Articles and Tutorials about Travel and Landscape Photography

Sri Lanka Photography Guide

Michael Breitung — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 09:34:11 GMT

In this article, I share the best photo spots in Sri Lanka, the Pearl of the Indian Ocean.

Sri Lanka is an island nation located just next to the southern tip of India. The country's spectacular viewpoints, wild beaches, and dense jungle provide countless landscape and wildlife photography opportunities as you'll learn in this article as I cover the following photography locations:

Sigiriya
Nuwara Eliya
Ella
Yala National Park
Udawalawe
Tangalle
Dondra

Why Sri Lanka is Great for Photography

Sri Lanka is rich in culture, natural beauty, and diverse landscapes. From lush tea plantations and misty mountains to golden beaches and ancient temples, the country offers a beautiful mix of experiences for travelers and photographers alike. Whether catching a sunset over Lions Rock or photographing wildlife in one of the many National Parks, you'll find plenty of subjects to photograph.

Despite its beauty, Sri Lanka is still one of those rare places that hasn't been overrun by photographers yet. When I started my research, I found little information about photo locations besides the famous Sigiriya Rock and the small and large Adam's Peak. Finding the best views and subjects along the coast or around the central mountains was difficult.

However, I've learned over the past years that this is often a good sign. If you haven't seen thousands of photos of a place, it doesn't necessarily mean it's not photogenic. It means there's still potential to explore and get creative. There's undoubtedly a gamble in it, and not every new location I visit yields a spectacular photo. But Sri Lanka was a positive example where my journey into the unknown was full of rewards.

I found it to be an excellent place for photography for several reasons:

Despite its relatively small size, it offers ancient forests, mountains, waterfalls, tropical beaches, temples, and exotic wildlife.
You can still find off-the-beaten-path locations that haven't been photographed yet.
Over the years, it has become popular with influencers but not so much with professional photographers yet—you can still leave your mark with your photography.
The people are welcoming, and the country feels safe, so you won't have to worry about your expensive camera gear.
Traveling around the country is still comparably cheap. You don't even have to rent a car, as hiring a driver is an affordable option, similar to Indonesia.

When To Visit

As with many places close to the equator, travel time is not defined by the typical seasons. In Sri Lanka, you only have to choose between the rainy and dry seasons. The usual travel guide will always tell you that the dry season is the best time to travel, but for photography, the answer is usually more nuanced. Sri Lanka is home to many spectacular waterfalls, which are not that photogenic during the dry season. On the other hand, the mountains and the trails into those will often be challenging to access during the rainy season, and you might have to battle thick cloud cover during your photo shoots.

A good compromise for many countries is to visit just after the rainy season. The landscape is lush and green, and the rivers still hold enough water.

It was more complicated for Sri Lanka than picking the first month of the dry season, though, as the seasons vary depending on where you travel. If you head more toward the northeast, you might encounter the rainy season while the southwest is mostly dry and vice versa.

For the south, the dry season runs between January and April, with April being a transition month. The monsoon brings a lot of rain between May and September. And since this area is one of the most photogenic in Sri Lanka, you should pay attention to the weather there. Other locations full of photographic potential are the central mountains and Sigiriya. This area lies more toward the northeast and might see different weather than the south.

All in all, it's difficult to give a clear recommendation. I eventually made the safe choice and visited in March, as it's one of the best months for general travel in Sri Lanka. With a caveat: many waterfalls are low on water. If waterfall photography is your goal, you should pick a month toward the end of the year. If you avoid the monsoon, you'll find plenty of photography subjects in Sri Lanka. Even if some of the waterfalls are low on water, the views of the surrounding mountains will make up for it. If you are open to adapting to the conditions, Sri Lanka will reward you with many photography opportunities.

How To Travel around Sri Lanka

As traveling to Sri Lanka is pretty straightforward, I'd like to focus on how to get around the island. There are four options:

You can go backpacking and travel by public transport, such as buses and trains. However, this is not a good choice for photographers because it limits you to locations close to major travel hubs. But if you combine it with hiring a driver in those, it can work. Also, the train ride through the central mountains from Kandy to Ella is an experience with great views.
You can rent a Tucktuck for 15 - 25 dollars per day. It's one of the most inexpensive and flexible ways to get around. However, it will take time and might not be the most comfortable traveling method. Traffic in Sri Lanka is very hectic, and you must be aware that with a Tucktuck, you will be constantly overtaken by trucks and buses, and the experience might not be as magical as you imagine. If you want to visit places like Nuwara Eliya, it'll be on a long and slow climb along winding roads.
Renting a car will make you travel more comfortable. If you don't mind the chaotic traffic in Sri Lanka, you can get a rental for around 40 - 50 dollars per day (2025 prices). If you avoid the streets around Kandy, you shouldn't have too much trouble on the roads. The rentals will also help you to get a driving permit for Sri Lanka. An international driving license is insufficient; you must obtain a Sri Lankan driving permit.
You can hire a car and driver if you don't want to worry about getting from one location to the next. Prices start at 60 dollars and can quickly add up for longer trips because they include lodging for the driver. If you google, you find many websites through which you can contact a driver directly. You can also use an agency like Ceylonescapes. Here, you are looking at 90 to 100 dollars per day. The mini-buses their drivers use can easily fit four people with photography gear, so it's a great option if you travel in a small group. I can recommend their service.

You can also easily combine different options. You can take taxis to get you to the main destinations and then rent a scooter or Tucktuck to explore the area. Many hotels can arrange transport for you, so you don't have to worry too much in advance.

Sri Lanka Photo Spots

During my research, I didn't find many interesting photo locations in the north and northeast of Sri Lanka, so I focused my efforts on the central mountains and the south. These areas are full of beautiful forests, spectacular vistas, waterfalls, and golden beaches. The national parks provide excellent subjects for wildlife photographers.

Pidurangala Rock

Most people traveling to Sri Lanka also visit Sigiriya. This beautiful rock jutting out of the jungle is a spectacular sight. Since you typically want it in the photo, you should not climb Lions Rock but head to Pidurangala Rock toward the north. From there, you have the best view of the area. It's an excellent spot for sunset but also works during sunrise. There's a small entrance fee of three dollars, which is worth it. The trail opens an hour before sunrise and remains open long enough after sunset, so you don't have to rush. You can hike up in about 30 minutes.

But don't expect to be alone up there. You'll share the view with a crowd. Thankfully, the plateau is large, and you can easily escape the bustle by walking downward toward the west along the plateau. From there, you have the best view of Lions Rock.

Once the sun has set, stick around for a while to avoid the congested trail. The last part of the climb is narrow and steep. As hundreds of people start hiking down at the same time, there'll be a long queue. So, you better relax and enjoy the view as it's slowly getting dark. Since lights light the trail, you'll easily find your way later.

To increase your chances of a great photo, I recommend heading up there multiple times. I stayed for two days in the Back of Beyond, just a 5-minute walk from the trail head. It's a great little hotel that also serves excellent food.

Avoid walking there in the dark if you're staying farther from Pidurangala. Elephants frequent the area, especially during the dry season, and encountering one on foot can be dangerous. The safest way to get there is by TuckTuck.

Nuwara Eliya

Nuwara Eliya is renowned for its diverse range of teas. Tea plantations cover the mountainous area, making it ideal for photography. Getting there takes time, though. From Sigiriya, it took seven hours by car to drive past Kandy and then climb the steep mountain roads. With a Tucktuck, you'd have to split the drive into at least two days and best avoid Kandy.

For finding the best views, I recommend using Google Street View. It's how I found the view in the photo above. You can virtually walk along most of the roads in the area and inspect the viewpoints. Then, you can choose a hotel nearby. I stayed at Atulya Villas, which is close to a very photogenic plantation.

Other interesting places in the area are Single Tree Hill, Lover's Leap Waterfall, Bomburu Ella Waterfall, and the train near Nanuoya. If you have enough time, explore the plantations south of Nanuoya to find a good vantage point for viewing the train as it rides through the valley.

Little Adams Peak

Ella has become very famous over the years because of the Nine Arches Bridge. Influencers take the train along this route to get a photo of themselves hanging out of the train's door. As I learned in Ella, this seemingly safe endeavor has caused several casualties because people are too distracted by capturing their photos. Some fall out of the train; some collide with signposts, trees, or even walls.

I didn't visit the bridge as I wasn't too interested in these Darwin Awards. My goal was to explore Little Adams Peak. It offers one of the finest views in Sri Lanka and is easily accessible through a 45-minute hike from Ella. You can head there during sunrise and sunset. The view is toward the south, and you'll have a nice sidelight if the weather permits. And as you can see in my photo, even on a cloudy day, you can capture interesting images up there.

You should just be aware of the following:

From the first summit, continue along the trail for another 15 minutes to reach the view shown in my photo. This part is steep, so bring proper shoes.
After heavy rains, there will be many leeches on the trails. Bring salt to easily dispel them from your shoes, clothes, and legs.
The trail will become slippery for the steep part. I would avoid it on a rainy day. But if you want to go, I recommend hiking poles.

Yala National Park

The most positive surprise of my travels through Sri Lanka was the day I spent at the Tree Tops Jungle Lodge, located on the northern edge of Yala National Park. I took a guided hike in the evening and morning and was awed by the beautiful views.

My visit was a gamble as I didn't know what to expect in terms of photography when I booked my stay. It's why I had only planned a single day there. It was a mistake, as there's enough to photograph in the area for at least two days if you also include a safari to Yala National Park.

The guides will take you to a spectacular viewpoint in the morning. If you visit, be sure to take this hike and bring a long lens, as you'll encounter beautiful wildlife along the way.

Udawalawe

If you want to see and photograph elephants, an afternoon safari in Udawalawe National Park is a good choice. From what I've read, it's less crowded than the Yala safaris, but you'll also encounter many jeeps in the park.

To avoid the crowds, make sure to book a private jeep. For two people, the cost is between $ 130 and $ 150, including everything: the Jeep, driver, and entrance fees.

The best time to experience and photograph elephants is between 5 pm and 6 pm, just before the park closes. Before that, we hadn't encountered many, and countless jeeps had already harassed the ones we saw, so we drove on. But in the evening, we stayed back a bit longer and finally found a relaxed herd with no other Jeeps nearby.

As a good place to stay, I recommend the Jungle Paradise.

Tangalle

I hadn't seen many great photos of the beaches around Tangalle during my research. But I had seen the potential. I stayed at the beautiful Slow Villa for four days. It was the best accommodation of the entire trip, offering a stunning view over the bay and numerous gorgeous beaches within walking distance.

One of those is Silent Beach. It's one of the most popular beaches in the area, with multiple small restaurants located directly on the beach. At first, I was skeptical that there would be a view without those in the frame. But if you walk toward the center of the beach, those bars will be a tiny spot in the photo. You'll also find beautiful rocks that can serve as foreground interest.

You can find another beautiful beach if you continue along the coast toward the west from Silent Beach. It's perfect for sunrise photography.

Other places you should visit are Paradise Beach, Jungle Beach, and Hiru Beach. The last one is one of the most photogenic beaches I have ever photographed.

I must also mention the great food I had in Tangalle. If you're not in a rush and are very hungry, head to the Sunset Beach Bar. The food is excellent, and they load their plates. I was never able to finish my food completely.

Dondra Lighthouse

Another place of interest along the southern coast of Sri Lanka is the Dondra Lighthouse. It's one of the highest lighthouses in Asia and is surrounded by palm trees. It's a fantastic photo subject during both sunset and sunrise. Just don't expect too much from the light of the lighthouse itself, as it's not very bright.

You'll find the best viewpoint either at the little beach in front of the lighthouse or on the rocks on the opposite side of the bay. The grounds around the lighthouse itself are closed at sunrise and sunset.

Waterfalls

As I mentioned, March isn't a great time to photograph waterfalls in Sri Lanka. I saw many while traveling through Nuwara Eliya and Ella. However, I didn't photograph any. For a spectacular image, many waterfalls didn't have enough water, and I lacked proper cloud cover. If you plan to photograph them on a clear day, head there early or in the evening because harsh sunlight makes it hard to get pleasing results.

You'll find the most interesting waterfalls around the Knuckles Mountains and Nuwara Eliya. One of the most photogenic might be the Laxapana Falls. I haven't explored those, but based on my research, they provide excellent photographic potential if you visit them at the right time of year.

Other Photography Locations

Traveling slowly and experiencing each location for a few days is essential for taking great photos. That's why I was very selective during my two weeks of travels in Sri Lanka.

However, if you have the time, consider adding the Knuckles Mountains to your travel list. The few photos I've seen look spectacular, and if you don't shy away from doing some longer hikes, you'll undoubtedly find many hidden photography gems in this area.

A place you should skip is Mirissa. The beaches there are rather unphotogenic and crowded. You'll be disappointed if you've already photographed the beaches around Tangalle. I stayed for three days toward the end of my trip and didn't find much worth photographing. And don't get deceived by the Instagram photos of places like Coconut Hill or Secret Beach. Those are underwhelming.

Conclusion

Sri Lanka is an excellent destination for landscape and seascape photography. The photo locations I shared can serve as a foundation for planning your trip. But don't limit your explorations to those. There's so much more to discover, and you should plan in enough time to do so.

Istanbul Photography Guide

Michael Breitung — Sun, 07 Dec 2025 24:00:00 GMT

In September 2025, I spent five days photographing Istanbul, and in this photography guide, I share the best photo spots I visited.

Istanbul is an enormous city with a population of over 15 million. It's split into a European and an asian part by the Bosporus. In this photography guide, I cover only the European side, focusing on the Faith and Beyoglu districts, as well as Besiktas.

In this area, you'll find some of the city's most beautiful mosques, many of which make perfect photo subjects. It's what fascinated me the most about Istanbul. In some other cities I visited during my travels, having just one such mosque would be a significant tourism magnet. In Istanbul, you have one of these magnificent buildings around every corner.

I cover the following topics in this Istanbul photography guide:

How to Travel to Istanbul

You'll likely arrive in Istanbul at the new Istanbul Airport (IST) when traveling internationally. It's located about 40km outside Istanbul's tourist center.

Before you leave the airport, I recommend withdrawing some money at an ATM. At first, I was worried that the ATMs at the airport would be more expensive than in the city, but after checking my credit card slips, I didn't see much difference in the ones I used. Just make sure not to accept the local conversion; let your bank handle it. I used the Ziraat ATMs most of the time, which I had read don't charge much commission. During my visit in September 2025, the exchange rate was around 40 Lira to one US dollar. But currently the inflation in Turkey is quite high, so expect the rate to change quickly.

You then have several options for getting from the airport into the city. The cheapest one might be the metro from the Airport to Gayrettepe in Besiktas for less than one dollar. It is not a tourist hotspot, and you'll likely have to switch to another mode of transport here to get closer to your hotel. And you'll already have spent an hour on the metro by now.

I, for example, stayed in Sultanahmet, which has the highest concentration of sights, hotels, and restaurants. If you're also eying this area, a better option to get there is the Havaist bus, which runs a direct route to Sultanahmet. It still costs less than $10 per person and leaves the airport at least once an hour, 24/7. You may still have to walk to your hotel, though.

The most convenient option of transport is taking a taxi. Prices range from $40 for a regular cab to $70 for a luxury transport to get from the airport to Sultanahmet. If you want to plan, you can even book a taxi directly on Booking.com *, which is what I should have done.

What you should not do is what I actually did. I had my hotel arrange the transport, which I do a lot during my travels, as it helps me avoid scams and get to my hotels fast. Most hotels have their own drivers, and while the price is usually a bit higher than for a metered taxi, which can sometimes be hard to find, I like it when someone waits for me after a long flight, and I don't have to search for transport.

In Istanbul, though, this arranged transport was the first scam I ran into. Advertised as a luxury option for $60, I assumed it would help me avoid any delays getting into the city. But as I arrived at the pickup point at exit eight of the airport, it dawned on me that this was not the personalized transport I had expected. Many travellers gather there for a luxury pickup and are then guided to an underground parking lot, a 5-minute walk away.

And there I waited for 50 minutes until they finally found a driver heading in my direction. Granted, some of the other people heading into the city didn't wait that long. But the whole point of paying a premium is to avoid such delays. I nearly missed my first sunset shoot because of it.

Heading back to the airport a few days later, I didn't make the same mistake and took a cab. I had met a driver using Uber in the city a few times, and he took me to the airport in 45 minutes for $35.

Where to Stay

I already mentioned that I stayed in Sultanahmet, Istanbul's old town, home to the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, the Egyptian Bazaar, and the Grand Bazaar. And I totally recommend this area for photography.

The hotel I picked was Royan Suites * just a five-minute walk from the Blue Mosque, which I had intended to photograph during my stay. While I don't recommend the transport service they organized, I recommend the hotel. The beautiful room, the great breakfast, and the many restaurant options in the area made it an enjoyable stay.

Unfortunately, both the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia are currently under construction, and you won't get a photo without scaffolding in the frame. And what I heard from the locals is that this restoration will still last a few more years.

Because the tram has a stop less than a 10-minute walk from the hotel, getting to other areas of the city was also no big deal. But the easy sunrise and sunset shoot at the Blue Mosque is currently not possible.

How to Get Around

A great way to explore Istanbul is on foot. If you focus only on the Faith area, you'll see a lot just by walking. To cover the distance to photo spots farther away, Istanbul has a good tram and metro system, with several bus lines extending it. I used it a lot when traveling between Sultanahmet, Beşiktaş, and Arnavutköy.

At every tram station, you'll find a ticket machine where you can buy the Istanbul transport card called Istanbulkart. It currently costs around $4, and you can share it between multiple people if you travel in a group. For one person, I'd directly top it off with 200 Lira - $5. At each tram station or when entering a bus, you hold it to one of the RFID readers. Each ride only costs 27 Lira, no matter how many stops you make.

The ticket machines accept cash (Lira) and credit cards. I recommend always carrying some money in case card payments don't work. I observed this happening a few times with other tourists buying tickets.

Sometimes, you'll not be able to take the tram or bus. Those only run from 6 am until midnight. It can make it challenging to reach your sunrise photo locations. Thankfully, you can use Uber in Istanbul. Regular taxi drivers operate those, and getting an Uber is a good way to avoid scams because you already have an estimated price in the app.

I exchanged WhatsApp numbers with my Uber driver and used him several times, including on my way back to the airport.

Istanbul Photo Spots

Istanbul has no shortage of photo spots, and I couldn't photograph them all in the best light during my short visit. As usual, I focused on a few locations and returned several times to get optimal results.

However, I'll not only share the photo locations I ended up photographing, but also the ones I explored during my extensive scouting in the city. Although I took those scouting photos with my cell phone, they will give you a good idea of what to expect at those places.

Galata Bridge

The Galata Bridge was the first photo spot I visited. It's easy to reach from many parts of the city on the blue T1 tram line. You can get off at either side of the bridge and then walk across the bridge to experience some of the best views of the Golden Horn with the various mosques lining its western shore.

I took the title photo for this article from the upper walkway near the center of the bridge. I captured it, pointing my telephoto lens - the Canon RF 100-500 * - toward one of the many mosques northwest of the Halic Bridge. Using a long lens was ideal because of the clear sky, which didn't offer much interest for a photo with a wider lens.

It's why I recommend always bringing a long lens when traveling. In cities like Istanbul, it'll let you pick out details in the skyline that are almost invisible to the naked eye.

Another good viewpoint is at the western end of the bridge. Here you can capture the busy plaza with the Suleymaniye Mosque in the background.

New Mosque

The New Mosque, with its blue domes, is one of Istanbul's most photogenic mosques. It's also free entry if you want to explore the magnificent interior.

A great location to photograph it is from the photo spot at the western end of the Galata Bridge, which I already mentioned above. Just turn around toward the New Mosque. You'll have the road in the foreground, and during blue hour, you can use long exposures to capture beautiful light trails leading toward the mosque.

Promenade between Halic and Galata Bridge

The eastern shore of the Golden Horn, between the Galata and Halic Bridge, offers more beautiful views worth exploring. For one, there's a great spot near the docks, just a few hundred meters from the Galata Bridge, from which you can zoom in on the New Mosque. It is an excellent view during the blue hour when the lights come on.

Just below the Halic bridge, you find a view that includes the bridge leading toward the Suleymaniye Mosque. I didn't have the best conditions for such a wide-angle photo, but the image should still give you an idea of what is possible.

Another interesting perspective is from the metro station on top of the Halic bridge itself. But if you want to capture long exposures there in the evening, you must be aware of the vibrations caused by the metro driving across the bridge every few minutes.

Galata Tower

Theoretically, the Galata Tower is an excellent viewpoint for photography. But in reality, you'll hardly have enough space to take serious photos up there. Every time I visited the area, the queues of people who wanted to get up there were endless. If you plan to climb it, also plan for a wait of at least 30 to 60 minutes.

I wanted to photograph the tower from the street near the Mouette Cafe. The colorful houses on either side and the cobbled road leading toward the tower are beautiful subjects. Since afternoons and evenings are too crowded, you should head there early in the morning.

But mind that delivery vans will be coming in from time to time. I had the bad luck of one van blocking my view for the entire blue hour in the morning. I will at some point try to remove it using Photoshop, but ideally, you want to avoid such obstacles in the first place, so be early.

Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque was one of the main subjects I wanted to photograph during my stay in Istanbul. But only upon arrival did I learned of the ongoing construction in the area. For several years, the renovations of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia have lasted. And the locals told me it will take a few more years until they are completed.

Many of the photos you might see of this area on Google are currently not possible. Among those photos are the ones you can take from the World Heritage Lounge rooftop, the Seven Hills Hotel, the Blue Mosque's entry plaza, and the fountain at Sultan Ahmet Park.

Once the renovation of the Minarets is complete, those photo spots will be worth a visit again.

Hagia Sophia

The Hagia Sophia is undergoing a renovation similar to that of the Blue Mosque, with a similar timeline. The view of the mosque with the fountain in Sultan Ahmet Park in the foreground would be one of the best. But it is currently diminished by scaffolding on some of the Minarets.

Another view worth exploring once the scaffolding comes down in a few years is from the rooftop bar at the Grace restaurant. It is not a place to visit, though, if you are on a budget, as many rooftop bars with a view in Istanbul are. I also can't account for their photography policy. If you are interested in taking photos there, it's best to ask first what is allowed.

With all the views from the outside of the mosque currently obscured in some way or another, up until recently, you were still able to photograph the interior. There's a $30 ticket that lets you explore the upper floor of the mosque, but not the praying room on the lower floor. It is the ticket you would have bought for photography, and might purchase again in a few years. But from videos I've seen over the past weeks, the interior is now also under renovation and the photo I show below is no longer possible.

If you plan a visit, check recent updates to make sure the scaffolding in the interior is removed. For my photo, I visited the mosque in the afternoon at around 4 pm. At that time, you have beautiful light streaming in through the west-facing windows. Tripods are not allowed in the mosque, but with modern cameras and high ISO, you can still capture photos like the one above.

Suleymaniye Mosque

The Suleymaniye Mosque is close to the Grand Bazaar. While I did not visit the interior, I explored the surrounding park and found a beautiful view of Galata. I wasn't able to determine whether there are opening times for this outdoor area. If there aren't, this would be a great spot to photograph during sunrise.

Ortaköy Mosque

Photographing the Büyük Mecidiye Mosque in Besiktas can be a highlight. It is one of Istanbul's most picturesque scenes. But it also draws many other people, even in the morning.

More than that. Every morning, a local photographer and her team take photos of tourists in elaborate gowns. It is a whole production that takes at least 40 minutes before sunrise. Respecting a local's business makes it hard to take photos yourself, especially with a tripod. You'll constantly be in the way of their photos.

If you plan to take photos at Ortaköy, arrive at least one hour before sunrise. You'll have about 15 minutes to take pictures during blue hour. Then, just let them finish their photo shoot and capture some more photos at sunrise. They feed on some pigeons during their shoot, which you can ask them to spook for you, which makes them fly right into your picture.

The best way to get to this photo spot is by Uber in the morning. The tram does not operate before 6 am, so unless you are staying in Besiktas, you'll have to take a cab. On the way back, you can take the bus and then switch to the T1 tram. The bus you'll have to take is the 22 or 22B line. If you are unsure, ask the driver if he'll go all the way to Kabatas, which is where you can switch to the T1.

Büyük Valide Han

I mention this place because I had seen photos from there, taken 10 years ago. There used to be a fantastic rooftop view of the Grand Bazaar and the Nuruosmaniye Mosque. I can save you the time looking for it. The place was no longer safe because of the building's age, so they closed it off.

There's a lovely little cafe inside the building with a decent view toward the New Mosque, but nothing worth photographing.

Istanbul Rooftops

Around the now famous Kubbe-i Aşk, you'll find several rooftop bars offering views of Istanbul's old town with the Bosporus in the background. There are also some other rooftops open just for photo shoots. Those are not simple viewpoints, though. You book a photo shoot there, similar to the one tourists get at Ortaköy - nothing for a serious photographer.

I also skipped the rooftop bars because, from the photos I saw online, none offer a completely unobstructed view, and the prices you pay to dine there are pretty steep. And just heading up to take a photo is out of the question.

Arnavutköy

Using the T1 and the 22 Bus line, you can drive all the way to Arnavutköy. It's a quieter part of Istanbul with old houses and narrow streets climbing a steep hill. You'll want to walk up Beyazgül Street until you arrive at a fantastic view toward the Grand Çamlıca Mosque.

With a bit more time, I would have loved to return and capture a photo around sunset, when the light is more interesting.

Conclusion

Istanbul is a fantastic city for photography, especially if you love photographing mosques. The city has many beautiful buildings, and I only scratched the surface during my five-day visit. As always, plan enough time and explore as much as possible. If you love street photography, you'll find even more photo opportunities than the ones I share in this article.

* Those are Affiliate Links. I get a commission if you buy or book something after clicking on those.

Woodland Photography Tutorial

Michael Breitung — Sat, 25 Oct 2025 24:00:00 GMT

Few landscapes offer as many photographic opportunities as the forest. Few, however, appear as chaotic, and finding suitable compositions usually takes a lot of patience. However, if you can find order in the chaos, you can create captivating woodland photos.

And you usually don't need to travel far for this, which is a significant advantage compared to much other landscape photography. Although forests in Germany are retreating in many places, almost every region still has woodlands worth exploring for subjects. The same is true for many other countries in Europe and around the world. If you have a forest nearby, this article will help you rediscover it through the eyes of a landscape photographer. I show what to look for when exploring the forest, why a cold, wet morning is often the perfect time for photography, and how to capture detailed forest photos with the proper techniques.

Subject and Composition

Finding suitable subjects in the forest isn't easy. Typical mixed forests often appear chaotic, with untidy forest floors that make composing an image difficult. The monotony of coniferous forests doesn't make things much easier either. While they tend to have a bit more order, they often lack trees with character.

Beech forests are generally the easiest places to find good compositions. But even there, you still have to work on your subjects. Always take enough time for forest photography—get to know the forest first, revisit it if possible at different times of day and in other seasons, and don't shy away from exploring on rainy days.

Keep an eye out especially for distinctive trees that stand out from their surroundings. Use these as your main subject to create a clear focal point in the photo. Trees with branches that twist and turn in various directions can be beautifully showcased with a wide-angle lens, helping them stand out from their environment. If you find exposed roots, they can serve as an effective foreground. The branches and roots then form leading lines that draw the viewer into the image, as seen in the photo from Gorbea Natural Park in Spain.

This gnarled beech tree in Gorbea Natural Park stood out strikingly from its surroundings. One of its branches stretches far forward over the camera, creating an especially dynamic perspective at 16mm. The rainy weather and mist also lend the photo a mystical atmosphere.

You won't always find trees that can carry a photo on their own. In many forest images, the challenge is to arrange several trees harmoniously. Look for shapes in the trees that repeat themselves from the foreground through the midground to the background, and try to give the trees enough space to breathe.

If the forest is too dense, this becomes almost impossible. Only paths and streams winding through the thicket can help you bring some order into your compositions then. Flowing water, in particular, can create a beautiful contrast with the surrounding vegetation, especially if you experiment with longer exposure times to soften the details of the environment. However, try to preserve some texture in the water so the contrast with the forest floor doesn't become too strong.

And that brings us straight to the topic of contrasts. You can use them to emphasize your main subject and to create depth. Areas with strong contrast naturally draw the viewer's eye, which is why you should avoid having too many of them in one forest photo. Too much contrast makes it harder to guide the viewer's gaze and adds to the sense of chaos.

That's also why it isn't easy to take convincing forest photos on sunny days. Direct sunlight produces very harsh contrasts in the image. It's better to photograph early in the morning or late in the evening when the sun is lower and casts much softer shadows. Especially when shooting against the light, your forest photos gain dimension and depth. Alternatively, you can work with reflected light, which works particularly well in the mountains where direct sunlight is often blocked.

In this photo from the Enchanted Forest near Hintersee, water and light shape the composition. The stream leads the viewer from the lower right into the center of the image, where the low sun shines through the leaves. It creates a strong focal point that holds the viewer's attention within the photo.

Another thing to watch out for when composing woodland photos is the sky. Try to include as little of it as possible in your frame. The areas where the sky shines through leaves and branches tend to produce the strongest contrasts in the image. These bright spots distract from your main subject and disrupt the composition. This problem is particularly pronounced when shooting with a wide-angle lens, as it's challenging to find a framing that excludes the sky. Dense canopies or ravines can help, as can fog.

What you can do yourself is work with longer focal lengths. Step back from your subject and zoom in. The narrower framing will automatically reduce the amount of sky in your photo. It also helps simplify the composition and can even allow you to exclude the forest floor entirely. The vertical lines formed by the trees bring a sense of order to the image. If you can find a tree that stands out with a different shape, you have the perfect recipe for an interesting forest photo.

For this photo from the German Rhön, I used a telephoto lens. The ground around this tree was very chaotic, so the decision was easy: zooming to 116mm to focus entirely on the middle section of the tree in the foreground, which, with its twisted branches, looks almost like a creature from a fantasy film.

Another approach you can use when searching for compositions is to look upward. When photographing with a wide-angle lens as the Canon 15-35mm f/2.8 *, this creates a strong vanishing point in the image. While the frame does include the sky, it now appears through the canopy at the center of the photo, drawing the viewer's gaze into the image rather than out of it. Such photos work best on foggy days, as shown in the example from Colombia.

It wasn't easy to find an orderly composition in this Colombian forest. Dense undergrowth covered the forest floor. However, when looking upward, a tunnel effect emerged—the trees, the ferns, the branches—all pointed toward the center of the image.

Looking down can also be rewarding. Occasionally, you'll find beautiful still lifes right at your feet. Ideally, you'll have a macro lens with you for such opportunities. Still, even with a regular lens, you can capture interesting images if you move in close to the minimum focusing distance.

I captured this photo on a cold autumn morning. The trees had already shed their leaves, and the light wasn't ideal for forest photography—the contrasts between the forest and the sky were too strong. On the forest floor, however, there was plenty to discover.

Light and Weather

As you've probably noticed while looking through the photos in this article, one particular weather phenomenon keeps appearing: fog. It can do wonders for your forest photography. Fog creates depth, softens contrasts, and adds a mystical atmosphere. Even in mixed and coniferous forests, a foggy day can suddenly reveal photo opportunities.

Fog forms when the air cools and humidity rises. Once the air is saturated with the maximum amount of water vapor it can hold, tiny water droplets form—what we see as fog. Two key indicators help predict fog: the dew point and relative humidity.

When the air temperature drops to the dew point, humidity reaches 100%, and fog begins to form. But keep an eye on the wind, too. Too much wind not only makes photographing in the forest difficult—and sometimes dangerous—but also leads to much less stable fog conditions.

In Germany, you'll have the best chances for fog in autumn and spring. During these seasons, it often rains, and the forest floor absorbs plenty of moisture. At this point, watch the weather forecast for cold, clear nights. The goal is a day with a temperature below the dew point. Clear nights favor this, as the ground's heat radiation can escape into the sky without being reflected by clouds, cooling the air near the ground even faster. This effect is more noticeable in open areas than in the forest itself, but since forests often border meadows or bodies of water, fog frequently drifts in from those areas.

Like fog, rain creates a hazy atmosphere. It's not as dense as fog, and visibility in the forest remains greater, but depending on the strength of the rain, distant details gradually fade. So don't shy away from rainy days—use them to photograph in the forest; it's worth it. You might even capture that magical moment when the rain stops and the sun breaks through the clouds. The same can happen on foggy days—moments of light that transform the mood of the forest entirely.

Here, I photographed the same subject twice on a foggy morning. Yet the mood is entirely different in the right photo, because there's not only fog but also light. Capturing the interplay of light and fog in a forest is something truly special—and it's always worth heading out again and again for such moments.

Winter, too, offers spectacular opportunities for forest photography. Especially in higher, more exposed areas where wind drives snow and ice into the forest, scenes straight out of a fairy tale can appear. A thick blanket of snow simplifies composition by covering the often chaotic forest floor.

At the same time, snow wraps the trees in white, creating a monochromatic color palette and softening contrasts. In this case, the colder, the better: prolonged frost causes branches to freeze and ice crystals to form on the bark. Even simple, unremarkable forests gain a remarkable photogenic quality under these conditions.

Ice and snow define this forest photo from Großer Arber. The muted, monochromatic colors reduce the image entirely to shapes and structures. The snow-covered forest floor appears clean and orderly.

Equipment

As in landscape photography in general, a tripod helps capture shake-free images even in the darker light conditions of morning and evening. Because forest floors are often soft, it can be advantageous to use a tripod with spikes that sink slightly into the ground, providing greater stability.

A remote shutter release is also useful. It lets you step away from the tripod before triggering the shot. Standing too close can cause the tripod to wobble on soft ground, resulting in slightly blurred images. Alternatively, you can use the camera's built-in self-timer.

And since, as you've already learned, a wet forest is ideal for capturing the best photos, it's worth bringing a polarizing filter. It helps control reflections on wet surfaces and enhances colors. One very flexible option is the magnetic polarizing filter from Kase, which eliminates the need for screwing the filter on and off.

Technique

When you're out in your favorite forest under perfect conditions, your photography shouldn't be limited by technical challenges. Photography is most enjoyable when you don't have to focus too much on camera settings and can instead concentrate fully on your surroundings and your subject. That's why it's helpful to adopt routines that ensure you capture your magical forest photos in the highest quality.

A lot of time can be lost trying to find the focus point that keeps both foreground and background sharp. While hyperfocal distance can help, who carries a meter to set it precisely? So don't stress—use focus stacking instead. Take two to four shots with different focus points and, back at home, either select the photo with the appropriate depth of field or blend multiple images for consistently sharp results. With modern cameras, use the automatic focus bracketing feature to capture a focus sequence in rapid succession, which makes editing later easier. It requires software such as Photoshop or GIMP that supports layers and masks. When focus stacking, use medium apertures (f/8–f/13) to avoid diffraction blur.

Another area not to worry too much about is perfect exposure. Even on foggy days, a scene's dynamic range can exceed your camera's capabilities. You can try to set optimal exposure using the live histogram, but often this is just a compromise. Don't settle—use exposure bracketing (-2, 0, +2 EV) and delete redundant shots later rather than discovering you're missing key details.

If you want to combine focus stacking and exposure blending, use the following technique:

Capture a focus stacking sequence from foreground to background.
Focus on the background and capture three bracketed exposures.

You don't need to capture bracketed photos for every image in the focus stack, since the high-dynamic-range areas are usually in the background.

For the best image quality, use low ISO settings, which may result in slightly longer exposures depending on the lighting. On calm days, this isn't an issue. On windy days, however, make it a habit also to take shots at higher ISO values to freeze movement in the leaves. Modern cameras produce very clean images even at ISO 800. With Lightroom's new AI noise reduction or DXO PureRAW - free 14-day trial here * -, you can get clean photos even at ISO 1600 or higher.

Just like with focus stacking and exposure bracketing, you can blend images taken at different ISO values—use the shorter exposures for the foliage and the longer ones for the forest floor.

This approach naturally yields many photos on location. If the workflow becomes routine, it barely distracts from the creative aspects of photography. And you can be confident that no pieces of the puzzle for your perfect forest photo are missing. As mentioned earlier, you may not need all the exposures in the end— select the best ones at home. In my Woodland Photo Editing tutorial, I show how to combine all the pieces.

I took this photo on a windy morning. To get a sharp image I had to combine focus stacking with blending of some high-ISO photos to freeze motion in the leaves.

In addition to camera settings, it's essential to watch out for converging lines when photographing in the forest. Try to keep the camera level to avoid them—your photos will look more professional if the trees appear straight in the frame. If you need to tilt the camera up or down to get the right composition, leave some space at the edges so you can correct the perspective during post-processing. As always in photography, there are exceptions: the photo from Colombia, shot looking upward, benefits precisely from the perspective created by the converging lines.

Photo Editing

The dreamy look in forest photos depends mainly on the right light and weather conditions. In post-processing, you can further enhance this effect. The key is working with the image's contrasts and colors. Avoid increasing global contrast too much; instead, apply selective accents to the areas you want the viewer’s eye to follow.

Pay particular attention to the dark areas of your photo - try to preserve detail and avoid letting them turn completely black. The same applies to the highlights. Use different exposures from a bracketed series to control the brightest parts of the image. Naturally, a photo can include white areas, but they shouldn’t dominate the frame.

Colors also play a significant role in setting the mood of your forest images. Adjusting the white balance can make a photo cooler, creating a gloomy, cold-morning atmosphere, or warmer, emphasizing the light.

For focus stacking, you have several options, which I explain in detail in this article about focus stacking for landscape photos.

If you also captured shots at different ISO values, layer masks can again help to selectively incorporate areas where you want to freeze movement in leaves and branches. Paint on a black mask with a 100% white brush with slightly soft edges. I show this technique in my detailed photo editing tutorial.

Of course, you don’t always need multiple exposures to blend. Focus stacking isn’t necessary if you want to use blur creatively in your photo. Especially with telephoto shots, reducing background detail can further emphasize your main subject. Bracketed exposures are becoming less necessary with modern cameras, but I still recommend them for achieving the best quality.

Often, you won’t even need Photoshop or GIMP then; Lightroom or another RAW converter can handle your adjustments. Again, watch your contrast—avoid pushing the black and white points to the extremes in the histogram. Use selective adjustments to guide the viewer’s eye, and a vignette can also be helpful.

Donegal Landscape Photography Guide

Michael Breitung — Sat, 14 Dec 2024 24:00:00 GMT

In this landscape photography guide, I share the most spectacular photo locations in County Donegal in the north of Ireland. I include both seascape and landscape photography spots.

Donegal is known for its rugged coastline, dramatic cliffs, and wild landscapes. It offers some of Europe's best landscape photography opportunities, from Malin Head in the north to the Slieve League mountains in the south. In this article, I cover the following photography locations:

Muckross Head
Sturrall Ridge
An Port
Maghera Beach
Slieve League
Malin Head
Fanad Head
Great Pollet Arch
The Devil's Backbone
Portsalon Beach
Murder Hole Beach
Crohy Head
Dunlewey Church
Mount Errigal

Why Donegal is Great for Landscape Photography

Donegal is home to some of the most spectacular European seascapes, many of which you'll still have for yourself during sunrise and sunset. It has become a rarity in many parts of the world. Yet, Ireland and Donegal, in particular, provide such an abundance of photo spots that it doesn't get too crowded during a photo shoot.

There are places like Fanad Head Lighthouse or Crohy Head where you will sometimes meet other photographers. However, there are usually many different angles and compositions to explore at those locations, so you can still express your artistic vision.

Another reason to visit Donegal is its mountains. Those aren't the highest mountains in Ireland, but they offer fantastic views. And if you're up for an adventure, you'll even find spots that have yet to be photographed.

To do so and make the most out of a visit to Donegal, you should plan enough time. I recently spent two weeks exploring it, and it never got boring. I advise staying at least one week to experience Donegal's raw beauty.

When To Visit

People say that in Ireland, you can get four different seasons in a single day. And from my experience, this is true. And it doesn't matter when you visit. While Summer provides the highest temperatures with up to 18°C in Donegal, even then, you'll usually get a lot of rain. For Donegal, that means between 12 and 15 days of rain per month.

The good thing is that you don't need sunny weather for photography. On the contrary, if it's stormy and the weather is unpredictable, this can lead to spectacular photos. It's one of the reasons you shouldn't shy away from visiting Donegal in autumn, spring, or even winter. The conditions can be harsh, but your photography will benefit.

During those times, it's also less crowded than during summer, and the prices for an Airbnb or cottage are more affordable.

My last visit to Donegal was in September. It provided a great mix of weather with winds up to 80km/h that had the sea raging. The days were also still sufficiently long to cover enough ground. Later in the year, the days can get relatively short, and you should factor this in if you want to do hiking and scouting during the day. If you want to experience coastal flowers and bloom in areas like the Poisoned Glen, late spring or early summer might be a better fit. For the heather season, you have to come in Summer. Donegal is full of heather, which must look fantastic in bloom. I missed it by just a few weeks.

How To Travel to Donegal

Getting to Donegal is easy. If you travel internationally, you fly to Dublin and rent a car there. In three to four hours, you can drive up to Donegal. Just be aware that in Ireland, like in the UK, you must drive on the left side of the road. If this is your first time doing it, it'll take a few kilometers to get used to. But don't be afraid of it. Many roads in Donegal are so narrow that there is little difference anyway.

Where To Stay

Driving from the south-western end of Donegal to its north-eastern point can take up to three hours. That's why staying in a single place is only ideal if you don't mind spending much time in the car. The photo spots I share below are distributed across all of Donegal, with a few hot spots.

The Fanad Peninsula or the area close to it is a great location to make your home base. Up there, you'll find endless photo opportunities within a one-hour radius. I stayed in a cottage in Portsalon for one week, which I had rented from Shamrock Cottages. I recommend their service. If you're looking for a cottage to rent in Ireland, you'll find the most extensive selection on their website. Alternatively, you can also explore what Airbnb and Booking.com* have to offer.

To explore the south-west between Slieve League and Crohy head, Glencolumbkille is a great starting place. From there, you have locations like the Sturral Ridge in walking distance and many other interesting photo spots within a one-hour driving distance.

Donegal Photo Spots

The list of landscape and seascape photo locations in Donegal is long. It took me two visits to Donegal, with a total of 17 days, to photograph them all. Everything else would have been a rush because the unpredictable Irish weather did not provide the right conditions every day.

Keep this in mind when planning your trip. There will be days when you won't be able to take a photo because of the weather. Thankfully, Donegal has some great pubs for those rainy days.

Muckross Head

The first photo spot you should visit is Muckross Head in southern Donegal. It lies close to the Slieve League, a 45-minute drive from Donegal town. From the parking area, you can either head straight down to the rock shelf to explore or walk along the top of the cliffs until you reach an area of fissured rocks that make a great foreground.

You can photograph from there during any tidal conditions. On low tide, you can also explore at the bottom of the cliff. However, regarding the subject matter, the sharp rocks at the top are where you want to be for sunset.

Sturrall Ridge

While it's possible to hike along the Sturrall Ridge, the strong winds at this exposed stretch of coastline make it a bit treacherous for photography. You'll have a much easier time photographing the Sturrall Ridge from the south.

You can park close to Glencolumbkille and follow the path up the mountain toward an old watch tower, which you can reach in about 20 minutes. From the tower, head northward toward the cliff's edge to experience the spectacular view of the Sturrall Ridge.

This location should work both during sunrise and sunset. Because of the weather, I didn't return after my midday scouting mission, though. I went to another close viewpoint. Follow the road through Glencolumbkille for about one kilometer. There's a bend in the road where you can park your car and head down to the coast to photograph the view in the image above.

An Port

The drive toward An Port can be stressful because it's a single-lane road for most of the time. And if there's oncoming traffic, you'll often have to reverse toward one of the broader areas of the road.

However, driving to An Port is worth the effort. You can hike straight up the hill on the right from the parking area for some spectacular views. The only difficulty is finding foreground interest. The heather had already faded during my visit, and it was hard to find a good composition. I also didn't bring enough time to explore further up the coast where you can find further sea stacks.

So, learn from my mistake and be there at least two hours before sunset to find the best vantage point.

Maghera Beach

If you have an evening with low tide during your visit, head to Maghera Beach. The patterns and tidal pools blew me away during my midday visit. During a brief moment of light, I took a photo that gives you an idea of Maghera's beauty. Imagine how this must look with a colorful sky reflected on the beach.

Slieve League

I have visited the cliffs at Slieve League twice and have yet to get a photo I like. It's challenging to photograph because the lay of the land mandates a spectacular sky with dramatic clouds. Otherwise, the mountains will weigh too heavily in the right part of the photo. Another problem you'll face up there is the wind. You'll have to lean heavily on your tripod to keep it stable and use high ISO to freeze the foreground.

Follow the little footpath up the mountain from the Sliabh Liag Viewing Platform for the best vantage point. The platform itself offers lovely views but no foreground interest. You'll find it further up as you can see in the cell phone photo I took during scouting.

Malin Head

One of the most photogenic places in Donegal is Malin Head, the northernmost point of Ireland. When you visit, park away from the main parking area; head to this spot for fast access. It's just a five-minute walk up the hill to the viewpoint from which I took the title photo of this article.

Because I had a few days in the area, I went back another day for a night photo, which also works in addition to sunset.

Fanad Head

One of the most popular photo spots in all of Ireland is Fanad Head Lighthouse. And for good reason. It's one of the most beautiful lighthouses in Europe, and thanks to the cliffs surrounding it, you can find many different compositions.

The best time to photograph the lighthouse is in the morning of a stormy day. This place looks best with a huge swell and crashing waves. But be careful on the rocks and do a scouting trip during the daytime first so you don't stumble around the cliffs in the dark.

If you have time in the area, you can also add a trip to Arryheerna Beach south of Fanad Head. You'll have a great view of the lighthouse from there if access is still allowed when you visit.

Great Pollet Arch

This place was still a hidden gem during my first visit to Donegal. Now, there's an official car park and a broad path toward the arch. It's just 15 minutes south of Fanad Head and an ideal location for sunrise.

Make sure to check the tides before you go. A medium tide with a good swell is ideal for photographing the arch from the rocks in front of it. If the tide is too low, you'll lose foreground interest because there will be little water to create separation between the rocks. And a high tide will prevent you from accessing the stones you see in my photo here.

The Devil's Backbone

I'm sure most of you haven't heard of this location. I didn't know about The Devil's Backbone or Knockalla Ridge when I planned my trip to Donegal.

Because I had one week on the Fanad peninsula, I wanted to see what else it offered next to Fanad Lighthouse and the Great Pollet Arch. So I studied the maps and found this little mountain range with a lake at the top.

Getting up there is simple. Park your car here and hike straight up toward the lake. Then, follow the ridge on the right to several viewpoints. When I went up there, I had to battle 80km/h winds, which made photography challenging. But eventually, the sun broke through the clouds and delivered a fantastic light show.

Portsalon Beach

As Portsalon was my home base on the Fanad Peninsula, I also explored the local beach. Toward its southern end, dunes and rocks provide interesting foregrounds when photographing in the direction of Dunree Head during sunrise.

Murder Hole Beach

When I first visited Boyeeghter Bay, aka Murder Hole Beach, in 2012, it wasn't popular. I only knew about it from the homepage of a local photographer who had been there and shared his photo. Back then, I could park on the road and walk straight through some meadows to the beach.

But times have changed. Direct access is now forbidden; you must park at the nearby caravan park. From there, it's a 30-minute walk to the beach. It would be alright if they had reasonable opening times for the car park. But when I was there, it closed at 8 pm, which made photographing the sunset impossible, because with closing I mean you won't be able to leave with your car afterward. So I didn't return to the beach. Thankfully, I had already taken a spectacular photo during my first visit.

However, to avoid the restrictions of car park opening hours, you can take the longer hike from Tranarossan Bay and follow the path over Crocknasleigh Mountain. I haven't done the hike, so do your research when planning your visit.

Crohy Head

The Crohy Head sea arch is one of Donegal's most spectacular photo subjects. During high tide, you can photograph it up from the cliffs; during low tide, you can head down to the shore and photograph the towering sea stacks from below.

It's also easy to get to, contrary to what you might have read in other articles. First of all, the parking area on the road is wide enough to accommodate three cars while still allowing space for others to drive by.

The climb down to the shore is also relatively easy. Just the last few meters require additional care, especially if wet. If the tide is in, you'll be confined to the rocks at the bottom of the climb. On low tide, you can explore around the rocks to the left and right. If the incoming tide cuts you off, it can get very uncomfortable.

Dunlewey Church

The Old Church of Dunlewey is a place where you can take photographs at any time of the day. The only thing you need is some moody clouds to emphasize the medieval feel of the scenery. You can park your car at the road behind the church and photograph it from the west.

Mount Errigal

It took me less than 45 minutes to hike from the road to the top of Mount Errigal. After waiting out two rain showers, I was rewarded with the view in the photo above. It shows Lough Nacung and Dunlewey Lough during sunset. It's one of many photography options you have up there. If you head up during sunrise, you'll have an equally spectacular view toward the east. And the mountains to the south are great for photography with a telephoto lens like the Canon RF 100-500, for example.

Other Photography Locations

Temple Arch Horn Head

Marked as the "Marble (Temple Arch) Viewpoint" on Google Maps, this is one of the few spots that eluded me during my visits to Donegal. Had I known its name, it would have been much easier to plan a visit. However, the photos I had seen of it were named Horn Head, which is misleading, as I learned when hiking around Horn Head. The views around Horn Head are also spectacular but far from as photogenic as the Marble Arch.

Once I realized that Horn Head was the wrong location, I drove to this little farm to hike through the meadows. I wanted to ask for directions there. But the only ones at home when I arrived were a pack of very protective dogs that didn't let me get out of the car. So I left without a photo and the hope to return someday.

Tory Island

Another place I have yet to go to is Tory Island. If you do a Google search on it, you'll know why I had to mention it in this article. If you can plan a night on the island, you'll be able to photograph some spectacular rock walls and sea stacks.

Mullaghmore

Although Mullaghmore Castle is not in Donegal but part of the adjacent County Sligo, I must include it here. It's a fantastic photo subject. Just park your car on the road and head down to this cove. Alternatively, you can walk up the grassy hill a few 100 meters north to get a more downward perspective with Ben Bulben towering behind the castle.

Conclusion

As you've seen in this article, there's no shortage of excellent photo spots in Donegal. There's something to photograph in nearly any kind of weather. So don't let yourself get stopped by foul weather because the conditions can change quickly. The most important lesson I learned in Donegal is that you have to be in it to win it. Sometimes, the light only lasts for a short time, and if you aren't already on location, you might have lost the opportunity to take a great photo.

* Those are Affiliate Links. I get a commission if you buy or book something after clicking on those.

5 Tips for a Fast Website - SEO for Photographers

Michael Breitung — Sat, 17 Aug 2024 24:00:00 GMT

In this article, I share my favorite tips for creating a fast and optimized website.

Over the last ten years, I gradually improved my homepage, which I built from scratch. During that time, I focused on performance and search engine optimization, abbreviated as SEO. I made many mistakes along the way, but in the last two years, I've arrived at a result that puts my homepage ahead of most of its competition regarding speed.

Many photography websites are slow. I experience it when visiting other photographer's websites on my cellphone. If I'm lucky, it takes only five seconds until I can start navigating through those sites. Quite often, I'm still waiting for the homepages to become responsive after 10 seconds if I didn't leave before that.

There are various reasons for that, and we'll explore several in this article. I cover:

Hosting for Good SEO
How Understanding Who Your Visitors Are Helps
The Importance of Optimized Content
Lazy Loading
Caching Options

What I want to emphasize at the beginning is that speed matters. If you want to keep visitors on your website and make conversions - turning them into customers - you need a fast website. It's the foundation of SEO.

Chose the Right Hosting Solution

Page Speed Insights by Google is an essential tool for checking the performance and SEO of your website. Once you have enough monthly traffic, you'll see the "Core Web Vitals Assessment" based on the loading times that real visitors experience. You also get a speed report from a headless browser running in the cloud. Use it together with the Web Vitals to find performance bottlenecks.

If you want to take it a step further, you can use the free tool by EXPERTE.com to bulk test all the pages of your website. This way, you get a report for your complete offering. PageSpeed Insights only allows you to check one page at a time.

Looking at the numbers on my homepage, it seems everything is fine. But is it? A bottleneck puts me at a disadvantage right at the beginning. Imagine starting at a 100-meter race and missing the start by 1.2 seconds. It's what the "Time to First Byte" shows for my homepage. Such a long delay makes passing the Web Vitals Assessment difficult. The first bytes arriving are just the start of the race. There's more data required for a homepage to render - the "First Contentful Paint". Google considers 1.8 seconds a good time for the "First Contentful Paint". A low TTFB will give you more headroom when designing your website. If you have a high value, as I have, you can't make any mistakes.

How can you get the Time to First Byte down? One step is choosing a fast host. Shared hosting solutions are usually cheaper than dedicated servers. They are also slower because you share the performance of a server with other websites. And guess what: I use a shared hosting solution. I can do so because I balance the performance deficit with a highly optimized website. And I also get a lot of other features that would be expensive in a dedicated server setup.

Another way to reduce the TTFB is using a content delivery network - short CDN. I live in Germany, and my hosting provider is also based here. Since most of my visitors come from overseas, a CDN might improve the initial delay of my website. But this will not always work. Analyze your traffic first. Find out where your visitors are located. Then, measure the performance of your website before starting to use a CDN and after using it for one or two months. Make no other changes during that period. Then you can decide afterward if it's a good investment.

Less is More

We all want to show our visitors detailed high-resolution photos that look great on their 4k displays. We want our images to look as good as possible. But do you know how many of your visitors use high-resolution displays?

The numbers from Google Analytics show that most of my visitors use screens up to full HD resolution. My homepage is optimized to look great for that. And unless someone is using a very large screen, it will still look good. If I were to serve images in 4k resolution, the biggest effect this would have would be making my homepage slow to load.

As with the first tip, a big takeaway is to know who your visitors are and what technology they use. Based on that, you can decide which image sizes you should serve.

There are more savings you can achieve. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

Do you need that custom font?
Do you need this large icon library for which you only use a few icons?
Can you achieve a similar look with less CSS? Is an external library/plugin required for it?
Does this WordPress Plugin add value to your website or make it slower?
Do you need that many photos? Could you reduce the number and show only your best work?

My homepage is designed in a minimalistic way. It might not be to everybody's taste, but it made it easy to keep the performance up despite its features: I have a WooCommerce shop, a WordPress blog, many galleries, and several tutorial pages with video content.

Optimized Content

One of the biggest wins for any photography homepage comes from serving optimized images. You don't need a 100% quality setting when saving JPEGs for the web. I often use values between 50 and 60%. Can you tell? There are also more modern image formats like WebP, which are well supported now. Do some experiments and see how far you can compress your images without a visible degradation in quality.

An even bigger win comes from serving responsive images. As you've seen above, the screen resolution of the devices on which your website is viewed varies a lot. Save your photos in different resolutions so the correct size is loaded. A mobile browser can load smaller images, which makes your homepage faster.

You can also optimize other resources. A rule of thumb is to reduce the number of requests a browser has to make to load your website. If you have many scripts and CSS files, each is downloaded separately. Try to concatenate them. If you're not a web developer and don't have someone to help you, you'll find plugins for it. It would be a use-case where a plugin can add value by making your website faster.

Lazy Loading

Lazy loading is a big topic, and I can only scratch the surface here. Ideally, your website should load as little non-visible content as possible. Think of a long vertical layout with many images, of which most only become visible if a visitor scrolls downward. Those should only be loaded when they appear on the screen. Use the "loading" attribute for images and iframes to achieve this.

If you have a gallery on your website, make sure it applies lazy-loading strategies. Page Speed Insights will tell you if it does not.

You should also avoid a big mistake: Setting on-screen content to load lazily while some off-screen content is not marked that way. Think of a footer containing several images. If you now mark your header image to load lazily, a browser will first load the footer images and delay the "Largest Contentful Paint". Scroll to the end of this article to see a few social media buttons. Initially, I had forgotten to lazy-load those, while all other images in my blog were lazy-loaded.

I also want to share the last optimization I made to my homepage. I'm using Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics. For a long time, I loaded those scripts immediately. I thought it was required for correct analytics. But to be honest, I only care about the visitors who stay on my homepage for more than two or three seconds. That's why I now defer the execution of the Google Tag Manager. For my homepage, it was a big win. You'll see the potential such a step has for yours in Page Speed Insights.

Caching

I already mentioned that I use a shared hosting solution. It means I share my server's resources. So, the fewer tasks my server has to do to serve my homepage, the better. Setting up proper caching is essential for that. The lowest-hanging fruit is setting up a caching policy for your content. This can be done via the ".htaccess" file, where you specify how long different types of content are cached on a visitor's system. Repeated visits will then be faster.

But this doesn't help one-time visitors. Here, you have other options. If you use WordPress, your server has to work for every page somebody visits on your website. You can remove this processing time through a plugin like WP Super Cache.

There are other options that, in addition to the caching on your server, include a CDN solution. It might be something to explore if you have many visitors from different parts of the world to where your server is located.

Conclusion

I'd call having a fast website the foundation of any SEO strategy you want to apply. From my experience, it's not the most crucial factor in getting clicks. But it is hard to compete in the Google Top 10 without it. It also doesn't cost you any time once you've set it up, while other SEO tasks require continuous effort. In the video below, I share some of those tasks. Combined with a fast website, the tips from that video will get you to the top of Google Search.

Fuerteventura Landscape Photography Guide

Michael Breitung — Mon, 17 Jun 2024 24:00:00 GMT

In this Fuerteventura Landscape Photography Guide, I show you the best photo spots on the island. You'll learn that Fuerteventura is a prime photo travel destination among the Canary Islands.

Here's a list of photo locations I cover:

Faro de Toston
Playa del Castillo
Los Molinos
Playa la Solapa
Mirador Astronómico de Sicasumbre
El Castillo
La Pared
Jandia View
Pico de la Zara
Playa de Cofete
Punta Pesebre

Why Fuerteventura Is Great for Landscape Photography

But first, let's answer an important question: Why should you visit Fuerteventura for photography? Tenerife and Gran Canaria are without a doubt more popular among landscape photographers. The landscapes there have been photographed a lot, and you'll find many examples of what you can capture on those islands on social media—but not so for Fuerteventura.

I found Fuerteventura to be a place full of photographic potential. But when I first started planning my trip there, I couldn't find much information about the best photography options. The two weeks I spent on the island were full of photography, though. And the best thing about it was the solitude on all my photo shoots. Except for one evening, I was always the only photographer on location.

This will change in the coming years as more and more photographers discover Fuerteventura's raw beauty. So it's best not to wait too long for your visit.

When To Visit

I visited Fuerteventura in April. With temperatures between 20°C and 25°C the climate was perfect for photography, and although I encountered a few days of Calima, I had plenty of great light.

While you can visit Fuerteventura year-round, I'd avoid the busy summer months. Most of the places I visited were relatively empty and it also wasn't too hard to find affordable apartments. During high season, this might be the case.

How To Travel to Fuerteventura

A visit to Fuerteventura requires a flight from the European mainland or the other Canary Islands. You can also do island hopping and use a ferry to visit several Canary Islands. Most of the flights are direct flights and take less than four hours. You'll also find many budget options.

Once you arrive in Fuerteventura, you'll need a ride. I rented an SUV from CICAR. They offer payment on arrival, free cancellation, and insurance without excess at a competitive price. As with all the car rental agencies on the island, you'll not have insurance coverage on unsealed roads. So, drive extra carefully once you leave the main roads.

Where to Stay

You'll find many large hotels in Fuerteventura. But those might not be the best places to stay for photographers. I prefer to find apartments as home bases for my photography tours. If you spent more than one week on the island, I'd advise you to split your itinerary into north and south. The South has more to offer and you should focus most of your time there. But don't skip the north.

Because it requires more than one hour of driving to get across the island, I initially stayed for eight days in a beautiful Airbnb near Costa Calma. It's the perfect starting point for exploring the southern part of the island with good infrastructure nearby. In Costa Calma, you'll find a petrol station, several supermarkets, and various restaurants. One of the most beautiful beaches on the island, Playa de Sotavento, is within walking distance.

Afterward, I headed to El Cotillo for another five days. It's the prime photography destination in the north of Fuerteventura. I again rented a beautiful apartment within walking distance of the local beaches. The accommodations I chose cost around 100 Euros per night. You can certainly find cheaper lodging. But I was traveling with my girlfriend and we didn't want to compromise comfort or location.

In El Cotillo, you'll again find all you need, including a SuperDino supermarket and some great restaurants. If you are vegan, you'll enjoy the Happy Cactus. For a great fish dish, head to El Roque and get the catch of the day. The next petrol station is a short drive away in La Oliva.

Fuerteventura Photo Spots

I already mentioned that the south of the island has more to offer for photography. This contradicts the typical Instagram photo guides you find on Google. The dunes near Corralejo are usually the main attraction they mention. I spent several hours walking those dunes, but couldn't find a great photo spot. They are beautiful, don't get me wrong. However, finding a photogenic location in this area is difficult. I'd say if you want to get a great photo of the Corralejo dunes, bring a drone.

The volcanos of the north are a similar story. They pale photographically compared to the peaks of the Jandia National Park in the south. I did some exploratory hikes in the north, but the views didn't blow me away like the ones I had already enjoyed while visiting the south part of the island.

The great photo locations I found in the north, were all close to El Cotillo. So let's start with them.

Faro de Toston

If you like to photograph lighthouses, you'll love Faro de Toston. Situated on the northwestern tip of the island, it's the perfect place to visit for sunset. Head to the Piscinas naturales de Playa de los Charcos to find the best foreground. Try to plan your visit around low tide as I explain in my Seascape Photography Guide. All you need is some golden light to capture a beautiful photo. But if you don't get it, stick around for the Blue Hour to capture a moody image of the lighthouse.

Playa del Castillo

A short walk south of El Cotillo, you'll find a spectacular coastline. The cliffs at Playa del Castillo offer expansive views along the wild beaches of the area with golden hills rising in the distance. This photo location works for sunset, sunrise, and night photography. If you stay in El Cotillo, it'll provide many options.

You'll also find many interesting rocks down at the beach. Spend time around low tide to find the best compositions to capture dramatic seascapes. Or use the long lens to photograph kite surfers braving the waves.

Los Molinos

A 45-minute drive south of El Cotillo lies the town of Los Molinos. The village itself is already a beautiful photo spot. But walking along the cliffs southward for 20 minutes brings you to an even better photo location. Puerto de la Cruz, Los Molinos is a fantastic viewpoint. I didn't have the right conditions to photograph this area during my visit. But with dramatic clouds and high waves, this rugged coast should be an awesome place to spend the evening.

Playa la Solapa

The next photo spot on the west coast of Fuerteventura is Playa la Solapa. A mix of dark and golden sand together with dark rocks is what makes this beach unique. Come here for sunset close to low tide to find the most photographic potential. The drive is easy with just the last kilometers being unpaved roads.

Mirador Astronómico de Sicasumbre

Maybe the most popular viewpoint in the south is the Mirador Astronómico. It's a great location for night photography. Use apps like PlanIt to check when the Milky Way is rising in the south. It's a good time to photograph light trails along the road leading to the viewpoint.

The moon interfered with this plan for me, though. But walking past the mirador, I found an even better view. It'll take you between 10 and 15 minutes of walking westward and climbing a steep hill to encounter the view I show above. During sunrise, you can photograph the golden rolling hills characteristic of this area.

El Castillo

One of the more challenging photo spots to reach is the view beneath El Castillo. From the parking area, it's a steep climb. If you plan to hike up there, bring hiking poles. Those will come in handy, especially during the descent.

To get to the photo spot, follow the trail toward the Ermita Virgen del Tanquito. On OpenStreetMap, you'll see that the trail toward El Castillo and the Cardon massif continues straight up the mountain from this spot. After a few 100 meters, there's not much of a trail to follow anymore, so you'll need some path-finding skills. It shouldn't be a problem for experienced hikers who have spent time in the mountains. If you don't feel comfortable on loose rock, you might rather want to pick one of the other photo locations in this guide.

If you head up, bring a lens that covers the range between 24mm and 105mm. My photo was taken with the Canon RF 50mm STM lens.

La Pared

The cliffs and beaches at La Pared are a must-visit location. And they are easy to get to. You can park your car nearly on location and there's not much walking required to get to the best views. I'd still recommend planning for at least one hour to explore the area. There are so many possible compositions and you should not be in a rush if you want to find the best ones.

Although the classic view is toward the Jandia peninsula, I settled on a north-facing composition during my visit. The wave action in this cove was too good to be missed, although the sky toward the west was burning and I have only a hint of that color in my photo.

Jandia View

Rocks, dunes, mountains, and the sea: It's what makes the view above special. It's located close to Playa Larga, and you'll find tours heading there in 4x4 jeeps. Thankfully, those tours usually leave well before sunset. You'll mostly have the view for yourself if you do the six-kilometer hike. The road leading there is not made for rental cars and you should rather park here and walk. The hike is easy and can be done in less than 90 minutes.

Pico de la Zara

Another photo spot that requires a six-kilometer hike is Pico de la Zara. This time, you'll have to climb a mountain though. It took me nearly 90 minutes to get up from the parking area. The trail is wide and well-marked, so it was easy to do before sunrise. Your efforts will be rewarded with the view from the title photo of this article.

If you head up there before sunrise, you might get lucky encountering deep clouds like I have. I noticed such conditions several mornings.

Playa de Cofete

The Cofete beach is the wildest beach on the island. From Morro Jable, it's a 45-minute drive on unsealed roads to get there. Those roads were in good condition during my visit and shouldn't be a problem, even if you don't have an SUV.

There are two parking areas at the beach. You might want to choose the first one if you intend to photograph Roque Del Moro. Turn left here and head down the road as far as you feel comfortable. I didn't check the condition of this road, since I went to the second parking area.

The second parking area is a three-kilometer walk from Islote de Cofete. I went there around noon to do some scouting. It's a great photo location for sunset photography, especially if the sea is a bit rough. Because there were so many other interesting views in the south, I didn't head back there, though. I had to pick and choose.

Punta Pesebre

One spot I picked was Punta Pesebre. It's the most spectacular seascape photography location on the island. The best time to visit is in the morning with the sun rising behind the Jandia mountains.

If you want to visit, plan for some time. I didn't drive all the way to the photo spot because the road was too bumpy. Instead, I parked my car near the Jandia Lighthouse and walked the rest. It took me around 45 minutes.

As you arrive in the dark, you'll first want to take some photos from up on the cliffs until it gets bright enough to asses the situation down on the rock shelf. Depending on the tides and the surf, you might not be able to get down there. My visit to Punta Pesebre coincided with low tide and I explored the various tidal pools that had formed between the dark rocks. Those were great photo subjects.

Conclusion

You might have noticed that the locations I shared above and in my gallery are all located along the west coast of Fuerteventura. I encourage you to explore beyond these spots. There are also some places of interest on the east coast and inland.

And also don't forget to relax a bit. During the daytime, there's not too much to photograph on the island. It's where places like Tenerife or Gran Canaria are still ahead. But after spending hours hiking and photographing before and around sunrise, it's nice to get some beach time.

Best Plugins for Photoshop and Lightroom

Michael Breitung — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 24:00:00 GMT

In this article, I share the six best plugins for Photoshop and Lightroom. They can help you take your photo editing to the next level by providing better sharpening, selections, focus stacking, and other creative ways to enhance your images.

I've been using some of these plugins for close to 10 years, and they are an integral part of my photo editing workflow. I'll start the overview with two free extensions before diving into the premium plugins you have to pay for to use. Here's what I cover:

Web Sharpener by Andreas Resch
Nik Collection
Lumenzia by Greg Benz
Mibreit Photo AI
Helicon Focus
DxO PureRAW 4

You likely won't need all of those plugins for your editing workflow. But even the ones that are not free include a trial version. So the least you should do is test those tools and see if they can help you edit your photos.

Web Sharpener Extension for Photoshop

It's not enough to resize you images in Photoshop or Lightroom to make your photos look perfect on the web. You should apply a resize and sharpening method tuned to provide the best possible results. When I learned about it more than ten years ago, there wasn'tb a plugin that did all the work with a click of a button. Back then, I created Photoshop actions to perform the multi-step resizing, the separation of the sharpening into dark and light edges, and other little tweaks. Tuning those actions involved rerecording them, which wasn't very flexible.

Thankfully, Andreas Resch bundled all the knowledge about preparing photos for the web in his Web Sharpener extension. It's free to install via his homepage or directly from Adobe.

The extension is easy to use. You can either select Quick Sharpening or Standard Sharpening, which allows you more control over the results. Once you made your main settings, including the Final Size, you can save presets for your different outlets. Instagram is already included.

Nik Collection

The Nik Collection has always been my favorite plugin collection. After Google purchased it several years ago, they made it freely available. They have since sold it to DXO, who continue to develop and improve the Nik Collection *. They also ensure it works on the latest systems. I've recently switched to the latest version of DXO's Nik Collection and tested it.

The tools I've used for more than 10 years are still there, but have been improved and extended. I've also noticed a performance boost, especially when working with the various masks. Those masks alone would be reason enough to give the Nik Collection a try. They are superior to every masking panel you'll find out there.

If you decide to purchase the Nik Collection by DXO *, you can use the code "mibreit-photo" for a 15% discount (for new customers).

