We are all photographers

We are all photographers. Some like to record the world in front of their eyes, others create art from reality.


refitted projection lens Meyer-Optik Diaplan 100mm f2.8  1/400sec

Pretty much we are all photographers, from the simple tiny mobile phones to the invested amateurs with hefty monsters around the neck. The difference lays in what we want: a record of an event or place to share socially (or file for posterity), or is it an outlet to express our creativity?
This goal alone will define us as we pursue our passion.

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Analysis and synthesis

Does great Image Quality of a lens lead to brilliant images?
It depends.
Depends on your interpretation of a great image and Image Quality.

I feel that the definition of Image Quality for a photographic lens is too often a misnomer to describe sharpness as to me IQ is a complex blend of optical properties that create photographs.
But can all the pixel peeping and perusal of resolution charts for the sharpest lens lead to captivating images?
I doubt it.


image by Pete Ware , used with permission

If a photographer heavily concentrates on analysis too often gets lost with synthesis.
The individual that highly values the ultimate resolution in a lens, the highest pixel count on a sensor, the widest dynamic range in a camera, frequently fails to see the forest for the trees.

I see technically perfect images, probably taken on tripods with the largest camera possible that don't deliver emotions. And if a photograph does not stir me inside then it is just an attempt to record reality, sterile and soulless. While it might be useful for analyzing a place or event, possibly for record keeping, it lacks vision.

The deeper I venture into the art of photography the less I obsess over the sharpest results in my photographs and rather concentrate on the passion behind the click. I forego technical perfection while chasing the aesthetic beauty of a scene, and if the image I create does not evoke any feelings then I have failed in my synthesis.


image by Mattias Kühmayer, used with permission

Thank you to Pete and Matthias for being inspirational and showing me that lens IQ is overrated :-)
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Content of shit

I read this and made me pause:

Like those pictures you take. The good ones are either art, or portraits, or, at worst, photography. But the really awful ones you put on Facebook -- that picture of the tunafish sandwich you had for lunch, or your dog licking himself, or the adoring selfie -- that shit. And that content is shit!
The Ad Contrarian

Be proud of your work but be your worst critic. Seek perfection but don't be stuck in perfectionism. Create with passion and not for an audience of imaginary friends with shallow "likes".  Explore and go against convention if that is what drives you, as only by seeking and not following you truly will master the art.
For yourself.

That is what I think when I photograph.


G-Lumix 14mm f2.5  

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Swirly bokeh for portrait

Isolating my subjects from a distracting background has been a quest of mine for some time.
In the past I have mainly used longer lenses or wider apertures to create a bokeh that serves as backdrop, while still trying to give context of the location.
Lately I have been exploring the virtues and faults of lenses that were never intended for my camera, let alone a digital sensor and even less size of format (originally film).
I have been playing with lenses that were designed for 16mm film (much smaller than the sensor in my cameras).


Bell&Howell 16mm film projection lens 2" f1.6 (fixed aperture) 1/250sec

As the image circle does not fully cover my larger medium the edges of the lens render with great distortion. Most photographers would never accept that, myself included, just a few years ago.
Sharpness was absolute priority, anything else had to come second.
Times have changed: I have grown my artistic sense and I am distancing further away from razor sharp modern glass that unfortunately often lacks of character. My auto-focus lenses are gathering dust...
I have shifted from my professional days of capturing a "true" representation of reality where everything must be sharp to something that, through de-focusing fields and adding possibly motion blur, leads to different results. I want my images to create an emotion rather then a recording of a place/event.
Some lenses create a peculiar background blur when the focused subject and background are at the right distance from each other and the lens is often used wide open.
I call it swirly bokeh.


Bell&Howell 16mm film projection lens 2" f1.6 (fixed aperture) 1/1000sec

As I view now photography more art than science I gravitate towards images of a different nature; extreme sharpness has taken a back stage spot.


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