Encase your HDD in a Peli Protector 1120 case
I have written a more than healthy amount of posts about backups, archiving and data storage. If you have followed my blog you already learned about my backup strategy (Link 1, Link 2). There are three copies of my archive: On my NAS and a carbon copy on two separate...
Photographing Motorbikes (Part 2/2)
This is part 2 of the big motorbike photography series. If you haven't read part 1, click here. Last week I showed Japanese motorbikes, this week belongs to the Italians. The following images depict a Moto Morini Granpasso 1200 and a Ducati 748 S Biposto. In contrast...
Photographing Motorbikes (Part 1/2)
Introduction. I have a driver's license for motorbikes as long as I own a driver's license for cars. But since the day of my driving test I did not ride a bike since I never owned one. When I was younger I did not have the money, during my studies I had other things...
Underground car park: Mercedes Benz SLS AMG
I stumbled across this gorgeous Mercedes Benz SLS AMG in an underground car park in Frankfurt. Now I am not a sportscar person, but the sheer beauty of this piece is stunning. The design screams "I AM PERFECTLY ENGINEERED" and boy, do I love the matt paint finish...
Review: Novoflex MagicBall 50 tripod head
A multitude of heads for tripods is available on the market. There are three-axis heads, ball heads, geared heads to name only a few. I have gone through different tripod heads in my photographic life and today I want to share some thoughts on the Novoflex MagicBall....
Photographing the solar eclipse
I am a little late with my report, but little late than never. During the solar eclipse on March 20th 2015 I took some photos of the event. The results are ok, although I could have done better in my opinion. I have to admit that I did not prepare very well for the...
Against which risks are you protecting your data ?
Backups are absolutely essential. I wrote about that topic quite a few times already and I can’t stress that point enough. I live a solid backup strategy and it has saved my a$$ multiple times already. The core of my backup system is a 4-bay NAS system (Network...
Moon and Venus
At the evening of March 22nd 2015 I stepped out of the cottage where we spent our vacation to take out the trash. When I raised my head I was awarded with an astonishing view. Moon and Venus were in conjunction. I rushed back into the cottage, grabbed my tripod and a...
Another lens review for Nikon Rumors: Venus 60mm f2.8 2:1 macro
Hey there, I wrote another lens review for nikonrumors.com and it just has been published. This time I take a closer look at the Venus 60mm f2.8 2:1 macro lens. The lens has a maximum reproduction ratio of 2:1, which means that the image on the sensor can be twice as...
Putting your gear on display
There are many different philosophies and solutions when it comes to storing one's camera gear. Since the hunter-gatherer blood runs strongly in my veins I amassed quite a collection of gear over the years. After some interim solutions with shelfes and boxes I finally...
Lumenatorial: The Baby Ladybug
Today's Lumenatorial covers how I captured the photo of that baby ladybug. The story begins when I drove my car through the car-wash. Back home I inspected the cleaning job and found the ladybug on the car's roof (however it got there at temperatures around zero). I...
Good customer relationship management
A few months ago I wrote about the re-organization of my workspace. I purchased an electrically actuated desk, assembled it by myself and re-arranged the messy wiring I had produced over time. Shortly after New Year's Eve I received an email from the company which...
Lumenatic on NikonRumors.com with a review of the 12 mm fish-eye lens
Dear readers, NikonRumors has just published a guest post I have written. I did an extended version of the Walimex 12 mm f2.8 fish-eye review. Feeling a little bit proudly. You can read the article here on nikonrumors.com (The shorter version I have published here on...
Less is more: Sifting through your gear
Between Christmas and New Year's Eve I took some time to look at my gear and re-arrange my photo shelf. As I went through the lenses, flashes and other items I came to realize that some items were just collecting dust. I have the unpleasant habit of hastily buying...
Lumenatorial: The golden fruit
In the last months I have been struggling to deliver content on a weekly basis. Time is short and blogging takes time. So I decided to start a series of shorter entries called "Lumenatorials". In these posts I will show a photo I made and deliver some background...