The free version by Google is also still available on some sites. But there are a few limitations. The old version no longer works on a new MacOS. It works fine under Windows with some limitations, though. One of which is the size of the panels and sliders. If you have a 4k display, those might be too tiny to use properly. Best test the collection and decide for yourself if you can use it. If not, make sure to check the DXO version as they also offer a free trial *.

Lumenzia Addon for Photoshop

Greg Benz has been developing Lumenzia to become a powerful Photoshop add-on. In the beginning, its focus was simplifying the creation of Luminosity Masks. The number of ways you can tune your selections and target edits in Photoshop has grown ever since. I only know the tip of the iceberg, which is Lumenzia. If you want to harvest its full potential, follow Greg Benz's YouTube channel, where he regularly shares new workflows that Lumenzia supports.

Lumenzia is available for only 40$*. With the purchase, you get all updates, which is remarkable considering all the work that goes into the continuous improvement of the software. If I could pick only one extension I can't live without from the ones I show in this article, it's this one.

Mibreit Photo AI for Photoshop

I'm also proud to include one of my very own Photoshop plugins in this list. Annoyed by the additional subscription Adobe requires for its users to use Google's latest Nano Banana AI, I created the ultimate retouching plugin that lets you bring your own API key.

Instead of yet another subscription, you pay only for the amount of time you use the AI. I have a detailed tutorial video available on the plugin's product page, and I'm sure that some of the examples will blow your mind. It's astounding how easy it is to clean up photos using the latest Nano Banana versions. A car blocking the view toward a building - no problem. Scaffolding in front of a facade - gone. People crowding a plaza - as if they had never been there.

I also created a free version of the plugin for you to test its capabilities. If your typical retouching job never exceeds 1024x1024px, subscribe to my newsletter to get the download link.

Helicon Focus for Lightroom

I've been focus-stacking my landscape and architecture images for over ten years. Because I never liked the results I got from Photoshop's automatic stacking, I always did it manually using masks. It worked well until I visited Costa Rica and started to delve more into woodland photography. Stacking those images manually was impossible, and I needed help.

Back then, I found Helicon Focus and never looked back. It provides superior algorithms to Photoshop and can even handle detailed forest images. If there is movement, the results won't be perfect out of the box. But Helicon also provides an intuitive retouching workflow, which helps to clean imperfections quickly.

Helicon is not available as an extension for Photoshop. You will find it in Lightroom under "Export - Helicon Focus". I prefer using the DNG option, which allows me to make RAW adjustments even after the stacking.

DxO PureRAW

The most recent Lightroom plugin I've started using is DxO PureRAW 4. It has since been upgraded to version 6, making it even more powerful.

When Lightroom released their AI noise reduction, it was a game changer. Suddenly, I could shoot woodland photos at ISO 800 as if it was ISO 100. Night photos captured at ISO 6400 also became possible.

With DxO PureRAW, you can increase the image quality of your photos even more. The images look cleaner and more detailed than the results I can achieve with Lightroom or any other software I have tested. I show a comparison in the video below. You can download a free 14-day trial here *.

I've now used DXO PureRAW for two years and applied it to every photo I edited. And I can say that, without a doubt, the quality of my images has improved to a point, where I no longer have to think about buying a new camera in a few years. The times when you had to upgrade your gear to achieve higher image quality are over. Now, you just need the right software to give you that extra quality.

Conclusion

Lightroom and Photoshop are themselves powerful photo editing programs. There's nearly nothing you can't do with the tools they provide. But there are certain things you can do faster and better if you use more specialized software. The extensions I shared in this article and in the video below are examples of it.

* Those are Affiliate Links. I get a commission if you buy or book something after clicking on those.

Essaouira Photography Guide

Michael Breitung — Sat, 23 Dec 2023 24:00:00 GMT

In this photography guide, I show you the best photo spots in Essaouira and give tips about street photography in Morocco.

Here's an overview of the topics I cover:

Why Essaouira Is Great for Photography
How to Get to the City
Where to Stay in the Medina
How to get around Essaouira
Best Photo Locations
Required Photo Equipment

Why Essaouira Is Great for Photography

I've now visited Essaouira three times between 2019 and 2023. During every visit, I found new photo opportunities. The reason for this is the vibrant street life in the Medina of this coastal city.

Essaouira is not only great for cityscape photography. It's an even better location for street photography. You'll find many interesting photo subjects while wandering through the alleys of the Medina.

But be careful. Most people in Morocco don't like to be photographed, and you should respect that. Your best chance of photographing people is to get into a genuine conversation with them or buy something in a shop and then ask for a photo. Or you can try to keep people in your photos anonymous and focus more on the street scenes as a whole. It's my preferred way of capturing the city.

Compared to the Medinas of Marrakech and Fes, you'll find that, in general, street photography is much easier in Essaouira. It's a more relaxed Medina, which is the reason I can't get enough of this city.

How To Travel to Essaouira

Essaouira lies about three hours west of Marrakech, 3.5 hours north of Agadir, and 4.5 hours south of Casablanca when traveling by car. There's no international airport, so you must fly to Marrakech, Agadir, or Casablanca and then travel from there.

I like to fly to Marrakech and stay for one or two days. It's a beautiful city and the perfect place to start your travels through Morocco. But over the last few years, flights to Marrakech have gotten expensive. Flights to Agadir or Casablanca are often cheaper, at least from Germany.

Between Marrakech and Essaouira, taking the three-hour bus is a convenient option. From Agadir, the journey by bus takes a bit longer but is also feasible. I would recommend the trip from Casablanca only if you have plenty of time. It takes over six hours. To book online, you can use 12Go Asia, which I used a few times during my travels in Asia. They also allow buying bus tickets in Morocco.

Another option is to use a private transport or taxi. In 2019, we booked a taxi to take us from Essaouira to Casablanca to avoid the long travel time. It cost us 100 Euros. I would suspect a higher price today, so I'm not sure if it's still an option.

Another way to get around Morocco is by renting a car. It's a great way to see the country if you plan to travel along the coast. But be prepared for many police control points on your travels.

I usually travel through Morocco with Wild Morocco, since I also like to visit the desert. And a self-drive into the Erg Chigaga is not really an option. I also do my upcoming Photo Tour through Morocco with them.

Where to Stay

To best experience Essaouira, you must stay in the Medina. I stayed in the following three Riads during my three visits. I can recommend all of them. They are well located, have beautiful rooms, and a nice rooftop terrace.

Riad Kafila* - It's close to the Ramparts and offers sea views from some rooms. I stayed there during my Photo Tour in 2020, and we had breakfast and dinner in the Riad. It was very good.
Riad Dar Maya* - This is a very beautiful Riad in a side street of the Medina. It has wonderful rooms. I stayed there during my first visit in 2019. Having breakfast on the rooftop was great, and having heated floors in the bathroom was even better.
Villa Garance* - It's located in a central part of the Medina. The rooms are beautiful, as is the Riad. I stayed there in 2023 and had a great time.

Getting Around

In Essaouira, you walk. Because the Medina is relatively small, you can get everywhere within 15 to 20 minutes. The best time to explore the city is early in the morning. Then you'll not have to share the narrow streets with many other tourists. The Medina still feels tranquil at that time.

Best Photo Spots in Essaouira

The Ramparts

The best photo spot for capturing the ramparts is next to the port. You can climb onto the wall for a good view of the city with the waves crashing on the shore. During low tide, you can climb the rocks along the beach for a sweeping view of the city wall.

The best time to photograph this view is during medium to high tide on a windy evening. As you see in the title photo of this article, it is when the city looks most dramatic. It's not without reason Essaouira is also called the Wind City.

The Port

Essaouira is also a fishing town with a bustling harbor. There's always something happening at the port, and I'm sure you can take great photos there with patience and the right eye. I'm not a good street photographer and haven't yet managed to do this. That's why I can't show you proper examples. I can only encourage you to explore this area, preferably in the morning.

The Medina

You can find the biggest variance of subjects in the Medina. The best time to photograph the narrow streets is early in the morning. As I mentioned above, it's when you'll have fewer other tourists and mostly locals roaming the streets. You can also work with the long shadows cast by the morning sun. This light is ideal for street photography, as it allows you to keep the identities of the people you photograph in the shadows.

Photo Equipment

I find a 50mm or a zoom lens* most beneficial to capture the type of photos I show here. I have seldom used my wide-angle lens in Essaouira. If you have a small prime lens like the Canon RF 50mm f/1.8*, it's perfect for the Medina. Because, even if you don't photograph anybody, you'll receive stern looks if you are identified as a photographer. The locals often expect you to suddenly point the camera at them. So, best to keep a low profile. It's even more important in cities like Marrakech or Fes.

To photograph the ramparts, I recommend a tripod. Then, you can take longer exposures of the waves to create some sense of motion. Neutral density filters can also help with that.

Conclusion

As you hopefully saw in this article, Essaouira is a prime location for photography and a must-visit place on any Morocco tour. If you want to have a guided experience of Morocco and also experience the spectacular landscapes of the Erg Chigaga and the Anti Atlas, make sure to check out my Photo Tour with Wild Morocco. To get some inspiration, have a look at my Morocco photo gallery.

* Those are Affiliate Links. I get a commission if you buy or book something after clicking on those.

Bangkok Photography Locations Guide

Michael Breitung — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 24:00:00 GMT

In this Bangkok photography guide, I show you what kind of photos you can take in Bangkok and where to find the best photo spots.

I cover the following topics:

Why Bangkok is Great for Photography
How to Travel to Bangkok
In Which Area to Stay
How to Get around the City
Bangkok Skyline Photography
Night Photography in China Town
Best Photo Spots in Bangkok

Why Bangkok Is Great for Photography

Before I visited Bangkok, I thought of it as a hectic party town filled with backpackers about to travel through Thailand. Movies like Hangover certainly played a role in creating this image. So, the decision to stay a total of six days in Bangkok when visiting Thailand was not an easy one. Usually, I like to leave such cities behind quickly and get into the countryside.

However, I was curious and wanted to learn what Bangkok really is about and what photo opportunities it might offer. I didn't fancy visiting places like the famous Khao San Road, but China Town, the Grand Palace, the many temples, and the skyscrapers around Sukhumvit intrigued me, and I was sure I'd find some interesting photo locations.

This photo of Bangkok is a time blending, combining a photo taken before sunset with a photo taken at night with the city lights. You can learn more about time blending in this article.

As it turns out, Bangkok is a fascinating city where ancient traditions and modernity blend, making it a perfect place for photography. Its bustling markets, intricate temples, and towering skyscrapers are just a few photo subjects in this metropolis.

It also didn't feel that hectic at all to me. Your perception of a city depends much on where you stay and how you get around. And the right choice of accomodation and transport can make your stay in Bangkok an enjoyable experience.

How to Get into the City

Traveling to Thailand internationally, you'll likely arrive at Suvarnabhumi International Airport near Bangkok. Because it's located outside of town, you'll need to take a taxi, the train or organize a private transport.

The Rail Link is the cheapest option to get into town. It'll cost you less than 2$. You'll find taxis for around 8$. But the most comfortable way to get from the airport to your hotel or Airbnb is by private transport. If you stay in an Airbnb, you can ask your host to organize a pickup for you - hotels will do the same. I arrived late in the evening, and the service from the airport to the door of my apartment cost me 12$, with a stop at 7-Eleven to buy groceries.

Where to Stay

As I wrote above, the location of your accommodation can play a major role in how you experience a city. And if you are a photographer doing your research to find a place with good photo locations close by is even more important.

Inspired by my stay in Kuala Lumpur a few months earlier, I again wanted to find an apartment in a building with a view. The highest density of such lodging is in and around Sukhumvit. Using Airbnb or Booking.com *, you'll find plenty of apartments in this area. Browsing the photos of the different properties, you get a rough idea about the views they offer. Some of the hotels and apartment buildings have rooftop terraces, making them a great place for Bangkok cityscape photography.

As it turned out, the rooftop terrace of the Nobel BE19 skyscraper provided a great photo spot for cityscape photography right in the heart of Bangkok.

I managed to find an apartment in this skyscraper, and it was the perfect place to stay. Close to notorious places like Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza, it was a calm oasis in the center of this crazy nightlife area. I didn't even have to leave the building to photograph the city, as the terrace at the top provided some of the best views.

There were also plenty of dining options nearby. Soi Sukhumvit 11 had some great restaurants. If you're vegetarian, you'll love the Veganerie Nana. Also not far away is the Terminal 21 shopping mall with a large food court at the top.

Getting Around

There are many ways to get around Bangkok, including taxis and Tuk-tuks. With the Grab app, you can easily organize such transport.

But for me, the most relaxed way to explore the city was using a combination of the metro and walking. Staying in Sukhumvit, I mostly jumped onto the blue line at Sukhumvit station and went either northward or south toward Chinatown. While the metro can get crowded at peak hours, most of the time, it wasn't busy during my stay.

Walking around Bangkok is also easy. Unlike in Kuala Lumpur, you'll find proper sidewalks in most parts of the city. And if your destination is too far from the metro lines, you can still grab a taxi or Tuk-tuk along the way.

Skyline Photography

I already showed two photos taken from the top of the apartment building where I stayed. While Bangkok doesn't have the most distinct skyline, it's still spectacular. The Baiyoke Tower provides great photographic interest at night. Its bright skylight glows like the Eye of Sauron above the city once the sun has set. It's the time when you can experience Bangkok photography at its best.

What I liked about Bangkok's skyline was its moody look. Compared to some other cities, it feels dark and gloomy, especially toward the end of the blue hour when less ambient light illuminates the facades of the buildings.

Due to its size and population of more than 10 million people, Bangkok can also get hazy. The combination of high temperatures and smog can create fascinating light situations. It lends itself well to photographing the city with a long lens, especially in the morning when the first light floods the canyons between the countless skyscrapers.

I found that to photograph the skyline of Bangkok and the city in general, a wide-angle lens like the Canon RF 15-35 f/2.8* is perfect. In addition, you'll also want to bring a telephoto lens*, which I used for some of my photos.

Taking Night Photos in China Town

If you like neon lights and night photography, Yaowarat Road in Chinatown is the place to go. There, you'll also find a busy night market offering opportunities for street photography. The most popular photos of this area are of the large neon signs along the main road. I had also planned to photograph those, using a long lens to compress the scene.

But for some reason, even an hour after sunset, most of the signs were still not lit up, so I focused my attention on one of the side roads and photographed the colorful scene below. I could even set up a tripod on the opposite side of the road, which allowed me to capture some interesting light trails.

After taking this photo, I explored the little alleys near the Ong Ang Canal where I found this lovely scene of red lanterns above an intricate pavement. The blue hour created the perfect color contrast in the image. If you spend the time, I'm sure you'll find many more such scenes to photograph in the area.

And that's what I like about Bangkok photography: You have both the popular photo spots like the Odeon Roundabout in Chinatown and lesser photographed places. There is still much room for creativity with your architecture and street photography.

Best Photo Spots in Bangkok

I already showed you the photo spots I focussed on during my stay in Bangkok. I like to take it slow when exploring a new city, which is why I often don't photograph that many areas. But I still want to share the result of the research I did before visiting Bangkok with you in the form of a list of the best photo locations:

Odeon Roundabout

The parking garage at the already mentioned Odeon Roundabout in Chinatown gives you a great view of the Chinatown Gate with cars swirling around it. Bring a tripod and take long exposures during the blue hour for the best photos.

Yaowarat Road

I also mentioned Yaowarat Road in Chinatown. It's a great place to photograph the bustle of the city. But be aware that the large neon lights might only light up long after sunset. I was hoping to get a shot during the blue hour. It wasn't possible because the lights were still turned off.

Siam Rama Road

I found a very cool spot on LocationScout.net. This view of the Siam Rama road shows a typical urban scene from Bangkok with cars driving both below and above.

Wat Arun View

Another great spot is the view of Wat Arun from the Wat Arun ferry pier, east of the Chao Phraya River. Take your time and walk along the shore to find a good spot between the ferry pier and the different restaurants. At night, when the temple lights up, it's a great spot for photography.

Wat Arun

From the Wat Arun ferry pier on the western bank of the river, walk toward Wat Arun to find beautiful views of the temple and the adjacent buildings.

Wat Benchamabophit Dusitwanaram

When it comes to beautiful temples, you should put Wat Benchamabophit Dusitwanaram on your list. Don't forget to bring a wide-angle lens.

Democracy Monument

Close to Khao San, you can find the Democracy Monument of Bangkok. As the Odeon Gate, it's a great place for long-exposure photography.

Wat Paknam View

The Giant Buddha at Wat Paknam is a new photo spot in Bangkok. It's visible from many parts of Bangkok. Based on my research, a good spot to photograph it with a long lens is from Tha Phra station. If you have a 400 or 500mm lens, you can also try to get a photo along Lat Ya Road at sunset.

Lumpini Park View

Lumpini Park is another place you might want to explore. But what might be even more interesting is finding a view from one of the nearby buildings south of the park. There's one view coming up several times on Google, which tells me there might be a photo spot.

Mae Klong Railway Market

You might also find the Mae Klong Railway market an interesting place to take photos. I didn't plan a visit because it appears too touristic, but I still wanted to include it in this list.

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

Another touristic place is the Damnoen Saduak floating market, 90 minutes from Bangkok. It's one of several floating markets in the area and may be the most popular. If you decide to visit, try to find a view from one of the bridges to get a bird's eye perspective of the boats. Based on the photos I've seen, it's the best way to exclude tourists from your images.

Ratchada Night Bazaar

The Ratchada Night Bazaar was a great spot for photography in the past. You could get a sweeping view of the market and Bangkok from one of the adjacent buildings. But the location of the market has changed. The photos on Google were mostly taken at the old location. It's why I don't have it on my list of photo locations. I mention it here to save you some time.

Conclusion

There's much more to see and photograph in Bangkok than what I've shown in this article. I tried to give you an overview by including the list of my researched photo spots. But if you ever visit this beautiful city, bring enough time to scout for other photo locations - you'll not be disapointed.

And if, aside from architecture photography, you also like classic street photography, you'll find that Bangkok is one of the best places to explore.

* Those are Affiliate Links. I get a commission if you buy or book something after clicking on those.

Bali Waterfall Photography - Sekumpul Guide

Michael Breitung — Sun, 02 Apr 2023 24:00:00 GMT

Sekumpul waterfall is a natural wonder located in the north of Bali. It's a photographer's paradise surrounded by lush vegetation, offering endless opportunities for landscape photography. In this Sekumpul photography guide, we explore this incredible waterfall, how to get there, and how to photograph it.

If you follow my articles, you know I love to photograph tropical waterfalls. On Bali, you find countless of those, and one of the best is the Sekumpul waterfall.

The Sekumpul waterfall in the north of Bali

Because it's one of the most popular waterfalls in Bali, you have to arrive early to photograph it. Its popularity also makes a visit quite pricey, and if you're not careful and buy your ticket at the wrong booth, you will pay extra.

How to Get To Sekumpul

Although Bali is not very large, driving along the mountainous roads takes time. And while you can rent a scooter and drive to Sekumpul, I wouldn't recommend it if you stay in the Canggu or Ubud area.

As I already mentioned, you should arrive at the waterfall early, which means driving there in the dark. Ideally, you arrive at Sekumpul between 7 am and 8 am before the crowds. From Ubud or Canggu, this already takes more than two hours in a car.

The best option for landscape photographers is to hire a driver for a day and plan an itinerary that includes a few more attractions. A driver will cost you around $50, and you can visit multiple locations in the comfort of a car.

To find a driver, ask at your hotel, Airbnb, or go by recommendations. There's no shortage of drivers, but you want one you can trust to pick you up early and drive safely.

I got our recommendation from the driver who took us from Sawarna to Jakarta a few weeks earlier.

The Hidden waterfall next to Sekumpul

Once you've hired a driver, give him the proper coordinates. There are different entrances to Sekumpul, and there are also several ticket booths on the way there. Some of those are many kilometers from Sekumpul.

Their setup might make you think you've arrived at the official entrance. But if you buy your ticket there, you're in for a ride on the back of a motorbike that'll cost you extra. Since you have a driver, this is not necessary. The road to the official entrance is paved and doesn't require motorbikes.

Tell your driver to head to Spice restaurant. It is the farthest you can go by car. If no parking is available, the driver can drop you off and then park at the main parking lot, where the official hike starts.

Sekumpul Waterfall Hike

If you were to start your hike at the main parking lot, you would likely have to pay a guide. Hiring a guide is the official way of visiting Sekumpul, with three options to choose from:

View Only - With 20000 IDR per person, it's the cheapest option but not worth the long drive.
Medium Hike - This option comes at 125000 IDR and includes visiting the Sekumpul and the hidden waterfall. It is a great option for landscape photographers.
Long Hike - At 200000 IDR per person, this option includes the Fiji waterfall. It's a good addition if you didn't plan anything else for the day. But judging from photos of it, I'd say that the hidden waterfall and Sekumpul are more photogenic.

While it's great to support the local economy, I would have preferred to just buy an entrance ticket. The medium hike is easy enough, and I always feel rushed if somebody waits for me while I compose my photos. Our guide could have led at least one or two additional tours during that time.

Short Hike

That's why I suggest driving to Spice restaurant and starting the hike from there. You'll save one kilometer of walking, and you'll skip most of the guides.

Directly before the Spice restaurant, head left. You'll first walk along a narrow paved road toward a set of stairs leading down to the river. During this part of the hike, you'll pass a little booth where you might get asked to hire a guide if someone is around. But when we went past in the morning, nobody was there.

Shortly after, you'll get your first glimpse of Sekumpul. Less than 10 minutes later, you should have reached the base of the stairs.

Here, you have two options: Follow the path left toward the hidden waterfall - there's a sign indicating where to go. Or cross the creek and continue to Sekumpul. Since you have to wade through water several times, bring water shoes and be careful on the dark rocks surrounding the waterfalls. Those can get slippery.

Waterfall Photography

Sekumpul

You and your gear will get wet while photographing Sekumpul. There's a lot of spray in front of the waterfall, and you should bring enough lens cloths. An umbrella will also help. With it, you can apply the technique I show in the video below. I recorded it at Kapas Biru waterfall on Java Island.

In terms of composition, there are two little rivers to choose from when looking for foreground interest. I found the creek to the left to offer a better view of the waterfall, with some nice rocks and currents in the foreground. But make sure to explore on your own and take your time.

Hidden Waterfall

The hidden waterfall is not so hidden at all. A sign at the base of the stairs indicates where to go. From Sekumpul, it's less than 10 minutes of walking. Be prepared to cross a knee-deep river.

At the hidden waterfall, you have even more photo options than at the larger Sekumpul. It's a beautiful area, and I could have spent hours photographing it. If you arrive before 10 am, you can also witness the sun lighting up the waterfall and the canyon for a few minutes. It creates a magical atmosphere.

Bali Waterfall Photography Itinerary

You can combine a visit to Sekumpul with other attractions along the way. Here's an example itinerary for someone starting in Ubud or Canggu:

4:30 am - Start in Ubud or Canggu
5:45 am - Arrive at Pura Ulun Danu Bratan
6:15 am - Photograph Sunrise
6:45 am - Continue toward Sekumpul
7:45 am - Start hike to Sekumpul
8:15 am - Start photographing Sekumpul and the hidden waterfall
10:30 am - Hike back to the parking lot and drive to Banyu Wana Amertha
12:15 pm - Arrive at Banyu Wana Amertha and start the hike
12:30 am - Photograph the Banyu Wana Amertha
1:15 pm - Photograph the Spray Waterfall
2:00 pm - Head back to the car
2:30 pm - Drive to Leke Leke
3:30 pm - Arrive at Leke Leke and start the hike
3:45 pm - Photograph Leke Leke
4:45 pm - Drive back to Ubud or Canggu

The Banyu Wana Amertha waterfall

I had planned the tour like this but found that after photographing the Spray waterfall, I had enough for the day and went back to Ubud. If you have the endurance and your driver is ok with it, this is how you squeeze the most photography out of such a day. If you're up for it and stay in Canggu, end the day with seascape photography at Tanah Lot Temple.

Since this is more than a typical day for a driver, you should not bargain too much and give him more than $50.

Conclusion

Bali offers a lot more waterfalls than the few featured in this article. Since I only stayed in Ubud for a few days, I didn't have time to visit all of them. Based on what I could learn online, I chose the waterfalls that seemed to be the most photogenic for my exploration.

But you can easily stay more than two weeks in Bali for photography alone and not get bored. And there are not only waterfalls to photograph. There are lush forests, mountains, rice paddies, and dramatic seascapes, so bring enough time.

Java Indonesia Landscape Photography Guide

Michael Breitung — Sun, 12 Feb 2023 24:00:00 GMT

In this article about landscape photography in Java, Indonesia, I show you some of my favorite photo locations in the eastern part of the island. Featured are spectacular waterfalls, temples, and the volcanoes for which Java is known.

Java is the largest island in Indonesia and also home to its capital, Jakarta. It's located between Sumatra in the west and Bali in the east and has a length of more than 1000 kilometers. Since I already showed you some of Java's west in my Sawarna landscape photography guide, I want to dedicate this article to the eastern part of the island.

Volcanos, thundering waterfalls, and lush vegetation make this area a landscape photographer's paradise, offering a wide range of breathtaking scenery. From the bustling city of Yogyakarta to the serene waterfalls south of Malang, from Mount Bromo to Mount Ijen, I show you some of the best photo spots while covering the following topics:

How to Get to East Java

Let's start with some travel information. I started my tour through East Java in Yogyakarta. It's located roughly in the center of Java island. It has an airport, but you won't find direct international flights heading there. When you travel to Java by plane, you typically arrive in Jakarta or Surabaya.

If you find a flight to Surabaya, this is a good place from which to start exploring East Java. You can reach many of the locations I show below within a day from there. To explore the ancient temples of Yogyakarta and Borobudur, additional travel is required.

You can fly inland to Yogyakarta using Air Asia or one of the smaller Indonesian Airlines. I have to be honest: I usually avoid those based on what I've heard and the reviews I read. A more reliable and comfortable alternative is taking the train, which costs between $20 and $30 for the executive option. With a service like Traveloka, it's easy to purchase tickets. Be careful when selecting the station from which you want to start your travels. Jakarta, for example, has two stations from which trains leave for Yogyakarta. Make sure you head to the correct station.

How to Get around East Java

In the previous section, you already learned one way of getting around East Java, the train. But that's not very flexible as it only connects the major cities. Most photo spots are located in the countryside, away from public transport. To reach those, you can join one of the many tours that explore Java by minibus. Or you spend a bit more money and get a personal driver.

For landscape photographers, the latter is the only viable option. You might think renting a car would be more flexible, but it's not a good idea for foreigners in Indonesia. I explain the reason for that in my previous article.

If you base yourself in Malang for a few days, you can find a driver that brings you to locations in the area for $30 to $50 per day. It's a convenient way of exploring the waterfalls in the south and some of the mountains. Between Yogyakarta and Malang, you'll find a train connection.

If your time is limited, and you want to get as much out of your trip as possible, you should consider hiring a driver for a couple of days. We did a six-day tour from Yogyakarta to Bali with one driver. We covered a lot of ground that way, and our driver was always ready to bring me to the photo locations I had selected for our itinerary.

Including accommodation, the tour cost us around $1200 for two people. I talk about it in the video below. It was one of the more expensive options available, but when I did my research, Java Private Tour was the quickest to respond, and the communication was good. When we drove to Sawarna with Bogor Private Tour Guide a week before, I learned that they also provide tours in the east of Java. So they would have also been a good option.

When to Visit Java

We visited Java in October, which marks the end of the dry season. Unfortunately, the rainy season had started early, and we experienced some monsoon-like rains during our visit. It made landscape photography difficult.

Based on this experience, I would advise against visiting Java during the rainy season, which typically lasts from November to March. To be on the safe side, also skip October and April. In summer, you'll have a much higher chance of seeing the mountains, and the waterfalls should also still have enough water as they are very powerful.

East Java Landscape Photography

Below I share the photo locations I visited during the six-day photo tour. Before the trip, we stayed in a beautiful hotel* in the Borobudur area close to Yogyakarta for a few days. Unfortunately, the Borobudur temple was still closed - it had been for more than a year due to COVID and some renovations - and I wasn't lucky with the weather, as I shared above.

Prambanan Temple Yogyakarta

Borobudur might be the most popular photo location close to Yogyakarta, but the Prambanan temple also offers great photo opportunities. The temple area is huge, with different temples and many interesting viewpoints. With $25 per person, the entrance is not cheap. Since the compounds close around sunset, you can take photos during golden hour, so bring a tripod.

I got lucky with the conditions during our visit, so it was worth paying the entrance fee. I have to admit that finding a good composition was not easy. The Prambanan temple area is very crowded, and you should plan in enough time to find a perspective that allows you to hide the visitors in the photo.

Walking towards the northern end of the compounds, you'll find the Sewu temple. It's a bit smaller, but also much less crowded. It offers some beautiful compositions, so don't miss it.

Selotapak

North of Malang lies a beautiful place with rice fields and other growing areas, Selotapak. Surrounded by mountains, it offers some beautiful views. The only problem is that the popularity of some of the photo spots there has led to extended development. The people in Indonesia seem to like constructed viewpoints, so wherever there is a potential view, wooden and sometimes stone structures will eventually pop up. In the case of Selotapak, they ruin the once beautiful view I wanted to photograph.

Thankfully, there are still fields with an unobstructed view toward Mount Penanggungan. The field above was just one kilometer east of the popular photo spot you'll find if you google Selotapak. And there are certainly more in the area, so time for exploration will help if you plan a visit.

Kapas Biru Waterfall

Visiting the gorge of the Kapas Biru waterfall gives you the feeling of entering Jurassic Park. It's a bit of a climb to get down, and you must be careful on rainy days - if you own hiking poles, bring them. But the 30 minutes of hiking from the parking area are worth the effort.

The waterfall is powerful as it tumbles down a massive cliff. Close to the waterfall, there's a lot of spray, and it won't be easy to take a photo. But there's a lot of foreground interest with a carpet of vibrant leaves and vegetation. If you don't want to get drenched, you'll find plenty of compositions farther away from the waterfall. Plan for at least one hour down there to explore all of them.

Kabut Pelangi Waterfall

Visiting Kapas Biru can be combined with a hike to Kabut Pelangi waterfall. It’s a five-minute drive to the Kabut Pelangi trail head from the Kapas Biru parking area. Again, hiking poles are your friend on a rainy day. During my visit, it would have been hard to get down into the canyon without them because of all the mud along the trail. I reckon the trail is beautiful on a dry day, with its greenery and flowers. But in a downpour, it is hart to enjoy it.

Once you arrive at the base of the canyon, follow the trail along the river. Be prepared to cross the river several times. The tail will stop at the river, telling you where to cross. At one area, you have to wade around a rock face instead of crossing. After heavy rains, I would not attempt it. But it’s no problem as long as the water is clear.

Kabut Pelangi is a spectacular waterfall, even more powerful than Kapas Biru. Close to the cascade, it’s difficult to take photos because of the spray. But a little further down the canyon, you can find beautiful views along the river.

Tumpak Sewu Waterfall

A visit to Tumpak Sewu waterfall requires less effort than visiting Kapas Biru or Kabut Pelangi. A short walk of 10 minutes brings you from the parking area to the main viewpoint. Make sure to head there in the morning. It is the time during which you can photograph a beautiful rainbow on sunny days. There will also be much less direct light on the waterfall than later during the day, which makes capturing it easier.

For a bit more of a landscape photography adventure, you can hike down into the bowl where the many cascades of Tumpak Sewu unite. Down there, you'll experience a lot of spray. Depending on how powerful the waterfall is during your visit, it can be difficult to take a proper photo. I decided not to head down when I was there because of the conditions you see in the image above.

If you are interested in hiking down, you can check out this excellent guide on Tumpak Sewu.

Mount Bromo

Our visit to Mount Bromo should have been the highlight of our tour. But the chances of seeing the mountains during the rainy season are low. We spent one evening close to the park, and I tried to photograph Mount Bromo both during sunset and sunrise. It didn't work out, but I still came away with a photo of Cemoro Lawang that I like.

If you want to photograph Mount Bromo, you should stay close to or in Cemoro Lawang, as this is the only way to get up to the viewpoint before the crowds and secure your spot in the front row. Your goal should be to be up there at least 90 minutes before sunrise - during the high season even earlier.

Your question now might be, what is the viewpoint? There are several. The two best views, based on my research, are from Seruni Point and King Kong hill. Getting to Seruni point is easy. If you stay in Cemoro Lawang, you can even walk there as it is located at the northern end of town. Reaching it doesn't require entering Bromo National Park, so you save the $15 entrance fee. I went there for sunset, unfortunately without a view.

Higher up, you'll find King Kong hill. It's the most famous viewpoint and requires more effort to reach if you decide to hike and skip the entrance fee for the National Park. There's a steep path leading up from Seruni point. I didn't do the hike myself but based on what I've heard, you should plan in at least one hour. Also, some sections of the trail are not easy to find in the dark.

The more comfortable option to get up to King Kong hill is by Jeep. It's what most people do, and it takes around 30 minutes from Cemoro Lawang and costs around $35. The Jeep can seat between two and four people.

Once you arrive at the parking area of King Kong hill, walk straight toward the viewpoint marked on Google Maps. After 10 minutes, you'll find a little path to your right. Follow it up to the best view of Mount Bromo.

Because many of the options for staying in Cemoro Lawang are not rated very high, I should also mention where we stayed. The Jiwi Jawa resort* is not cheap, but included in the price is a great breakfast that will set you up for the day.

Madakaripura Waterfall

A visit to Mount Bromo is typically combined with a visit to the Madakaripura waterfall. The gorge can get crowded around noon as most of the tours arrive, so try to be there in the morning. From Cemoro Lawang, it's a 90-minute drive to the parking area. The locals will provide you with a ride to the start of the hike on the back of their motorbikes. It takes another 10 minutes and will cost you between $10 and $15 for a return trip, including a guide. In my opinion, you don't need a guide as the hike is pretty easy. So try to just hire a driver.

What you will need though is a rain cover for your backpack, a good umbrella, and waterproof clothing. Alternatively, go there in bathing shorts as you will get drenched. The trail goes straight through the waterfall you see in the background of the photo above. It's quite an experience.

The good thing about landscape photography at Madakaripura: the most photogenic area of the gorge is dry. So you can take your time setting up your tripod and taking photos without worrying about your photography equipment.

Mount Ijen

Getting to Mount Ijen requires a long drive from Mount Bromo. It took us more than six hours, and we arrived at our hotel* late in the evening. Since Mount Ijen lies at the eastern edge of Java island, it's easier to reach from Bali than from the Surabaya area, including Mount Bromo. Only a narrow channel you can cross by ferry in about an hour separates Java and Bali. It is how we finished our tour, just in the other direction.

If you ever plan a visit to this area, I strongly suggest planning for at least two days. There's much more to explore than the crater lake of Mount Ijen. There are also rice paddies, waterfalls, and a dense forest to photograph.

I spent the one morning I had in the area taking photos from Mount Ijen. It was a rainy night and morning, and I wasn't sure if there would be a view up on the mountain. But with an elevation of 2300 meters, the crater lake area of Mount Ijen will often rise above the clouds. From the parking area I reached at 2:30 am, it took me 45 minutes to the top. It's a steep but easy 3-kilometer hike with 400 meters of elevation.

At the start of the hike, they rent out masks to protect you from the sulfur fumes that rise from the mines in the crater. If you don't plan on heading down there and want to stay at the rim for some landscape photography, you don't need one. I also heard from people who went down into the crater that the masks didn't help much.

So better head straight past the entrance to the crater and further up the hill. You'll find beautiful rock patterns, burnt trees, and wonderful views if the weather permits.

Conclusion

As you saw in this article, Java has a lot to offer. It's one of the best places for landscape photography in Indonesia and provides a large selection of photo spots. And if the weather is bad and the views obscured by clouds, you can still explore the different gorges and waterfalls. There you can take great photos even on rainy days.

* Above I use Booking Affiliate Links. If you use them to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Sawarna Indonesia Landscape Photography

Michael Breitung — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 24:00:00 GMT

Indonesia is a fantastic destination for landscape photography featuring many photogenic places. In this guide, I share one of those with you: Sawarna. Located in the southwest of Java island, it offers countless opportunities to photograph spectacular coastal landscapes.

Sawarna is a coastal village located in the Banten province of Indonesia. It is known for its beautiful beaches and stunning natural landscapes, making it a popular destination for local photographers. The area features lush green hills, rocky cliffs, sea stacks, and pristine sandy beaches that stretch along the Indian Ocean.

When we visited Sawarna back in 2022, I found that while it's a popular holiday destination for people living on Java island and for Indonesian photographers, it's not well known outside of Indonesia. I only knew of it because of photographers from Java I follow on Instagram. Sure enough, during the four days we stayed in Sawarna, we were the only western tourists.

It was a great experience. The locals were some of the most welcoming people we met during our travels through Asia, the seafood was great, and the seascape photography was amazing. The only thing you must be aware of if you plan a visit is: Nearly nobody speaks English in Sawarna. Make sure to familiarize yourself with the most common Indonesian words and install Google Translate on your cell phone.

How To Get To Sawarna

For locals with a car, it's easy to travel to Sawarna. From Jakarta, it's a drive of 5 to 6 hours along paved roads which get hilly and steep for the last part of the trip. As a foreigner visiting Indonesia, it's not that easy. Traveling to Sawarna via public transport is not an option unless you want to plan a layover somewhere along the way. I didn't find a reliable bus route that would ensure reaching Sawarna within a single day.

You might think renting a car would be the right thing to do. There are several car rentals in Jakarta, and you can rent a car with an international driver's license. The problem with that is insurance. While you can get insurance that'll cover damages done to the rental car, it's not possible to get proper liability insurance - I didn't find an option with good cover. And because of the way people drive in Indonesia, this is the most important insurance to get when renting a car. Otherwise, you can get into big trouble if you are involved in an accident.

A much safer option to travel to Sawarna is hiring a driver via Bogor Private Tour Guide. We paid around $90 for a driver and a comfortable car. Included was a pick-up at our hotel in Jakarta, water, English speaking driver, and a safe ride to Sawarna. Considering that this means a 10+ hour day for the driver, it's a reasonable price. We stayed in Sawarna for four days and paid another $90 for the ride back to Jakarta.

In Sawarna, no car is necessary. Most of the photo spots are within walking distance. And there are also many locals on their motorbikes, who will take you around for a few dollars.

Where To Stay In Sawarna

Since Sawarna is not yet used to western tourists, finding and booking good accommodation is tricky. On Booking.com * you'll find a few hotels, but the ratings are not that great. If your sole focus is photography, they'll be fine though.

The best hotel in Sawarna is the Sawarna Resort. They are not on Booking, so if you want to book, you must send them an email or reach out via WhatsApp. They don't speak English but are very adept at using Google Translate, so you'll have no problems getting a room if they have availability.

The hotel is well kept, with beautiful climatized rooms, a little restaurant, and a welcoming staff. A room for two costs between $30 and $35, including basic breakfast.

Where To Eat In Sawarna

If you visit less touristy areas in Indonesia, finding a good place to eat can be difficult. While Sawarna has several small warungs close to Tanjung Layar beach, we found only one restaurant with reliable opening times. Fortunately, the restaurant called Wa Nyai is just a short walk from Sawarna Resort, and it serves some of the best seafood in the area. Even if you are a vegetarian, you'll find a few options.

Landscape Photography in Sawarna

Let's now get to the main topic of this article: Indonesia landscape photography in Sawarna. Within a 5-kilometer radius of Sawarna, you'll find many dramatic seascapes that offer fantastic photo opportunities. In the four days I spent in the area, I focused on two locations I could reach on foot within half an hour from our hotel.

Tanjung Layar

Tanjung Layar beach is one of the best coastal photography locations in Indonesia. It's an ideal photo spot for sunset. Aside from a massive sea stack, this area is full of interesting subjects. Depending on tides and weather, you'll be able to capture waves crashing on the shore, rock pools, and reflections.

One evening I captured a dramatic seascape photo while standing at the edge of the ocean. To photograph this perspective, you must head to Tanjung Layar between low and medium tide on days with good surf. If the water level gets too high, staying on those rocks is too dangerous.

If the tide is too high to capture the scene above, you'll find more subjects closer to the shore. In the photo below, I photographed a nice set of rock pools and reflections, which are safe to get to as the tide rises. But be careful since those rocks can be slippery, and sea urchins hide in the rock pools.

You'll find Tanjung Layar at the eastern edge of Sawarna beach. It's a bit of a walk from Sawarna Resort with close to 3 kilometers. To get back you can ask the locals to give you a ride on their motorbikes for a little fee.

Karang Bokor

Karang Bokor, a few kilometers west of Sawarna, is less popular than Tanjung Layar but an equally great spot for landscape photography. The best time to photograph it is during sunrise with a medium tide. But make sure to scout the area before because the rocks you'll be standing on while taking your photos are treacherous, with many holes and crevices.

If you head to Karang Bokor during the day, you'll have to pay a small entrance fee. It once was a more popular location with a camping area. Not much of it remains, but someone will still collect the fee during the day. Early in the morning, this is not the case.

If you find somebody to drive you there on a motorbike before sunrise, it might be the quickest way to get there. But the road is very steep, and it's not safe to sit on the back of a scooter for some sections. That's why walking there might be the better option. In the morning, there are no cars on the road, and after about 2 kilometers, you'll reach the entrance to Karang Bokor. From there, head toward the coast and follow the signs as I show in the video above. On the way back, you can try to hitchhike. There'll now be cars driving by, and I was able to grab a ride in one of them.

Conclusion

Although it's not part of the typical travel routes through Java, making a detour to Sawarna is worth it for any landscape photographer. Besides the two photo locations I show above, there is also Pantai Legon Pari with Karang Taraje at its eastern end and the Coral Coast Beurem at the other end. Pantai Goa Langir is also worth a visit. All those photo spots make Sawarna one of the best places for landscape photography in Indonesia.

* Above I use Booking Affiliate Links. If you use them to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Tioman Photography Guide

Michael Breitung — Sun, 25 Dec 2022 24:00:00 GMT

In this landscape photography guide, I show you a place in Malaysia that is great for seascape photography: Tioman Island. I share how to get there, where to stay, and my favorite photo spot on the island.

Tioman Island is a small tropical paradise located off the east coast of Malaysia. It is known for its crystal clear waters, white sandy beaches, and lush green forests. Two of its main attractions are diving and snorkeling. The island is home to various dive sites, boasting a wide variety of marine life.

But I didn't visit Tioman Island solely for the underwater world surrounding it. I wanted to see what it had to offer in terms of landscape photography. So I did my research to find photo spots on the island, which was harder than I thought because there wasn't much photography-related information available.

Browsing various stock sites and taking a close look at Tioman's coastline with Google maps, I finally narrowed my search to the area between Genting in the west and Mukut in the south. The coastline between those two villages is a mix of jungle, secluded beaches, and beautifully shaped granite rocks.

Eventually, I settled on Genting as my home base because it was easy to get to, and there were some accessible photo locations close by.

How To Get To Tioman

Tioman Island is typically visited by bus via Mersing from either Kuala Lumpur or Singapore. Because we were staying in Kuala Lumpur, I will focus on how to get to Tioman from there. If you want to start your journey in Singapore, you can check out this helpful guide by Go Islands.

A good place to start when planning a bus tour in southeast Asia is usually 12GoAsia. I booked several trips with them and found them very reliable. One thing to know is that they sometimes won't show all available options, and it's often not possible to book more than three or four weeks in advance. If your desired trip isn't available through them, you can try Easybook instead.

The bus operator for which we booked our tickets through 12GoAsia was Sanwa Express. The price for a one-way ticket to Mersing was 41 Ringgit per person, which is roughly 9 USD. This trip was scheduled to take five hours, starting at the Bersepadu Selatan terminal south of Kuala Lumpur. We ended up spending more than six hours on the bus.

Because the bus ride takes that long, you have two options if you want to catch one of the ferries to Tioman that usually leave Mersing in the morning. You either take the afternoon bus to Mersing and spend the night there. Or you book one of the overnight buses which are operated by Transnasional. Although Mersing itself doesn't have much to offer, planning in a layover is the safer option.

In addition to booking a bus, you must also buy a ferry ticket from either Cataferry or Bluewater ferry. Both leave in the morning and take between 90 minutes and 2 hours to the various ports along the west coast of Tioman. We booked via Bluewater ferry. A return trip was 120 Ringgit per person, which is around 28 USD.

If you book your ticket online, you should still be at the harbor around one hour before departure and first trade your online ticket against a boarding ticket at one of the booths inside the Mersing harbor center, just opposite the harbor. You must also pay the entrance fee for the marine park there.

To get back to Kuala Lumpur from Tioman, take one of the morning ferries that leave Tioman around 7 am. Then take the 10 am or 11 am bus back to Kuala Lumpur. It stops right in front of the harbor center.

Where To Stay On Tioman Island

Tioman Island has a length of 39 km and is covered by tropical rainforests. That's why traveling between the different villages requires a boat.

As I wrote above, I decided to stay in Genting which is the first port the ferry stops. From there, it continues up to Tekek. If you want to stay in any other village than those two, you require an additional transfer. It can usually be organized by the hotel you stay at.

Genting is a beautiful little village with a long, white sand beach. There are no big hotels or restaurants, and when we visited, we were the only western tourists in town. Finding something to eat can be challenging because the restaurants don't have reliable opening times. Thankfully, there's also a little supermarket where you can buy water and snacks.

From Genting, you can walk down and past the Japamala Resort or up to Paya Beach. It gives you some inexpensive options for getting to other locations on the island without hiring a boat.

We stayed in the beautiful little Beach House * at the northern end of Genting. It is a quiet spot with a beautiful beach, some snorkeling opportunities, and incredible photo spots within walking distance. The breakfast is basic, and you don't get the amenities you'd have in one of the more expensive resorts on Tioman island. But the options for taking great seascape photos near the apartment make up for it.

It's not ideal though for exploring some of the mountains on Tioman - Single Dragon Horn and Gunung Nenek. Finding a place to stay in Mukut or one of the resorts in the south might be better suited for that.

Tioman Island Photography

As you can see in the photo above, the coastal landscape of Tioman Island looks a lot like the Seychelles. Close to Genting, you find many little coves with huge granite rocks - it's scenery as you'd expect on La Digue.

During the four days I was staying in Genting, I did some exploration south towards the Japamala resort and north to Paya beach. The path to Paya beach is very photogenic. You pass through some beautiful tropical forests with tall trees. At the northern end of Paya beach, you'll find a little island called Pulau Tumuk. This island would make for a wonderful photo subject during sunrise. It's also a great snorkeling spot with a little coral garden and plenty of colorful fish.

The path toward the Japamala resort is rougher than toward Paya beach. After around 30 minutes, you end up on a beautiful little cove just north of the resort. This place would be perfect for sunrise or even sunset. But you need some proper boots and a good flashlight. There are wooden bridges to cross, which didn't look like they get used a lot - so be careful if you head down there.

But to take great photos while staying in Genting, you don't necessarily need to do such hikes in the dark. Just head to the northern end of town and continue along the coast. You'll find countless subjects both during low and medium tide. If the tide is too high, it's difficult to reach some of the more interesting areas, as the water will swallow most of the beach.

To give you an idea, the title photo of this article was taken on low tide, with many smaller rocks jutting out of the water. The photo above was taken around medium tide, which is the perfect time to photograph this area. A good resource for checking the tides worldwide is Tides4Fishing.

Conclusion

Tioman island wasn't on my radar when we started our travels through Southeast Asia in September 2022. Neither had I heard of it, nor had I seen photos. Because we wanted to end our time in Malaysia with a coastal holiday, I started looking at the various islands in this area. And I'm glad I did. This island is a tropical paradise. It's clean, covered by jungle, and surrounded by beautiful coastal scenery. The snorkeling we did at Pulau Tumuk was a lot of fun, and the landscape photography around Genting was comparable to La Digue on the Seychelles. I can't wait to visit again someday in the future.

* Above I use Booking Affiliate Links. If you use them to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Kuala Lumpur Photography Guide

Michael Breitung — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 24:00:00 GMT

In this photography guide, I share the best photo spots in Kuala Lumpur, where to find spectacular rooftop views, and how to get around.

In 2022, I traveled through Malaysia for a total of 30 days. During that time, I had three stays in Kuala Lumpur which I used to photograph its spectacular skyline and explore the city. In this article I share what I learned during that time. I cover the following topics:

How to Travel to Kuala Lumpur
How to Explore the City
Where to Stay
The Best Photo Spots in Kuala Lumpur

How To Get To Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia and also its largest travel hub. If you want to travel through Malaysia, you'll likely fly to Kuala Lumpur International Airport - also KLIA. It lies 60km south of KL's center, which is reachable via several transport options: You can take the bus, the express train, or a cab.

The bus is the cheapest way to get to KL for around 2$ per person, but it also takes the longest. You can expect up to an hour to get to the TBS terminal. You still need a taxi to reach the center in another 15 to 20 minutes.

The express train will get you to KL Sentral station for around 10$ and is the fastest option taking less than 40 minutes. As with the bus, you still need a taxi to your hotel, but you'll be much closer to the center.

The best way to get to KL is by taxi. If you travel with two or more people, it's also cheaper than the express train. KL Airport Limo, for example, will cost you around 20$ for a ride to any hotel in central KL. Depending on traffic, expect between 45 and 60 minutes of travel time. If you walk out of the airport, you'll also find options for 16$. You can also check if a Grab is nearby - more on that later.

Besides getting to Kuala Lumpur by plane, you can also get there by bus from Singapore if you want to combine the two cities in your travel itinerary. Those buses are comfortable and take between five and six hours.

Getting Around Kuala Lumpur

I already mentioned Grab, the Asian version of Uber, but with many more capabilities. If you want to get around any medium to major city in Southeast Asia, install the Grab app on your cellphone and create an account. Once you arrive at an Asian airport, first thing, get a SIM and activate the Grab app for the country where you landed. Grab is usually cheaper than getting a taxi, and you'll also avoid scams because you know right from the start how much a trip will cost you.

Pro tip: Sometimes, you might not be able to get a Grab in time, and you might need to take a taxi. You can still use the app to get a calculation for the desired route. It will give you an idea of what to expect when negotiating a price with a taxi driver. They usually charge more, but it shouldn't be more than 1.5 times the Grab price. Ideally, get them to use the meter.

I'd say that without Grab, it's hard to get around Kuala Lumpur. Many areas are not walkable. From some of the apartment buildings, it's impossible to reach public transport on foot.

Grab is also great for ordering food. If you've selected a building with a view, you'll likely want to photograph the sunset. It often interferes with dinner. You can pick from the countless food options Grab offers and have it delivered to your apartment.

Where To Stay in Kuala Lumpur

In Kuala Lumpur, choosing a hotel or apartment can be closely tied to selecting a photo spot. Many buildings in KL have a rooftop bar, terrace, or pool. The goal is to find accommodation in one of those buildings, ideally with a view towards the Petronas Towers. In the next part of this article, I will share the three places in which I stayed. All of those are perfect photo spots.

Kuala Lumpur Photography Guide

Kuala Lumpur is one of the best places in the world for cityscape photography. And to make the most out of a stay in this wonderful city, it's worth searching for accommodation that offers rooftop access. I looked through close to 100 apartments to find the best views, and I share the result of this research below. In addition to photographing KL's skyline from the top of its highest buildings, you can also head farther out into the suburbs. I didn't visit all of those but managed to get in a sunrise shoot at one of the best vantage points.

To get the most out of a photo tour to Kuala Lumpur, you must also bring the right equipment. You'll want to have a wide-angle lens like the Canon RF 15-35 f/2.8* for the wide views from the rooftops. A long lens* is also important to pick out details.

A large tripod was equally important. Many of the rooftop areas have high railings and you need to extend your tripod to photograph above those. I used the Leofoto LQ-365 for that.

Expressionz Suites

The first time I stayed in Kuala Lumpur, I rented an apartment in the Expressionz Suites building via Airbnb. If you want access to one of the best views of the Petronas Towers, then this is the right place to stay. This apartment building comes with a rooftop terrace and an infinity pool. Currently, only a visit of one hour is allowed at a time for a maximum of 20 people. You should always plan some waiting time if you want to get up there for sunset. There's also an entrance fee of 2,5$ per person. But for a view like this, I'm happy to pay for it.

The rooftop area was perfect for photography. Next to the pool is a little area with space for one or two tripods. I could take photos from there for an hour without getting in the way of any of the other guests.

The building and the apartment felt very modern and new and the elevators were fast. If you stay there, you'll also get fast internet, Netflix, a filtered water dispenser, and a shower with a view. The only downside is that you need a Grab to get to the center. We walked to the Petronas Towers once, which are only two kilometers away. But this part of KL is not ideal for pedestrians.

Regalia Suites

Let's continue with one of the most popular rooftop views in Kuala Lumpur. At least within the photography community, Regalia Suites is known for its rooftop area. And that's for good reason, as you can see in the photo below.

The view is where the pros of this place end. This building has seen its best years a long time ago: Renovation is dearly needed, the elevators take forever, and the apartments don't have the modern feel found in Expressionz Suites. I read countless reviews of different apartments, and at one point, I doubted if the view would be worth staying in Regalia Suites.

In the end, I found NaiBnb's apartment, which was the best compromise. It had a balcony with a view, fast internet, and Nai's team was very helpful in organizing my rooftop access. In Regalia Suites, a reservation for the rooftop is required at least one day in advance. In addition to that, no bags and tripods are allowed.

So you might wonder: If no tripod is allowed, how did I take the long time exposure above? The wall at the end of the pool area is perfect to stabilize a camera. If you head up there and are the only photographer like I was, you can take incredible photos of the skyline. If there are more photographers, you'll be disappointed.

Ceylonz Suites

A pleasant surprise was the view from Ceylonz Suites. During my research, a lot of guesswork was involved as I booked my apartment * there. Based on the photos I had seen, I couldn't be 100% sure if there was a photo area up on the roof and if I would be allowed to set up a tripod. I shouldn't have worried. Taking photos from the 39th floor was very relaxed. I could head up there before sunrise until long in the evening without booking time slots or waiting for others to leave. It could get a bit crowded in the pool area one floor below, but not on the terrace from which I took this photo.

If you like to explore cities on foot, you'll also like this location much more than the other two. You can walk to both Chinatown and the center area within 20 minutes. It also allows you to head to a restaurant instead of ordering food via Grab, which we did while staying in the other two apartments.

Suburbs View

Close to the residence of Kuala Lumpur's Mayor, you'll find Changkat Tunku Lookout Point. It's the best sunrise view of Kuala Lumpur. To get there, take a Grab and be early. You'll share this place with many local photographers. I've been told that at times of the year when the sun rises behind the Petronas Towers, you can expect up to 50 photographers lining up on the street there. The good thing is there's a lot of space.

Make sure to bring a telephoto lens that allows you to zoom in on the skyline. I took the photo above at 111mm. To get this result, which combines light from just after sunrise with the city lights of blue hour, I left the camera in place for an hour to capture the different atmospheres. Using a technique called time blending, I blended the two together.

Batu Caves

A visit to Kuala Lumpur wouldn't be complete without exploring the mighty Batu Caves. Although this is a very touristy place, it's definitely worth a visit. Those caves are huge, and if you visit them at the right time of year and day, you might be able to capture some beautiful light rays in the main cave. I was there around noon as the sun peeked over the rim of the cave. But its angle wasn't right in September. I still managed to capture a photo I like.

If you want to visit, head there by train or take a Grab. We actually wanted to take the train but learned that we first had to purchase a prepaid card to use the train and not just a ticket. For the two of us we would have paid nearly as much as using Grab. It cost us about 7$ to Batu Caves and back to Regalia Suites. Also good to know: there's no entrance fee for the main cave.

Conclusion

Kuala Lumpur has much more to offer than the few views I show in this article. While the focus of my visits was skyline photography, you'll find at least as many photo opportunities down in Kuala Lumpur's streets. If you spend time walking around the center or Chinatown in the evening, I'm sure you'll find something to photograph.

In the video I show a bit more behind the scenes and information about the apartments I stayed at, so you might want to check it out in addition to this article.

* Those are Affiliate Links. I get a commission if you buy or book something after clicking on those.

Vikos Gorge Photography Guide

Michael Breitung — Sun, 25 Sep 2022 24:00:00 GMT

With a depth of up to 1350 meters and many vertical drops along its edge, the Vikos Gorge in northern Greece is one of the deepest canyons in the world. And not only is this area great for hiking, but it's also an awesome place for landscape photography. In this photography guide, I share some of my favorite photo spots around the Vikos Gorge.

The region of Epirus, to which the Vikos Gorge belongs, is very mountainous. I was already amazed by this landscape during our drive to Corfu when we passed through these mountains. While there are many interesting photo locations in Epirus, I picked the Vikos Canyon because it showed the best photographic potential during my research. There, you can find rivers, forests, canyons, mountains and some beautiful alpine lakes.

The four days we had planned for our visit were not enough, and I will have to return in the future. Then, I will also explore other places in northern Greece. If you have time and are interested in hiking and landscape photography, I'd say you can easily spend two weeks in the Greek mountains and not get bored.

I visited this region in early summer, and the area was still green and vibrant. But I reckon autumn would be even better suited for landscape photography. The temperatures should be a bit more pleasant, the weather more predictable, and the fall colors will make this place even more photogenic.

How To Get To Vikos

To get to the Vikos Canyon, you'll have to spend some time on the road. From Athens, it's a seven-hour drive there. Since such a long drive can be tiring, I'd recommend a stop in Meteora. Spend one or two days there and explore the magnificent viewpoints before continuing north.

If you can find a flight to Thessaloniki, you can reach the Vikos Canyon in less than four hours from the airport.

As general advice: If you are interested in visiting the Cycladic islands and the Peloponnes, flying to Athens might be the best option. If you are more interested in the mountains of the north, start in Thessaloniki.

Where To Stay in Vikos

Vikos is not only the name of the gorge but also of a village at the edge of the canyon. From the town of Vikos you can directly hike down into the gorge, and from what I've seen, it's a charming little village with a few guesthouses and restaurants. But if you want to explore all around the canyon, it's not ideal. It lies at the northern end of the gorge, and it takes a lot of driving to get to the southern part.

Aristi is a larger town nearby, with more accommodation options. You can drive to Vikos and the Vikos Gorge trailhead in 10 minutes and up to Papingo in 20 minutes. The viewpoints in the south are still a one-hour drive away. But if you want to explore the area around the Tymfi mountain and hike along the gorge, it might be a good place to stay.

The southern part of the Vikos gorge is no less beautiful. There you'll find many ancient bridges, several viewpoints, and some beautiful hiking trails. Kapesovo, Monodendri, and Koukouli are well-located villages in this area. If most of your interest lies in the south, try to find accommodation there.

Another option would be to stay in Kalpaki or one of the towns close to the E853 road. This would reduce your time on winding mountain roads if you want to explore the north and south. The area itself is not very scenic though. You will always have to put in a drive to get to places of interest.

Photo Spots Around the Vikos Canyon

As usual, in my photography guides, I don't provide a list of every photo spot in an area. I focus on the locations that appealed to me the most, so the selection below is biased.

I also encourage you to head out to explore and not solely rely on guides like this one. Especially in northern Greece, there's still so much to discover. All it takes is curiosity and the will to put in the work. In the video, I give tips on how I plan my scouting missions and how I increase my chances of finding unique photo spots.

Beloi Viewpoint and Beyond

The first viewpoint I found during my research was the Beloi view in the south, close to the village of Vradeto. You'll also find the famous Vradeto Steps nearby, which I skipped because I didn't see too much photographic potential there. But maybe you have time for those and can prove me wrong.

The Beloi view was tricky to photograph. There's a walled viewing area right at the edge of the gorge. The views from there are spectacular, especially during sunset. But I had a hard time finding an interesting foreground.

The cliffs next to the viewpoint are also not very accessible, which leaves only a few opportunities to set up a tripod. Luckily I found the perfect angle just in time for sunset. Maybe 50 meters before reaching the viewing area, there's a little path heading through the trees on the left. After a little scramble, you'll find a rocky plateau with some trees that you can use as a compositional element. I think that this view will look fantastic in autumn, too.

During the 20-minute hike to the Beloi Viewpoint, I noticed the beautiful, hilly landscape. It led me to return for more exploration of the area. If you watched my scouting video above, you already know the outcome. Starting at the Beloi View car park, I hiked in a northeastern direction to discover the following view.

What you see in this photo are the characteristic stacked rock formations, which you'll find everywhere around the Vikos Canyon. I'm sure you can find many more views like this in the area.

Papingo Rock Pools

I found the Papingo Rock Pools while planning a hike to Drakolimni lake. This hike starts in Mikro Papingo, and I was scrolling through Google Maps, looking for a place to park my car, when I saw the marker for the Papingo Rock Pools.

With the hot weather, those pools didn't only prove to be a great photo subject, but they also made for a nice refreshment.

If you plan a visit, try to be there early. Around noon, the sun will light up the canyon, which takes away from the mood you see in the photo above. Also, bring your swim shorts and venture deep into the canyon to discover the best angles.

Voidomatis Springs

If the Papingo Rock Pools are not cold enough for you, try the Voidomatis Springs, which are said to have a year-round temperature of 4°C. I didn't believe this to be true until I checked.

A dip of 30 seconds was all I could manage. It's freezing but also very reviving. And yes, there are also some photos to be taken down there and along the way.

The hike starts in Vikos town and goes straight down into the gorge. I was there around noon, but I believe you'll get the best light in the morning when the sun starts to peak over the rim of the canyon. On the way down, you'll find many angles for photographing the Vikos Canyon.

I didn't have the right light during my hike, but I found the colors down at the sprints were still worth a photo.

As with the Beloi Viewpoint, I expect this area to look spectacular with fall foliage.

Drakolimni

I've already mentioned Drakolimni above. I planned to hike there and spend the night either in Timfi's Mountain Refuge or under an open sky close to the lake.

The fact that I cannot show you a photo here already tells you that I couldn't do so as planned. The weather in June was just too unpredictable with regular thunderstorms, and I didn't want to risk being caught in one of those in this exposed area.

But if I ever return, I have to make up for it. Just google Drakolimni, and you'll know why.

Other Places of Interest

On the way to Vradeto, I passed the dried-up river bed of Voïdomátis Potamós. There, I found several arched stone bridges. Some of them would look great in a photo, provided Voïdomátis Potamós held some water. I've seen images from different times of the year when it wasn't dry, and it looks beautiful.

On our last day, we also went to the Oxya Viewpoint. It's spectacular but not necessarily a great photo spot. I failed to find a balanced composition with a good foreground there.

Up at the parking lot, where you head straight to the official viewpoint, you can also follow a little path to the left to reach a view just above Oxya. It's better but also hard to photograph.

I'd say any views along the western edge of the canyon have the problem of facing the canyon wall on the opposite side. The views from Vikos and Beloi are along the canyon, which makes for much better photos.

Corfu Photography Guide

Michael Breitung — Sun, 11 Sep 2022 24:00:00 GMT

In this Landscape Photography Guide, I share my experiences photographing the Greek island of Corfu. I focus on the northwest of the island, where I stayed for one week in June 2022.

Remember my last article about Milos? Milos has a very barren landscape, and the fascinating part about it is all the different rock formations. Corfu is another Greek island farther north, close to the Albanian border. In contrast to Milos and the other Cycladic islands, trees cover most of Corfu. Photographing it was much different, as I share in this landscape photography guide.

This guide will not cover all of Corfu but will focus on its northwest. We stayed in Liapades for one week, which gave me enough time to visit some of the spectacular beaches and viewpoints in this area.

How To Get To Corfu

Corfu has an international airport. From different countries throughout Europe, you can find direct flights to the island, often operated by budget airlines. The airport is located next to Corfu town. You can reach every part of the island within a one-hour drive from it. And although buses operate on Corfu, I'd strongly suggest renting a car to explore Corfu on your schedule.

Since we were already exploring the mainland of Greece by car, we went to Corfu by ferry. You can get a ferry from Igoumenitsa to Corfu town, which is what we did, or to Corfu's southern tip. For the trip to Corfu, we used Kerkyra Seaways, and for the way back Kerkyra Lines and paid a bit more than 30 Euros for two people plus a car for each route. Booking tickets via the provided homepages is straightforward.

If you decide to get on such a ferry, be prepared: They will stuff those boats with cars and trucks, and when you park your car on the deck, make sure to exactly follow the employees' instructions. The cars will be parked so close to each other that they nearly touch.

It's a bit like Tetris the employees are playing here, and for me, it's a marvel how they plan such a load. Each time we were on the ferry, it was packed to the brim, and neither at the back nor the front one more car or motorbike would have fit.

Where To Stay On Corfu

If you want to reduce your time on the narrow roads that span most of Corfu, you should do some research before booking a hotel. I usually try to first find interesting photo spots, then mark them on Google maps, and finally book a hotel or Airbnb from which I can reach a few of those spots by foot and the rest within an hour's drive.

The Liapades area is very well situated for landscape photography. Rovinia beach is within walking distance, and places like Paleokastritsa or Angelokastro are only a short drive away. Porto Timoni can be reached within 45 minutes by car, the same as most of Corfu's north.

The Oliveways apartment * was the perfect home base for me. The surrounding forest is full of photogenic olive trees, and the coast is just a 15-minute walk away.

Photographing Corfu

Corfu's western coast is home to some beautiful beaches. Many of those beaches are surrounded by cliffs and can only be accessed by boat. It reduced my photo options significantly because I couldn't get there for sunset. So I focused my efforts on locations I could reach either by foot or car.

Liapades Forest

Close to Liapades, I found many beautiful olive groves during some runs I did in the area for scouting. Those are the perfect subjects for cloudless days, which I had plenty of during my stay. Especially in the morning, those groves look magical when the sun begins lighting up the forest floor.

If you ever stay in this area, spend some time hiking through the forest south of Liapades close to the coast. You'll not be disappointed.

Rovinia Beach

At Rovinia beach, you can find a beautiful cave at its southern end. I tried to take some photos from within, looking out across the bay during sunset and sunrise. Unfortunately, the light never touched the cliffs around the cave, and the clear skies didn't provide the drama I was hoping to capture. But later during the year, this cave might be a worthy photo spot.

What I ended up photographing was not Rovinia beach itself. Once you reach the last parking lot, follow the little path through the trees on the right. At its end, you'll find a secluded cove much less crowded than the beach.

This view, with its cliffs, cypress trees, turquoise waters, and rocks, is quintessential for Corfu.

Corfu Countryside

One morning I drove to Canal d'Amour in the north of Corfu. I didn't take a photo because I wasn't excited about the subject and the light that morning. On my drive back to Liapades, I encountered a much more interesting photo opportunity. As mist drifted through one of the valleys, I captured some beautiful light rays with my long lens.

I don't know the exact location, from which I took this photo. It was a spontaneous stop. But if you let Google guide you from Liapades to Canal d'Amour you will encounter several views similar to this one as you drive across the mountain paths.

Other Places of Photographic Interest

I visited several other places during my week on Corfu, trying to find more photogenic views. Porto Timoni offers two main viewpoints, which weren't suited for landscape photography very well. There was not enough foreground interest, and the vantage points were restricted. The upper view might hold some potential in spring when flowers bloom along the ridge, but I didn't find a composition worth photographing in June.

Canal d'Amour is another popular photo spot on Corfu. But I didn't find this area very inspiring. If you want to take the same photo that others have taken before, feel free to check it out. Maybe you are lucky with light and weather and capture a good photograph. But for me, this location was very disappointing.

Then we have the Angelokastro, which I thought would make a great subject - a castle in the clouds. It might be worth heading there for sunset in spring or autumn with more dynamic weather. You can find a few viewpoints walking around the hills close to the car park. But similar to Porto Timoni, the vegetation during summer didn't provide any interesting foreground, and the weather no clouds.

The Paleokastritsa viewpoint teased me with spectacular sea stacks. But I couldn't get close enough to photograph them. There might be a steep, hidden path further down. But if it exists, I didn't find it.

I went to Agios Petros beach instead. Walking along the shore on the left, I found some interesting rocks. What this scene would have needed was some stormy weather and drama to complement the scenery.

Conclusion

As you can see, my one week on Corfu wasn't very productive. Most of my explorations didn't yield any photos. Part of the reason for that might be the season I visited. Summer and its clear skies aren't ideal for photographing Corfu or Greece in general. I also found much of the terrain difficult to deal with. If I visit Corfu again, I think I'll explore more along its western center, which also boasts some spectacular seascapes.

To close this article, I have an announcement: I created a calendar containing my best photos from Greece. You can find more information on my shop page.

* Above I use Booking Affiliate Links. If you use them to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Milos Photography Guide

Michael Breitung — Thu, 21 Jul 2022 24:00:00 GMT

In this article we explore one of the most beautiful islands of the Cyclades, Milos. I share several great photo spots and provide tips on photographing Milos.

It is quite different from Paros, which made it a great next stop on my travels through Greece. I only had three days on Milos, and I could not explore every photo spot on the island. In the west, you'll find places that can only be reached by boat or with an off-road capable vehicle. Kleftiko is one example. Since I didn't fancy a boat tour, and we only had a regular rental car, I decided to skip the west and save it for another time. So this Milos photography guide is about the center close to Adamantas and the east.

How To Get to Milos

If you travel internationally, there's no direct option to get you to Milos. If you want to fly to Milos, you'll have to switch planes in Athens. Athens airport is the only location from where you can fly to Milos. Be aware that this part of the journey requires you to board a smaller ATR 42-300 / 320 plane. During heavy winds, such flights might be delayed or canceled altogether.

