Sticking close to the zeitgeist and not losing touch with the life of the young generation drives me. Curiosity makes me wander through the world with my eyes wide open. And inspiration can even be found in advertisings.
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From time to time, people email me and ask me how they can get started doing a photo shoot. The obvious answer would be: Just do it. But actually there is quite some work involved.
When I was a kid, my father taught me that a good photograph needs a foreground, middleground and background. It is one of the very basic composition rules. And still valid today. But what if you're not shooting landscapes? And what if there is no foreground on your set?
In 2009 I discovered Rene de Haan on the internet and asked him what he thinks about my latest photo series. He critisized a lot, but his honesty brought me further. We soon became friends and exchange mails several times a week, still. Rene is a laid-back and modest person. But with far more than 100 shootings for Playboy, he has a lot to tell.
Instagram is the new Facebook, they say. In Germany it's a big thing and a lot of people speak about this platform. It took me a while to jump on the bandwagon. But now, I am finally signed up with an Instagram account, too.
Winter time in Germany sucks big time for a photographer like me. Wanting to work with available light, makes it almost impossible to shoot. Outside the trees have no leaves and it is too cold to shoot nudes. Inside you need locations with large windows. And then you can still only photograph for a couple of hours in the middle of the day. Now, I finally kicked off the shooting season for 2017.
When it comes to color grading, there are thousands of techniques. You can't say one method is better than the other. And none of them works universal for all images. Probably like all photographers, I try to photograph light and colors in a way I want them, so I have less work in post production. For images that look almost perfect out of cam, color grading using Photoshop's gradient map is a very quick method.
So far, I only introduced males in this section of my blog. As we both know that you came here because of your interest in females, I am happy to tell you that I have something for you. I spoke with Playmate of the month May 2016 and asked her about her private life and her dreams.
For me, styling has always been part of the process. When I make a concept for a photo shoot, I also decide what the model will be wearing and I imagine the whole scene. So, I regularly by new clothing, lingerie, high heels, accessories, everything that suits my shooting ideas. And the consequence was: A damn full wardrobe with over 50 pairs of heels, 300 knickers, 50 times legwear and so on. Time for a clearance sale.
From yellow submarines to twitter birds, Playboy bunnies to tribals, stylishly written names to something I would call copy text, I have photographed all of this as tattoos, already. But there's a reason why I prefer to shoot women without inked skin.
In today's world, photography is everywhere. We are over-saturated by looking at images all day long. The average attention span is less than 10 seconds now. But trust me, there are artists who deserve much more of our time. Jonas Skorpil is one of them. I met him and we spoke for a couple of hours.
Just like salt and pepper, yin and yang, bacon and eggs, I believe, girls and cars are a suitable, natural pairing. I agree it can easily get cheesy (which I try to avoid). But I don't mind photographing something that's been done a thousand times before.
I used to deejay. Music still plays an important role in my life. Just like photographs, songs transports a certain mood and can evoke emotions, create memories. For my book release party a while ago, I created this frisky playlist.
Henrik Purienne is a photographer whose work I follow for a long time. I remember first having found his website when I was still attending design school, so that must have been around the year 2000. His photos stand out because they transport the lifestyle of the seventies so well. Now, his second photo book is out.
In photography it's all about light. The quality and quantity of light, soft and harsh light. But one of the most important aspects is the direction of light. It's always good to know from where the sun shines at what time.
No, this is not an advertising for a camera bag. I am simply writing about what I pack when I go on my trips, because many people ask me this. And switching from Canon to Sony gear changed a lot for me. Having the experience from so many trips, I know very well what I need when I am under way.
At the beginning of the German winter season, when it gets dark outside at 5 pm already, it is just the perfect time for browsing photo books. Luckily, there's a new one out which looks promising. The superficially unarranged pictures of 15 photographers convey a subtle form of sexyness despite today's social media masked requirements.
This was a bit surreal. One afternoon, I walk out of the door of my local supermarket and there stands a guy with a camera. At a quick glance I notice he holds a Canon 5D. The photographer looks at me and after a short moment of hesitation, he asks: “Simon?”.
Today, I realized that of all months, December is somehow a very poor one. It gets left out in all the annual reviews that you watch on tv. And so it is with my personal review of 2016 as well. Even though exciting projects are coming up in December, I decided to already tell you about the shooting trips from this year, so far.
After owning a Sony Alpha 7R2 for more than one year now, I decided to share my experiences with this mirrorless camera. A lot of blog posts you find are written by techno enthusiasts, so my personal opinion might add something as I am definitely not the type of person who you can win over with more megapixels or other tech specs.
When I was asked by Marc Gerst, if I could imagine to take part in a production where they showcase how photographers work, I didn't hesitate one moment. We flew to Barcelona and I was filmed during a typical shooting of mine, then interviewed about how I work.
When Edelkrone announced a new slider called Wing, many photo enthusiasts complained that it was too pricey and not motorized. Somehow, I instantly fell in love with the idea of a highly portable slider that keeps the camera constantly on one level while unfolding like a wing. Because Edelkrone is known to manufacture solid gear, I bought one.
From all retouching techniques for skin, I like the so-called inverted high pass method the most. It looks very natural and the process is being used by professionals around the world.
I surely don't want to complain about the late summer here in Frankfurt. It has been fantastic this year. Yet, I am dreaming of waves, sand and surfing. It's all about salty air, sun-kissed hair and making the most of longer days and warmer nights.
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