projections performed by lighting artists.

As every year the Berlin based community of Germany’s leading internet forum for Nikon shooters  Nikonpoint meets for a photowalk to shoot the most interesting objects. Yesterday we were a bunch of 9.

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Yesterday a bunch of people met in a historic part of  Berlin, Germany for a two hour photo walk. This is organized by initiative of American photographer, author and educator Scott Kelby. Altogether there where almost 28,500 walkers  on their way in more than 1,200 locations all over the  world. The Berlin group consisted of about 20 photographers.

Tour guide Sebastian had organised his walk perfectly. Each walker got a printed map of the route with explanations for several spots – just in case one would get lost in this lively part of town.

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This was one of these rare moments, when you take the freedom to do nothing. Yesterday I went to a music festival, by my good friend Dr. Uwe Steuer, to the German province of Prignitz right in the middle between Berlin and Hamburg. This was the first time in a row of more than 15 years that I decided not to shoot the shows. You know what? This was cool, relaxing and a I could really enjoy every concert. Ok, no backstage pass this time – but never mind.

Next day me and Dietrich, another good friend of mine from Munich, decided to go to the Baltic Sea – since we had already been half way to the German North shores anyway.

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This question touches every photographer sooner or later and then from every now and then again. Photographer Matt Kloskowski has shared an article on this question he found these days on the blog of Swedish photographer Jonas Hellsén. And this led me to think about it again.

First of all I am far away of blaming anyone who has a different oppinion on the amount of retouching appropriate to a photograph than I have. I think as we look at photography as an art form it is all about personal taste (and only then about technique, equipment etc.). In German there is a saying that states that you cannot argue over taste. Full stop.

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On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Germany’s great Nikon internet forum Nikonpoint some of the members (including me) met for a nightshoot at Hamburg’s famous historic Warehouse District.

This is the world’s largest and partly still in operation for storage and trade – one third of the world’s carpet trade is handled via this place, but also coffee, tea, spices and electronics. Most of it is publicly accessible. And almost anytime you find individual or groups of photo enthusiasts strolling around these blocks identified by carrying a tripod and some photobag.

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After having had  some trouble with uploading my photobook via Lightroom 4.1 to Blurb and solving it by a strange workaround, which I described earlier, my printed photobook has arrived today. I promised to write about this debut experience with Blurb. Here we go.

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After a photo safari through the African wilderness I finally decided to get Lightroom for archiving and processing my photographs. Lightroom 4 arrived shortly after my return from Africa and I was quite curious about the new book tool inside Lightroom, which promised to send a correct book to Blurb. I created a book from my best shots and wanted to transfer the result to Blurb.

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