It is what happened to many flights the day we arrived in Milos. We had taken a ferry from Paros. When we got our rental car, the rental agent told us that many customers didn't pick up their rental car because of canceled flights due to strong winds. The ferry ride had also been no pleasure, but at least it got us to Milos.

You can reach Milos via ferry from Piraeus in five to six hours. Those ferries are large and allow you to bring a car if you don't want to rent one on Milos. In addition to that, you can reach Milos from some of the other Cyclades. We took a smaller ferry from Paros, which was also why the ride was so bumpy. The larger car ferries are usually more stable, even on windy days.

I recommend booking the journey from Piraeus with Zante Ferries. We booked our trip from Milos to Piraeus with them. The ferry was spacious, with plenty of open-air decks and seating areas. A faster alternative is via Seajets. But their ferries offer less outside space, and you'll often be confined to the interior of the ferry, which we didn't like so much during the rides we did with them.

Where To Stay on Milos

Staying in the Adamantas area will give you the most flexibility. Via rental car, you'll be able to visit many photogenic places within 30 to 45 minutes. It's also where the harbor is located, and many of the boat tours leave from there.

We were staying in Plaka * in the Milos Guesthouse (no longer on Booking). It's one of the best apartments we ever stayed in during our travels. It has my full recommendation.

If you want to wake up to the waves and jump into the water, check the apartments in Firopótamus.

Photo Spots on Milos

In this part, I will share the photo spots I visited during our stay on Milos.

Plaka Castle

The hill on which the Plaka Castle is situated is visible from many parts of the island. It's a great place to enjoy some 360° views of Milos. Before you reach the top, you'll pass a beautiful church facing the west. It's a great place to photograph the sunset.

Although I didn't stay that long during my visit, I took a photo to document the view for you.

If you plan to visit, park your car in the free parking area. From there, it's a 20 - 25 minute walk to the castle.

Fyriplaka Beach

If you decide to visit Fyriplaka Beach, you'll be amazed by its colorful cliffs. It is a place where you can take photos even on a sunny, cloudless day. Just bring the long lens and zoom in on the details.

Getting to this beach is easy, with either a rental car or scooter. From Adamantas, you'll reach it within 20 - 30 minutes. Only the last kilometer and a short section about half the way to Fyriplaka are unpaved.

In high season Fyriplaka can get crowded, and you'll find next to no shade. That's why I would suggest a visit in the morning or evening.

Sarakiniko

The most popular beach on the island is Sarakiniko. At first, I was skeptical if it could live up to the hype. But I can answer this question with a yes. Sarakiniko's moonlike landscape makes it a great place for landscape photography.

I dedicated most of the sunrises and sunsets I had on Milos to this place, trying to come away with some unique photos. I found both intimate landscape scenes and wide vistas for my photos.

If you visit, make sure to plan in enough time for scouting. You'll find small canyons, structured surfaces, interestingly shaped rocks, and more. And while this place gets crowded during the daytime, at sunset the masses slowly subside. If you want it for yourself, head there before sunrise.

You can reach it in less than 10 minutes by car from Adamantas. There's a large parking lot from where you can walk down to the beach in five minutes.

The Secret Cove

I discovered a spectacular cove during a run along the coast close to Plaka. From the distance, I could already see a massive pillar of rock jutting out of the water. Neither had I seen any photos of it before nor had I read or heard of this location.

As I stood in front of this seascape, I was very excited - from all the places I had visited during my time in Greece, this was without a doubt the best sunset location. As usual, I didn't have any clouds when photographing it. But I'm still pleased by the result.

For this place, I will not give you detailed instructions on how to get there. I call it the secret cove to get you curious, so you start exploring yourself. Above, I already mentioned the area in which you can look for it. From there, it shouldn't be too hard to find.

And to be honest, discovering such photo spots on your own is half the fun in landscape photography.

* Those are Affiliate Links. I get a commission if you buy or book something after clicking on those.

Paros Photography Guide

Michael Breitung — Sat, 02 Jul 2022 24:00:00 GMT

The Cyclades had been on my list of future photo destinations for a long time. In May 2022, after our two weeks on Crete, it was finally time to explore some of these beautiful islands, starting with Paros. In this Paros photography guide I show you my favorite photo spots on the island.

Maybe the most popular islands of the Cyclades are Santorini and Mykonos, which we intentionally skipped. They are too crowded for my taste. While Paros has also gained a lot of popularity over the past years, mainly thanks to Instagram, it's still a much more relaxed island to explore.

How To Get to Paros

Most of the Cyclades have airports. But only a few are reachable via direct, international flights. For islands like Paros, a stop in Athens or Thessaloniki is necessary. From there, you usually find flights with Olympic Air or Aegean Airlines.

The most popular way of getting to Paros and the other Cyclades is via ferry, which I'd recommend if you plan to visit not only one but several islands in the Aegean sea. We did such an island-hopping from Crete to Paros, then to Milos, and finally to Piräus. The ferry from Crete to Paros took five hours.

Despite the long ride, it was a comfortable crossing. If you travel by plane, you must plan additional time to drop off your luggage and get through security. For boarding a ferry, you can arrive 30 minutes before departure and board with all your luggage. Many ferry companies have online check-in, and you get a digital ticket sent to your cell phone.

Now, to get the most out of a visit to Paros, I recommend a rental car. The island is relatively small, and there are regular buses between the major towns. But for photography, it's essential to be flexible, and for that a car is necessary.

If you want to bring a rental car via ferry, try to be there about 60 minutes before departure to secure your spot in the line. Boarding Greek ferries with a car can be hectic, as I learned firsthand during our crossing to Corfu a few weeks later.

You can also rent a car directly on the Cyclades. At each port or airport, you'll find several rental companies. On Paros, we had a good experience with AutoUnion.

Where To Stay on Paros

The most photogenic towns on Paros are Naoussa and Lefkes. Since Lefkes is located in the backcountry, I wouldn't make it my home base for photography. Naoussa is much better suited for that. But it's also the most popular town on the island and very crowded.

You'll get more for your money if you stay in the Parikia area, which is also the location of the port. We had a wonderful time in Archipelagos Apartments, which offer a great view of Parikia *. From there, it's less than 20 minutes of driving to all the photo spots I show below.

Photo Spots on Paros

With our only four days on the island, it was impossible to explore all of it. So, the list of photo spots I share below is just a selection. There's certainly more to discover if you stay longer.

Naoussa

As I already mentioned, Naoussa is the most photogenic town on the island. During the day and especially in the evening it gets very crowded. It makes photographing its streets a challenge. The best photo spot for sunset is along the wall that connects the town to the Venetian Castle.

The first photo in this article was taken from there just after sunset. In the background, you can see the crowded restaurants. The image below was photographed from the opposite side, just next to the Barbarossa restaurant. Early in the morning, I was the only person there, which allowed me to explore compositions, which would be hard to photograph in the evening because of the crowds.

Naoussa also has some beautiful white alleys. If you have time, you'll find some interesting subjects there. I'd recon blue hour in the morning would be ideal for that. I was using that time to take photos along with the port though.

Lefkes

Lefkes is a beautiful little village in the mountains of Paros. We visited one day around noon, and the streets were nearly empty - no comparison to Naoussa. The photo I was after though, required some exploration around town.

If you follow the road from the public parking a little further up the mountain, you can find some great vantage points from which you can photograph the town with a long lens. Sunrise is the perfect time to do so, with the sun lighting up the hills in the background.

Be sure to scout this area in advance. Not every vantage point is suited for taking a great photo. You'll often have to deal with branches or power lines in the frame. But as you can see in the image above, there is at least one view free of those.

Paros Park

In addition to these two very photogenic villages, Paros also offers some spectacular coastal landscapes. If you want to photograph a beautiful beach, head to Kolimbithres for sunrise or sunset. The rocks there make for some interesting foregrounds.

But I was after another photo. I wanted to capture Paros Lighthouse surrounded by a spectacular rocky coastline. The problem I was facing was the absence of clouds, which is quite usual for the Cyclades during summer. But there's a solution. The rocks in Paros Park make for great, abstract subjects. So instead of the typical landscape photography, I spent hours pointing my camera at various formations in the park.

The photo of the lighthouse was just an afterthought in the end. It's really a subject for sunrise when there are clouds in the sky. If you ever visit Paros and get those conditions - jackpot.

Behind the Scenes

I also filmed a video, in which I take you behind the scenes of me taking the above photos. I give tips about photographing Paros and about landscape photography in general.

* Above I use Booking Affiliate Links. If you use them to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Crete Photography Guide

Michael Breitung — Thu, 09 Jun 2022 24:00:00 GMT

This landscape photography guide focuses on Crete, the largest of the Greek islands. I share the best photo spots I visited during the two weeks I explored the island, and I provide tips about the best time to visit Crete.

When we decided to travel to Crete in May 2022, I was uncertain, if I would find enough subjects to photograph. The main reason for us to visit were the cheap flights, the affordable rental car, the good accommodation options, and the weather. My research for landscape photography locations came after that. In this photography guide, I share the result of this research.

First things first: I won't be able to cover all of Crete in this article. As I learned quickly, Crete has a lot to offer for landscape photographers who don't mind the effort to get to some photo locations. The two weeks we spent on the island were split into one week in the northwest and one week in the east near Gouves.

Typically I wouldn't pick Gouves as a base for exploring the east of Crete. We were mainly there because my girlfriend was helping in a local animal shelter. They do great work at this shelter, and if you have a minute, check out their homepage and consider donating.

Western Crete

Let's start with the west of Crete. We picked this area because it wasn't hard to find beautiful photo locations during my research. So, in contrast to the Gouves area, it was a safe start photographically.

Picturesque locations are, among others: Chania harbor, as shown in the photo above, Balos beach, Elafonisi beach, Saitan Limani, Phalasarna, the Samaria Gorge, and Lefka Ori with its highest peak, Pachnes. The latter is pretty hard to reach. If you don't have a 4WD rental car, you'll need to organize transport from Anopolis. From there you'll be taken to the trailhead, 22 kilometers of gravel road up in the mountains. As we visited in late May, we could still see snow on those mountains.

Gramvousa Peninsula

With Phalasarna in the south and Balos beach in the north, the Gramvousa Peninsula is one of the most photogenic and spectacular places in western Crete. A good base for exploring this area is either Phalasarna or Kissamos. We stayed in a beautiful Airbnb in Kissamos, from where I could reach many interesting photo spots within one hour of driving.

For good reason, Balos beach is next to Elafonisi the most famous beach on Crete. It has beautiful turquoise water and is surrounded by cliffs, which offer fantastic views. Getting there by car is not so much fun. It's slow going on the nine kilometers of gravel road that lead to the parking area above the beach. The condition of the road is ok, but you should still take care because of the many rocks. Those small rental cars often don't have the best tires.

Once you arrive at the parking area, you have several options to take photos. You can walk down to the beach and photograph it from the little dunes on the southern side or stay up on the cliffs to the right of the trail to experience views like this one.

You can also take a walk to the northern tip of the peninsula, where you should have spectacular views of Balos. Bring the long lens for that.

I already mentioned Phalasarna in the south: drive to the northern end of this town and follow the gravel road for about one kilometer. By foot, you can then follow the hiking trail that leads to Balos beach along the western side of Gramvousa. The total hike is long and strenuous. But you will already find wonderful views and photo opportunities early into the hike. Just take your time to explore, and you'll be rewarded.

Milia Mountain Retreat

I mention this retreat here because it's encircled by beautiful mountains covered by thick vegetation. No alpine experience is needed to access those, but you should have some path-finding skills because some trails are hidden. Walking sticks might also be helpful to navigate the uneven terrain.

From those mountains, you can spot Kissamos and the Gramvousa Peninsula. I was up there for sunset one evening with spectacular side light. But sunrise should also work photographically.

Elafonisi Beach

This beach was also on my list of photo locations on Crete because I had seen photos of it that featured pink sand. During a scouting trip, I could see some of it. But it was much less spectacular than in some of the photos I had seen.

The beach is beautiful though, with white sand and crystal clear water. If you visit, walk towards the end of the peninsula. There's a little hill with a lighthouse at its top. The lighthouse itself is not photogenic: it's just some scaffolding with a light on it. But on the way up there you'll find beautiful views. During scouting, I took this photo with my cell phone.

The plan was to return for sunrise one morning. But I didn't get decent enough light to make the one-hour drive worthwhile. I guess I have to return another time of the year when there's a bigger chance for spectacular skies.

Eastern Crete

Typically, after visiting the west of Crete, I would have continued with the south, which offers some spectacular, rugged coastlines. But since we had planned to spend a week around Gouves, I will focus on this area in the second part of this guide.

So, what's there to photograph close to Gouves and Heraklion, Crete's capital? As I studied the map of Crete, two mountain ranges immediately stood out. There are the mountains around Mount Ida, the highest peak of Crete, and the Dikti mountains. I'm sure both offer great hiking and photo opportunities. But since the Dikti range was closer to our apartment in Gouves, this is where I directed my efforts.

One important thing to note about mountain photography on Crete: you won't find much shade on many trails. That's why the time between late May and September isn't ideal for exploring the mountains. It's dry and hot, and usually, there aren't many clouds that might offer shade. Especially the Dikti range is barren, and the hikes I did were pretty strenuous.

Selena Mountain

My initial plan was to summit the highest peak, Spathi. From there, I would have had 360° views. But the hike was too long with the high temperatures. So I decided to tackle two of the lower peaks: Selena and Afentis. I went up Selena for sunset, which meant hiking in the afternoon. At that time, the temperatures usually peak on Crete. But the view was rewarding.

If you ever plan to visit, park your car along the road that leads up to the Agios Charalambos church. Unfortunately, you can't go all the way up to the church. The road gets pretty rough for the last kilometer.

Afentis Mountain

For Afentis, I had a different plan. I wanted to photograph it at sunrise. Since I didn't know the nature of the trail, I first embarked on a trail run up there one afternoon. I only brought my cell phone and two liters of water to travel lightly. During this run, I scouted the peak for possible compositions. Then I waited until our last day on Crete for some clouds. I got up at 2:30 am, drove to the trailhead, and hiked up in the dark. In my opinion, this is the best time to hike up a mountain on Crete in the Summer months.

From Plati, a rough, eight-kilometer gravel road leads to the top. In the morning, I needed about 90 minutes to reach the top. If you don't want to push it, plan in two hours. At the top of Afentis you'll find some antennas and a little church. But you'll find the best views towards the east a few 100 meters before reaching the peak. For the photo above, I scrambled down the eastern slopes until I found a good foreground.

What Else?

As I wrote at the beginning of this article, Crete offers much more photographic potential than what I shared here. Just be open to exploring, as I did. In the end, most of the photos I took were of places I hadn't seen captured before. And that's the exciting part about visiting Crete for landscape photography. There are still so many hidden gems. You only have to venture beyond the places you see featured on Instagram.

I also have to mention the gorges. Crete is full of them, and next time I return, I will spend some time exploring those. Especially the Imbros gorge is high on my list. But some of the smaller ones should also offer good angles for photography.

Best Time to Visit

We visited in May, and while it was already pretty hot, it was still manageable. In many parts of the island, vegetation was lush and green, with many blooming flowers. So Spring is a good time for landscape photography on Crete. Only don't wait until the end of May as we did. There was already too much sunshine and too few clouds.

Because it's hot and dry, I would avoid the Summer months. The landscape will look pretty barren and less photogenic.

The next time I visit Crete will likely be during Autumn. The weather should be more dynamic and offer some rain too. It should bring back some colors to the landscapes.

Based on the photos I've seen from local photographers, I'd say that Winter can also be very photogenic. There are much fewer tourists and many places are deserted. In addition to that, there'll be snow on many of the mountains. It can offer a great backdrop for your landscape photos and opportunities for snow-shoeing.

Venice Photography Guide

Michael Breitung — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 24:00:00 GMT

I've been a photographer for more than ten years and even though Venice has been on my list of future travel destinations for most of that time, only recently did I finally visit this wonderful city. For five days, I explored the maze of narrow alleys, canals, and little bridges that make up the heart of Venice. In this article, I share my experiences as a photography guide.

It's not very hard to find good photo spots in Venice. On the different photo-sharing platforms, you can find thousands of photos, and just using Google Maps it's pretty easy to find the places where those were taken. So that's what I did as I started planning my trip to Venice. Before I booked our accommodation, I wanted to make sure that I would have a few of the famous photo spots within walking distance.

How To Get to Venice

Before I tell you where we stayed in Venice, I want to share the different options for visiting Venice. If you travel from outside Europe, you'll likely fly to Marco Polo Airport. From there you can take a ferry, called Vaporetto, to the heart of Venice.

To use ferries, busses, and other public transportation in and around Venice, you should install the Actv app, which lets you buy and activate tickets. Make sure to install it before your trip because verification of your account is required where you need to insert your credit card details. A single ferry ride costs 7,5 Euros, no matter how far you go, and the ticket will be valid for 75 minutes after its activation.

If you travel within Europe, using the train or car could also be an option. You can then either take a Vaporetto or one of the expensive water taxis from the train station in Venice to get closer to your hotel. Alternatively, you can do what we did and walk through the city.

We drove down to Venice in my car from Munich in Germany, which took about 6,5 hours. It was a lot cheaper than the train, which I find ridiculous. We would have paid 200 Euro more for two return tickets than what the complete trip with the car cost me, including parking. Parking is quite affordable if you park at one of the parking lots close to the bridge that leads to Venice. We used Green Park and paid 6 Euros per day.

Where To Stay in Venice

Venice is a very walkable city. I'd suggest booking a hotel or Airbnb somewhere in the San Marco or San Polo district, which will put you right in the center of all the photo spots, and you can get everywhere in the city with no more than 2,5 kilometers of walking. Accommodations in these areas are not cheap, but it's worth staying right in the center, which we did with our Airbnb.

Venice Photography Guide

In this part, I go through different photogenic areas in Venice. In general, you can find something to photograph in any part of the city. Just explore. You will spot plenty of subjects beyond the popular photo locations. This guide will give you a good start. It's not an exhaustive list, but it contains some of the best photo spots in the city.

Riva Degli Schiavoni and St. Mark's Square

The waterfront area Riva Degli Schiavoni with St. Mark's Square has maybe the highest photo subject densities in Venice. That's also the reason why it's usually very crowded. Even early in the morning, you'll have to share it with other photographers. But that's ok because there are many photo spots.

And although there are many obvious scenes to photograph, I found a perspective of the Campanile di San Marco, which I hadn't seen photographed before. It shows that it's worth spending some time to explore this area and not just head to the main photo spots, from which I also took my photo - nothing wrong with that.

Dorsoduro

Another area that'll be worth your time is the Dorsoduro district. Here you'll find many beautiful views along the different canals, and there is plenty of opportunity to put one of the many crooked church towers into the frame. The most picturesque canal is, in my opinion, the Rio de S. Barnaba. It provides wonderful views into both the eastern and western direction.

But don't stop there. I walked through the whole district during my visit to Venice and found many interesting views. The only problem I had was the limited time. Five days is just not enough to capture all of Venice's beauty.

Campo Manin to Ponte dell'Accademia

I mention Campo Manin, because besides providing some great photography subjects, it also sits roughly in the center of the San Marco district. And I found many beautiful canals and bridges to the west of this plaza in the direction of Ponte dell'Accademia.

Ponte dell'Accademia is one of the most popular photo spots in Venice. I walked there many times from our Airbnb, passing through Campo Manin. Most of the time, I didn't take the direct route. I went right and left down different alleys and found scenes like this one along the way.

And at Campo Manin itself, I took this blue hour photo on my final evening in Venice. It was my favorite scene of the trip: the two bridges framing the gondolas. If you are interested in how I edited this photo, you can check the photo editing tutorial I have available here.

As I wrote above, this is not an exhaustive list. It's a start and will provide you with enough photo opportunities for several days. But if you have the time, also pay the Castello and Cannaregio districts a visit. You'll find places like the Libreria Acqua Alta, Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo or the picturesque channels around Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Miracoli.

And to get the most out of such a city trip to Venice, make sure to watch my video about seven tips for better cityscape photos.

Ultimate Monitor Calibration Guide

Michael Breitung — Sat, 09 Apr 2022 24:00:00 GMT

This monitor calibration guide shows in-depth how to achieve a properly calibrated system for photo editing. I take you step by step through the complete process, using a colorimeter and software from Calibrite.

I cover the following topics:

Why Monitor Calibration is Important
Required Calibration Tools
How to Calibrate Using i1Profiler from Calibrite
How to Meature Monitor Uniformity
Tips for Photo Editing

Why a Calibrated Monitor Is Important

Having a properly calibrated monitor has always been high on my priority list when it comes to photo editing. It's the only way I can ensure that the color and tonality of the photos as I see them on my display look the same on the calibrated display of photographers, editors or customers. Color accuracy is key in the professional photography world where photos are sold via multiple outlets for countless different uses. Moreover, I can only do proper soft-proofing for my prints, if I have a calibrated display.

So, it should be out of question that we as photographers should edit our photos on a calibrated screen to ensure an accurate color representation. But how does the calibration work? I will share all the details in this monitor calibration guide.

Note: While the process I describe below will work for any display, not all displays can be calibrated equally well. Some displays have just a limited color gamut and hence cannot be calibrated to match the target color spaces that are available in the calibration software. And even for displays with a large enough gamut, display quality might prevent an accurate and consistent result. To be able to make an informed buying decision for a monitor you can check sites like Prad.

Colorimeters

To calibrate a display we need a calibration tool that can measure colors. Such a device is called a colorimeter. The most popular calibration devices are available from Calibrite, formerly X-Rite, and Datacolor. I myself use the X-Rite i1 Display Pro*, which after some rebranding is now called ColorChecker Display Pro by Calibrite. It's a compact piece of hardware that I use to calibrate both the screen of my Dell XPS* and my external EIZO display.

But a colorimeter alone is not enough. What's also necessary are drivers and calibration software. Typically, if you purchase a calibration device, it comes with the proper software and drivers. There is also an open source software available called DisplayCAL. I haven't tested it myself, but based on the documentation and screenshots on their homepage it looks promising.

The combination of colorimeter, drivers and calibration software then allows you to create a monitor specific color profile in form of an ICM file. For this the software displays a set of known colors on the screen, which are measured by the colorimeter. The result of those measurement is fed back into the software, where it is compared against the known color values. The disparity between the two is then used to create a custom color profile for the screen. The goal of this profile is to reduce the disparity to a minimum delta.

In addition to the color values, the colorimeter also measures the brightness of the screen, which is typically the first step in any calibration process. Getting the brightness of a screen right is the foundation of a proper monitor calibration and I will give some tips on setting brightness values below.

Monitor Calibration Guide

In this section I will walk you through the different steps that are required to calibrate a monitor. I will show screenshots from the i1Profiler software, which is now called ccProfiler by Calibrite. If you use a Spyder from Datacolor to calibrate your screen, the settings in their software should be similar.

After giving your monitor a few minutes to warm up, the first step during calibration is to connect your calibration device to your PC or Mac and start the calibration software. It should automatically detect the colorimeter, if the drivers are installed properly. In the image below you see I have set the User Mode to Advanced. In advanced mode you get access to a few more settings than in basic mode. As you will learn below I don't touched many of those during calibration, so most of the time you will be fine using the basic mode.

Based on the type of the used calibration device different checkmarks will show up under Licensing. With my calibration device I get the proper licenses to calibrate monitors and projectors, which is all I need. What I cannot profile are printers and scanners. I also have different options available in the pane on the left-hand side of the i1Profiler software. For my device I find three options under Display, which are Profiling, Quality and Uniformity.

Profiling a Monitor

The first step is to create a profile for the displays you use. The calibration will be performed on the display, on which the iProfiler software is shown. If you want to calibrate multiple displays you can simply move the iProfiler window to the different displays before starting the calibration. If you click on the Profiling button on the left (Display Profiling in basic mode), the software will display a screen filled with Display Settings.

Display Settings

Technology Type

At the top you see the connected displays, which for me are the display of the Dell XPS and my external EIZO monitor. The first setting you have to apply is the correct display type. You see that I have White LED selected for my Dell and EIZO display - both live within the sRGB color space. White LED or WLED together with RGB LED (Wide Gamut), CCFL and Wide Gamut CCFL are the most typical settings here: Some older LCD Monitors use CCFL or Wide Gamut CCFL. Newer external LCDs as well as notebook displays typically use the LED-Backlight technology.

If you are not sure, which setting to use, White LED is your best bet, because it's the most widely used technology nowadays. If you want to be certain that you selected the right option, you can check this overview of display technologies for your display.

White Point

To get a good preview of how your images would look printed using modern print technologies and papers, select the CIE Illuminant D65 standard. The color temperature of this standard is 6500 Kelvin, which corresponds to the color temperature of daylight.

Luminance

This is one of the most important settings and it can be tricky to get right, because there is not one right value. The correct value largely depends on your editing environment and the brightness of the ambient light. In addition to that it depends on the major use case for which you edit your photos. As a rule of thumb, your monitor should be the brightest object in front of your eyes. But how much brighter than its surroundings should it be.

Let me give you two examples:

If you edit in a dark room without any ambient light, your eyes will adjust to the dark environment. Hence a dark monitor will appear normally bright. For such an editing environment you'd have to set a low Luminance value of less than 80. Otherwise there's the chance that you'd edit all your photos too dark.
The opposite is true, if your room is too bright. You would have to set the Luminance value to a higher value far above 120. Otherwise your edited photos might be too bright.

In my opinion both environments are not ideal. I work in a normally lit room with a window to the side that leaves in mostly indirect light. What you want to avoid is direct sunlight in your office. As it gets dark in the evening I use a BENQ Screenbar to provide a fill light on my desk. I generally avoid editing in the evening as at that time of day my eyes are normally too tired. If I wanted to edit in the evening, I would get a dimmable daylight lamp, which I could use to emmulate the ambient light in my office during day.

The 110 value I have set as my Luminance is a compromise and it comes from experience. I'm used to editing at that brightness and I know how to prepare my prints that way. And that's important. If you like to print your photos, be aware that a print will typically look a bit darker than what you see on your monitor, if you have the Luminance set to too bright. Best would be to get a blank piece of printing paper, look at it in a controlled lighting environment and try to match the brightness of your screen to that. This might land you at a Luminance value of 100 or less.

But as photographers we also like to share our photos online and hence, we need to find the best compromise, which is what I did through experimenting. And doing your own tests will be necessary to find what works best for you - check within the range from 80 to 120 and, if in doubt, go closer to 120, because this should provide you with accurate brightness for a wider range of use cases than 80 for example.

Gamma

If you do some research on this setting you will notice that it's quite an involved topic. The Gamma setting you make here influences how different tones are represented on the display. The difference will mostly be noticeable in the darker tones. If the wrong tone curve or Gamma setting is chosen, your images can appear to bright and a bit flat with no real black in them. A Gamma of 2.4, for example, will make the image appear more contrasty with deeper blacks while a tone curve setting of 1.8 will show more details in the dark areas.

From what I gathered, most displays follow the default 2.2 curve or are at least close to it, so selecting this setting is the safest bet. The sRGB curve is similar to the 2.2 default curve, but deviates in the darker areas - this is where you might notice a difference. There are also professional monitors that allow you to set a custom tone curve. If you happen to own such a monitor, you might want to match that settings in your calibration software.

Finally, you can use this test from Lagom after you finished your calibration to check, if your Gamma setting is correct.

Contrast Ratio

To be honest, I have never touched this value and always left it in Native mode, which gives me good results. If you use the basic mode, this setting will not be shown.

Flare Correct

This is another one of the advanced settings, which I never activate. It can be used to compensate for flare light falling on the display, which is something you should try to avoid by properly positioning your monitor.

Ambient Light Smart Control

Same as Flare Correct I leave this setting unchecked. If you activate it, the colorimeter will create a measurement for the ambient light in the room. The profile is then adjusted based on this reading. This can be helpful, but it also introduces an additional variable into your editing setup, which you don't control yourself. I rather try to ensure that the light in my room fits the settings I have made for the calibration.

Profile Settings

If you are in advanced mode, you will see the Profile Settings screen once you click on Next in the lower right corner. I would recommend to not change those and leave the defaults active. The only thing you want to make sure is that the correct ICC Profile Version is selected. Default for MAC should be Version 4 and for Windows it should be Version 2. On this site, you can check, if your system is capable of using Version 4 or only supports Version 2.

Patch Set

On the next screen you can select the Patch set size, which is again an advanced setting and maybe the only one I actually change. Because I found I get a better calibration for my Dell XPS display, if I set the patch size to medium. With medium 211 colors will be used for the calibration versus 118 colors with the small set, which is used in basic mode.

Measurement

The final page before starting the profiling is the Measurement page. Here you should check Adjust brightness, contrast, and RGB gains manually. Even if you don't own a professional monitor where you can set the contrast and RGB values manually, you can always set the brightness. And even on a notebook display you can adjust the brightness by going into the display settings of your operating system settings.

Profiling

Then it's time to click on the Start Measurement button and follow the instructions on the screen, which includes positioning the calibration device in the middle of the monitor. The first measurement is for the brightness. At this stage you can make manual adjustments to your screen brightness to match the desired setting.

If you are only able to do this in the settings of your operating system, it helps if you have two monitors. Then you can show the settings on one monitor, while the calibration runs on the other. If you only have one screen, iProfiler will prevent the settings window to appear. You can then try to use the function keys for brightness on your keyboard or you have to leave the calibration, make the setting and start it again. This is a bit tedious because you might have to repeat this step a few times to dial in the proper value.

An important note here: If you change the brightness setting during the calibration, don't change it afterwards. This also means that you have to deactivate any automatic brightness changes based on ambient light, which your system might support. This would mess up your calibration.

Also, if you use an external monitor, those often come with different modes like Cine, Vibrant, Gaming or some similar set of modes. Make sure to reset the mode to default before the calibration and leave it at that afterwards.

Review and Saving

Once the profiling has finished it's time to review the result and to save the profile. On this page you can also set a Profile Reminder so you don't forget to regularly check the quality of your calibration and to remeasure, if necessary.

Once you have saved the profile, it is automatically selected as the active profile for your system and will be active right upon startup. On Windows there is sometimes a little delay until the profile is loaded. I notice this through a color shift a few seconds after Windows has started.

Display QA Reference

I usually check the quality of a profile right after its creation. In advanced mode click the Display QA button in the bottom pane of iProfiler. This will take you to the Display QA Reference page.

Here a small set of 24 color patches is measured to asses the quality of the active profile. A report is created that shows the average delta for the measured patches as well as the maximum deviating patches. I usually try to get the max values beneath 2 and the average beneath 1 and I repeat the assessment regularly to maintain the quality of my calibration. If I'm in advanced mode a Quality button is available in the pane on the left, which directly brings me to the measurement page.

After every measurement, which I do once a month, I use the Add to Trending button to create a graph that shows the development of the accuracy of the calibration over time. For my EIZO the quality is quite stable. But for my Dell I found that it deteriorates much quicker and I have to recalibrate every few months.

Monitor Uniformity

In advanced mode you will find another feature on the left side of the iProfiler software. The Uniformity measurement can be used to check the brightness distribution of your monitor. It's typical that there will be some difference between the center area and the corners, but the delta shouldn't be to high for a professional editing environment. If it is too big, this might tell you that you should get a better display.

Monitor Calibration Video

In addition to this article I have also created a video tutorial, in which I walk you through the different steps. The content of the video will largely overlap with this article. It's mostly intended for people that enjoy videos more than text.

Bonus Tips for Photo Editing

I want to finish this article up with some additional editing tips, which will help you to get consistent color and contrast quality in your photos. Because, in addition to calibrating your monitor, it's also important to calibrate your eyes. In general your eyes will adjust very quickly to the environment through a process called adaption. But if you get into the office after spending hours outside on a bright day, you might want to give your eyes a few minutes to adjust to the darker environment.

You should also avoid a too colorful editing environment. That means, don't paint the walls in your office in intense bright colors. Your perception of colors will shift and this will affect your editing, especially the setting of the color balance for your photos. For this reason I prefer to work in an office where behind my monitor I have a mostly white or grey wall.

Finally, to get consistent colors in my photos I will usually look at 10 to 20 of my favorite photos that show a wide range of colors before I start editing. This way I prime my vision for the kind of colors and contrasts shown in those photos and it will be easier to replicate that look. Throughout the editing I will regularly look at some of my portfolio photos that were taken in similar light as the one I'm working on.

References

Here I have gathered some references for further reading:

Six Aspects of Monitor Calibration You Need to Know
Calibrite ColorChecker Display Review
Understanding Gamma Correction
Monitor Calibration
Stärkere Farben (German Article from heise)

Puerto Viejo Photography Guide

Michael Breitung — Fri, 08 Apr 2022 24:00:00 GMT

After visiting the mountains of Costa Rica and exploring the cloud forest of Monteverde, it was time to return to the coast. We had started our travels through Costa Rica at the Pacific coast of the country and wanted to finish our journey in the east at the Caribbean coast. Based on my research the area around Puerto Viejo looked the most photogenic with seemingly crystal clear water, coral reefs and paradise beaches. In this photography guide I share what I found during the 11 days we spent in the area.

We split our time there into three parts, because we also wanted to visit Cahuita, Tortuguero and Bocas del Toro in the 4 weeks we had left in Costa Rica. First we stayed for five days in Cocles before heading to Cahuita and Tortuguero. Then we returned for three days and stayed in Playa Chiquita, after which we went to Panama to visit Bocas del Toro for a week. On our way back from Panama we spent another three days in the Puerto Viejo area, this time making Manzanillo our home base.

Getting to Puerto Viejo

First, I want to share the easiest way to get to Puerto Viejo and that's using the MEPE bus. In contrast to my recent articles where a rental car was always the recommended way of travelling, the Caribbean coast is perfect for classic backpacking. The MEPE busses run frequently back and forth between San Jose and Puerto Viejo. Every two hours a bus leaves from the MEPE station in San Jose and the price per person is less than 10 USD.

The drive takes between four and five hours and you'll be dropped in the center of Puerto Viejo, close to all the bustle of town. To be honest, I would strongly suggest to get a hotel outside of Puerto Viejo. I didn't like the town that much - too loud, to many people, too dirty. The more picturesque beaches are found near Playa Chiquita, around Punta Uva and in Manzanillo. This is where you want to stay, if you are a photographer.

To get to Manzanillo you can take one of the busses from San Jose that continue to Manzanillo after stopping in Puerto Viejo. Those are less frequent though. The alternative is to simply take one of the regular MEPE busses that run between Limon and Manzanillo. Those also stop along the road in Cocles, Playa Chiquita and Punta Uva.

If you are planning to take a taxi to get to your hotel, think again. Taxis are a rarity around Puerto Viejo. If you don't have a lot of luggage, you can take a tuk-tuk or call your hotel to organize a transport for you.

Cocles

During our first visit we stayed in Cocles in a wonderful guesthouse * a little more than one kilometer away from the main street and the Super Negro Cocles supermarket, which I totally recommend. From there we either walked to the beach or took the complimentary bicycles. Bicycles are the most common and cheapest option to get around. The terrain is relatively flat and although the main street can get busy it's usually no problem to ride a bike there.

Cocles is a great base to explore both into the direction of Puerto Viejo and into the direction of Punta Uva since it's located roughly in the middle of the two. Manzanillo is a little bit farther with some hills in between. If you want to go to Manzanillo from Cocles the bus might actually be the better option.

As for photography there is Cocles beach, which has a nice sea stack at it's northern end. To be honest though, I didn't find this beach very photogenic. Compared to what I was used to from the Pacific coast it just cannot compete. There is also much less tide at the Caribbean coast, which means footprints are not washed away.

Much more photogenic than the beach was the adjacent forest. At the northern end of the beach you'll find a beautiful coastal forest, which looks magical especially in the afternoon when sunrays shine through the leaves. The spray from the sea creates the moisture in the air that causes this phenomenon.

Playa Chiquita

For our second visit we stayed in Playa Chiquita, which is just a few kilometers further down the road from Cocles. We had already explored Playa Escondida and Playa Chiquita while staying in Cocles and I wanted to take some photos there early in the morning. During our time in Cocles the light hadn't been great at sunrise with clear skies and low clouds at the horizon and I was hoping to get better conditions during our second visit.

What ended up happening though was that after some storms seagrass was piling up on the beaches. As I learned later, this is something that happens around Puerto Viejo at least once a year. With the seagrass there was no chance I could take a good seascape photo. The beaches had lost all their appeal for me, which hadn't been that high to start with. Even with the best light it would have been impossible to take a proper Caribbean beach photo now.

At least there were some sloths nearby and watching those furry balls climb around in the trees was very enjoyable. After visiting many places in Costa Rica, I would say that, if you want to see a sloth, the area around Puerto Viejo is the place to go. There are just so many of them in the trees.

Punta Uva

If you do some Google research on the area around Punta Uva you will certainly encounter some drone photos taken from above. On those every beach around Puerto Viejo looks like paradise. The colors, the reefs, the palm tress - there seems to be so much photographic potential. The reality though is that the beaches don't provide that much interest for real landscape photography.

If you own a drone, make sure to bring it along, because in my opinion it is the best way to photograph the beaches between Puerto Viejo and Punta Uva. Making those beaches look great in a classical landscape photo on the other hand is not that easy and I failed completely during my first two visits, taking not one good seascape photo. Maybe with proper light and no seagrass things would have been different, but I would still advise any visiting landscape photographer to not expect too much.

Manzanillo

So my search for the perfect Caribbean beach in Costa Rica continued and I finally found it in the Gandoca reserve in Manzanillo during our third visit. Manzanillo is a beautiful little town with just a few hotels and guesthouses, some restaurants and a little supermarket. We were staying a little out of town in a beautiful house *, which was one of the best of our complete stay. From there it was just a two kilometer walk to the entrance of the Gandoca reserve.

And the reserve had all I was looking for: palm trees, sea stacks, rocks, secluded coves and crystal clear water. The biggest relieve for me was also that unlike at Playa Chiquita and Playa Cocles there was literally no seagrass at the beaches inside the Gandoca reserve. Even at Manzanillo beach there was far less seagrass.

The only problem with the Gandoca reserve were its opening hours. For foreigners it's only allowed to enter from 6:30am to 4pm. Hence, photographing a sunrise or sunset inside the reserve is officially not possible.

While it's not allowed to photograph sunrise and sunset inside the Gandoca reserve, you will still find a beautiful subjet to photograph during those times. Just a few 100 meters north of town, a stranded ship lends itself perfectly for seascape photography. On our final evening in Manzanillo I was lucky to get some dark clouds, which I think provide the perfect backdrop for this scene.

General Tipps for Visiting Puerto Viejo

I want to close this article with some final tips about visiting the area around Puerto Viejo:

Avoid the weekend, because the beaches will be packed with locals. Weekends are party time and photography will be difficult because of the crowded beaches.
If you only have limited time, stay in Manzanillo. For me this is the most beautiful place along the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. We didn't visit every single beach, but from what I have seen the beaches in Gandoca are the most beautiful and photogenic.
Make a trip to Bocas del Toro in Panama where you'll find plenty of beautiful beaches to photograph. From Puerto Viejo you can get to Bocas Town in somewhere between four and six hours. A very convenient way to make this trip is with Caribe Shuttle, which costs 35 USD. If you go by bus, you will end up spending between 15 and 20 USD - bus, shuttle, ferry cost combined.

* Above I use Booking Affiliate Links. If you use them to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Monteverde Photography Guide

Michael Breitung — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 24:00:00 GMT

The last article was all about how to get from La Fortuna to Monteverde and if you haven't read it and plan to do this tour, I recommend to check it out. In this Monteverde Photography Guide I now share some interesting photo locations and provide tips on getting the most out of them.

And to get the most out of Monteverde photographically, make sure to plan in several days in this area. We first stayed for four days down in Santa Elena * and then another two up at the Vistaverde Lodge *. This allowed me to explore the area without too much of a rush, focusing on one location at a time for my landscape photography. This is important because of the road conditions around Monteverde. Most roads are bumpy gravel and it takes a lot of time to get to the different locations. Ten kilometers around Santa Elena can take you between 30 to 45 minutes, if you want to avoid a flat tire along the way.

One thing you should also be aware of is that, similar to many other places in Costa Rica, nearly nothing is free in this area. Entrance fees for the different cloud forest reserves range from 15 USD to somewhere around 40 USD. Visiting them all might be too expensive, so it's important to pick the right places to photograph. And while I cannot say for sure that the places I show you now are indeed the most photogenic, I can certainly attest that you can take beautiful photos there.

Cerro Pinocho

And I even start with a free view, which is great for sunset photography. If you head down the gravel road towards Cerro Pinocho you'll already encounter beautiful views towards the Gulf of Nicoya before you arrive at the end of the road. At Cerro Pinocho you'll find a picnic area and you will have to pay a little entrance fee of 2500 Colones - 4 USD. For a bit more you can even get a prepared picnic there.

But based on my research I decided not to head all the way to Cerro Pinocho, because the views around one kilometer earlier were much more interesting to me. With a long lens I was able to pick out beautiful details in the landscape and photograph the rolling hills with the Gulf of Nicoya in the background. For this I could just stand next to the road without having to pay any entrance fee.

As for the drive to this view I would recommend an SUV or jeep, because there are bumps in the road and in one place it gets a bit steep with some larger rocks. But if you go slow it's not too bad.

Mirador El Tanque

There's another free view even closer to the town of Santa Elena. If you drive down Road 606, a kilometer out of town you'll find a little gravel parking space right next to the road. In the evening some cars will usually be parked there because it's a beautiful view.

Again, bring the long lens and wait for the sun to get low in the sky. Then the soft evening light gives the hills in the valley below a beautiful dimensionality. If you try to photograph this view too early, there will be too much haze and everything will look flat.

El Tigre Waterfall

It will take you a bit more than 30 minutes to get from Santa Elena to the El Tigre Waterfall trail head. Here you will have to pay an entrance fee and you can even choose between different packages. Interesting for photographers is the so called Big Hike, which costs 29 USD. This is basically an entrance fee that allows you to hike the waterfall loop.

The loop is a total of 8 kilometers, of which the last 3 kilometers are ascending out of the gorge that contains the 4 waterfalls and 10 bridges that make this area so interesting. When we went there it was pouring and the 1,5 km descent down to the first and most beautiful waterfall was a bit slippery. The paths are prepared very well though.

Because I took so much time to photograph the first waterfall, we didn't do the complete loop and I'm also not sure, if this would have been so interesting. What we ended up doing was walking back the way we had come after we had gotten to the third waterfall. This reduced our total hiking distance that afternoon to around 5 kilometers. In the end, of the three waterfalls we saw, the first was definitely the most photogenic. Unfortunately we didn't make it to the final waterfall, because it was getting late. So I cannot tell you, if it's worth the additional effort.

On the way back to Santa Elena we made a short stop at Mirador Los Olivos. I would assume that this is a great spot for either sunrise or sunset photography. On a clear day the views from there must be fantastic. I can only assume though, because on our visit the clouds where obscuring those views.

One final note: I made a reservation to do the hike the day before via Whatsapp. I'm not 100% certain, if this is a requirement. But since they allow you to book the different tours on their site, I wanted to play it safe.

Reserva Bosque Nuboso Santa Elena

The main reason to visit Monteverde is the beautiful cloud forest that covers the hills above and around the town of Santa Elena. The two major cloud forest reserves are the Santa Elena reserve and the Monteverde reserve. There are more places you can visit, including some with spectacular hanging bridges like the Selvatura park. The problem with those is not only the price but also the time slots that are available for a visit.

Out of interest we went to the Selvatura park in the morning, for which we had to reserve such a slot. We then entered with a group of other people who had also booked it. For photography this was bad. I was always in a rush, because the next group was already on our heels. But with the bridges spanning up to nearly 200 meters it is no doubt a spectacular place to visit with some unique views of the cloud forest.

For photography though we went to the Reserva Bosque Nuboso Santa Elena. This park opens at 7am and costs an entrance fee of 16 USD per person. With more than 10 kilometers of trails in total this is good value for money. We even decided to visit twice and got a discount for the second day. The reason we focused on the the Santa Elena reserve and skipped the Monteverde reserve was its elevation. The Santa Elena reserve lies a bit higher, which increases the chance to encounter fog and clouds up there.

And I was really hoping to get such conditions during one of our visits. But the problem was the strong wind, which is typical between December and April as one of the locals told me. This is not ideal for woodland photography, because there's a lot of movement in the already chaotic forest. Moreover it's preventing consistent weather conditions with thick fog in the forest. Usually the clouds blow through the forest quickly.

I still found two interesting compositions. The image below was taken down in a little canyon where no wind was shaking the foliage. Even without fog it was a great scene with all the greenery that makes Monteverde so special. The photo above was a bit more tricky to capture. This little path was in a pretty exposed area of the reserve and I had to use high ISOs and an open aperture to achieve short enough exposure times to freeze the motion in the leaves.

Whichever of the reserves you decide to visit, make sure to bring enough time. We walked all the trails of the Santa Elena reserve to find the two scenes I captured. There's surely more to photograph, if there is fog. But without it, it's very hard to find the order in the chaos that is necessary to create a successful woodland photo.

Vistaverde Lodge

High on my bucket list was also capturing a photo of the Arenal Volcano and a great place to do this is the Vistaverde Lodge *. The Santa Elena reserve also has a viewpoint, from which you can see the Arenal Volcano on a clear day. They even offer a sunrise tour to this viewpoint. I decided against this tour though, because I would have had to book it in advance without knowing how the conditions would be.

At Vistaverde Lodge we booked two nights to allow for more flexibility. For around 50 USD a night, including breakfast, we got a room, from which I could walk to the viewpoint in 2 minutes. The room was a bit basic and damp, but we came there for the views and as we arrived at the lodge we directly had a relatively clear view towards Arenal. If only the light had been better.

The following two mornings the whole area was clouded in. We didn't see the volcano again and I didn't get the photo I had come to take. So I decided to do a quick hike to the waterfall, which is located a few 100 meters below Vistaverde, on a rainy afternoon. The hike takes no more than 30 minutes and it's totally worth it on a foggy and rainy day. And that's the nice thing about this lodge: Not only do you get the chance to experience views towards Arenal, you can also do a hike through a beautiful cloud forest, if those views are obscured.

At the end of this article I also want to share the little behind the scenes video I recorded in the Santa Elena reserve. In it I talk a bit more about the challenges of photographing this forest.

* Above I use Booking Affiliate Links. If you use them to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Getting from La Fortuna to Monteverde

Michael Breitung — Sun, 20 Mar 2022 24:00:00 GMT

There are several ways of getting from La Fortuna to Monteverde. I discuss them in this article and share my experience of driving a rental car through the Costa Rican highlands.

In the last article I shared my experience about photographing La Fortuna. While we spent just two days there, for our next stop, Monteverde, we had planned a total of six days. And it was good to have so much time, because unlike La Fortuna Monteverde had a lot more to offer for me as a landscape photographer. But first we had to get from La Fortuna to Monteverde.

Different options are available that will get you to Monteverde, including a bus ride via Tilaran of up to 9 hours, a private shuttle or a mixed taxi-boat-taxi tour. In my opinion the easiest way to travel between La Fortuna and Monteverde is by rental car and this is what I will focus on in this article. Having a rental car is not only helpful for the journey to and from Monteverde, in my opinion it's even more important for reaching the different attractions in the area. The alternative would be walking a lot or organizing shuttles to most of the attractions, some of which are quite a bit off the beaten path.

From La Fortuna to Monteverde in a Rental Car

If you use Google Maps to calculate a route to Santa Elena, which is the main town in the Monteverde area, you might mistakenly think that it's just a quick drive. After all it's not much more than 100km distance between La Fortuna and Monteverde. But be careful: When you go to Monteverde you enter an area with plenty of gravel roads and one wrong turn can get you stuck on a very bad 4x4 track. This is why the typical route goes along the northern shore of lake Arenal and then on to Tilaran before heading into the mountains of Monteverde. This route contains gravel after Tilaran, but I read that it's manageable.

We had made sure to rent a 4x4 car for our trip through the Costa Rican highlands and the typical gravel roads were no problem. But there are different kinds of gravel roads and some of them you want to avoid unless you are an experienced off-roader. If you navigate using the popular Waze app and want to play it totally safe, you'll find an option that allows you to avoid all gravel roads. We learned the hard way though that this option is not very accurate.

So, how did we get from La Fortuna to Monteverde? Since we already would have had to go around the northern shore of the lake, we decided to make a detour and visit Rio Celeste within the Tenorio national park along the way. For this we spent one night in a beautiful lodge in Bijagua *. This was a great stop and I would definitely recommend it. The only thing you have to make sure when visiting Rio Celeste is that you arrive as early as possible to avoid the crowds. It opens at 8am and this is when you want to be at the entrance.

From Bijagua we let Waze calculate a route without gravel for us, because our car had started to make concerning noises every time we went over a bump. Since I couldn't locate a problem upon first inspection our plan was to find a mechanic, called taller mecanico in Costa Rica, in Santa Elena to get the car checked.

At first the drive was along paved roads down into the direction of San Jose. The plan was to later head up Road 606 to avoid any gravel. But Waze suddenly had other plans and recalculated the route to sent us up into the mountains using Road 926, which was very scenic and still paved. At some point we ended up on a cross-road and Waze had us turn right.

For reference: This is what I would consider a good gravel road in Costa Rica - typically no problem.

This is when it got stressful. First there was the typical gravel you often have in Costa Rica - nothing to worry about. I was sure Waze would quickly lead us back onto a paved road, after all we had activated the option to avoid gravel. The next turn and the road got a bit worse with much looser gravel and some steep inclines. Hadn't we had problems with the car earlier, I wouldn't have worried too much at this stage. But with the possibility that something was wrong with the suspension I went very slow already.

And you might already guess it: With every kilometer we went further up into the mountains the road condition worsened. In addition to that the road got very narrow and didn't allow us to turn around, so we had to continue. The bumps in the road got bigger and bigger, I had to constantly circumnavigate sharp, nasty looking rocks and at some point it was time to switch on the 4x4 mode of our car.

The screeching noise our car was making while going through some deeper bumps didn't help to calm my nerves either. I was so relieved when we finally connected back to the paved Road 145 after 20 or so kilometers of painfully slow driving. 30 minutes later we finally arrived at our Airbnb in Santa Elena.

Based on this experience I have a recommendations for you, if you plan to head to Monteverde in a rental car: Either do the drive via Tilaran or along Road 606 as described in this article. In my opinion the area around Monteverde is not a place for experiments when it comes to the selection of the route to take. If you like some off-roading adventure though, feel free to explore. You'll certainly be rewarded with beautiful views along the way.

The Problem With Our Car

The next day I directly went to a mechanic to investigate the reason for the noises our car made. The suspension seemed fine. We only found that two of the tires had a bit less air than the other two, so we equaled out the pressure. Other than that, a quick test drive along a bumpy road didn't show any problems and the noise was also gone. I was reassured that our car wouldn't fall apart in the following days in Monteverde and we could finally start our exploration.

But the loss of pressure in two of our tires should have given me and the mechanic a pause and we should have performed a closer check. Because the next day, after a drive up to the Selvatura adventure park the front tire had again lost a good amount of pressure. So much so that I had to switch to the spare to get us down the mountain again. After removing the tire the culprit was quickly found. A nail had been nicely planted in the center of the tire. I have no idea where and how this could have happened.

I later learned that flat tires are quite common in this area and fixing them only takes around 5 minutes and costs no more than 2000 Colones, which is a bit over 3 USD. And a great place to get your tires checked and fixed is at Jonathan's, right next to where the gravel road up to Selvatura and the Santa Elena Reserve starts.

I had to make use of Jonathan's service a second time a couple of days later, because after some heavy rains I noticed bubbles building on one of the rear tires - the one that had had low pressure a few days earlier. Upon closer inspection at Jonathan's we found another deeply embedded nail in the tire. The way it was lodged in the rubber had nicely sealed it off, so we hadn't lost much pressure.

Once the nail had been removed it also dawned on me where those screeching noises of the previous days had come from. The nail was more than 5 centimeters long. My suspicion is that once the perssure in the tire had become low enough the nail started hitting the inner rim of the wheel every time we went through a bump and the tire got compressed.

A good lesson here would be that, if you are driving through Costa Rica in a rental car, to always check for places where you can get your tires fixed along your route and to inspect your tires before and after every drive. Funny enough most car wash places we saw in Costa Rica also have a tire fixing service. And there are plenty of car washes in Costa Rica.

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La Fortuna Photography Guide

Michael Breitung — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 24:00:00 GMT

In this Costa Rica photography guide, I share my experiences exploring and photographing the area around La Fortuna which lies at the foot of the Arenal Volcano.

After our visit to Bajos Del Toro, we continued our journey northward to La Fortuna. It's one of the busiest travel destinations in Costa Rica. The area around the Arenal volcano is home to countless attractions for those who are willing to spend the money. The sign we encountered when entering La Fortuna that says "Go Big or Go Home" is clear testament to the type of travelers that La Fortuna likes to attract. Paying 50 USD upwards for a short guided tour is nothing out of the ordinary here. So why did we visit this place after all? Guess what, there's yet another waterfall, which I wanted to photograph.

And in addition to photographing the La Fortuna waterfall, I was also hoping to find some views towards Arenal, which I could use for sunrise and sunset photography. It cannot be argued that through its proximity to said volcano La Fortuna offers some great views of it, if the clouds decide to lift high enough and reveal it.

But the possibility to see the Arenal volcano from the porch of an Airbnb or hotel doesn't mean there is a photo to be had. What I found while exploring the area around La Fortuna was that despite the fact that the volcano is nearly always in sight, there are not that many proper photo spots available.

I didn't find one free viewpoint near La Fortuna, from which I could have taken a great landscape photo featuring the volcano. Usually you have to pay an entrance fee, even if it's just a mediocre viewpoint as, for example, the Mirador Nido el Arenal, to which I did a scouting run one morning.

Maybe I should have spent more than two days in the area, but with all the private properties, the pricy lodges and hotels and the gated parks I found two days to be enough.

How to Get To La Fortuna

If you have a rental car, getting to La Fortuna is easy. We made the drive from San Jose via Zarcero, where we stayed a few days to explore Bajos Del Toro. Since driving in Costa Rica is usually slow, with the max allowed speed outside of towns often not exceeding 60km/h, even the seemingly short drive to La Fortuna can take between 3 and 4 hours. You'll also miss some great landscapes along the way, if you drive there directly. I would suggest splitting the drive and enjoying some of the waterfalls in Bajos del Toro - it's just a small detour.

If you want to get to La Fortuna by bus, this is also possible. Because it's such a major tourist destination, transport options are available. A good place to start, if you want to figure out your options, is usually Rome2Rio or Moovit.

But those sites can sometimes be misleading. If they show available routes via specific bus companies, it is always a good idea to check the homepages of those companies for their schedules. There can be significant differences to what Rome2Rio or Moovit show.

I also found a very detailed blog article with some good information about the different transport options. Due to this source and several others I think the public bus might be the way to go, if you don't have a rental car and don't mind a bit of discomfort. It takes around 5 hours and costs 5 USD. But from which of the countless terminals in San Jose does this direct bus leave? Well, it seems Terminal 7-10 is the right one.

A word of caution though: In many articles it sounds easy to find the right bus. But as usual, plan in some time at the terminal. One of our friends tried to get to Zarcero by bus, which is the same route as La Fortuna. And finding the correct bus was a bit challenging.

Where to Stay In La Fortuna

Accommodation options are plenty in La Fortuna, including some fancy hotels with their own natural hot springs. But honestly, with nearly 30°C outside, why does everybody make such a big thing out of those hot springs. We're not in Iceland, it's tropical Costa Rica and I usually prefer cold rivers.

If you are looking for an affordable option with a great view as we were, you'll like this offering by Home Vacations. By car it's just a 10 minute drive from the La Fortuna waterfall and in an equal amount of time you're in downtown La Fortuna. The house we rented was clean, had a kitchen and good internet.

If you are travelling by bus, I would advise against this accommodation though. You'll be better of in La Fortuna. Best look for something in the outskirts where it's a bit quiter. Or, if you don't mind the bustle, find something right in the heart of La Fortuna.

La Fortuna Waterfall Photography

The main reason for me to visit La Fortuna was the famous waterfall. An believe it or not, visiting this beauty is with 18 USD entrance fee even one of the cheaper things you can do in the area.

Our travels had unfortunately brought us to La Fortuna at a weekend. This meant that our only option to visit the waterfall was a Sunday. But it could not be helped and so we made sure to be the first people at the waterfall by arriving at the entrance 10 minutes before it opened at 7am.

There are many stairs that lead to the base of the falls. It took me around 5 minutes to get down, because I skipped the views along the way. There's no reason to stop, because photos of the view at the top, for example, can be taken even when the place is crowded. You won't see any people in the frame since the base of the falls is not visible from the viewpoint.

Down there it's a different story though. Once the crowds arrive the rocks around the waterfall will be swarming with people. But to my surprise those crowds didn't arrive before 8am. This meant that I had a full hour to find and photograph the best perspective.

In my opinion crossing the river is a must here. The rocks are slippery, the current is strong, but it's totally worth to get to the other side, because then you can include the river in the foreground of the photo. This can provide some nice leading lines as you can see in the title photo of this article.

Arenal Volcano View

In the afternoon of the same day I photographed the La Fortuna waterfall, we drove to the other side of the Arenal volcano to a viewpoint called Mirador la Armonia. As usual there was an entrance fee to enter, but a reasonable one of 3000 Colones. You could even camp there, if you have the equipment with you.

Compositions from there are limited to the long lens, but with the clouds drifting across Arenal lake while the sun was setting in the west it still looked quite pretty. In the video below I included a little timelapse at the end in addition to some behind the scenes footage from the La Fortuna waterfall.

Bajos Del Toro Photography Guide

Michael Breitung — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 24:00:00 GMT

In this landscape photography guide, I show you some of the best waterfalls in Costa Ricsa's Bajos Del Toro area, and I give tips on how to photograph them.

While travelling through Costa Rica's north with our rental car, we made a two day stop in the Bajos Del Toro area, which is situated in a valley between the two massive volcanos Poas and Viejo. In these central highlands you find a huge variance of waterfalls, some of which are easy to access, some of which require strenuous hikes. In this article I give you tips on photographing some of Bajos Del Toro's best waterfalls.

Exploring this area was certainly one of the highlights of our Costa Rica travels so far. After visiting the Colombia River Gorge in the US several years ago, I hadn't been to an area with such a large waterfall density. Bajos Del Toro has countless waterfalls to offer, of which some have just recently been made accessible.

With so many cascades in the area it wasn't easy to choose. Two days were certainly not enough and I would have loved to spend more time doing landscape photography there. But then again, Costa Rica has so much to offer and it's important to find a balance between all of its attractions.

How To Get To Bajos Del Toro

Before we get to the waterfalls, I want to share how to best visit Bajos Del Toro. From my previous articles you might know that we had been travelling along Costa Rica's pacific coast by bus. This is not an option, if you want to visit Bajos Del Toro. This area, although it's quickly gaining popularity, is still a bit off the beaten path. None of the major bus companies offer transport options there yet. From either Grecia or Zarcero you'd need to take a taxi, which can be quite expensive.

With a rental car on the other hand it's easy to visit. You can make the drive either via Grecia or Zarcero. If you are coming from San Jose Grecia is the quicker route and it should take no more than two hours to get to Bajos Del Toro.

Since we were staying in Zarcero we made the trip over from there twice in two days. It's a very scenic drive over the mountains with beautiful views along the way. Only the last few kilometers are unpaved, but in good condition. The road from Grecia is completely paved as far as I know.

But even a paved road in Costa Rica can mean uneven terrain. Expect potholes of increasing size and frequency the closer you get to Bajos Del Toro. In general a SUV or Jeep is the preferred option to explore Costa Rica by car, if you want a relaxed time. But you can certainly make it to Bajos Del Toro in a regular rental car.

Where To Stay

Bajos Del Toro is a small town surrounded by beautiful landscapes and mountains. There are several hotels and Airbnbs in the area to choose from. Whatever place you are staying at, there will be a waterfall just a short drive away.

Since we wanted to meet up with some friends who were travelling through Costa Rica by bus, we made Zarcero our homebase though. Because of the reasons mentioned in the previous chapter, it was easier to meet up there and then do the 40 minute drive to Bajos Del Toro in our SUV together. From Zarcero it was also easy to continue our travels to La Fortuna afterwards.

In Zarcero we rented a beautiful Airbnb in the mountains. For 120 USD a night this was a great option, because we were able to split the cost with our friends. Normally this would have been far beyond our budget. Having such a luxurious house as homebase made the larger distance to the waterfalls certainly more bearable.

Waterfall Heaven

Catarata Del Toro

The obvious waterfall to visit is the mighty Catarata Del Toro, which is shown in the first photo of this article. This 82 meter cascade has a very special aura. Standing at the base of these falls makes you feel as if you're in Jurassic Park.

Photographing this waterfall wasn't easy though. There are various viewpoints along the way down to the base, but to really show the massive size I wanted to get up close with this monster. Down in the crater there's a constant biting spray caused by the acidic waters of the cascade and a large lens cloth is a must to keep the lens clean during the shoot.

What is also required is a wide angle lens. 15mm were just enough to fit this waterfall into a horizontal composition with some foreground. I also included myself in the photo to provide some sense of scale. But despite all my efforts, it's still hard to do this waterfall justice.

And not only the waterfalls are huge in Bajos Del Toro. The plants also grow to formidable sizes. I took this as an opportunity to take some macro photos with my 15-35mm lens*. Because of the size of the leaves of the poor men umbrella I didn't need a macro lens to get a photo of its details.

In terms of weather, I would certainly head there on an overcast day, even rain is fine. Bright sunlight on this waterfall would make it hard to photograph in my opinion. So staying in the area a few days might be a good idea to remain flexible. Because there are other waterfalls that work better in sunshine. And that's the exiting part about Bajos Del Toro. The waterfalls are all different and work in different conditions.

Blue Falls

The day we went to the Toro waterfall started with sunshine, which as I wrote above is not ideal to photograph it. Right next to the Toro waterfall is also the start of the trail to the so called Blue Falls. These waterfalls have beautiful blue waters that glow in the sun. So we decided to head there first.

One thing to be aware of when visiting Bajos Del Toro and nearly every other area in Costa Rica: Nearly nothing is free. And so there's a price to visiting Blue Falls and the Catarata Del Toro. For 25 USD we bought the combo ticket, which allowed us to first do the guided tour to some of the blue waterfalls and later visit Catarata Del Toro, once the clouds had moved in.

The clouds were actually so quick to arrive that once we got to the Tepezquintle waterfall - depicted above - the sun was already hidden. But still the color in the pool beneath the veil of white looked beautiful.

Rio Agrio

Visually my highlight was the Catarata Rio Agrio, which we visited the next day early in the morning. Same as nearly all waterfalls in the area Rio Agrio opens at 7am. And it's good to be early, because this place as well as the others can get crowded as the day progresses.

What we noticed during our 30 minute hike to the waterfall were the massive constructions going on to make this waterfall even easier to access. I had seen videos from about 5 years ago, when bushwhacking was still required to get to this beauty. Now there are wide pathways, stairs and bridges that are readying this place for the masses.

This is sad to see, because it takes away a lot of the natural beauty of this place. We noticed a similar development at Blue Falls. Only for Tepezquintle river crossings were still required and I guess in a few years there'll be bridges all the way.

The waterfall is still beautiful though once you find the right perspective. Down in the acidic waters of the river I found some beautiful foreground and a perspective that excluded the benches in front of the waterfall. The 4000 Colones - roughly 7 USD - entrance fee were well worth it.

While the waterfalls I showed you in this article don't require an adventurous hike to get to, there are also some more remote waterfalls in the valley. With more time I would certainly have made the hike to Catarata Vuelta del Canon, which also looks beautiful and still seems to require some serious hiking.

Also, as I say in the video below, don't postpone a visit to the area of Bajos Del Toro for too long. The development that is done around nearly all the waterfalls in the area is a clear sign into which direction this place is heading. Although it might not get as crowded as La Fortuna in the short term, its adjacency to San Jose will certainly make this place more busy in the coming years and the construction will take away more and more of its natural beauty.

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Ultimate Guide for Photographing the Nauyaca Waterfall

Michael Breitung — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 24:00:00 GMT

If you are following my article series about photographing Costa Rica, you know that after staying in the Uvita area for a few weeks, we made our way up to Dominicalito. There I was quite successful photographing the dramatic coastline of Playa Dominicalito. What I also wanted to photograph in the area was the famous Nauyaca waterfall. This beauty is located a 20 minute drive from Dominicalito or a 15 minute drive from Dominical, heading east into the direction of San Isidro del General.

Because we also wanted to see what Dominical has to offer we switched locations. We planned to stay in Dominical for three nights. This would give us enough time to figure out how to get to Nauyaca and when to photograph it.

How To Get To Nauyaca

The easiest way to visit Nauyaca is by rental car. There is a large parking lot at the start of the hiking trail and the road there is completely paved. If you have a car and want to visit, best make a reservation at least a day in advance, because it can get crowded at the waterfall.

I'm not 100% sure, if you need a reservation for the hike, but best be on the safe side and reserve your spot, since you don't need to pay right away and will do so later upon arrival at their office. If you want to do one of the tours - horse tour or 4x4 tour - a reservation is required. Also it should be noted that the tours are slotted. They leave at certain times and you get only limited time at the falls.

Since we didn't have a rental car we had two options. There's a bus stop in Dominical where we could have caught a bus heading into the direction of San Isidro. Unfortunately at those bus stops there's never a time table. And the people at the reception of our hotel, the Hona Beach *, could also not provide any information.

Because I wanted to head to the falls as early in the morning as possible - they open at 7am during the week and on Saturdays, and at 8am on Sundays - I didn't want to risk heading there by bus and possibly arriving late. That's why we bit the bullet and took a taxi, which was quite expensive. You pay anywhere between 16 and 20 USD for the ride to Nauyaca. For a 15 minute drive this is a bit ridiculous, but in a tourist destination like Dominical quite typical.

No matter if you head to Nauyaca by bus or taxi, you have to be aware of one thing: The office where you get your ticket and pay the entrance fee is up at the street next to the bus stop. If you take the bus there and plan to do the hiking tour, you first have to walk down a steep road to the trail head, which is about 1.5 kilometers away from the Nauyaca office. If you take a taxi, make sure to negotiate with the driver to take you to the trail head after you payed your entrance fee.

Heading back to Dominical by bus is much easier, if you are able to be back at the bus stop next to the office by 12pm, which is when a bus from San Isidro is usually passing by. The bus costs only 1 USD per person.

Best Time to Photograph the Nauyaca Waterfall

Many attractions in Costa Rica have opening hours and it's seldom possible to access those around sunrise and sunset. This means that upon arrival at such attractions the sun will be out. Especially when photographing waterfalls, it's important to know when the first rays of the sun touch the water. Once this happens it becomes very hard to take a good photo because of the harsh light.

For Nauyaca the sun rises behind the waterfall and then takes about two hours to climb over the hills that surround it. We were there on a Sunday and arrived at the waterfall at around 8:30am. By then the sun was already high enough in the sky to bath the foreground rocks in warm light. Thankfully the waterfall was still in shade and there were also still some lighter clouds in the sky to soften the light.

I think a much better option for a visit would be during the week and directly at 7am - you'd encounter less people and have more shade to photograph the waterfall.

Late in the afternoon the sun will at some point again be low enough in the sky for the trees and hills to provide shade at the falls. But the park already closes at 4pm, which is the time when you have to have completed your hike back to the trail head. Last admission for the hike is 2pm.

Dry Season or Wet Season

We visited in late January at the beginning of dry season. At that time it still rained quite often during the night and was dry during day. The falls had the perfect amount of water then. I think heading further into dry season there might be less and less water and the falls will at some point certainly less impressive.

As for wet season I can only judge based on the photos I have seen. If there's too much rain the water can become brownish, which doesn't look so photogenic. Also there will be much more water rushing down the river and corssing it will no longer be possible. The vantage point from which I took my photo is right in the middle of the river. This area would most likely be submerged during rainy season or at least dangerous to get too.

Quickest Way To the Waterfall

The hike to the waterfall from the trail head is about 3.5 kilometers long. I had read that it's five kilometers, but that's the length of the road that the 4x4 tour takes. The hike includes a few shortcuts though, which I didn't know. For 10 USD it's the cheapest option to visit the waterfall.

If you want to be the first person to arrive at the falls though, you'd have to really pace through the hike, because there's a 4x4 jeep tour available for 32 USD. Into such a jeep they fit up to 10 people and those are the ones who get to the waterfall first, because the jeep takes less than 30 minutes.

Since I wanted to photograph the waterfall without any people in the photo, I again payed premium and opted for the 4x4 tour. In total I payed 16 USD for the taxi plus 64 USD for the 4x4 tour for 2 people in order to photograph the waterfall for about 30 minutes in solitude. Afterwards it slowly filled up as more and more hikers arrived. After 90 minutes it was too crowded to photograph the waterfall anymore.

Here's also another important tip: Everybody will tell you to first head to the upper waterfall and then take the stairs down to the lower falls. For photographers this is bad advice in my opinion. The lower falls are the more photogenic and we headed straight down towards them. The other participants of the 4x4 tour first went to the upper falls and so we were alone at the lower waterfall for some precious minutes.