Low-cost LED background light for your computer
When working at a computer it is advisable to have some sort of background lighting. It is less strennous for your eyes if the contrast between the screen and the surroundings is not too big. I used to have a lamp on a boom arm which shone behind my iMac. But the lamp...
WalimexPro (Samyang) 12 mm f2.8 full-frame fish-eye
Back in September 2014 Samyang announced a new lens - a 12 mm f2.8 fish-eye for full-frame cameras. A prototype was shown at Photokina in Cologne (see picture below) but the lens was not available until now. I already own the Samyang 8 mm f3.5 fish-eye and it is a fun...
2014 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. Thanks for reading and looking forward to seeing you in 2015 n Here's an excerpt: The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 47,000 times...
Seasons greetings from lumenatic.com
SPAM
SPAM. From me. For you. I was too lazy busy to write a full-blown blog entry, therefore I am posting an image which I entered into the bi-weekly photo contest of the German photo podcast Happy Shooting. The topic of the contest was "Konserve" ("can" or "tin can"). You...
Squirrel
Two weeks ago I hung some birdfood in the tree right in front of out kitchen window. That gave me the opportunity to deposit the camera right in the kitchen and wait for the moment to make close-ups of animals feeding there. One morning I was rewarded with a squirrel...
Golden Fairy Evolution
Every year in October the Tiergartenfest ist held. The Hannover Tiergarten used to be the royal hunting grounds, reserved to the king, his family and other noblemen. Today it is a public park where deer roam freely. Once a year a festival takes place in the...
Workspace re-organization
In my daytime job I work in an office, meaning I sit a lot. But as a photographer I also spend a lot of time before the computer at home. That's too much sitting and so I decided to get an electrically actuated desk which enables one to work while standing. After some...
[Offtopic] Help to battle leukemia by becoming a cell donor
Offtopic post today. I decided to become a stem cell donor to help people with blood cancer (leukemia). The organization managing the donations is the DKMS - Deutsche Knochenmarkspenderdatei (German Bone Marrow Donor Center). The registration procedure is quick and...
New Wallpaper: Fish tank
Time for another wallpaper ! The following image was shot on the island of Tenerife, Spain. They have a famous park with aquatic animals and birds, the Loro Parque. In one building they have a giant spiraling ramp which winds around a large fish tank. The image is...
Switching from iOS to Android
People say “Once you go Mac, you never go back”. While this is still true for my stationary computer (love my iMac) I broke with that saying regarding the smartphone. Here is my story. Prequel After using the iPhone4 for about four years the device started to show...
D750 vs. D800 High ISO comparison (2nd post because I screwed up)
Dear readers, I have to say SORRY because I screwed up the previous post about the ISO performance of the D750. When editing the sample images I did not turn off the noise reduction in Capture NX-D, thus the high ISO images were mashed into a blurry pulp without any...
Focussing in dim-lit situations
Focussing in low light situations can be tricky. As light becomes scarce eventually even cameras with a high-end focussing system will struggle and finally wave the white flag. But there is a simple measure to counter this problem. It's in the standard repertoire of...
Shutter sounds of the Nikon D750, D610 and D800
A reader asked me how the shutter of the D750 sounds. Well, here you go. All examples at 1/200th of a second. https://youtu.be/GT66IsM-46A
First impressions of the Nikon D750
After yesterday's post was linked to by nikonrumors.com I received some emails and comments about the D750. So I decided to make another short video giving you my first impressions of the camera. Note that I only focus on the exterior of the camera since I had no time...
The Nikon D750 has arrived
Hooray, the Nikon D750 has arrived ! Since I was crazy enough to pre-order it two weeks prior to the official announcement, based only upon rumors, my speed has paid off today as I got the very first camera which was shipped to my local store. Who needs another...
Flower wallpaper in soothing colors
Recently I made this image of a yellow flower. It popped up quite high above the bush it protruded from so I was able to get the flower nicely sharp with a pleasantly blurred background. Also I like the colors, so I decided to make a 2560x1440 desktop wallpaper. Click...
