Eight Minutes Old

The Photokina, one of the biggest trade shows for photography, will take place in Cologne from September 21 to 26. As Cologne is only half an hour away, I will probably go there, even though I am not too technology-oriented. Two years ago I was at the Visual Gallery, which was impressive. As the admission to the exhibitions is free, I will go there. But I am not yet sure I I also go to the trade fair. It probably depends: If i win a free ticket, I’ll go. The good thing is that there are plenty of opportunities to win free tickets, which I want to share with you. The dates in brackets give the respective deadlines.

• Photoappar.at: Ralf-Jürgen Stilz hast 5 one-day tickets, you only have to ask him a question about lomography in the comments (in German, probably). (August 11 2010)

• BlogTimes.info: Ronny has 10 tickets, but to have tha chance to get one you need to edit a photo he offers for download in DNG format. (August 31 2010)
• The same holds true for the five day passes of Martin from visuelleGedanken. (15. August)
• Answer the question “What do you look forward to most at this photokina” at fotoTopic and maybe you win one of ten tickets. (August 20)
• If you send them 7 reasons why you use DiaShow 7, you might get one of the 150 day tickets from the Das AquaSoft Blog. (August 31)
• EIZO gives away one two-ticket-set per week. (September 19)
• The tanala Foto GmbH does the same among all it’s Facebook fans.

Good luck, and maybe we come across at Photokina.

Tags: Tickets, Cologne, Digital Photography, Exhibition, Photo Exhibition, Photoblogs, Photographers, Photography, photokina

This post is my reaction to a call for all German Photography-Blogs. lts not very interesting, so I do not translate it. Instead, I will post another in a few moments.

Auf BlogTimes gibt es einen Aufruf von Ronny an alle deutschsprachigen Fotografieblogs, sich doch bitte zu melden. Dabei wird eine offenbar stattliche Liste von Blogs zum Thema Fotografie zusammen kommen. Ich melde mich mit diesem Beitrag ebenfalls gerne. Dazu muss ich aber erstmal einige Fragen beantworten. Wer das Blog regelmaessig liesst kennt meine Antworten sicherlich schon, daher gibt es gleich im Anschluss noch einen weiteren Beitrag.

Seit wann besteht Dein Fotografieblog?

Da muss ich kurz nachschauen … oh, seit dem 2. Juni 2008. Ich habe also in kürze zweijährigen Geburtstag … vielleicht sollte ich mir bis dahin noch etwas feierliches ausdenken.

Welche Schwerpunktthemen behandelt Dein Blog? ( z.B Allgemein, Tipps und Tricks, Technik, Fotowettbewerbe, Eigene Inhalte*** über die Fotografie, usw….)

Vor allem analoge schwarzweiss-Fotografie, darunter viele eigene Inhalte, die ich vorstelle, bespreche und erläutere. Ich tue das in der Hoffnung,  dass andere und auch ich selbst etwas dadurch lernen. Zugegeben, manchmal endet das auch eher in philosophischen Betrachtungen. Ausserdem schreibe ich Ausstellungsbesprechungen und gebe hin und wieder allgemeinere Tipps und Hinweise oder beschreibe wie manche Bilder entstehen (zum Beispiel die UFO-Fälschungen). Neben der Fotografie kommen manchmal auch andere Themen zur Sprache.

Wieviel Beiträge veröffentlichst Du durchschnittlich pro Woche?

Das schwankt üblicherweise zwischen einem und drei pro Woche, momentan bin ich arbeitsbedingt in einem längeren Beitragstief, aus dem ich langsam wieder herauskriechen will. Insgesamt zählt fuer mich aber die Qualität und Länge eines Beitrags, nicht die bloße Veröffentlichungs-Frequenz.

Welche fotografischen Bereiche interessieren Dich in der Fotografie?

