My photographic annual review of 2019

Is the year over again? OK, then it's time for a review of the year. It's a shame, because the year started well and ended well. Not everything was bad in between. OK, I would have liked to have saved myself the 8 weeks of crutches. But I made good use of the compulsory time to rest to technically improve this blog. But first things first: I started with Viva Con Agua in Ethiopia.

Back in Germany I had Wladimir Klitschko in front of my lens. Even more than once, but that double page spread in the grocery magazine in a not particularly picturesque office was also the first big thing I did with it Nikon z7 photographed. More on that later.

The great thing about being a photographer is the variety of activities. And especially at events, many things have to be kept in mind at the same time. So I had the pleasure, together with around 8 television crews and another 12 photographers, to photograph the laying of the foundation stone of the new pivot point in Hafencity. When it came to the group photo with the lady, I took around 30 pictures in a few seconds and at the same time tried to attract attention to myself over the camera. One picture got the important look of everyone involved for my camera. 5 minutes later the picture was over the airwaves with the customer, who fed it to the press distribution list. I'm particularly happy that the lettering at the bottom of the foundation stone is included in the picture - but of course most newspapers printed it without the printing because then less space is lost for the text. I don't care 😉

And on we went…

In between there was the Millerntor Gallery and I took photos of old and new acquaintances. And saw Michael Fritz get the Viva Con Agua logo tattooed on his ass by someone who had never held a tattoo needle before.

In September there was finally a ceremonial opening of a new factory hall - I had photographed the laying of the foundation stone two years before.

Also there – great food, a Cuban woman rolling fresh cigars for the guests and stunt riders jumping over jumps in the middle of the night.

Unfortunately, another great order has not yet been published and therefore I cannot show you any pictures yet. But I was allowed to work with several extras for several days. That was interesting. But sometimes it takes a long time for the pictures to reach the public. In 2018, for example, I was for one Cruise booked and my photos have only now appeared in the catalog in large numbers - which is surprising to me.

I had a particularly nice day at work on my birthday, but you already know the story. In general, the last quarter of 2019 was a little more personal. Not just because of how great it is Short trips to Oslo, but also because of the vacation in Oman. I still have it for you hardly any pictures shown and here too there are only a few appetizers.

So and then comes the all-important question: do you know which cameras I used to take all the photos? Probably not and you probably don't care either. I think that's completely normal and completely okay. This led me to switching to a system last year that simply worked. I figured no one would see a difference anyway. And when it comes to the size of the images on the web, you won't notice any differences anyway. It's all really bad on Instagram: even cell phone pictures can look good and people with x number of likes believe that they are photographers. In everyday life, completely different things matter: functioning, for example. Or being in the right place at the right time. Or make few mistakes. That's why my system switch last year was rational.

That was all fine until I bought the Nikon Z7. Then I realized that image quality is more important to me than I thought. Of course my customers are important to me and I certainly didn't deliver any rubbish last year. I've been using some of them for 10 years now and they definitely won't stay because I'm making rubbish. The big but is that I also want to take photos for myself. In the evening I want to edit my pictures on the computer, tired of x hours of photography, and then smile at the successful photos AND the great image quality. The Nikon Z7 largely gave up in the middle of an event, so I only used my experience to finish the job. The repair took a good eight (!) weeks. I no longer trust this company. I could go on and on, but that doesn't belong here.

In any case, I have recently found my joy in photography again. Once again I now trust Leica. The fun came back with the Leica SL2. And you certainly don't see the difference from the previous pictures. This is hardly possible to show here on the web. There are also a lot of factors that depend on what equipment you have fun with.

I had also sold my digital rangefinder camera, with the funny side effect that a photographer friend of mine called me at some point and told me that my name would always be in his Exif data. Yesterday, however, I saw a Leica Monochrom and immediately noticed that I was missing something. Yes, I bought a seven and a half year old camera with a slow CCD sensor, a ridiculous 18 MP and no ability to take color images. As soon as I looked at my first picture on the outdated monitor, I fell in love. That's my start to 2020. Photography is so much more to me than I thought last year.

Last but not least: in April I'll be on photo trips abroad again. On the way back from Oman, I was able to take a look at the destination. I'm looking forward to it…

I would like to thank all partners, customers and friends for 2019. Sorry if I didn't show your favorite picture here. Hopefully we'll see each other again in 2020...

And the biggest thanks to my dearest wife, who always gets through all this nonsense with me <3