Photokina 2014
Attention camera geeks ! Today I am at Photokina in Cologne. I will post live from there, so like my Facebook page to follow me through the day: https://m.facebook.com/lumenaticphotography
Gas and Gearporn – A Confession
"I do not need all those lenses, flashes, full frame bodies, camera bags, tripods etc. to be a good photographer." There, I said it, it's out. I felt that this statement had to be made since many photographers (me absof**kinglutely included) are crazy about hi-tech...
Summertime insects
Insects never fail to mesmerize. They are everywhere around us and nobody realizes them (if they are not of the bloodsucking kind). But once a macro lens is pointed at them the intricate beauty is revealed. Here are some macro shots I took with my Nikon D610 and the...
The making of "Hau-B"
I listen to an excellent German photo podcast called "Happy Shooting". The podcast is hosted by Chris Marquardt and Boris Nienke, two photographers who are very active in the podosphere and blogosphere. The Happy Shooting podcast is published weekly (for over nine...
[Opinion, Safe for Work] Nudity and photographing children
Today's post is about a very sensitive subject: photographing nude children. The background story: I read an article about US-based photographer Wyatt Neumann. He made a road trip with his two-year-old daughter Stella, photographing the country. Stella makes an...
LR/Mogrify 2: Augmented Export for Lightroom
Have you ever had the situation that you wanted to do something with Lightroom which is not within the standard scope of the application ? Think about including metadata in the image (e.g. ISO and shutter speed, aperture) or the date you took the photo. Or did you...
Lumenatic.com turned four today
Four years ago I started the lumenatic blog. It has been my personal project since then to write about my experiences from shoots, interesting gear and other photography-related topics. Thanks for being a reader of this blog ! I learned a lot about photography from...
Frog evolution
Last week I showed some close-ups of frogs I photographed in a small aquarium. I mentioned that the aquarium glass added a milky haze to the images. In this evolution-post I will show how I edited two of those images. Note that I introduced a new category for such...
Shooting a frog close-up
We have awesome neighbors. They do lots of cool stuff with their kids like digging up fossils in a quarry, visiting historical and scientific museums and conducting science experiments at home like growing crystals. Their newest project are frogs. They caught some...
Recap: Cleaning your sensor
Today I noticed that the sensor of my D610 has quite some dust on it. Usually you don't see the specks but in darker areas the dust suddenly gets visible. A good method for checking the sensor's cleanness is to shoot something with not too much texture and underexpose...
Fireworks photography
Today's post is about fireworks. As many readers come from the US I know you recently had huge fireworks on the 4th of July, but you still might get some inspiration on how to shoot fireworks for next year's celebrations. I went to a festival here in Hanover, the...
Avoiding closed eyes in flash photography
There are people whose eyes are closed or half-closed on every single picture when they are photographed using a flash. Getting a decent portrait of such a person is difficult. Today I want to explain the background to that circumstance and show two ways of avoiding...
The Tamron 150-600 mm telezoom lens
The Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD telezoom lens is quite new on the market and seems to sell like hot cakes. The lens is a telezoom ranging from 150 mm to 600 mm, which is absolutely amazing. I ordered mine on June 9th and the package was delivered on July...
Apple ceases development of Aperture and iPhoto
Apple has announced that with the development of OS X Yosemite they will focus on the new Photos app and cease development of Aperture and iPhoto. That is not good news. With Aperture and iPhoto Apple had two very powerful tools for managing and processing images....
How to give feedback
In 2010 I wrote about a shoot I made using a Range 2000 film camera. The Range 2000 is the embodiment of point-and-shoot: Fixed aperture, fixed focal length, fixed focus, fixed shutter speed. I shared some of the images from that film roll on the blog. Now I received...
Wallpapers
I decided to share some of my images as wallpapers. The plan is to start with a small number of images and add one or the other image over time. I will kick this off by publishing two shots of model sports cars I made in the past (click here to see the Ferrari...
Saalburg stronghold
This post is a little offtopic since I cover a visit to a historical site and not something specifically photography-related, but you might forgive me 🙂 Just enjoy the images ! If you are interested in history and / or archeology you might also like my post about my...