Nun, vom technischen her die analoge schwarzweiss-Fotografie, das merkt man beim Betrachten der Seite sehr schnell. Bevorzugte Genres und Motive sind hierbei Landschaften und Städte. Ausserdem einige konzeptionelle Serien, die eher dokumentarisch sind. Ein Bereich, der mich besonders interessiert, auch wenn ich selbst nicht sehr aktiv darin bin, ist die Reportagefotografie.

I like to get comments on my articles. Probably every blogger does. Actually, I think most people like to get some kind of feedback to their ideas, thoughts and stories.

I very much appreciate critical comments, too. Not only, but also aimed at my photos. I use to describe what I like in a photo, but also tell my readers when I think something could be improved. I do not show my pictures to get all-positive comments. If you don’t like something, say it.

Now, what I dislike is spam. Obvious spam is filtered automatically. But there is this other form. Real people writing a comment that really has to do with the blog post. But then, they don’t call themselves Bob or Joe, but “Cheap Medicine Sale” or “Plastic Surgery”. And they link to obviously commercial sites. Sometimes, they even have normal names, but they still link to some commercial sites. For example, I had several commenters linking to sites selling esoteric stuff. They obviously were attracted by some key-phrases in the posts.

So, just for them to be theoretically able to know it, this is my policy regarding this kind of semi-spam (I know, spammers will not read this post and I will most probably just annoy my regular readers with this. Sorry guys.):

• If your comment lacks substance, your name is not a name and you link to a commercial site: Your comment will be banned as spam.
• If your comment makes kind of sense and might be of interest to others, but you still have no acceptable name and link to a commercial site: I will ban the comment or remove the link and change your name. That will depend on my mood
• If you post a good comment and have a name that you mother might had given you, but link to a commercial site: I will remove the link. One-time commenter links are non-follow anyway, they will not help you in your website’s search engine optimization.

For all my honest, regular commenters in contrast, there is a benefit: Links of commenters with several comments will be set to do-follow.

So, now nobody can tell my I did not tell them.

By the way: All this Search Engine Optimization (SEO) stuff out there makes me crazy. I mean, how many people think they can make money online by telling other people how to male money online by starting blogs about how to make money online. Even big media corporations don’t manage to make much money on the web. Give it up and don’t ruin my nerves and the internet with your junk.

PS: Anybody interested in the Shroud of Turin? I don’t really get the point of this comment by someone calling himself Anthony. Maybe he is willing to share the profit with me if I find a buyer?

Tags: Blog, blogger, search engine optimization, seo, spam, Blog Specific, Comments, Photoblogs

Martin from Kwerfeldein is asking: “Where are the German Photography Blogs”. As my blog is written both in English and German, this is my participation. I’ve translated it because he was asking some questions about the blogs and maybe you are interested in my answers.

• What made you start blogging about photography? I wanted to promote classical black and white photography, show that seeing the beauty of the world is not in contrast to a rational, sceptical opinion. The blog is a place for my thoughts on photography, how we take pictures and of what. It is for those that are tired of the ever repeating tips on modern, digital technology found elsewere in the web. I decided for a more philosophical approach and most of the time some of my pictures act as a starting point.
• What are your favorite topics? Most posts discuss pictures I shot, commenting on composition and technique, and musings on the way we take pictures and giving tips for photo locations where I’ve been. Furthermore (want to) I write about exhibitions I’ve visited and review old photo equipment. Because I am interested in so many different things, I also write about non-photography-related topics: skepticism, critizism of religion and astronomy. The latter, on the other hand, can have a lot to do with photography.
• Which are your most important posts? Hard to answer this becaus the blog is still relatively young. My most frequented photo post is this one from Paris, but I would not say it is an important post. More important are a review of the photoexhibitions during the last Photokina in Cologne.
• What awaits your readers in 2009? I plan an extensive series on starting with black and white film photography, including tips for cheap cameras, what you need for developing and printing and whatever else comes to my mind. Then I’d like to visit and present more photo-exhibitions, starting with the ones from my weekend in Munich.
• How many articles do you publish per week? On average about two to three, sometimes up to five and somtimes I don’t publish anything for weeks.

