recent time & surftrip

Haven’t had the mood to blog for a longer period but heaps of things happened in the meantime. Weeks flew by and I finished working for SKUvantage after intense six months. The team and I grew together and every day was a challenge connected with growth and learning.

The australian work ethic and organization was quite different from what you hear from outside. At SKUvantage everything was kind of on eye level between management and photographers/editors but the communication is much more direct then I know it from former companies I worked with. The feedback for the work you are doing is precise and aims to push you into the right direction.
When I first started I was a bit overwhelmed and it’s difficult not to take it personal when you are not used to it - but after a bit it speeds up your process a lot.

For the last month in Oz I planned not to work at all but do a surf-/roadtrip instead. I booked a van to go up north to Byron and just take all the waves along the way. The first days were very relaxing and I discovered great places like Seal Rocks and Boomerang Beach on the way that I have not visited yet.

In the Bay I mostly spent time with my good friend Juaco to shoot some surf or paddle out ourselves. The Arts Factory was kind of our home but hell - in Byron I realized how calm Manly was and apart from all the beachvibes and beauties I’m not really made for that kind of touristy place.

The last days I spent in Yamba - my actual favourite on the east coast. So many local kids grow up with surfing and practice every day. You’ll always find a good shot and it was actually the first place back in february where I found pro surfers around as I got into surfphotography.

Lastly I need to mention Port Macquarie - such a lovely place to hang. People there are just the most friendly ones in Oz. Probably because of the view they got everyday. So many come at five in the morning to just walk their dogs, have a swim and a few even go fishing during the night. Everybody seems to know each other and is super chatty and keen to know more about your stay.

Working in Manly

It has been quite for a while since I got back from Bali.

One goal of my year in Oz as I planned it was always to get along with Australians for a longer period. When I'm in a country I want to experience the culture and local habits. Working and having australian colleagues would be the thing and could even improve my CV. Speaking english, having some workexperience and being excited about several fields of photography should land me a job even far from home I thought. There is always demand on imagery for all kinds of stuff.

I applied for very specific jobs with very specific CVs. All tailored towards the companies. I wanted to work close to a beach to be able to improve my surfing. I chose Gold Coast and Sydney and tried my luck at a few surf retailers, a studio for fashionphotography, a productphotography studio and even as retoucher for real estate images.

A week later I recieved a call from the very professional looking product photography studio skuvantage which is located close to Manly Beach that needed an experienced photographer. And here I am now. Almost perfectly situated next to the beach, work in walking distance.

A new chapter.

The Bintang Algorythm

When expectations do not match reality.

Sometimes the following happens: You have a certain expectation about something and do not even concider to do it because you heared or saw things which you think are not your taste or your thing. I never thought about going to Bali in the near future because I expected it to be a typical party island - too expensive, too loud for my taste, too many tourist traps. Mostly because everybody wants to go there.

Luckily buying a flight to Nepal was not in my budget in march so I had to take other options into concideration. My roomie in Perth said he would fly to Bali in the upcoming days. I found out about the perfect weather, the amazing surfing conditions and the cheap flights and immediatly booked a flight. And you know it - the spontaneus trips are always the most fun.

So Peter and me met up, took two bikes to cruise around the island and started to adventure some of the rice terrasses in the Ubud area and went to the volcanic north afterwards.

I don't have to explain too much about the fascination of those beautiful fields but from the photography side all the green adds so much punch to the images. It creates this look you only get in asian countries and really kicks of with cloudy weather and at sunrise.

But what made this journey so very special?
Getting to know a new culture is always exciting - so many funny and lovely things to notice from the indonesians. Small things. When going straight on a street they let both indicators flash. Or when they take your order they repeat it very clearly even if you just ordered one or two things to show good service. On the other side you always have to be careful to not get some dirty cutlery even in good restaurants. In general the locals are super nice and always up for a chat. I felt so welcome!

Apart from that the cute island just had this intense surfvibe - especially in Canggu and around Uluwatu. I saw so many pro surfers and tried my best to freeze some action. Aaaand getting to know the limits of my camera.

Surfphotography is really a field I would like to push. Getting decent gear for the most intersting views (in the water, at sunset/rise time) is a challenge though.

Victoria

Just recently I went on my first roadtrip here in Australia. Since the area around Melbourne offers so much variety the plan was to get an overview and to really explore the outstanding spots later in detail. I found a girl with the name Ajka in a facebook group who also had the idea to do a tour and already rented a car.