About me (you may skip this post 😉
I keep a list of topics about which I want to write. Some of them are reviews of gear, some are small photo projects which are yet to be realized. But today I feel more like introducing myself briefly. I do not write this post out of vanity but more out of...
Product photos made simple (wristwatch)
Recently I bought a new wristwatch. Since I was also looking for a new photo project I decided to make some product shots the lazy way and see how far a camera, a flash and some sheets of paper as reflectors will bring me. You might remember an earlier post where I...
The explosion of image data 2003-2014
I ran another archiving session that weekend and once again I thought "Boy, so much data, where is this going to end ?" The next though in that line was "How did the amount of data develop over the years ?" and so I decided to make a blogpost about it. I went through...
Comparing two popular camera straps
Every camera comes with a branded camera strap which is worn around the neck. Besides from being bad for your neck muscles the original camera straps are printed with a large design stating the camera brand and model name. Because many people find these original...
Nikon Releases Firmware Update to Fix CLS Issue
This just came in via email. Nikon finally released a firmware update (A 1.10, B 1.10) for the D800 and D800E. Among the fixes is the CLS issue: "When the built-in flash was set to Commander mode, remote Speedlights sometimes did not fire. This issue has been...
How to add a signature watermark to your images
When presenting your images there is a unique way to make them stand out from the crowd: Sign them. Text watermarks are very easy to implement. In Lightroom you can define a text which shall be watermarked to each exported image. I've been doing that for quite a while...
Grasshopper evolution
One day it happened that a grasshopper appeared in our bathroom. Before gently complimenting the insect out into freedom again I mounted the macro lens on my D300s (still had it at that time), mounted a flash and took some images. In this post I want to share the...
More Insects
Last week I posted images of a caterpillar on an apple and once the macro lens is mounted my photographic trigger finger stays itchy. Therefore I strolled around on a playground while my daughter was playing and scrutinized twigs and leaves of the surrounding...
Caterpillar
We stood together with our neighbors when suddenly he said: "Oh look, there's a tiny caterpillar on your shirt !" Being the busy photographer I am instead of brushing the caterpillar off my shirt and into the next shrubbery I ran inside (caterpillar still on me) and...
Announcing insect week
Spring is here and nature is buzzing with activity. In the last weeks I had the 105 mm macro lens mounted on one camera all the time and took the opportunity to photograph insects which I encountered outdoors. This week is thereby declared insect week. Within the next...
Lightroom Mobile – Paying Customers Excluded
The title of this post is a little misleading, but I chose it on purpose to vent a little steam. But first things first. What happened ? Adobe released a mobile version of Lightroom, which brings it to the iPad. That is just great and just what I was waiting for. LR...
Happy Easter
Happy Easter and thank you for reading this blog !
Nighttime photography – alone in the crater
Recently I was on vacation on the island of Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands. Tenerife is home to Spain's highest mountain: El Teide, a volcano with 3.817 m height. El Teide is located within an even larger and older crater, which gave me the opportunity to...
Watertight, shock resistant, dustproof – Nikon Coolpix S32
Shortly before my last vacation I bought an underwater camera on impulse. I wanted a rather simple and cheap camera, since I would mainly use it for fun and not "serious" photography. I did not spend much time on research but searched for waterproof cameras on an...
Treat my order with respect, Amazon and UPS !
I am a huge fan of online shopping. I buy a lot of stuff online - when I think about it for a moment it is only clothing and groceries which I don't buy on the internet. My two main sources for all the stuff one might of might not need are eBay and Amazon. I think I...
Battling an annoying cliché
This week I had one of those classic experiences which almost every photographer had in his career. At my workplace they were looking for somebody to take pictures of an event. I was asked to do it, and the conversation went like this: Co-worker: “Say, could you take...
A clever universal battery charger
I am on vacation and the ghost of faulty technology struck again. Shortly before leaving I purchased a Nikon Coolpix S32, which is a water-, dust- and shockproof family camera. I bought it mainly for the pool and for snorkeling. When I received it I did not test it...
Half moon at 800 mm
I love the moon. My father has a pair of strong binoculars which, when I was a kid, used to point at the moon to see the craters. The moon never fails to mesmerize, so my apologies for blogging a picture of the moon for the tenth time 🙂 Every now and then, when the...
