Blog on Photoblogs

I am so glad to have the opportunity to take to great photographers.  It’s one of my favourite aspects of this blog. This time around I had a change to speak Uwe Eischens about his work and blog accessible.de. The one thing that really struck me about his photography was the striking landscape imagery which is usually complemented with a wind turbine.

BOPB: When did you first discover photography, and at one point did it become more serious?
Uwe: I was a typical point and shoot holiday snap guy for about 20 years. Photography became more serious about 3 years ago, at the time where I initially discovered the wonderful world of photoblogs and a digital SLR camera became affordable for a hobbyist.

BOPB: What was your first camera and what are currently using?
Uwe: My very first camera (besides of some disposable ones) was a Voigtlaender Vito B, which was an inheritance from my grandfather. Build in 1958, this thing is rock solid and still works today without any problems. Nowadays I’m using a Canon EOS 5D.

BOPB: What’s the one piece of equipment currently in your bag that you couldn’t do without?
Uwe: Well, at least my camera? ;). No kidding. I would be heavy-hearted without my Canon EF 85/f1.8. The technical results of that lens on the 5D are simply outstanding. It’s fast, supersharp and has such a nice and homogenous bokeh. There are only a view images on my blog taken with that lens. But I’m using it a whole lot for pictures (my family f.ex.) which I don’t post at my blog.

BOPB: If you were able to give one piece of advice to a photographer who is considering setting up their own photoblog, what would it be?
Uwe: I would consider to keep the blogs environment simple, tidy and focused on the photo and maybe the story behind it. It’s no problem to build in some nice bells and whistles, but these should support the artwork, and should not divert from it. For the software, my first choice is the Pixelpost framework. Good support, easy to setup and nicely extendable.

BOPB: What have you found to be the most effective method of attracting new visitors to your photoblog?
Uwe: The most effcient method I guess is to comment on other blogs and get in touch with other bloggers. The more, the better. While leaving your blogs address in the comment forms, there is a good chance that other readers will visit your blog, and maybe a comment. With a bit of luck, others will subscribe your RSS feed and so they become regular visitors. Second is to participate in some blog communitys, though the so called voting-thing on most of these blog-directorys should not be overrated.

BOPB: Whats your long-term goal for your photography and your photoblog?
Uwe: For my photography, my long-term goal is learning to get better. Putting the conceptual idea and the technique together for a flawless result, that would be a real pleasure, somedays. For my blog, we’ll see how the web technology evolves. I guess we’ll discover some great usability- and design-enhancements in the future.

BOPB: Your landscape imagery is quite impressive, what drew you into landscape photography?
Uwe: My luck is that (while talking about landscape and nature) I’m living in a really nice agrarian-oriented area of Germany, though I must admit that I didn’t realize the loveliness of the ambience before I engaged in the photography hobby. My job is pretty stressful, and so I really love to walk thru the fields with my camera. Maybe it sounds a bit ridiculous, but for me it’s just relaxing to listen to the whoosh-sound of a wind-generator on a secluded barrow, or to the crackling of a wheat-field on a hot summerday. Trying to visually capture these moments with a camera is simply a part of my recreation.

BOPB: Having an efficient digital workflow is important, could you tell us a little about your workflow?
Uwe: My workflow is quite simple. I’m solely shooting in RAW, importing my photos in Adobe Lightroom (I’m still incertain between Apple Aperture and LR, but actually LR is my favourite) for some slight adjustments and archiving. Then I develop the photo as a 16bit TIFF to Photoshop CS3 for further processing. I always have three copys of a photo which in my opinion seems to be worth to be processed. The RAW file, one 16bit TIFF image saved with the processing layers and a smaller JPEG for my blog. I don’t use any batch processing or fixed receipts and yes, I’m also very lazy in keywording.

BOPB: Everyone suffers from periods where they lack inspiration, how do you deal with these times?
Uwe: That’s a very good but painful question. Unfortunately I have these periods frequently, and my only two remedies against these anxious days are,
a) Leaving the camera at home, as a matter of fact. Doing a few longish walks without the camera equipment often brings back the open mind. At least for me. And after a few days, the enjoyment to take photos returns by itself
b) Getting inspiration. In an uninspired phase it’s often very helpful to stray thru other blogs or photo-communitys. There are so many excellent photographers out there, and slowly but surely an evil enviousness creeps in my mind ;). Sooner or later I’m forced to go out shooting again, just to determine that, for gods sake, my envy thoughts are fully entitled ;).

BOPB: What’s the one thing that keeps you blogging?
Uwe: The girls and guys of the community out there. I have met (though virtually) so many nice and talented people from all over the world in the last two years, it’s simply awesome.

BOPB: Finally, where do you see your photoblog is say 3-5 years from now?
Uwe: I hope it is basically the same as now: part of a nice community. Maybe I can advance my skills, as described in question 6, maybe not. However I hope the pleasure in blogging photos will remain.

2 Comments

Related posts:

• Photographer Profile Archives
• World-wide adventures of the Purple Cow
• Austin Mann, Photographer profile