Is It Worth It to Visit Nauyaca

First of all the waterfall is beautiful and I don't regret the visit. Also it was a good decision to go early, because as we left at around 10am it was hard to enjoy the falls any longer with all the people and the noise.

About the 4x4 tour I have mixed feelings. Had I been heading to the falls alone, I'm sure I could have done the hike in somewhere between 35 to 45 minutes. By then I would only have had to deal with a few people in my photo. With some blending in Photoshop I could have easily removed those. Also, I assume that during the week at 7am even less people are at the waterfall. So if you consider yourself a strong hiker, do the hike and safe some money.

Dominical

As I wrote above we were staying in Dominical for three days because of our visit to Nauyaca. If you like surfing and party, you'll love it. There's plenty of restaurants, there's good surf and there are many young people.

If you are more interested in enjoying nature and have some relaxed time exploring it, Dominical is not the right place. It's just too crowded, loud and busy for my taste. Dominicalito on the other hand was much more relaxed and I enjoyed Playa Dominicalito a lot more than Playa Dominical.

If you are looking for some photo spots along Playa Dominical though, head south along the beach during low tide and you'll eventually get to some interesting rocks. I wasn't expecting to find anything to photograph when we walked there one evening, which is why I only have a cell phone photo to show you here. But I think it shows the potential.

* Above I use Booking Affiliate Links. If you use them to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Photographing Dominicalito

Michael Breitung — Sat, 05 Feb 2022 24:00:00 GMT

After spending more than two weeks in the Marino Ballena National Park and enjoying the wonderful beaches there, it was time to move on. We didn't get far though, because our next stop Dominicalito was located less than 20 kilometers north of Uvita. I hadn't seen many photos of Playa Dominicalito, but taking a close look at this area with Google Maps told me that this coastline had potential for seascape photography.

How To Get To Dominicalito

Dominicalito is a small town next to Dominical, which is a famous surf destination. Getting there is actually pretty easy. Coming either from north or south you can use the Tracopa line of busses and tell the driver to drop you in Dominicalito. Alternatively you can go with one of the regular busses that serve the route Uvita - Dominical - Quepos, if you are staying in either of those places.

With all our luggage we decided to call a taxi though. The 20 minute drive from Uvita cost us 10 USD, which was ok considering that we would have payed 3 to 4 USD already to get to the bus station in Uvita.

Where To Stay

If you are on a budget as we were, you'll not find that many accommodation options in Dominicalito itself. Its larger brother, Dominical, has much more hotels, hostels and Airbnbs to offer. But it would have been quite a walk to get to Playa Dominicalito early in the morning and late in the evening each day to take photos, which was why I wanted to visit in the first place.

For 50 USD per night we found an Airbnb right in the center of the little town, just a 10 minute walk from the beach. For the two nights we spent there it was ok. But the host really needs to install some mosquito nets or offer a more flexible rate for AC use, which she promised to do in the future.

In case you have more money to spend, then check the Canto del Mar hotel *. Every time I walked past the entrance I enviously looked up the hill, on which the villas are located.

Photographing Playa Dominicalito

Playa Dominicalito is a beautiful beach, which despite its proximity to Dominical wasn't very crowded during our visit. It stretches along the coast south of Dominical for about a kilometer and especially during low tide offers many photo opportunities. I explored the whole length of the beach and while the southern tip offers some interesting rock formations, the northern end is really the place to be for seascape photography.

Located there is a rock formation called Rocas de Amancio. This was the area I had spotted on Google Maps prior to our visit already and it didn't disappoint. As the tide was rushing in around sunset huge waves were crashing on the rocks around where I had positioned myself with my camera.

The photo shoot felt much different to Uvita, where the sea was mostly calm. There I never had to worry about getting my camera gear wet. In Dominicalito on the other hand I had to be much more careful and always keep an eye on the sea, watching out for some larger swell moving in every few minutes.

The video below contains a clip from the first evening I spent photographing Rocas de Amancio. As you can see, I was getting a bit agitated as the waves got close to my camera. But this is what seascape photography is about. You have to get close to the elements to capture spectacular photos. But never get careless while doing so.

* Above I use Booking Affiliate Links. If you use them to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Photographing Playa Ballena in Costa Rica

Michael Breitung — Sun, 30 Jan 2022 24:00:00 GMT

Just a few miles south of Uvita lies a wild beauty, Playa Ballena. After we had to cancel our original plans to visit Drake Bay on very short notice, we decided to spend a week in a beautiful cabin close to this wonderful beach instead. Up until now this was the highlight of our Costa Rica travels. Not only did we have this beach nearly for ourselves, I also found some great vantage points for seascape photography.

Playa Ballena, same as Playa Uvita and Playa Colonia, which I covered in the last article, is part of the Marino Ballena National Park and thus you usually have to enter via the ranger station and pay an entrance fee. In addition to that you can also enter it, if you stay in one of the rental accommodations along the beach.

This is what we did and it is currently also the only way to access the beach. As we learned upon arrival, the Playa Ballena section of the national park is currently closed to the public because of some ongoing construction at the ranger station.

You can bet that this made our stay even more special, because during the whole week we saw only a handful of other people at the beach. This made the beach feel wild and remote, although it's located just 5 minutes from Uvita by car.

How To Get to Playa Ballena

Since we were already staying in Uvita, we took a taxi to our cabin, which costs between 5 and 10 USD depending on the driver. Since we had planned to cook for the week, we organized a taxi that first took me to BM supermarket to buy groceries and then picked up my girlfriend and our luggage to drive us to Playa Ballena. This whole service was 12 USD. If you have a rental car, this is obviously much easier.

If you are heading south by bus and don't plan a stay in Uvita , which you should not miss either, you'll likely be on one of the Tracopa busses headed towards Ciudad Cortes. You can tell the driver to drop you at Ballena Bistro or close to the place you are staying along the Costanera Sur raod.

Where To Stay at Playa Ballena

There are not that many accommodations close to Playa Ballena. We booked a cabin at Llama del Bosque via Airbnb. As usual with Airbnb, the location marked there was not correct. So it's always good to check, if a place is marked on Google Maps or ask the host for coordinates before booking, just to be sure.

Llama del Bosque is actually located along the road that leads to the ranger station from Ballena Bistro. It's surrounded by a beautiful garden and trees, in which you can spot howler monkeys from time to time. We also had a toucan in the trees in front of our bedroom one day. And very important, the cabin has its own access to Playa Ballena via the old airfield. It's just a 300 meter walk to the shore.

As you can see in the photos and at the end of the video below, we enjoyed this accommodation a lot. A big plus was also the afore mentioned Ballena Bistro. Although we cooked ourselves most of the time, it was nice to have a delicious burger from time to time. It's definitely a place to check out.

Also worth mentioning: If you are looking for a larger accomodation even closer to the beach, you can directly contact our host Natalia. She will make sure you have a great stay at Playa Ballena.

Photographing Playa Ballena

With one week to explore the area I could take my time to find the best vantage points for photography and then return multiple times until I got the best conditions. Same as in Uvita, I found that sunrises at Playa Ballena usually don't deliver magical light because of the clouds lingering around the inland mountains. Sunsets on the other hand seldom disappoint.

As for the tides, I liked photographing Ballena beach both during low and high tide. Low tide offered more options, because I was able to get to more areas of the beach and also to the adjacent Playa Arco. During high tide the sea was more dynamic, which allowed me to capture waves splashing on the shore.

Photographing Playa Arco

Playa Arco is a beach that can only be explored at low tide, so it's important to study the tide tables. We went there a couple of times to enjoy the vast expanse this beach offers. It can be accessed from the northern end of Playa Ballena. There you will find some rocks to the left and some thick looking vegetation to the right. Through the bushes and palm trees is the way to go. Once behind the first layer of greenery there's actually a pretty good path that takes you to Playa Arco in less than five minutes.

One evening I was there with perfect conditions during golden hour. To the south thick clouds were looming in the sky while a gap opened to the west to light up the beach and cliffs for a few minutes. I captured this moment in a timelapse that I included in the video below.

Photographing Uvita And Marino Ballena National Park

Michael Breitung — Sun, 23 Jan 2022 24:00:00 GMT

An hour south of Manuel Antonio National Park via bus or car lies the Marino Ballena National Park, which is the topic of this photography guide.

It is located near Uvita and stretches between Playa Hermosa in the north and Playa Pinuela in the south. As the name suggests, it is mostly a marine park that was created as a safe haven for humpback whales as they travel through this area during their yearly migrations. Several tour providers can take you out on the water for whale watching. But this park also offers miles and miles of pristine beaches that are lined by countless palm trees and photographing those beaches was the main reason for my visit.

How To Get To Uvita

As I mentioned above, from Quepos you can either go by bus or by car, if you have rented one. Same as for our travels from San Jose to Quepos we again used the Tracopa bus. Make sure to check the schedule on the Tracopa site the day before you go and if you want to be on the safe side, give them a call. Your hotel might help with that. There are not that many buses going between Quepos and Uvita, so make sure to be at the terminal early enough to not miss yours.

We went to catch the bus at 11:30, which was the one going to Sierpe. It was coming from San Jose and was already pretty full. But we all fit in with our luggage safely stored in the luggage compartment. If you go with Tracopa, you will get a ticket for your luggage, which you should not lose. You will only get your luggage back, if you have it.

A bit more than one hour later we arrived at the bus station in Uvita. Our plan was to get a taxi, which never was a problem for us in the past. But it was Sunday and no taxis seemed to operate that day. We contacted our AirBnb to organize a transport, but without luck. After some time we found one taxi, which we shared with another couple, who where also desperate to get to their hotel.

So one big tip here: Get the transport to your accommodation sorted in advance, especially if you arrive on a Sunday. The following days we learned that in general, taxis are rarely available in the Uvita area during high season. There's apparently a lot of work, something that our driver in Quepos already told us for that area.

Where To Stay In Uvita

In Uvita we stayed in a beautiful rustic cottage just 300 meters from one of the entrances to the national park. Although this place was more basic than our last accommodation, it was beautiful and perfectly located. A little supermarket was close by, so we could buy some groceries to cook the first evening. For the following days we bought our supplies at the large BM supermarket, which offers a larger selection and better prices.

If you look at the map for Uvita, you'll find that it stretches along Playa Uvita and Playa Colonia. But it also extends a few kilometers inland. If you pick a place I would strongly suggest to get something close to either of those two beaches. This way you avoid to much of an uneventful walk through Uvita or unnecessary parking fees if you drive to the beach in a rental car.

I particularly liked the area near Playa Colonia. It felt a bit less crowded than the Uvita section, which most people visit to walk to its whale-tail shaped sand bank during low tide. To put things into perspective though: When I speak of crowded I feel that this isn't even the right word to use here. Those beaches offer too much space to feel crowded. It's nothing compared to the beaches around Manuel Antonio, which did indeed feel a bit cramped.

We actually liked Uvita so much that we directly booked another stay a week later, when we would be on our way back up the coast. The rustic cottage was unfortunately already booked, so we tried the Arboura Eco Cabins *. This hotel has a beautiful garden, a pool and some nice A-frame houses with outdoor kitchens. The only free room we got was in one of their containers though and I wouldn't recommend them. It got quite warm and humid inside and the AC unit makes so much noise that we could not use it at night. Thankfully, judging from the new photos on Booking.com, they seem to have done a lot of renovations since my visit.

Eating Out in Uvita

Uvita has many little restaurants, which offer a varied selection of food, including some nice vegetarian or vegan options. As I wrote above, we usually cooked our own meals to stay within our budget. If you eat out, you can plan anywhere between 15 and 30 USD for two persons per meal. And if you have to do it trice a day, this can add up quickly.

As a comparison, although groceries in the supermarket are not cheap either, one week of cooking our own food usually cost us around 100 USD.

There was one place though, which we visited twice. We always like a good pizza and at El Hornito we got exactly that at an affordable price. The pizzas there are huge and sufficient for two people. At 15 USD this is a great option. And if you are looking for a place to have lunch, four days a week the Chirincoco offers some delicious options.

Photographing Colonia Beach

Finally, let's talk about photography. Marino Ballena National Park has some of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. Especially at low tide they show their full photographic potential with large areas of the beach becoming a mirror for its surroundings. There are also several river mouths along the beach, which offer foreground interest.

One evening I went to the river mouth at the eastern end of the beach near Colonia entrance to photograph this rather wild section of the beach. As the sun set in the west, the palm trees and the sand glowed in warm, orange tones against a dark and moody sky. I also tried to photograph this scene at sunrise, but the mountains in the east are cloud magnets and those usually block the sun in the morning.

So my advice for photographing the Uvita beaches is to do so around sunset at low tide. It's just magical. Also be aware that those beaches are part of the national park and you have to pay an entrance fee of 6 USD plus tax for each day you visit. The good thing is the opening hours are favorable for landscape photography. In the evening the park opens till 6pm and, if you buy a ticket for the next day already the day before, you can enter the park for sunrise at 6am.

In the video below I take you behind the scenes of me taking the photo above and I give additional tips about seascape photography in Uvita.

Photographing the Uvita Waterfall - Cascada Verde

Next to its wonderful beaches, Uvita also has a waterfall, which I went to photograph during my second visit to the area. The Cascada Verde waterfall - often just called Catarata Uvita - is located a bit inland. From the Arboura cabins it was a four kilometer walk. There are places where you can rent a bike, but with my heavy backpack I usually prefer walking.

I went to the waterfall early in the morning. Due to Google it opens at 8am, but when I arrived I saw a sign that was saying 7am. And I would definitely recommend to go there in the morning. First of all the light is nice and soft at that time and the waterfall still in shade. Second of all and maybe more important, you'll have this gem for yourself. Friends of us visited a few weeks earlier around noon and it was crowded with people. That's to be expected because this waterfall is advertised as a place to swim, to jump from rocks and have fun.

I spent more than one hour photographing the waterfall and the emerald pool from various angles in complete solitude. The 2000 colónes entrance fee were definitely a good investment.

* Above I use Booking Affiliate Links. If you use them to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Visiting Manuel Antonio National Park

Michael Breitung — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 24:00:00 GMT

In this article, I share my experience of visiting Manuel Antonio National Park on the west coast of Costa Rica.

At the end of 2021 we had spent six weeks exploring the dramatic coastline of Portugal. Beginning of 2022 it was time for a more exotic adventure. On January 4th we embarked on our journey to Costa Rica, where we planned to stay a full 10 weeks.

For such a small country 10 weeks might sound a bit excessive, but Costa Rica has a lot to offer. It has one of the highest biodiversities in the world, it's covered by thick cloud and rain forests, boasts endless miles of picturesque beaches, and is home to a great number of volcanoes. Our first stop on our tour was Manuel Antonio National Park, which is famous for its wildlife.

Getting to Manuel Antonio National Park

Because we were visiting Costa Rica during high season, renting a car for 10 weeks was financially not possible. For Costa Rica it's advised to rent a 4x4 vehicle and costs per day for such a car start between 70 and 80 USD, if you want to get insurance and reduce the deterrent fee to a reasonable amount.

During rainy season, from May to November, you can get a much better deal. When I first researched car prices back in November, those where starting in the 50 USD region. But in December the prices increased a lot and it didn't really matter how much time in advance we tried to book. January, February and March were equally expensive.

So we made the decision to split our itinerary for Costa Rica into three parts: First we would visit the beaches along the pacific coast by bus, then rent a car for three weeks and explore the volcanoes and forests north of San Jose, and finally travel along the Caribbean coast, again by bus.

As it turned out, getting to Manuel Antonio National Park by bus is very easy and convenient. From the Tracopa Terminal in San Jose it's a 3,5 hour ride, if you take the directo. Make sure to not use the regular bus, which is more of a collectivo option that has more stops and takes longer. The price for the directo to Quepos, which is the town next to Manuel Antonio, was 8 USD per person.

As a little side note I want to mention that to get to Manuel Antonio and further South to Dominical, Uvita and Sierpe you don't need a 4x4. The paved road that leads South is in good condition. A 4x4 might be necessary though for the little detours that are often required to get to the interesting places. That's also why, if you rent a car, you should get a 4x4, because the real advantage of a car in Costa Rica starts when you use it to go to those places.

Where to Stay

Even without a car we were quite flexible in the Manuel Antonio area because between Quepos and Manuel Antonio there's a regular bus that costs roughly a dollar per ride. From sunrise to sunset it goes every 15 - 30 minutes and afterwards on an hourly basis until midnight.

This was perfect, because we had selected the wonderful Karibu apartment * as our accommodation. Quepos and Manuel Antonio are very crowded areas with many hotels next to each other. We wanted to have more quiet and the Karibu offered that. It was an oasis of relaxation and we just had to sit on the porch to see monkeys, agoutis, aras, hummingbirds, iguanas and some other types of birds, which I cannot put a name on. In the video below you see some footage I captured during our first breakfast.

From the apartment we usually walked the 600 meters to the main road to catch the bus towards Playa Espandilla. This is also where the entrance to the Manuel Antonio National Park is located.

Beaches in The Area

Playa Espandilla is a long beach right next to Manuel Antonio. It's beautiful, but also crowded. When we visited, we did so from its northern entrance. From the bus stop near SuperMarket Pura Vida we first walked down to Playa Biesanz, which was a bit disappointing. At least there was a beach thanks to low tide, but it was neither photogenic nor was the water inviting. It had a bit of a murky feel to it.

So we quickly left and walked back up towards the main road for a few 100 meters, before heading down the Playitas Road. This is when we encountered a sloth making its way across the street. Witnessing this laborous crossing was the highlight of our four days in Manuel Antonio and I'm glad I captured it in video.

Once it had vanished into the trees again we continued down to Playa Espandilla Norte. This place was beautiful, not too crowded and with some nice surf. Here the water actually felt like the ocean, other than at Biesanz. It was still low tide so we could walk down the beach towards its southern part. This is were it got much more crowded and this is also where we encountered some very cheeky monkeys. Unfortunately people keep feeding them, which is why they now get very demanding and even try to steal food, if you are not careful. But, if you want to see monkeys, this is the place to go.

Some other beaches close to our apartment were Playa La Vaca, which had a similar feel to Biesanz, except there were no people. But it's not a photo spot in my opinion. Then there are Playa Tulemar, which as far as I know belongs to a resort and is not open to public, and Playa La Macha. The latter involves a bit of a hike and I originally wanted to photograph it. But high tide unfortunately coincided with sunset the days we were in the area and so it was not an option.

Visiting Manuel Antonio National Park

All we had heard of Manuel Antonio National Park prior to our visit was that it's crowded but worth it, because of all the wildlife one can see. Both expectations weren't met, which was positive and disappointing. Positive because it really wasn't that crowded when we went. We had reserved our tickets, which cost 16 USD per person, for 8am and when we arrived at the entrance we didn't have to wait more than 5 minutes until we were inside of the park. Also, I wonder how it can get as crowded as in the stories I've heard when they only sell 300 tickets per day and when buying those tickets online in advance is a requirement. Even at the beaches there's so much space that 300 people at once would not be a problem.

So that was the positive part. The disappointment was the wildlife, which didn't life up to the hype. If you are not an expert spotter then you won't see more wildlife than outside of the park. At least that was my impression. Even the guided tours, whose path we crossed a couple of times, didn't seem like they saw that many animals. At least after some time we saw the capuchin monkeys as they stole some snacks from one of the visitors - mind that bringing snacks into the park is not allowed. We saw a sloth way up in the trees and the highlight, we saw coatis climbing down from a tree right in front of us.

So it wasn't a bad experience after all. We just had too high expectations because of all we had read and heard about the park. If we would have gone into the park without those and also, if we hadn't already seen so much wildlife on the porch of our apartment, I think it would have been ok. It could also have been bad timing and on other days there's more wildlife to be seen.

In case you are thinking about visiting, I don't want to discourage you. Make your own experiences, but go in there with realisic expectations. I am aware that seeing a sloth crossing the street is not something you see on a daily basis even in Costa Rica and it should not be the bar against which all other experiences are measured.

* Above I use Booking Affiliate Links. If you use them to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Five Things to Do Immediately After Arriving in Costa Rica

Michael Breitung — Fri, 14 Jan 2022 24:00:00 GMT

In this article, I give you a list of five things you should do immediately upon arrival in Costa Rica. Those travel tips will help to ensure a smooth travel experience.

Bring US Dollars

Ok, to be fair, this is something you have to do before you even embark on your trip to Costa Rica and not just upon arrival. The local currency in Costa Rica is the Costa Rican colón and it's also the one that's mainly used. In most places though it's also possible to pay with US Dollars.

So why would you bring US Dollars and not just withdraw some of the local currency at the airport upon arrival? While this works most of the time, my past travel experience has shown that ATMs don't always work. And especially at airports that offer just a few ATMs for thousands of travelers arriving every day, I would not count on being able to withdraw money upon arrival.

Well, as it turned out, the ATM near the baggage claim of Juan Santamaria Airport didn't work the evening we arrived. As I got my turn to try it, 3 other people had already failed to withdraw any money. Had I not brought some dollars it would have been a bit problematic to pay the taxi driver who brought us to our hotel afterwards. Supposedly there is another ATM somewhere on the second flour, but I didn't find out how to get there from the arrivals hall.

Withdraw Colónes

Consider the US Dollars you bring your backup. Still try to withdraw local currency as soon as possible - maybe you are more lucky than I was and it works at the airport. This way you can safe money, because not everywhere vendors will apply the current exchange rate when they charge you in dollars. At the least they will round up - sometimes less, sometimes more. To know how much you should be charged, make sure to use an app like CoinCalc.

It is important to mention that you don't need to pay everything in cash. Most places allow credit cards, which is my preferred option to pay - especially in times of COVID. But for Taxis, busses and in smaller shops and restaurants make sure to have some cash on you.

Also make sure to always do your research about the places you visit. Check, if there are ATMs and if credit cards are accepted. As an example I want to mention Drake Bay where you'll currently not find ATMs and where many hotels want cash.

How ATMs work in Costa Rica

I thought I'd also add a small chapter about how the ATMs in Costa Rica work, because in the beginning it was a bit confusing for me. So here is what you have to do:

Insert your credit card and immediately withdraw it again
Wait for the ATM to tell you to insert your card again
This time you leave the card in the ATM and wait until a few adds have finished playing
Now you'll be asked to enter your PIN
Next select that you want to withdraw money and enter the desired amount
Select to withdraw colones
Finally you have the option to print a receipt before pressing salir

Buy a Local SIM

Before you even get your bags, head directly to the Claro Mobile booth next to the baggage carousels. If you wait too long, there will be a queue. If you were able to withdraw some local currency, you'll get a plan including unlimited WhatsApp, 5GB of data that lasts 30 days for about 10000 colónes - approximately 15 USD. If you only have dollars, they will charge you 20 USD.

Now, Claro Mobile is not the best option for the countryside of Costa Rica. It has good reception in many areas, but in remote locations there'll be no signal. Kölbi is a better option, but even with this provider you have to expect low signal in many parts of Costa Rica. Also Kölbi does not have a booth at the airport. But there is an option to buy a Kölbi card not too far away. If you plan to do a layover before starting your travels, you should consider staying close to the airport instead of heading to San Jose. And if you find a place close to the Alajuela City Mall, you can head there to buy a Kölbi card.

In any case, always try to stay at places that offer WIFI, which is the case most of the time. In addition to that, use offline maps to navigate through Costa Rica. With Google Maps that's possible and even the Waze app, which is widely used in Costa Rica, offers offline capabilities.

Get the Right Taxi

After getting your bags, those will be scanned by customs a final time before you leave the baggage claim area. Right behind it, still inside the same room, there is already a booth where you can reserve one of the official Airport Taxis, which are orange. If you have to go to San Jose, this is an option, but it's a bit pricy.

If you are spending the night closer to the airport as we did in Alajuela, the better option is to take one of the red cabs right outside of the terminal. Those are metered and the price will be less the closer the destination is to the airport. We payed around 4 dollars for the 10 minute ride to our hotel. Prices to San Jose center, I read, are around 20 USD. But from my experience, prices will usually go up to 30 USD based on traffic. We had two metered rides later during our travels and both times we got stuck in traffic and payed 30 USD.

What you should avoid is to take one of the unofficial taxis. Once you leave the terminal, even before you get to the red cabs, you'll be immediately approached by various taxi drivers. When you ask them where they have their car, they'll point to the parking lot at the other side of the street. You should rather decline, even if they might offer you a good price at first. I read some stories that suggest that in the end you might pay more.

I'm not totally against using those unofficial taxis though. Sometimes there might not be another option. If that's the case, I always try to have my hotel, AirBnb or hostel organize my transport. I've done this multiple times and, if my host says he knows a good option that's safe, I usually go with it. That's why it pays of to stay in places that have a good rating. I especially look out for places that highlight good communication with the host.

The cheapest option to get to the city is to take the Tuasa bus. The bus station is located on the other side of said parking lot in front of the airport. We used this option once to get from San Jose to the airport and I can recommend it. You'll find some more information on the airport busses here.

Skip San Jose

If you plan to travel through Costa Rica via rental car, there's no need to get to San Jose. Get a hotel right near the airport, if you arrive late, or immediately get your car and leave for the countryside. We've just had short glimpses of San Jose during our drive to the Tracopa and Mepe bus station, so I don't consider myself a San Jose expert. But most likely, if you travel to Costa Rica, you do so because of its magnificent nature and there's no need to waste time in its biggest city.

If you plan to head into the countryside by bus, there's no way around San Jose, since most bus companies operate from there. To go to Manuel Antonio, for example, we used Tracopa, which has a station near the center of San Jose. We still spent the night in a little hotel near the airport * though. The owner was so kind to organize a transport to the bus station for us the next day. We paid 15 USD, which I would consider a good price.

Conclusion

If you follow the steps above, you should have a smooth start into your Costa Rica aventure. In the upcoming articles, I will show you the places I visited and give tips on landscape photography in Costa Rica. If you need more information than that, you can check this Where To Go in Costa Rica guide from Costa Rica Escapes. They provide a real wealth of information about Costa Rica.

* Above I use Booking Affiliate Links. If you use them to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Photographing the Algarve

Michael Breitung — Thu, 06 Jan 2022 24:00:00 GMT

After exploring the busy streets of Lisbon for three days it was nice to spend another few days at the coast. This time we drove down to the Algarve, which takes between three to four hours from Lisbon depending on traffic. I had been photographing the dramatic coastline of the Algarve back in 2015 and I was glad to return and explore more of its beautiful beaches.

Same as in 2015, we decided to stay in Benagil. It's a small coastal town with beautiful cliff walks starting right at Praia de Benagil. From there it's also possible to explore the many sea caves by speed boat, which is something we did during our first visit. I definitely recommend it.

My goal this time though was to scout the beaches near Albufeira as well as head to the southwestern tip of Portugal, which I had heard also boasts some spectacular beaches. Because it was already December, we didn't have to worry about the beaches being too crowded. Judging from photos I have seen online, visiting the Algarve during main season is something to avoid. From late October to early March on the other hand the beaches are mostly empty with still comfortable temperatures and at least during my visits enough sun.

Praia dos Arrifes

One of those beaches is Praia dos Arrifes. It's a relatively small beach close to Albufeira. Jutting out of the water in front of the beach are tree beautiful seastacks and I made photographing those during sunrise my first objective. The problem I had though was the presence of too many clouds.

To solve this problem, same as in Azenhas do Mar a few weeks ago, I went to photograph long before sunrise. This way I was able to turn the low hanging clouds into an advantage. With such a sky the sun will often not break through the clouds to light up the sky. But nearby cities can do exactly that. Roughly 45 minutes before sunrise I was able to capture the beautiful orange glow of Albufeira with a two minute exposure.

As you can see it's worth to arrive at a location early and even more so to have it already scouted. When I setup the photo above it was still very dark and had I not known, which rocks to put into the foreground, I would most likely have wasted the good light with searching for a composition.

Praia do Castelejo

Preparation was also key for photographing Praia do Castelejo a few days later. This beach releases its full photographic potential only during lower tides as I found out a few days earlier during a scouting tour. With the App Nautide I then made sure to return at low tide during sunset.

In the end, despite the previous scouting, finding the perfect composition was much more tricky than I thought. Some places offer so many beautiful looking subjects that it can become a bit overwhelming. It's also often the case that what looks beautiful is not so easily composed in a photogenic manner. Compressing a three-dimensional scene into a two-dimensional photo requires a carefully thought out composition that provides depth without overloading such a photo.

In the video below I talk more about those struggles and how I tried to arrive at a balanced composition.

Photographing Lisbon

Michael Breitung — Mon, 27 Dec 2021 24:00:00 GMT

The next stop on our travels through Portugal and Madeira was back on the mainland. From Madeira we flew to Lisbon and there we spent three days exploring the picturesque Alfama district. I had attempted to photograph Lisbon twice in the past already, but I had never stayed in its center. During previous visits I had only had daytime for my photography in the city, this time I focused on sunrise and sunset.

To get into the city from the airport we took a cab to avoid the public transports because of Covid. A cab into the center costs between 10 and 15 Euro, which is a decent price for a major European city. Our cab driver charged a bit more than what the meter said. I already suspected that he'd do it when he waited with asking for payment until we were all outside of the cab getting the luggage and I didn't see the meter anymore. It wasn't much, so I didn't complain.

Our hotel, the Petit Lusa, was located right at the edge of the Alfama district * near the Museo do Fado. I definitely recommend this place. It's easy to get to and all major sights and viewpoints in the center of Lisbon are in walking distance. Two of those viewpoints are the Miradouro do Luzia and the adjacent Miradouro das Portas do Sol.

The first morning I directly went to the latter, which in my opinion is the best viewpoint to photograph Lisbon during sunrise. In the morning it was nearly empty while during day and in the evening this viewpoint as well as the others in the city are crowded.

Since staying in Alfama gave me the opportunity to explore Lisbon basically around the clock, I focused mostly on blue hour and sunrise in the morning. During those times the city was quiet and I enjoyed walking the empty streets in the center. Besides photographing the city from its viewpoints, a goal of mine was photographing the historic tram.

The line 28 winds its way through some very photogenic streets in Lisbon's center and I spent a few hours walking the length of it, looking for the best vantage points. Besides finding good compositions, in which I could position the tram, I also made sure to find photo spots where I could setup my tripod without disturbing the traffic. For best results I apply both focus stacking and exposure blending to my photos, so handheld photography was out of question.

For the photo above I got lucky. A red traffic light stopped the tram long enough for me to take a long exposure at low ISO. After this photo I stayed one more hour at this location and the tram never stopped again. But I think I got the best possible result with the different colored traffic lights and the warm city lights painting an interesting picture.

For more photos and some tips on photographing Lisbon you can watch my behind the scenes video below.

* This is a Booking.com Affiliate Link. If you use it to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Photographing Pico Arieiro on Madeira

Michael Breitung — Fri, 24 Dec 2021 24:00:00 GMT

After a pretty successful few days of photography at the coast it was time to tackle the final goal of our Madeira journey - photographing Pico Arieiro. Being the third highest peak on the island it offers spectacular views of the surrounding mountains and I couldn't wait to experience those myself.

The only problem was the weather. Since our arrival on the island, Madeira's mountains had been shrouded in clouds most of the time. Pico Arieiro itself hadn't seen direct sunlight for at least five days - I regularly checked the webcam on its summit. With just two more days on Madeira we made a first drive up there for sunset, hoping that it would clear up.

And it was close. During our 30 minute drive from our hotel in Santo da Serra * we passed different layers of clouds and the sun peeked through a couple of times. But as we approached the parking area at the peak, we were again engulfed by clouds. The next morning there wasn't much of a change so we made another attempt the next evening - again without luck.

One could think that with a webcam up on the summit it would be easy to visit the peak in perfect conditions: Just wait for the webcam to show clear views and drive up there. The problem with this approach is, that especially during the winter months, windows of good light in the mountains are relatively short. So there's a big chance that during the drive up there, which, depending on the starting location, can take up to an hour or more, new clouds move in.

That's why we decided to gamble, starting our drive while the peaks where still surrounded by clouds. After this didn't work twice, I drove up there one final time on my last morning on the island. And the drive into the unknown proofed successful. A few 100 meters below the peak I already left the clouds behind me. I was the first car in the parking lot and I directly made my way to the viewpoint.

Best Viewpoint for Sunrise

The selection of the Juncal Viewpoint for sunrise was another leap of faith, since I hadn't been able to do proper scouting the two times I had been up there. The thick clouds had prevented that. The research I did online also didn't give me a clear direction. Most landscape photographers prefer Pico Ruivo for sunrise, because it has some obvious subject matter.

But I didn't want those obvious views, of which I had seen many photos already. I wanted to find something less photographed. I will let you decide, if I achieved that with the photo above. I certainly hadn't seen such a photo of this tree during my research and I was pretty stoked when I spotted it as the sun began to crawl over the horizon.

And despite using the long lens* here, with a bit more time I could have also found various foregrounds to make wide-angle compositions work. Which means that, if you ever plan to do a sunrise shoot up on Pico Arieiro in the winter months, spend some time exploring Miradouro do Juncal and you'll not be disappointed. Arriving at the car park, just head right towards it - it's just a five minute walk.

The other viewpoints are located on the other side of the peak along the hiking trail towards Pico Ruivo. The views on that side are more dramatic and provide various angles to photograph during sunset. In the summer months the light should also get there early in the morning, so it's an option during sunrise too. Based on my research I found Miradouro do Ninho da Manta to have potential. And if you walk a bit further you'll find more interesting views.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to explore those myself, because just after I finished my photo shoot at Miradouro do Juncal, it got too windy on the summit for the hike towards Pico Ruivo and I have to save it for my next visit to Madeira.

Behind the Scenes Video from Pico Arieiro

In the video below I share spectacular footage of the mountains and give tips on photographing Pico Arieiro.

* Above I use Amazon Affiliate Links. If you use them to buy something, I'll get a little commission from Amazon

Photographing Ponta de São Lourenço on Madeira

Michael Breitung — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 24:00:00 GMT

Ponta de São Lourenço is a little peninsula in the far East of the island of Madeira just next to the town of Caniçal. In this article I show you the best vantage points, from which to photograph it. Those views are some of the most spectacular on the whole island and I hope the photos and the video I share below capture their grandeur.

After staying near Porto Moniz in the northwest of Madeira for one week, we switched locations to focus on the eastern part of the island. As I wrote in the last article, this saved us a lot of time in the car. As our new homebase we selected the town Santo da Serra, because from there we had both the mountains and the coast within a 30 minute drive radius from our hotel, the Quinta Santo Antonio da Serra *.

Santo da Serra lies at an elevation of around 800 meters. Thus it's both a winding drive down to the coast and up into the mountains, which was quite taxing for our little Fiat Panda. The main reason for us to stay there and not in one of the coastal towns was to shorten the drive up to Pico Arieiro, which lies at an elevation of 1800 meters. Exploring this beautiful mountain was another goal I had for our second week on Madeira. In the next article I'll talk more about it.

If we had just been interested in the coast, staying somewhere around Funchal or Machico would have certainly been a better option. But who visits Madeira and doesn't want to experience the views from its tallest peeks? We certainly didn't want to miss it.

Photo Spots Around Ponta de São Lourenço

But back to Ponta de Sao Lourenco. Photographing this beautiful peninsula is quite straight forward as most views are close to a car park and marked well as Miraduro or Photospot on Google maps.

Sao Lourenco Photospot

The most popular and maybe most spectacular viewpoint can be reached via a short hike of about 20 minutes. Starting at the Ponta de Sao Lourenco car park, just follow the PR8 route - Vereda da Ponta de São Lourenço. The path first descends into a little valley and then climbs again. If you look to your left you'll see a steep hill with a stone structure at its top. On Google Maps, this spot is conveniently marked as Sao Lourenco Photospot.

Leave the PR8 and hike up a little path towards this structure and you'll be presented with this view.

I first went there in the evening to do some scouting, since I wasn't yet familiar with this place. Just as I arrived up at the viewpoint a double rainbow appeared in the East as dark rain clouds drifted across the horizon. It was a magical and fleeting moment and I'm glad I was able to capture it.

Typically you'll see photos from this location, which were taken at sunrise. This is something I also had in mind. But with the evening sun casting long shadows and bathing the cliffs into warm light, I have to say that photographing from this viewpoint at sunset is definitely an option - especially with the chance to capture a rainbow when the weather moves in from the sea.

Miradouro da Luna

There's a second spectacular viewpoint not far, which is located just next to the Ponta do Rosto car park. During day this area - same as the Ponta de Sao Lourenco - gets very crowded and it might be hard to find a free parking space. But in the morning and evening you shouldn't have a problem, especially in the winter months.

At Ponta do Rosto you will again have the option to photograph towards Ponta de Sao Lourenco. It's a spectacular view in this direction, but not as dramatic as the first view I shared above. I would rather suggest to go there for sunset and walk the few 100 meters to the Miradouro da Luna.

This is what I did on a very stormy evening. Up on the cliffs I had a spectacular view towards Caniçal and the mountains of Madeira behind being swallowed by dark clouds. I had to firmly hold on to my tripod to prevent it from falling over while taking the photos. In such situations it's good to find a spot with a nice foreground. I can then setup my camera very low above the ground to reduce its exposure to the wind.

The Eroded View

Scrolling around on Google Maps I came across a third viewpoint, which, after a little research, I found was much less photographed. This got me curious and I drove there around noon for some exploration. What I found was the, in my opinion, most interesting view towards Ponta de Sao Lourenco. The reason for it were the rock formations at the viewpoint.

This area reminded me a bit of the Atacama desert, which I had visited a few years ago. Shaped by wind and rain it seemed very delicate to me and I'm surprised that it wasn't fenced of in any way. For this reason, if you ever plan to visit, be sure to step carefully and certainly don't climb on the eroded rocks. I'll not put a name to this viewpoint, although I don't think it's a big secret. I certainly wasn't the only person there.

To capture the best possible photo I returned twice for sunrise. On my second visit I was presented with a combination of light and rain, which resulted in the most spectacular conditions I experienced while visiting Madeira.

Photographing Ponta de São Lourenço

As usual for my articles I also have a behind the scenes video to share with you. In it I give you additional tips on how to best photograph Ponta de Sao Lourenco. Be sure to watch it.

* This is a Booking.com Affiliate Link. If you use it to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Fanal Forest Madeira Photography Guide

Michael Breitung — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 24:00:00 GMT

In this article I share my experience of photographing the beautiful Fanal Forest on Madeira. I give tips on how to get there, where to stay, and when to visit.

The Fanal Forest is famous for fog, and when I was visiting in November of 2021, I was hoping to take some atmospheric landscape photos in such conditions. After spending ten wonderful days at the Portuguese coast near Lisbon, I flew to the island of Madeira, which is just a 90-minute flight. From the airport north of Funchal, I got my rental car and drove directly to the north-western part of the island. It's where the Fanal Forest is located.

Why Madeira Is Great for Landscape Photography

I spent two full weeks on Madeira. For some people, two weeks might sound a bit too much because the island is not very large and there are nearly no sandy beaches. But beaches are not the reason to visit Madeira. Especially for landscape photographers two weeks can go by very quickly on this mountainous island with its many photographic treasures.

So if you ever have the chance to visit Madeira, plan in enough time. You can photograph scenic vistas, mountains, waterfalls, magical forests, and spectacular coastlines.

Important update on Fanal

Because of a dramatic rise in visitor numbers and with it the increased amount of stress put on the landscape of the Fanal forest, new regulations have recently been put into place. Those will make photography as I show in the videos at the end of this article impossible. It's no longer allowed to wander around as I did. During my visit, there were no trails. Now, trails will be set up and it won't be allowed to leave those. In addition, many of the photogenic trees will be surrounded by fences, making it difficult to get a clean shot. As sad as this is, it's understandable. If you have watched some of the videos about Fanal on social media, you'll know that not everybody visiting this location does so out of love for nature and the outdoors.

You can learn more about it in this article by Madeira Travel Guide.

Despite the new regulations in Fanal, Madeira has still a lot to offer. And even a visit to Fanal on a very foggy day might still yield some interesting photos.

Where to Stay

Because I had so much time, I split it to first explore the lush landscapes in the north-western part of the island for one week, and then focus on the east with its mountains and photogenic coastline.

The winding roads and mountains that cover Madeira were the reason for this split. It reduced the time spent in the car by a significant amount. For example, getting from Funchal in the southeast to Porto Moniz in the northwest takes around one hour. If you add a return trip, then this is already two hours spent in the car.

While we stayed in Porto Moniz, we mainly drove around the mountain plateau that contains the ancient Laurisilva forest. There's a nice round-trip you can do, which includes the Fanal Forest, the 25 Fontes Waterfall, and many beautiful Levada Walks. Just take the ER209 and ER110 roads and combine them into a loop. You'll find many great landscape photography opportunities along the way.

And you might already have guessed it: You need a car on Madeira. We got our rental car from AnaLodges, through whom we also rented our first apartment. I can fully recommend their service as well as their Ocean View Cottage located above Porto Moniz *.

When to Visit Madeira

If you are after the beautiful flower bloom, then you should visit Madeira during springtime. From the photos I've seen, the island will look wonderful during that time.

But if you're after moody conditions, which, in my opinion, are needed to photograph the Fanal Forest, the time between the beginning of November and the end of March will give you the highest chance to get those. But it's still no guarantee you'll get fog in Fanal. And the conditions during that time can be quite bad for photographing the mountains, with strong winds and a lot of rain.

If I were to visit Madeira again, I would opt for the end of March. There's already a chance for the flower bloom. And fog in the Fanal Forest is also still common for that time.

Fanal Forest Photography

During the week I had in Porto Moniz, my main photographic focus was the Fanal forest. This ancient laurel forest is a photographer's dream, if the conditions are right. And, if you do a Google search for Fanal, you'll quickly get an idea what those are: Landscape photography in the Fanal Forest typically features fog.

Since I visited Madeira in late November, I was sure that to get a lot of fog in the mountains. Especially for Fanal this is quite common I've been told. But to my surprise, despite plenty of rain in the first days, there was never enough humidity in the air for fog to manifest in this magical forest while other mountainous areas on the island were often shrouded in deep clouds.

Again and again, I drove up to the Fanal Forest to be greeted either by sunny or grey skies, often with a lot of wind. On the first visit, I managed to take a photo I'm quite fond of, though. As you can see above, the sun was casting beautiful shadows that served as an extension to this already very gnarly tree with its many reaching branches.

On sunny days you have to spend a lot of time to find compositions that work in this forest - the photo above is one of the very few successes I had. While this was a good exercise and preparation, after the fifth visit I was really longing for some fog up there. It was hard to get a good weather forecast for the region. The Webcams that are spread all across Madeira were also no real help in predicting the conditions in Fanal.

In the end, I got the best forecast by using the app MadeiraWeather and looking at the conditions in Ribeira de Janela. One day MadeiraWeather finally predicted 100% humidity combined with a light drizzle in the morning, so I started the drive for attempt number six.

And I was rewarded with five hours of dense fog. In the beginning there was much more rain than a light drizzle, but after some time it subsided, and I was able to finally photograph Fanal in prime conditions.

Madeira Photography behind the Scenes

The photos above are just a small excerpt. I photographed a total of 15 different compositions, which I show in the second video linked below. The first video covers the challenges I had the first days and how I had to adapt by finding other subjects to photograph. If you have some time, watch those videos. You'll get good impression of how the area looks, and what you have to do to come away with good photos from there.

Conclusion

As you can see, although Fanal is famous for foggy conditions, even in November there's no guarantee for fog. So, if you plan a landscape photography trip to Madeira, stay long enough, so you can return to places like the Fanal forest multiple times. Had I not spent a whole week dedicated to this area, I would have been pretty disappointed.

* This is a Booking.com Affiliate Link. If you use it to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Photographing Portugal - Fairy Forest of Sintra

Michael Breitung — Sun, 28 Nov 2021 24:00:00 GMT

In the last two articles I showed you parts of the spectacular coastline near Lisbon. Today it's time for a different scenery. Close to the coast, in the mountains of Sintra, grows a magical forest, which in parts is covered completely by ivy. Exploring this fairy forest is something you should not miss, if you are in the area.

After exploring the coast for a couple of days I woke up to thick fog one morning. It shrouded the complete coastline, so I immediately took the car and drove up into the mountains that span the area between Sintra in the East and Azóia in the West. Unfortunately, as I drove higher and higher into the mountains the fog slowly vanished and with it most of the atmosphere that I would have needed for my photos.

Photographing woodland can be very difficult, because there's usually so much going on in the frame with all the trees, branches and undergrowth. Fog helps to simplify the compositions, which is why I'm always chasing it for my woodland photography.

The second best thing to fog is early morning or late evening light. When the sun is still low in the sky and the light is soft, I can use it to create depth and dimension in my woodland photos. And this is what I tried that morning in the fairy forest of Sintra.

Where the fairy forest is located

Most people who visit Sintra go to the Palacio da Pena, which lies in the Parque da Pena. The first time I visited the area I also went there, thinking this was where I could take magical forest photos of the kind I had seen while doing my research. Those photos were of trees surrounded by ivy, mist dancing around them - scenes like from Lord of the Rings.

But I didn't find those scenes in the park. First of all the area near Sintra is very crowded. It's popular with tourists, there are many paved paths leading through the park and all in all it is too developed for my taste. It is beautiful, don't get me wrong. But for photographers I'd say it's not very interesting, also because of the opening hours.

As I wrote in the intro, the forest spans a much larger area than the Parque da Pena. If you look to the Southwest, you'll find a place called Santuario de Peninha. Start your drive in Azóia and try to reach it by driving along any of the winding roads that lead into the mountains and you'll be rewarded with scenes like in the photos I show here.

When to photograph

I already mentioned that fog is what you are looking for when photographing this forest. In autumn or spring it's not very uncommon to get fog down at the coast. When we were there we always had a bank of coastal fog lingering around just off the coast and in the morning it would move in to engulf the villages and beaches.

But often this coastal fog doesn't move far enough inland to shroud the mountains of Sintra in mist. That's what happened when I drove up there to photograph. The coast was foggy the whole day, but up in the forest none of it was left.

In addition to coastal fog, wet and rainy weather might also be a precursor to fog up in this area. But in the end it all just comes down to taking the car and making the short drive, possibly a couple of times. Explore the area, find the compositions you like and eventually you'll get the right light. And as I show above, you don't even need fog to create magical photos up there. Early morning light was all I needed, once I found the right grove.

Photographing Portugal - Magoito Beach

Michael Breitung — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 24:00:00 GMT

In the first article about Photographing Portugal, I showed you the beautiful town of Azenhas do Mar. Today I take you a few kilometers north to Praia do Magoito. Photographing Magoito Beach was another goal I had set for myself and after doing the scouting I knew exactly, which conditions I would need.

Unfortunately, during the 10 days I spent in the area, I did not get those. As I share in the video at the end of the first article, clouds would have been essential to create balance in any wide-angle photo I could have taken down at the beach. But we had clear blue skies for our complete stay, so photographing down at the beach was not an option.

Photographing Magoito Beach with a long lens

So, what to do, if there is no interest in the sky? Exclude as much of it as possible and the easiest way to do so is by using a telephoto lens like the Canon RF 70-200 f/4*, for example. Below I show you three photos taken from the viewpoint up at the parking lot. Those photos were taken at noon, before sunset and during blue hour.

You can see how the light shapes the landscape and helps create very different atmospheres. You also see that with a long lens you can even photograph around midday if there's, for example, spray in the air. This creates beautiful depth in a photo.

When to photograph Magoito Beach

The example photos you see above were all taken close to low tide. During this period the rocks you see in the bottom of the photos are visible, while at high tide most of them are submerged. This would take away a lot of interest from the scene, which is why I recommend to photograph Magoito beach around low tide.

This is even more important, if you want to photograph down at the beach. Then you'll find plenty of foreground interest in those rocks and you can move far to the right with your camera to get a good view of Cabo da Roca lighthouse. During high tide you'd be confined to the sandy part of the beach close to the cliffs, which makes creating a balanced composition nearly impossible.

To check the tides for Magoito, you can head over to Tides4Fishing here.

Behind the scenes

As with the first article, I also have a behind the scenes video to share with you for the photo shoot I did at Praia do Magoito. In it I also share tips on photographing with a long lens and I show you other spectacular views along the Sintra coastline.

* Above I use Amazon Affiliate Links. If you use them to buy something, I'll get a little commission from Amazon

Photographing Portugal - Azenhas do Mar

Michael Breitung — Sun, 14 Nov 2021 24:00:00 GMT

If you read my last article you might already know that for the next year I'm going to live the nomadic lifestyle, travel around the world - as much as COVID allows - and practice landscape photography full-time. To start things off, we decided to fly to Portugal and make it our homebase for the next six weeks. As a first objective I wanted to photograph Azenhas do Mar, which is the topic of this article.

I remember staying in Azenhas do Mar 11 years ago, when I had just started out with landscape photography. The sea was rough, the light fleeting and I didn't get many good photos during the week I had in Portugal back then. Only a few photos from that trip still remain in my Portugal gallery.

Moreover I didn't take a single photo of Azenhas do Mar that I'm satisfied with. So since we are staying here for 10 days I wanted to change this and get at least one portfolio piece.

Travel Advice

But before we dive into tips on photographing Azenhas do Mar, I want to first share some of my Portugal experience with you.

I have now been to the Lisbon area three times and renting a car is essential, if you want to make the most of such a trip. There are busses frequenting the coast near Lisbon, but they don't provide the flexibility necessary for photography or for reaching more secluded coves.

When it comes to places to stay, I find the Colares region ideal for quick access to many spectacular beaches as well as the mountains of Sintra and the town itself. A great spot to pick for an AirBnb is Azenhas do Mar. Here you will have a few photo spots available in walking distance - more on those below.

Our current AirBnb is the Casa do Poente from which we can walk in 5 - 10 minutes down to the beach and viewpoint. It's a beautiful little house, well kept and I can totally recommend it.

Finally a few words on the cost of living. Prices in grocery stores are similar to other western European countries, as are prices for gas. In the coastal towns you find many little supermarkets, but the selection is limited. If you are into organic food like we are you won't find many options there. Larger supermarkets can be found in Sintra.

Photographing Azenhas do Mar

To photograph Azenhas do Mar there are not that many options. There's a small beach from which you could get a good view of the town with a wide angle lens*. But since you would be looking up, a lot of the town would not be visible in such a photo. Here's a scouting photo I took with my cell phone. Here you can see how prominent the lower buildings are compared to the rest of the town.

The obvious choice for a photo is from the official viewpoint, which is situated up on the cliffs. From there you can get a beautiful view of the heart of Azenhas do Mar with its dramatic cliffs. This place will get crowded during sunset though. And in the winter months the sun is also a bit too far in the South for a really spectacular photo.

That's why my preferred time to photograph Azenhas do Mar in late Autumn and Winter from the official viewpoint is during Blue Hour before sunrise. Then the town is still lit by its street lamps and I can enjoy the view in solitude, snap a few photos and listen to the waves crashing onto the beach below.

There's a third option from which you can get a glimpse of Azenhas do Mar. This viewpoint is not that well known. It's located further South in the direction of Praia dos Macas. At evening it's frequented mostly by fishermen.

This spot is perfect for photographing with a long lens. And since I didn't have any clouds at our second evening in Portugal this is where I went. In such conditions I often use a long lens as my weapon of choice, because it allows me to zoom in on the subject and exclude most of the sky.

In the video below I show you the behind the scenes for the photos above and I also give tips on composition. Make sure to check it out.

* Above I use Amazon Affiliate Links. If you use them to buy something, I'll get a little commission from Amazon

How to become a full-time Landscape Photographer?

Michael Breitung — Mon, 08 Nov 2021 24:00:00 GMT

In this article I share my thoughts on how to become a full-time landscape photographer.

It is a question I get asked often, and one I cannot fully answer. Until just recently, I hadn't gone full time with my landscape photography. This changed on November 1st 2021, as I quit my job to give landscape photography a more serious effort. So the question I want to answer in this article is how I got here, why it took me so long to make the leap and why I think it's a healthy approach to becoming a landscape photographer - even though it might just be temporal for me.

For the last 13 years I have been practicing landscape photography next to my main job as a software engineer. In that time I have seen many other photographers transitioning into full-time photography or directly making the leap at the get-go. I would lie, if I'd tell you that I didn't think about how it would be to go full time back then. Especially, when you read and hear everywhere that you should follow your dreams and make your passion your profession you start asking yourself: Why don't I?

For me the answer to this question was simple. I had already made one passion my profession, which is writing code. Landscape Photography came later. It started as a hobby and only as I spent more and more time doing it, the internal question, if I should make it my main profession, started bubbling up more often.

One important reason why I didn't do it till now is, that I didn't want to loose my joy for it. I had gotten my taste of how it can feel, if I start making the number of good photos I get out of a photo shoot or a photo tour the main measure of its success. During my travels around the world back in 2016 after a few months of travel without good photo conditions I became quite frustrated instead of enjoying the journey.

Especially with landscape photography there are many variables I cannot control. Yet they can dictate the outcome of a photo shoot. Light and weather are an essential ingredient for a great photo and even though there are many tools available today that help with their prediction, more often than not I'm at the mercy of mother nature during my photo travels.

The last years I learned not to care so much about the number of good or great photos I take during my travels. I rather focus on the experience, the joy I have when I'm out taking photos. If I get a great photo out of it, that's the icing on the cake. It took me quite some time to get there, although landscape photography was just a side hustle and I didn't have to earn a living from it. So in the end the stress and pressure I experienced during my travels around the world were really just self-inflicted.

Now, if it happened to me then, what would have happened, if I had actually been relying on landscape photography to pay my bills? How much joy would have been left?

And that's the reason why I think that, if you want to become a landscape photographer, you should be patient and give it some time. It doesn't have to be 13 years, but it's still important to gradually build the business and learn how to preserve the joy for it while relying more and more on the results you get. I think the approach taken by Ben Horne is a very healthy one. It's a near linear shift from one profession into the other.

For me it's a bit different. I basically remained a full-time software developer until now and the shift is quite abrupt. But in reality it's not, because I used the time to create a financial buffer that will allow me to ramp up my photography more slowly in the next months. This worked well, because I like software development and thus, although there were times where I would have rather been traveling and taking photos, I also enjoyed my main job.

So my biggest tip for someone asking me, how to become a full time landscape photographer would be: Find a job that you like, which is not landscape photography, but allows you to make time to get better at it. Exploring your boundaries in landscape and travel photography with a conventional job paying the bills is much more relaxed.

That being said, this is certainly not for everyone and it's obviously my personal experience. But if someone were to ask me the question in the title, this would be the advice I'd give.

There are alternatives to my approach, one of which would be becoming a full-time photographer early on, but not with a singular focus on landscape photography. Photographing weddings, studio work or other forms of photography that can create a solid income stream might be something to explore. So the job that you like, which is not landscape photography, could still be photography related.

And there are also many people who made it work right from the start and you might be one of those. So don't let this article hold you back, if you are convinced that you have what it takes. In the end it's a very personal decision and all the advice you receive should be filtered and questioned.

What's next

For me the real journey begins now and it will be interesting to see how I can develop my landscape photography business now that I invest more time in it. The next 12 months will tell me, if I can keep the joy for it plus start earning a living - at least move into the direction of it, because it's unrealistic to get there within one year - or if I only keep the joy. Earning a living from it without joy is no option for me.

Which is why going back into software development after one year is currently not only a backup plan, but the actual plan. I approach this year as an experiment to learn what it takes to practice landscape photography full-time, if the only variable I change is time invested. I do not intend to make other changes to my business. I will rather keep working on my current income streams and be open for new opportunities that fit my philosophy when it comes to landscape photography, which is: Quality over Quantity.

So in the end it seems I'm still not really a full-time landscape photographer and not at all a person to ask for advice in that department. On the other hand, who said that you are not allowed to have a backup plan. I often read this holds you back. I rather think it frees my mind to fully immerse myself in the experience for now.

Photographing Mont Saint-Michel

Michael Breitung — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 24:00:00 GMT

After two weeks in France our travels were sadly coming to an end. But we didn't want to leave the coast without visiting one of France's most famous monuments monuments - Mont Saint-Michel. Photographing this beautiful fortification that sits on a tidal island just off the coast of La Gréve had been a dream of mine for a long time.

Camping du Mont Saint-Michel

In order to photograph Mont Saint-Michel I had to find a campsite that was close enough to the island that I could walk there for sunset and sunrise. In the nearby towns there are quite a few campsites, but those are too far and you usually have to take the bus that connects those towns to the island throughout the day. This is a good option for a casual sightseeing visit, but not for photography.

It's also important to mention that the road leading to Mont Saint-Michel is closed by a gate and only if you have a reservation in one of the hotels behind that gate, you can enter. There is actually also a campsite behind the gate and if you reserve a pitch there, you also get a code to enter. And this is what we did.

The campsite wasn't even more expensive than the other campsites we had stayed at so far, the pitches were large, the toilets clean. And the best thing: We could walk to Mont Saint-Michel in about 30 minutes. For one night we payed 22 Euro for the campsite and another 8 Euro for a night behind the gate.

Mont Saint-Michel Abbey

With the sun burning from the sky we went to explore the island of Mont Saint-Michel soon after we arrived at the campsite. In times of Covid it was nice to be able to just walk there instead of going in one of the crowded busses. And although on and around the island itself there were many people, it was still an experience to explore the narrow alleys and the abbey on top of Mont Saint-Michel.

Entering the island is free, but the real interesting part, the Abbaye du Mont Saint Michel, requires and entrance fee of 10 Euro for adults. If you ask me, this is money well spent. It's just fascinating to walk through the various rooms and buildings that make up the top of the island. Despite having been around for many centuries they are still in a well maintained state.

This also makes them interesting for architecture photography. With modern cameras like the Canon R5*, which has excellent image stabilization, I was able to take some bracketed exposures of the dark interior.

Photographing Mont Saint-Michel

What I also wanted to photograph was the island itself. And without any clouds in the sky I started contemplating a photo of the Milky Way behind the island. Checking the tides I knew that I would be able to get into position in the mudflats surrounding Mont Saint-Michel at 4am in the morning.

When I did some scouting in the afternoon with similar water levels I even found some interesting foregrounds in the mud. The sun had hardened its surface and it was easy to walk on top of it. But areas that hadn't completely dried still had me sink in quite a bit. I figured that in the middle of the night, despite the water receding, taking a photo in the mudflats could become quite a muddy business.

So instead I tried to find a good subject to photograph for sunset. With a clear sky it's essential to find a foreground that is not overloaded with forms and details. I always look for flat foregrounds to complement a clear sky and while walking through the meadows near the island I found exactly what I was looking for.

There are a few trenches cutting through those meadows and with google maps I could precisely locate them. Already the first trench I found contained beautiful patterns in the drying mud. Those provided just enough detail to make the foreground interesting, while not destroying the balance with the sky.

This photo marks the end of our journey through France. The next two days were spent on the road back to Germany, which driving a campervan was quite tiring.

Now, if you got inspired to also visit France for some sightseeing and photography, I want to leave you with two final tips: Using the toll roads is not really worth it when driving a slow vehicle like a campervan. Driving on those is expensive and doesn't save you that much time in the end. Also, make sure to adhere to the speed limits. France is covered by a myriad of speed cameras and just exceeding the speed limit by 1km/h costs 45 Euro. I was caught twice.

* Above I use Amazon Affiliate Links. If you use them to buy something, I'll get a little commission from Amazon

Photographing Cap Fréhel in Brittany

Michael Breitung — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 24:00:00 GMT

After a successful two days in Ploumanach we drove east towards the Fréhel peninsula. If you are interested in spectacular cliffs and wide, golden beaches this is the place to visit in Brittany. Since I wanted to photograph the Cap Fréhel Lighthouse we drove all the way to the closest campsite, which is Camping du Cap Frehel.

Camping du Cap Frehel

This very open campsite is great and we were able to secure a beautiful spot under the trees when we arrived around noon. With the weekend approaching the campsite filled up completely over the following 24 hours. So in case you ever want to visit, plan to arrive before noon to have a good choice of pitches.

After setting up camp we didn't waste much time and did a short hike down to the adjacent beaches. It was low tide and Plage de La Fosse and Les Grêves d'en Bas were massive. With dark rocks jutting out of the golden sand those beaches provide plenty of photo subjects around low tide.

But even more interesting is the view up from the surrounding cliffs - more on that later.

Photographing Cap Fréhel Lighthouse

The days we spent at Cap Fréhel were the hottest of our trip through France so far. There was not one cloud in the sky, which was nice to warm up after a little swim I did in the freezing ocean. For photography this was not what I had hoped for though.

So I constantly checked the cloud forecast with the app Clear Outside, which predicted 60% cloud cover for sunset. I was skeptical about this forecast but in the evening we went to the lighthouse anyways to do some exploration. To my delight the coastal flowers along the cliffs were in full bloom and I found endless opportunities to include foreground in my photos.

But there were still nearly no clouds in the sky. Since the forecast still insisted on a proper cloud cover for sunset, I set up my camera and waited. And lo and behold, the clouds appeared not long after and around sunset there was a nice distribution, which caught some orange light, above the lighthouse.

Astrophotography at Cap Fréhel

The clouds didn't remain long. The next days were completely clear. So this time I checked another app, PhotoPills, while doing some scouting along the cliffs. At the beginning of our travels I had already photographed the moon and the stars over the Verdon Canyon. This time I wanted to photograph the Milky Way over Plage de La Fosse.

With the AR mode of PhotoPills I could plan when the Milky Way would be in position - at 4am I would have to be on location. In the evening I used the time to already tune the composition. As I've written in previous articles, this is crucial for Astrophotography. In the dark it's hard to find the best composition, so knowing where and how to setup is a big help.

As usual my Astrophotography shoot started in pitch darkness. I took a sequence of 40 photos for the sky, using high ISO to capture proper detail in the Milky Way. Then I waited until blue hour to capture the details for the foreground. The coastal flowers provide the perfect balance to the orange glow above the towns at the horizon. If you are interested, I have a very detailed article about the settings I use for Astrophotography on my blog.

Before sunrise I was already back at our camper for another nap. Then we had a final breakfast at the campsite before leaving Brittany and entering the Normandy for the final photo stop of our trip. In the next article I'll show you the magnificent Mont Saint-Michel.

Photographing Ploumanach in Brittany

Michael Breitung — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 24:00:00 GMT

After spending two fantastic days on the Crozon Peninsula with its rough coastline it was time for some change of scenery again. Our next stop was in the Côtes-d'Amor department of Brittany. Up in Ploumanach we had planned to spend another two days to allow us some time to explore and photograph the Côte de Granite Rose around Trégastel and Ploumanach.

One of the main attractions along that stretch of coastline has to be the famous lighthouse of Ploumanach - the Phare de Men Ruz. I would suspect that nearly every photographer who visits Brittany also pays this lighthouse a visit. You'll find thousands of photos of it online. So the pressure was on, because I didn't just want to take yet another photo of the Phare de Mean Ruz. I wanted to take a photo that could stand out.

And as I've written in previous articles, to achieve this, above all, I needed some special light and weather conditions.

Exploring the Pink Granite Coast

As we arrived around noon it looked promising. The sun was out and we enjoyed a wonderful walk along the path that stretches along the coast of Ploumanach. It's a very photogenic coastline with huge granite rocks lining the shore, some of them 10 or more meters high. And then there is the beautiful Phare de Men Ruz, which is built from the same stones. It sits majestically at the tip of the peninsula, overlooking the channel that leads to the Ploumanach harbour.

I could easily spend a week or more just exploring and photographing this part of Brittany. Aside from the popular viewpoints there are endless photo opportunities. But with the limited time I had, I focused my efforts on the most popular sight, the lighthouse.

At first it didn't look like I would be successful with capturing something special on the first evening. In the photos below you can already see a bank of deep coastal clouds approaching in the distance. An hour or two later the sun was snuffed out by it and with it the vibrant colors of the rocks. A bland, grey sky wasn't my desired canvas for sunset.

Photographing Phare de Men Ruz in Ploumanach

I spent the remainder of the day anxiously checking the weather forecast. The weather radar showed that the clouds were moving very slow and I already feared that they might also stick around the next day. But I went to the lighthouse for sunset anyways. There's no merit in sitting in a campervan for sunset, just because the forecast tells you so. As a landscape photographer I have to be out there trying. There are certainly many failures and disappointments along the way. But occasionally the elements align and all falls into place.

The first evening in Ploumanach was such an occasion. As I walked to the lighthouse I could already see a bright band of light at the horizon in the West and I knew that once the sun got low enough in the sky, this would provide me with that special light I was talking about in the beginning.

Now an important skill to learn as a landscape photographer in such situations is to stay calm. When the sky begins to glow there's always the temptation to start chasing around, trying to capture as many photos as possible. This is what I did back in Auvergne, and it almost ruined the photo shoot.

Focusing my energy on just a few or even just one photo usually pays off much more. So this is what I did in Ploumanach. I looked for a composition that was different to the photos I had seen online and made sure the lighthouse would be the focus of the photo. With the wind picking up and the tide rushing in I went close to the water's edge to capture the beautiful wave action in the foreground.

After this glorious evening the pressure had lifted. Photos like this one have become kind of a redemption for me during my photo travels. Even had I not captured any good photo until this evening, such a single photo can tip the scales for me. When I started with photography my goal was always to come home with many good photos from a trip. Now my goal is to come home with a few or even just one photo I consider great. You could call this a form of essentialism*.

After I had finished my first photoshoot at the Pink Granite Coast I had a look around for additional compositions that would showcase the majesty of the Phare de Men Ruz. And I found one to which I returned the next evening. This time the conditions were different with high clouds lining up behind the lighthouse. Another perfect display of light ensued.

Photographing Ploumanach

As I already mentioned above there is more to Ploumanach than its lighthouse and I hope to return someday and extend my portfolio from the Côtes de Granite Rose. But in the two days I spent there I focused on just one other view. A kilometer west of the lighthouse is a very photogenic mound of granite rocks, decorated with some beautiful trees.

There are several interesting structures in the dark rocks just south of it and I got up an hour before sunrise twice to try to photograph it. When photographing the coast of Brittany it is essential to know the tides. Some scenes work best during high tide, others like this one require low tide to reveal their beauty. I use the app Nautide to plan such photo shoots in accordance with the tides and in Ploumanach it worked out perfectly.

The only thing that didn't work out was getting the right light for sunrise. But I guess this would have been asking too much after I already got lucky for sunset. In the photo below you see a typical phenomenon. There was a bright stripe of light at the horizon teasing me. But it stoped just a mile or so short of where the sun would appear in the East. As a result, instead of a glowing, colorful sky, I only got a grey sky with a hint of blue from blue hour.

To still make this photo work I focused fully on foreground interest and color contrast. The orange rocks in the foreground complement the blue sky nicely and you can imagine that with the help of Photoshop I emphasized this color contrast a bit.

This concludes my little write up about photographing Ploumanach. If you are also interested to see this coast in moving pictures, then take a few more minutes and watch the behind the scenes video I captured. Besides Ploumanach it also features Cap Fréhel and Mont Saint-Michel, which I'll cover in the next articles.

* Above I use Amazon Affiliate Links. If you use them to buy something, I'll get a little commission from Amazon

Photographing Crozon in Brittany

Michael Breitung — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 24:00:00 GMT

In this article I share my experience photographing the Crozon peninsula in Brittany, France. I also talk about the challenges of landscape photography and how I scout for compositions.

If you followed my trip through France thus far, you know that the weather had been a bit of a challenge. But I had also been presented with some beautiful conditions, especially during my morning hike in Auvergne. So what would the coastal weather up in Brittany be like? There I wanted to start the third leg of our travels through France by photographing the Crozon peninsula.

Trying to photograph La Rochelle

But getting up there would have been too long of a drive in a campervan for a single day. So our first stop at the coast was a few miles north of La Rochelle. In La Tranche-sur-Mer we spent two nights at one of the many campsites.

The coast around La Rochelle is not very spectacular with mostly long, flat beaches. So I didn't expect to find many photo opportunities there. Yet, during a run I found a beautiful subject with potential for sunset. As I already wrote in the first article, running has become my favorite way of scouting lately. Not only do I get some exercise during my travels, but from time to time I also find little gems like in the photo below.

Those poles are used for mussel farming. This means that at low tide they stick out of the water and at high tide they are deeply submerged. So in order to photograph them for sunset I needed low tide to coincide with the setting sun. I use an app called Nautide or the page Tides4Fishing to check tides and they told me that about three hours before sunset the tide was beginning to recede. My hope was that it would recede far enough till sunset.

As I went back in the evening the light was beautiful as I walked along the jetty leading to the coast. I just snapped a photo with my cellphone*, trying to quickly get to my subject at the beach. Unfortunately the tide was still too high. It would have been dark already until the poles emerged from the water, so I returned without a photo.

This is how it goes sometimes - or should I say quite often. I plan and scout and still don't come away with a photo. There are a lot of variables to a photo shoot, which I cannot control. And it's good that way, because this is part of the excitement that comes with landscape photography for me.

Exploring Locronan

On our way from La Tranche-sur-Mer to Crozon we made a final stop. There's a beautiful medieval town called Locronan, which we passed just a few miles before entering the Crozon peninsula. The old stone buildings, the narrow streets and the fact that no cars are allowed to enter this village give it quite a unique atmosphere.

And then there are the great Crêperies like the Crêperie Les tres Fées. I think during our time in France we ate Crêpe at least every other day and here we had one of the best.