More Sportscars
The sportscar fever got me after I shot the Ferrari FF and an Audi R8 in the studio. So I borrowed a bunch of model cars and launched an extensive shooting session in the studio. To add a little extra wow to the images I went to my local hardware store and purchased a...
Audi R8 shooting
Following the positive response on my Ferrari FF post I got hold of another RC model car and took it into my studio. Again a red car, but this time it's an Audi R8. In the studio I used a black backdrop, placing the model on a table which is also covered by the...
Synology DS414 Network attached storage solution
After being disappointed by my Drobo for the third time I abandoned it and switched to another RAID system which, in contrast to the Drobo, also serves as a NAS (network attached storage, meaning the storage device can be accessed using your local network). I read...
Third crash – Bye bye Drobo !
I use a 4-bay Drobo (2nd generation) to backup my iMac's hard drive and to archive stuff which doesn't need to be permanently on the computer anymore. The Drobo is marketed as an easy-to-use system which will protect you against data loss due to its intelligent RAID...
Shooting animals through glass
In lack of freely roaming tigers, lions and other game here in Hanover I often go to the fabulous zoo. We have a 12 month pass and so we can go there as often as we like without having to worry about the duration of the stay. I always take a camera with me and capture...
Why I am not convinced of home-printing your images
I am not convinced of printing photos at home. I found it complicated, inaccurate, time-consuming and sometimes even frustrating. Keep in mind - that is my personal opinion, I am not ranting against a certain brand or product, I am just explaining why printing images...
2013 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog. Here's an excerpt: The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 55,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would...
Photographing minerals
The son of our neighbors next doors is seven years old and collects minerals ("treasures of the soil" as he calls them). When we visited them a while ago I suggested to photograph his treasures along with some of his Lego figurines. The idea was very welcome and so I...
How to make product photos quick’n’dirty
When I made the shots of the D610 for my "purchase decision post" I did not have the time (and patience) to make a proper studio setup. So I decided to go for a quick'n'dirty solution. To my amazement the results were far better than expected. I placed the D610 on the...
Why I chose a D610 over a D7100
One might have derived from my last post that I am looking for a new camera. And that is totally true. Recently I bought a Nikon D610 as my secondary camera. The D610 replaces my D300s , so now I will have two full frame cameras in operation (D800 and D610). The...
Gear sale: D300s, MB-D10, Manfrotto 322RC2
I went through my gear to decide what could be released onto the second-hand market. I found three nice pieces of equipment which I would like to sell, so drop me a line if you are interested (I...
My experience with the battery charger / USB hub box
Three months ago I created a battery charging / data connection box (see the making of here). It is a wooden box into which all my battery chargers are placed, fastened with velcro. A seven port USB 3.0 hub connects to a bundle of data cables for mounting all sorts of...
Nikon Df: A retro-style full frame camera (which is totally overpriced)
For a long time no product being rumored in the Nikon world has sparked so much anticipation and excitement as the retro-style full frame camera which's existence leaked not long ago. A lengthy teaser campaign followed with six videos showing a photographer roaming...
Retro camera with the D4 sensor (piggybank slaughter at the horizon ?)
I usually do not repost content from other sites, but I am too excited about this one not to share it. Nikonrumors reported that Nikon is going to release a retro-style full frame camera in the next two weeks (6th of November might be the day). The camera is supposed...
Lowepro Pro Roller X300 – A mammoth rolling case
When going on a shoot you might want to take a lot of gear. Cameras, lenses, flashes, accessories, you know what I am talking about. When it comes to packing a lot of stuff for a shoot, a rolling case might be a good option for you. Recently I got the Lowepro pro...
DIY Project: Battery charger / USB connector center
*UPDATE* Read about my experiences with this solution after three months here. IMPORTANT NOTE ! Never close the box while batteries are charging ! Battery charging generates heat which needs to escape. If you close the box during charging operation you might risk a...
A collection of great online learning resources
Sometimes people ask how I learned photography. First of all, I have many friends who are as enthusiastic as I am about photography. I went out shooting with them and step by step I learned about my camera, the principles of composition and lighting. Also I read books...
