Flight over Tonle Sap lake and Angkor Temples

Taking aerial photography over the temples of Angkor was one major item on the plan to our recent travel photography project to Cambodia. 

We arrived in Siem Reap, the city close to the area of all major Angkor temple ruins, in the morning from December 9th. The plan was to take two flights. One in the evening and one in the morning. 

A a first flight was planned to explore the landscape of the area, rice fields, landmarks, the wetlands along the Tonle Sap lake, floating villages and some remote temples.

The second flight brought us along the famous temples such as Angkor Wat in the morning sun.

One of my most exciting experiences as a photographer. 

Creative Photography Techniques - Bottled Finnish Landscapes

Bottled Finnish Landscapes by Christoffer Relander: interesting and surrealistic pieces of art captured on film.

Read the article at thisiscolossal.com for detailed explanations and further examples. link

This effect is achieved by using double exposure technique.
The first shot is an exposure of the glass in front of an illuminated white background. Light is set up in a way that the glass area turns out underexposed or almost perfectly black while the illuminated background area is completely overexposed or burnt out.
In order to give the glass some plasticity and three dimensional look there need to be some reflections on the glass and shadows on the base ground.

The second exposure is in nature capturing a beautiful landscape and exposing the non or underexposed area of the glass. This second step implants the landscape into the glass.

The effect is gorgeous.

I am wondering if this can be done on digital too.
Technically there should be no issue. So, let's go out and try it.









Watch the documentary on how it is done:

Scenic Places - Kamchatka

Yelizovo #2 - Kirill Vedeev (500px)

Recently a photography friend of mine shared his 2017 photography adventure project with me. - Volcanos of Kamchatka!

Hmm, ... Kamchatka..., where is that?

Not admitting that I had no idea I asked google. And here is the answer. Kamchatka is the peninsula at the eastern edge of Russia. It is rough wilderness and a landscape with many volcanos.

The volcanos of Kamchatka are registered as an UNESCO world heritage.

With 270'000 square kilometres the Kamchatka peninsula is slightly bigger than the United Kingdom (242'500 sq. km). Population is extremely small. Kamchatka is home to 170'000 people.

Not only spectacular by nature it must also be spectacular to get there at first for travel photographers. - A am waiting for my friend's experience and recommendations to be shared.

In terms of climate the Kamchatka peninsula is heavily influenced by cold winds from Siberia and cold ocean currents from the Oyashio sea. In consequence the landscape is covered by snow from October to late May.

Brown bear eating salmon - Eyal Cohen (500px)

Kamchatka is home to the Kamchatka brown bear. But also other predators are present such as the arctic fox, the tundra wolf, or the east siberian lynx.

After this little research, I think this place could truly be an interesting target for nature photography.

There are several photography tour operators with interesting offerings, such as:

Unusual Expedition: http://unusualexpedition.com/singapore/index.php/portfolio-items/russia-kamchatka/

For an impression of Kamchatka's nature and wildlife, have a look at the Nat Geo Wild documentary "Wild Russia":

Expert Talk - Landscape Travel Photography by Thomas Heaton

Filmphotography - Cross processing film

The Rollei Corssbird film, cross processed, exhibits interesting contrast and color spectrum.

These landscape images have been taken on a bright sunny summer day.

This film is well suited for landscapes with different tones of green. Be it the light greenish water color of the Rhein river or the dark green color of the forest.

Looking at the sky in the shown images one gets a good impression on the contrast possibilities of this film. The white clouds are well textured and come out in really nice placicity.

Tutorial: Take Better Photos in the Mountains – Part 1

Take Better Photos in the Mountains – Part 1: Like many “pros” out there, I’m a self-taught photographer—after all photography itself is not that complicated. Over the years I’ve become a lot more efficient at capturing…

Scenic Places in Black and White - Golden Gate Bridge

Baker Beach - Arleta Rogozinska (500px)

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is one of the most famous landmarks of the USA. A target of many tourists and travel photographers.

Shooting the Golden Gate Bridge in black and white opens up some interesting possibilities.

Black and white is well suited to picture the silhouette of this iconic man build landmark.

The special weather conditions in the area give rise to interesting light conditions or limited visibility sceneries with fog, clouds, and low available light.

Silver Gate - Dayne Reast (500px)

Not only light and weather conditions but also the geographical surroundings are very interesting.

Golden Gate Bridge -
Nathan Camarillo (500px)

There are thousands of opportunities to find the right spot for shooting a picture of this historical construction.

golden gate
bridge -
daprano84 (500px)

The Waves Above Us - Christopher Soukup (500px)

Film Photography - The Local Landscape

Film photography is one of my passions. Taking pictures and not knowing the result immediately.