Since we only made a short stop around noon, I only captured the village with my cellphone* again. But I would imagine that this place does also look beautiful during blue hour. Maybe one day I'll return for that.

Photographing Crozon - Pointe de Pen Hir

I had been waiting to photograph the coast of Brittany for the whole trip. And its landscape with it's steep cliffs and wide beaches didn't disappoint. After we secured our spot at the local campground in Camaret sur Mer I directly went on a run towards Pointe de Pen Hir. This part of the Crozon peninsula is spectacular and quite a bit overwhelming in terms of landscape photography.

There's seemingly so much to photograph but once I started to look closer for compositions, I realized that it would be quite a challenge to do this place justice in a photo. With my cellphone I took some test shots during the scouting run and for two of those I decided to return for sunrise and sunset the next day.

And I was lucky with the weather. After a rainy night the sky opened up around sunrise and some spectacular light emerged from the East. The photo I took is ok, but not great. Despite the beautiful conditions I think that this location would have been better photographed around sunset. The cliffs on the right side are in shade and this unbalances the photo for me.

But for sunset I already had another composition sought out. The massive sea stack jutting out of the water a little farther down the coast was even more in need of light coming from the west and so I focused on this subject in the evening.

There lies only one kilometer between the two subjects and it would have been possible to capture both with a little sprint in between. But this is seldom a good idea. I'm no friend of hectic photo shoots and I rather take my time fine-tuning just one photo. Expecially when photographing seascapes and setting up at steep cliffs there's nothing worse than being in a rush.

Instead I had enough time sitting on the rocks above this sea stack watching the sun go down, while pressing the shutter of my Canon EOS R5* a couple of times.

Behind the scenes Video

If you are interested in more footage from this part of our trip through France, make sure to check out the video below. In the second part I talk more about the photo I took around sunrise in Crozon and I also show you the interior of our great campervan from Hannes Camper.

* Above I use Amazon Affiliate Links. If you use them to buy something, I'll get a little commission from Amazon

Photographing Puy de Sancy in France

Michael Breitung — Sat, 04 Sep 2021 24:00:00 GMT

After visiting the popular lavender fields of Valensole we continued our travels through France and headed north. Our goal was to drive up to Brittany, but this would have been a too long drive for just one day. So we did a half-way stop in the Auvergne mountains, right in the center of France. There I wanted to photograph the rolling hills around Puy de Sancy.

But first, as we arrived at our campsite near Mont-Dore, we had to wait out a rain storm, which later turned into a thunderstorm. So there was not much exploration or photography going on the first evening. Instead we stayed in our campervan and planned our hike for the next day, closely eying the weather forecast. Since the morning was forecast to be dry with spells of rain arriving in the afternoon, we opted for an early start.

Ridge hike towards Puy de Sancy

Puy de Sancy is the highest mountain in the so called Massif Central of France with an elevation of just shy of 1900m. It is a very popular skiing area with cable cars going up the mountain from its northern side.

Those are also taking visitors to the top throughout summer and my estimate is that it can get quite crowdy up there. The walks around the summit as well as along the southward ridges are very developed. During my research I came across photos of boardwalks leading up the mountain.

This wasn't exactly what I was looking for in our upcoming hike. So instead we started in the north just a mile from our campsite at Le Salon du Capucin. Through the forest and then past the Capucin mountain we arrived at the lush meadows west of Ravin des Chèvres. This is where a beautiful ridge hike starts with endless views of the surrounding valleys and mountains.

But on this day we didn't see much of those. After all the rain we were still facing deep hanging clouds and fog for most of our hike. In between we got little glimpses of the glorious landscape and in the afternoon, on our way back to the campsite, instead of rain we finally got some sun.

While the photos I show above were all taken with my cellphone*, I also took a photo with my Canon EOS R5* after starting our hike down in the forest. The thick fog and wet vegetation created a beautiful, mystic atmosphere and the vibrant ferns provided the perfect foreground.

Unfortunately I cannot show you a photo from the summit of Puy de Sancy, which remained hidden in clouds most of the time. Because of this we didn't even bother to hike all the way to the top. Instead we spend some time on the ridge south of Val de Courre, to which I planned to return to the next morning for sunrise. Even shrouded in clouds the views were beautiful and provided some interesting photographic opportunities.

Photographing Puy de Sancy

For the next morning I had planned an early start. I got up at just past 3am to start my hike up to the viewpoint, which I had scouted the day before. There had been more rain in the evening and the meadows were drenched.

I made a few mistakes that morning. The first was to leave my gaiters and waterproof socks in the campervan, because I didn't anticipate just how wet the meadows were. It was like walking through a river. The high grasses next to the narrow trail were constantly brushing over my trousers and not far into the hike my pants were soaked up to the hips.

My shoes also didn't fare any better. They are quite waterproof, but an hour of walking through wet grasses proofed to be too much for them. When I arrived up at the viewpoint the first thing I did was to empty my shoes from water. I can tell you, in the low temperatures of the morning it was not very nice to be up there in the dark with soaked pants and shoes.

But as the sun slowly began to rise and the pre-dawn light revealed a beautiful inversion in the distance as well as the lush green hills of the surrounding mountains it was easy to forget about the cold. I totally immersed myself in capturing my first photo of the morning, which features many of the beautiful flowers that grow along the ridges around Puy de Sancy.

I'm glad I took my time with this photo, because afterwards I made my second mistake of the morning. I began to rush. With the light getting brighter I wanted to quickly take photos from as many different angles as possible. I no longer took my time and was too quick to abandon the compositions I found, constantly heading to the next potential photo.

As a consequence of that I'm not overly happy with the other photos I got. I could have done better, had I focused on taking maybe one more photo, which is what I normally do. But this morning I got a bit carried away.

The final mistake I have to mention is being too lazy to bring my long lens. The Canon EF 70-200 f/4 lens* would have been perfect to capture the distant ridges just after the sun had risen. I will certainly remember this for the future, when I plan my next mountain hike.

Now, if you are also interested in some moving pictures from the Auvergne mountains, then make sure to watch the first part of the following video. There I show you some behind the scenes of the ridge hike and the morning shoot. The second part of the video already covers my first days in Brittany, which my next article will be about.

* Above I use Amazon Affiliate Links. If you use them to buy something, I'll get a little commission from Amazon

Photographing the Lavender Fields of Valensole

Michael Breitung — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 24:00:00 GMT

Back in July my girlfriend and I traveled through France in a campervan from Hannes Campers for two weeks. Within that time we drove more than 4000 km, starting down in the Provence region where I photographed the lavender fields of Valensole. After a brief stop in the Verdon Canyon we then visited some mountains in the center of France before finally driving up to Brittany to conclude our trip.

In this article I'll share my photographic experience for the first part of this little tour de France. It had been five years since I had first visited the lavender fields of Valensole. Back then, despite staying for a whole week, I wasn't able to capture one spectacular photo. Clear, blue skies made this endeavor impossible. So how did I fare during my second visit?

Lavender Fields of Valensole

Whenever I visit such popular places as the Valensole plateau, which have been photographed millions of times, I tend to set the bar for the photos I want to capture quite high. A beautiful subject and a good composition are seldom enough to take a photo that can stand out. And in a place like Valensole this is even more true, because finding a good subject is quite easy. Everybody can do it with the endless lavender fields in every direction. Compositionally it's also relatively straight forward with the lines of the lavender fields leading the way.

So to stand out, one has to get really special light and weather conditions and at least the forecast looked promising this time.

As we arrived at our campsite at the edge of the plateau, which I can totally recommend to anybody planning a visit with a campervan, I didn't waste much time and went on a run to scout for subjects and compositions. This has lately become my favorite way of scouting. I can cover between five and 15 km in a close enough radius around the place where we are staying and with my cellphone I can explore compositions along the way.

It didn't take me long to find some nice fields, so for the next two to three days I would have enough options to photograph sunrise and sunset. Now, if only the weather would play it's part.

Which it didn't. The first evening, low clouds in the west prevented any color in the sky. The next morning the sky was glowing in all directions except for those in which I was photographing, and on the second evening it was so windy that I had to resort to high ISOs between ISO 800 and ISO 1600 to freeze the motion in the lavender. Morning number two provided only clear skies.

But I still managed to capture a photo, which I like. The photo I show above with the partial rainbow over the lavender fields was taken the first morning. It was not the photo I had set out to capture - I was actually hoping for some side light on the lavender fields. But although the sun never really broke through the clouds that morning, I think that the soft light in the foreground actually fits this scene quite well.

During the first two days in the area this was the only photo that made it into my portfolio. In the behind the scenes video below I also present you the photo I captured on the windy evening shoot on day two and I also show you how the light was teasing me during sunrise that same day.

Gorges du Verdon

Not far from the lavender fields of Valensole lies the spectacular Verdon Canyon. During my first visit to the region I had done a lot of scouting there, so this time I already knew exactly where to go. The most spectacular views, in my opinion, are along the Route des Crêtes and a great place to stay with a campervan is the Camping Campagne de Boulogne. Starting directly at the campsite is a hiking trail up the mountain that will take you to the best viewpoints within 45 to 60 minutes.

We had only planned to spend one night there because of our tight schedule, but the campsite is so calm and beautiful that you could easily spend two or three days. After setting up camp we started our hike up to the viewpoints. The sun was burning and there was only limited shade in the afternoon as we made our ascend.

Up at the first viewpoint I spent about 45 minutes trying to find the best vantage point at the edge of the canyon. While the view is spectacular, finding a foreground that complements it isn't easy in this place. I took many test shots with my cellphone to later compare and in the end this composition felt the most balanced.

The plan then was to return around 3am at night to photograph moonrise over the canyon. Since there would be no clouds for sunrise according to the forecast, this seemed to be the best option to still take a special photo.

I got up at 2am and hiked through the dark. Without the prior scouting I would have had a big problem. Not knowing where to go when photographing at the edge of a cliff is quite dangerous. It also would have been impossible to find a good composition with just a flashlight.

But thankfully I knew exactly where to put my tripod and so I started taking photos of the rising moon and the stars just past 3am. Then I left my tripod in place and took a 90 minute nap on some rocks before I finished the shoot by photographing the foreground during blue hour. The result you see above is a time blending of more than 30 photos for the night sky and four photos for the foreground. I have a detailed tutorial on this photo editing technique available, if you are interested.

Storm over the Lavender Fields

Because I had taken just one good photo of the lavender fields so far, we decided to spend an additional night at the campsite where we had stayed the first two nights. But before that we wanted to enjoy the Verdon Gorge from below. At Lac de Sainte-Croix you can rent a kayak for about 20 Euros for an hour. It was more expensive than I remembered it from five years ago, but we had good memories and so we did it again.

This time though we didn't like it at all. It was overly crowded and nobody seemed to look out for the other boats and kayaks at all. It was just a chaotic frenzy of boats we had to navigate our way through to get deeper into the canyon.

So back at our campervan we couldn't wait to get back to the secluded setting of the La Ferme de Vauvenieres campsite. As we arrived I immediately felt the wind again that had already made photographing the fields difficult the first days. Combined with deep clouds in the West this prevented a spectacular sunset yet again. So I had one final morning to get some favorable conditions.

This time it finally worked out. As storm clouds were drifting by at the horizon, the fields in the foreground were completely calm. I could take long exposures without so much as a stem of lavender moving. This was the perfect way to conclude our stay in the South of France and I finally felt ready to continue our trip.

Looking back

So lets recap. In the beginning I talked about setting quite a high bar for the photos I wanted to capture. Looking back now I'm not sure, if I achieved my goal of taking photos that can stand out. The photos I shared will end up in my portfolio, but I guess I have to return some more times until I'm finally satisfied with the results.

Funny enough, the photo I captured in the Verdon Canyon, where I didn't get any spectacular conditions, has grown on me quite a bit since returning a few weeks ago. It might even be my favorite photo from this first part of the trip. At this viewpoint it was hard to come up with a composition that would showcase the subject at it's best, but I think I achieved that. Also, deciding to photograph the canyon at night was the right decision, because the atmosphere this created is quite special despite the lack of clouds. What also goes into it are the memories of sitting there at the ridge in complete silence, watching the stars and the moon.

And that's what it is really all about - the experiences you have while being out in nature and the memories you make.

Best Camera Settings for Astrophotography

Michael Breitung — Fri, 06 Aug 2021 24:00:00 GMT

Since I purchased the Canon R5* together with the Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 lens*, I became much more confident with night photography. And in this article, I share the perfect astrophotography settings.

With the right gear and the correct settings, capturing, for example, the Milky Way over a detailed landscape is no problem. With my previous camera, the Canon 5DSR, it could be a challenge to capture clean night photos. But with the Canon EOS R5, I can easily achieve high-quality results. And you can do so too with any modern camera as I show in the following sections where I explain:

Why using an open aperture is important
How the focal length influences the shutter speed
Why high ISO is required in night photography
How image averaging can combat noise from high ISO
What star trackers are
What the best camera settings for night photography are
How to edit your night photos

Use an Open Aperture

To capture clean images of the night sky you have to get as much light onto the sensor of your camera as possible. And to achieve this it's important to use a lens that allows for apertures of f/2.8 or wider. The most commonly used lenses for Astrophotography often have apertures of f/1.8 or f/1.4. But even with the f/2.8 of the Canon RF 15-35mm lens, which I'm using, I can achieve high quality results. Before switching to that lens I was also able to capture a few night photos with a f/4 lens on my Canon 5DSR - but I can tell you, it was much more work to get the results I was after.

So, although the techniques I share below can also give you great results with a f/4 lens, I'd suggest that, if you want to get into Astrophotography, you get at least a f/2.8 lens. Also make sure that you purchase a lens that will give you sharp results even at its widest aperture. Prime lenses might often be your best choice, but there are also some zoom lenses that do a great job. Make sure to do some tests right after purchase to ensure your lens works properly, so you can return it otherwise.

The desire to practice more Astrophotography was one of the main reasons for me to make the investment and switch to the Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 lens*, which delivers great results for night photography when shooting wide open at 15mm.

Focal Length and Shutter Speed

Focal length has a huge influence on the maximum time you can expose a photo of the night sky without the stars showing as trails. You might have heard of the 500 rule, which is often used to calculate the maximum exposure time:

exposure time = 500 / Focal Length

What this rule basically tells you is: the longer the focal length, the shorter you must expose your photo, if you want to avoid trailing stars. But this rule is not absolute and certainly not right for everyone. If you take your photos primarily to be showcased on the web, then you'll be fine using it. But if you also like to print your photos large - 18 inch or more - then you might want to reconsider.

What this formula neglects are two things:

1. How large you want to reproduce your photo and at which distance it will be viewed. It's quite obvious that as you print larger, trailing stars will become more noticeable. It's also very subjective how a viewer will perceive this. So the best thing is for you to test this and check, if, rather than going with the 500 rule, you might want to use a 250 rule or go even shorter with your exposures.
1. In which direction you are taking your photo. For example, if you're facing straight north, you'll notice only minimal movement of the stars in the center of your frame. If you shoot with a wide angle lens you'll also notice that the stars to the edge of the frame show more trailing. Pointing your camera east or west on the other hand will lead to the longest trails in the center of the frame. What this means is that depending on the direction you are shooting, you might have to increase your shutter speed to achieve pin point stars.

There's actually another rule that takes this into account, the so called NPF rule. Here N stands for Aperture, P for the pixel density or pixel pitch of your camera sensor and F for focal length. In addition to those three values, variations of the NPF formula also include minimal declination (direction you're facing) and diffraction resulting from your chosen aperture.

This sounds complicated and if it wasn't for apps like PhotoPills it might become quite a hassle to calculate the correct exposure time. With PhotoPills though, you quickly get both the shutter speed calculated with the 500 rule and the NPF rule. You can even set the NPF calculator to accurate, which will ensure that even for larger prints the stars will appear as points.

In the screenshot you see a calculation I did for the Canon R5 with the RF 15-35mm f/2.8 lens at 15mm. I kept the minimum declination at 0 for the celestial equator and activated the accurate setting. With the resulting shutter speed I can now be sure to get pin point stars in any direction, because by setting the minimum declination to 0 I basically calculate the worst case with the longest trails. The trailing will be less intense when pointing the camera more into the direction of the celestial poles.

Star Trails

Sometimes though, trailing stars might be exactly what you want to capture. Then the 500 rule can be a great guide to calculate the minimum exposure time you should use for the individual exposures that will make up your Star Trail image. I have a free guide on Star Trail photography available on my Youtube channel. You might also want to approach focal length a bit different when photographing Star Trails. While going as wide as possible might be the right approach when photographing the Milky Way, now you might want to zoom in a bit to get longer Star Trails - unless you want to capture the stars circling around Polaris.

High ISO is Necessary

As you saw in the previous chapter, to get pin point stars you need to decrease your exposure times. This results in less light hitting the sensor of your camera, which means that you have to increase your ISO to compensate for it - since you should already be using the widest aperture your lens provides.

I usually try to stay beneath ISO 3200, if possible. Otherwise the noise in the photo will become too noticeable. And this is also the problem with the NPF rule. While it ensures pin point stars, it also mandates the use of higher ISOs than, for example, the 500 rule. The truth often lies somewhere between the two.

Here it is important to perform some tests with your camera. Find out what the best compromise between noise in the photo and some trailing in the stars is for you and use this knowledge to apply an additional factor to the exposure time calculated with the NPF rule. A factor of two, for example, would lead to more trailing stars but also allow you to shoot with half the ISO.

Use Image Averaging

Above you learned that ISO can become quite a limiting factor for your Astrophotography. But it doesn't have to be. I, for example, usually strictly apply the NPF rule. And I don't have to worry about the increased ISO I have to use when doing so.

With a technique called Image Averaging I'm able to get clean photos even when I shoot with or above ISO 3200. You want an example? Just check the 100% crop of the photo I took of the Gorges du Verdon in France using ISO 3200 at 15mm, f/2.8 with an exposure time of 8 seconds.

Looks more like a photo taken with ISO 100 or ISO 200, right?

If you have clear skies like I did in this example, the only objects moving in the sky are the stars and the moon. This allows you to take multiple, consecutive exposures of the same scene with the same settings and use them to average out the noise in the sky. With free tools like Sequator you can align the photos around the stars, which ultimately blurs out the noise in the frame together with the foreground while the stars remain relatively sharp.

And don't worry about the blurred foreground. You can either use the same photos to average them without prior star alignment - this would create star trails while reducing noise in the foreground. Or you do what I like to do: keep your camera in place and take a nap for a few hours until end of nautical twilight and then take some long exposures to capture details in the foreground.

This is what I did for the photo below. After capturing 30 photos for the stars around 4am I took a 90 minute nap before taking the photos for the foreground 40 minutes before sunrise.

If you're wondering how to put all those photos together, I have a very detailed photo editing tutorial for night photos available, in which I show every step.

Star Trackers

For completion sake I also have to mention star trackers here. They have a similar effect on the image as Image Averaging. But instead of taking multiple short exposures to average them later, a star tracker allows you to take one long exposure at low ISO while maintaining pin point stars in the frame. Same as Image Averaging does, the foreground will also be blurred but the sky and the stars will look clean.

I will not go into the technicalities of how star trackers work, because I have never used one myself. Since I can already achieve very good results with Image Averaging I rather keep my equipment minimal. Although there are some portable star trackers out there, they will still add a few hundred grams to your equipment and they will also make you less flexible during your Astrophotography shoot, because you need to set them up properly before starting your exposure.

Best Camera Settings for Astrophotography with the Canon R5

To sum it all up, when I take photos of the night sky with the Canon R5 I use the following settings and workflow:

I always use 15mm on the Canon RF 15-35mm lens when I capture the exposures for the stars. This is the focal length at which the stars show the least Coma, even when shooting at f/2.8. It also gives me more field of view and allows me to capture more stars. Especially when photographing the Milky Way this is important. Such a wide photo usually blends quite easily with photos for the foreground taken within the range of 15mm to 20mm.
I photograph the stars using f/2.8. Stopping down is not necessary with the lens I use and the only thing I have to make sure is focusing properly. Using the viewfinder of the Canon R5, focusing on some brighter stars is usually no problem.
I abide by the NPF rule and photograph the stars with an exposure time of 8 seconds, if I have completely clear skies. If there are clouds moving across the sky and I cannot apply image averaging. I have to compromise and try to bring down the ISO a bit by introducing a factor to the NPF rule.
The continuous shooting mode of the Canon R5 combined with a cable release comes in quite handy for the large sequence of night photos I have to take for later image averaging. I usually take at least 30 photos for the averaging.
I set the focus manually using the viewfinder of the Canon R5. This way I avoid automatic refocusing while taking the sequence of photos for the stars.
After taking the photos for the stars I take one final frame with the lens cap on. This dark frame can later be used in Sequator to remove hot pixels.
After quickly checking the photos I usually have to wait one to two hours (or even longer) until it's bright enough to capture the foreground with some long exposures. It might also be the other way around though: I might already have taken the photos for the foreground after sunset and then would wait for the stars to appear. For the foreground photos I usually also use smaller apertures in the range of f/5.6 and f/9.5 and I will bring down the ISO depending on the amount of light.

With this workflow I'm able to take all the exposures I need to create high quality night photos with the right photo editing.

Photo Editing for Night Photos

As I already mentioned above, I have a detailed photo editing tutorial for night photos available. The techniques I show in this tutorial will enable you to create photos as the ones you see in this article. My goal with my editing is to create night photos that still look like night. I want them to represent the atmosphere I experienced while sitting there in the dark, looking up at the stars and enjoying the silence. To achieve this I developed a special Time Blending technique, which I show in all it's detail.

But I also want to leave you with an important photo editing tip here. If you use Lightroom, you now have the ability to use AI noise reduction on your RAW photos. And this feature is a game changer. When I take photos with the above settings, I now apply AI noise reduction with a strength of 50 to every night image. I do this prior to the image averaging.

This way, I no longer need 20 or 30 photos for the averaging. Now, I can get away with 5 or 10 photos, which drastically reduces the time I need to capture my night photos. I show this workflow in the video above.

Conclusion

Night photography could be technically challenging in the past. But with the advancements in camera gear and photo editing software, it has become much easier. So don't despair about clear skies on your photography trips. If you can't capture a colorful sunrise or sunset, embrace the situation and head out at night to practice some astrophotography.

* Above I use Amazon Affiliate Links. If you use them to buy something, I'll get a little commission from Amazon

4K Wallpaper Pack - Metropolis

Michael Breitung — Sun, 13 Jun 2021 24:00:00 GMT

This is my first 4k wallpaper pack designed for PC and Mac. You can also use it on an iPad or other mobile devices. It is inspired by 10 major cities, which I visited over the past years. Each wallpaper is a collage of three photos I've taken during my visits to those cities.

The cities that are shown on these 4k wallpapers are Valletta, Rome, Prague, London, Hong Kong, Hanoi, Chicago, Budapest, Auckland and as a bonus the historic city of Angkor. All wallpapers were created to allow great viewer experience on 4k devices. But don't worry, they will also look good on smaller screens, for example full-hd.

Buy Now for 1 EUR

Below you find a preview of all the wallpapers that are included in the ZIP file you can download from the provided link. On Windows 10, just extract the ZIP file to any folder of your choice. You can then right-click on the desktop, click personalize, click on background and then either select an individual wallpaper from the pack or select slideshow and choose the folder with the 4k wallpapers.

That's all there is to it. Now enjoy the photos and if you ever fancy some of those for the real walls in your home, you'll find many of the photos contained in this wallpaper pack available on my shop at Redbubble. Or you can just contact me for further information about prints.

Wallpaper Pack Preview

Too much Photo Editing?

Michael Breitung — Sat, 08 May 2021 24:00:00 GMT

Today I recorded a new Youtube video, in which I show you the before and after for 10 of my photo edits. With this video I want to create some transparency about how much processing I do to my photos.

I show you the original RAW files as they come out of the camera vs. the final images after editing them in Lightroom and Photoshop. This way you can judge for yourself, if you can trust what you see in the galleries on this homepage. Because nowadays we are often misled by the photos we see on the internet and the last thing I want is to mislead someone who looks at my photos.

I'm also well aware that the editing I do goes beyond just creating an exact representation of what I saw when capturing those photos. It's more of an attempt to present you with an image that captures the whole atmosphere as I perceived it with all of my senses. I want invoke some of the feelings that I had standing there in you as the viewer. Often those feelings include awe and wonder. I'm not sure, if my photos are able to invoke that - but I'm trying.

NiSi 15mm f/4 ASPH Review

Michael Breitung — Sun, 28 Mar 2021 24:00:00 GMT

Over the past few weeks I had the chance to test the NiSi 15mm f/4 ASPH lens and in this article and the accompanying video I want to give you my thoughts on it.

Below I gonna share some general information, talk about build quality and size, take a very close look at sharpness and other optical characteristics of the lens before giving my final verdict. At the end you will also find an in depth video, in which I compare the NiSi lens to the five times as expensive Canon 15-35 f/2.8.

General Information

The NiSi 15mm f/4 ASPHERICAL is NiSi's first lens and it is available for different mounts, the Sony E, the Nikon Z, the Fuji X and the one I was testing, the Canon RF mount. At 15mm it is an ultra-wide lens and it covers an aperture range of f/4 up to f/22. It's important to note that despite the 15mm in the name it is actually a bit wider than that, more of a 14.5mm lens.

Unlike many ultra-wide lenses that have a very bulbous front element, which does not allow for normal screw filters to be used with such lenses, the NiSi has a very small front element. It has a 72mm screw mount where you can attach normal filters - something that for me personally is very important. It also comes with a lens hood and a little pouch.

A unique characteristic of the lens is the design of the 10 straight aperture blades that allow for very clean sunstars over the complete aperture range. I will show you some examples later in this article - it's quite impressive.

As for its price it is currently available for 479 Euros, which makes it a nice entry level lens. Now the question is, what do you actually get for that price and can this lens deliver professional grade image quality?

Build and Size

Lets first look at its build quality and size. It comes in a very compact form factor and when I first unboxed it I was quite surprised how small it was compared to my huge Canon lens. It's roughly half the size and weighs less than 500g.

What also surprised me was how solid and well made it felt. The housing and mount are metal, which make the lens feel very robust. If only they would have also added a little rubber ring to the mount to improve weather sealing - this would have been perfect. I always wonder, why this is not done on cheaper lenses. Is it really so much more expensive in production? NiSi is not alone here, that's common practice for most lens manufacturers.

Fully Manual

An important thing to note about this lens is that it is minimalist. It is fully manual, meaning not only the focus is controlled by a ring on the lens but also the aperture. I think keeping features at a minimum was also something that enabled NiSi to focus on other aspects like build quality and optics.

And for a wide lens with a fixed focal length it's not that big of a trade-off. At 14.5mm it's hard to screw up focus, especially with the very helpful scales on the lens that show exactly what the focal range is for the different apertures. Also with the excellent live view in modern cameras it's usually no problem to get the focus right. Many cameras even show little highlights for the areas that are in focus to support manual focus.

The only thing that I don't like about the fully manual operation is that there is no communication with the camera at all. This means there are no Exifs coming from the lens that show at which aperture I took a photo. The camera doesn't even know a lens is attached. So an important first step before shooting with the NiSi lens is to activate a setting that allows the camera to release the shutter without a lens attached to it. Otherwise it will do nothing even with the NiSi lens attached. That's no big deal but it's something you need to know.

Image Quality

Build quality is important, but even more important for me is the detail and sharpness a lens can deliver. I'm a pixel peeper and I invite you to do some pixel peeping with me now. Below you will find a set of images taken of a static subject in my office. These photos should give a good overview of what this lens is capable of. To view them bigger and to easily switch between them, just click on any of the images to enter full-screen mode.

Center Sharpness at f/4

In its center the lens produces excellent sharpness. I compared it to my very expensive Canon lens and I didn't see any difference. Already at f/4 the NiSi lens shows perfect details.

Corner Sharpness at f/4

If it wasn't for the corners, there would be no need to stop down the NiSi lens. Above you saw the very good detail it produces in its center. The corners though are a different story and make this lens for me personally unusable at f/4. That's typical for many lenses - at their widest they usually have deficits when it comes to corner sharpness.

Corner Sharpness at f/5.6

It's positive to observe though that already at f/5.6 the corners get much sharper. This is already something to work with and just the very outer edges are a bit soft.

Corner Sharpness at f/8

The sweet spot of the lens lies at f/8. Far below the diffraction limit of many cameras this is where the lens shows the most balanced detail throughout the frame.

This makes the NiSi lens perfect for typical architecture and landscape photography. If you don't want to shoot the stars this lens is a good option that can delivery professional grade results.

Distortion

If you inspect the lower part of the photo below, you will also see that there is not much distortion with this lens. I didn't have a lens profile, so this is really how the images look without any processing.

Cromatic Abberation

Chromatic Abberation is often a problem with wide lenses that usually becomes visible at high contrast edges towards the corners of the images. With the NiSi lens it is well controlled though. When I was out shooting architecture in Nuremberg one evening and later processed the images I didn't notice much of it. Without activating the CA reduction in Lightroom you can see it at some high contrast edges (left side), but it can be easily removed with the click of a button (right side).

Sunstar

The sunstar this lens produces is really a piece of art. I will just let the two images I took in Nuremberg speak for themselves here. And in the video at the end of the article you'll also see a comparison to the sunstar the Canon 15-35 lens produces. Canon with their wide angle lenses was always the king of sunstars. Well, I guess NiSi wants to have that crown with the very clean spikes it produces.

Also, what I should mention here, shooting directly into the direction of a light source didn't produce any more lens flares than on my Canon lens. Looking at the raws I could barely see any and just under close inspection some minor flares became visible. If you are interested how to remove lens flares, check out this tutorial video of mine.

Final Verdict

The big question now is, for whom do I think this lens is for. I personally shoot nearly 80% of my photos with my Canon 15-35mm lens and for me it is important to have some focal range I can cover with a single lens. Also, since I like to do night photography from time to time, I need an f/2.8 lens that already delivers great sharpness wide open. So despite being a solid performer, the NiSi 15mm is not the right lens for me personally.

I think the NiSi 15mm f/4 ASPH is a perfect addition, if you already cover the normal focal range and the telephoto range with a set of lenses and you don't want to add yet another heavy lens that costs a fortune to your kit. The NiSi lens wouldn't add much size and weight and still deliver very good image quality when you need to capture a really wide view. Because of the beautiful sunstar it produces I think it is especially well suited for architecture photography where you have some light sources in the frame.

The NiSi lens would also be a good companion, if you want to build more of an entry level camera setup. The Canon RP for example is not a great match for the 2400 Euro Canon 15-35mm lens, which I use on my R5. If you're on a smaller budget and still want to shoot very wide, the NiSi 15mm lens is a great option to consider.

Photographing Sardinia

Michael Breitung — Sun, 18 Oct 2020 24:00:00 GMT

Back in September we rented a campervan and drove south through Italy towards the island Sardinia. Two days and an eight hour ferry ride later we arrived in Olbia to start our adventure.

Our plan was to circle the island in 11 days, starting at Porto Taverna, then continuing along the mountainous east coast down towards Villasimius, before driving up the west coast to Cappo Caccia and then back to Olbia.

Despite the long drive down to Sardinia, visiting the island in September was totally worth it. It was already the start of off-season so many of the places we visited weren't too crowded anymore. Surely the more popular spots still drew many visitors. But we also found some beautiful landscapes that we had nearly for ourselves.

In terms of photography the trip was a bit challenging though. And the reason were the weather conditions. Either blue skies or rain didn't provide the best conditions to capture the photos I had envisioned. But that's typical for travel photography and I was already expecting it. If during such travels I just get a few portfolio worthy photos I'm happy, even if it's just one or two.

As usual I also recorded a behind the scenes video, in which I show you more of the beautiful coasts Sardinia has to offer. Enjoy!

Redbubble Review - Selling and buying Art

Michael Breitung — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 24:00:00 GMT

For nearly 10 years I've now been selling my photos via Redbubble. When I first started selling my art there, Redbubble's focus was mostly on Wall Art. Over the years a lot of additional products like cell-phone cases, clothing and even jigsaw puzzles have been added. Moreover, they largely extended their global network of manufacturers, making it easy for me to sell my photos world-wide. In this article I review Redbubble from the perspective of an artist who want's to sell art and of a buyer who wants to buy that art. And I start by looking at the quality of the products, because this is important for both parties.

Quality

For me as a photographer it's important that my photos are reproduced properly when printed. I don't want somebody to buy my photos and be disappointed because of quality issues with the prints. For this reason I regularly order prints from Redbubble myself and review the quality, making sure it is good. And I was never disappointed.

But with more and more products being added it is a bit hard to keep up. Although I only sell Wall Art, there have been some exiting options added over the years, which I haven't tested yet. And since ordering framed and metal prints just for testing can become a bit expensive, I reached out to Redbubble and they kindly offered me a discount code to review those products.

Framed Prints

Framed prints offer the classic representation for photos like you would find in a gallery. And I think many of my photos would look great in a proper frame.

That's why I ordered my photo Big Ben as framed print to test how Redbubble does it. When ordering a framed print you can select from different sizes, different frame types and colors and different passepartouts. I went with a brown frame and black passepartout: the color of the frame matches well with the photo and the dark passepartout provides the right extension of the natural framing I already have in the photo.

So how does the finished piece look? I already knew the print would look great, because I had tested the silky prints before and love them. But I also like the look of the frame. First of all it's very lightweight, because thin Plexiglass is used for the front, and this makes it easy to hang - a simple nail in the wall is sufficient. Looking at it I don't see a difference to real glass. The frame is a very light wooden optic frame, which gives the complete piece a very classy look.

The only thing you should be aware of, if you order such a framed print is that you have a proper place to hang it. And this means not next to a window or a very bright light source. Ideally such a framed photo should be properly lit from above. Otherwise the reflections on the Plexiglass can become very apparent depending on the viewing angle.

That's a common problem with framed prints, which is why it would be great, if Redbubble could also include a higher priced, premium version. This could allow for the use of anti-reflective glass instead. Such glass wouldn't completely kill the reflections, but they would be further minimized.

Metal Prints

About 10 years ago was the first time I tested a metal print from another lab. Back then I didn't like it very much because of the rough finish. So I was very interested to see how this printing technique had evolved over the years and if metal prints would now be an option I'd recommend.

And I have to say I was surprised how great the glossy metal print of my photo Junction, which I ordered from Redbubble looked. I couldn't believe that this was printed directly onto the metal - colors and details are reproduced perfectly. If you want to get a print of a modern looking photo with vibrant colors, e.g. of some architecture or city, such a metal print is the perfect option in my opinion. It's very thin and lightweight and the mounting has it float in front of the wall, which looks great.

Knowing how metal prints look in 2020 now, I can say that this wasn't the last metal print I ordered.

For Artists

There are four major factors that make Redbubble the perfect option for me, when it comes to getting my art out into the world:

- It's free.
- I can set custom prices for all products, deciding how much I want to earn on top of the manufacturing and service prices.
- I can sell my photos world-wide in nearly every country with manageable shipping costs.
- I can offer a large selection of print products in good quality and I don't have to stick to certain formats, because many products can be produced in any aspect ratio.

Besides those four points, there's more though. First of all it's easy to add, organize and update photos. Information about the necessary resolutions of your images and the color profile can be found here. I can include Google Analytics or use Redbubble's own statistics to track how popular individual photos are, I have a good overview about my earnings, which I get payed via PayPal each month.

What I also like is that over the years there have been constant improvements to the platform, while maintaining the core functionality. In the time I'm with Redbubble, despite many changes, I never felt lost because the dashboard always gives me a good overview.

And although I have an own homepage to drive traffic to my Redbubble portfolio, I also benefit from Redbubble's own marketplace, through which anybody can find my art via the titles, descriptions and keywords I use.

For the future I hope to see some more classic Wall Art options, for example, as I already mentioned different glass options for the framed prints or maybe a mounted print behind acrylic glass. Because to be honest, I don't think my photos look good on t-shirts or leggings.

Now because all of this is my personal experience with Redbubble, I'd just say, for anybody who wants to sell his art there, just give it a try: Order some smaller prints on different mediums and review for yourself, how you like the experience from the perspective of a buyer. Because this is what counts in the end.

For Buyers

And this brings us to Redbubble for buyers. Because of my recent Redbubble review and the tests I did before, I have some experience in that department and I want to share it with you.

First of all, the world-wide delivery is not only a big plus for artists. From time to time I also sell prints on mediums that Redbubble doesn't offer and if the buyer is not from central Europe that's always a problem, because shipping costs can get very high.

Buying through Redbubble though means that the shipping costs seldom increase to more than 20 Euro. That's because of their manufacturer and service network. For certain product lines Redbubble works with manufacturers in different countries and when ordering such a product, it is produced and shipped from the closest manufacturer. But even for longer distances the prices are still not exceedingly high. My 64x50cm metal print, for example, was produced in the US and shipped with FedEx for around 20 Euro.

I also have to say that in terms of updates about the state of an order Redbubble does a great job. Even having prints ordered from different countries I always had a quick overview about the production status and later the shipping status via regular email updates. My order for the metal print, the framed print and a jigsaw puzzle, which I will review once I was able to complete it, took about 10 days from order to completed delivery.

And if for some reason there's a problem with a product, Redbubble also offers a return policy.

There is one drawback for Redbubble's service network though. If you want to order several prints on different mediums, those will most likely be produced by different manufacturers in different countries. And this means the shipping costs add up because such an order cannot be shipped in one parcel. So that's something to be aware of.

Conclusion

Arriving at the end of this article I have one more thing to share with you, which is a discount code that will give you 15% off of any product you buy on Redbubble until 31.10.2020 - RBC-SH20-Michael. If you are an artist, this might be the perfect opportunity to test some products. And if you are just looking for something to dream about in the current times where traveling isn't easy, feel free to check my portfolio of travel photo from all over the world.

Canon EOS R5 Image Quality

Michael Breitung — Sun, 16 Aug 2020 24:00:00 GMT

Since a few weeks I'm the owner of a Canon EOS R5. It seemed to be the perfect successor for my five year old Canon EOS 5DSR*: Roughly the same number of megapixels while improving on dynamic range, increasing the ISO performance, adding IBIS, a fully articulating screen and 4K Video. In a nutshell, my expectations were for it to outmatch my 5DSR in any area except resolution and battery life.

In this article we will have a closer look at the image quality of the Canon EOS R5 and find out, if this is true. The focus will be on the photography side - there's enough talk about the Canon R5's video capabilities already.

All the image quality tests I did were performed with Raw files, which I trans-coded into DNG files using Adobe's DNG Converter. From my experience, properly encoded DNG files show the same detail as original Raws, if no lossy compression is used. But it's possible that later updates to Lightroom will slightly improve on the image quality of the files - I wouldn't expect too big of a difference though. For some tests I also used Canon's own DPP software as reference and I found the files didn't look much different, sometimes even worse.

Resolution

Due to various sources it was Canon themselves who said in an interview that the Canon EOS R5 would be the highest resolving EOS camera in their lineup. People were speculating that Canon meant by that, combined with the better RF glass, the system as a whole would be able to perform better than even a 5DSR, which has more megapixels.

I happen to have both cameras and I also have RF glass. So I tested that claim, first with Canon's EF 16-35 f/4 lens*, which is very sharp. Here we can directly compare the performance of the R5 with the 5DSR.

I also took a test shot with the RF 15-35 f/2.8*, which costs three times as much as the EF 16-35. And to be honest, I didn't see more details with it. It seems the EF 16-35 already has plenty of resolving power to work with a 45+ megapixel Camera, which I already knew from using it for five years with the 5DSR.

Doing some pixel peeping we can see that the Canon 5DSR might still have a minimal edge over the Canon R5, but the gap is small. Considering that the R5 has a high-pass filter, I think the result is remarkable. The image is cleaner, because it shows less moire while maintaining a huge amount of details.

The 100% crop I use for this comparison was taken from the center portion of the test photo to discard any effects the quality of the lens might have. Here we see the sharpest parts of the photos in comparison. I also resampled the 5DSR photo to match the R5 Resolution for easier comparison of the image quality.

Dynamic Range

Over the past years nearly all camera manufacturers seem to have found solutions to increase the dynamic range in their camera models. Canon was always lagging behind, and not just a little. My 5DSR is up to two stops behind the top performing cameras and even a 5DMkIV doesn't get close to Sony or Nikon.

So how does the Canon R5 perform? I'm glad to say that Canon now also found the secret ingredient for their sensors. From my subjective comparisons the Dynamic Range of the Canon R5 seems to have improved significantly compared to the 5DSR. And based on this data it is now on eye level with the likes of Sony and Nikon.

Through this, exposure latitude is also much improved and it also seems the Canon R5 is now a lot more ISO invariant. It's now possible to underexpose and later, in post processing, raise the exposure without worrying about too much noise in the shadows. Compared to my 5DSR I would say an additional increase of at least 2 stops is now possible.

ISO Invariance test, showing that digitally increasing the exposure in Lighroom delivers roughly the same image quality as increasing the ISO in camera.

It should be noted here, that despite the ability to recover shadows during post processing, doing a correct exposure at low ISO, where not too much shadow recovery is necessary, will still give cleaner results. Expose to the Right is still the way to go in order to achieve the best image quality. Combined with the improved dynamic range though, working with images from the Canon R5 in post will be a very enjoyable process.

For more details on how the test was performed and more pixel peeping, you can refer to this video.

High ISO

Despite the high megapixel count on the R5, it's still a great performer in low light. Compared to the 5DSR I get roughly one more stop - again that's my subjective assessment. Below I have a photo where I compare the R5 at ISO 1600 vs the 5DSR at ISO 800. I down-scaled the 5DSR image to make this a fair comparison.

For me the Canon R5 looks roughly the same in terms of noise, although ISO was increased by one stop. And this trend continues throughout the ISO range.

This is great for situations, where I have to freeze motion - for example, when I have moving leaves in a nature scene. Before I wouldn't go beyond ISO 800 to preserve acceptable image quality, but with the Canon R5 I can now achieve even shorter exposure times.

And also for night photography this improved ISO performance will come in handy. I can now roughly double the brightness of the stars in the image without impairing image quality.

For some more pixel peeping, check the following Youtube Video, where I show some more comparisons and also how the R5 performs at its highest ISO settings.

Long Exposure Noise

For me as a landscape photographer it's quite common to start taking photos long before sunrise and to shoot well past sunset. At those times it's pretty dark, with often just a hint of light and color in the sky. By using long exposures of several minutes I can create quite surreal and magical photos during those times.

Praia da Marinha | Canon EOS 5DSR | 16mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 180s

Pednvounder Dawn | Canon EOS 5DSR | 16mm | f/9,5 | ISO 100 | 326s

But even at base ISO there can be a problem with noise showing in the images. The longer the exposure time, the more hot pixels appear. For that reason, modern cameras come with a function called Long Exposure Noise Reduction. With this function active, the camera will take an additional dark frame after finishing the main exposure. This effectively doubles the time it takes to create a photo. The benefit is that hot pixels are automatically removed in the process.

Now you might say: Great, just keep Long Exposure NR always active and be fine. But while the camera creates the dark frame, it is basically useless. If suddenly the sky starts to glow even more during sunrise or sunset, I cannot take another photo until the camera finishes its processing.

This is why it is important to have a Camera that can produce clean long exposures, even without Long Exposure NR turned on. With my Canon 5DSR for example it was no problem to take a four minute exposure and not worry about hot pixels. So how does the EOS R5 keep up?

To test it I took photos with the EOS R5, the EOS RP and the 5DSR at ISO 100 with the lens cap on and Long Exposure NR deactivated. This will show how the cameras deal with long exposure noise and hot pixels. In addition I had some other photographers send me photos taken with the Sony A7RIII and the Nikon Z7.

We already heard about the Canon R5's heat problem with video. And I'm sad to say that this problem is also apparent when taking long exposures. The R5 shows by far the most amount of hot pixels of any camera I have tested. Any exposure of more than two minutes will be unusable for me without Long Exposure NR active.

Please note that I raised the exposure in LR to better visualize the difference between the cameras. Generally, you should not do that on such dark exposures and also, many hot pixels might be hidden in a detailed photo. But if you photograph the Night Sky, the hot pixels will show up and considering the fact that the R5 is the most recent of the tested cameras, I expected it to perform equally well. Judging from the sample I got, the Nikon Z7 seems to be a great camera for long exposures.

In the video below I go a bit more into the details of how that test was performed. Please feel free to repeat it with your own camera, if you are interested in long exposure photography.

And I should also mention, that I double checked the Raw files in Canon's DPP software and it looked even worse than after DNG conversion. Moreover I received files from two additional R5 cameras and they showed similar noise. So hot pixels seem to be a common problem with the Canon R5.

Heat building over time

I want to add one more important finding when it comes to long exposures. The amount of hot pixels and noise in such a photo taken with the R5 will be worse, the longer you have the camera turned on in advance to taking the long exposure. For the test above I was browsing the menus for some time before I started taking the long exposures, with the eight minute exposure being the last photo I took.

I repeated the test where I turned on the camera after having it sit for several hours and directly taking a single long exposure. This one showed much less long exposure noise - still not as good as the other cameras I have tested, but at least the light reddish glow you see in the comparison above was gone.

This is something to be aware of - especially if you take photos around sunset. You usually start with shorter exposures and as it gets dark the exposure times get longer. Unfortunately though, the camera will warm up in the process. This means Long Exposure NR might be necessary even earlier, when taking one minute exposures or less - only time out in the field will tell.

Verdict

While the Canon EOS R5 brings a lot of improvements and new functionality for photographers, it also introduces some limitations. For someone who is aware of those, I think the R5 can become a very usable camera, which can deliver the overall best image quality in Canon's current camera lineup.

I for myself have now made the decision to keep the Canon R5 and replace my 5DSR with it. The only real bummer for me is the R5's performance during long exposures and for this I have to find workarounds. There are also some software problems, which Canon has to solve. For example, the Interval Timer for Timelapses does not work. Another photographer I know told me that his R5 does not work in more than 30°C and there will surely more such reports pop up in the next weeks. I just hope that Canon will listen and address those issues quickly.

So, if you don't have a preorder in for the R5 yet or are still on the fence of buying it, my advice would be to wait. Just see how things pan out with the upcoming firmware update. And also wait for more real world reviews from the different fields of photography.

As an outlook: Once I have used the R5 in the field for some time, there will be a follow up article and also some behind the scenes videos. For this, make sure to subscribe to my Youtube Channel.

* Above I use Amazon Affiliate Links. If you use them to buy something, I'll get a little commission from Amazon

How to make Money with Photography

Michael Breitung — Sun, 10 May 2020 24:00:00 GMT

As a photographer, it's important to have several income streams to balance out the risk of relying on a single source of income. In this video, I share my own experience with different income streams that constantly change in volume.

I get asked about ways to earn money with photography quite regularly. And I think very often, this questions gets asked much too early. If you are just starting out with photography, don't do it for money. Take photos because you like it, experiment, get better and build your portfolio.

Once you have mastered the technique, found your genre and started building a solid archive of photos, you can begin to think about ways to monetize your photography. And in the video below I share some ideas on how you can do it by creating different income streams.

But just creating income streams is not enough. Many of those input streams rely on traffic. For example, if nobody finds your Redbubble page, nobody will buy your prints. So the most important thing and the first step to earn money with photography is, in my opinion, to start building a solid online presence early on.

And by online presence I don't mean relying on platforms like Instagram, Flickr or 500px too much. Those platforms operate outside your control and it's not a good idea to base your whole business on those. They are surely parts of the puzzle and help you create traffic. But this traffic should ultimately go to your own homepage.

On your own homepage you have full control. You can decide how large you want to show your photos, you can place proper links to your shops, host tutorials, have a blog - you can present yourself and your photography exactly how you want to. There are many services that allow you to quickly setup a homepage. But if you are into web development and want to do this on your own, you might find my second Youtube Channel about software development helpful.

In addition to the different income streams I talk about in the video, which are mostly passive, you can also look for job offerings for photographers. The job search on Jooble, for example, offers quite a range of different jobs in this field and it's worth checking.

Epic Light on Mallorca

Michael Breitung — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 24:00:00 GMT

In this article, I share some of the best photography locations on Mallorca, Spain, and take you behind the scenes of three of my favorite photos from the trip.

During a 10-day visit to Mallorca, I stayed six days up in the north near the Formentor peninsula, and afterwards four days in the south near Ses Salines. During that time I went out to photograph sunrise and sunset nearly every day, while during the day I did a lot of hiking and scouting.

In the end all those efforts were rewarded with a few memorable mornings and evenings, on which I got quite epic conditions. In this article and the accompanying video I want to share some of those.

Drifting Dawn

The first day on Mallorca I was greeted by very strong winds with gusts up to nearly 100kmh. This made it impossible to take photos the first evening and also scouting the area around the Albercutx Watchtower proofed to be nearly impossible. One of the stronger gusts nearly threw me off my feet as I was already on my way back to the car.

One tip here: I read a lot about the narrow road that winds up the Albercutx Watchtower and how demanding it is for the driver. In my opinion those descriptions make it seem much worse than it actually is. Up at the tower there is limited space and towards summer I'm sure the parking area will be crammed around sunset. But otherwise, driving up there is not very difficult and the road is completely paved.

The next day the wind started to subside and on my second morning on Mallorca, I finally set out to capture one of the iconic views towards Cap Formentor during sunrise. When I left my apartment 90 minutes before sunrise I already had a feeling that this morning could be special. There was a lot of moisture in the air and as I drove towards the viewpoint I repeatedly went through banks of fog. Up at the viewpoint I was first completely engulfed by clouds.

I used the time to find a good foreground with some rocks and a few bushes and then waited patiently for the light. As the clouds revealed the eastern sky I couldn't believe how lucky I was this morning. The beautiful colors in the sky alone would have already gotten me excited, but the clouds drifting across the peninsula beneath me made this morning even more magical.

Cap Formentor Lighthouse

The lighthouse at the tip of the Formentor peninsula offers some fantastic photo opportunities. From the rocks in front of the lighthouse you can take photos towards the west around sunset with steep cliffs falling into the see.

But I was after a photo of the view towards the lighthouse during sunrise - maybe the most iconic photo you can take on Mallorca. Because this view has been photographed so often, I needed the right conditions to be able to take a photo that would stand out. And on the last morning I had up in the north I got just those.

The key for a good photo of the lighthouse is a good, balanced foreground, a sky that harmonizes with this foreground and some cars driving towards the lighthouse to create light trails. In the end I got all of that, but I was very lucky. I had done a very bad job at scouting. The days before I had just checked out where to park my car and where the trail up the little mountain facing the lighthouse started. As the sky slowly revealed beautiful cloud patterns I was still scrambling around on sharp Karst rocks to find a good foreground.

After one hour I found it, set up my camera and just as I was ready to take the first photo, two cars drove towards the lighthouse as I needed.

Ses Salines Lighthouse

The third photo I want to show you was taken in the south of Mallorca near Ses Salines. Prior to the trip I had seen a few photos of this lighthouse, but nothing really epic. With four days in the area I decided to dedicate my time towards capturing a photo that would show the essence of this rough stretch of coastline. And for this it was important to get a dramatic sky and a turbulent sea, because only those would harmonize with the jagged rocks along the coast.

It took me three attempts until all fell into place the way I wanted. A glowing sky filled with dark clouds, waves crashing on the shore and the lighthouse overlooking the scenery like a sentinel.

In addition to the photos I also recorded a behind the scenes video, which contains two more photos I captured during the trip to Mallorca as well as some seascape photography tips.

Professional Line Photo Book Review

Michael Breitung — Fri, 10 Jan 2020 24:00:00 GMT

Recently I had the opportunity to test the Professional Line Photo Book by Saal Digital. As the name suggests those photo books are high quality products and they come at a price.

For the test I was able to spend 100 Euro for my photo book design and I went with the following option, which was just a little above that price, coming in at 102,29 Euro: Professional Line 30 x 21, matt photo paper, 52 pages, Acrylic + leather cover (black).

Saal Digital Software

Let's start the review with the software I used to design the book and with some tips. I have used the Saal Digital software for several years now to design my calendars, which I order for Christmas every year. The software exhibits a very clean interface with a browser section on the left side, a design section in the middle and a settings section on the right. At the top you have a toolbar.

The software made it easy to design the photo book. After the software started, first thing I did was selecting my photo book option from the product selection window. Next I selected the full manual option to give me full control in designing my book. I used drag and drop to place the photos on the different pages, I resized the photos to my liking and with the text tool I added some location information for each photo and gave this text a custom font, size and color. To pick a color I could use a color picker and sample colors from the photos. I was also able to change the order of the pages once I had all my photos placed in the book.

My favorite functionality during the book design was the layout templates section. On the right side you can select from many predefined page templates, which will automatically align images and text on the pages. But the really useful part is that you can create your own templates. For my book I used four different layout templates. To create those I simply designed a double-page and then saved it as a layout, which I then reused for other pages.

Automatic Image Corrections

But within this functionality lies also the biggest danger. If you activate a layout for a double-page, what this also does is, it activate the automatic correction for the photos placed on those pages. In my opinion, activating a layout should never activate any image corrections, because those are completely different functionalities. Especially for a professional photo book, this is the last thing I want.

What makes this worse is the fact that those corrections are hidden within a context menu and I didn't realize I had them active for many of my photos until I received my first book - which looked bad with washed out colors and too bright images.

So let my error be a lesson for you: If you use the Saal Digital Software to design any product, make sure to check the context menu for every image and deactivate the automatic image corrections.

What you should rather do is download the ICC Profiles for your product and do necessary adjustments to your photos beforehand and convert them to the required target color space. I have a separate article about print preparation, which you can refer to.

And to Saal Digital I would suggest to add a very visible indicator on the product summary page that tells the customer, if automatic corrections are active for any image. This way unnecessary product reorders could be avoided.

Material

From my reorder to the reception of my second version it took only five days and I could finally focus on the product. The acrylic cover is a great eye catcher for a book and really makes it something special. It's high quality. Mind though that it's also very glossy, which you can see in the image above where my tripod is reflected on the cover.

The interior of the book continues in the same high quality fashion. The pages are thick and have a nice feel to them. If I open a double-page it looks like one big, continuous page, which is great for photos that span across page borders.

The matt pages have a very soft - kind of silky - shine to them, which leads to very subtle reflections. So it's not 100% matt, but the reflections are no problem, if I hold the book at a slight angle to the light source.

Print Quality

As expected the prints are detailed and show a very good dynamic range. Once I managed to deactivate the automatic color corrections the colors throughout the book were consistent. Again I want to point out that, if you want to get a correct print, you should do soft proofing for your photos beforehand. You might have to add some contrast and saturation as well as do slight color adjustments in that process. A requirement for proper soft proofing is a calibrated monitor, ICC profiles for the selected paper and print process as well as a software like Lightroom that supports soft proofing.

When soft proofing for the matt photo paper I already noticed that the contrasts and colors would be diminished in print, which is quite typical for matt paper. For example, matt paper usually doesn't allow a deep black as shown on a monitor and thus produces less contrast. For more punch I would usually go with glossy paper. But this was not what I was after for this book and what I saw during soft proofing still looked great.

In the printed product though, I found some slight differences to the soft proof. Greens are represented very well and the same is true for Cyanes. But for all other colors and mix-tones I have the impression that the magenta and red parts are a bit subdued. It's not much, but on a few photos it is visible for me. For the calendars and normal prints I regularly order from Saal Digital I never experienced color deviations of that sort between my soft proof and the prints. I would also say that the calendar prints on premium matt paper look better in terms of color and contrast than the prints in the photo book.

What would be ideal for such a premium product would be, if Saal Digital offered the option to get proof prints for individual pages. Then I would have noticed the slight variations beforehand and could have boosted magenta a bit more.

If not proof prints, then a customized color sheet printed on the book paper would be something that would help. This way a customer could manually compare the colors on this sample print with a soft proof for it and find out what adjustments to make. Saal Digital already offers sample sets to inspect the different papers. So I think this should be extended by offering additional color sample sets together with the digital version for manual proofing.

Final Verdict

All in all the Professional Line Photo Book is a solid, high quality product. It looks great, feels great and is a great way to show off my portfolio. But, considering its price, there's also room for improvement. If I were to buy such a book again, I would definitely ask for an option to do some proof prints or to receive a color sample print.

Photographing Colombia - Tayrona National Park

Michael Breitung — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 24:00:00 GMT

The final part of our three week journey through Colombia was a visit to the Caribbean Coast and landscape photography in Tayrona National Park.

To be able to photograph both sunrise and sunset inside the park, we also had to stay inside, because the park officially opens only between 8am and 5pm. Luckily there are a few options, most of them campsites at the various beaches.

Because we had a lot of luggage we wanted a hotel and this didn't leave that many options. There are the beautiful Ecohabs, which were way above our budget. From the remaining options we went with the one that got the best reviews on Booking and this was the Yachay Ecohotel * close to Zaino entrance.

Considering the price it wasn't a very good hotel though. All other places we stayed at during our travels through Colombia provided much better value for money. But in Tayrona you largely pay for the location. I had a look at their Booking.com page recently and the reviews have improved since our stay, so maybe they made some improvements.

And here's an important tip right away, in case you plan to stay at any place inside Tayrona: At Zaino Entrance you can buy water by the gallon, which I would recommend. Otherwise you'll have to buy many little bottles of water inside the park, which is way more expensive.

From our hotel to the first viewpoint I wanted to photograph it was just a half an hour walk. Playa Castilletes is a beautiful beach with a spacious campsite. If you want to camp inside Tayrona National Park, this could be a good option. The only reason you wouldn't want to stay there is, if you want to swim. La Piscina and Cabo San Juan are the only places where you can do so I think. But those are also the most crowded.

But if you're after a long beach and some beautiful viewpoints, then Castilletes is just right. At the western end of the beach I found the view you see in the photo above. From the viewpoints I visited inside Tayrona it provides, in my opinion, the most photogenic and dramatic view.

The funny thing is that I found this view only by flying along the coastline of Tayrona National Park in Google Earth. Because the typical photo research didn't work very well. Everybody goes to Cabo San Juan to take nearly the same photos. This makes it hard to find out how the rest of the park looks.

And what I like to do, when visiting a new location, is to find viewpoints that haven't been photographed that much. This doesn't always work, because the most photographed places are often also the most photogenic. But it's still a good idea to put in the work and explore other locations nearby. Sometimes you can find real gems, which you then have nearly for yourself.

In the video below I show you a bit more of the park and also a beautiful beach just outside of Tayrona. Because, if you want some Caribbean feeling, you don't need to enter the park. Driving only a few kilometers past Zaino entrance you'll get to Playa Los Angeles, where you'll encounter only a few people.

* This is a Booking.com Affiliate Link. If you use it to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Photographing Colombia - San Lorenzo and Cerro Kennedy

Michael Breitung — Sat, 09 Nov 2019 24:00:00 GMT

After our visit to the Pacific Coast of Colombia we flew up north to Santa Marta and from there made our way into the mountains to photograph the cloud forest around Cerro Kennedy.

When I was planning this part of the trip I had set one objective for myself: getting up to Cerro Kennedy one morning for sunrise. To be able to do this I had to find an accommodation, which wasn't too far away. This meant staying in Minca wasn't an option.

With a bit of research I found Sierra Alta Finca Boutique. This beautiful little hotel is much farther up in the mountains than Minca. To get there the best option is to let the hotel organize a 4x4 transport, which is what we did. It took around 2 hours to get from Santa Marta up to the hotel. Unfortunately, it is no longer on Booking.com. But if you want to get something in this area, even closer to Cerro Kennedy, you can check the El Dorado Reserve *.

As we drove past Minca and quickly left it behind I knew it was the right decision to stay in a more remote place. Minca and its surroundings were much too crowded for my taste. The contrast couldn't have been bigger as we arrived at the Finca and learned that for the next four days we would be the only guests.

But despite the long drive up the mountain, there was still quite a way to go to reach Cerro Kennedy - to be more precise: 14,5km with 1350m elevation gain.

There is one hostel farther up on the mountain and, if you are up there only for the hike, Hostal Moncho is an option. You can even camp there, if you bring a tent. If you plan to hike there from Minca though, be prepared for a very long day hike.

For us though, the Finca was the perfect place to stay. We visited Vista Nieve coffee farm where we learned about their production of organic coffee. We did a lot of hikes into the surrounding forests with the dogs of the Finca. And we had some of the best food of our travels through Colombia.

But back to my main objective: hiking up to Cerro Kennedy. If you follow my Blog and Videos regularly, you know that I like to scout a location before I photograph it. This meant that on our first day we did a hike up into the mountains to check out the different viewpoints. As you can see in the video below, this didn't work out as all the views were shrouded in clouds.

So my hike the next morning was a hike into the unknown. Cerro Kennedy hasn't been photographed a lot and there was nearly no information about what to expect up there in terms of photo spots. I also couldn't be sure, if I would see anything at all, as at this time of the year the mountains rarely reveal themselves.

At 2am I started the long slog up the mountain. At a continuous pace I made my way past San Lorenzo, then past Hostal Moncho to finally get a first glimpse of the Sierra Nevada after 2,5 hours of constant hiking. The view was clear and I increased my pace a bit to finish the last 3km before sunrise. The last kilometer gets steeper and after nearly three hours of walking this final slope was a real pain for my tired legs.

I got to the top around 15 minutes before sunrise. Now I had to quickly find some foreground interest for the photo I had in mind. Most of the top of the mountain is occupied by a military base, which doesn't leave many options to explore. Gladly one of the guards pointed me into just the right direction to find the view you see in the photo above. I quickly setup my camera and in pure bliss watched the sun slowly creep above the mountains in the east.

Standing up there above the haze gazing towards the mountains of the Sierra Nevada was my favorite moment of the year so far. The long hike and the work I had to put in to get up there made the whole experience even more intense.

It showed me again that, if you commit to a goal and constantly put in the work, from time to time you'll be rewarded. Surely it doesn't always work out that way and I can remember many hikes I did when I didn't get a photo. But that's just part of the game and without those failures the successes wouldn't be so special.

* This is a Booking.com Affiliate Link. If you use it to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Photographing Colombia - Nuqui

Michael Breitung — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 24:00:00 GMT

Back in September I traveled through Colombia for three weeks. I started my travels in Medellin from where I flew straight to Nuqui at the pacific coast. There I was picked up by boat to finally reach my destination for the next four days - the El Cantil Ecolodge.

This was one of the more remote places I have been to. Getting there involved quite a bit of planning and effort and I was glad when I finally arrived at the black sand beach in front of the lodge.

I hadn't seen many photos from there and I wasn't sure what kind of opportunities to take seascape photos this area would provide me with. The satellite view of google maps had given me a rough idea and I knew there would be some sea stacks in the area. But it was still a bit of a gamble.

Right when I arrived though, I knew that this would be the perfect location to take the photos I was after. The pacific coast of Colombia is a wild place. The jungle basically touches the sea, everything is lush and green, rivers flow out of the jungle into the ocean every few 100 meters and there are countless rocks and sea stacks lining the coast.

And I should also mention that this area is a great place for wildlife encounters. Whale watching is possible between June and October and I already saw the first group on our way to the lodge. In the jungle I also saw monkeys, a sloth and many different birds.

The great thing about the whale watching tours are the small boats, which gives you a low perspective to capture these magnificent animals.

But as I already wrote, my main reason to visit El Cantil were the seascapes I hoped to find. I spent a lot of time exploring the coastline, making sure to find the perfect spots to photograph sunrise and sunset. Then all I needed was some light.

Unfortunately it rained nearly everyday. And it wasn't just a drizzle. For most of the time it was just chucking it down. This made photography quite challenging, but also presented some interesting photo opportunities to photograph rivers and waterfalls in the area.

In the end though I had to get at least one photo of the spectacular coastline, which would do it justice. And on a rainy morning I think I managed to do just that.

The golden morning light filtering through the rain created an ethereal atmosphere. The scouting of the previous days had provided me with the perfect composition to capture all that this coastline is about for me in one photo: a dark sand beach, sea stacks and sharp, black rocks, palm trees lining the length of the beach and also the characteristic wet weather, of which I got plenty during my stay.

In the video below I take you behind the scenes and share a bit more of the experience I had at the pacific coast of Colombia. Despite the weather I loved that place and I will certainly return someday, because for me it's paradise.

How to Create Vertoramas

Michael Breitung — Sat, 24 Aug 2019 24:00:00 GMT

Sometimes the widest lens is not wide enough to capture the scene in front of you in all its glory. Panoramas and Vertoramas help you extend the field of view your camera can capture. In this article, I show you how.

In the Field Process

For panoramas, you take multiple photos while rotating the camera horizontally. For vertoramas, you do so vertically. It helps to use a tripod for that, and if you want to get the perfect alignment of the images for editing, a nodal rail can be a good investment. If the scene you photograph contains elements in the close foreground, you might end up with so-called parallax errors when capturing panoramas. It helps to increase the overlap between individual images - using between 1/3 and 1/2 of overlap can improve the results during stitching. But manual retouching will be required unless you use a nodal rail and rotate the camera around the no-parallax point. You find an excellent explanation about parallax errors on the Cambridge in Colour homepage.

The good thing is that you can avoid these difficulties in many situations. The foreground of many landscape photos contains only elements in the lower third of the frame. Parallax errors are nothing to worry about if those don't extend too much upward. An example is the panorama of Cape Woolamai above. If you are interested in the complete photo editing workflow for the Cape Woolamai panorama, you will love this panorama photo editing tutorial.

When photographing vertoramas, parallax errors are even less likely to occur since you tilt your camera upward between taking the individual images. The best use-case for vertoramas is adding more sky to your photos. It's also the easiest application of this technique. Try to get the main elements of the scene into a single frame. Don't worry, if those elements extend close to the upper edge of the picture. Examples are mountains in landscape photos or buildings such as the GM Renaissance Center in Detroit in architecture photos.

Just include some area of sky at the top that you later use to blend the images. Once you've captured the main image containing all the landscape or architectural elements, focus on the sky. Point your camera upward and take a second photo.

Vertorama Photo Editing

Stitching both photos to create a vertorama is easy if the blend is done solely in the sky area. If you have other elements extending beyond the upper edge of the frame of the first photo, it can be a challenge, and the technique I show in the videos below will not work. You will then have to experiment with Photoshop's automatic panorama stitching functionality or use a tool like Hugin, which I also use in my panorama editing tutorial.

The video above shows the vertorama stitching process for an architecture photo, while the video below focuses on a landscape photo. In both cases, the stitching was done exclusively for the sky. The main elements of the images - the GM building in the first and the mountains in the second video - were left untouched in the editing process.

If you try to apply automatic stitching in Photoshop or Hugin instead of using the manual stitching I show in the video, you can end up with a distorted landscape or architecture based on the projection setting you use. Especially with architecture photos, this can look unnatural.

Conclusion

As you've seen in the videos, creating vertoramas is not hard. It's also something you can do when capturing night photos as it helps you to include more stars in your images. The only thing to be aware of is that all the main elements are contained in the first image you take so the blending can be done completely in the sky area. As you've seen in the videos, creating vertoramas is not hard. It's also something you can do when capturing night photos as it helps you to include more stars in your photos. The only thing to be aware of is that all the main elements of the photo are contained in the first image you take and that the blending can be done completely in the sky area.

Cityscape Photography in Chicago

Michael Breitung — Sat, 17 Aug 2019 24:00:00 GMT

It's been nearly twenty years since my first trip to the USA. Back then I visited Chicago for a few days, long before I started with photography. That's kind of a shame, because Chicago is such a photogenic place.

So, as work required me to travel to Detroit for 10 days last month, I instantly booked my Amtrak tickets for a short weekend trip to Chicago. I had 24 hours there, much too short to photograph all the beautiful views and buildings throughout the city.

So I planned one view for sunset, one view for blue hour and one view for sunrise the next morning. Getting three photos in 24 hours doesn't sound much, but for me this is actually a very good rate - quality over quantity!

In the end, I had to change my plans a bit. My visit to Chicago coincided with the hottest day of the year, which was accompanied by plenty of rain and thunderstorms. Those storms provided some dramatic skies in the afternoon, which I used to capture the skyline from Milton Lee Olive Park.

After the first storm had passed not one cloud was left in the sky. My sunset location didn't work at all in these conditions. Instead of sticking around at North Avenue beach I went back into the city earlier than planned. This was a good decision, because it gave me much more time to capture my bucket list shot.

As I came across the view you see in the photo below during my research, I instantly knew that, given the right conditions, it had all the ingredients for a great photo. The deep blue sky of blue hour combined with the warm lights of the city, then some trains captured with a long time exposure: all worked out perfectly.

There was also a lot of luck involved. The photo spot is within one of the metro stations and there are cameras everywhere. I was sure that as soon as I would setup my tripod a security officer would come over and remind me that this was not allowed.

My prediction was correct, but it took nearly half an hour until this happened. Long enough for me to capture all the pieces I needed for the final photo.

The next morning I got up two hours before sunrise and began to walk to the Adler Planetarium. From there I would have had the perfect view of the skyline. If only there hadn't been another storm rolling through. The clouds were too low to see much of the skyline and I didn't fancy getting drenched again.

So I went back to my hostel to catch a few more hours of sleep before I went exploring once more. Without a concrete plan on what to photograph I somehow ended up on the BP Pedestrian Bridge. Although it was the middle of the day the soft light combined with the deep clouds was perfect to capture my third and final photo of the trip.

Same as during my first visit, I left Chicago once more with fond memories - and this time also with some photos. What I love about Chicago, aside from the deep dish pizza, is its proximity to Lake Michigan and the fact that you can walk nearly everywhere. I, for example, walked more than 25km in the 24 hours I had in the city. This was much welcome after my first week in Detroit.