Listen and repeat – A single backup/archive volume is not enough
Something is definitely not right with my technological karma. The D800 hassle, a week ago our 3.5-year old TV went dead and a few days ago my praised Drobo refused to mount in the Finder. A Drobo, for everyone who is not familiar with it, is a plug-and-play RAID...
Exchanging the rubber zoom ring on a Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 lens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SrN_ON91xU The rubber ring on my 24-70 f.28 lens started to wear out. It expanded, lost its grip on the lens barrel and came loose. I contacted Nikon support and they told me that this is normal wear. It is actually not a surprise, my...
Lumiquest Softbox III – Installation and Mini Review
When I was reading the lighting 101 guide from strobist.com one product which was presented there struck me - the Lumiquest Softbox III. It is a flexible, lightweight and very flat packing softbox which is attached to your flash directly. Lumiquest offers a range of...
Leap Motion Controller
I got a Leap Motion Controller today. Leap is a startup company which offers a truly marvelous 3D tracking device. The little box you see in the title picture is not much bigger than a lighter. You place it in front or behind your keyboard and the Leap Motion...
Guest writers / co-authors sought
A great deal of my photographic knowledge comes from blogs, podcasts and instructional videos which are freely available on the internet. My key driver for writing here is to share my experiences and humble knowledge with other people. I am blogging for about three...
Taking a self-portrait (with the setup on a napkin)
I decided to change my profile pic I use on wordpress, twitter, tumblr,.... everywhere. For some years it has been a picture of me in a red weather jacket, lying on an icelandic beach and hiding behind my D300s. I thought it was time to come out of the shadow... well...
Shooting a Ferrari FF in the studio
I enjoyed shooting a Porsche GTS a few weeks ago. Shooting cars is a new challenge since I am not too experienced in that genre. While the Porsche shoot produced some presentable results I was not completely satisfied. What I had in mind was a cool shot with the car...
Review: The JJC wireless shutter release JM-B
I have had this wireless shutter release for a while now and found it was time for a review video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0KNN8wCTu0 Short summary of the results: Description: - wireless cable release unit for the Nikon D300, D300s, D700, D800 etc. - 16...
Nikon D800 screen protector contest – winner
The contest for winning a Nikon D800 Expert Shield screen protector (protective foil) is closed ! The dice has been cast and the winner is.... flosphoto. Congratulations ! Please get in touch with me via email and send me the shipping address. Thanks to Expert Shield...
For Sale: Lytro 16 GB lightfield camera (SOLD)
***UPDATE 09. July 2013*** The camera has been sold **************************** I want to sell my Lytro lightfield camera. The Lytro camera gives you the possibility to refocus the images after they have been taken. The technology behind that is quite sophisticated...
Garden work
No deep story today, just two shots I like. I did some garden work and noticed the ladybug (yes, another one after this one and this one). The other picture is a ... what's it's called again... never mind, pretty plant which sprouted on the patio. Both images were...
You can win a screen protector for your D800 !
In case you didn't notice: I am giving away a screen protector for a Nikon D800 ! Just enter a comment below the last post and you are in the contest ! Among all commenters the winner will be determined by the roll of a dice. The contest is open until July 6th 2013,...
Expert Shield screen protectors for the D800 (CLOSED)
What you see in the header picture of this post is that you see nothing. Cool, huh ? Nah, just kidding. What you can see is an additional edge on the screen of my D800. This is caused by a protective foil which I applied to the screen (and misaligned it by the...
D800 – Back from service !
Got the camera back from Nikon Germany. They replaced the flash circuit board , cleaned the sensor and even gave me a BM-8 acryllic screen protector for the back screen. I removed it before I sent the camera to service so it can't be lost... now I have two. I made a...
Unboxing the Yongnuo YN-622N i-TTL flash triggers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qgQubjVLGU Together with the YN-568EX flash unit I purchased two sets of i-TTL triggers from Yongnuo. These triggers have been around for Canon for a while, and since a few weeks they are now also available for Nikon. Watch another...