My photos

Photography

For some time now, I’ve been getting my hands on a small selection of cameras. As I haven’t been doing this for very long, I’m discovering the field of photography more and more for myself. When I learned that my mother had her own photo lab over twenty years ago to develop her films, it made quite an impression on me. Despite my love for old or classic methods, I have to admit that having my own photo lab is not interesting for me as I only own a film camera. I also believe that it’s helpful to see the results immediately when you try it out and not only after a few minutes/hours when the film has been fully developed.

Digital night photography

I am more concerned about digital photography. The subsequent image processing is of course very attractive, but I haven’t done as much in this area as I perhaps should. I prefer to go out at night to take pictures, since only when the sun is no longer in the sky are there so many more interesting motifs (in my opinion). Of course, I always try my hand at the starry sky because it’s not that easy. If the ISO value can’t be turned up that high, you almost have no choice but to increase the exposure time. Of course, I almost always have the aperture open to the maximum. With exposure times of over 30 seconds, however, you can see the earth’s rotation, as the star trails suddenly become visible, which is something you actually want to avoid. You can counteract this with appropriate “tripods” that move with you, but these are simply far too expensive and not worth it for me.

But it’s not just the stars that make a good motif. I was in Münster a few days ago. There is relative light pollution there (as in every city), but from a parking garage I know you have a great overview of the city and the traffic also produces beautiful pictures, for example when you can only make out the blurred traces of light.

Blurry car lights
CC BY-SA 4.0   Marius Timmer − I took this photo of blurred car lights from a bridge on the A1 at night

My previous cameras

This is the list of cameras I’ve worked with in the past to collect some experience:

Lock with my old camera

Contrary to my earlier expectations, it is still possible to take contemporary photos with a camera that is almost 15 years old. It’s all a question of the correct setting, the lens used and post-processing (which I still can’t do). For example, I don’t think this picture of the lock in Münster is bad at all. You can also see here that I like to play with long exposure times

Photo of the lock in Münster at night
CC BY-SA 4.0   Marius Timmer − The lock in Münster at night with a nice mirroring effect on the water surface.

Christmas light exhibition at the zoo

The all-weather zoo in Münster normally closes relatively early in winter. In winter 2019/20, however, you could walk through the zoo almost every evening until 10 pm. However, there were no animals to see at that time, but rather elaborate light installations. Of course, I had to take a photo or two of this. The proportion of good photos is still negligible compared to the total number of photos taken. However, this picture stands out because it looks as bright as day and the bright light and long exposure time turn a normal disco ball into a kind of star. The reflections result in circular trails of light, just as happens with the stars in the night sky if they are photographed for too long.

Photo of the light exhibition at the zoo
CC BY-SA 4.0   Marius Timmer − Light exhibition in the zoo of Münster.