The Red Bull 400 Race

August 28, 2016

Red Bull 400 Everybody who has seen a ski jumping facility in real life would agree that it’s an intimidating sight. Standing on top of the jump is even scarier. And let’s not even talk about actually jumping down. And then there is Red Bull who had a totally crazy idea about this: why not turn the ski jump upside down? Well, not literally. Sort of. They decided to initiate a race called Red Bull 400 during which you have to run up the entire slope of the ski jump. Sounds like fun? It’s only 400 meters (one lap on the …

Two amazing days in beautiful Slovenia

July 17, 2016

Gorgeous Slovenia Some things just don’t make sense on paper. But when you actually do them, they seem right. Last weekend, my family and I jumped in the car to head down to Slovenia to meet up with some good friends that we hadn’t seen in a while. It’s usually a 3.5h drive from Munich but summer traffic added a few traffic jams and hours. But boy….it was so worth it. To make it short: we love Slovenia. Lake Bled Our short adventure started in Bled. It’s a small town nestled between gorgeous mountains and a lake. It couldn’t be …

Scandinavian Summer Days

May 26, 2016

There is something magical about summers up North. Sunrise is bright and early (no pun intended) and the evenings never seem to end. Earlier this week, I had to head up to Copenhagen and Oslo for business meetings. It was a pretty intense and rushed affair. But summers being summers in Scandinavia, days are longer than anywhere else and you get to enjoy life in the sunshine after you are done with your chores. Likewise, days start early: the sun rises shortly after 4am in Oslo right now. Endless days The first evening, my team and I went on a …

Cycling on Mallorca

May 22, 2016

The Spanish island of Mallorca is well known not just for its famous beaches and holiday resorts but also for its exceptional cycling terrain. There is an endless network of smooth & well maintained roads that spans almost the entire island. Combine that infrastructure with beautiful views and respectful drivers and you have something that could be considered a cyclist’s paradise. It’s actually almost crazy to see just how professional the island is about its cycling community: Bike shops and rental places are abound. Most cafes & restaurants have bike stands for road bikes, routes are well marked, etc.. Well, just …

From the archives: Rapeseed Runner

April 24, 2016

One fine afternoon in May of 2011 I took off from work a bit earlier. The Bavarian rapeseed fields were in full bloom at that time and I wanted to take some photos of the amazing colors. It always is a spectacular sight especially on a clear day with blue skies. As I was taking in the beautiful landscape, a runner suddenly started moving through a field to my left. I quickly swapped my lens for a 300mm tele and managed to grab this photograph. It is one of my all-time favorites. As a little bonus, professional photographer Ming Thein …

Running in San Francisco

April 10, 2016

A business trip brought me back to San Francisco last week. This is always an opportunity to experience some wonderful runs. The city itself is an ideal stomping ground for runners. Stunning scenery, challenging terrain and decent temperatures all year round make the city so unique. The Presidio especially offers a number of amazing trails with sweeping views over the Pacific Ocean and Golden Gate Bridge. Together with some of my good colleagues and customers, we logged almost 50 miles during that week. The Fuji X70 on the run Running in San Francisco calls for a camera. Instead of my GoPro, …

Part 2: A review of the Samyang 8mm f/2.8 fisheye for Fuji X

April 7, 2016

Over three years ago, I posted a review of the Walimex 8mm f/3.5 fisheye for Nikon. Since then I have sold all my Nikon gear and switched to the Fuji X system. Naturally, one of the first lenses I acquired was the Fuji version of the fisheye. Since the original article is still one of the most popular ones on this blog, I thought it might be time to write an update. Impressions: Samyang Fisheye for Fuji The Fuji version of the Samyang fisheye simply put represents an amazing value for the money that you pay. It’s awell-built lens and feels really …

The Fuji X70 – A review

March 28, 2016

Finding a camera that delivers awesome image quality in a small and light package has always been a quest of mine. While there are a ton of great tiny cameras out there, none of them have really clicked for me (no pun intended). That’s why I got excited when the good guys at Fujifilm announced the Fuji X70. It sounded too good to be true: amazing APS-C size sensor in a small & sexy package. I have now had the Fuji X70 for over a month and love it. This post summarizes some of my experiences with it. Technical stuff There are …