A recent series shows grain fields in the local area. Images have been taken using a Hasselblad 500 cm camera with 80mm f2.8 T* Planar lens on Ilford HP5 film.

The two images shown below feature the texture and pattern of local agriculture. A scenery which especially comes out in black and white. The grain of HP5 film gives another texture to these images.

Scenic Places in Black and White - Tutorial by Doug McKinlay

Taking pictures in black and white technically is easy. Especially in today's digital world where post processing offers endless possibilities in tuning and filtering the taken image in the computer.

Canadian photographer Doug McKinlay gives a tutorial on how already at the moment of image capture you need to decide if this picture is going to be presented in color or in black and white.

Theme: The Lighted Tent

Arctic Dream - Paul Zizka (500px)

A common theme in landscape photography at night is the lighted tent.

This motif gives interesting images. The lighted, and most of the examples warmly coloured, tent in contrast to the cold colours of the nightly landscape.

These pictures are perfect examples of transporting the scenery experienced with all human senses into a static image.

The cosy warmth of the protective tent combined with:

- the cold of the night

- the ambient light landscape

- the starry sky

- the milky way

- northern light phenomena

- or just the dark blue sky of a longtime exposure

Sahale Arm Milky Way - Jason Groepper (500px)

Some of these shots need a little bit of planning. Planning in terms of the right framing of the landscape, the right light conditions, the right weather conditions.

For a milky way scenery some more techniques are needed.
Find a tutorial to learn about the right exposure at: link



But not only milky way sceneries are interesting night shots. Some star trails can make a nice background for the lighted tent too.

Fragment 8 - Gabi Matei (500px)

Scenic Places in Black and White - ...

Bern WB - Farhad Salami (500px)

The old town of Bern, Switzerland is part of the UNESCO world heritage.

For photographers there are a lot of interesting spots in the old city of Bern with opportunities of beautiful capture of old architecture.

The old town is built on a peninsula surrounded by the river Aare. The river as part of photographs either gives interesting line and perspective, or natural framing of the urban scenery.

Panorama Bern - Dennis van Silfhout (500px)

In black and white the texture of buildings, storefront of buildings, roof tops comes out very well.

The old town offers a lot of more spots with architectural details hidden behind the arcaded sidewalks. The ambitious photographer only has to find them.

Memory - Marc Fan (500px)

Scenic Places in Black and White - Racetrack Playa

Sailing Stone - Dave MacVicar (500px)

The Racetrack Playa is a dry lake in Death Valley national park, California, USA. It is a remote place where you only can go with serious off road vehicles and good planning on outdoor equipment.

The Racetrack Playa is most famous for sailing stones. Rocks which travel across the dry lake driven by nature phenomena which are not very well understood. Current explanation for the moving rocks is that the rocks are being moved by wind under conditions when thin ice panels are melting.

Color Blind - Reetom Hazarika (500px)

Given the remoteness and lack of light pollution of this area this is a perfect place for milky way photography.

Here are two examples. - One against the principles of this section of my blog in color...

Milky Way arch over Racetrack Playa -
Matipon Tangmatitham (500px)

Scenic Places in Black and White - Schloss Neuschwanstein

Neuschwanstein - Werner Neumann-Peters (500px)

Schloss Neuschwanstein in Bavaria, Germany is one of the most visited places in Europe. In recent times this is more than 1.4 million visitors per year.

The castle has been built in the nineteenth century above the village of Hohenschwangau by Ludwig II of Bavaria. The castle is built in romanticism style.

The castle has served a venue in several movies. One of the most famous is the use as sleeping beauty castle in Disney's Cindarella.

Shortly after the death of King Ludwig II in 1886 the castle was opened to the public. Ever since the castle of the fairy-tale king is a must see on many tourist's itineraries.

Schloss Neuschwanstein - Jorge Schramm (500px)

Not only for tourists but also for photographers the landmark has some magic.

Embedded in beautiful alpine landscape, with dense forests, lakes, hills, and mountains the scenery offers endless opportunities for beautiful shots under unique light conditions.

The challenge is to find the right spot with the best view on to the castle at the right time.
Looking through collections of examples this is possibly the key to success, but also one of the strongest secrets of photographers.

Choosing black and white can give some more magic to that scenery.
For example the image below by Viktor Lakics showing the castle embedded in dramatic mountain landscape right after a storm. Rays of light shooting through the dark clouds of the thunder storm, fog arising from the forests, reflections on the lake, and the majestic castle in the foreground give this image some drama which would not be as intense when shot in color.