Mountain Photography in the Alps

Michael Breitung — Wed, 03 Jul 2019 24:00:00 GMT

It's summer, which means it's finally time for landscape photography in the Alps again. When it's hot down in the valleys, it's great to breathe some fresh mountain air while enjoying a spectacular view.

The only problem with such trips into the Alps for me is that I only have time at the weekend - as have many other people. This is why it's often very crowded on the trails and viewpoints. Only around sunset and sunrise it usually calms down and silence sets in.

A week ago, I had again planned such a weekend foray into the mountains. But the weather forecast for Friday and Saturday was so bad that I had to change my plans. There seemed to be a change in weather coming on Sunday, so I decided to give it a go, drive down into the area of the Große Ahornboden, hike up onto one of the adjacent mountains, photograph sunset and sunrise up there and then try to get to work on Monday as quick as possible.

The good thing is that I have flexible working hours. Yet, doing a 2 hour hike followed by a 3+ hour drive to get to work on Monday was a bit tough, especially after only a few hours of sleep. But it all worked out and thankfully there were no traffic jams on the Autobahn between Munich and Nuremberg.

And what about the hike and stay in the Alps itself? I have to admit, I didn't expect it to be that empty up there. I was even able to secure a room for myself at a hut just below the summit. Normally those huts are stuffed and have to be booked months in advance. But not on a Sunday as it seems.

Standing up on the Delpsjoch around sunset and sunrise was such a peaceful experience. As forecast, the weather had improved significantly and the clouds of the day had dispersed. There was nearly no wind, nearly no sound up there. I captured the whole experience in the video below.

In the beginning I wasn't sure, if I should do this overnighter from Sunday to Monday because of the stress it would involve with getting back to work. In the end though it was all worth putting in the work and effort. The photos I took turned out pretty good and I have one more great experience to add to my memories.

Photographing Morocco - Casablanca and Fes

Michael Breitung — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 24:00:00 GMT

In the final part of my Photographing Morocco series I show you Casablanca and Fes. Although these cities are very different, they both offer great photo opportunities.

Photographing the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca

Casablanca was our first stop after Essaouira - just a layover on our way to Fes. And I have to be honest here: Casablanca is not the most beautiful city. For Moroccan standards it's a bit boring, without the charm we found in Marrakech and Essaouira. But that's just my very superficial impression, which I got from only one day in the city.

Yet Casablanca is still worth staying for one night. And that's because of the Hassan II Mosque. This building was the reason I wanted to visit Casablanca and it's very impressive. Even without a spectacular sunrise I was able to come away with a portfolio photo, just because of the intricate architecture and the dimensions of the building.

As I explain in the video below, if you want to photograph it, you should do so in the morning when there are nearly no people around. Due to the security you have to be a bit secretive with your tripod, if you plan to photograph from the plaza as I did. There are other photo spots though, which are to the east and west of the mosque along the coast. Those offer dramatic views with the sea in the foreground.

The Train from Casablanca to Fes

After my photo shoot and a guided tour of the interior of the mosque we took the train from Casa Voyageurs to Fes. If you want to travel through the northern part of Morocco, the train is a very good option.

Normally it is sufficient to buy tickets a few days in advance. But I wanted to be on the safe side with my planning and book the tickets before our travels. Yet unfortunately foreign credit cards were not supported by ONCF. The solution was going through a third party, in our case Marrakech Tickets. In the end we payed a bit more, but it was still quite affordable. I also found their service and the communication very good.

In Fes we just had to take a taxi from the train station to Fes al Bali, which is the oldest part of Fes and contains the medina. Our very beautiful hotel * was located just outside the old city wall.

Photographing the Fes Medina

We spent two full days in Fes and explored a lot of the medina, which is a bit like a maze. But to my surprise the GPS of my self-phone worked quite well, so we never got lost.

Besides photographing the Blue Gate, which you saw in the video, I also explored the viewpoints north of the medina. The Marinid Tombs offered a very good view. But while I was up there on the first evening I noticed some ruins a little closer to the city wall. As it turned out those are the best location to photograph sunset.

Tips for Visiting Fes

To finish this article and also the series, I want to give some final tips for visiting Fes, because it was different to the other cities we had visited so far.

One thing I noticed was that as soon as it got dark in the evening, all tourists vanished from the medina. Only near the Blue Gate, where you find many restaurants, it remained busy. As we tried to walk through the medina one evening, from the Green Gate in the east towards the Blue Gate in the west, we found this a very annoying undertaking. Because, being the only tourists, everybody wanted to show us something, tell us where to go, that this or that way is the wrong one, that this street is closed, that we should come to this restaurant around the corner... You get the picture.

From there on we always took a taxi in the evening and avoided the medina. A taxi is just around 15 - 20 dirham from the Green to the Blue Gate, if they use a meter.

And here is another tip, which I think you could extend to all cities we visited in Morocco. If you want to get a taxi and it has a meter, this is the cheapest option. If they don't have a meter, they'll usually ask for around twice the regular price. You can try to bargain, but often this doesn't work. Either there's no other taxi around, so you have no other option. Or all drivers you find in an area have agreed on a price and none of them will offer you a cheaper fare. This is what you'll experience at the Marrakech train station for example.

This can be annoying, if you are on a budget. But I wouldn't let my travels be ruined by a few additional dollars spent for taxis. Being a taxi driver in Morocco is hard enough I would imagine, so I'd rather try to save money elsewhere.

Now, since we are at the end, I hope you found this Morocco series interesting and, if you have additional questions, feel free to leave a comment under my video over at Youtube.

* This is a Booking.com Affiliate Link. If you use it to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Morocco Travel Photography - Desert and Coast

Michael Breitung — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 24:00:00 GMT

After two wonderful days of landscape photography in the desert, we continued our tour with Wild Morocco and drove through the vast Iriqui Lake towards the Anti-Atlas mountains and then north to Ait Ben Haddou.

The barren area around the Iriqui Lake could easily have been a setting for Mad Max Fury Road. After passing this wide expanse of emptyness, we drove past an impressive, jagged mountain range until we reached civilization again after nearly two hours of off-road driving.

Night Photography in the Erg Chigaga

But before we began this day long drive towards Ait Ben Haddou I undertook one last morning hike into the dunes. There's nothing more tranquil than a night in the desert. And there are few other places where you can see that many stars.

To capture this photos of the Erg Chigaga dunes with the Milkyway above, I got up at 5:30am. A hike of half an hour brought me to the top of one of the highest dunes near our camp. At that time the Milkyway rose in the east and began its journey across the night sky. With sunrise still two hours away, it was dark enough to clearly see the core of our galaxy. In the photo I took that morning you can also see Venus, which was the brightest object in the sky.

I sat there a little longer, waiting for the sun to illuminate the dunes, before I went back to our camp for a delicious breakfast.

Route to Essaouira

After this little desert adventure, we were off to Ait Ben Haddou where we spent the evening. This place has been the setting for many Hollywood movies and for this reason it's very touristic. But around sunset, the Kasbah wasn't busy anymore and we were able to explore the narrow alleyways in relative silence. You'll see some footage of that in the video below.

The next day we crossed the Atlas Mountains and drove past Marrakech towards the coast. Our next stop was Essaouira, where we had booked four nights in the wonderful Riad Dar Maya *.

The Riad was located right inside the medina, and I spent many hours walking around the various streets looking for scenes to photograph. What I liked about Essaouira was the relaxed atmosphere. It's much less hectic than the medina of Marrakech or Fes and the streets are also not that narrow, which provides some room to breathe.

Another thing that is very characteristic of Essaouira are the countless cats. Everywhere you go you'll find some drowsy cat sleeping on a bench, a wall or right in the middle of a shop, which is quite cute.

Then there is the little harbor with the adjacent fish market. This is the place from which you get the best view of the city. The last evening I climbed on one of the walls there and took some long time exposures during blue hour. With the dark sky above this looked very dramatic, even though weather conditions were not ideal for the photo I had in mind.

Then it was time to pack up once more and head off to our next destination, Fes, which was the most interesting place we visited in Morocco. But this story has to wait until the next article.

* This is a Booking.com Affiliate Link. If you use it to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Morocco Desert Photography in the Erg Chigaga

Michael Breitung — Sun, 10 Mar 2019 24:00:00 GMT

In this article, I explain how to travel to the Erg Chigaga desert in Morocco to take great landscape photos of the towering dunes and vast expanses of golden sand.

I've visited this sea of sand four times during four different trips to Morocco between 2019 and 2024, and I can't get enough of it. If you also want to visit this unique landscape, the tips from this article will ensure a smooth travel experience.

I cover the following topics:

How to Travel to the Desert
When Is the Best Time to Visit
Where to Stay in the Erg Chigaga
Landscape Photography in the Dunes
Night Photography in the Desert
Equipment for Desert Photography

How to Get to the Erg Chigaga

The Erg Chigaga is located in the remote south of Morocco, close to the Algerian border. It is the perfect place for landscape photography since it's not as crowded as the Erg Chebbi, for example. But how do you get there?

Most tours into the Erg Chigaga start in Marrakech. From there, it is a long drive across the High Atlas. It typically takes between 8 and 9 hours and can be done in one day. If this sounds too long, I recommend splitting it and planning a stop in Ait Ben-Haddou or the Hara Oasis *. If you haven't been to Ait Ben-Haddou yet, I would make it a mandatory stop. It's not been a film set for many movies without reason, including the famous Gladiator movie.

If you can't find affordable flights to Marrakech, consider visiting the Erg Chigaga from Agadir. On this route, I recommend a stop in Tafraoute to explore the Anti Atlas. The landscape around Trafroute is full of huge boulders and photo locations.

One question that is still open is: Which of the many tour companies should you pick? The Erg Chigaga is no self-drive destination. You require an experienced driver with a 4x4 vehicle. Before I visited Morocco for the first time, I did intensive research and chose Wild Morocco and continued to use them for all my visits. Aside from the tour options they have on their homepage, you can also let them design a custom tour for you. They work together with Camp Al Koutban, which is one of the best-located camps in the erg.

Because I love traveling with Wild Morocco so much, I decided to offer a photo tour through the south of Morocco together with them.

When to Visit the Desert in Morocco

I usually visit Morocco in winter. When it gets cold in Europe, you can still enjoy temperatures above 20°C in Morocco. It's the perfect climate for traveling into the desert, which is not a place you'd want to explore in the summer months.

I visited once in early December and twice in February. Each time I had beautiful, clear night skies to marvel at. The nights in the desert can get chilly with temperatures around 5°C, so warm clothes are required.

The months of October, November, March, and April are also suited for a trip into the desert. But during those, you'll also have to share the landscape with more other travelers than in winter. For photography, it means more footprints in the sand.

Berber Camp in the Desert

In the Erg Chigaga, you typically stay in Berber camps. Those camps are located around the edge of the desert. Some are quite luxurious and come with large tents, beautiful outside areas, proper toilets, and even showers. The Camp Al Koutban is one of those. Recently, they updated their tents, built new toilets, and a larger restaurant. Visiting the camp for me is like visiting friends. You'll always feel welcome there, and the food is fantastic.

It's also the perfect spot for photography. Within 15 minutes, you can reach many viewpoints within the dunes. A 30 to 45-minute hike takes you to the top of the largest dune in the Erg Chigaga. After returning from a photo tour in the evening, you can sit by the fire or gaze at the stars.

Landscape Photography

The desert is a great place for landscape photography. In the dunes, you'll find endless opportunities to take mesmerizing photos. Even during my third visit to the Erg Chigaga, I found new perspectives. The only important thing is to take your time. Many tours to the Erg Chigaga stay just one night in the desert. It's too short. Plan at least two days and spend your time hiking through the dunes around the camp.

Those scouting trips are essential and best done during the daytime. Familiarize yourself with the desert to get the best photos. During your hikes, use your cell phone's GPS and mark spots of interest on Google Maps. If you bought a Moroccan SIM at the Airport, you'll have internet in the desert. It is a prerequisite for setting markers, which doesn't work with offline maps. Also, don't forget to set a marker for the camp. Once it gets dark in the desert, you'll otherwise be lost.

You find the best photo spots east of Camp Al Koutban toward the pointy, large dune. You cannot miss it. From there, you'll have fantastic views and can continue your journey east toward more viewpoints and photo locations.

In the evening, the big dune is the place to be. Head there at least 90 minutes before sunset. You want to be up there when the sun starts descending toward the horizon. As the shadows get longer, the rims of the dunes begin to glow. It's when you'll get the best photos.

Don't wait too long before your return to camp. It gets dark quickly after sunset, and you'll lose any orientation. Without the GPS on your phone, you'd be in trouble.

Night Photography

There's nothing like seeing the night sky in the desert for the first time. I have never experienced the Milky Way this clearly - it's amazing. Naturally, I also wanted to photograph it. If you visit in February, like I did, the Milky Way will be perfectly situated above the horizon around two hours before sunrise. And since the sun rises as late as 7:30 am, you don't even have to get up in the middle of the night to photograph it.

To get the best results, find the composition you want to photograph the day before and mark the spot on Google Maps. Then, use PhotoPills or Plan It to check the location of the Milky Way in the morning. When you return in the morning, photograph the stars and leave the camera in place for one more hour. It will be bright enough to photograph details in the landscape. This process and the editing of the photos is called time blending. I explain this approach in all its detail in the video below.

Photo Editing Tutorials

Around sunrise or sunset, the dunes will get a golden hue. In RAW images though, this color is often diminished. A remedy for it is adding a lot of contrast to your desert photos as I show in the following video.

For night photos, the process is different. For the best results, I developed a photo editing workflow, which I share in all its detail in my Desert Nights Tutorial.

Equipment for Desert Photography

Desert photography can be hard on your equipment if it's windy. It's why you should bring something to cover your camera and lens. Using OpTech rain sleeves* is a way to do that.

I recommend gaiters* to prevent sand from creeping into your shoes when hiking in the dunes. It helps especially during descends. A bright flashlight is also mandatory.

When it comes to camera gear, you'll want the following two types of lenses in your bag: A wide angle lens to capture sweeping views across the dunes and for night photography. I recommend the Canon RF 15-35 f/2.8* lens for Canon. The second lens you must bring is a telephoto lens. A 100-400mm or 100-500mm lens is perfect for photography from the highest dune. But you can also take great photos with a 200mm lens. I use the Canon RF 100-500* lens, which gives me a great range.

A robust tripod should also be part of your photography kit. Without it, you won't be able to capture the night sky.

Conclusion

The Erg Chigaga is always worth a visit for landscape photography. There's just so much to see and photograph. The desert is also a great place to unwind, to get close to nature, and to relax. If you ever visit Morocco, make sure to journey into the desert. And if you are a photographer who wants a guided experience with the best photo spots already planned, consider joining my photo tour.

* Those are Affiliate Links. I get a commission if you buy or book something after clicking on those.

New Zealand - Rotorua and Coromandel

Michael Breitung — Tue, 01 Jan 2019 24:00:00 GMT

In the last article about my travels around the world I showed you the incredible landscapes of Tongariro National Park. After my early morning hike to photograph Mount Ngauruhoe we continued our journey with a drive towards Rotorua.

Rotorua

Rotorua is very popular for the geothermal activity in the area. Geysers such as the Wai-O-Tapu are the main attractions and we also couldn't resist a visit. I have to admit that the colors and the smell alike were really impressive at the main thermal pool.

Another remarkable thing about Rotorua are the various hot springs. Even our caravan park had several pools that were fed by such a spring. And this was a great treat after all the hikes I had done the previous days in Tongariro National Park.

But what I liked the most about Rotorua were the beautiful Redwoods. Various trails span the forest area and although they are not as mighty as the Redwoods in California, they are still impressive.

In the end though, my favorite photo was not of the huge trees themselves. Instead I found this little pond with rotting branches submerged in it and it immediately caught my attention because of its shimmering blue color.

Three Sisters

There were two more locations on my list for this trip to New Zealand. And although Coromandel would have been closer to Rotorua, we went down towards New Plymouth first because of the tides.

We spent two days at a caravan park near Mokau, which was just a 15 minute drive north of the famous Three Sisters beach. This particular beach can only be reached around low tide.

And on our second evening low tide coincided perfectly with sunset. I stayed there nearly till the end of civil twilight, which was when the sky began to glow one last time. I then took my photo of the day and afterwards had to hurry, because the tide had already turned.

Coromandel

Of all the places we visited in New Zealand, Coromandel was the most crowded aside from the Tongariro Crossing on our hiking day. It's just crazy how Hahei had changed since the last time I was there.

Back then there were only few people down at Cathedral Cove. This time the place was packed and even after sunset and long before sunrise there were many people, a lot of them camping down at the coast. Hahei itself now has huge parking areas on several meadows outside town, with a shuttle connecting them to the small parking lot at Cathedral Cove.

During the two days we spent in the area, unfortunately I didn't have the necessary light to take a photo of Cathedral Cove, which would stand out. So I left nearly empty handed, just with a few snapshots and went up towards Whangapoua.

We had visited New Chums beach already on our first visit to New Zealand. It's one of the most beautiful beaches on the North Island I'd say. But, same as Cathedral Cove, it also gets more and more attention these days. Thanks to its size though, there's still enough space and it does not feel as crowded as the beaches around Hahei yet.

On this visit I climbed up to a fantastic viewpoint overlooking the beach. It's quite steep and in parts a little sketchy but, if you are careful, it's no problem to get up and down safe.

Originally I had planned to stay up there for sunset, but decided against it because after all I wasn't travelling alone. There's always balance needed between the pursuit of photography and the joys of travelling itself. And that evening we had a beautiful campsite right at the beach in Whangapoua where we cooked our dinner and enjoyed the evening.

Also, I didn't want to risk a twisted ankle the day before our hike up to the Pinnacles, where we had reserved two spots in the Pinnacles hut. This hike was the true highlight of our visit to the Coromandel peninsula.

First we walked through some beautiful forest, crossing several small streams along the way. At a steady pace we climbed up the mountain until after less than two hours we reached the hut. The hut was still more than 100 meters of elevation beneath the Pinnacles peak but already provided beautiful views.

The ultimate view though is from the top of the Pinnacles and to get up there we had to climb some more stairs and ladders. This part of the hike is quite open and we were fully exposed to the wind, which picked up more an more as we went. In parts it was hard to stay on our feet.

The winds I experienced up at the top of the Pinnacles were the strongest I ever felt during a hike. The gusts were more than 100kph - due to some weather sites - and I had to be very careful to not get blown off the rocks. Taking a photo with tripod and DSLR during sunset was nearly impossible. I tried hiding behind a huge rock and using high ISOs and fast shutter speeds. But none of the photos I took turned out as I had hoped.

So I returned the next morning before sunrise, hoping for calmer conditions. But it was equally bad and despite the beautiful light I had to admit defeat and just took a photo with the Gopro. Then I sat on the rocks for a few more minutes, watching the sun briefly peek through the clouds, before I descended towards the hut and later to our campervan.

Later that day we drove to Auckland, spent another night at a campsite outside the city before flying to Hong Kong the following day.

_All in all New Zealand gave us great memories once more. I was also able to capture several photos, which after two years now, I still consider some of my favorites of all time.

There were also photographical challenges again. Not all plans worked out and I had to abandon several of my photo ideas. But, as always, what stays after the first disappointment at not getting the photo, is the memory of having visited beautiful landscapes, of having put in the work, of the miles hiked and of the freedom I always feel when travelling._

Photographing Malta

Michael Breitung — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 24:00:00 GMT

This November I had planned to flee the cold, grey weather in Germany and head down to Malta for a few days. In November you usually still get above 20°C there and looking at photos of the island it seemed to be a very sunny place.

But as I arrived I was greeted by storm and rain. Not exactly what I had hoped for. The good thing though: it was indeed still around 20°C, which, for late November, was quite nice. But what about photography? Many of the photos I wanted to take required some colorful light in the sky and also some sun.

It's true that after storm and rain I often got the best light in the past. But for this to happen the storm had to stop, which for the first two days it never really did.

I still used the time to scout and explore. I found Valletta to be the perfect place to look for subjects that also worked in rainy conditions. And I even got lucky as the sun peeked through the clouds for a few seconds when I was photographing the roofs of Valletta.

Without the light it also looked nice, but when the sun bathed some of the buildings in golden light this created the perfect contrast to the dark sky above.

The last two days I also got some sun. I ventured out to explore some of the coastlines of Malta. But not before taking another photo of Valletta's skyline. I went to Manoel Island, which since one year had opened its gates for the public again.

Of the rest of the island I found the Dingli Cliffs and Gnejna bay the most beautiful locations. The Dingli coast is excellent for hiking and also provides various spectacular viewpoints. And Gnejna bay with its fortress like limestone structure is the perfect sunset location.

Only the light wasn't always in my favour. But as you can see in the video, I got some keepers out of this trip.

As the video shows, even when the weather is not ideal for photography, it's possible to take some good photos. The important thing is to know, which subjects work under which weather conditions, and to pursue those.

Photographing Hong Kong

Michael Breitung — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 24:00:00 GMT

Hong Kong is an exciting city to explore and photograph. I had visited Hong Kong for a few days during my travels around the world already. Back then I was there in January and I didn't see the sun once. Thus, photography wise it wasn't a very productive trip.

Ever since I had wanted to get back and give it another try. And because I had to fly over Hong Kong after visiting Vietnam, this was the perfect opportunity. And it was great coming back.

While I love to visit new places, it also feels great to return to a country or city and to already know your way around. It can feel a bit like coming home after an extended period of travels.

As during my last visit I was staying on Hong Kong Island, which has a very high photo spot density. But before I could start exploring and photographing Hong Kong, I first had to wait out a super typhoon, which was about to hit the city the day after my arrival.

Then, once the winds had subsided, it was time to photograph the streets of Hong Kong. For this I had rented a Canon TS-E 17mm lens. Such a tilt-shift lens is ideal for photographing architecture, as it allows to preserve a straight perspective without the need to tilt the camera. I wanted to use this lens to get a photo of a very special view, which I knew I couldn't photograph with my 16-35mm lens.

This view is quite popular and it has been photographed many times before. But I didn't find a photo, which was taken with the camera pointing straight towards the subject. Because of the dimensions of the architecture nearly all the photos I found on the internet were photographed by tilting the camera upwards. This causes the buildings to lean inward in the photo, which I personally don't like.

As I explain in the video below, taking the photo involved shifting the lens several times to create a huge, 75Mpix Vertorama. The beauty of using a tilt-shift lens to create Vertoramas or Panoramas is that the individual photos will stitch seamlessly without much trouble during post processing.

In the next video, I show you how I did the stitching for the Vertorama and I also talk about the trouble I had, photographing with the Canon TS-E 17mm lens. Because, other than the behind the scenes video suggests, I didn't get the photo the first time. Because of an extreme degradation of sharpness towards the edges of the frame once the lens was shifted to the extremes, the photos I took were unusable.

So I had to head back the next evening to get it right and to work around the limitations of the lens.

As you can see, with such a tilt-shift lens it is possible to create quite unique photos. But there is also a lot of work involved, both in the field as well as during post processing. I personally find the workflow a bit too cumbersome and I will always prefer to use a normal wide angle lens, if possible. But, if the need to use such a tilt-shift lens will arise again in the future, I'm now prepared and know exactly how to use it.

Photographing L'Alyana - Ninh Van Bay

Michael Breitung — Sun, 25 Nov 2018 24:00:00 GMT

Our final stop in Vietnam was at the coast near Nha Trang. And to make this a memorable stay I had to do some research to find a stretch of coastline, which wasn't too crowded yet.

Over the last years Vietnam has experienced a huge increase in visitors and for this reason lots of construction is going on everywhere in the country. And especially at the coast this becomes very apparent. Wherever there is a beach, it seems you have one hotel next to the other and one just has to wonder where this is gonna lead.

One thing that many countries seem to forget is that once the natural environment is destroyed by this construction madness, the stream of visitors will also slowly cease and then all those hotels will stay empty. Because at some point there is nothing unique left, nothing of the things that created the boom in tourism in the first place.

But I guess I, as a traveller, am part of the problem and since I don't want to stop travelling, one thing I can do is to try to avoid those overly touristic hubs whenever possible.

Ninh Van Bay

For Nha Trang it was quite hard to find a hotel that would provide some remoteness. But a bit north of Nha Trang, in the beautiful Ninh Van Bay such hotels still exist. And one of them is the L'Alya *.

Staying at such an exclusive hotel had been a dream of mine for some time already and in Vietnam this was nearly affordable. But not quite. We had already stretched our budget, so I reached out to the hotel and asked, if they were interested in a collaboration.

And as you might already suspect, they were. And for four days we stayed in one of their beautiful hill top villas. I did some photography and filming for them in exchange for a discount in the package we had booked. And although it was a lot of work to create all the photos we had agreed upon, mostly due to the weather, I had a great time.

I especially enjoyed our accommodation. The villa had an own pool, an outside living room, a huge bathroom and a beautiful bedroom.

What I also love about the L'Alyana is its location. You only get there via the hotel's own little ferry and there are no other hotels sharing the beach. It's an oasis not too far from the noise of Nha Trang, whose lights I could see at the horizon at night.

As for the other stops of our journey through Vietnam, I also filmed a behind the scenes Vlog for our stay in Ninh Van Bay. Here I show you some more of the hotel, explain my approach to real estate photography and share some of the resulting photos.

This concludes our travels through Vietnam. Our next stop was Hong Kong, which will be the topic of the next article.

* This is a Booking.com Affiliate Link. If you use it to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Photographing Vietnam - Hanoi

Michael Breitung — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 24:00:00 GMT

Today I want to take you with me into one of my favorite cities - Hanoi. I've now visited this city six times during my two visits to Vietnam. It's always my stopover after travelling into the countryside of northern Vietnam.

Although I stayed in Hanoi so many times now, I have never stayed more than two days in a row. Also, I spent all my time in and around Old Quarter. I think this is one of the main reasons why Hanoi always remains such a positive memory for me. Because Hanoi is loud, hectic, and it doesn't necessarily smell good, after a few days this can become quite annoying.

So by just staying there a few days each time, then travelling through the countryside before returning again, I can always enjoy Hanoi anew and the bustle of the city becomes something fascinating instead of an annoyance.

There's so much going on at every street corner. Exploring the city never gets boring, especially for me as a photographer. There's an abundance of subjects, although not of what I typically photograph. So I had to accept the challenge and delve into street photography, which is quite different to landscape photography in many aspects. But both also share some common ground.

Although street photography feels much more reactive and there is certainly no time for my usual landscape photography workflow, composition, light and subject matter play an equally important role in getting a good photograph.

And even though street photography might seem a bit hectic from time to time, to achieve good results one has to slow down, be patient and just wait for the right moment to take a photo. Just as with landscape photography.

And in the evening I even found a photo spot, where I could setup a tripod and take some longer exposures. This kind of street photography was right within my comfort zone again. Standing behind my tripod and carefully aligning all the elements within the frame is just my preferred way of taking photos.

But it was also good to try something new. My attempts at street photography were a lot of fun and I like some of the photos I got. Below you find a little behind the scenes video of my endeavors, which also contains some more photos.

I want to share two final tips for a great stay in Hanoi with you. As I have already written above, I always stayed in Old Quarter. And a great time to visit Old Quarter is at the weekend. Because many streets will be closed for cars and exploring the area is much easier since you only have to look out for scooters.

And as a second tip I want to share the hotel, in which I always stay, with you. It's actually one of my favorite hotels in the whole world because of its great value for money, the great and friendly staff and its location. I'm talking about the Sunline hotel * in Old Quarter. For me it's the perfect base to explore the city.

* This is a Booking.com Affiliate Link. If you use it to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Photo Editing Workflow

Michael Breitung — Sun, 28 Oct 2018 24:00:00 GMT

In the past I have already shared many of my post processing techniques on Youtube. Things like Exposure Blending, Advanced Masking or Dodge and Burn were already the topic of my video tutorials. But I haven't shared my complete workflow on Youtube yet.

Well, today I have two videos for you, which contain my 10 step post processing workflow. While I don't go into the details of the editing techniques, this workflow together with the other videos on my Youtube channel should give you a good overview of how I process my photos.

The first video is focused on the preparation steps, which always come before the creative part and which lay the foundation for a high quality post processing result. I normally take and process my photos in order to have them printed large and I have tuned my workflow to allow this.

In the second part I then show the creative photo editing. This is where I work on contrast and colors and also do the sharpening.

As I mention a couple of times in the videos above, if you are interested to see a complete start to finish post processing tutorial, you can head over to my tutorials page where I have a lot of content containing every little detail of my post processing.

Photographing Vietnam - Sapa

Michael Breitung — Sun, 07 Oct 2018 24:00:00 GMT

After visiting Mu Cang Chai we continued our travels through Vietnam and went further North towards Sapa. Of all the areas in northern Vietnam, this one is maybe the most popular. That's why Sapa town is very crowded and full of hotels and restaurants. But it's not necessarily the best place to stay, if you are interested in landscape photography. To reach the interesting photo locations you need to drive quite a bit out of town on very bumpy roads. In my opinion it's much better to find a hotel in the countryside, which has the photo spots at its doorstep - for example, the Topas Ecolodge.

Topas Ecolodge

We didn't spent much time in Sapa town after arriving via Heaven's Gate. After lunch our guide took us 20 kilometers South of Sapa to the Topas Ecolodge *. Ever since I had first seen photos of this place a few years ago I had wanted to stay there. Thus I had booked our room nearly one year in advance to ensure our stay during harvest season. It wasn't cheap and the hotel is certainly one of the more expensive places to stay at in Vietnam. But considering it's great location, the comfortable rooms and the delicious food it was totally worth it.

The hotel is located in a very unique place, far from the bustle of Sapa town. It's another world. Surrounded by countless rice paddies, it's the perfect place to stay, if you are interested in landscape photography. To give you an idea: the photo below, for example, was taken the first morning just a few meters from the entrance to the hotel grounds. And the photo above was taken from the terrace of the Topas Ecolodge just before dinner.

While staying at the hotel, I also created a little video, which shows a bit more of its amenities. I also give tips about what I feel are the best rooms to get to photograph the surrounding rice paddies directly from the balcony.

Sapa Landscape Photography

To explore the adjacent valley and the rice terraces I would simply take a bicycle from the hotel. It was an easy way to get around and with all the fantastic views close by, I never had the feeling that I might be missing out on some more spectacular locations in the Sapa area. It was all right there within a 10km radius of the hotel.

So each sunrise and sunset I was out to take photos and during the day I went on various hikes along the little trails through the rice fields in search of beautiful photo spots - and I found plenty. The area around the Topas Ecolodge provided some of the best landscape photography opportunities I've had in the last couple of years.

The photo below was taken at the opposite side of the valley from our hotel. It took me just 20 minutes with the bicycle to get there. As the sun disappeared behind the mountains and the sky began to glow I felt once more that I was in landscape photography heaven.

Sapa Harvest Time

What I noticed during the four days I spent in the area was, how fast the rice harvest proceeded. I had always read that mid September was the best time to visit Sapa. While this might be true for some areas, the fields near the Topas Ecolodge were already fully harvested when we left on September 8th. Had we visited around mid September, it would have been a huge disappointment for sure.

So, if you ever want to photograph Sapa at its best, which is just before or during harvest, make sure to plan your visit for the first week of September. This way you should be on the safe side. The worst thing that could happen is that you are a week too early and the fields don't yet have that vibrant golden color they get just before harvest. But that's still better than the empty, muddy terraces you would get after the harvest.

In the video below I talk more about this and I also take you along some of the hikes I did and show you the views I photographed.

Sapa was definitely the highlight of our travels through Vietnam - to a huge extent so, because of the location of our hotel. And not to forget the weather - so much sunshine during rainy season was quite unexpected and a welcome surprise after our time in Mu Cang Chai.

* This is a Booking.com Affiliate Link. If you use it to make a booking, I'll get a little commission from Booking.com

Photographing Vietnam - Mu Cang Chai

Michael Breitung — Sun, 23 Sep 2018 24:00:00 GMT

The past few weeks I have been travelling through Vietnam and afterwards I spent a few days in Hong Kong. As usual I filmed some behind the scenes Vlogs, which I will share with you in the coming weeks.

The first part of our travels took us from Hanoi to Mu Cang Chai in the North of Vietnam. This area is particularly beautiful during harvest season in September. Unfortunately this time is also the rainy season and thus the weather was a little uncomfortable at times.

But aside from the frequent rain during our first days in Vietnam we had a great time. I had booked a custom tour via Custom Vietnam Travel and it was the perfect way to experience the North of Vietnam and learn about the landscapes and the people.

I think the best part of that tour, besides the beautiful places we visited, was the food. We often ate at little local restaurants, which we wouldn't have found, if we had travelled on your own. Also the food at our homestays was excellent - even better than most of the food we got when staying in more expensive lodges.

In the video below I show you some of the places we visited and also how I tried to photograph them. Due to the weather this was a bit of a challenge, but in the end I got some nice photos.

Also, this was only the first part of our travels. The next stop was Sapa where I finally got some great light and where I was able to capture some photos of the rice paddies as I had previsualized them when planning our trip. So stay tuned.

Photography in the Stubai Valley

Michael Breitung — Thu, 23 Aug 2018 24:00:00 GMT

This summer I visited the Stubai Valley three times. It's such a beautiful and photogenic area in the Austrian Alps that I just had to come back again and again. And I will certainly do so next year.

On my recent trip into the Alps I went to photograph a very special view. The week before I had already been hiking and scouting the area near Falbeson, but the weather wasn't right to take the photos I instantly had in mind as I stood up in the alpine valley.

So I came back and despite having a light cold, a long drive ahead of me and a less than ideal weather forecast it was the right thing to do.

The first day it was still quite cloudy and in the evening those clouds descended and unfortunately I couldn't get a photo of the peaks. But the lush green valley still made for a great subject once I had found the right composition.

The important thing was finding a suitable foreground and some leading lines. If you look closely at the photo above you'll see a lot of repetition of diagonals and shapes. This helped me to create a harmonic photo.

The night I spent in my sleeping bag in front of the hut, which you see in the photo above. The hut was booked, which is quite normal for a weekend. But sleeping on a bench beneath the porch was quite comfortable.

I still woke up a few times throughout the night and everytime I did I checked the sky. And it didn't look good. The clouds had descended even further and I was basically sleeping in the clouds. I didn't expect to get the photo I was after in the morning.

But as you can see, in the end it worked out. And I documented the whole experience in this little vlog.

I hope you enjoyed this little hike in the mountains as much as I did. Sure enough it wasn't helping my cold and I needed a few days to recover afterwards. But was it worth it? Totally.

New Zealand - Tongariro National Park

Michael Breitung — Sat, 18 Aug 2018 24:00:00 GMT

There are still some photos and stories to share from my travels around New Zealand's North Island, back in 2016. In the last article I showed you the coastlines near the Bay of Islands and Whangarei. We spent a wonderful week up there and quite interestingly didn't encounter too many other tourists.

Northland hasn't become one of New Zealand's hot spots yet, but as we drove down south, this changed. The campsites became more and more crowded and at least during daytime we no longer found the solitude we had enjoyed during some of our hikes up in Whangarei.

Bridal Veil Falls

Keeping an eye on the weather forcast is very important in New Zealand. Especially if you are planning a visit to Tongariro National Park as we did. I found Metservice to give a quite accurate forecast for the next three to four days.

So we tried to stay flexible enough to adjust our travel route in order to avoid spells of bad weather. For this reason, instead of driving directly towards Tongariro National Park, we first went down to Waikato to visit the Bridal Veil waterfall. While there was still a high chance of rain for Tongariro, closer to the coast the weather already looked much better.

After finding a caravan park for the night, we didn't waste much time and drove up to the famous Bridal Veil waterfall. The parking lot was packed and the several viewpoints around the waterfall as well. But this didn't bother me too much, since it was still more than two hours until sunset. And, if I could trust the weather forecast and Photographer's Ephemeris, there was a good chance to get a very special photo this evening.

When researching the area I always saw the same photo of the waterfall. You basically only have one possible composition to photograph from the top platform. Hence there's not too much room for creativity. But when I looked at the lay of the land I was wondering why I didn't find photos of the waterfall taken during sunset. At first I wasn't sure, if the photo I had previsualized was even possible.

As sunset approached and more and more people left I was suddenly the only person at the falls. And just then the light show began. Exactly as I had hoped it would, the sun was in the perfect position to light up the waterfall and bath the whole scene in golden light. With the dark clouds above I was able to take a unique photo of a waterfall that has been photographed many times before.

Tama Lakes

The following day it was finally time for our second visit to Tongariro National Park. Back in 2014 we weren't very lucky with the weather and didn't even see the volcanos.

This time the forecast looked promising. But as we arrived there were still thick clouds obscuring the mountains. This was a bit of a bummer, because I had wanted to explore the Tama Lakes area that evening and photograph sunset. But since the alternative would have been to stay at the caravan park I decided to do the hike anyway and see, if the weather would change.

It's a beautiful 9km hike up there and after 90 minutes I stood at the viewpoint, which I thought would provide some nice views for sunset. Yet for the next hour there was not much of a view at all.

But it was very peaceful and I found a nice spot, which was shaded from the wind. There I sat and enjoyed the tranquility. As so often during my travels around the world I was the only person out there.

And then suddenly I saw the first patches of blue sky overhead. The wind was picking up and minutes later I got my first glimpse of Mount Ruapehu. I quickly adjusted my composition, but thankfully I didn't have to move around a lot because my previsualization had been quite accurate. I was in the perfect spot!

I stayed for one hour, taking several compositions and then as the sun slowly set behind the horizon started my hike back towards Whakapapa village. I didn't expect to take another photo, but as I arrived at the bridge above Taranaki Falls I noticed those beautiful clouds piling on top of Mount Ruapehu and how they caught the last light of the day.

After taking this final photo I quickly jogged back to our campsite for dinner. The next day we did the Tongariro Crossing with thousands of other people. With a clear blue sky overhead we had great conditions to do the hike. But for the same reason there were even more people on the track. While I enjoyed the views, the hike itself was not very fulfilling.

Don't get me wrong here. The scenery is awesome and without that many people it would have been easily one of the best hikes I ever did. But in parts where the trails get a bit more narrow we were basically stuck within a huge mass of people moving slowly along the Crossing.

I'm normally quite a fast hiker and I love the flow and rythm of a good walk through the mountains. This just wasn't possible during the Crossing. But I had already expected this and the main reason for me to do the Crossing was to scout the area. I was looking for viewpoints, to which I would return for sunrise on one of the next days.

Tawhei Falls

The evening after doing the Crossing I went back once more to Taranaki Falls, hoping to catch some nice light again. But the weather moved in and stayed for the next day.

On a rainy day there's not too much you can do in Tongariro National Park... Besides visiting another waterfall. And that's what we did - Tawhei Falls was just a five minutes drive away from Whakapapa village.

It's one of the locations used in Lord of the Rings - the so called Gollum's pool, where Gollum kills some fish before being caught by Faramir's men. The rain was actually perfect at this location. I've read that there are usually many people visiting and this can make photography a bit hard. But on this rainy day the area was empty.

The rain also added a lot to the atmosphere, which I tried to enhance a bit during post processing as you can see in the tutorial video I posted on Youtube a few months ago.

Tongariro Crossing

With the rain of the day it was also easy to get some rest. Because there was still one thing I wanted to do. I wanted to actually enjoy the Tongariro Crossing. And for this I had to start my hike at 2:30am the following day, long before the crowds would arrive.

At 2am we left the campsite and drove over to the trailhead. My girlfriend stayed in the van to catch a few more hours of sleep while I hiked 10km through the dark, volcanic landscape. It was an awesome experience. It was totally silent, there was no wind at all and also not a cloud in the sky.

It took me less than two hours to get to the viewpoint I had scouted two days before. The smell of sulfur was quite strong that morning. One has to know that the volcanos of Tongariro National park are still active. Although there hadn't been an eruption for many years I made sure to check the alert levels before starting my hike. This way the smell didn't bother me too much and I was quite at ease, while waiting for the first light to hit the top of Mount Ngauruhoe.

After putting in so much work for this photo I was a little bit dissapointed that I didn't get any clouds that morning. But that's just how it is and the dissapointment I felt was quickly replaced by deep joy as the sun lit up the volcanos. Having such a view in front of yourself and knowing that you are likely the only person within a radius of 10km is something very special.

And I'm very grateful to have had the opportunity to experience this. And who knows, maybe I'll come back in a few years. Then I don't even need to scout anymore and can directly hit the trail in the shadow of the night.

How Exposure Blending Works in Photoshop

Michael Breitung — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 24:00:00 GMT

In this article, I show you how to use Exposures Blending in Photoshop to increase the dynamic range of your photos.

I cover the following topics:

Why Blending Exposures is Important
How My Editing Evolved over the Years
How to Blend Exposures Using Luminosity Masks in Photoshop
How to Prepare Photos in Lightroom for Better Blending Results
How and Why to Blend Photos Taken at Different Apertures

Why Exposure Blending is Important

You might ask why to use exposure blending when modern cameras allow you to boost the shadows of a photo without introducing a lot of noise. And it's true that over the years, exposure blending has become less important due to technology advancements. But there are still situations where the dynamic range of even the best cameras is not enough to capture noise-free, high dynamic range photos.

And even if you can pull up the shadows in a RAW photo to show sufficient detail, blending in those details from a brighter exposure will still give you better results. And if you like to create large prints of your images, you should aim for the highest possible quality. To achieve it, the techniques I show in this article are still relevant.

The Evolution of Exposure Blending

Many years ago, I used Enfuse GUI for exposure blending. The results I could achieve using that software looked more natural than what other HDR software delivered. This changed when Lightroom first introduced the option to blend multiple RAW photos by using its HDR feature. Without any of the tone-mapping that other software typically used, the results looked great for many photos. But there were still many situations where both Lightroom and Enfuse GUI didn't offer enough control.

As I first learned about luminosity masks from Tony Kuyper, it completely changed my editing game. I instantly switched from automatic to manual blending in Photoshop as it provides the best control over the results.

Over the years, I further refined my workflow, and with proper preparation, even luminosity masks are often no longer required to create a perfect blend. Below, I share two workflows for exposure blending. The first workflow relies heavily on luminosity masks, while the second uses mostly normal masks. Knowing both workflows will provide you with all the techniques you need for even the most challenging exposure blending tasks.

Exposure Blending with Luminosity Masks

As a requirement to follow along in the video below, it helps to understand what luminosity masks are and how to create them. On my photo editing basics homepage, I share two videos about creating advanced masks in Photoshop. These provide a good foundation for exposure blending. In the video below, I use Lumenzia by Greg Benz*, a Photoshop plugin that makes working with luminosity masks easy.

As you see in the video, capturing the complete dynamic range of a scene on location is essential for clean results. You can do this manually or by using the automatic exposure bracketing functionality of your camera. For most scenes, using -2, 0, and +2 as setting for the automatic bracketing is sufficient. But there might be situations, where you need to add additional exposures. That's why you should always check the photos you captured while still on location. Activate the histogram in the preview and ensure that you don't loose shadows in the brightest and no highlights in the darkest exposure. You should also activate the automatic highlight warning if your camera supports it.

Improved Workflow with Lightroom and Photoshop

The blending workflow with luminosity masks works great. But it reaches its limitations once you have movement in your images. You achieve the best results by combining different types of masks, and with the right preparation in Lightroom, you have to rely less and less on luminosity masks.

In the video below, I show how you can equalize exposures in Lightroom to provide the best starting material for exposure blending in Photoshop. As example, I use a photo from the Seychelles, where I photographed a sunrise behind a set of palm trees and granite rocks. This scene had a very high dynamic range and contained slight movement in the palm trees - not a problem with the technique from the video as I can use a 100% brush without any special selections to blend those areas.

This workflow also works for architecture photos taken at night or blue hour. Especially for high-contrast areas, equalizing exposures in Lightroom makes the blending task much less difficult.

Combining Photos of Different Apertures

As a bonus, I want to show you one more scenario where exposure blending can be helpful. Sometimes, having an ND Filter in front of the lens alone isn't enough to achieve the desired exposure times. Or, you might not have an ND Filter with you. In this case, the solution is to switch to smaller apertures. But while this increases the exposure time, it also introduces diffraction.

Take this photo of Antibes for example. I shot it at f/9,5 for best sharpness and detail. With a 3-stop ND Filter, I was able to lengthen the exposure to 0.5 seconds. But it didn't smooth out the water enough. I needed an exposure time between two and three seconds to get the desired result.

In the video below, you will see how going from f/9,5 to f/19 smoothed the water but also reduced the sharpness of the image. Typically, I try not to use apertures smaller than f/13, because too much detail is lost. The solution in such situations is to take two photos and combine them in photo editing. Use the water from the photo taken at the smaller aperture and the rest of the image from the exposure taken at a medium f-stop.

To blend such photos, use a combination of normal masks and luminosity masks in Photoshop. You also don't have to be a 100% precise when blending in the water with this technique. You can use a soft brush with a low opacity and gradually paint it in.

Conclusion

In this article I shared how I blend exposures in Photoshop. You learned how luminosity masks help to restrict the blending to shadow and highlight areas, how the combination with other masks can create better results, and how equalizing exposures in Lightroom gives you the best starting material for exposure blending.

To learn more about my photo editing and advanced techniques like focus stacking, panorama stitching, and time blending, consider my Photo Editing Mega Bundle interesting.

* This is an Affiliate-Link. If you use it to buy something, I'll get a commission.

Seascape Photography Tutorial

Michael Breitung — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 24:00:00 GMT

Seascape Photography can be very dynamic. That's why the coast is one of my favorite subjects to photograph. To get the most out of the ever-changing scenery and to ensure my camera equipment stays dry, I follow the workflow I share in this tutorial on seascape photography.

In the article, I cover the following topics:

How to research photo locations at the coast
How to plan a seascape photography trip
How to do on-location scouting at the coast
The importance of adapting to changing conditions
How timing and patience influence a seascape photo shoot
In-the-field photography workflow
Exposure blending techniques for seascape images

Researching Photo Locations

It's good to know beforehand what type of photos you want to capture during an upcoming seascape photography tour. There are different kinds of seascapes, and on many photo trips, you won't be able to photograph them all.

An example is dramatic coastal scenes with waves exploding on the shore. You'll likely be disappointed if you expect to take such photos during a trip to the Baltic Sea. You should at least have a rough idea of how the coast you want to photograph looks.

Use Google, Flickr, Instagram, and the catalogs of photo agencies to search for images of areas you want to visit. On Flickr, you usually find the EXIF data of the photos. It contains the date a photo was taken and helps to put it into a seasonal context. After a first overview, pick out appealing images and find out where they were captured.

For images containing geotags, finding photo spots is easy. On Flickr, some photographers use the integrated map to mark the locations. It is also a great help. Beyond that, use the keywords and description to locate a seascape photo spot. If you want to be precise, use Google Earth and try to find the depicted view. There might be a characteristic bend in the coastline, a set of large sea stacks off the coast, or an island at the horizon, making the coastal scenery unique. Try to find those on the map.

You can then collect all the information in OneNote or a similar note-taking app. Ensure the app you use can synchronize the data among several devices and that you can access it offline. I explain my process in the video below.

Despite this research, try not to concentrate too much on a single photo. For me, the goal is not to copy an image I've seen online. I use those photos to get an impression of how an area looks. It helps me to find places that have the potential for a successful seascape photography shoot.

Planning a Photo Tour to the Coast

Once you know the location of your next seascape photography adventure, it's time to plan it. During the planning, try to answer questions like what time of the year you must visit to get the best conditions or what tides and swell you need to capture the desired photos. You also want to know how accessible the areas you want to photograph are and how to get there.

The EXIFs in some of the images you find during the research can provide a first hint of how the sea looks during different seasons. Take photos of Porthleven, for example. The most spectacular images of that place are taken in winter when storms roll across Cornwall.

You should also take the position of the sun into account. A few years ago, I visited the Algarve in October. In autumn, the sun rises and sets over the sea in the southeast. It allowed me to include it in many of the photos I took of this south-facing coastline.

In summer, the sun's trajectory is more northward. For the photo of Praia da Marinha above, it would have appeared over the land to the left, and the composition wouldn't feel balanced. I use Planit Pro and PhotoPills to ensure the sun is in the right place for my photos. With those apps, I also plan my night photography shoots. I've written a detailed article about night photography at Fstoppers.

Once you know during which season to travel, you must check the tides. Those can make a difference of up to 12 meters in the water level in some places. For example, if you want to photograph a specific cove for sunset, it should not be submerged at that time. You can get a free, long-term tide forecast at Tides4Fishing. Once the date of your photo trip approaches, you should also use sites like magicseaweed or Surf Forecast to check the swell at the location you want to photograph. Together with the weather forecast, it can be nearly as important as the tides to predict accessibility and water levels at a seascape photo spot.

The image above, for example, was taken on the Costa Rican coast during an evening of incoming tide and large swell. It allowed me to capture very dynamic seascape photos. If I don't have such an elevated viewpoint, I prefer to take images during the receding tide. This way, I don't have to worry that the incoming tide will cut off my way back. Plus, I don't have to deal with footprints in the sand.

You should also have some alternatives to get the most out of a photography trip to the coast. I usually plan a visit to the best photo spots in congruence with the tides. For days when the water levels or the weather prevent access to those, I head to locations not impacted by it.

You should also know how to get to the desired locations. Often, a rental car is required. In more exotic locations, where you can't rent a car, you might have to get a scooter or hire a driver. Figure it out in advance, especially if you only have a few days at a location.

Hikes might also be involved. In that case, research the trails and their conditions. Outdooractive is a good source for planning a hike. In some areas, you should also educate yourself about the local fauna. If you plan to visit a location with poisonous snakes and spiders, you should know about it beforehand. Then you can dress appropriately, especially if you have to do bushwhacking.

Scouting at the Coast

Scouting is the most essential part when it comes to successful seascape photography. Even if you skip the first two steps while traveling through the world, ending up in different locations, don't skip the scouting.

If I arrive at a location just in time for sunset, run to the beach, and set up my tripod, it might not be the ideal spot. Instead of taking mediocre photos in a rush, I should use the last light to find a good composition for sunrise photography the next morning.

There are exceptions. Sometimes, I just showed up at a cove and was able to take a good seascape photo. But for a great image, you should plan in time to explore. The photos you might have seen during the research of a place only represent other photographer' points of view - a filtered reality. During scouting, try to take in all the scenery to find our own, unique perspective. Use your cell phone and camera, and look for potential compositions. Take test photos you can review later to decide what works best. Then, during the photo shoot you know where to go and how to set up your camera.

Scouting will also help you understand how the water level changes the photo opportunities at a location. Submerged rocks might reveal themselves as the tide recedes. It's good to know beforehand where they hide. Using a tide table, you should check if the water will be higher or lower during your planned shoot than during scouting.

Try to also imagine how a scene will look in a different light. Think about what kind of sky would best complement the landscape in front of you. Or think about what compositions will best work under different conditions. Try to find compositions for various types of light and weather.

Adapting to Changing Conditions

The sea is dynamic, and despite all the planning and scouting, you never know what you'll face on the day of a photo shoot. Previsualization is important, but flexibility is key when conditions don't align with expectations.

After the preparation, you should have a good foundation for a shoot. If you do proper scouting, you'll also be able to adapt to different weather conditions and find compositions to fit different cloud patterns. Embrace the gloomy mood of the blue hour if the colorful sunrise or sunset doesn't happen. Look for shapes that emphasize its feeling of mystery.

During travels, you sometimes only have a few chances to photograph a location. And if things don't fall into place the way you want, it doesn't mean you can't create a good photograph. In that case, try to make the best of the conditions you have. I did that at Wharariki Beach in New Zealand a few years ago. The cloud cover prevented any spectacular light from illuminating the scenery, so I focused on capturing the gloomy atmosphere of this early morning at the coast.

You can also look for details like patterns in the sand or intricate rock structures. If you find a subject that doesn't include the sky, you can take photos in nearly any light and weather. Take the image below, for example. I took it at noon on a cloudless day. All I had to do was find a shaded area with these fantastic rocks that I found very characteristic of Praia do Castelejo, which I visited that day.

Timing and Patience

In seascape photography, I rarely get the photo I want with just one click of the shutter. I usually take more photos even if I got a great result on the first try, just in case the light gets more spectacular, or the wave patterns become more artistic.

It's both timing and patience that lead to a great seascape photo. Timing is essential in seascape photography to release the shutter at the perfect moment. Sometimes, it's just before a big wave breaks on the shore, sometimes when the water flows back into the sea. A combination of both will yield the most interesting motion in many situations.

To get the timing right, watch how water and waves behave - try to identify patterns and anticipate the movement of the sea. But also, be prepared for the occasional wave breaking that pattern to stay safe and keep your equipment dry. To not miss the perfect moment, use the continuous shooting mode of your camera and a cable release.

For the photo above, I first observed the scene for a few minutes. I saw that after some smaller waves, a big one would usually hit the shore to create a huge fountain of spray. I then waited patiently after setting up my camera. When a big wave started building up in the cauldron below, I was ready to release the shutter.

But you don't have to capture everything in a single photo. You can also combine several images for the best result during photo editing. I show an example in the video, where I blend several images of the same scene showing different types of wave action. Loading those photos into separate layers in Photoshop and then using a soft brush to mask in parts of each image can yield convincing results.

In the video I also share the effect different exposure times have on a seascape photo. While short exposures of 1/15s and faster capture the explosive energy of the water, medium exposures of 1/4s - 2s create a sense of motion in the photo. Exposures of 10s or longer can transform the water into a sea of mist. It requires high enough waves and will not work well with a calm sea. The two photos I took at Fingal Head show a good comparison of how different exposure times can affect the look of a scene. The first one captures the drama and motion of the sea. The second one feels much more moody and mystic.

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Seascape Photography Workflow

You must know your equipment and be able to operate it without having to think about the technical aspects while in the field. Otherwise, it will distract you from the scenery you want to photograph. And when shooting at the water's edge, such distractions will not only lead to worse photos but sometimes also to damaged gear.

Preparation

Knowledge of your equipment comes from practice. The more photos you take, the more second nature dialing in the correct exposure or adjusting filters becomes. Besides that, you should inspect your equipment before heading out. When I plan seascape photography at sunrise, for example, I will examine my filters, charge my batteries, test my headlamp, check the camera settings, and pack my NYA-EVO Fjord 60-c the evening before.

I have another seascape photography routine when I arrive at the coast: I put on my headlamp, belt the Terrascape Pouch with my filters, place a lens cloths* and a cable release in my pockets, cover my backpack with a rain cover, and head out.

With a process like this, you don't have to rummage through your bag for accessories while you're at the coast. You take out the camera and afterward keep your backpack on your back or in a safe and dry place. The rain cover is for occasions when you have to take it off and place it on the wet sand or leave it further up on a beach to be more agile.

Photo Shoot

Then, during the shoot, you should know the right techniques for capturing seascapes. As with gear and settings, the key is again to have those techniques become second nature to your photography workflow at the coast.

I often start with a quick focus-stack and a bracketed exposure sequence for the background. Then, I focus on the action and take a photo for every incoming wave that looks promising. Using continuous shooting mode helps to capture the perfect moment for very dynamic scenes. If you use bracketing for seascape photography, set the sequence to 0, -, +. This way, you take the main exposure exactly when you want, and the exposures for highlights and shadows follow.

Also, vary the exposure times. As I mentioned above, different exposure times can change the mood of a seascape photo. Make experimenting with those second nature to your process in the field. You can later even blend images that were exposed differently to achieve a more artistic result. My usual workflow for changing exposure times is to first change the aperture - keeping it between f/8 and f/13, if possible. Then, I use my Kase ND8 or ND64 filter to expose even longer.

When I photograph seascapes before sunrise or after sunset, the exposure times will naturally be longer. It fits in well with the mood of dusk and dawn and creates a mystic look. But, if you want shorter exposure times, you can use higher ISO settings to achieve that. With modern cameras and AI noise reduction in Lightroom, going up to ISO800 is nothing to worry about.

Working with Tripods at the Coast

If you have ever taken photos on a beach with a tripod, you might have noticed it slowly sinking into the sand. It happens every time water rushes around it. Ideally, you find some rocks on which to position it. But if that's not possible, extend the lower portion of the legs to keep the locks clean and then push the tripod into the sand until there's no more movement. Often, half of the lower leg portion gets submerged in the sand until the tripod remains stable.

You must also be aware of rogue waves. You must be able to retrieve the tripod fast in case such larger waves rush up the shore. Be prepared for it.

Compositional Considerations

For a dynamic perspective, you should get down low with the camera. This way, the back-flow of water will draw the viewer into the image. But don't go too low. Avoid sacrificing the middle ground. If you have rocks in the foreground, you want to see the water flowing around them and not look against a wall. Show enough of the beach so a viewer of your photo can imagine walking along it.

Photo Editing Seascape Photos

Going through all the details of editing a seascape photo might go beyond the scope of this tutorial. But I want to at least give you some tips. In the video on timing above, I already covered some blending techniques you can use to combine different photos you've taken of the same scene. In the video, I show how masking in Photoshop can bring together the best parts of several images.

In the following video, I show you my exposure blending workflow in even more detail. If you used bracketing to capture the complete dynamic range of your seascape photo, you'll find the workflow I share in this video helpful. I show how to prepare different images in Lightroom by equalizing the exposures. It makes the blending much simpler, and you can combine it with advanced techniques like using Luminosity Masks.

Conclusion

From research to planning, from scouting to preparation, from taking photos at the coast to editing them in post, we have covered a lot of ground in this article. In the video tutorial below, I summarize the five key elements of my on-location seascape photography workflow once more:

Scouting - It's essential to get the most out of a location. In addition to helping you find compositions, it also helps you to stay safe during a shoot.
Tides - Both for safety and photographic reasons, knowing the tides is key. Use Tides4Fishing to get tide tables for the places you visit.
Composition - Scouting does not only mean looking around for interesting subjects. Before every photo shoot, scout with the camera while leaving the tripod behind. Without a tripod, you're much more flexible in exploring different angles.
Setup - Take your time to set up your equipment well away from the water. Make sure everything is in place, and ideally leave the backpack and all gear you don't need behind in an elevated position far from the water's edge.
Photo Shoot - Seascape scenes are often very dynamic and require multiple exposures to capture all the details. So first of all, you must stabilize the tripod so it does not sink into the sand. Then start taking many photos while using - if required - focus stacking, exposure blending, different apertures, and ISO values. In post, you put everything together for the best result.

Even if your photographic routine in the field looks different than mine, it's good to have one. Just imagine, standing in the waves, taking photos of an awesome sunset, and then having a wave splash your filters. To then realize you left your filter cloth behind can be very annoying. A routine helps you avoid such surprises.

Kase Filters Review

Michael Breitung — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 24:00:00 GMT

Back in January of this year I made the switch from Lee Filters, which I had used for many years, to the Kase Wolverine Filters. After I have now used and tested those filters for several months during various photo trips, it's time for a full review.

I had already recorded a first impressions video, in which I explain why I switched to Kase. Here I will focus on the quality of those filters, summing up the key points. If you want the detailed review, take a few minutes and watch the video below.

Colour Cast - I didn't notice any color cast, even when I applied some heavier post processing to some of the photos
Lens Flares - The filters have a very good coating and they did not contribute any additional lens flares or worsen existing lens flares when I was photographing into the sun

Coating - The coating is maybe my favorite feature. When I got water on the lens it was often enough to just blow the drops off
Weight - The thick Wolverine filters are quite heavy (75g) and this can add up. An alternative is to use the brand new thin filters by Kase
Filter Kit - The new K8 Filter Kit comes with a magnetic Polarizer, which makes its usage very easy and fast

I hope you found this video helpful. And if you have additional questions, you can just leave a comment under the video over at Youtube.

Time Blending Tutorial

Michael Breitung — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 24:00:00 GMT

In this article, I answer the question of what Time Blending is and how to use it to elevate your architecture and landscape photos.

I use a photo I took in Heidelberg a few years ago as an example. I had photographed this scene many times during previous visits to this city. This time, I wanted to try something different and combine the view of the city during sunset and twilight in one photo. To achieve this, I used a technique called Time Blending.

What is Time Blending

Some of you might be familiar with the term Time Blending. It's an exposure blending technique used to combine several photos of the same scene taken over an extended period of time. Typical examples are the combination of a blue hour photo with a night photo showing the stars or the Milky Way. Combining a sunset photo with a twilight or blue hour photo is another good use for this technique.

The photo I captured in the Erg Chigaga in 2019 is an example of a time-blended night photo. To achieve the highest possible quality and capture as many details as possible, I spent more than 90 minutes taking the photos that make up the final image. I combined more than 40 individual photos to create this time-blending I call Desert Nights. You find a detailed photo editing tutorial for this photo in the tutorials section of this homepage.

Here, I used time blending mainly to work around the technical limitations of my camera. When the Milky Way was visible, it was too dark to capture any detail in the foreground, even with a long exposure. That's why I waited until Blue Hour to photograph the landscape.

But time blending can also be used creatively, like in the photo from Heidelberg. Here, I used it to create a scene you'll never be able to witness since the city lights are only switched on long after the sun has set.

In the field

To capture the photo of Heidelberg, I arrived well before sunset and took my time to find the perfect spot and compose the image. Then I sat and waited, enjoying the beautiful evening. Waiting is a common theme when taking photos for a time blending. Expect to be at a location for many hours.

Before the sun vanished behind the hills in the background, I took the first set of photos. The moment before the sun dips behind the horizon is the perfect time to capture a beautiful Sunstar, as I did here using a small aperture. Depending on your lens, you can experiment with f-stops between f/16 and f/22. But be aware that a smaller aperture usually leads to less sharpness in your photos due to an effect called diffraction. That's why I usually stop down only to capture the area around the sun and leave a more open aperture for the rest of the image.

I also used bracketing to ensure I captured the complete dynamic range. Then, I waited another 30 - 40 minutes for the castle and city to light up. This moment presented the perfect equilibrium between the warm glow in the sky and the artificial lights.

To ensure that I would later be able to easily blend the photos, I used a cable release and avoided touching the camera during the whole time. A sturdy tripod will also help.

Photo Editing

The first step during photo editing was blending the bracketed exposures of the sunset photo. Afterward, I combined the images taken of the same scene during twilight.

I then worked on the two photos that resulted from this first blending individually, applying my usual post processing workflow. The images I show above are the result of this editing. They were also the input for the next step, the time blending. For it to work, it was crucial to have similar color and brightness in both photos. I adjusted minor differences during the time blending, but it helps if the starting material has similar brightness and color. In this case, the warm glow in the sky of the photo taken during twilight nicely blends with the sunset sky. The same goes for the orange light on the castle.

I show a slightly different photo editing technique that works if you have perfectly aligned your photos in the video below. This approach uses layer blend modes in Photoshop to blend in just the lights from different photos taken after sunset into the base exposure.

When working on night photos, you'll often have to do some more work. The blue hour photos must be darkened significantly to allow a clean blend. Balancing the colors is also essential, same as for the Heidelberg photo.

Conclusion

It's certainly a matter of taste, if such time-blended photos that certainly bend reality to a degree are to your liking. But it's good to experiment and go a little beyond the boundaries of a natural photo sometimes. The important thing for me is that what I show in those photos was all there. I might not have been able to capture it in one frame, but it's my experience of a long photo shoot compressed into a single image.

Which GND Filters to buy and how to use them

Michael Breitung — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 24:00:00 GMT

When I bought my first GND Filters for landscape photography (GND stands for Graduated Neutral Density) more than seven years ago I had no idea, which filters to buy. There are 1-stop (0.3), 2-stop (0.6), 3-stop (0.9) and even 4-stop (1.2) filters. And those are available as hard, soft, medium and reverse versions.

Such filters are expensive and, if I had believed some online resources, I would have had to buy a complete series of filters to be able to deal with all the different lighting situations.

Which GND Filters to buy

The first filter I bought though was a 0.6 hard GND. And it was a good start and didn’t leave too big of a hole in my wallet. But for many situations it wasn’t enough - especially for those times when I photographed landscapes into the direction of the rising or setting sun.

In addition to that, a hard GND Filter is not ideal for mountainous terrain or in general for scenes where the horizon isn’t flat. So I saved up a bit more money and bought a 0.9 hard GND for those scenes with the sun in the frame and also a 0.6 soft GND to cope with mountain vistas. At some point I even bought a 0.6 reverse Grad because I thought I needed it.

Over the years I have become very experience with those filters. And my arsenal has not grown bigger, instead I reduced the number of GND filters I use to two: a 0.6 hard GND and a 0.6 soft GND. Those two filters are, in my opinion, the most versatile landscape photography filter set.

How to use GND Filters

I can use either of the two filters on their own, or, if the light demands it, I can combine them. And I find the combination of a hard grad with a soft grad gives much better results than using a single 3 or 4-stop filter, for example.

In the video below I explain how I decide which of the filters to use and how I combine them.

As you can see it is very easy to use GND filters. There’s no need to do complicated measurements of the light in the foreground and the light in the sky and then decide, which filter to use. The only decision I have to make is which filter to apply first and this happens based on the nature of the horizon. Then this filter is either enough or I add the other one.

And since I’m shooting with a digital camera I don’t need to get the perfect exposure in one frame. I use GND filters to get me as close as possible to it, but for the best result I often use bracketing in addition to filters.

Some people might argue that, if I use bracketing, I wouldn’t have to use filters at all. But I can get much cleaner results when I only have to apply exposure blending to very specific areas of the photo and the use of GND filters helps me to get the right starting material.

Which GND Filters I use

To conclude this article, I also want to share with you the filter brand I'm currently using. Because in addition to all the graduated filter options I talked about above, you can also choose from many different brands. Seven years ago this was much easier. There were only three major brands available but now it's good to do your research.

This new diversity of filter brands has many advantages, because there's a lot of innovation. Just recently I switched from the well established Lee Filter brand to Kase Filters. Kase is still quite a new player in this field. But as I browsed through their products and watched the videos about those filters I was very intrigued. I decided to give them a try and since then have never looked back - I have since even become an ambassador for Kase Filters.

In the past three years I have used those filters a lot: I had them on trips to the Seychelles, to Vietnam, to Colombia and several more travels. I photographed in various lighting and weather conditions and the filters help up perfectly. As a result of that I have done some review videos about those filters, which you find below.

I hope this article and the videos helped a bit to demystify the GND filters jungle and showed that you don't need to break your bank to get into the filters game. You can start with a holder and one GND Filter as I did, and then add a second one and maybe an ND filter. Then you'll be flexible enough for most photo shoots.

Photographing Anse Patates

Michael Breitung — Fri, 30 Mar 2018 24:00:00 GMT

Anse Patates is located on the northern tip of La Digue, right in front of the Patatran Village hotel, which is where I was staying. And there was no question that I'd be photographing it a few times.

When you are staying in an area for a few days, you have the chance to photograph it under different conditions. When at the coast, those conditions don't only include light and weather, it's also the tides that are constantly changing.

The day I arrived at the Patatran Village low tide coincided with both sunrise and sunset. This created some nice photo opportunities since I could include rocks in the foreground that were submerged at other times of the day.

But for another part of the beach, the one I photograph in the video below, low tide was not ideal. There wer footprints all over the place and the water wasn't high enough to wash them away. But within the week I spent on La Digue the tides slowly shifted. And the last days of my stay the water level was just right during sunset to take the photo I was waiting for.

This is something I love about the coast. The constant change and the different photo opportunities arising each day.

New Zealand - Northland

Michael Breitung — Sun, 28 Jan 2018 24:00:00 GMT

New Zealand is a dream for travellers and landscape photographers. A little over a year ago I had the pleasure to visit this wonderful country for the second time already. During our travels around the world it was our next stop after leaving Australia.

The last time we had been to New Zealand, we had explored both the North and the South Island, with our focus mainly on the latter. We had been travelling during November and the weather was very unpredictable with lots of wind and rain.

Especially while we were travelling through the North Island it was bad. When visiting Tongariro, for example, it was impossible to do the Crossing due to heavy winds and we moved on without taking any photo of the volcanos. So I still had a score to settle.

But first we went north to explore the beautiful coasts of Northland.

Piha

Since we arrived quite late in Auckland and didn't want a too long drive, we decided to head west first. The coast west of Auckland is quite rough with lots of cliffs and sea stacks. It's the perfect place to capture dramatic seascape photos.

Of the many places that we could have visited we selected Piha. With a huge sea stack dividing the mile long beach and a nice caravan park just 300 meters from the coast, it was the perfect place to start our travels through New Zealand.

After the last days in Australia I was quite spoiled with spectacular light and I was hoping for my streak of luck to continue. But first it started to rain. I used the time to explore the beach in all directions and found some nice rocks during low tide. As usual I had checked the tide forecast beforehand and knew that low tide would coincide with sunset the following day.

But as I went to the beach it was still raining. Hope grew as I saw a band of light at the horizon. The clouds appeard to disperse a bit and just as the sun dropped beneath the horizon they broke and the sky glowed in beautiful reds and magentas once more. I couldn't have hoped for a better start for our New Zealand adventure.

Bay of Islands to Whangarei

Our next stop was the Bay of Islands. From Piha we drove straight up to Russell, where we stayed at Orongo Bay Holiday Park. The camping area was great with lots of space and some nice bush walks starting right at the park. Supposedly you can spot Kiwis there from time to time in the evening. But we weren't that lucky and only saw some Wekas.