Tags: Blog Parade, Blog Specific, Photoblogs, Questions

I hope to be able to post more frequently again now. The most hectic past weeks are over and now I’m in a phase of regeneration.

You might have noticed some slight changes, I announced this before. The most important are:

• I’ve added several links to other sceptic and science blogs I read and like. If you feel something is missing, tell me. The links are a bit heavy on the German side, I will add English ones in the future.
• I’ve changed the top commenters list settings to show and link the top commenters from the past four month only. I plan to reduce this to two month later this year.
• You might have noticed the links to social bookmarking sites in some posts. I’m still experimenting with this. If they annoy you (I have noticed that the blog loads slower with them) complain!
• I have finally managed to solve the VFXY-problem, my blog now has been approved there. For those interested in my solution how to add a blog that includes posts without images to VFXY: Create a category for posts with photos that should appear on VFXY and enter that category’s RSS feed. Reset at VFXY to make them scan your blog again and then write them an email, telling that you have solved the “Posts missing images” problem. After several weeks, somebody will answer you. This worked out for me and nobody complained.

Other things are still to do:

• I plan to add links to my favorite photoblog, including some of my commenters blogs.
• Write some skeptical stuff again. And other articles. Over the last weeks I came up with so many different topics that I can not even remember all of them now.

Tags: Blog Specific, Photoblogs

Marc from Take Out Photo has a different photo challenge every month. I did participate back in July, but had no time for the other challenges since then (in part, because film photography takes some time). This month’s topic is brushes in photoshop / elements. I’ve never used them before and usually don’t like to alter my pictures. But why not jump on the possibility and give it a try. BTW: marc always welcomes new participants! He also gives advice, tips and presents tutorials for each topic during the month.

The above picture shows part of the ruin of a French monastery near the Seine, called ‘Abbaye de Jumièges’. I think the initial picture is bad, no special perspective, it doesn’t tell me anything. These were the best starting conditions to see if some brush-painting can improve it. I tried to give it an old, yellowed look and a creepy feel. The result, being my first try with both brushes and colour on an photograph, more or less satisfies me. But I think I’ll stick to good old black and white images in the foreseeable future.

Tags: black and white, Film Photography, Monastery, Old, Photo Challenge, Photoblogs, Ruin

Another “Blog-Parade”. This time the topic is photography, so I have to participate as this is at least partially a photo blog. The event is hosted by Connys Weblog. These are the questions and my answers:

1. What camera do you use?
   Most of the time I use one of my my Canon EOS 50 bodys. The analogue ones of cause. I also have an old, very manual Ricoh KR-10 with some lenses and a tiny Minox 35. I don’t own a digital camera (and don’t want one).
2. How did you start photography?
   It just happened. Mostly because of curiousity for the technology and chemestry of classical black-and-white-photography.
3. What are your favorite subject matters?
   These are mostly urban scenes, citiscapes and some architecture. I also like landscapes, especially long time exposures of the sea. But there is no sea nearby.
4. Do you edit your photos digitally?
   I develop the films and then scan the negatives. Digital editing focusses on dust removal and some editing of the curves. Essentially what could be done in the darkroom, too. I do not manipulate my pictures.
5. Do you print your images at home or do you order prints (online or in a shop)?
   I order them online. It was hard to find a quality that I was able to accept on the one and pay on the other hand. I settled with FC-Prints.com (They sit in Bonn so turn-around times are fast).
6. Have you done something special with your pictures? For example: Did you use your photos as a gift, poster or photo book?
   No, I don’t think so. Most of this consumer stuff from big labs is of bad quality, especially when done in black and white only.

Tags: ri, Blog Parade, Blog Specific, Photoblogs, Photography, Questions