Tell us about you and your family?
We live in Mannheim, in the southern part of Germany since more than 20 years. Mannheim is not as famous and pretty as our neighbour city – Heidelberg – but still has some nice places, two rivers (river Rhine and Neckar) and a very active cultural scene.
We have two teenage boys – unfortunately they don’t like to be photographed anymore… So family pictures are rare.
When did you start being interested in photography?
My mom was interested in photography (and still is) and I remember that we always had to wait for her, when we were travelling or visiting places of interest, because she just had to take one more photo. My mom made sure I had a camera with me when I started travelling on my own. So I basically I took photos since I were a teenager. At some point in time I noticed that my point-and-shot snapshots just didn’t reflect the mood and emotions I felt, so like 20 years ago I got my first DSLR camera (a Canon 350D) and started to learn about photography.
How long have you been taking a photo a day and how did you get started?
I actually did my first 365 project 10 years ago. I wanted to improve my photography skills and I was told (or read in some blogs) that taking at least one photo per day would help a lot, so I started to take a photo a day on my 40th birthday and did that for a year. It was really a challenge, because I did it completely on my own, without any prompts from a creative group like this. After I completed that year I had enough of "a picture per day“ but I took much better photos.
Every year I create a photo calendar as a Christmas present for my parents and parents in law. Finding enough good pictures became increasingly challenging in the past years, so last year I decided that I have to force myself to take more photos with another 365 project, but I learned from the past and this time I decided to go with a group of creative people, which makes it much easier and is also very interesting to see, how other people approach the daily prompt.
What is your “go-to” camera, lens and do you shoot in manual?
I always have my Canon Powershot in my pocket, in case an unexpected photo opportunity appears, but most of the time, when I’m planning to take photos, I’m carrying a Canon 7D Mk II. with a Tamron 17-50mm lens and – depending on the situation – starting from a 10-22mm wide angle to a 150-600mm tele zoom lens.
I mostly shoot in apperture priority, but in special light situations I also switch to manul exposure. If I want to get really close in macro shots, I just recently started to focus manually.
What is your favourite sort of photography and what is your least favourite?
I don’t really have a favourite sort of photography. I like shooting outdoors and – especially now in spring time – our garden always has a lot of opportunities to shoot close-ups of flowers and insects. I also like landscapes, sunsets or long exposure cityscapes in blue hour. I’m struggling a bit with still life and abstract photography. I would like to do a lot more people photography, portrait and street.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out on the 365 journey?
Just start. Don’t spend too much time on thinking about the prompt, just go and take pictures.
