Mallorca: Gorgeous views

March 12, 2022

Mallorca still remains one of my favourite destinations for road cycling. The infrastructure is almost perfect: little traffic, well maintained roads and dedicated cycling routes, gorgeous landscapes and a variety of terrain. Up until now, I have had little time to dedicate to photography on this island. This needed to change. Alcudia Over the stretch of a view days, I decided to get up at the crack of dawn to capture the sometimes gorgeous sunrises in the Alcudia area. The weather in early March of 2022 was quite volatile. Every morning was a different experience. It started with early morning …

Star gazing on Mt Teide

June 18, 2018

Mt Teide When is the last time you have taken the time to enjoy the night sky and do some star gazing? Probably not as of lately? If not, you should. And you should also bring your camera. Star gazing and astrophotography are activities that can provide you not only with an awesome experience but also some spectacular photographs. However, it has become somewhat difficult to enjoy a really dark night sky. Light pollution from our urban areas is rampant and most people have probably never seen the milky way as a result of that. But there are a few …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Photographing the Perseid Meteor Shower with the Fuji-X

August 16, 2015

Meteor Showers It’s hard to escape the hype around this year’s spectacular Perseid meteor viewing conditions. Despite a demanding travel schedule and the resulting laziness that sets in during breaks, I ended up driving to a somewhat remote location outside of Munich to photograph the Perseids meteor shower. Along with me was the Fujifilm X-T1, the excellent Fujinon XF 14mm F2.8 and my beloved Samyang 8mm F2.8 Fisheye. The Fuji X-Series in the field One of the things I absolutely love about the Fuji X-Series is the small size of the equipment. In the past, I logged around a huge and heavy bag filled …

Starry nights over Anterselva

February 21, 2015

Starry nights A few months ago, I started experimenting with photographing the night sky. I had done a few ill-fated attempts at capturing star trails in the past. Inspired by the David Kingham’s eBook Nightscape, I managed to get some nice results while vacationing on Malta this past summer. Unfortunately, there are not that many opportunities in central Europe to get a clear night sky. Light pollution is all around us. I was therefore extremely excited to discover that our hotel on a recent XC ski trip to Anterselva in Italy was located in one of Europe’s darkest areas. Just a quick …

Photo Essay: The Canary Islands in Winter

January 5, 2015

Canary Islands If you want to escape the European winter there is a place that offers decent temperatures and very pleasant climate throughout the season. I am speaking about the Canary Islands. This beautiful spot sits right in the Atlantic not too far from Africa. The various islands owe their existence to a series of very active volcanoes. The landscapes range from luscious greens to dark lava fields and picturesque towns. Just a few days ago, I had the opportunity to travel to some of these gems on board the new German cruise ship ‘Mein Schiff 3’. Here is a …

Fall in Kitzbuehel – A short photo essay

November 2, 2014

Kitzbuehel – The Legend Downhill racers, mountain climbers, cyclists, jet-setters and paparazzi all get goose-bumps when they hear the name of the ubiquitous Austrian ski town Kitzbuehel. It’s a fairly small town nestled in the Northern part of the Alps (1.5 hrs drive from Munich). There are so many things that Kitzbuehel is famous for: the legendary Hahnenkamm downhill race, the legendary parties, expensive cars and famous people. It’s easy to forget that Kitzbuehel is also nestled amidst breathtaking nature. Last week, I had the pleasure to enjoy three amazing days in those wonderful town. Since I was alone with …

One easy way to improve your vacation photos

September 14, 2014

Vacation Photos Vacations are always an exciting time for photographers: lot’s of new and exciting stuff to explore and most importantly time to pursue your passion. However, many people return with disappointing results. I have certainly had my fair share of this. While there might be a bunch of pleasing compositions in the final album, many photos fail to impress. One of the main reasons for that is most likely related to light. The quality of a light plays a major role in the creation of a beautiful photograph. It’s an important element that is easy yet difficult to control. The …

The Friedensengel in Munich

July 14, 2014

Friedensengel One of the famous sights in Munich is the Friedensengel (angel of peace). It is a magnificent golden statue that was erected in 1899 to remember a 25 year period of peace earlier during that century. Two weeks ago I realised that I did not really have any decent photographs of this area and decided to try my luck. It was a beautiful summer evening and I wanted to use the blue hour to capture the array of colours ranging from lush greens, golden highlights and a blue sky. Scouting It was still bright when I arrived on site. …

Going mirror less – Switching to Fuji X

May 24, 2014

Switching to Fuji X Wow. Big news. Still can’t believe that I actually did it. A few weeks ago I sold my entire Nikon DSLR equipment and have switched to the Fuji X system. After 20 years of being a loyal Nikon customer I finally decided to take a step into the future. Over the years, I had amassed a collection of lenses, flashes and small tools such as remotes, batteries etc.. Nikon had never let me down. As a matter of fact, I simply loved my Nikon D800. It is an amazing camera with probably the best possible image quality out there …

Fun with speedlights

May 12, 2014

Speedlights What to do on a cold, stormy and rainy early summer evening? Play with your photo equipment! Earlier today I read an interest blog post by Joe McNally. It is called ‘More Flash Play’ and Joe explains how to simulate the light from a computer screen. All you have to do is tape a piece of paper on the screen and then bounce a flash into it. It’s as simple as that. The dreary weather provided the perfect excuse to give this a try. The setup It took about 3 minutes to put my speedlights (2 Godox V850s) and …

Christoph Papenfuss Photography