A few hours in London

March 22, 2016

London is quite an amazing city. I happen to go there a lot for business but hardly ever have the opportunity to roam around except for the early mornings when I go out for a run. Last weekend was different: I decided to fly in a few hours earlier than required to explore the city together with my friend and colleague Aaron. We rented two Santander Cycles to cover more ground and to avoid boring tube rides. Hard to believe but the bikes are only GBP 2 for 24 hrs. The process of renting them, dropping them off and getting a …

The Fuji X70 at a concert

March 19, 2016

A few weeks ago, I acquired one of the new Fujifilm X70. Finding a small enough camera that produces really awesome results has always been one of my quests. Unfortunately, to this date I have not found something that I really love. And that’s when the Fuji X70 entered the scene. It seemed small enough while featuring the amazing Fuji image quality. To make it short, I was not disappointed. As a matter of fact, I love this camera and wrote about using it on a run earlier this week. This post is not intended to be a full review …

Tiger & Turtle – A morning run with the Fuji X70

March 18, 2016

The beauty of traveling for business is that you get to see a lot. At least I do as I am a passionate runner. I always get up really early and go running in the different places I have to travel to. Some runs are better than others. Earlier this week, I had a fantastic experience. There is a famous landmark in Germany close to Duesseldorf called “Tiger & Turtle”. Tiger & Turtle Strange name, huh? What is it then? Well, Tiger & Turtle is a rollercoaster that is situated on the top of a hill. It’s not your ordinary …

A day in Penang

March 8, 2016

Hidden Beauty – Penang Penang is a state & island in Malaysia right by the Strait of Malacca. Its capital George Town is characterized by a wonderful mix of old British colonial style, ethnical flair and modern construction. Walking around the narrow streets is an unrivalled experience. Malays, Chinese, Indians and others ethnical groups live peacefully right next to each other. A block of Chinese stores & homes seamlessly melts into an Indian section followed by gorgeous colonial houses. And then there are a plethora of beautiful temples from all religions. To be honest, it’s not a particularly clean city but it …

The Batu Caves

March 5, 2016

Batu Caves The Batu Caves is a series of well known limestone caves outside of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. The caves and the exterior house a number of hindu shrines that are dedicated to Lord Murugan. The whole place is extremely impressive and one could easily spend many hours exploring and observing. Unfortunately, we only had an hour to spare and therefore had to rush through the Batu Caves. I highly recommend visiting this place.

The GoPro might be my favourite camera

February 27, 2016

GoPro as a camera While the GoPro is well-known as a fantastic multi-purpose video camera, few people acknowledge that it can also deliver fairly decent photographs. As a matter of fact, I mostly use my GoPro HERO4 for taking photos while biking and running (I call it runography & bikeography, respectively). Due to my job I get to travel to some amazing places and I therefore always take my GoPro on virtually every run that I do. There are just too many nice things you see while on the road. GoPro Photo Quality Let’s get this out of the way: the GoPro will never …

Discovering Singapore

January 17, 2016

The Singapore Adventure Singapore is an amazing place for exploring and taking photos. I recently had the opportunity to spend a few days in this beautiful city. As a passionate photographer, I often suffered from visual overload. There are just too many beautiful and interesting sites. Nightime in Singapor The city certainly offers a particular charm after sunset. While many of the motives have been covered by thousands of other photographers, I really enjoyed walking around with my tripod at night. The warm air paired with the feeling of a hustling & bustling place is truly intoxicating. The first photo …

Run around Frogner Park in Oslo

October 4, 2015

Oslo is amongst the nicest cities in Europe. I am lucky that I get to go there for work frequently. One thing I particularly love about Oslo is the multitude of really awesome and beautiful runs. I usually get up very early for work and check out new parts of the city. Two weeks ago, I realized that I had missed one particularly interesting part of Oslo: Frogner Park. It’s around 1.5 miles from the city center and it contains the famous Vigeland installation. It’s basically a collection of amazingly detailed and really interesting sculptures. Rain, rain, rain When I …