The next day we explored the Bay of Islands. I found it hard to photograph without getting on a boat or a small plane for a scenic flight. The coast of the mainland didn't provide many photo opportunities. But I had already suspected this and looked a little farther east during my research. Half an hour's drive from Orongo Bay we found the beautiful Elliot Bay.

With sea stacks, rocks and tidal pools this beach had all the subjects I needed for a spectacular photo. It also wasn't too hard to find a composition to combine all those ingredients. The only thing I was missing on the first evening was the right light.

But we weren't in a rush and decided to return again the next evening. The ability to return to a place during travelling multiple times is very important in my opinion. On the first visit I normally don't know an area well, even if I have spent hours researching it. And I don't know how the light changes the look of the land.

So instead of swithing locations each day I normally try to plan at least two days at a location. This way I might visit and photograph less places. But by slowing down I get to know those places much better and I'm usually much more able to take photos, which capture what they are about.

At Sandy Bay we made our next stop and found one of the best campsites of the whole trip. It was a free campsite, which we were allowed to use because we had a self-contained Jucy Condo. Right at the beach, beneath a huge Pohutukawa tree we set up camp.

To find such campsites, I used the invaluable Rankers app. With this app I got informations about holiday parks as well as free campsites and also about the conditions for camping at those.

Just a short walk from Sandy Bay lay the little Daisy Bay. Down there I went exploring again, searching along the coast for interesting rock formations and tidal pools. Although it's more of a sunrise location, it also worked during sunset. There was no direct light hitting the slopes around the bay, but with the low tide I was able to find an interesting foreground, which was submerged when I returned the next morning.

Whangarei

Whangarei was the next stop on our tour through Northland. It's a small mountainous pensinsula with several beautiful beaches. But before visiting those we went to Whangarei falls.

I didn't expect much as I pulled over at the huge parking lot. It was right next to the road, so why not give it a chance. From the viewig platform at the top of the falls I could already see the place from where I wanted to take my photo. I hadn't done any research of the area but I could already previsualize the photo I wanted to take.

After a quick stroll down to the river I quickly found a composition, which hid the stream of visiters in front of the falls. And except for the viewing platform at the top left of the waterfall, this photo could easily have been taken in midst of a jungle.

One hour later we finally arrived at our stay for the next three days. Since it was Christmas time we had decided to rent a Bach and spent a more relaxed time during the holidays.

With the Kiwibach at McKenzie Bay we found the perfect holiday home. After so many weeks in the campervan it was great to finally have a real roof above our heads again.

The following days I hiked up onto the various little mountains in the area and we also explored many of the white sand beaches that Whangarei has to offer. It was great to spent Christmas Eve in shorts at one of those - something I could get used to.

The first week in New Zealand was great. It was summer, which is the most crowded time to visit New Zealand. But in the north we didn't encounter that many tourists. Many of the beaches we visited we had nearly for ourselves. It was a huge contrast to Coromandel, which we would visit two weeks later.

In times of Instagram it seems that as a traveller you have to visit all those places that are trending on that platform. If no influencer has been there yet, it can't be that interesting, right? It couldn't be farther from the truth and I often try to avoid places, which are too trendy on Instagram. But it gets harder and harder to do so.

As I final word: I'm always quite open with the locations I visit. I want to inspire people to travel, to explore and to experience other countries. But I also know that many areas around the world suffer from their sudden popularity. I just hope that my photos, by showing the beauty of those places, also remind you to look after them.

The Importance of Scouting

Michael Breitung — Tue, 26 Dec 2017 24:00:00 GMT

I have already talked about scouting in my first article about seascape photography last year. Amongst the different parts that happen before a photo shoot, scouting is the most important for me.

And there are different reasons for it, about which I talk in the video below. But I don't only talk, I also show you a few examples where scouting was essential to come away with a good photo.

And not only does it help to get a good photo, to know a location and find compositions before a photo shoot. It is also important for safety reasons, especially if you are out in the mountains. So please enjoy the following video.

And lest I forget: I now also have an account on Steemit where I write an article from time to time. So, if my articles here are not enough, you might want to follow me over there too and earn a few crypto coins along the way.

Australia - Victoria

Michael Breitung — Sun, 19 Nov 2017 24:00:00 GMT

As I'm writing this it's been nearly a year since we've been to Australia. A year since we drove from the Blue Mountains down to Mount Buffalo National Park.

Mount Buffalo National Park

It was the longest drive yet, more than 9 hours with our campervan. And when we arrived down in the south it was noticeably colder and the evening felt nearly a bit frosty in t-shirt and shorts. Since I knew that after the long drive I wouldn't have time to scout and photograph anything, I had planned two nights at one of the local caravan parks. There were a few parks in the area, so it was no problem to find a nice spot to stay.

The next morning we first went to Lady's Bath waterfall. It's a very popular place for swimming. Unfortunately the falls didn't have much water, so they weren't interesting in terms of photography. But it was still a nice hike along the little creek.

Later in the evening we dove up the long, winding road to the Hump trailhead. The so called Cathedral, which you can see from the Hump, was the real reason why I wanted to visit this park. Ever since I had seen a photo of that area by Dylan Toh, I wanted to photograph this view myself. Unfortunately, like so often during our travels around the world, there was no cloud in the sky for sunset. But still, what a wonderful vista.

The Great Ocean Road

The next day we drove on to Ballarat where we visited Patrick the Wombat and his friends. It was the first time we saw wombats since in Australia. And they really are some of the cutest animals we had ever seen. In the park it was even possible to cuddle one of the wombats and get a photo.

My girlfriend with Patrick Junior

After this short stop we continued our tour to one of the highlights of our trip through Australia, the Great Ocean Road. At least I had thought it would be a highlight. But despite the spectacular coastline I just didn't get a real connection to this place. It was insanely touristic. After spending most of the time in Australia in relative solitude when out photographing, it was at the Twelve Apostles lookout where, for the first time, I had to kind of negotiate my tripod position with the masses of people.

We had planned two days in the area and we visited every viewpoint. The problem with viewpoints: they don't allow for much originality in landscape photos. And the areas between the viewpoints were often closed for tourists as indicated by fences and signs.

I have to admit from time to time I'm guilty of ignoring such signs, especially, if they feel completely random and out of place. But I try to do so less and less. We always have to be aware that photos taken behind such fences and sings will motivate others to ignore them too. And while we might try to leave as few footprints as possible in those areas, it will sum up over time. Especially in times of Instagram this becomes more and more of a problem.

A bit frustrated by the fences and the weather, which also wasn't ideal on the first evening, I gave the Apostles another try for sunrise. And again, despite much less people, I just didn't feel overly inspired up at the viewpoint.

So to get out of the rut we left the coast for a few hours and went to explore the Otways. At Hopetoun falls we again found some solitude and I spent a nice two hours in the river searching for different angles to photograph the cascade. The photo above ironically was taken right from the viewpoint.

After having some great lunch at Yatzies Pancakes in Lavers Hill we went back to the coast. The sky was still grey and it didn't look like there would be any change for sunset. The whole situation reminded me of our visit to the Antrim coast a few years ago, where we also weren't lucky with the weather and, to make the most of it, went exploring some waterfalls during the day. Back then when we returned to the coast on our last evening just for sunset a gap appeared at the horizon beneath the grey clouds and the sky exploded in intense oranges, reds and magentas.

That evening at the Giants Causeway has been a source of motivation and inspiration for me ever since. It had me heading out again and again over the last years, hoping to someday witness such a spectacle again.

At the Gibson Steps, more than four years later, my persistence was finally rewarded. It started exactly as in Antrim, with a bit of rain. But as I scouted the beach for compositions I could already see a slim, bright line at the horizon, just behind the Gibsons.

My excitement nearly made me forget to find a composition so as the sky began to glow I went racing along the beach, desperately searching for some foreground interest. Luckily the rising tide had just reached a beautifully shaped rock close to the cliff. I couldn't have hoped for more, all the elements were there and I just had to position my camera, wait for a wave to rush up the shore and press the shutter.

Phillip Island

The photo of the Gibson Steps instantly made me forget all the days I had been out during the last months of travelling without taking a great photo. All my endeavors were finally rewarded. So when we left the Great Ocean Road the next day I was very content. I didn't even get up for sunrise.

Our next stop then was Phillip Island south east of Melbourne. The inspiration to visit this place again came from another photographer, whom I've been following for many years now. A few weeks before we flew to Australia Kah Kit Yoong posted a spectacular photograph of the so called Pinnacles rock formation at Cape Woolamai. Since we would drive past this area on our way to Wilsons Promontory Park anyway, I convinced my girlfriend to include it in our itinerary.

Although I had read different reports when I had researched this place, it was quite easy to get down to the shore. The track is steep and a bit slippery but with the right footwear no problem. Down at the shore I was a bit overwhelmed. There were rocks everywhere, steep rock formations to either side of the cove and then there would have been even more photo options behind those.

But I focused my full attention that evening on the Pinnacles. It's not so important for me to come away with many different photos from such a place. I just need one photo that stands out. And this evening it wasn't very hard to get it.

The light from the Gibson Steps had been following me. Or had I been following the light? I don't know. Once more the sky exploded in intense colors and I couldn't believe how lucky I was. To get such light two days in a row is not very likely.

Wilsons Promontory

The last stop on our tour through eastern Australia was Wilsons Promontory national park and it was undoubtedly one of the highlights. We had reserved a campsite at Tidal River Camping and it was one of the coolest campsites we had in Australia. Surely it was quite crowded, since the park is close to Melbourne. But the area is so huge that it didn't feel like that.

In close proximity to the caravan park are four spectacular beaches: Squeaky Beach, Picnic Bay, Whisky Bay and not to forget Tidal River Beach itself. I knew that two days wouldn't be enough to photograph them all. After scouting I decided to photograph Tidal River beach for sunrise since it was right in front of the campground and it would have been stupid to skip this opportunity. And for the two sunsets we had I wanted to try and get a unique photo of Whisky Bay.

Sunrise the first morning didn't bring spectacular colors in the sky, but with a long exposure I was still able to create a photo I like. The morning felt very calm, I had the one mile long beach for myself and the blue hour provided just the right color palette to capture this mood.

And then there was the last evening at Whisky Bay. It's hard to describe how intense the light that evening was. While the first evening had been cloudless and I had mainly used it to find the perfect vantage point and composition, this evening now was a repetition of the sunsets at Gibson Steps and Cape Woolamai in its grandeur.

My girlfriend and I were the only people around for the show. So often during our travels through Australia we were alone at a viewpoint or at a beach for sunrise or sunset.

In a time where places like Iceland, Patagonia or the Lofoten Islands seem to be overrun by photographers and Instagramers it's great that there still seem to be some places where one can enjoy nature's beauty in privacy. I don't mind meeting up with other photographers from time to time, but when I see photos of lines and lines of tripods at a beach, I'm glad that we were able to successfully avoid this madness during our travels.

Although Australia was putting on quite a show during the last days of our visit and obviously didn't want us to leave, after a layover in Melbourne we had to say Goodbye to this wonderful country. With New Zealand being our next stop it was a bit easier, but we were still sad to leave. We will certainly be back in a few years.

Behind the Shot – Spanish Steps

Michael Breitung — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 24:00:00 GMT

In the last article I took you behind the scenes of my photo shoot at the Roman Forum. The day after that magnificent sunrise I ventured out again, this time to the Spanish Steps.

Again the sky was covered with clouds as I walked towards my desired photo location. Unlike the day before the sun didn't break through for sunrise. But this didn't matter. I arrived at the steps well before sunrise during blue hour and the dark blue clouds presented the perfect contrast to the warm city lights.

This is why I love the blue our for cityscape photography. I can take decent photos under a clear sky, under a cloudy sky and when I get a glowing sunrise that's just a bonus.

Besides showing my in the field workflow in the video below, you'll also find a quick blending tutorial at the end. There I show how I combine different exposures to remove people from the frame.

If you liked the video or have questions, just head over to my youtube channel where you can leave a comment beneath the video. I regularly check those and try to answer any questions.

Behind the Shot - Forum Romanum

Michael Breitung — Mon, 02 Oct 2017 24:00:00 GMT

Two weeks ago I visited Rome for four days and besides taking many photos I also recorded a few behind the scenes videos.

But first things first: What an awesome city! It's the atmosphere when walking through the streets, the historic buildings, the spectacular architecture and not to forget the great Italian cuisine that quickly made Rome my new favourit city.

On the first morning I went to photograph the Forum Romanum, of which I had seen many photos already. With google maps and street view I was able to easily pin down the photo location, so I needed no scouting the day before and knew exactly where to go and what to expect.

Unfortunately though there was lots of scaffolding in the foreground, which I had to clone out in the images below. It was a lot of work but, if I hadn't told you, I'm sure you wouldn't have noticed.

In the video I show my complete workflow that morning: From setting up the camera, over some creative decisions to techniques I use when photographing into the sun. It's my longest VLOG yet but I hope you will also find lots of useful information in it.

So I hope you enjoyed the video and the photos. Over the next weeks I will process a few more photos of Rome and there will also be one or two more videos. So stay tuned.

Australia - New South Wales

Michael Breitung — Sun, 24 Sep 2017 24:00:00 GMT

After a wonderful stay in Noosa it was time to move on and leave the sunshine coast behind. We drove past Brisbane down towards Tweed Heads and then to a campground near Fingal Head.

Fingal Head

Two days we stayed there just 20 meters from the beach, a fluffy kookaburra bird greeting us upon arrival. With direct beach access and only a short walk to Fingal Head Lighthouse it was the perfect location both for recharging our batteries and for photography.

The cutest bird in the world, the kookaburra

The latter was the main reason for me to stop at this location though. Since 2009 I had known the rocks at Fingal Head from photos and I had always dreamt of visiting and photographing them one day.

And the causeway didn't disappoint. In the two days there we had everything from clear blue skies, which I used for some night photography, over storms to an awesome sunrise. While Fingal Head Causeway is much smaller than its pendant in Northern Ireland it's equally beautiful. When the waves roll in and break on the rocks it's just spectacular to watch.

Our typical dinner in Australia. Those gas barbecues can be found everywhere (not only caravan parks) and are free to use

Forresters Beach

We then continued our drive along the coast towards Forresters Beach, another place I had wanted to photograph for a long time. Unfortunately the nearest caravan park was 10km away this time and not nearly as comfortable as the one at Fingal Head. But we just stayed for one night, so this wasn't too much of a problem.

The best part about Forresters Beach were the rock structures south of the beach. I hadn't seen anything like it before - it looked like a huge mosaic of rocks. But as usual with seascape photography, despite endless compositional opportunities, in the end the tides dictated what I could photograph.

During our visit to Forresters low tide coincided with both sunset and sunrise. This meant I wouldn't be able to photograph waves rushing over the rock pavement and that some of the more spectacular compositions weren't possible. So I focused my efforts on finding interesting patterns and colors in the rocks instead.

The first evening I was mainly there scouting compositions for the next morning. I didn't expect to take a photo since the beach was facing east and the sky was covered by thick, grey clouds. But just before sunset the sun broke through in the west and painted the easterly sky in beautiful reds and magentas. Luckily by then I had found the perfect composition to complement those colors.

Sydney

After another early morning shoot we went to the next caravan park, this time in Narrabeen close to Sydney. If you ever want to visit Sydney and you are traveling with a caravan or campervan, Sydney Lakeside Holiday park is the location to stay.

It's not cheap for a caravan park. But considering the premium facilities, the awesome beaches in walking distance and the possibility to get to Sydney via a combination of bus and ferry in roughly one hour, it's a great deal. And the ferry crossing from Manly to Sydney is an experience by itself.

In Sydney we visited many of the typical photo spots, from which you have a great view of the Skyline and the Opera. But my favorite view was near Cremorne Point Warf. It's the perfect location to photograph sunset and blue hour with a long lens.

We stayed a total of four days in the area because, besides Sydney, we also wanted to explore some of the northern beaches. I did a lot of rock climbing and scouting along the cliffs in those days and found some great locations.

But unfortunately we had the worst weather of our Australia trip during those days. While the cloudy skies and the rain didn't bother me when photographing blue hour in Sydney, they didn't provide the light I needed to capture dramatic seascapes. The tide wasn't high enough either. And so I ended up photographing no seascapes at all on this occasion, although I tried to heed the advice I gave in one of my recent youtube videos. But when photographing every day for a longer time, you also get a bit tired. I certainly was.

So instead I enjoyed a few runs along Narrabeen beach and swims in the huge salt water pool, which was built right into the rocks at the northern end of the beach. It doesn't always have to be about photography, which I began to realize more and more the longer our journey around the world lasted. It still felt hard to miss photographing a sunrise or sunset, but it became easier.

Blue Mountains

From Sydney it was a relatively short drive into the Blue Mountains, which lie roughly 100km west of the city. Our first stop was a town called Blackheath. We were nearly the only people at the caravan park there, which again was very well equipped.

This is something, which holds true for most of the parks we stayed at in Australia. The facilities were very good, most of the time it wasn't all too crowded and generally those caravan parks were located in very nice settings - except for a few places like the park near Forresters.

We had picked Blackheath as our first stop because of a few viewpoints we wanted to checkout in the area. First we went to the Govetts leap lookout and did some exploring along the various trails starting at the car-park. Later we drove to Pulpit Rock lookout, which would also have been a nice hike, but we only had one day in the area, so we decided to drive there instead.

While Pulpit Rock lookout is also very spectacular, the view right from the car-park at Govetts leap seemed to be the most promising for sunrise the next morning. Normally I don't mind putting in some work to get my photos, but it was nice to park our campervan right on location the next morning. And despite the easy access and the wonderful conditions, we were the only people there.

It's quite fascinating that after so many months of traveling around the world not once I had to share a location with other photographers yet - Machu Picchu might have been an exception, but I shared it mostly with tourists and selfie hunters.

We then settled over to Katoomba, which was just 15 km closer to Sydney, but also much more crowded. The caravan park there was full, so it was good we had reserved our spot the day before.

This is always a good idea when traveling by campervan. Usually we planned ahead a few days and so it was possible to reserve our campsites one or two days ahead. Mostly this wasn't necessary, but it just felt good to know we wouldn't have to search for a place to park our van after a long drive.

Located around Katoomba are countless trailheads and viewpoints and so we spent most of the day exploring. After the few rainy days in Sydney it was hot again, but with the wind close to the canyon rim the climate was quite enjoyable. The last viewpoint of the day for us was Therabulat lookout. It's a little off the beaten track and again we had it for ourselves.

I was expecting a spectacular sunset as the clouds rolled in, but unfortunately the thickest clouds settled far to the west and snuffed out the sunlight just before sunset. It became very windy too and I had to abandon my photo spot right at the edge of the rim. But the photo I took an hour before sunset already contained some beautiful light and cloud patterns, so I wasn't overly disappointment.

Before our 10 hour drive to Mount Buffalo National Park the next day I got up very early once more. This time I was up to photograph the most popular view in Katoomba, the Three Sisters. This viewpoint was very crowded during day, but before sunrise there were nearly no other people.

The air that morning was freezing and the wind blowing in strong gusts. I had to time my exposures between those to make sure to get a sharp photo and to avoid too much motion blur in the trees to the left. The moment the sun peaked over the edge of the canyon and bathed the valley below in warm morning light was magical.

But I couldn't linger too long and had to quickly get back to the camper so we could get on the road again.

We had a great time in New South Wales. It was very different to Queensland. The coast was much more raw and the opportunities to capture spectacular seascapes endless. The climate was more moderate than far to the north were we had started our trip. But it was also a bit more crowded, especially around Sydney and the Blue Mountains. What we could generally say about Australia this far is that its diversity blew us away again and again.

Australia - Queensland Part 2

Michael Breitung — Thu, 03 Aug 2017 24:00:00 GMT

The first days in Queensland had already been very diversified. We had been to the tropics around Cape Tribulation, to the rolling hills around Millaa Millaa and finally went on a boat ride through the Whitsundays.

Up until now though we had not seen any kangaroos, which are the first animals which come to mind, if I think of Australia. In Arlie Beach I studied some tourist brochures and in one of them I found a photo of kangaroos on a beach. A little online research revealed that this photo had been taken at Cape Hillsborough, which happened to be just a two hours drive further down the coast.

Cape Hillsborough

When we arrived at the tourist park right at Cape Hillsborough beach it didn't take long until we saw the first kangaroos. They were hopping around in the park between the campsites and the owner of the park told us that in the morning, when it's cooler, they also like to explore the beach.

But besides Kangaroos there's much more that makes Cape Hillsborough a great place to visit. The landscape is just beautiful and offers many photo opportunities. We did some hikes along the beach, which at low tide extends far along the coast. In one area the sand seemed to be moving and as we got closer we saw a huge colony of soldier crabs.

We even met our first kookaburra. Suddenly he sat right next to our camper and at first we thought somebody had lost his cuddle toy. This just has to be the cutest bird in the world. Kookaburras look very fluffy and make so funny noises. When they sit up in the trees at night they seem to constantly laugh at you. Sometimes it sounds like a herd of monkeys.

In the evening I took my first photos of Cape Hillsborough beach. I was hoping for some clouds but as those didn't appear I went back to the Campervan for another short night of sleep.

Early the next morning I went to the northern part of the beach where I had found some interesting rock formations the day before. I was hoping for a kangaroo to hop by but those had decided to explore the other end of the beach. I knew until I would have gotten there, they would have been gone so I decided to focus on the landscape and compose a photo including one of the many tidal pools. With the pastel colored sky above it was one of the more colorful mornings of our trip till now.

Noosa Heads

Our last stop in Queensland was Noosa on the northern end of the Sunshine Coast. This area is very popular with surfers and for good reason. There's a lot of wave action to be had, which also makes Noosa a great place for seascape photography.

Along the Noosa Heads coast runs a beautiful coastal trail along which many photogenic coves can be found. I especially liked the area near the Paradise Caves and Devil's Kitchen, which is where I took the photo below.

As usual I had scouted the location the day before and I knew exactly how long it would take me to hike there in the morning. Well, theoretically. There was one thing I hadn't taken into account - spiders. While in the afternoon I only needed 20 minutes to get to the location, in the morning it took me more than half an hour.

When I started the hike in the predawn darkness I encountered a huge spider's web spanning the trail after 2 minutes along the track, a fat garden orb spider sitting in the middle of it. Sure enough this wasn't the only web I had to climb under that morning. Although those spiders are not poisonous I was very careful to avoid the webs and I was glad when I reached the viewpoint above Devil's Kitchen to finally enjoy the morning breeze.

So the next morning I decided to checkout a viewpoint, which wouldn't involve dodging spiders. From Sunshine Beach I did some rock climbing around the coast to reach a beautiful rocky outcrop with huge waves crashing in. I instantly had a picture in my mind of me standing in the middle of it, which at first seemed a bit too dangerous.

Bigger waves often come in sets, followed by a calmer phase. It's hard to predict and time. And there's always a chance for some rogue wave hitting the shore. But with the receding tide and with my eyes fixed on the sea I finally ventured out to take the photo I had envisioned. For such photos I usually set my camera to interval timer and leave it to take a photo every 5 seconds until I'm back. This way I don't need a wireless release and I also don't need to rush.

The final result wasn't shot in one frame though and needed some blending. While the huge wave you see in the foreground crashed onto the shore I didn't stand on those rocks. In the best case I would have been drenched and in the worst swept off those rocks. Instead I first took many photos of the crashing waves without me in the frame and the photo with me during a calmer phase. The blend was quite easy as I show in my youtube tutorial on photographing seascapes.

The first two weeks of our road trip along Australia's east coast went by very fast. We already had to skip a few places because there was still so much to come on our way down to Melbourne. Five weeks might sound like a long time, but when traveling through Australia it's like a short time vacation.

Australia - Queensland Part 1

Michael Breitung — Fri, 07 Jul 2017 24:00:00 GMT

After ten weeks in South America we flew from Santiago to Sydney and from there up to Cairns. Australia was the fifth country on our tour around the world and the contrast to South America couldn't have been bigger. The houses around Cairns looked like out of a magazine, there were huge supermarkets and everything was clean and polished.

We had rented a Jucy Condo for our travels and our first stop was Port Douglas north of Cairns. It felt so good to have the flexibility of an own car. The freedom of just going wherever and whenever we wanted was great after relying on buses, collectivos and taxis for so long.

Don't get me wrong here, we had a great time in South America. But it was also tiring at times and especially in terms of photography there were often hurdles, which made it hard and sometimes impossible to get the photos I wanted.

The first thing we did after picking up our campervan was heading to a supermarket. I knew it would be expensive, so there was no surprise here. But it was also great to have such a variety of groceries to choose from again.

Also, we would be able to cook those ourselves so the constant search for the next meal or restaurant was over. This normally isn't a problem during shorter vacations. But when traveling for several months eating out two to three times a day can be quite annoying and it is certainly not healthy.

Port Douglas

We ended up staying in Port Douglas for four days to recharge our batteries and to explore the surrounding beaches. I ventured out to photograph sunrise and sunset a few times but I'm not fully satisfied with the results I got. But that's ok, considering that we had been traveling for nearly three months a bit of a pause was necessary.

What I started doing again was my morning ritual (see The Miracle Morning for some inspiration - buy US, UK, GER*), which I had done less and less in the confined spaces of our hotels in South America. Now I could just head to the beach and do some sport, read a bit and prepare a good breakfast involving fresh fruits, yogurt and cereal.

The only thing that was a bit problematic at first, was the absence of free WIFI. I had counted on the caravan parks to provide WIFI but wherever we went, if there was WIFI it was either slow or expensive. Since we hadn't completely planned our route through Australia yet and just knew when we wanted to be in Melbourne, internet access was a necessity. So after a while I ended up buying an Australian SIM and some data for 40$, which lasted a few weeks.

Cape Tribulation

From Port Douglas we drove up through the rain forest to Cape Tribulation. What a fantastic drive! The winding roads took us through thick vegetation and we ended up at a wonderful campsite just 100 meters away from an empty, mile-long beach. It seemed we were the only tourists at the time and besides a few Australians there weren't many people in the area.

It was the middle of November and it was hot. During day we had between 35 and 40°C. At night it didn't cool down much and sleeping in our campervan with open windows was a bit creepy because of all the spiders and insects in the area. Australia might have some of the cutest animals in the world, but it also has plenty of the deadliest animals. And the first days it was kind of awkward to walk around in the jungle.

But with time we got used to it and developed a routine, which included always checking the content of our shoes before putting them on. I also got to photograph my first spectacular sunrise. At low tide the beach revealed some intricate structures and when the sky exploded it was magical. I would have enjoyed it much more though, if this hadn't been crocodile country, so I had to keep a constant eye on the waters edge.

This might sound a bit exaggerated, but just a few miles down the road a tourist had been killed by a salt-water crocodile a few years ago. Swimming in the dark is not the best idea up there but also roaming the beaches close to the waters edge, eyes fixed on the display of a camera didn't seem the safest thing to do.

Millaa Millaa

After two days in the tropics we decided to head down to some cooler areas again. I had read that around Millaa Millaa was a nice waterfall route where you could visit several beautiful cascades. And since we hadn't seen a waterfall since Mindo, we decided to give it a try.

In the end though the highlight for me weren't the waterfalls, which unfortunately were a bit too dry for photography. But the rolling hills of the surrounding countryside presented some beautiful views. In parts it looked a bit like the area in New Zealand, where The Lord of the Rings and the The Hobbit had been filmed.

Whitsundays

A long drive of more than eight hours brought us to Airlie Beach. This is the main port for trips to the Whitsunday Islands. Besides that there's not too much to see. It's quite a nice town with a few smaller beaches, but nothing spectacular. We stayed two days to do a full-day trip to Whitehaven Beach.

It would have been great to do a multi-day sailing trip there. But such a trip should be booked well in advance and it was also slightly above our budget. Just for reference, the one day trip already cost us 180 AUD per person.

But it was worth it. We happened to arrive at Whitehaven Beach as one of the first boats and this enabled me to get my photo for the day without hundreds of people in the frame. Because around noon the beach gets very crowded as more and more boats arrive.

It's no wonder that this beach and the Whitsundays in general attract so many visitors. The area is a nature paradise. There are 74 little islands lined by white beaches and surrounded by turquoise water and coral reefs.

It would have been great to do some snorkeling. But since during the few days we had been in Queensland, we had already read about several people dying during snorkel trips in that time, we decided against it.

One has to know that from roughly November till April there's an increased amount of stingers in the waters along Queensland's coast. Among those, some very poisonous species, which can kill through simple contact. People who still want to snorkel usually don stinger suits in an attempt to reduce the possible contact areas.

Fortunately Australia offers enough to do and see on the land and in the second part of this article I'll show you two more beautiful places we visited in Queensland before I take you along our journey through New South Wales and Victoria. So stay tuned.

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Dealing with grey Skies in Landscape Photography

Michael Breitung — Sat, 01 Jul 2017 24:00:00 GMT

This photography tutorial is about capturing great landscape photos even when the weather doesn't cooperate.

Just recently I returned from one week in northern Spain. I was visiting the Costa Quebrada near Santander and some close-by landscapes. During that week, not once did I get a glowing sunrise or sunset to photograph. Years ago this would have frustrated me. But I have since learned how to take spectacular photos even in the absence of great light.

I have recorded a video where I show three ways on how to create portfolio worthy photos under flat, grey skies. With a spectacular landscape nearby there's really no reason to be frustrated. Landscape Photography is not only about photographing the next spectacular sunset. First and foremost it's about enjoying nature and trying to capture the atmospheres that are presented, whatever they are.

Over the past years I started to embrace those gloomy moods that are created by grey skies once it gets a bit darker. If the sky breaks up and I get that magical light, that's great. But, if this doesn't happen, I simply focus on capturing the dark atmosphere of a gloomy evening. This worked especially with those rough looking landscapes I found along the coast of northern Spain.

Also I can usually find some nearby forests or even waterfalls through research. And those are the perfect subjects to photograph under cloudy skies. Putting a Polarizing Filter in front of the lens will make the colors pop and when there's fog or rain the photos will get a mystic look.

I show an example together with a third recipe, which is photographing false sunrises or sunsets, in the video below. With false I mean that I can get a glowing sky, even if there is no sun breaking through the clouds. I simply use the artificial light of a nearby town or city, which is reflected off the grey sky. When I photograph long before sunrise or after sunset the resulting photos can become very vibrant, same as during a spectacular sunrise or sunset. Just that there is none.

I hope this little article and the video inspires you to head out the next time the weather doesn't cooperate. If you are travelling you often don't have enough time to wait for the perfect light. So always remember a grey sky might be just as perfect to capture the essence of a scene.

Photographing Landscapes at low Angle

Michael Breitung — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 24:00:00 GMT

It's easy to fill whole books describing ways to compose a photo, rules to apply and things to avoid. In this article and the accompanying video I'll just talk about a very certain technique, which can be used to create dynamic compositions.

The technique is very simple and works especially when using a wide angle lens. By moving the camera closer to the ground parallel lines in the frame become diagonals, structures and patterns are revealed. And often an otherwise ordinary view appears far more interesting because of the low viewpoint.

But there are exceptions and not every scene benefits from a low viewpoint. It's important to preserve the visual flow in a photo. If the foreground melts into the background because of a too low perspective this can destroy the depth of an image and the viewer might find no access into the photo.

In the video below I show some examples where the low perspective works and where a slightly higher viewpoint led to a better composition.

For those who are interested in getting a more complete overview about what compostions work and further techniques to create harmony in a photo I recomment the book The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman (buy US, UK, GER*). The book is filled with many great example images and explanations. I read it when I started with photography and it helped me a lot to understand composition.

* These are a Amazon Affiliate Links. If you use them to buy something, I'll get a little commission from Amazon

Atacama

Michael Breitung — Sun, 14 May 2017 24:00:00 GMT

After four days in the mountains of Bolivia, we crossed the border at Hito Cajon and entered the fourth country of our tour around the world, Chile. It struck me how abrupt the change in infrastructure was. The rough dirt roads of Bolivia were transformed into paved roads just a few 100 meters beyond the border. Where before there had been only a few 4x4 Jeeps, there were now buses.

I had already heard about the mass tourism around San Pedro de Atacama, but after the solitude we had enjoyed in Bolivia it was a drastic change. The town was buzzing with people, many of them backpackers on their way through South America.

Despite the masses and the much higher prices though, it was great to have a selection of restaurants again, a little supermarket and most importantly a shower. Getting around town was also super easy, either by walking or on the bicycles that were included with our accommodation.

I didn't waste much time and made a first exploratory bike tour up the road to Calama. It ascended to some nice viewpoints, from which I could see the distant Andean Mountains. Some scouting brought me to a particularly interesting location with steep cliffs in the foreground, a crater-like landscape in the middle ground and San Pedro with the Andean Mountains behind in the background.

The next morning the alarm rang two hours before sunrise and for the first time I experienced San Pedro and the surrounding landscape devoid of any people. I enjoyed the bike ride in the fresh morning air and arrived at location in the pre-dawn darkness. As I sat at the viewpoint and waited I was surrounded by total silence - no animal sounds, no wind, no cars. As the raw desert landscape slowly began to emerge from the gloom, it was magical.

When I was back in San Pedro again the town had awoken. The objective for the day besides booking one of the tours to Valle de la Luna for the evening was finding a laundry. Until now it had always been easy to find a cheap laundry option, but in San Pedro there was only one laundry and the price was ridiculous. We would have ended up with around 20 Euros to get all our clothes washed and it would have taken 1,5 days. Plus the woman who ran the laundry was one of the most unfriendly people I had encountered during our time in South America.

Fortunately Carlos, the owner of the Pro Desert Camper Lodge where we were staying, also had laundry service available. It took only 6 hours to get our clothes washed and dried and it was even cheaper.

In the evening we went on one of the tours to Valle de la Luna. For around 10 Euro per person we could select from around 40 tours, which all do exactly the same: Start in San Pedro around 4pm, drive to Valle de La Luna with some viewpoints and then head to Piedra de Coyote for sunset. It was stupid because everywhere we went it was crowded. The next funny fact about the tour: They advertised experiencing the sunset in the desert but we left just with the sun vanishing behind the horizon. So there was no real experience because before sunset they already started to rush us back into the bus. Just as the landscape started to glow we were on our way back to town.

To sum it up, this first tour was nothing more than a scouting trip to get an overview about the different locations. It would have been great to have an own car, but the local car rental didn't have any cars for the time we were in San Pedro, so it was either tour or bicycle.

The next days I took the bicycle, which was quite a workout in the evening. I had already experienced strong winds in Bolivia and here it was the same. They started picking up in the afternoon, just when I was usually cycling to my sunset locations. One evening the winds were so strong that it took me more than 90 minutes for the 12km to Valle de la Luna. When I arrived there I was exhausted. I didn't even get a good photo that evening and the ride back was a nightmare because I was constantly overtaken in the darkness by buses and cars, which were also on their way back to San Pedro.

So the next evening I decided to head to Piedra de Coyote instead. On the drive up there I was mostly shaded from the wind and the way back to town was mostly downhill. This evening was magical. I was up there more than one hour before sunset and I was the only person there. Just 30 minutes before sunset it began to fill up with hundreds of people. And then, 10 minutes after sunset I was alone again.

I photographed the landscape exclusively with my 70-200 mm lens that evening, trying to get some more detailed views of it. Also with the telephoto lens I didn't need any clouds in the sky. It was a productive evening and I like the results very much. There's just so much structure and cracks, intricately shaped mountains and then there is salt evaporating from the earth, which looks a bit like frost or snow.

A visit to the Tatio Geysers unfortunately wasn't feasible by bike. So we had to do another tour. But this time we did a little bit more research to find a tour, which didn't just do it like all the others. We found Cosmo Andino, one of maybe 3 agencies, who actually try to avoid the masses by adjusting their itineraries accordingly.

At Tatio itself this was not possible though. In the morning there are maybe 50 buses full of tourists who wanted to take their selfies. Some time ago one of them had fallen into a Geyser and died because she had gotten too close for such a photo. On our visit the areas where one could walk were clearly marked and there were little rings of stones around the Geysers. Thus the whole area didn't feel very raw and natural anymore. But again the tele lens helped me to get at least a few decent photos.

On the way back to San Pedro Cosmo Andino avoided a little Andean village, which got swarmed by the other tours. Instead we went exploring a canyon full of huge cacti. It was a nice nature experience but with the sun high in the sky it was impossible to take a good photo.

For the last day in San Pedro I had one more photo on my list. During my previous bicycle tours I had visited Valle de la Muerte, which is sometimes also called Valle de Marte. I find the latter more fitting, since this place really looks like one would imagine Mars. There's a huge dune, which around noon is used for sand boarding.

But in the morning nobody was there. There's a gate, which is closed in the morning. But with my bicycle I could easily duck under it. Since I had payed the entrance during my scouting tour already I didn't feel too bad about it. With all the tours and entrance fees of the previous days we had left enough money in San Pedro.

As I drove the few kilometers through the canyon towards the dune it felt a bit spooky. It was still well before sunrise and I could just see what my torch illuminated. As I arrived at the dune the real workout began. I didn't want to have footprints in my photo so instead of the easy path along the ridge I climbed the steep slope behind my desired viewpoint. It took me more than 15 minutes to reach the top, which I didn't see until I was a few meters below the crest.

The early rise and sweat were well worth it. The view along the ridge towards Licancabur in the distance is in my opinion the best view around San Pedro. I didn't even resent having no clouds in the sky yet again. For this view the blue sky provided the perfect backdrop and I enjoyed every minute as the sun slowly crept over the mountains.

After six days our time in San Pedro was over. Despite the crowds we had a great time, especially because of our beautiful accommodation. It was like a little oasis where we got regular visits from some of the friendly dogs in town. For me it was a good place to get the batteries recharged, which was much needed after the previous weeks of travel through South America.

To draw a balance, I have to admit that it wasn't always easy. I was glad I had planned most of the trip prior to the start of our world tour, because it took away some of the pressure during traveling. South America might be great for backpackers, who don't travel with camera equipment of a few thousand euros. But having a backpack full of camera gear results in the constant need to be aware of the surroundings, the constant question, if it is safer to leave it in the hotel or to take it along. Then there are the strange opening hours of many places, which often don't include sunrise or sunset. This makes photography a lot harder.

But it was also a great experience. We were able to practice our Spanish, we met many friendly and helpful people. Especially Ecuador stood out in this regard. Also the landscapes we saw were something completely different to what we had encountered during our previous travels. We visited the jungle and just a few days later drove through the desert like landscape of Bolivia. Never staying more than six days in one area made it a very diversified tour. It was sometimes exhausting but the constant change was also what made our time in South America so interesting.

Left now were two 12 hour bus rides down to Santiago, where we met up with my niece, who was studying there at the time. The two days in Santiago were a great finish to the first major part of our journey. Our next stop was Australia.

Noise Reduction for Night Photos

Michael Breitung — Sun, 07 May 2017 24:00:00 GMT

When shooting starscapes a problem I have to deal with is high noise in the images. If I can't go with exposures of several minutes because I want the stars to appear sharp in the image, I have to increase the ISO to achieve exposure times between 10 and 20 seconds. To reduce the resulting noise I can take multiple images and use a technique called noise averaging to get a clean image.

The image of San Pedro de Atacama below is the result of four photos I took for the stars, roughly an hour before sunrise, and one image I captured just before the sun appeared. I used noise averaging on the star images and later combined the result with the twilight scene to create this surreal photo.

If you are wondering where the stars are in this photo, I have to admit that in the web sized photo they are nearly not visible. I primarily optimize my photos to look good in print, which is where the stars will look great in the photo. After resizing for web they are very small though. Just watch the video below till the end to see a larger version.

In the video you'll learn exactly how I applied the averaging and how I did further tweaks to the night sky photo, which gave me an even cleaner image.

As you can see, using only four images gives me a much cleaner sky already. If necessary, I could average more images, which might be needed when using even higher ISO values. The only limit for PC users might be the 1GB problem of DeepSkyStacker and I have yet to test where that limit lies.

You'll find the DeepSkyStacker here. And, if you want to learn my techniques to create a twilight star scene like in the photo of San Pedro, head over to tutorials.

Uyuni and Lipez

Michael Breitung — Sun, 23 Apr 2017 24:00:00 GMT

Our four day Jeep tour through the Bolivian highlands was certainly one of the parts of our journey, to which I was looking forward the most. I had done extended research to find a good tour agency, wrote several emails and in the end decided to go with La Torre Tours from Tupiza. This was a good decision because for one thing we could include Tupiza in our travels and the tour itself was well organized.

We had also decided to get a private tour. Normally there can be up to six people in a Jeep. While this would have made the tour more affordable it would also have given us much less flexibility. When we left Tupiza it was only us in the Jeep together with our guide Nico and his wife, who would be cooking for us.

The best thing about this was that we could decide the pace and also customize parts of the route. This way we arrived at most locations without any other people around. Important for me was also to include a few sunset and sunrise shoots and while this led to very long days, it gave us some very unique experiences.

Tupiza to Uyuni

The first leg of our tour led us past the Sillar rock formations through the Bolivian highlands towards Uyuni. The landscape was vast, full of rolling hills, deserts, rocks and mountains. While the first part was still on dirt roads we later drove through dry river beds or across wide runways of sand and gravel. Occasionally we saw some wildlive, mostly Llamas or Alpacas. But most of the time the land was empty.

I was sometimes wondering how Nico knew where to go but even without GPS we arrived on the immense salt flats of Salar de Uyuni just in time for sunset. On the way there we had made a few photo stops, one of which was at Ciudad del Encanto. This place felt like a scene from the movie Pitch Black. Even around noon it was a bit spooky to explore the various caverns and viewpoints.

Uyuni to Laguna Colorada

The second day of our tour started well before sunrise. We had slept in one of the salt hotels at the edge of the Salar and now made our way to the Incahuasi island in the middle of the salt desert. It was a wonderful place to watch the sunrise amidst a forest of huge cacti. It was also one of the few occasions where we weren't alone during the tour. So close to Uyuni there were many other people out to enjoy the view.

Soon after sunrise we were on the road again, heading south towards the Lagunas Altiplanicas. The first lagoon we visited was Laguna Negra. What I liked about this place was the rock garden amidst which we made our pick-nick. I really would have loved to photograph there during sunset, but we still had a few more hours of driving ahead of us to get down to Laguna Colorada.

On the way there we stopped at more beautiful lagoons, crossed the Desierto Siloli and Desierto Dali until we finally reached a beautiful viewpoint near the red lagoon. The timing was perfect to photograph sunset. Just as the last light touched the tips of the distant mountains was the perfect moment for the photo.

Sur Lipez

We spent the night in a hostel close to the lagoon. The next morning we went back once more to observe the flamingos. There were hundreds of them in the area and we spent more than one hour wandering the shores of the lagoon and taking photos. Again we were the only people around.

Then the final part of our journey began. A long drive through the highlands. This time we went up to around 5000 meters, drove past geysers and hot springs to finally arrived at Hito Cajon. This was my favourite location of the whole tour. There are numerous volcanoes and mountains close by, two huge lagoons and many spectacular views.

For the final sunset I hiked up the slope of one of the mountains in order to get a good view of Laguna Blanca and the mighty Licancabur. I was struggling a bit to find a good composition. There were so many rocks of various size and shape and I had to do a lot of previsualization to find a foreground that would look nice later with the deep standing sun. The contrasts between light and shadow would be critical for a good composition and would help to simplify the otherwhise cluttered scene. Once I found a good arrangement I sat down and waited.

The temperature dropped, the wind picked up and I was glad I brought enough layers of clothing. The moment the sun vanished behind the horizon was magical, even without clouds in the sky. After taking the photo I quickly packed up my gear and jogged back down to the car, where Nico and my girlfriend were waiting.

The next morning we left the dirt roads behind us. We said goodbye to Nico and his wife and via bus drove down to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile and to a long overdue shower.

Travel Tips

I want to end this article with five tips for those of you who are also planning to visit Uyuni and the bolivian highlands:

Uyuni is the start of most tours onto the salt flats and into the Bolivian highlands. We had decided to start our tour in Tupiza instead and I can totally recommend it. If you have read my last article you alread know about the beautiful landscapes, which you can explore down there.
If you decide to do a tour from Tupiza you should book in advance. There are only a few tour agencies in town and only a hand full of tours leave each day. The agencies we found are La Torre Tours, Tupiza Tours and Natural Adventures.
If you are a backpacker, traveling alone, such a Jeep tour can be great to meet other people. If you are flexible and have enough time you can spend some of it in town to find people to join on a tour. But, if you are into landscape photography, I'd recommend to spend the extra money for a private tour. It's the only way to ensure that you can photograph around sunset. We were always the last people to arrive at the hostels.
Learn some Spanish. Most of the drivers don't speak English and an English speaking guide will cost extra.
Take some time to acclimatize before going on a longer tour. You'll be mostly sleeping above 4000 meters and, if you're not acclimatized, this can ruin the whole experience. We had spend a few days in La Paz and then in and around Tupiza and thankfully had no problems with the height.

Tupiza

Michael Breitung — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 24:00:00 GMT

After five days in La Paz I was desperate to get some wide scenic landscapes in front of my camera again. Our plan was to travel to Tupiza in the far south of Bolivia and from there do a four day tour through the Bolivian mountains.

Most tourists head directly to Uyuni from La Paz, which is much closer. But besides being the hub for many tours onto the Salar and down towards Lipez, Uyuni doesn't have much to offer. Tupiza and it's surrounding landscapes on the other hand looked much more interesting, a bit like the national parks in the south-west of the US.

La Paz to Tupiza

The options to travel to Tupiza are few. Option one is a bus ride of around 14 hours. From what I read online one should avoid it. First of all the south of Bolivia is mostly made up of bumpy dirt roads and riding those in a packed bus is even less entertaining than the long bus rides through Peru. Also most of those buses don't seem to offer a toilet or the drivers simply keep the toilet locked because they don't want to clean it.

We decided to use option two and booked a train from Oruro to Tupiza with Kanootours. We even spent something extra to get a private transport from La Paz to Oruro organized by Kanoo Tours instead of using one of the public buses. This turned out to be some money well spent and this leg of our journey ended up being the most comfortable part of our trip through South America.

But first we had to get out of La Paz and this gave us some sleepless nights. Three days before our departure we received an email from Kanoo Tours. They told us our driver wanted to reschedule our departure time to 4am in the morning, hoping to avoid road blockades.

What had happened? The public transport sector of La Paz had announced a strike for that day. In Bolivia such a strike can become a severe problem for locals and visitors alike. If drivers ignore it, their cars can get stopped and in the past such encounters sometimes got violent. Smashed windows and pricked tires are nothing out of the ordinary.

As I read all this in the local newspapers I got a bit uneasy. The train from Oruro doesn't run on a daily basis and missing it would have ment to wait two extra days. As a consequence I would have had to reschedule our tour in Tupiza, then change the booking for our first stay in Chile afterwards. To avoid it I spent a lot of time researching alternatives in order to get us to Oruro a day before the strike.

But in the end we were lucky. A temporal agreement was reached between the drivers and the officials in La Paz, which helped to delay the strike long enough for us to get out.

Tupiza

We started our trip to Tupiza on a Friday morning and arrived at 4am the next day. It was a long travel. We then slept in and went exploring the town in the afternoon.

There was really not much going on in Tupiza. There's the main street with some shops, restaurants and agencies, a market, a small park. All in all a nice little town close to the Argentinean border, which doesn't seem to see many tourists.

The first thing we did was checking the three tour agencies to find a driver, who would do a custom tour through the surrounding landscape with us the next day. Natural Adventures at the end of town was the only agency who understood what we wanted and that the pre-defined tours were not for us. The other agencies only tried to sell us one of those. But they didn't include sunset, which was essential.

With our driver we went exploring around Tupiza the following day and visited places like Puerta del Diablo, Valle de los Machos and Cañon del Inca. But the highlight for me was the viewpoint near the so called Sillar rock formation. Unfortunately we didn't get any clouds for sunset, which is quite common for Bolivia around the end of October. But is was still a spectacular view to end our day with in Tupiza.

Looking for compositions prooved a bit difficult though, especially finding an interesting foreground that didn't look too cluttered. I wanted one of the cacti of the area in the photo, but I didn't find a free standing one. In the end I had to include some bushes in the foreground and by combining exposures with different ISO I tried to freeze their movement since the wind had picked up.

We could certainly have spent one more day in Tupiza, but the highlight of our South America travel segment couldn't wait. The next morning our four day tour with La Torre Tours started. The next article will be full of photos of the unique landscapes we visited during that trip.

La Paz Photography

Michael Breitung — Sat, 18 Mar 2017 24:00:00 GMT

Maybe the most strenuous part of our journey through South America were the three days of travel from Puerto Maldonado in Peru to La Paz in Bolivia. But in the end it was worth the effort as you'll see in the photos below.

Traveling to La Paz

Since there were no direct flights from Puerto Maldonado or Cusco to La Paz, and the options with a stop in Lima were just too expensive, we had decided to cross the border by bus. Looking back now, this might not have been the best decision. But it was an experience nevertheless.

We completed three long bus rides of around 10 hours in three consecutive days. First we took the night bus to Cusco, where we had a layover so we weren't dependent on the punctuality of the buses. Then we went to Puno for another layover and finally the toughest part to La Paz.

We had booked the bus from Puno to La Paz, which crosses the border at Desaguardero. This I had read would be the fastest option. But as I went to the counter the next morning to get the tickets I was told that our Bus would go to Copacabana where we had to change buses and then continue to La Paz.

This annoyed me because it meant more stress and there was always the chance they had screwed up our reservation and the bus in Copacabana would be gone or full. In my best Spanish I tried to get us onto the bus to Desaguardero instead, but all seats were taken.

So we started the ride, which took about four hours until we reached the border just a few kilometers south of Copacabana. The process at the border was a bit chaotic. First we got off the bus to change money, which we needed to pay the entry fee at the border. When everybody was back in the bus we drove for another few hundred meters before getting off again. This time we first walked to the immigration office on the Peruvian side to get our emigration stamps. Then we crossed the border by foot and headed to the immigration office on the Bolivian side to get our immigration stamps. The bus went through customs in the meantime.

The whole process took around 90 minutes until all passengers were back in the bus again and we continued our drive for another 20 minutes to reach Copacabana. There we were dropped in the center with rough instructions about where and how to get our bus to La Paz.

One hour later and we were on the road again. After a ferry crossing and a long drive which lasted until sunset we finally reached La Paz. The last miles of the ride we went through the outskirts of La Paz and I have to admit that I seldom felt as uncomfortable as back then. The bus had to constantly change direction because of countless construction sites. The dirt roads led us between endless walls and countless unfinished buildings. All looked a bit like in a post apocalyptic movie.

Finally we were dropped in the center of La Paz and took a taxi to our hotel. Now our La Paz adventure could begin.

La Paz Photography

La Paz lies in a spectacular location, surrounded by the mountains of the Cordillera Real. Besides exploring the city itself there are many options for day tours. But thanks to the climatized buses of the last days I had caught a cold and together with the elevation of the city I was exhausted for the first two days. This meant no hikes in the mountains.

We did some exploring though and besides walking all over the city we visited the close by Moon Valley, which for me was a disappointment. It's some interesting rock formations close to La Paz but it's also surrounded by buildings and you don't get a view there, which lets you forget that there are millions of people living just a few miles away.

We also went to El Alto on one of the cable cars, the so called Teleféricos. There are several routes possible within the city and it's the fastest way to get to El Alto. It's really worth a ride because of the fantastic views. The red line I knew would exit close to a wonderful viewpoint so we went in the evening, hoping to photograph sunset.

But even though on the map the viewpoint looked close we would have had to walk several 100 meters through El Alto, then accross a bridge and another several 100 meters next to the main road leading down to La Paz. Normally I would not have minded about those circumstances, but it didn't feel totally safe to do it after dark.

I didn't give up though and organized a taxi for the next day with a driver who would wait for us the whole time I would be taking photos. It wasn't the cheapest option but it was worth the money because I could focus on my photography and didn't have to worry about our way back to the hotel.

The view was spectacular with Illimani throwning in the distance, caressed by clouds. I stood there waiting for at least 90 minutes taking various photos, but the shot I was after didn't reveal itself until 20 minutes after sunset when the lights in the city were finally bright enough.

Besides that I only took some photos with my self-phone in the streets of La Paz because most of the time I didn't bring the large camera. It was just a feeling but I didn't think it would have been a good idea to carry all my equipment around too much. We had a great hotel in a safe area and although I usually don't like to leave my stuff, in South America the hotel often seemed to be the safer place for my equipment, especially at night.

As I was feeling better after a few days we wanted to do at least one trip into the surrounding mountains and the easiest option was to Chacaltaya. 10 years ago there were still parts of a glacier up there. But although it lies at more than 5000 meters it doesn't see much snow these days anymore. What's left up there are the remnants of some buildings and lots of raw rocks. Looking at this it's hard to believe that people were skiing up there in the past.

The tour didn't involve much hiking, just a climb of maybe 200 meters up to the top of Chacaltaya. No view greeted us up there and it felt a bit like our tour to Rainbow Moutain near Cusco as all was clouded in. On a sunny day this would have been a spectacular vista but somehow we weren't very lucky with those mountain tours.

The highest point of our travels around the world, the Chacaltaya ski resort or what's left of it

As you can see I didn't take many photos the first days in Bolivia. All those bus rides of the previous weeks, the countless discussions with taxi drivers, tour operators and officials were beginning to wear me down.

Also photography wasn't as easy as during other travels I did in the past. In western countries I seldom have to worry when I go out for sunrise or sunset. But in South America I always took precautions and, if it felt unsafe, I rather skipped the photo opportunity. This was frustrating but with four more months of travel ahead it wasn't worth the risk.

Then, if I ventured out, the weather often wasn't right or the magic light just wouldn't come. I was beginning to question myself and if I was doing enough. After all I had been traveling for two months and should have had at least a few big shots in my portfolio.

Looking back at it now I think this was a very unhealthy train of thought. When you start to feel like having to take spectacular photos this can quickly take away the joy of photography and traveling. At least this is how it felt for me after having entered kind of a dry spell with my photography the last few weeks in Peru.

It should be the other way around, being grateful to travel and to visit spectacular locations and, if the light is right, the photos are the bonus. During my travels around the world, realizing this was a constant struggle, but I will continue to work on this mindset.

And the big shots were still waiting for me the following months of travel. In the next article I'll take you along our travels to Tupiza, which we nearly had to cancel because of a strike of the public transportation sector in La Paz.

Amazonia

Michael Breitung — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 24:00:00 GMT

Continuing our journey we took a flight from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado, which lies at the shores of the Madres de Dios river in the Amazon rainforest. We had booked a 5 day, all inclusive program at Corto Maltes, so we didn't have to worry about lodging, tours or transportation for a few days.

What we had to worry about though were mosquitos and heat. As we arrived and left the climatised airport I instantly began to sweat. The days we spent in the rainforest were like a wet sauna, 100% moisture and around 40°C in the shade. And most of the time we wore long trousers and longsleeves. We had entered a Malaria risk zone, so besides using some heavy insect repellents precautions had to be taken, which also included taking Malarone. Not my favourite medicine.

The program we had booked was a good mix of learning about local culture, exploring the rainforest and some time to relax at the lodge. During the hikes we were accompanied by a guide at all times, which was comforting considering all the insects, spiders and other animals, which live in the forest.

Just think of an ant, whose bite will cause you a 24 hour pain comparable to being shot. It's called bullet ant and right on our first day our guide showed us a tree near the lodge, which they occupied. One advice our guide gave us was to better not touch anything since besides poisonous animals there area also poisonous plants - very soothing.

But we also saw monkeys, giant otters, lots of birds including colorful aras, kaymans, water pigs, tarantulas and butterflies. I think a wildlife photographer with the right equipment - at least a 400mm lense - would have taken many photos. My motivation to take photos though wasn't very high since the chaotic forest didn't provide good subjects for landscape photography. And I still don't get the same joy from photographing wildlife.

So most of the time the camera stayed in the backpack, which after seven weeks of travelling was a nice change. Below I have a little selection of the occasional photos I took during our tours

A brown capuchin monkey photographed on a little island in the middle of the Madres de Dios river

My girlfriend who feeds the Ara Pepe some para nuts

One of the two parrots at Corto Maltes lodge, who liked to greet us with a cheerful "hola"

Visiting a family of native Machiguenga, one of the ethnic groups that exist in the Peruvian Amazon

Typical scenes from the market in Puerto Maldonado

Cusco

Michael Breitung — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 24:00:00 GMT

In this article I share my experiences of traveling to Cusco in Peru back in 2016.

This city in the Andean mountains was the next stop on our journey through Peru. The picturesque red tile roofs, the cobbled streets, the colonial architecture and the surrounding mountains - all make Cusco an interesting place to explore and photograph.

Cusco

Our hotel was located just a few hundred meters from the Plaza de Armas with countless restaurants, shops, markets and tour agencies in the surrounding streets. It's hard to set foot on this square without being intercepted by someone who wants to either clean your shoes, sell you a tour or bring you into one of the restaurants.

It's a bit annoying and I was glad to have a great photography location on the roof terrace of our hotel. There I could setup my camera the first evening without being chatted up every other minute. The dynamic weather conditions of the day made up for some interesting light after a storm had passed through.

The next morning I went out an hour before sunrise to get a feeling for the city during the early hours. I was especially interested in what folks roam the streets at that time and if it was safe to bring my camera for a sunrise shoot another morning.

This time I left everything in the hotel and spent a good two hours wandering the streets with only a few people around. My resume for the morning: safe enough to take the camera next time, which wasn't until our last morning because we already had a full schedule for the next days.

Pisac

One day we spent in Pisac, which is less than an hour via bus from Cusco. From there we took a taxi up to a huge complex of Incan ruins. We could also have walked up there but it was more fun to walk back down and taxis in Peru are quite affordable.

The ruins were immense. There were terraces carved into the mountain, various lookouts, Incan buildings, all connected through a nice trail. Similar to Machu Picchu there were also lots of people visiting again. But once we started to walk a little further down the mountain the masses subsided.

Back in town we went to the crafts market. It's always important to find some balance. My girlfriend often waits for me while I take photos during sunset, so I have to accompany her to a market from time to time - unfortunately there are a lot of markets in South America.

Rainbow Mountains

Once we were back in Cusco in the afternoon we went to one of the many tour agencies offering the Rainbow Mountain tour. From the number of agencies selling this tour it was clear that we wouldn't be the only people hiking up the mountain the next day. But I wasn't expecting the several hundred people who made their way through mud and snow.

The weather was miserable. We got up at 2am in the morning and went on a four hour bus ride, during which it was already raining and later snowing. Once we arrived at the trailhead, it was clear that we wouldn't see a lot of colors that day. Only on the way up I got some glimpses of the colorful rocks that give those mountains their name. At the top there was a complete whiteout.

But it was still an experience to do such a hike at this altitude with all my camera gear. It was also interesting to see again how the peruvian people know to make money from us tourists. Along the trail were several stops, where one could buy everything from cookies over coke to toilet paper. For those who didn't feel fit enough to continue the hike horses were provided for a little fee.

The height seemed to have no effect on me that day though and I felt fit, so I went by foot at my normal pace.

This proofed to be a mistake, because once I was back down at the bus, exhaustion hit me like a hammer. In minutes I went from feeling totally fit to fighting a strong headache and nausea. I took one of the pills we had bought in Cusco, a mix of Coca, ginger and guarana. From the advertisement those promised to help against altitude sickness and about half an hour later I was already feeling better.

I don't know, if the pills actually helped or if I just needed some rest, but I didn't care. The headache was gone and I had learned my lesson. It's something one should be aware of when hiking in high altitude: walk at a slower pace and allow more time to rest than you normally do even if you feel fit enough to go faster.

Another lesson I learned is that at 5000 meters elevation you need sunscreen even with 100% cloud cover. I got quite some sunburn that day although I never saw the sun.

The last morning I finally went to photograph Plaza de Armas. It was a little more busy than the first time I went exploring and it was hard to focus on my photography. Many people came up to chat with me and I didn't want to be rude and completely ignore them. After all it was a good opportunity to improve my spanish.

In the end I found a nice composition as the sun glimpsed around the cathedral, casting long shadows over tha plaza. A good way to end our time in Cusco.

Although it hadn't been as productive as I had hoped it would be, especially our tour into the mountains, we had a great time in Cusco. It's the perfect base to explore the Valley of the Incas and also the start of various excursions into the Andean mountains. There are also some great restaurants with our favorite one beeing the Organika near Plaza de Armas. But we were off again, this time heading towards the Amazonas and then to Bolivia.

Sacred valley of the Incas

Michael Breitung — Tue, 03 Jan 2017 24:00:00 GMT

After our trouble with Cruz del Sur and an 18 hour bus ride through the mountains we were glad to arrive in Cusco, although it wasn’t our final destination for the day yet.

Cusco lies at around 3500 meters elevation and the air contained much less oxygen than we were used to. Everything was a bit more strenous. Walking on even ground, for example, felt like going uphill and going uphill quickly got us out of breath. I’m a fit person but the thing with high altitude is that it doesn’t matter much, if you are fit or not, neither does it matter how old you are. Some people just react to it more heavily than others. We didn’t want to take chances and probably loose a day or two because we weren’t acclimatized yet. So we had planned to first visit Ollantaytambo and from there go to Machu Picchu – both lie below 3000 meters - before returning to Cusco. For us this proofed to be a very smooth way to get used to high altitude.

Ollantaytambo

After a quick Coca tea we continued our journey to Ollantaytambo. As we arrived we immediately knew that the one day we had left would be too short to explore this wonderful little town with its narrow cobbled streets, little restaurants, and with the fascinating Inca ruins adjacent to it. The town itself is actually built on an ancient Inca city and its layout closely follows the geometry the Incas used for their city. Many of the new houses use parts of the ruins as base and it’s interesting to see how perfect those huge rocks fit upon each other. Quite a contrast to the new structures.

Since we had only the afternoon left, we decided to visit the ruins east of the city, which were still bathed in sunlight. There’s a much larger complex west of town, but it was already in shade and thus not suitable for a sunset shoot. At least I was hoping to photograph sunset once we had climbed up the track towards the first viewpoint.

But as I started setting up my camera a guard came up and told us that he would close the entrance at 4 pm and we had to start our descent now. What a bummer. With the light just getting a sweet golden tint, I had to walk back down towards the gate instead of taking my time to refine my composition.

Along the way though I made one quick stop and was able to snap a photo before the guard hurried us on again.

Machu Picchu

The next day we took the early train to Aguas Calientes. There we had booked a hotel for one night to be able to visit Machu Picchu twice, once in the afternoon and the next day early in the morning.

I had already bought the entrance tickets for the ruins through the ministry of culture homepage - this guide was a great help in the process.

So as we arrived in Aguas Calientes we didn't waste much time and directly made our way to the bus stop. To get to the ruins it's possible to either take one of the many buses or simply hike up the mountain.

Normally I don't mind a good hike but with the limited time we had the bus was the better option. The ride took around 20 minutes and the views along the way were already spectacular. But they were nothing compared to the view after we entered the ruins. If only there had not been thousands of other people. I had read that 2500 people are allowed into the ruins per day and thought, considering the massive size of the complex, those would spread out a bit.

But that was not the case. Walking through the ruins around 1 or 2 pm was nearly impossible. Countless travel groups were moving through the narrow passages with their guides and often there was no way to get past them. This made scouting and getting to the viewpoints a little harder, but in the end I managed to find a nice vantage point.

Carefully I setup my tripod, always having one eye on the guards close by. I had read reports by some other photographers, who weren't allowed to use a tripod in the ruins or who needed a special permit. But I had no such problems. For nearly one hour I left my tripod in place and took around 40 photos to be able to later remove all people from the final image.

While enjoying the view I also noticed that between 3 and 4 pm the number of visitors decreased significantly. Finally a bit of silence set in and the hustle of the hours before subsided.

That's me scouting the ruins for compositions

With one image taken we went back down to Aguas Calientes to find something to eat. There are numerous restaurants, which offer everything from Pizza over pasta to burgers and more. You'll be hard pressed to find a restaurant specialized in one cuisine. Also as with many places we ate at in Peru, the food wasn't very good. But maybe we just ate the wrong dishes.

Once back in the hotel we first had to hunt down some mosquitos. Something I hadn't read about before was the fact that in Aguas Calientes and especially in Machu Picchu you encounter swarms of those nasty little insects. If you are unprepared, you'll end up looking like a streusel cake. I definitely got my share of bites in the two days we spent there. So, if you plan to visit, make sure to bring some proper insect repellent.

hundreds of people waiting for the busses to the ruins

The weather forecast for the next day was miserable - rain until noon. I had set the alarm to 4 am but after looking out of the window we decided to head to the bus station a little later than planned, at 5am. I had expected a queue, but definitly not that many people. It was pouring after all and normally it's mostly photographers who are crazy enough to head out in such weather.

We ended up waiting for half an hour until it was our turn to board one of the busses. But it didn't matter anyway because the rain didn't stop for sunrise. Neither did it stop during the next four hours while we explored and photographed Machu Picchu.

It was frustrating. I had planned this part of the trip for so long and now it seemed, as if I would only get some mediocre photos out of it. I had to set aside my expectations and try to make the best of the conditions. At least there was fog and by using a Lee Big Stopper I was able to capture some nice shapes as it rolled over the mountains.

Looking back at the trip to Machu Picchu now, I can say that despite not getting the big shots, it still was a worthwhile experience. To see this immense compound up in the mountains one can only marvel at how much pain and work it must have been to build it back in the time of the Incas. It's definitly something no photos can capture.

Cruz del Sur

Michael Breitung — Fri, 23 Dec 2016 24:00:00 GMT

In this travel article, I share my experience with the bus operator Cruz del Sur in Peru.

Traveling by bus is very common in Peru. There are several agencies offering bus rides into all parts of the country. Some of the busses are even outfitted with so called cama seats, in which you have space comparable to that of business class seats on an airplane.

Since it is much cheaper than traveling by plane we also decided to use busses for our journey through Peru. After doing my research on the internet and reading some comments I quickly realized that this is not only dangerous_*_ but also unreliable depending on the bus operator you choose.

In the end we decided to use Cruz del Sur for nearly all of our travel segments because they have the best reputation. They even have a working homepage that offers the option to book online and because we already knew our travel dates well in advance we used it.

This was a mistake!

It all started out well. Our bus from Lima to Paracas and later to Ica left nearly on time, we got the seats we had booked and the driver even drove with reasonable speed. The controlls during check-in were ridiculous, but at least they tried to create the impression of safety with their sketchy security check.

But then came Ica and our longest and most expensive travel segment to Cusco. We arrived at the terminal as usual well in advance with more than one hour to spare. We had printed our tickets and there was no problem when we checked our large bags - same procedure as during our first two rides.

Then as we wanted to board the bus we suddenly were told that our tickets were cancelled and our seats already taken by others. How could they be cancelled I thought. Long story short, we weren’t allowed on that bus, talked to at least 5 different employes of Cruz del Sur including the manager of the terminal in Ica and were faced with unfathonable incompetence, ignorance and indifference.

In the end we got only a very vague explanation what had happened. Supposedly something went wrong with the payment and our money had not arrived. The funny thing is that I had checked all transactions on my VISA account and made sure the payments went out. Also we got a confirmation mail containing the tickets for each of our bookings.

So the error, if any, was clearly in the system of Cruz del Sur. But nobody in Ica cared and so we ended up buying our tickets again, only for the next day. We also had our follow-up bookings checked and believe it or not, our second most expensive booking from Puerto Maldonado to Cusco was also cancelled.

The whole situation cost us around 250 dollars for new tickets, additional taxi rides and another night in a hotel. Plus we lost one day of our travels. I didn’t bother to contact Cruz del Sur afterwards because I had gotten a clear impression of how they work and honestly I didn’t want to waste more energy on them.

Now after a few months I at least want to share my experience and a few tips, in case one of you plans to travel with them. Because despite our negative experience they might still be the best option to choose.

If possible, try to book your tickets in a Curz del Sur office once you arrive in Lima and get them printed there. This seems much more secure than online booking
On the day of your travel, be at the terminal well in advance and first thing go to the counter and get your tickets confirmed. Make sure they not only look at the ticket but also check in their system. In case something is wrong you at least have a chance to get new tickets then.
Make sure to learn some spanish, because in case something goes wrong nobody at the terminals will understand one word english.

Typically, you should try to stay relaxed when things don't go as planned. I have to admit it was very hard when talking to the Cruz del Sur employees in Ica. But we managed to get to Cusco in the end and this is what counts and what my next article will be about.

* Dangerous refers the street conditions, the speed with which most of the drivers navigate those streets and also the possibility of robbings on night busses. We experienced none of those though and I wouldn’t label our bus rides through Peru dangerous.

Huacachina Photography Guide

Michael Breitung — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 24:00:00 GMT

In this Huacachina Photography Guide, I show you the photos you can take around the Huacachina desert oasis near Ica in Peru.

I talk about the following topics:

The Selective Nature of Travel Photography
How To Get to Huacachina
Where To Stay
How To Take the Best Photos of the Dunes

Travel Photography Can Be Deceptive

As a landscape and travel photographer, I desire to find and capture beauty in the places I visit. During my travels, I search for spectacular landscapes, secluded beaches, and grand vistas, and often, when I've found those places, the photos I take don’t do them justice. Looking at an image is not comparable to standing in the depicted places yourself.

But there are also occasions when the photos look better than reality. The compositions I photograph show an excerpt of the reality around me. I can decide what to show and leave out of my photos. I always present a subjective view.

