Forest Life
September 2023
Heavy raindrops are falling from the trees onto our cameras, our jackets are more or less soaked through. The three of us – two photographer friends and myself – are on a workshop with Stefan Imig. We have been standing in the constant pouring rain in a small forest in Bavaria for two days now, photographing squirrels and nutcrackers accustomed to humans. So much for the theory. The squirrels, however, prefer to stay out of the rain, the nutcrackers are hidden up in the trees. But with a few hazelnuts, both are finally persuaded to join our photo shoot.
With no good light at all, we take advantage of the dark, dreary weather, which is perfect for trying out creative techniques with harsh backlighting.
The clever nutcrackers always make us smile. Sometimes they are simply quicker than the squirrels and snatch the nut from under their noses. Other times they go on a thieving spree: From the canopy, they watch vigilantly as the rodent buries its nut. Once the squirrel has disappeared, the nut is quickly dug up again and a new hiding place is sought and neatly marked.
Soaking wet we return to our accommodation every evening of this tour – and still have a lot of fun making the most of the supposedly bad light. //
Helgoland
June 2020/2022
The storm on the coast of Helgoland whips me in the face and I prefer to keep the heavy photo backpack on my back to better resist the gusts. The elegant gannets, however, are not impressed by the wind at all. They keep flying to the rocks and manage to land on the right nest despite strong crosswinds. A quick peck at their intrusive neighbor, then a loving beak to their mate - the sexes are indistinguishable by their plumage. So close to the gannets you can try a lot photographically, and two great workshops with Radomir Jakubowski and Uwe Hasubek did the rest, but ...
... at the first workshop the storm thwarts our plans. It ends up very abruptly as we learn that there will be no ferries for the next three days least. We manage to catch the last ferry back on that day.
The storm is still strong on my second stay, but at least we can stay until the last day as planned. But there is still so much more to try out and explore photographyically//
IMPRESSUM | DATENSCHUTZERKLÄRUNG | © CARMEN ROTTE
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