After the Storm (Mono) - Viktor Lakics (500px)

As can be seen from these examples shooting in black and white can be a artistic technique to add some other dimension to your imagery.
However, there is much difference if a picture has been shot as a monochrome capture or if it has been transferred to black and white in post processing.
Already when shooting the black and white photographer should take certain aspects into account.

Most important is the search for contrast. Try to capture true whites with true blacks in the same image. Only this way the lack of color will transform into interesting texture.
While with color you would rather avoid flat light, in black and white this can be a condition which gets most out of a scenery.

For some tips visit: link

Influential Photographers - Peter Lik

Australian self-taught photographer Peter Lik is one of the most successful contemporary landscape photographers. - According to his website lik.com Peter Lik's comment about his most favourite image is: "I haven't taken it yet."

Peter is running a series of galleries around the US and Australia showcasing his landscape images.

One of the most famous pictures of Peter Lik is the image "Phantom" taken in Arizona's Antelope canyon which has been sold at US$6.5 Million. This is the most expensive photograph ever sold.

The picture in black and white has been bought by a private collector who acquired some other of Peter's images at exceptional price.

The Antelope canyon picture taken by Peter Lik has been the starting point for thousands of photographers hunting exceptional light conditions in this spectacular geological formation. An internet search yields an endless number of great images taken in the very same spot.


Another of his iconic images is "Inner Piece" a beautiful back lit tree captured in Oregon.

For more inspirational pictures check out the image collection on Peter Lik's website.

Timelapse Photography: Lights over Switzerland

Lights over Switzerland II - by Christoph Schlatter

Lights over Switzerland II - Timelapse from Christoph Schlatter on Vimeo.

Scenic Places in Black and White - Matterhorn

Zermatt in Switzerland is one of these places in the Swiss Alps that offers endless opportunities to enjoy the scenic mountain panorama.

Recently I spent a weekend on the Riffelalp, the Gornergrat side above Zermatt. From this location there is one of the most spectacular view on the iconic Matterhorn.
Taking the train to the Gornergrat is one thing not to miss. From the Gornergrat Kulm one can experience an exceptional panorama on the Monte Rosa, the Matterhorn and plenty of other 4000 m.a.s.l high peaks of the Swiss alps.

Opportunities for iconic pictures can be found at the Riffelsee. A little lake embedded in-between two mountain rims with usually mirroring clear surface in which the Matterhorn is reflected.

It is possibly one of the most touristic shots. Thousands of international tourists per year in search of typical pictures. Here another representative in black and white taken on a beautiful morning this summer.

Best time to go is in the morning since then the sun illuminates the Matterhorn from the front. A scenic place for landscape photography.

Scenic Places in Black and White - Yosemite National Park

Sun on Half Dome - Jeff Philipps (flickr)

The Yosemite National park in California, USA offers some of the most impressive landscapes to capture.
With special mountain formations and geological phenomena this is a unique place.

Not only world known landscape photographer Ansel Adams took advantage of that interesting landscape, but also nowadays thousands of tourists are shooting pictures in this scenery every year.

Ansel Adams - Yosemite National Park

While today the images found on sharing platforms are shot mainly in digital Ansel Adams used a large format camera. Quite a lot of heavy gear to bring to these places.

The park is well known for its granite cliff formations, waterfalls, and giant sequoia tree groves.
Especially the cliffs and waterfalls offer plenty of opportunities for interesting black and white photography. There are very interesting conditions especially under certain light the contrast and texture which can be achieved is amazing.

Stair Case Falls - Michael Evans (flickr)

Shooting in Death Valley

Featuring David McGhee

David McGhee: Dallas Photographer, Dallas Food and Bevergae Photographer, Marriott preferred photographer, Dallas architectural photographer, American Portraits, David McGhee Photographer, Photo producer in Dallas

David McGhee has an impressive portfolio of large format landscape images.
I do not know what camera he uses, how he captures and develops these images, but it is an impressive piece of art.

Have a look at David's site link and be inspired by what he does and how it is presented.

Seeking Perfection in Landscape Photography

Have you ever been frustrated by the fled of almost perfect landscape images on the internet?

How come that all those people are on location under perfect conditions at the perfect time?

Jay Patel shared a blog post on visualwilderness.com highlighting three ways of thinking which will successfully take away you passion for landscape photography.
Read through here: link

The three reasons why not to pursue landscape photography are:
- trying to capture the awesome photo you see on the internet an in magazines
- searching for likes, tweets, and +1s
- capturing photos under perfect conditions only

As a conclusion, here the recommendation from Jay:
"The next time you go on a landscape photography adventure… make it less about popularity or trying to get the next best shot and more about having an adventure and exploring your creativity. You may find that you’ve fallen even more deeply in love with landscape photography."