After getting our stuff together, buying some food and drinks we started with a hike at the Fern Gully Track and continued to the Steavenson Falls all located one to two hours outside of Melbourne.

The next was Wilsons Promontory. A national park with so much to see. A first glimpse of Australias fine beaches for me. Basically we explored the riverside first which looked like marshes with some crocs in but actually without crocs ;) ..a fishermans paradise though. Trails led to the white and natural beaches. Massive rocks everywhere! Definitely a place to return - haven't really had the opportunity to catch the full beauty since we didn't stay overnight.

We continued our journey with some trails in the Tarra Bulga National Park.
The high trees and the plants in general reminded of rainforests. The small streets leading through the woods are not only beautiful and built to harm nature to a minimum but are also quite dangerous as you really have to watch out for kangaroos.

The Great Alpine Road was a massive thing as well. We wanted to climb Mount Cobler but miscalculated a bit with our time so we thought about exploring the area around Mount Buffalo instead. Starting the drive very very early in the morning we were gifted with beautiful views of rising morning mists over the vast fields in the high country.
It was now one of those blazing hot days with almost no clouds and an UV index of 11 out of 10 when we were ready to get up Mount Buffalo. To my surprise some climbers were at the rocks and added some action to my shots.

One of the places you should not miss in Victoria are the Macedon Ranges and the Hanging Rock which are very close together. They are located north from Melbourne and you could find rich fields of lavender and some wineries next to accurately planted treelines along beautiful winding roads.

We arrived later that day and although the park to go up to the Hanging Rock was closed we managed to get in backdoors next morning at 0530. Sneaking past a few kangaroos we had a beautiful red glowing Hanging Rock for ourselves... until the park rangers arrived.

The Great Ocean Road was the thing that stood out most when I thought about this trip in the first way. I really imagined the famous coastline a lot in my head and was so excited to be there soon. The rock formations are one of a kind and my rough plan was to stay at the Bay of Islands overnight and do some nightshots with a tent and some close ups for sunrise with my new ND filters.

Unfortunately not only the weather was really really bad (no clouds, 40°C, mosquitos and flies) but I also managed to step into a piece of metal which must have been part of a former roadsign. This 2inch long piece went through my shoe into the muscle of my middle-foot. yummy. So the only thing I tried after 7pm was to stop it from bleeding and cleaning the wound. Still I would say that the afternoon had one of the best views and vibes of the whole trip since we met some fellow travellers who joined for the sunset.

One of the last highlights have been the Otways also located at the Great Ocean Road next to Apollo Bay - a small chilled surfer town with the best burger I had so far. We went into the woods for Beauchamp Falls which were a real stunner and also checked out Hopetoun Falls.
The first was certainly drawing most of my attention because of its simplicity and jungle- or lagune-like feeling.

The days have usually been packed with a lot of driving and hiking so there wasn't a lot of room to shoot all the beautiful things we saw. But I definitely fell in love with the beauty of Victoria. A very good place to be.

Here are just a few more images from the trip in a non-sorted order.

Oh and I planned a short hop on New Zealand territory next week. Fingers crossed.

There is only one life

..a.k.a. making a decision to leave and to start an adventure.

It's been a long time now that I moved to the beautiful city of Jena. Eight years ago I was looking for a job after my exams to become a mediadesigner. The city and my new job at an online-skateshop made up a perfect start and I was immediately comfortable with my surroundings. New friends came to influence me forever.

Skatedeluxe gave me every opportunity to express myself and my ideas in any form possible. I was able to try graphic design, built small animation clips in flash, made stickers, website drafts, skateboarddesigns - but I found my real direction in photography after a few years passed. The company and my skills grew together. Today I am part of a strong team - responsible for the media content related to our products including technical supervision and quality control.

Achieving such a good stand in your careers first company isn't always the case. One thing though is important - it's not to get stuck or used to any success you have.

I always liked to travel. In 2016 though I did my first trip alone to south east asia and what I realized was that I feel absolutely great in unfamiliar territory. All senses on. Breathing. Seeing differently. Getting used to other circumstances activates all braincells that usually rest during the time in my studio back in Germany. So I made up my mind if it might be possible to travel more.

The idea grew in my head for a couple of months now. I really pushed myself to the limits with photography in the last two years with countless hours and I want to continue with my next big adventure.

I'm going to Australia.