The first few days of my travels through Peru in 2016, I went from Lima to Ica by bus. Rushing past was a desert-like landscape filled with ruins, walls, and waste. Seeing the landscape filled with all these structures and walls felt depressing.

It was certainly not what you see in travel brochures or the typical YouTube videos. It's also not what you'll see in this article. The photos I took in Huacachina are like a dream of how I imagined this place to be. But in this article, I want to at least share my impressions of reality in written form.

How To Travel to Huacachina

If you travel to Peru by plane like I did, you arrive in Lima, Peru's capital and largest city. I stayed in Miraflores *, not too far from the coast. It's a beautiful area in this vast city and a good place to spend a night, get organized, and book a bus ticket for the continuation of your journey.

Back in 2016, Cruz del Sur had the best ratings among the bus companies in Peru, which is why I used them. But get some up-to-date information, because although they had the best ratings, not everything went well during my travels. In a few hours, they can take you from the heart of Lima to Ica, a large city close to Huacachina. Prices for such a ride in the very comfortable buses are around 20 USD.

But before I reached Huacachina, I made a short stop in Paracas. It is a nice coastal town with many little restaurants, hotels, and a small harbor. If you want to photograph Peruvian Pelicans, it's a great place to visit. From there, you can also embark on a tour of the Islas Ballestas to see penguins, boobies, and sea lions. If you are interested in that, I can recommend a stop. But mind that this area is very touristy and most tours are crowded.

Where To Stay for Photography

When you arrive in Ica, you should take a taxi to Huacachina and find a hotel there. It's a short ride that shouldn't cost more than five dollars. Ideally, you book a hotel in advance. Huacachina is a popular place with many people visiting. To get the most out of a visit to this desert oasis, I recommend at least two nights to explore and photograph the dunes.

I stayed in Hosteria Suiza * at the end of town. It's calmer than most other places, and you can directly head into the dunes from there.

How To Take the Best Photos in Huacachina

After I checked into the hotel, I climbed one of the highest dunes directly behind the hosteria. The dunes around Huacachina are breathtaking and offer expansive views of the desert.

But during my climb, reality set in: There was so much waste and dirt. In some areas, the dunes were covered in plastic bottles and bags, some partly hidden by sand, others dancing in the wind. In the afternoon and during sunset, dune buggies raced through the mountains of sand, engines, and passengers screaming as they sped up and down the slopes. If you want an adrenaline kick, a buggy tour in Huacachina might be the perfect activity.

But if you are there to explore and photograph the dunes, looking for beauty in nature, you might be disappointed at first. But don't give up, use the time in the afternoon to explore and scout for compositions. As the sun sets and the wind picks up, you'll find photos that show what this place once was. Using a wide-angle lens, you can get close to the ground, emphasizing the patterns in the sand while hiding the less photogenic parts of the dunes. Or use a long lens and zoom in on the shapes farther away from town. You can also try to get a custom buggy tour, focusing less on speed and adrenaline, but on taking you deeper into the desert to areas away from the bustle of the town.

The best tip I can give you is to get up early. Wandering through the dunes an hour before sunrise is a different experience than during the day or in the evening. The town is still asleep, the desert is quiet, and the wind has washed away some of the traces left by the dune buggies and tourists.

Make sure to use the day before to set markers on Google Maps so you can navigate in the dark. You now find beautiful views of the town and Ica glowing in the distance. As the sun rises, the dunes are bathed in beautiful soft light. It was the best time to take photos as I was literally the only person out in the dunes.

Conclusion

Despite the negative aspects of Huacachina I listed above, photographing the dunes is still an experience you should not miss when visiting Peru. If you travel to Cusco by bus, Ica is a good stop along the way. Because of its proximity to Lima, it's also an easy detour, in case you prefer flying to Cusco over a 20-hour bus ride.

One thing I hope is that maybe one day, tourism in Huacachina will focus less on action and more on the extraordinary landscape. It would benefit nature, and I'm sure there would still be enough tourists interested in a visit.

* Those are Affiliate Links. I get a commission if you buy or book something after clicking on those.

Vilcabamba

Michael Breitung — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 24:00:00 GMT

Vilcabamba is a little town within a mountainous area in the south of Ecuador. It lies at around 1500 meters above sea level and the surrounding mountains rise up to more than 2000 meters. Although I hadn‘t seen many photos of that area I was sure that I’d be able to find some nice viewpoints to photograph it.

But before that we had to spend a few hours on the ecuadorian busses again. First we went back from Puerto Lopez to Guayaquil where we changed busses and drove on to Cuenca. All went surprisingly well. Before our travels I had thought that travelling in Ecuador could become a problem because there was no way to book online and it was hard to find schedules.

But with the busses running in all directions nearly every hour it was easy to get around. Besides there’s a nice homepage called rome2rio, which was a big help to get an overview about possible routes and connections.

The drive to Cuenca was very scenic. On winding roads climbing up to 4200 meters we drove through the Cajas national park. On this four hour bus ride we got a first impression of how thin the air in high altitude is. Cuenca itself on the other hand lies at 2600 meters and at this elevation we experienced only mild effects of the height.

This time Cuenca was only a short stop on our way to Vilcabamba and I didn’t take many photos. But it’s a very beautiful city with nice restaurants, bars, some markets and lots of beautiful architecture. When we visit Ecuador again we’ll have to plan in some more time to explore it. Especially with the Cajas National Park close by it’s a very attractive travel destination.

But so is Vilcabamba and there we had booked five nights in the Hosteria Izhcayluma, which is a great if not the best place to stay and eat in the area. Around the Hosteria the owners have built an extensive net of hiking trails with detailed maps, markings and descriptions. So right on our first day we did a short introductionary hike around the valley to get a first glimps of the area and the surrounding mountains.

I didn’t expect to find such beautiful views so close to the Hosteria already. Even without the light of the magic hour I was able to snap some moody photos thanks to the dark rain clouds over Podocarpus National Park. This scene was quite normal during our stay, while Vilcabamba itself remained mostly dry.

After a relaxed night and a good breakfast the next morning my photo location was just 100 meters from our bungalow and right next to the restaurant of the Izhcayluma. The view down towards Vilcabamba was one of the main reasons for the owners to build it on this hill and I totally understand why. The lush green hills looked a bit like a scene from Tuscany in the soft morning light.

This lookout also proofed to be a great sunset location. After another scouting hike up into the mountains in the heat of the day it was nice to have such a photo spot close by. The light that evening was crazy and up until now mother nature's best show during our trip. The mountains were glowing, rainbows appeared over the Podocarpus mountains and the light was constantly changing.

The next morning though a little more effort and planning was required to photograph sunrise. The view up in the mountains, which I had scouted the day before, could be reached by the hike we did during daytime, starting directly at the Hosteria. But I wasn’t sure how secure it was to walk the 6 km in the dark, knowing that there had been robbings on another track just a few years ago.

So I organized a taxi, which brought me to a place where the track crossed the main road a little farther up in the mountains. From there I just had to squeeze below some fences and climb less than 2 km to my desired viewpoint. The light did take some time to appear that morning but as it did it was magical. What a great place to greet the day.

The next days we did a little more exploring and hiking in the area and after five days there was still a lot more to see. I’m sure that even after a week or longer the area wouldn’t have become boring. Photography wise I went up to the above viewpoint two times for sunset to get the desired light over Vilcabamba. Never did I see other people up on the track.

As usual our stay came to an end much too fast and with it also our time in Ecuador. Vilcabamba was our last destination in this wonderful country before flying from Guayaquil to Lima. Ecuador is such a small country but it has so much to offer. But it were also the people we met who made our time there so enjoyable, definitly a great start for our time in south america.

Puerto Lopez

Michael Breitung — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 24:00:00 GMT

After nine days on the Galapagos islands we flew back to the ecuadorian mainland to continue our travels. In Guayaquil we had a short layover before taking a bus to Puerto Lopez.

A few months ago a heavy earthquake occured in Ecuador, which hit the Manabi province just 100km north of Puerto Lopez very hard. It was not easy to find information about Puerto Lopez itself and we were first a bit uncertain, if the infrastructure in that area was intact again. We had to find out ourselfes.

The bus ride took four hours from Guayaquil. As before when we went to Mindo the bus service proofed to be very reliable. From the bus terminal in Puerto Lopez we then took a little tuk-tuk to Hosteria Mandala.

After check-in we didn't waste much time and went straight down to the beach along which we made our way towards the town center. What we found there were many little agencies offering whale watching tours, little restaurants and hotels, beach bars and lots of construction along the main promenade. It didn’t look like this construction was needed because of the earthquake. It seemed more like Puerto Lopez is preparing to become a more attractive travel location along the ecuadorian coast.

Our main reason to visit Puerto Lopez were the Humpback whales that can still be observed along the cost in September. A simple whale watching tour in Puerto Lopez costs around 25$ per person. Just for comparison, when visiting New Zealand two years ago we payed nearly four times that much in Kaikoura.

We didn’t do the simple whale watching tour though, but went on a day trip to Isla de la Plata on our second day. On the way there the sea was very rough and our little boat got shaken heavily. Because of that I wasn’t able to get proper photos of the five or six whales which accompanied our boat for about 20 minutes before we reached the island. But still it was wonderful to see those huge mammals repeatedly break through the surface of the water next to our boat.

After a total of 90 minutes on the boat we reached the island and I was glad to have firm soil beneath my feet again. Now the hiking part of the tour began. With our guide Jonny we went on a trail around the island along which we saw lots of blue footed Boobies and Frigate birds, much more than we had seen on the Galapagos islands. Again I tried to do some wildlife photography but I have to admit that landscape photography suits me more.

After the hike lunch was served on the boat before we went to feed some sea turtles. The guides had brought lettuce, which they seemed to like very much.

To conclude the tour we went snorkeling in a bay along the island. The sun had appeared by then and again we had perfect visibility underwater. And because the water was much warmer than around the Galapagos Islands we didn't need wetsuits this time.

The next day we took the bus to the entrance of Los Frailes. This beach is part of the Machalilla National Park and thus we had to register upon entering the area with our passports. To get to the beach there are two options: tuk-tuk or hiking. We decided to do the hike, which took us up through some very dry forest towards steep cliffs with different viewpoints.

Up and down we went and finally reached the first of three beaches, Playa Prieta with its black sand and rocky shore. This would have been a nice spot to photograph sunrise but without a car this was no option and so I tried to make the best of the blue sky and the few white clouds. As so often my Lee Big Stopper helped me in those conditions.

We then went on to the second beach, Playa la Tortuguita. Upon arrival all clouds were gone and the sun burned down on us without mercy. Although this beach was the most spectacular we visited that day I didn't take a photo. It just didn't make sense in that harsh light. We sat down for a while in the hot white sand to enjoy the view before continuing the hike to the final beach, Los Frailes.

One funny thing about this beach is that it's neither allowed to eat nor drink. At least this was what the sings were telling us. We were used to not being allowed to eat in the ecuadorian National Parks or Reserves, but not being allowed to drink even water? It was more than 30°C so we ignored that part while wandering the mile long beach.

As usual for Ecuador the park closed quite early so I didn't even think about photographing sunset there. Instead we went back to Puerto Lopez where I took a few photos of the characteristic fishing boats. From this photo location it was just five minutes back to the hosteria.

Normally I don't care, if I have to walk through the dark for hours after or before taking my photos at sunset or sunrise. But beeing in south america I had to be a bit more careful. It's generally no good idea to carry around much valuables after dark and although I never felt unsafe while in Puerto Lopez I took that advise serious. There would be other opportunities to photograph remote areas at sunset during our travels.

We left Puerto Lopez after four beautiful days, during which time we got a lot for our money. To be honest it was quite a contrast to Galapagos in terms of prices for drinks, food, accommodation and tours. It's no wonder that places like the Isla de la Plata are also called Galapagos for the poor. For sure Puerto Lopez can't compete with Galapagos when it comes to wildlife but it's still a great place to visit along the ecuadorian coast.

Galapagos - Santa Cruz

Michael Breitung — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 24:00:00 GMT

In the center of the Galapagos archipelago, right below Baltra, lies Santa Cruz. This island is not as large as Isabela, but it’s much more crowded because most of the visitors to the Galapagos Islands start their trip here. For us it was already the third stop on our travel around the world.

After flying back from Isabela we had to first take a bus to the ferry, then cross the Itabaca channel and finally take a cab to our hotel in Puerto Ayora. Again all of this was organized by Galapagos Alternative, but it’s not overly complicated. Busses and ferries run regularly and the white Hilux Taxis are everywhere on the island.

Puerto Ayora is very different to Puerto Villamil. It’s louder, more hectic and there are much more cars and people. But there are also ATMs again, you have endless options to eat out, many tours to other islands start here – all in all there’s a lot of things to do and again the four days we had were too short.

Our hotel was located in the west of town, close to the entrance of Tortuga Bay, which was the first place we visited. Although I liked the beach of Puerto Villamil more I can’t deny Tortuga Bay‘s charms: the fine white sand, the lagoon at the western end where one can snorkel or kayak, or the marine Iguanas and Pelicans that dwell there. Since there was no chance to return for sunset I took a quick handheld photo to have something to show here.

There’s something about nature reserves and national parks in Ecuador that makes it a bit hard for landscape photographers like me. The opening hours are usually somewhere between 6am and 5pm or what I also encountered 8am and 4pm. Upon entering we usually had to register with our passport numbers.

I guess those times were set up to protect local wildlife and we respected them, which also means I have no real sunset or sunrise photos to show from those locations. But especially on Galapagos there were many things I could photography during daytime.

One example is the local fish market. We went there twice, on the morning of our second and final day. It’s very entertaining to watch the sea lions and pelicans try to snatch pieces of the cut fish. I used my long lense here and tried to capture some of the action.

We also had booked a tour again, this time a full day boat tour to South Plaza. It started early in the morning with a transfer back to the Itabaca channel where we embarced on our boat, the Queen Karen. Later we were going to snorkel at the edge of the channel but first we made the 90 minute crossing to South Plaza.

South Plaza is actually a set of two islands and one of them can be explored by foot. In the two hours we walked the island we saw and photographed lots of land Iguanas, which unlike the marine Iguanas have a more yellowish, orange color. They are also a bit smaller. But what both species have in common: they like to relax on large rocks or beneath trees or cactus. This made it easy to photograph them.

While we walked along the shore we also came across several sea lions again, and I finally got the chance to photograph some oft he red rock crabs up close. We had seen those already during our trip to the Tintoreras but this time I was able to get much closer.

We concluded our trip with some snorkeling in the Itabaca channel and this time I was smart enough to wear a wetsuite, because again the water was freezing in places. With the sun out the sight was awesome. We encountered a sea lion, which this time wasn’t as playful as the little ones on Isabela, I saw a riff shark and lots of other colorful fish I don’t know the names of.

After those packed first days on Santa Cruz we could have used some time to relax, but there was still so much to see. On our last day on the archipelago we visited the giant Galapagos Tortoises in the El Chato reserve. A few years ago we had seen some giant turtles on the Seychelles already, but to me the Galapagos Tortoise seemed even larger. In the reserve we were able to walk around on our own, which made it the perfect photo opportunity.

After visiting El Chato we went to the eastern part of the island to visit Garrapatero beach. As we arrived around 2pm the beach was very crowded, mostly by locals. The sun was out and it was hot. But it didn’t need more than a few dark clouds obscuring the sun for an hour or so and for the wind to pick up and suddenly we were the only people there. Even the park rangers had left.

It was the perfect spot to conclude our Galapagos adventure. Even the weather cooperated and an hour before sunset the sun appeared again. I found a spot with some sleeping Iguanas and one of them fit perfectly into the composition I had set up. He didn’t care at all about my presence and as we left he was still chilling on the lava rocks.

The next day we had to leave the Galapagos islands again, heading to the next location on our itinerary list. But we are already certain that it wasn't our last visit to this beautiful archipelago. There's still so much to see, so much to explore and on our next visit we'll certainly bring more time.

Galapagos - Isabela

Michael Breitung — Sun, 25 Sep 2016 24:00:00 GMT

The second part of our long time travel brought us to the Galapagos Islands, roughly 1000km west of Ecuador. From Quito it was a short two hours flight to Baltra, a little island north of Santa Cruz and right in the center of the archipelago.

We had only a short stop there, because on Baltra itself there are no hotels, just the aiport and a military base. Once you arrive you either take the ferry to Santa Cruz or jump onto the next plane, which is what we did. We took a small Islander aircraft operated by Emetebe to Isabela, the largest of the Galapagos Islands.

The alternative to this rather pricy option would have been to take a speed boat from Santa Cruz. But, because in September the waters of the archipelago are very rough, we didn't want to ruin our start with a bumpy two to three hour boat ride. With the plane it took us just 30 minutes to reach our destination Puerto Villamil in the south of Isabela.

We had booked our hotel as usual via Booking.com, but the trips and transfers were organized by Galapagos Alternative. With them we were able to customize our trip in advance and they took care of everything for us, including the transfer between the islands, the transfer to the hotels, they provided snorkel equipment and we always had a local contact. It all worked out incredibly smooth and we will definitly book with them again when we come back in a few years.

On Isabela our contact was Emilie from Galapagos Bike & Surf. She took her time to show us the place, to hook us up with snorkel gear and also met us the following days before our tours. We had to worry about nothing and could fully enjoy our time there, which we already knew would be much too short.

Isabela is kind of a place where we could easily have spent a whole week or longer. The atmosphere in town is very chilled. Puerto Villamil is small, there are not many cars, no bank, no ATM. But there's a two mile long beach, different snorkel options, marine iguanas and sea lions everwhere, we could explore along the coast for hours or hike up a Volcano.

On our second full day on the island we did the latter. Pickup was early in the morning and we drove around 45 minutes to the Sierra Negra reserve. Up there it was still cloudy and so we started our hike in very pleasant climate with temperatures around 20°C.

But as we reached the top and made our way to the Chico area the clouds cleared and the rest of the day we got scorched by the sun. Not one cloud was left in the sky, which wasn't ideal for photography. But it was still an awesome experience to walk on the different kinds of lava rocks and to explore the erruption sites.

In the evening we went, as usual, to one of the restaurants in the center of Puerto Villamil. Each day I got a menu including soup of the day, some fish or chicken, a desert and a juice for 7,50$. I found those menus to be the cheapest option to eat out on the Galapagos islands. Other options cost roughly the same as in Europe and, if you nead breakfast, lunch and dinner, it quickly sums up.

The day after the Volcano hike we had booked another tour. This time we went by boat to the so called Tintoreras, a set of little lava islands right in front of the harbour. The name Tintoreras comes from the riff sharks, which dwell in the waters around those isles.

The great thing about this tour was that we were the only people on the boat and had our private guide. Normally the tour would have been cancled and we would have had to join one of the later tours because not enough people signed up. But Emilie made sure we got our private tour that day, which was perfect.

First we explored the islands by boat and spotted little penguins, sea lions, sea turtles and blue footed boobies. After a hike to the sleeping place of the sharks, which we could see directly from the rocks above, we went snorkeling. Instead of trying to describe this wonderful experience with words, I'll show you a little video instead.

I'm normally not so much of a snorkel fan, but this day changed my opinion. Although I should have put on a wetsuit as our guide and my girlfriend did, because after 45 minutes in the freezing water of the bay I was shivering.

We concluded our stay on Isabela with a last stroll along the beach and a sunset shoot at a place I had scouted before. All in all those first days of our Galapagos trip were quite different for me in terms of photography. There were not so many opportunities for landscape photos but endless possibilities to photograph wildlife. This is something new for me, but especially because of all the marine Iguanas it was a lot of fun. They look like miniature Godzillas and it never got boring to watch and photograph them.

The cloud forest of Mindo

Michael Breitung — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 24:00:00 GMT

Mindo in the cloud forest of Ecuador was the first place we visited during our six months of traveling around the world in 2016. In this article I share our experience and some of the landscape photos I took.

When we started planning the first part of this journey our focus immediately fell to the Galapagos Islands with its marvelous creatures. But to begin our journey there would have meant a stressful travel with many flights in a row.

So I started looking for interesting places near Quito, where we could have a more relaxed start. After some research I came upon the Cloud Forest of Mindo. Reading about this thick rain forest with its many rivers and waterfalls just a two hours bus ride from Quito got me curious. Without doing any research on possible photo spots I started searching for a place to stay.

This is definitly not my typical approach for planning a trip, but with six months of travelling I thought I’d loosen things up a bit. We had done so much planning with the flights, the hotels - basically everything concerning travelling itself. Planning the different photo opportunities now happens during our trip.

One of the views along the trails starting at Hacienda San Vincente

The place we decided to stay in was the so called Yellow House. It's not directly in town, but on a little hill to the east, easily reachable by foot within five minutes.

This place has a lot to offer. There are a set of trails through the forest starting directly at the Hacienda, right in front of the houses we could observe lots of colorful brids and the view during breakfast was so interesting that we nearly forgot to eat the wonderfully prepared food. Here's a little video I shot while sitting on the breakfast table.

The day after our arrival we made the typical tourist tour to the Sanctuario de las Cascadas a few miles out of town. The one hour walk there doesn't offer much, so we took a taxi from the Hacienda, which dropped us right at the Tarabita.

After crossing a deep canyon on this cable car we wandered the rain forest for several hours and visited six cascades of different size. Those weren't the most spectacular waterfalls I've seen, but they were truely beautiful - each with its own character. My favourite cascade to photograph was the Cascada Madre, which you can see near the end of the video below.

Cascada del Colibri

For those who don't enjoy heights, it's not necessary to ride the Tarabita. Although nobody will tell you about it, there's a track leading down to the Nambillo waterfall right next to the Tarabita. Down at the waterfall is a bridge and from there you can continue on to the Sanctuario. I guess they just want the visitors to pay the Tarabita and honestly, it's six dollars well spent, because the views during the ride are fantastic.

The next attraction we visited was the Mariposario. Since Mindo has a very pleasant climate with temperatures around 20 to 25°C, we decided to walk and skip the taxi this time. I didn't expect too much from this place. The waterfalls the other day were more to my taste but I packed my tripod anyways.

And this was a good decision. I was a bit overwhelmed by the number of butterflies in the live exhibit and by their size. In the end we spent more than two hours there. We observed the different stages of the life of butterflies, seeing all phases of their transformation. And I also took a few photos.

Some of the smaller butterflies, which I photographed at the Mariposario

After those first wonderful days I started browsing the internet for some less known places within the cloud forest. In town the advertised things to do are the Mariposario, the Santuario de las Cascadas, a canopy adventure and tubing. But Mindo has more to offer and with all the rivers and mountains I was certain that there had to be more waterfalls.

I stumbled upon the Rio Bravo Reserve and some photos of a waterfall surrounded by thick jungle vegetation. Although most of the photos on google were just snapshots, the area looked promising. With just one day left I quickly sent a message through the facebook site of the reserve. The answer came within half an hour the same evening. A few follow up messages and a call the next morning later, and we sat in a jeep with our spanish guide Juan.

On a bumpy road our way led us up into the mountains. At the end of the road Juan opened the gate to the reserve for us and we entered what for me is one of the most beautiful forests I've seen until now. Our destination that day, the Esperanza waterfall.

To be honest I could already have spent days taking photos during the hike to this waterfall. But with the limited time we had I kept the camera in the backpack until we reached the roughly 100 meters high cascade. One can swim in the waters beneath it but I immediately started exploring, searching for perspectives. This was a lot of fun, because I wasn't biased by other photos, which is so often the case when I arrive at photo locaions during my travels around Europe.

The highlight of our trip to Mindo, the Esperanza waterfall

I ended up taking three different photos of the waterfall, taking my time to capture it in different light. After three hours we were back at the jeep and on our way into town. It was a great finish for our time in Mindo. For me the visit of the Rio Bravo Reserve made our stay there complete, which doesn't mean it made it easier to leave the next morning.

We already miss the Hacienda and the three dogs, which greeted us every time we came back from town. The tasty breakfast and our great hosts, which made us feel at home there. And also the town itself, which radiated a very relaxed atmosphere.

Morning view from our balcony

Travelling New Zealand - Mount Cook

Michael Breitung — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 24:00:00 GMT

Finally it was time to visit New Zealand's highest mountain, Mount Cook. On the long drive up to the national park I was hoping that it wouldn't be shrouded in clouds as it was when I drove towards Lake Tekapo a week before.

I was lucky. The clouds had lifted a bit and I could already see the peak from afar. As I arrived at the DOC campsite, which I had selected to stay in for the night, I didn't waste much time and directly went onto the track towards Hooker lake.

What a wonderful hike that is. Surrounded by snow capped mountains I walked through a beautiful landscape full of tussock grass, on large suspended bridges I crossed a roaring river of melt water to finally arrive at Hooker lake with Mount Cook rising steeply in the distance.

By then clouds began to settle over the valley again and the wind picked up, but it was still comparably warm in the park. I spent some time at the lake, enjoying the view and trying to photograph the floating icebergs before hiking back to the campsite.

After some rest and a hot meal it was already time for my next hike, which was the final one of my New Zealand trip. In the New Zealand Frenzy books I had read about the trail up to the Sealy Tarns. It starts right next to the campsite and consists of somewhere around 2000 stairs of varying height, roughly hewn into the mountain.

It took me half an hour for the 500 meters of elevation and when I arrived at the tarns I was exhausted. I had also left the shelter of the mountain and the wind was blowing as fierce as ever. I did my best to get some photos of Mount Cook and Hooker lake but it was hard to keep the camera still.

In the end I settled with a photo into the other direction, showing the beautiful valley I had driven through from lake Pukaki in the morning. Despite this wonderful view I didn't linger too long and started my walk back down the mountain before it got completely dark. With those winds I didn't want to risk too much on my last day in New Zealand.

The next morning it was one last drive with the campervan to Christchurch from where my plane was leaving. After four weeks of travelling around the North and South Island of New Zealand it was hard to say goodbye. The weather might not have been the best, but the landscape and the atmosphere of this country made it easy to forget the rain. For me it is the most beautiful country I have visited till now.

I can't wait to retrun to the other side of the world next december to spent some more time on the North Island. That time I'll be more flexible and hopefully the weather will allow me a hike up to Mount Tongariro then.

Travelling New Zealand – Catlins and Moeraki

Michael Breitung — Wed, 08 Jun 2016 24:00:00 GMT

After visiting Milford Sound the next stop during may way around New Zealand's South Island were the Catlins.

It was a long drive and the minute I reached the coast and could read the sign "Welcome to the Catlins" I found myself in a heavy rainstorm. Winds from the sea blew spray agains my campervan as I drove towards my destination for the next two days, Porpoise Bay.

Porpoise Bay

After the wet welcome, the weather stayed unsettled the next days. The first evening I used a short gap in the storm for photos down at the wide beach. In Summer one can spot dolphins playing in the waves here. Unfortunately I wasn't that lucky. But I was able to capture some dramatic cloud formations and part of a rainbow in the distance.

The following day I went hiking and scouting. With all the rain I explored some of the nearby woods, which contain some beautiful hiking trails. But my main objective was to find a good view for the next sunrise, either at nearby Curio Bay or again at Porpoise Bay. In the evening after watching some Penguins at Curio Bay I found a rocky outcrop on the south-western end of Porpoise Bay. The tide in the evening was still too high to get down onto the rocks, but checking my tide-tables told me that the next morning I could safely venture down.

And I got some great light that morning. After a moody twilight the incoming tide threw large waves against the rocks in front of me and as the sun peeked through the clouds it was pure magic.

McLean Falls

The Catlins are well known for their waterfalls. I didn't have enough time to visit them all, but I had to go and see McLean Falls. I had seen many beautiful photos of this waterfall and I wanted to add it to my portfolio. As I arrived I was surprised by the amount of water. The rain of the previous days had clearly left its mark. It was a real challenge to get out into the water and then balance on one of the larger rocks while trying to take a photo.

Just as I had setup in the middle of the river I recognized that I had left my lense cloth at the shore and with all the spray in the air this was the most important piece of equipment that day. So I had to climb accross the rocks to the shore and back into the river again before I could finally settle on a composition. It was really intense, the roaring water, the damp air and the pouring rain, which started just as I began taking photos.

Moeraki Boulders

I left the Catlins then and drove up to Otago, to a small coastal town called Hampden. On my way there I made a stop at Nugget Point Lighthouse but it was hard to get a good photo of it in the rainy weather. Up in Hampden though the weather began to change and I had a beautiful sunny day and also the next morning proved to be almost clear.

I had timed my visit with the receeding tide occurring in the morning. This was crucial because I wanted to photograph the Moeraki Boulders and with the water retreating I had a footprint free beach for my photos. I was also very surprised to be the only person at this nowadays quite popular location.

After a relaxed walk back to the campsite in Hampden and a breakfast in the sun it was time for the last part of my New Zealand adventure. I still hadn't seen Mount Cook and I had only two days left. I didn't even care about the forecast this time. I had to give it a try.

Behind the Shot - Bloody Causeway

Michael Breitung — Sat, 02 Apr 2016 24:00:00 GMT

As a Landscape photographer I have to be patient and persistent. Besides that I also need a good portion of optimism. If I would just head out when the weather forecast is nice, I would miss many special moments. So when I travel I go shooting as much as possible. I usually have only one or two weeks on a trip and I have to make the most of it.

Sometimes, if I catch a great sunset and for the next day the forecast is 100% rain, I might sleep in. But usually there's an inner restlessness, which drives me out again and again. I can't remember how many times I stood at a perfect photography location with my camera set up, hoping, longing for something magical to happen. The truth is mostly nothing happens.

But from time to time persistency pays of. In 2012 I was travelling through Northern Ireland and Donegal for one week. If you have visited Ireland you know that in terms of weather everyday is like a toss of the dice. Being an island facing the atlantic ocean, it's very susceptible to rain. There's all kinds of rain and bad weather you can encounter. But what I hate the most are those days were it's a mix of drizzle and rain and the sky is a solid grey wall without any structure. On such days there's often no wind, which could blow away this monotony.

The day of the shoot

Monday, Juli 23rd was such a day. It was hard to bring up the motivation to leave the B&B. I drove to Glenariff Forest Park to photograph some waterfalls and kill some time. But it was also my last day in Antrim before driving to Donegal and I still haden't gotten a satisfying photo of Giants Causeway yet. So in the evening I went down to the coast and waited.

First nothing happened. No colors, no interesting light. As sunset approached I had nearly given up hope. My thoughts were already with the next morning, which would be my last chance to capture something worthwhile. But then the sun glimpsed through the clouds for a few seconds.

Five minutes later the sky turned red and I realized that I had completely forgotten to find a good spot for my camera. At least I was in the right location and now with that colorful light in the sky there were suddenly compositions everywhere. I started photographing nothward, not directly into the sunset. The waves were crashing on the rocks and with exposure times between one and three seconds I captured some nice movement.

But since the most intense glow was to the north west, I soon changed my position and directed my camera towards the sunset. Here the wet rocks reflected the light even better. The rain of the day had left little pools in many of the hexagonal spires, which now took on the blood red color of the sky. The composition was all about positioning the camera to max the reflections in those pools and to get some nice looking set of foreground rocks, which created a wedge pointing towards the camera.

Technically this photo wasn't all that complicated. I used a two stop hard* and a two stop soft GND from Lee* to balance the exposure of the sky against the foreground. Then I took two exposures while focussed to the rocks in the middle ground - one exposure slightly brighter than the other to have enough room for play in post processing. Then I set the focus to one of the closer rocks in the foreground to get an exposure for later Focus Stacking. That was it, all in all it took me around 30 - 40 seconds to take this photo.

The post processing

I applied my usual workflow and techniques to this photo during post. First step after bringing all three exposures into one Photoshop file and aligning them was the blending of the two exposures for the background. Here I wanted to gain a bit more detail in the rocks from the brighter exposure while keeping all the details in the sky. With the use of Luminosity Masks this was an easy blend.

It left me with two layers, one for the foreground and one for the background, which I then used for focus stacking. I never use the automatic stacking in Photoshop here. I find the results too random and they seldom work for images with moving water or other dynamic objects. I like to have the control in selecting which parts I use for foreground and background.

So what I did was applying a mask to the upper layer (background) and then drawing a solid black line were I found the transistion of sharpness between the two layers. After I had the line I switched to the mask and filled up the rest beneath that line - the part that was less sharp in the background layer than in the foreground layer.

After the blending I was left with one single layer, to which I applied selective contrast, color corrections, dodge and burn and many other little tweaks. The goal during this more creative part of the processing was to recreate the atmosphere of that evening. I remember it as one of the most spectacular sunsets I have ever seen, I still can recall the joy of that evening, the great time I had when taking this photo. A flat out of camera raw would not trigger those feelings when looking at it.

I took a few other photos that evening while the light lasted, changing my position, looking for different angles of the scene. The glow in the sky lasted more than one hour until it faded.

Now nearly four years are gone since that evening and it is still a source of motivation for me wherever I travel and whatever weather I encounter. It's true that in all those years I encountered less than one hand full of similar light shows. Far more often I was left with a dull grey sky. But I try not to dwell on the failures too much. What counts are those precious moments when nature reveals it's magic and I'm there to capture it.

* This is an Amazon Affiliate-Link. If you use it to buy something, I'll get a little commission from Amazon

Travelling New Zealand – Milford Sound

Michael Breitung — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 24:00:00 GMT

If you think of New Zealand, many of you will certainly also think of Milford Sound. It has its place in every documentary I've watched about New Zealand and it also has a huge attraction to landscape photographers all over the world.

I made the detour to Milford Sound when on my drive down from Wanaka to the Catlins. I have to be honest here. When planning my tour through New Zealand I wasn't excited to visit this place. If it wasn't for my girlfriend, I would have skipped it completely. It's very touristic, the photographs I had seen nearly all looked the same and when it comes to weather in November you have to be very lucky to not end up in a days lasting downpour or even a snow storm. No kidding here, just two days after I left Milford Sound again, the road was closed due to heavy snow falls.

But lets start with my drive to Milford Sound. Not long after passing Te Anau my lack of excitement to visit this place already faded. The drive along road 94 is one of the most beautiful and spectacular I ever did. It's Lord of the Rings all over the place: Thick forests, wide valleys, towering Mountains.

Key Summit

The first stop I made was roughly 25 km before Milford Sound. I went for the short hike up to Key Summit. It led me through a beautiful forest up to a plateau from which I could see all the surrounding mountains. I was a bit overwhelmed and had no idea how to capture all of this beauty in a photo.

I went exploring along the nature trail that took me to the viewpoints around Key Summit. Unfortunately the sun didn't break through the clouds at first. Only when I was already on my way back to the car did it show itself for a short moment. I failed to get a photo with which I'm fully satisfied; I was to rushed, to hectic. If I ever have the chance to visit this area again, I will certainly plan in more time to hike, explore and scout.

Milford Sound

Back at the Campervan I immediately continued my drive to Milford Sound. Although it was still cloudy the short appearance of the sun increased my hopes for an interesting sunset. It would be low tide then, so I should find enough compositions. But first I was back on the road marveling at the spectacular scenery around me.

This landscape looked unreal. Left and right of the winding road a thick rainforest, in front of me a solid rock face. Do I somehow have to drive around this wall? The road led me straight towards it. Then I saw the little black hole, which some might call a tunnel. I think hole is a more fitting description though. A single traffic light had me wait a few minutes before I entered into darkness.

At first I couldn't see a thing. I just tried to stay in the middle of the narrow road to make sure I wouldn't hit the walls with the van. The road was wet, there were no lights besides my front lights, which weren't super bright. I was creeping further down as my vision began to adapt to this pitch black darkness. After a few minutes I saw a white pinhole. I had finally made it to the other side.

The sunset at Milford Sound didn't dissapoint. In the evening this whole area didn't feel very touristic at all. There were no other people, just the mosquitos and me on the mudflats. The scene in front of me looked like out of a fantasy book. First the magnificent Mitre Peak was still shrouded in clouds, but just in time for sunset it slowly revealed itself.

After running around like a maniac looking for compositions I went with the classical reflection photo. I couldn't think of a better way to capture this serene moment.

Nature Encounter

To really experience the beauty of Milford Sound, a cruise through the fiord with one of the many boats is a must. It's also possible to do kayaking, but since I wanted to take photos and had only limited time I decided for a tour with nature encounter cruise. This cruise is on one of the smaller ships and gets really close to the different waterfalls. The guide on the boat was very well versed and provided us with lots of information about Milford Sound, its history and its current wildlife. We even saw some Fiordland crested Penguins again.

As I got up in the morning I really wouldn't have thought that this boat tour would be one of the highlights of my entire trip. I usually enjoy exploring on my own and don't like the confines of a ship. Moreover it had been raining the whole night and still was when I boarded the boat. But the moment it stopped to rain and the remaining clouds drifted slowly through the fiord it was pure magic. I felt so small on the little boat between those towering walls. It was awe inspiring.

After my short stay at Milford Sound I had abandoned all my resentments against it. One can actually have a really great time there and it's possible to avoid the masses, if you arrive late and leave early. The local campsite is conveniently located so it's easy to catch the first boat in the morning without the need of a long drive.

In the end I was a bit sad to leave this otherworldly paradise. But I had to drive back through the mountain and head towards my next destination, the Catlins.

Travelling New Zealand - Wanaka and Tekapo

Michael Breitung — Sat, 06 Feb 2016 24:00:00 GMT

The southern alps create diverstiy in the look of New Zealand's landscape. They block the clouds coming from the sea, which results in a lot of rain along the west coast. The midlands on the other hand are much dryer. An obvious sign are the colors of the land.

As I drove through the mountains I left the rain behind for some time. Looking into the rear mirror I saw a blanket of clouds covering the peaks. My first stop was Wanaka, which many of you might know from one photo. The photo of that tree at the shore of the lake, which is taken over and over again.

I didn't come to Wanaka to capture yet another photo of that tree. I had another view in mind. I wanted to hike up Roys Peak, but although it didn't look like it would rain, neither did it appear to become an awesome sunset. So I opted for a little change of plans.

Tekapo

The forecast two days later looked much better for the Wanaka region. I decided to drive up to Lake Tekapo the next day and come back to Wanaka the day after. On the drive up there I finally found the sun again. Especially the stretch through Lindis Pass with it's golden hills looked fantastic under the blue sky.

The three to four hour drive to Tekapo wasn't easy with the campervan. I had to constantly steer agains heavy gusts of wind, which reminded me of the Westerlies I knew from the North Island already.

I was glad when I arrived at the lake but equally dissapointed. The many people weren't the reason. I wanted to photograph for sunrise anyway and usually there's not so much bustle then. But the lupines at the shore were blown around by the storm so heavily that I knew I'd have a hard time getting a sharp photo with them in the foreground.

Usually for sunset and especially sunrise wind tends to calm down a bit. But this hope was shattered in the evening when I went back to shoot sunset. The gusts had around 80mph - according to metservice - and at times it was hard for me to stay on my feet. I instantly skipped the idea of having lupines in my photo and went closer to the rocky shore of the lake. I timed my exposures between the blasts to get a sharp photo of this dramatic scene with the clouds looming in the background.

Unfortunately, those clouds didn't hold back the next morning. Although there was less wind, rain was now preventing a successful shoot. Sunrise dissapointed. After waiting more than an hour for a miracle I went back to the van to grab a few more hours of sleep.

Roys Peak

Later the road through Lindis Pass brought me down to Wanaka again and the forecast proved to be correct. In the afternoon, when I parked my camper at the foot of Mount Roy, the weather had improved to a nice mix of clouds and sun. The mountain looked impressive and I knew it would be a good climb up there. I needed a little over 2,5 hours for the 1400m of elevation. The excercise, the fresh air, the wind and the sun, it all made this an invigorating experience.

On my way up I encountered a few other people on their descent. It seemed as if I would be the only person up there for sunset and I would have all the great views for myself - perfect. The peak was windy and chilly but I was prepared and just stripped over a few more layers of clothing before I started taking photos.

The two hours up there I had the best time of my New Zealand travel. The clouds moved rapidly across the sky and everytime the sun glimpsed through it was magic. I went from composition to composition, always following the action: First I photographed the slopes of Roys Peak to the west as they got lit by golden light, then god rays in the valley to the south and then again westward as the last light filtered through the clouds.

Do you know that feeling after a successful shoot or, if you're not a photographer, after you achieved something. I felt good that evening when I walked down the slopes to the parking lot. Even if the next days of my journey wouldn't have brought much good light, I would have been able to live on this successful evening for a few days. What makes the photos even more precious for me was the labour involved to get them.

I think that's generally the case with photography. I might like the photos that come easy, but I love the ones that don't - provided that I also captured some decent light. If I have to do a long hike or have to get up early several times in a row until I finally get the shot, this makes the whole experience much more worthwhile and the memories more vivid. And this is what photography is about for me, capturing those memories and sharing them with you.

Travelling New Zealand - West Coast

Michael Breitung — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 24:00:00 GMT

Some time has passed since the last article of my New Zealand series. I still have some stories to share and I'll start with my travel along the rainy west coast.

I might already have said this in my previous articles, but November 2014 didn't excel as being warm and sunny. Some locals even said it was one of the wettest and coldest Novembers they remember. So it was no wonder that the west coast greeted me with rain.

The first night I camped at Punakaiki Beach Camp. A great place in a spectacular setting right at the coast. The famous Pancake Rocks are just a short stroll away. Unfortunately neither sunset nor sunrise provided special light so I continued my trip the next day without a presentable image.

Franz Josef Glacier

Again the weather was dull - grey skies and rain. As I arrived at Franz Josef Glacier in the evening it was drizzling. But because of this I had the whole valley nearly for myself.

I walked till the end of the valley right to the foot of the Glacier, which looked quite miserable. If you google for images of this glacier and look for photos taken 10 or 15 years ago, you'll see a huge difference - clear signs of climate change.

Still the valley looked spectacular with it's steep slopes and carved rock walls on either side, waterfalls coming down everywhere. You can clearly make out how the glacier formed the valley. I found a perfect S-curve in the river of melt-water, which led right to a set of smoothly curved rocks. The impending darkness gave this whole scene a well fitting, gloomy look.

As I walked back to the van I stopped time and again, looked through the valley and listened. Everything was so calm and pieceful. Not so the next morning when I went back. The sun was out and so were the helicopters that take people up onto the ice of the glacier. With the noise of the helicopters the valley felt much less serene than the evening before.

The good thing is you don't hear that noise when you look at my next photo. You can totally focus on the wonderful view of lush rain forests, snow capped mountains and waterfalls. And if you ever visit yourself, make sure to either be there very early or go in the evening. Then you can really enjoy this incredible landscape.

Haast

The continuation of my trip led me past Fox glacier, which was equally crowded, and then through beautiful coastal forest down to Haast. In the New Zealand Frenzy book I had read about a little cove near Knights Point, where, with luck, one could spot penguins.

Penguins are one of my favourite animals, but I hadn't seen them in the wild yet. Through thick rain forest a track led me to a rocky pebble beach. I scanned the shore and could instanly make out a couple of Fiordland crested Penguins near the far end of the beach.

I felt so lucky - perfect timing. Grabbing my tele lense I watched how they hopped along the beach, always waiting for the late arrivers. It was fascinating to see how they were able to climb the steep, rocky slope at the end of the beach, heading for their sheltered nests.

The drive along the Haast Highway the next day was also wonderful, despite the rain. It was hard to keep my eyes on the street. Fortunately there are many places I could stop for short expeditions. Again I found them in the NZ Frenzy book, which lists many waterfalls along the Highway.

I visited three of them. While of the first two I don't remeber name or exact location, the third one cannot be missed. Thunder Creek falls is easy to spot and I think it's a safe guess that on a sunny day you'll encounter hundreds of people there taking selfies.

Fortunately the heavy rain prevented this. With my Camera attached to my tripod and an umbrella I walked across the rocks in search of a nice composition.

The blue color of the water was fantastic and in places some finely structured rocks jutted out above its surface. I used a set of those as foreground and placed the waterfall on the other side to balance the picture.

The west coast really lived up to my expectations - not only in terms of how wet it was. The coastal forests are magical and I could have spent days exploring them. The coast is rough and diversified. It provides endless photo opportunities and if I ever visit the South Island again, I'll definitly have to plan in some more time there.

Photogenic Places - Prague

Michael Breitung — Sun, 02 Aug 2015 24:00:00 GMT

I have now visited Prague four times, three of them in the last three years. It's always a pleasure to be back in this beautiful city. There's just so much to love about this place. In this short article I want to focus on some of the aspects that make Prague the perfect destination for photographers.

First there's the river Moldau with it's countless bridges, the most famous of them being Charles Bridge. No matter from what shore you are photographing, the views are always picturesque. This also means that Charles Bridge is the perfect photo location during both sunrise and sunset.

One of my favourite times to explore Prague is during blue hour. In the evening the steady flow of people is great to create interesting long time exposure photos with the masses flowing by as ghosts. The beautiful streets and alleys provide the perfect backdrop for such photos.

Another thing that makes Prague special are the multiple towers throughout the city. Not without reason is it also called the city of a hundred spires. The best thing about those towers besides them being a great subject in photos, is the fact that you can access many of them. There are a lot of great views over Prague to be had from it's roofs and towers.

And even if the weather doesn't cooperate, you can get great photos in this city. The historic architecture lends itself perfectly to the creation of some more gloomy photos. If there's a grey sky the option is always to go for black and white, which in my opinion captures the historic character of this city very well.

Those are just a few reasons to visit Prague as a photographer and the photos in this article show only a very small part of Pragues beauty. Best is to visit and see for yourself.

* This workshop will be held in german as main language. Besides photography tuition it will also contain a detailed post processing session.

Travelling New Zealand - Wharariki

Michael Breitung — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 24:00:00 GMT

On the northern tip of New Zealand's South Island lies the beautiful Wharariki Beach. It's a bit of a drive up there, especially with a campervan. Past Able Tasman National Park where most tourists will stop, you have to drive the Takaka Hill Highway. This is already an experience by itself as the views get better and better during the long and winding drive up into the mountains.

From Kaikoura it took me somewhere between four and five hours to get to Wharariki. The last five km were on gravel road. It was in good shape and there was no problem with the campervan though. At the end of the road is a very nice campground, just where the walking track to the beach starts. I stayed there for two days, most of the time having the whole area for myself.

From the camping area to the beach I had to walk for around 15 minutes. I went for a first scouting trip in the afternoon and was greeted by strong winds, the strongest winds of the trip so far. The westerlies were back and I really had to fight my way along the beach. The locals told me that those winds are quite natural around November and will usually calm down in late summer.

There is also the possibility to access the beach from the western side and then walk it with the wind in the back, which I did the next day. But in the evening I wanted to photograph the beach from it's eastern side for sunset, directly facing the wind. So I had to do some preparations to keep my camera safe in this little sandstorm.

This video was captured the next evening in the absence of great light and with lesser winds. It shows how I made sure that no sand would reach my camera with a custom made cover and some additional taping and platic. The back of the camera was facing away from the wind and it was safe to leave it open so I could access live-view and controls. I have to say that the Lee filters I was using held up very well against the sand.

But back to the first evening. I'm not sure how it is during other months, but in November not many people seem to visit this beach. The nearly two hours I photographed it for sunset I had it completely for myself. More than one mile of awesomeness lying in front of me. Huge sea stacks rising out of the stormy sea, the wind blowing sand into my face, dark clouds looming behind me and in front of me a beautiful sunset sky. Light and sand created intricate textures and I went low with my camera to capture it.

As I was already packing up my gear 10 minutes after the sun had vanished behind the cloud bank at the horizon suddenly the sky lit up again and I was able to capture the afterglow image above. I was very satisfied with what I got that evening. But also motivated enough to get up two hours before sunrise the next morning to see what dawn would bring me.

No glowing sky this time but a moody blue hour with the tide slowly creeping in. For this shoot I walked all the way to the western end of the beach, from where I had a great view towards the large sea arch. Right next to me was a deep sea cave, which I have to admit was a bit spooky in the predawn darkness.

Besides photography there's lot more you can do at this beach. It's such a great place to explore. I already mentioned the sea cave and there are many of them. Some are completely tunneling the sea stacks and you can walk right through them. At the eastern end is a large tidal pool formed of rocks and corals. There you can watch little seals play in the waters during low tide. As if this wasn't enough there are various walks, which will lead you into the beautiful backcountry. I can recommend the Green Hills walk with a little stop at Green Hill beach.

The two days up there went by much to fast. Next up was the long drive down to Punakaiki and the wet west coast of New Zealand.

Travelling New Zealand - Kaikoura

Michael Breitung — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 24:00:00 GMT

After spending one week on the North Island of New Zealand I took the Interislander Ferry from Wellington to Picton and started to explore the less populated South Island. After a lot of rain in the past days Picton greeted me with sunny skies.

But I didn't linger and directly hit the road to Kaikoura. The drive down there took me through a very different landscape. Along the east coast of the South Island the land doesn't look as lushly green as for example on the Coromandel Peninsula or in the hills around Hobbiton. Between Blenheim and Clarence you'll find a lot of vineyards between hills that look a little bit dry.

After leaving the hill country the coastal drive begins and it was a pleasure. The sea on this sunny day looked unbelievably blue. Although for landscape photography clear blue skies aren't ideal I didn't care much. The warmth that came with the clear sky was a nice change. This was the first day of my New Zealand travel that felt like summer.

Kaikoura is a nice town on a small peninsula halfway between Picton and Christchurch. It's famous for Whale Watching. The sea is very deep there, just a few miles off the coast there's an underwater canyon and this is were the boats of Whale Watch Kaikoura will take you, if you book a tour with them.

I did so and I even saw some Sperm Whales. But this wasn't the most exciting part about the tour. It was very windy when I went and the two hours on the boat felt a bit like a rollercoaster ride. The waves were much higher than the boat and it was a continuous up and down. I didn't have many problems with it, but soon the first people around me started pucking into their barf bags. So when we were back at the harbour I was glad to have solid ground beneath my feet again.

Besides Whales there are also large seal colonies around Kaikoura. At Ohau Point I saw many of them right next to the road. But the real highlight was the short hike to Ohau Falls. This little waterfall is kind of a playground for seal pups and I felt very lucky to see so many of them.

Another reason for me to visit Kaikoura was it's spectacular location. The Kaikoura mountains start directly at the coast and at the end of the town is a very popular photo spot with some interesting rock formations, which you have to shoot at low tide. I went there early in the morning when the stars were still out. The evening before I had already scouted the area for possible compositions and in the morning after some fine tuning I started taking long exposures.

The two days in Kaikoura I stayed at the Point B&B, which is such a great place. The best photography spots are all in walking distance and every day they have a little sheep shearing show. This was very entertaining and even if you don't stay at the B&B I'd recommend to visit for the show and for a chance to feed the ram.

It was hard to say goodbye to Kaikoura. As usual I had checked the forecast again and for the next destinations of the trip it didn't look so promising. But I couldn't help it. Four weeks is a very limited time to travel New Zealand and, if I wanted to drive around the South Island, I had to be on my way again.

Travelling New Zealand - Castlepoint

Michael Breitung — Sun, 22 Feb 2015 24:00:00 GMT

The fourth part of my New Zealand travel brought me from Hobbiton to Castlepoint in the south-east of the North Island. As I wrote in the previous article I had originally planned on spending the weekend in Tongariro National Park. But plans had to be changed due to the weather.

The drive into Tongariro National Park was arleady quite frustrating. I had expected to see a raw landscape with two iconic mountains rising to around 2500m from the high plains of the park. But I din't see Mount Ngauruhoe or Mount Ruapehu at all. The rain was very persistent as I approached Whakapapa Village and I was thankfull for the warm and large common room in the holiday park where I would be staying the night.

Here I could finally check the weather forecast again. It looked even worse than the day before and it was quite clear that I wouldn't be able to do the crossing the following day. The winds were too strong and with constant rain it would have been too much of a gamble to do the hike.

So instead I grabbed the NZ Frenzy book for the North Island and searched for an alternative. The only area where sun could be expected the following day was in the south-east. And with Castlepoint I found a very interesting location just there. Although I was very dissapointed that I wouldn't see Mount Ngauruhoe, which many of you will know as Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings, the descision was made to leave Tongariro very early the next morning.

But I couldn't just leave without any photo. The hike to Taranaki Falls can be done in around 45 minutes (one way) and waterfalls are a perfect subject in rainy conditions. As I started the hike the rain even stopped and for the next two hours I enjoyed a very pleasant walk through the harsh landscape of the park while encountering nearly no other people.

I did an extended photography stopp at the falls, which were in full power. The vegetation and rocks around the cascade glowed in beautiful colors and I tried some compositions that were solely focussing on the waterfall, the rocks and the bushes in front.

Left is me photographing at Castlepoint and on the right I'm shooting Taranaki Falls

I awoke early the next morning after a very cold night. It was raining again, more even than the day before. After a quick breakfast I started the five hour drive to Castlepoint. The more south I went the more often the sun glimpsed through the clouds. But only as I went through Masterton it seemed to have finally won the battle. The forecast proofed to be true.

Castlepoint was a nice little town which was still in it's winter sleep. Besides some locals there were nearly no other people. I only had to share the campground with one other campervan. The location was great and I could park the van close to the mile long beach with view to the lighthouse.

In the NZ Frenzy book a hike up to Castle Rock was recommended as offering some spectacular views. And the author really didn't exaggerate. Standing up on Castle Rock with it's awesome 360° view was my favourite moment of the week I had spent on the North Island.

For sunset I quickly hiked over to the Castlepoint lighthouse, which you see at the other side of the lagoon in the photo I took from Castle Rock. The clouds looked promising and I was finally able to photograph my first spectacular sunset of the trip.

The next day it was only a short drive over to Wellington where I spent one night before taking the ferry to the South Island. The rain was back in force then and I didn't get my Wellington photo from Mount Victoria. Instead I visited the Weta Caves, which I can recommend to anyone interested in how the costumes and weapons for Lord of the Rings and many other films are designed and produced.

Travelling New Zealand - Hobbiton

Michael Breitung — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 24:00:00 GMT

After leaving Coromandel my next stop was one of the film locations from Lord of the Rings and the recent Hobbit movies - Hobbiton. I was very excited to finally see those green rolling hills myself. I had booked one of the last movie set tours at 4:30pm in hope for some nice evening light.

But first there were nearly four hours on the road ahead of me. Driving in New Zealand really takes time. Not only because of the scenery and the many stops you can make along the road. There's also the speed limit of 100km/h and if you have a camper the progress can be even slower. On an average I made around 80km per hour in the four weeks of travel. This meant a lot of time was spent on the road.

From Hahei I first drove down along the coast to Waihi and then through the Karangahake gorge. I made a short stop at Owharoa Falls, which is a very scenic waterfall just a short walk from the road. This cascade is surrounded by the typical ferns you see everywhere in New Zealand and with the sun shining through the clouds the scenery felt very idyllic.

After half an hour of exploring and photographing the waterfall I continued my drive down to Hobbiton. While driving along the Highway down to Matamata I first experienced the strong winds that would accompany me the next three weeks of my New Zealand travels, the so called Westerlies. While Coromandel's east coast was mostly sheltered from those stormy winds, the western and middle parts of the North Island received their full share of them. It was sometimes hard to keep the Campervan on the road and I was constantly steering against the gusts.

I was glad when I finally arrived at the B&B near Karapiro. Although having a Campervan makes travelling New Zealand very flexible it's good to have a stay in a B&B or hotel from time to time. A warm shower and some emails later I was back on the road to the farm lands near Matamata.

As I arrived at the Hobbiton Movie set the first thing I noticed were the huge constructions going on along the road. Tourism is a major source af income in New Zealand and for this they really make sure the roads are well maintained. Everywhere I went road improvements were going on.

The movie set tour took two hours. We were around 20 people with one knowledgable guide who told many storries about the different Hobbit houses and about the filming. I really loved all the details with the beautiful little gardens in front of the Hobbit holes or some laundry still hanging in the sun to dry.

What I didn't like was the way we were shuffeled through Hobbiton. This is really no tour for photography. The tour follows a very strict timeline and there's nearly no flexibility. The reason for this is the frequency of the tours. A tour starts every 30 minutes and if one tour would linger too long in front of one of the houses there would be kind of a traffic jam.

I felt a little rushed but at the end we had 20 minutes in the Green Dragon Inn and I could finally relax with a drink and also take a few photos of the beautifully furnished interior.

Green Dragon Inn

Later the evening I drove around a bit to find some composition for sunset. If you continue along the road which leads to Hobbiton you find yourself in some beatiful hill country. But as in Coromandel the spectacular sunset didn't happen and I was back in the B&B quite early.

The last task for the day was checking the weather on Justweather and Metservice. On the coming weekend I wanted to do the Tongariro crossing, but the forecast was disheartening. It's quite logic that those Westerlies I was talking about earlier blow a lot stronger in the mountains. And 90km/h winds up on Mount Tongariro didn't sound too inviting.

Travelling New Zealand - Coromandel

Michael Breitung — Sat, 10 Jan 2015 24:00:00 GMT

After the quick stop in Auckland it was great to finally see some of New Zealands beautiful landscapes. With four weeks in New Zealand and only one week on the North Island, time was limited. So instead of trying to see and photograph it all I focussed my efforts on a few select places.

On the Coromandel Peninsula I stayed for three days at Hahei Holiday Resort. I had reserved a beach front campervan site, which was a great base to explore the spectacular coastline. No need to wander far here. Hahei beach is already a wonderful place to photograph with all the little islands and sea stacks lined up at the horizon.

After a rainy evening and night I wasn't expecting to photograph at sunrise. But after the last downpour around 4am in the morning it cleared and I ran to the northern end of the beach to reach the rocks, which I had scouted the day before.

Cathedral Cove

The weather proved to be very interesting that and the following days on the Coromandel Peninsula. A constant change between sunshine and showers. This was great for photography, especially during day. So I did the short hike to Cathedral Cove. This place is really awe inspiring. Huge cliffs, a great sea cave, a large number of sea stacks and even a waterfall at one end of the beach. To top it all off there is a toilette with a view ;-)

The best thing was, while I was there there weren't all too many people. Beeing there before noon during the week with such inconsistent weather did the trick I think. I scouted and photographed the beach for a few hours before returning to the campsite. Unfortunately the evening was all rainy again, so there was no sunset to photograph. Although the Hahei coastline is on the eastern side of Coromandel there are a few viewpoints in the hills which could be interesting even during sunset. During my time there I did see no interesting sunset light though.

But after another rainy and stormy night I saw some beautiful light in the morning. Around 4am I made my way back to Cathedral Cove and arrived just in time to have the full moon shining through the streaking clouds. At this time I was really the only person down there and it was magical. If you're a photographer reading this I don't have to tell you to head there before sunrise, but even if you're not a photographer you should make the early start to experience this atmosphere, if you have the chance to visit.

Again I stayed a few hours. This morning it finally felt as if I had really arrived in New Zealand. On the hike back to Hahei I stopped for another scene, which had already struck me as photogenic the day before. But then the light had not been right. I was already anticipating how it would look in the early morning light as I hiked up the path to the viewpoint.

New Chums

Around noon rain set in and unlike the day before it continued without any sunny spells in between. It didn't look as there would be a change in Hahei so I drove up further north to Whangapoua. It has a nice beach but this wasn't the reason I drove up there. At the northern end of Whangapoua beach is a little stream. Crossing it and then hiking along the low tide line for 10 minutes I came to a little path leading through the forest. Another 10 minutes later I stood on one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen - New Chums Beach. It reminded me a bit of Anse Coco on the Seychelles, only that it was colder and the vegetation was different. But the sand, the colors, the little alcoves under the trees kind of moved me back to the time I stayed on La Digue. Even the sun was shining up there.

Since this place is a bit off the beaten track, in the four or so hours I was there I encountered only around 10 to 15 other people. Most of the time no other person was there at all besides me and my girlfriend - although I'm always writing "I", I'm not completely alone on those trips ;-) . After taking a few photos I sat down in the sand and just enjoyed the scenery.

The landscape on the Coromandel Peninsula is breathtaking. It's a variety of thick forest with huge ferns, wide rolling hills, craggy mountains, mile long beaches and steep cliffs. And this is just the eastern side. I could have easily stayed the one week I had planned for the North Island on Coromandel alone, if I had wanted to explore the whole area including the west and the more remote north.

But as it was the accomodation near Karapiro plus the Hobbiton Movie set tour was already booked. And so I left the Coromandel Peninsula on the following day and headed down south.

Travelling New Zealand - Auckland

Michael Breitung — Fri, 26 Dec 2014 24:00:00 GMT

As some of you might know I've been travelling New Zealand for four weeks during November and early December. It's been an awesome time but sometimes quite challenging in terms of photography. I've decided to write a few articles about this trip, focussing on the different places I stayed at and photographed.

After nearly 30 hours of travel Auckland was my first stop. I had booked flights with Singapore Airlines from Germany and while they fly the most direct route to New Zealand it was still an awefull long time on a plane. After five or so movies from their infotainment system and a few hours of interrupted sleep I was glad to finally set foot on solid ground again.

When I planned the travel, directly getting the camper and setting off was never an option. I knew I would be tired and so one night in Auckland was booked. It was a sunny day and the harbour was just 20 minutes walking distance from the hotel, so I forgot about my exhaustion for a time and went exploring.

Auckland Harbour
Equipment: Canon EOS 5D Mark II | Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 LII

While Auckland is quite a nice City, it's not a place where I would stay for several days while on a New Zealand travel. The harbour provides some subjects but the rest of the inner city is quite uneventful in terms of photography. You'd need to climb on some of the hills, e.g. Mount Eden, go to the large Yacht harbour or cross the bay for further photo opportunities.

But there was one place I had scouted on google maps, which I wanted to photograph. Along Hopetoun Street is a bridge across the Southern Motorway. This spot is well known by photographers and although it has been photographed a lot I had to give it a try. It was just two kilometers from our hotel, so I used the jetlag and got up 4am the next morning.

There was no colorful sunrise but the blue hour provided the perfect light for this subject. During several long exposures the clouds showed some nice movement and after aroung 90 minutes shooting this scene in different light I finally felt confident enough to return to the hotel for two more hours of sleep.

Later I went back to the airport to pick up the Campervan from Apollo. After an extended stop at a large Countdown market and the shock when seeing the bill, I headed off to Coromandel.

Focus Stacking in Landscape Photography

Michael Breitung — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 24:00:00 GMT

In this guide about focus stacking in landscape photography, I show you how focus stacking works in the field and how to stack photos during photo editing.

Why Focus Stacking is Important

One of the first things I learned when starting with landscape photography was that selecting a small aperture results in a large depth of field. So, the formula to capture a photo containing elements in the near foreground and details in the background is to use an f-stop of f/16, f/19, or even f/22.

But not so fast. Stopping down a lens can decrease the overall sharpness of an image because of a phenomenon called diffraction. Depending on your camera-lens combination, you will usually begin to notice this degradation of image quality for apertures smaller than f/11 if you zoom in close on an image during photo editing or if you create a large print of a photo.

The good thing is that when photographing with a wide-angle lens, you can achieve a large depth of field without resorting to small apertures. Combining apertures between f/8 and f/11 with the correct focal point, called the hyperfocal distance, can yield great results. Focusing on this point ensures acceptable sharpness from half the hyperfocal distance toward infinity. But from my experience, acceptable sharpness is often not sharp enough. And since the hyperfocal distance depends on the focal length of the lens you use, its usefulness is limited. When you photograph with a long lens, the depth of field will not be enough, no matter how perfect you set the focus.

You can argue that not every image needs to be sharp from foreground to background. And you are right. The decision to only have a small area of an image in focus is an artistic choice. But you likely don't want it for all your photos. Especially with landscape and architecture photos, I prefer sharpness throughout the image, and focus stacking can give me that without the discussed limitations.

What is Focus Stacking

Focus stacking is a technique that's become very popular in landscape photography over the last few years. It originates from macro photography, where the depth of field is usually very shallow. Multiple photos of the same scene with different focal points can be taken and combined to increase it. The merged photo will contain the combined depth of field of the single images if the stacking is done right.

While in macro photography, many different photos need to be stacked to get the desired depth of field, for landscape and architecture images, most of the time, between two and five photos suffice. An example is the image I captured at Anse Source D'Argent.

In Practice

You might ask how to know how many photos you need to take and where to set the different focal points. It was hard to provide a recipe that always worked in the past because you had to select the focus points manually. But modern cameras often come with automatic focus bracketing that takes away a lot of uncertainty. The Canon R5, for example, will determine how many photos to take and where to focus based on the selected focal length and aperture, ensuring enough overlap in sharpness between the individual images.

Below, I share different techniques you can use to stack your images, including manual and automatic focusing. All those techniques have the goal of capturing a sequence of images with focus points ranging from close foreground to far background. The depth of field of those images must overlap to get continuous sharpness in the stacked photo. Using apertures between f/8 and f/11 provides the best compromise between sharpness and ease of stacking later.

Automatic Focus Bracketing

Let's start with the state-of-the-art, automatic focus bracketing. This feature even allows capturing the images of a focus stacking sequence handheld if it's bright enough. Photo editing software will be able to compensate for minor movement between individual frames. But for the best results, always use a tripod.

In the video below, I show you how to use the focus bracketing feature of the Canon R5 as an example. I cannot give you direct guidance for other brands, but I assume their stacking features work similarly.

As you see in the video, the first step after activating automatic focus bracketing is to focus on the element in the photo closest to the camera. Using the two-second timer, you start the stacking by pressing the shutter button. The camera does the rest, capturing several images while moving the focus from foreground to background.

Semi-Automatic Stacking

The Canon R5 limits automatic focus bracketing to situations where the individual exposure times are less than or equal to 0.5 seconds. In other cases, I have to select the focal points myself. If you also run into such a limitation with your camera, use the touch screen of your camera to set the focus, provided it has one. Tap on the screen to select different focus points between foreground and background. If you are not sure where to focus and how many images to take, make small increments and take more photos than you think you need to be on the safe side. You can delete images you don't need later during post-processing.

For this technique to work, you either let the camera automatically release the shutter after you tap on the screen or select back-button focus. It prevents the camera from re-focusing when you press the shutter.

Manual Workflow

If you know your equipment, it's also possible to perform fully manual focus stacking by just turning the focus ring of your lens between taking the different photos. With some experimenting, you will know how far to turn the ring to get a sufficient overlap of sharpness. I used this technique years ago when cameras didn't have touch screens or automatic stacking capabilities.

Photo Editing

When you arrive home after a hopefully successful photo trip, the first step before stacking your photos is to check the overlap in the depth of field of the different images. It's a good idea to mark the pictures you want to use for stacking. In Lightroom, I usually use green color to select the photos.

Then, as with any RAW photo you edit, apply your settings to one image of the sequence in Lightroom or whatever editing software you use. Once you are satisfied with the result, synchronize the settings to the other photos of the sequence. Then, it's time for the stacking. As with the in-the-field process, you have different options to stack your photos.

Automatic Stacking in Photoshop

Photoshop supports the automatic stacking of images. But I never use these features. As I show in the video below, even for simple scenes, it usually requires manual adaptions of the resulting stack. First, you load all images into layers in Photoshop. You can do so directly from Lightroom. In Photoshop, you select all layers and go to Edit - Auto-Align Layers. This step is important, even if you use a tripod in the field. During focus stacking, the field of view slightly changes. The auto-align feature compensates for it.

Directly next to the Auto-Align Layers feature, you find Auto-Blend Layers. In the dialog that opens when selecting it, choose Stack Images and keep Seamless Tones and Colors active. Pressing OK will perform the stacking. In the video, I show how to deal with flaws in the result.

Manual Stacking in Photoshop

Because the above method seldom leads to a clean result, I mostly performed focus stacking manually using masks in Photoshop in the past. I explain this method in all its detail in the next video. There, I also talk about how to combine focus stacking with exposure blending.

Automatic Stacking in Helicon Focus

Discovering Helicon Focus was a game-changer for my focus-stacking workflow. Combined with automatic focus bracketing, it works great in most situations. Even difficult scenes can be stacked much easier in Helicon Focus than in Photoshop. Woodland photos were always hard to deal with in Photoshop. In Helicon Focus, it's usually no problem as I show in the video below.

This software integrates seamlessly with Adobe Lightroom and even supports a DNG workflow, which allows you to stack your RAW images and make additional adjustments later. Within Helicon Focus, you have different stacking modes, of which I find Method B to work best for most of my images. This documentation by Helicon Focus provides further information about when to use which stacking mode.

Limitations and Alternatives

Stacking the photos in Photoshop or software like Helicon Focus is easy for many scenes. Problems arise with moving elements, especially in the foreground. Then, the photo editing involved in the focus stacking can become a pain and require retouching to fit everything together.

In such situations, experiment with different ISO settings to freeze motion as much as possible. Try to photograph the focus stacking sequence very fast. The automatic focus bracketing feature of modern cameras is a big help for that.

If there's a lot of movement, there's nearly no way to get a convincing result. The compromise is to use smaller apertures. An alternative would be to invest in a Tilt-Shift lens. The tilt of such lenses can dramatically change the area of sharpness in photos. But they are also expensive and have only a fixed focal length.

Conclusion

As I showed in this article, focus stacking is a great technique to create tack-sharp images. I shared different in-the-field focus stacking techniques and talked about limitations, photo editing, and things to look out for to capture the perfect focus stacking sequence. The video above contains a detailed summary.

Focus Stacking is only a part of the photo editing workflow though. If you want to learn more about how I edit my photos, I'm sure you'll like my Photo Editing Mega Bundle.